It's an inside joke. Hallelujah. Do you feel
the rain today? I'm talking about the latter
rain. We can't live off the former rain, can
we? It's the latter rain is what I'm looking
for. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Be here today and
see so many familiar faces in the house. As Pastor
said, it's been a while, been a little too while.
But we're glad to be here, and it's a rare occasion
to have the whole crew at the same time. But
God is good enough to get us all together and
come back home for a visit and be with you today.
I do have a word from on high today, and I am
anticipating, I've been anticipating this week.
Been in prayer, been seeking the Lord for a mighty
move of God. And I don't settle for anything
less. Amen. Because I serve a great big God.
Amen. I come expecting and believing exceedingly
abundantly above all that any of us could even
ask or think. Amen. Amen. If you have your Bibles,
let's go ahead and get into this thing. Hope
you brought your sword with you today. Amen.
It's good to come to battle with your sword,
amen. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to
the book of Ezekiel, chapter 47. Ezekiel, chapter
47. We're going to look at verses 1 through 5.
Ezekiel 47. Some familiar faces up there in the
balcony. Good to see you all. Some old Woodbury
folk. Good to see you. Ezekiel chapter 47, when
you have it, say amen. Alright, let's do it.
Ezekiel 47, beginning at verse number 1. And
afterward he brought me again unto the door of
the house. And behold, waters issued out from
under the threshold of the house eastward. For
the forefront of the house stood toward the east.
And the waters came down from under from the
right side of the house. At the south side of
the altar. Then brought he me out of the way
of the gate northward. And led me about the way
without unto the utter gate by the way. That
looketh eastward. And behold there ran out waters
on the right side. And when the man that had
held the line in his hand went forth eastward.
He measured a thousand cubits. We'll talk about
that a little bit. That's about 500 yards. And
he brought me through the waters, and the waters
were to the ankles. Again, he measured a thousand
and brought me through the waters. The waters
were to the knees. And he measured a thousand
and brought me through the waters were to the
loins. And afterward, he measured a thousand,
and it was a river that I could not even pass
over. For the waters were risen, waters to swim
in. A river that could not be passed over. With
the help of the Lord this morning, just a simple
thought for you today. Going deeper. Going deeper.
Each and every person in this room has to venture
out deeper than where you are. Anybody like to
swim? Anybody scared to death to swim? There's
some of you out there that can't swim. Amen.
Well, we're going deeper today. So you might
have to grab a hold of your neighbor, grab a
hold of a life jacket or something because we're
going out deeper today. Amen. I'll pray for you
if you pray for me. Father, we love you. We thank
you for your goodness and your mercy. I thank
you, Lord, for this time that we have assembled
together in your house to be in one mind and
one accord today. Sweet Holy Ghost, touch your
people today. Give us ears to hear your voice
and the word that declares over our lives today,
Lord. Let us leave here changed, Lord, encouraged
by your word today. Touch every heart in here
today, Lord, as I am just a vessel today. I am
just simply a conduit today. Lord, that you would
speak from the throne room of grace today and
let it flow out of me today, Lord, and speak
life into your people today, Lord. Lord, I pray
for the bread of life that is going forth, that
it would touch each and every heart, each and
every mind, right where they are today, Lord,
as your word says that you are calling us out
into deeper waters today. Lord, call us out into
the deep, Lord, that we may meet you there and
go deeper in you, deeper in our spiritual walk,
and deeper in our lives with you, Father. Have
your way in this place. Anoint me. Use me this
moment. And the church of the living God said,
amen, amen, and amen. You can be seated in the
house of the Lord this morning. I'm not a singer,
but something we've sort of adopted at my church,
something we like to start off with is an old
song. Some of y 'all might know it. You won't
leave here like you came in Jesus' name. Anybody
know that one? Bound, oppressed, tormented, sick
or lame. For the Holy Ghost of Acts is still
the same. You won't leave here like you came
in Jesus' name. Now let's do it as a body. We
won't leave here like we came in Jesus' name.
