In the opening verse of his prophecy, chapter
1, verse 1, Ezekiel tells us that the heavens were opened,
and I saw visions of God. Visions of God. From that point
on he proceeds to tell us how he saw visions of the Lord God
and his glory. When he gets to the final prophecy,
the final section of his prophecy, a man in chapter 33 stood by
him, a man whom he heard speaking out of the house of God, that
is, out of the heavenly glory, as the glory of God filled his
house. And there are men speaking from
the very throne of God. His voice, we are told, is as
the voice of many waters. And Ezekiel said in verse 3 of
chapter 43, the visions were like the vision that I saw by
the river Tiber, and I fell upon my face. That is, this is the
same thing that I saw back in chapter 1 and verse 1 when I
told you I had visions of God. Now, between the first vision
and the last, Ezekiel had seen visions of God in all of his
works, and he describes for us in great detail the various works
of God Almighty in this world throughout the ages of time. Let it be clearly understood,
Ezekiel certainly talks about the Babylonian captivity, he
certainly talks about the Jews being carried away into Babylon,
and the Jews being delivered from Babylon in the rebuilding
of the Temple, and all those things. But the picture described
here is not merely about those ancient Jews and about the ancient
Babylonian captivity, and the prophecy clearly is not. Let
me be stressed, because it's so commonly misunderstood. It is not about the restoration
of the Jews in time to come. This is a story of God's saving
grace. It is the visions of God that Ezekiel saw. That's the
thing that paramount. The other thing simply serves
the purpose of God's glory. That includes you and me. God's creation serves the purpose
of God's glory. That includes you and me, and
it includes everything else. He says, I fell upon my face
when I saw this. Now, when it comes to the end
of his prophecy, and behold the glory that awaits us. He looks
back over all God's wondrous works in time and declares that
the love of God for us in Christ is like waters to swim in, a
river that could not be passed over. Let's begin there. Chapter 47, verse 1. Afterward
he brought me again under 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 the right side of the house at the
south side of the altar. The waters flowed from the altar
of God, the place of sacrifice. Then brought me men out of the
way of the gate northward, and led me about by the way unto
the other gate, by the way that looketh eastward, the place where
our Lord Jesus went out of the city to the east, the place of
his sacrifice, the place where he bore our sins upon the truth.
And behold, there ran hot waters on the right side. And when the
man that had the lion in his hand went forth eastward, he
measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters.
The waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand
and brought me through the waters. The waters were to the knees.
Again, you measured a thousand and brought me through waters,
and the waters were to the Lord's respite. Afterward, he measured
a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass over, for
the waters were risen waters to swim in, a river that could
not be passed over." Now, hear me, my brother. Hear me, my sister. God's elect shall never pass
over the river of his immutable everlasting love. It is as immutable
as it is free. It is as unquenchable as it is
unpurchasable. That means God's elect shall
never perish. It will not happen. That means
redeemed sinners cannot be damned. That means once called by omnipotent
mercy, sane sinners can never be lost again under any circumstances
for any reason. But rather, every chosen redeemed
sinner, every sinner saved by God's almighty grace, shall forever
swim in the infinite rinks, infinite breaths, infinite depths, and
infinite heights of the waters of his everlasting love. Eternity shall be but the continual
swimming in these waters. Now, let's look at Ezekiel's
vision and see if we can get a full taste. Look in chapter 1. In this vision we have of God Almighty,
that is, any vision of God that results in us worshiping him,
any vision of God that results in repentance, any vision of
God that turns our hearts to him, must begin with the vision
of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We can never see the glory of
God anywhere. No man can see the glory of God
in providence. No man can see the glory of God
in judgment. No man can see the glory of God
in grace. No man can see the glory of God
anywhere until we have seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. And that's where John's vision
began in Revelation, that's where Isaiah's vision began in Isaiah,
and that's where Ezekiel's vision begins. And most importantly
for us, that's where our vision must begin. We know nothing of
God, nothing of God. We know nothing aright until