Bound, oppressed, tormented. Sick or lame. For
the Holy Ghost of Acts is still the same. We
won't leave here like we came in Jesus. Now make
it personal. I won't leave here like I came in
Jesus' name. Oh, yes. Bound, oppressed, tormented,
sick or lame. For the Holy Ghost of Acts is still
the same. I won't leave here like I came in Jesus'
name. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh, I believe you
prayed that this morning. I believe that was
your anthem today, that you won't leave here
like you came. Amen? As we look at this passage
today of going deeper, The writings of Ezekiel
are sometimes difficult to understand. But here
in Ezekiel 47, God shows Ezekiel a vision of
his people being revived. Hallelujah. Don't the
church world today need to be revived today?
Ezekiel can see a river flowing out of the temple.
The vision has a number of meanings to it. But
when I look at it today, I see it as representing
the believer, the body of Christ, us. Because
the house of Ezekiel is referring to appears
to be flooded with water. Now for most churches
they would say that's a bad thing. We don't want
water within the church. But we're talking about
a spiritual water today. I'm talking about the
living water today. A water that flows today.
That's the kind of flowing water I'm looking
for today. So much so that the waters are coming
out of every possible crook and crevice all throughout
the temple. But the house there that he's talking
about is not an ordinary home. It is the temple
of God. You need to under -remember today that
Ezekiel wrote in a time that God even had a temple.
You say there's a time and a place where there
was no temple. Yes, the temple had been destroyed
at certain points and had been rebuilt again.
But Ezekiel was prophesying of a time when the
temple was erected. It was there. It was a physical
thing for them to gather in. For we as the people
of God, we are the temples. That means that it's
through us that God reaches the world. First,
let's look at Ezekiel's vision. In Ezekiel's
vision, he sees a river flowing out of this temple
in every single hour. Can I tell you, when God
begins to pour out, things are going to start
happening. Hello? Are you with me today? There's
nothing in this world that could slow it down.
There's nothing that's going to stop it. It doesn't
matter what society may say. It doesn't matter
what any Congress may say. When the rivers of
water begin to flow out of the throne room of
grace, things are going to move. Things are going
to happen. Hallelujah. David said in Psalm 65,
the river of God is full of water. Meaning that
the river of God is flowing out from God himself.
What I want you to understand, that when the
spirit of God is moving, it is flowing, it is
emanating from him himself unto us. Think about
that. Think about the spirit of the living God.
The water that emits from the throne of God being
poured out upon the church is coming straight
from him. Hallelujah. It's not fed by any other
water source. That could only mean it's supernatural.
How many know that rocks don't hold water? But
when people get complacent, they get complaining,
and they get thirsty, amen, God says, all right,
that rock that I've got set up for you, go ahead
and smite it, Moses. And he smit it, and water
began to gush out of it. Rocks don't hold water.
But if God said there's going to be water in
the rock, honey, there's going to be water in
the rock. Oh, yeah. Pastor, how do you know it
would be a supernatural river? Because it says
every 500 yards it continued to grow and get
deeper. Remember Ezekiel started out just at
the ankle deep. But he went out a little bit
further. Right? It got up to his knees. Some
of y 'all get nervous right there when it got
to your knees. Amen? But he went on out and it
got up to his waist. And then he went so far
out that he had to swim in it. My Lord. But it's
not fed by any other source other than God himself.
The mighty Mississippi has its source. The Nile
River has a source. But the river in Ezekiel
47 supplied was only by God himself. When God
is flowing out, it's not something that's contained.
You can't dam it up. You can't put a crook in
it and cause it to turn a certain way. You can't
stop it. It's going forth. Revelation 20, 22
and 1, it's a river that flows from the throne
of God and the Lamb. The river that is flowing
out of us is the river that God uses to revive
us. It's also a healing water. Don't believe
me? Let's look over to verse number 8 and verse
number 9. Then he said unto me, these waters
issue out toward the eastward and go down into
the desert and down into the sea, which brought
forth into the sea the waters that shall be healed.
shall come to pass, that everything that liveth,
everything that moves, whithersoever the rivers
shall come, shall live. So it means whenever
everything that it touches, everything that crosses
over it is going to live today. It's a living,
it's a breathing, it's a healing water that flows
from the throne of God today. We look at John
chapter 7. Jesus would say, if any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. And he that believeth
on me, as the scripture has said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. So literally
what we have in the book of Ezekiel is a prophecy
of what God wants his people to have flowing
out of them. Come on. Just as Ezekiel saw the
moving currents of water coming out of the doors
in every part of the temple, it was fulfilled
in the New Testament because the Holy Ghost is
the water that is flowing out of our temples
today. Amen? It's within us. It's a river that
is flowing out for us to go into the world and
have boldness and power and speak life into a
dark world today. Hallelujah. Because the waters
of revival are unhindered. They're unstoppable,
and they're flowing in our lives today. That's
why Jesus told Peter, upon this rock I'm going
to build my church, and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. When I read what happened
here in John 7, Jesus made the statement concerning
the thirst of men. It's important that we understand
the background of this passage. The Jews were
coming to the close of the Feast of Tabernacles.
It was a seven -day celebration. It was a great
and holy day. It was a time toward the end of
the harvest season when everybody would get together
and they would give thanks for the great harvest
that had come. And when it started back in the
days of Moses, it was a holy day then. Come on,
somebody. It was a holy thing. It was a beautiful
celebration because it came from... the heart.
But over the years, customs changed. Traditions
began to change. People got a hold of it. Well,
and what started out to be holy and pure in the
sight of God had simply turned into one big circus.
My Lord, when the people get their hands on it,
it turns into a big circus, don't it? Because
the high point of the celebration was when the
priests got the water. From the pool of Siloam
and began to pour it in a basin. And when the
basin got full, the water would overflow and
hit the ground. And everybody cheered. Everybody
shouted to the loudest of their shouts. And cries
began to go throughout the city of joy. It was
like a game -winning touchdown at Neyland Stadium.
I've seen some of y 'all on TV. I know what it
looks like. I know how you act. But he simply
took this pitcher and poured it out. And people
would cheer. But on this particular celebration
in John chapter 7, Jesus was there watching and
he saw the celebration of this ritual of pouring
water into the basin and something stirred within
him. He was moved in his spirit because he stood
up and cried, If any man thirst, let him come
unto me. And drink. Jesus knew that what they
were doing was simply going to be a temporary
thing. It was going to be a passing moment. It
would only be for a season. It would just soon
evaporate like the water that would fall to the
ground. He knew that when the feast was over
and everybody went back home, they would just
go back to the things they used to do. They'd
go back to the same old sins, the same old habits,
the same old customs, to the same old traditions.
Oh, I feel like preaching now. That's what Bishop
Hill says. The things that moved Jesus was that
they had a ceremony, but they didn't have Christ.
They had religion, but they didn't have a relationship
with him. They had tradition, but they didn't
have anything dwelling within their heart. That's
why Jesus stood up and said, if any man thirst,
let him come unto me. Because if you're really
thirsty, don't come to this basin and expect
to lap up the water from the ground. Don't come
celebrating the water flowing over a basin because
you're not going to find it there. But if you
thirst, he will give you everlasting water. He'll
give you a drink that will last for all of eternity
if you're really thirsty. Don't just come to
the temple and celebrate. But if any man thirsts,
let him come unto me and drink. For out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. Jesus
had a message that day. But it wasn't for everybody.
He was only talking to the thirsty. Is there
any thirsty people in the house today? He said,
if any man thirst, let him come unto me. I'm
talking to the thirsty folks today. I'm not talking
about to the folks that were going to go back
to the same old lifestyle, to the same old stuff
that just wants to be seen at church. He said,
I'm talking to the thirsty people. I'm looking
for a church that is thirsty. I'm looking for
a church that wants to have rivers of living
water flowing out of them. I'm looking for thirsty
people, he said. I'm looking for thirsty. Oh,
thirst was and still is needed for this fountain
to flow today. Their thirst was and still is
needed for a good old -fashioned red -hot revival
today. If anybody thirsts, let him come unto
me and drink. Because I can tell you that everybody
that's empty ain't thirsty. Well. People are
so filled with self -love and flesh and they
ain't thirsty. Here's the problem. Many of them
know they're empty, but they ain't thirsty. It
don't mean they're thirsty. You gas tank ever
been on E? You've had the ding and the buzzer
and the light come on? Just because your gas
tank's empty don't mean it's thirsty. Hello?
Pastor's good at that. He likes to run out of
gas. But there's a difference in being empty
and being thirsty. God is looking for those that
have a blistering and burning thirst that makes
them willing to be like the disciples, to pay
any price whatsoever, to see a move, to see the
power of God manifested in the church today.
We've got to be willing to do whatever it takes.
Lord, I'm thirsty today. I'm thirsty today. Fill
me up today, Lord. I am thirsty. I'm thirsty.
Oh, I'm thirsty because just going through the
rituals of worship is not enough for me. I'm
not satisfied with the motions of just coming
to church and warming a pew. I'm thirsty. I'm
thirsty. I'm thirsty for a move of God. I'm thirsty
for revival. I'm thirsty to see lost souls in
the attic come through the door and come to an
altar and cover it with tears. I'm thirsty. Let
the church be thirsty again. Oh, if we listen
real close, we can still hear the echoes of Jesus'
voice. If any man thirst. If any man thirst,
let him come unto me. He didn't say if any man
thirst, get involved in a program. He didn't
say if you're really thirst and you come to Sunday
school 52 consecutive Sundays, you might get
a pen and a button. congratulating you for not
missing a Sunday in Sunday school. That's not
what he said. He didn't say if you just come
and bring your tithes. Huh? But he said, if any
man thirst, let him come unto me and out of his
belly shuffle rivers of living water. Because
the world, here's what the world needs to know
today, that Jesus is still the answer for the
thirsty. He's still the answer for the hungry
today. He's still the answer for the hurting
today. He's still the answer for the old drug
addict. He's still the answer for those in bondage.
He still is and will always be the answer for
the answer for the answer. If you're here this
morning and you're unfulfilled and you're thirsty,
let me tell you today, Jesus is the answer. But
the water that came from the temple had a humble
source to it. Because the Bible said that it
came from under the threshold. It came from up.
So if we are to encounter real revival, then
it begins with humility. Are you with me? Because
revival will come when the church humbles itself.
Before a holy God. And realizes that God is all
we need. Hello? Because without him, let me remind
you, we got nothing. Without him, we are nothing.
Huh? David even said, know you that the Lord,
he is God. Right? It is he that is made of, not
we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture. And even God said in 2 Chronicles
7 and 14, if my people would humble themselves
and pray and seek my face and repent of their
sins, then and only then will I hear from heaven
and I will forgive their sins and I will heal
their land. That's what a thirsty people looks
like. God's looking for a people that will fall
into the dust of humility. And say, God, without
you, we are nothing. God, without you, we can't
do any of these things. God, if we're doing this
without you, we might as well shut the door and
hook up a boat and go fishing somewhere. Because,
God, if we're doing it without you, we're doing
it in vain. It's all flesh. It's just pomp and
show. It's just dressing up, coming to church,
and say, look at me. But I'm ready. I'm ready
to be humble and bow my face before God and say,
Lord, it's all about you. It's all about you.
It's all about you, Lord. We're nothing of ourselves,
but I'm so glad to know today as the Bible tells
me that there is a river. Oh, there is a river
that's still flowing today, mighty God. The streams
whereof make glad the city of our God. Hallelujah.
I'm glad there's a river flowing from the throne
today. This water that flowed had a holy source
to it. What are you saying? I'm saying that the
people of God must plant our faces. I like to
say grab the horns of the altar. We must plant
our faces in the altar of sacrifice and get cleansed.
I know that's not a good topic, a shouting message,
but it's true. God's people would humble themselves
again. Planting your face in an altar somewhere.
And seek God. Right? And get cleansed. That's
why Isaiah said in Isaiah chapter 6. He admitted
it. Woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man with unclean
lips. And the people I've been hanging out with,
they've got unclean lips too. But the angel took
the tongs and he went over to that altar, that
place of purifying, that place of grace, and
he took that live coal and he put it on his lips
today. Oh, and he said, thou hast touched thy
lips and thy iniquity is taken away and thy sin
is purged. May we get back to an altar and let
the angel touch our lips with a hot coal anymore
and cleanse us and purge us of everything that
doesn't need to be in the church anymore. I want
to tell you this morning, anybody that spends
time with God will want to be holy. Because the
closer you get to something, the more you become
like it. I was thinking about something to add
to that and smoking come up on there. I remember
back in the days of COVID when we had to videotape
the services and it was just me and pastor in
here. I was walking around with a camera, and
I'd been smoking meat all day. And he was about
to get started. He was kind of psyching himself
up a little bit. And he looked at me. He said,
Brother, you're going to have to get out of here.
I said, Why? He said, Because you smell like
smoke. So I had to leave the room because I was
a distraction. But it's just like smoking meat.
When you get close to the smoker, you start smelling
like the smoke. When you get closer to the altar,
you're going to start getting a little bit holier.
Amen. When you start getting in the Word, you
get fatter with the bread of life. Hallelujah.
Oh, when you get drinking that water, you won't
be thirsty anymore. What I'm talking about is
you got to get closer. You got to let it rub
off on you. You got to rub elbows with it. Amen.
Because James said, The Lord said, draw nigh
unto me. What's he going to do? Draw nigh unto
us, right? He said, come on to me, honey, and
I'm going to get closer to you. Well, glory.
But we've ignored the meaning of holiness far
too long. Uh -oh. Here we go. We've allowed too
many unholy things in our lives and in the church,
and we've gotten to a place where we say anything
goes. I watched this morning something. On Facebook.
These people were coming up to this little booth.
And this man had this. It kind of looked like
a heat gun. And he was saying some ritual prayer.
And it was to de -baptize folks. Yeah. De -baptizing
folks. Yeah. I know y 'all are stunned as I was.
That's what I look like. De -baptize. What in
the world? Oh yeah. We've gotten to the place.
Where anything goes anymore. Huh? The church
has gotten to the point that we don't care what
you do anymore. We just want you to show up.
Huh? We just want you to sit in a pew or the
chair. We just want you to pay your tithes so
we can fill out a report and say, Boy, look how
big our church is becoming. Look how many people
we got. But God is looking for a church that
is holy. He's looking for a church that is pure.
Even when he said when he's coming back, I'm
looking for a spotless bride. I'm looking for
one to take home with me. He's looking for a
spotless church, a church that is holy, a church
that will stand up and say, Thus saith the Lord,
and nothing else matters, nothing else goes.
He's looking for a church that's holy. He's looking
for thirsty people, a church that's in the world
but not of the world. The church today is looking
too much like the world, and it's to the point
now we can't differentiate which one is which.
Well, see, I don't preach here every Sunday,
so I can go home after this. The pastor will
have to clean it up. But I believe the world
is sick and tired of compromising churches. We've
had it up to here. With prosperity gospels and
a feel -good sermon. Honey, if you leave here
with a goose bump and go home and say, boy, we
had church today. That's not enough for me. A
goose bump will come up and go back down. I want
the real thing. I want to experience. I want
to walk out of here drunk on the power of God.
I want to leave out of here full in my belly
that when I go out them doors, out of me is rivers
of living water to give unto the world. The world
needs somebody to stand up anymore and say sin
is sin. Hell is hell. And heaven is heaven. We
need a church to stand up with some backbone
anymore. Huh? We've got to have men and women
who will proclaim like Paul did to young Timothy.
Preach the word. Stop looking for a PowerPoint
to put on Facebook with your picture beside it.
Just simply put, preach the word. That's all
you got to do. That's all that's needed. Preach
the word. The church has got to make its mind
up today to stop blending in. Remember I told
you, it don't take you long to figure it out
that the church and the world are coming too
close to one another. That there's a lot of blending
going on. It's like we're in a blender anymore.
You can't tell who is who. You can't tell who
goes where and who's not. We've got to quit blending
in. God didn't call us to blend in. Huh? He didn't
call us to blend in. He said that we are a chosen
people. Right? We are a royal priesthood. We
are peculiar people. Right? That we are a little
bit different. We are a holy nation. That we
should show forth the praises of him that drawed
us out of darkness and into the marvelous light.
That's how you make the church and the world
look different. I'm one of those that was drawn
out of the darkness and exposed to the marvelous
light today. I want to look different in the
way I walk. I want to look different in the way
I talk. They'll say, oh, that man there, he's
full of the Holy Ghost. Oh, don't get close to
him. Oh, Lord. Remember those that counseled
there with Peter and John, and then they said,
surely they've been with the Lord. Oh, we can't
say anything else about them. They've been with
the Lord. My God. We've got to stop blending
in. He called us to be a church full of power.
He called us to be a church. Full of power. I'll
say it one more time. He called us to be a church
full of power. Why? Because the church started
out that way. It started out that way. It started
out with power. Right? I saw this and I had to
put it on here. Because when the church stops
blending in, God will start breaking in. Well.
When the church stops blending in, God will start
breaking in. Oh, for me today, I'm putting the
devil on notice today. We're not going to blend
it in. We're not going to quieten it down. I'm
not going to sugarcoat the Word today. I'm drawing
a line in the sand and say, Thus saith the Lord.
This is what the Word of God says. If you don't
like it, you talk to God about it. But this is
what the Word of God says. Let your yea be yea
and your nays be nays. This is the Word of God.
I'm putting him on notice. We ain't going to
be quiet, are we, sis? Huh? We're not going to
tone it down because we are going deeper. I'm
talking about deeper. Some of y 'all, when you
go to the ocean, you just get your little toes
in the sand. But that's not enough for me. I
want to go deeper. I want to go deeper and deeper
and deeper and deeper. Remember the disciples
when they were on that boat and the storm was
raging and they looked out there. Oh, Lord, it
must be a ghost. It's a spirit out there. But
the Lord said, come, come unto me. He didn't
say, peace be still, and then you come out here.
Or let me get over here where it's shallow air.
He said, come out to me. And Peter, the only
brave one that got out of the boat, amen. And
he began to walk. That's what he's talking about.
We've got to go deeper, deeper, deeper, deeper,
deeper in our worship, deeper in our prayer,
deeper in our Bible study, deeper in everything
that God has for us. Going deeper and deeper
and deeper. Going out further. The water that
flowed had a heat source to it. Anybody like
to take a cold shower? I didn't think so. I do.
Not all the time, but on occasion. I don't know
what it is, but it feels good sometimes. When
you come outside and it's hot, you get a good
cold shower, it's refreshing. But the water that
flowed from this temple had a heat source to
it. Because the Bible said that it came from
the east door. What comes in the east every morning?
The sun rises in the east every morning. That
tells me that the sun got up there and began
to heat that water. Oh, we got to have some heated
water. Some of you ladies in the house, you ever
work up on a Sunday morning and went to turn
on that hot shower and nothing. Hot water heater
went out. Uh -oh. And you said, oh, we got to
have some hot water. I can't do this. We got
to have some hot water. Why do you say that?
I'm saying that because a cold church will not
impact this world. We'll just be simply bumping
our guns, putting on another program, trying
to get folks in the house. A cold church won't
do anything to the world. But God is ready to
heat us up again by His Holy Spirit. A cold church
won't reach anybody. A cold gospel will never
convict anybody. John the Baptist there in the
River Jordan said, there's one coming after me
whose shoes I'm not worthy to let. He'll baptize
you in the Holy Ghost and with the fire. There's
an aspect of that to heat that water up, to get
it going. Let it be a warm water blowing through.
Amen. It's not a dead stagnant water, but it's
alive. I want to tell you today that... We may
be a lot of things. And there may be a lot of
things that we'll never be. But one thing about
it is we better be a church on fire. If we're
expecting to draw the lost, if we're expecting
to get the addict, then we better be a church
that's on fire. They better come in and see us,
pray, worshiping with all of our hearts. Oh,
and just magnifying God. Oh, they want to see
a church on fire. Oh, my Lord. Our young people
need a church on fire. They're the next generation.
Our children need to experience a church on fire.
Every time we start praise and worship, we got
to sing it with the fire. Every time we preach
the word. My prayer is, Lord, let me preach it
with fire. If I got one in the house and it's
my wife or a thousand, let me preach it with
fire and nothing less. Every time you pray, you
are to pray until the fire begins to fall. I'm
not talking about, Lord, I lay me down to sleep.
I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about
one of those little prayers you prayed when you
was a child. But I'm talking about a prayer when
you go into that room and you shut the door behind
you and you turn that little lock and say, nobody
coming in because I've got to meet with the Lord.
I've got some prayer matters to talk about, and
I'm not coming out until something happens. I'm
not coming. If you hear the fire fall, don't
worry. Mom and Daddy's all right. We're just
praying down the fire. Oh, we're praying down
the fire. Let men and women of God come into
church ready with a heart of praise, with a heart
of worship, and a heart ready to pray. Pray down
the fire. Pray it down. Because for me, a little
smoke won't do it for me. I need the fire. Oh,
I need the fire today. Lord, let the fire burn
so hot. and intently that it's ever been today.
Oh, I need the fire. Did I come to the right
place today? Does anybody here, are you thirsty
today? Do you want the fire today? Do you want
to see it today? Do you want to see signs and
miracles and wonders? Do you want to see souls
saved? Do you want to see folks sanctified, baptized,
filled with the Holy Ghost? Do you want to see
it? Well, then you've got to be thirsty. You've
got to desire the fire. You've got to be thirsty
and desire the fire. There's got to be a fire.
There's got to be a fire. But the further Ezekiel
went, the deeper it got. Started out again ankle
deep. That's when you start walking in the Spirit.
That's the beginning of it. Then he got out in
the knee deep. That's where you start praying
in the Spirit. You're going deeper. Then the
water got up to his loins. That meant that he
was stronger in the spirit. Because if you've
ever been in water where it's up to your loins,
you've got to put forth a little bit of effort,
don't you? You've got to push forward. You've
got to strive to go a little bit further. You
can't just stand there, right? But you've got
to push forward. Then the water got so high that
he had to swim in it. This means that the water
becomes stronger than the person in it and carries
them away. Well. Lord, let me get in the swimming
water that the Spirit of God in the water just
flows me wherever he wants to. I'm not swimming
against the current. I'm not trying to get back
upstream. But let me get in the river. Let me
just begin to float down the river today and
let the Spirit of God touch us again. But we're
missing the mark. Too many are not seeing a deeper
and developing move of God in their lives. We've
often sacrificed depth for width. We're always
looking back. Hey, I've come that far. I've come
that far. I'm going to keep going. I'm just in
that ankle -deep water, so it's not really an
issue. I'm just going to keep walking. Yep, I've
come that much further. But that's not for me.
I'm not worried about how far I've come. I want
to go deeper than I've ever been before. I want
to go deeper in my relationship with the Lord
than I've ever been before. I'm 42 years old
and I hope in 43 I'm that much deeper than I
was this year. I want to go deeper and deeper.
I'm not satisfied with the ankle deep. I'm not
satisfied with the knee deep. I'm not satisfied
with the waist deep. But Lord, consume me and
let me swim in that river that is flowing from
your throne today. Hallelujah. We've got to go
deeper. We've got to go deeper and deeper and
deeper. Stand with me this morning. Hallelujah.
Remember, Jesus wasn't talking to everybody.
He was just talking to the thirsty folks. And
I believe because you're here today. Because
you showed up for church expecting and believing.
That tells me you're thirsty. That tells me you're
thirsty. Huh? We're not talking about just empty
folks. I'm talking about a thirsty folks. Huh?
It's one thing to be empty. But I want to be
thirsty. Oh, I want to be so parched like I am
right now. My Lord, I'm physically thirsty in
my soul. I usually have a bottle of water up
here. The pastor didn't even get me one. But
my Lord, I'm thirsty. But I can push that physical
thirst away. I'm more concerned about a spiritual
thirst. I'm ready once again for God to pour
it out on us one more time. Like Samson said,
tied to them pillars. Do it, Lord, one more time.
One more time, Lord, pour it out on us. Lord,
I pray that you would take that temple and begin
to immerse the water from every corner, every
crack, every crevice, and let it to flow out
on the Hopewell Church of God. And if anybody
is thirsty, you can come and get a drink. And
then when you leave this place, you'll be changed,
you'll be renewed, and you'll have a spirit of
living water flowing out of you. Woo! That's
why I sang this song. You won't leave here like
you came in Jesus' name because I'm hoping today
you'll get that river of living water. Are you
thirsty today? Anybody thirsty today? Come on,
meet me right up here if you're thirsty. I'm
not talking about empty. I'm talking about thirsty.
I'm talking about thirsty. I'm talking about
a desire that you've never had before. I'm talking
about thirsty. I'm talking about parts. I'm thirsty.
I'm thirsty. I'm thirsty for a move. My Lord,
it's hard to believe there's only one person
in this church that's thirsty today. My God,
if we ever want to see revival, the water's got
to flow past the altar. It's got to flow past
the altar. It's got to flow past the altar. If
you want to see your prodigals, if you want to
see your sons and daughters come, start to proclaim
it. Get thirsty about God. Get thirsty about
the river. Get thirsty. God for a fire to fall.
Oh, send the fire. Send the fire. Send the fire.
Send the fire. Send the fire today. Oh, Holy
Ghost. Oh, we've got to be thirsty. Oh, we've
got to be thirsty again. We've got to be thirsty.
It won't happen unless the church falls on its
knees and gets thirsty. Fire fire fire fire fire
fire