we see the glory of God in the face of his Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we don't have to read far
in this prophecy until we see it. First, the Prophet tells
us that he saw a great cloud and fire unfolding itself, and
it restored. I looked, and behold, a whirlwind
came out of the north. God the Holy Spirit, the wind
of heaven, blows upon the sinner. And a great cloud and a fire
enfolding itself. Sound familiar? Sounds a little
like what Moses saw when the Lord spoke to him out of the
bush. It sounds to me like what Daniel saw, it sounds to me like
what John saw, it sounds to me like what the children of Israel
saw as they made their way through the wilderness. A fire enfolding
itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst
thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Then he saw our Lord personified in four living creatures in verses
5-14. I've shown you on several occasions that these living creatures,
they're the same that Isaiah saw in Isaiah 6, they're the
same that John saw in Revelation 4, these living creatures are
clearly representative of gospel preachers, those who bring the
word of God to us. But there is in them a beautiful,
clear, instructive picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, also the
messenger of God, whom his messengers declare. Ezekiel saw the charism
that had the likeness of a man. Each had four faces, the face
of a lion, the face of an ox, the face of a man, and the face
of an eagle. Now, wherever these cherubim
are mentioned in the scripture, we saw in the reading Bob the
Hedge just a little bit ago in Psalm 99, wherever they are mentioned
in the scriptures, they are either guarding or declaring God's holiness. And wherever in the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ is God's holiness more fully displayed
and declared. He is the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, the King who has prevailed and has the right to reign. He
is like the ox, the beast of service, Jehovah's righteous
servant. He said that he did not come
to be ministered unto, but to minister, to serve, and to give
his life for rest and for many. And blessed be his name, he is
a man. The Word made flesh, dwelling
among us, so he is the perfect man. Beyond that, he soars higher
than any other, like the eagle. He looks directly into the face
of God with unblinking eyes, because this man is more than
a man. This man is himself God Almighty,
one with the Father. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was made flesh. And I'm starting again with the
Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the
Word was made flesh, and we beheld in him the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Ezekiel's
vision of the Lord prepared him as one of those living creatures
to preach God's Word to perishing sinners. And throughout this
book, this phrase constantly is repeated. Ezekiel said this,
I think, more than any of the other prophets. The word of the
Lord came to me. The word of the Lord came to
me. The word of the Lord came to
me. This was his authority, and this recurrence constantly forms
the divisions of the book. Another phrase that appears frequently
is, they shall know. They shall know that I am the
Lord. In other words, Ezekiel, I am
doing what I'm doing, and I am sending you to a people who will
not hear you. I'm sending you to declare my
wondrous work, and when I get done, everybody shall know that
I am the Lord. My people, whom I save by my
grace, And my foes whom I will overthrow in my righteous fury,
they shall know that I am the Lord." Then look at verse 26. He saw Christ on his throne,
the exalted King of kings and Lord of lords, ruling over all
things, just as Isaiah did before him, just as John did after him.
The man upon the throne, in this 26th verse, cannot be anyone
else. Above the firmament that was
over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance
of a sapphire stone. And upon the likeness of the
throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon
it, the Lamb rising up out of the midst of the throne, the
Lamb as it had been slain, that Lamb before whom all creatures
shall at last bow and say, Thou art worthy to receive praise
and honor and glory. We recognize in this vision a
prophetic announcement of our Lord's incarnation, but there
is more. There is here a prophetic announcement of our Lord's exaltation.
The points of similarity between this vision that Ezekiel has
of God, this vision of God, and the vision that God gave to John
in the book of Revelation are striking and remarkable. There
are at least 80 similarities, at least 80 points of similarity
between the prophecy of Ezekiel and the word given in Revelation
by the Holy Spirit to the Apostle John. Ezekiel saw a throne set
in heaven. And one sat on that throne who
was a man. Both John and Ezekiel saw around
the throne a rainbow, the token of God's covenant. First thing
John saw, he was lifted up into heaven and he said, I saw a bow
and behold a throne. And then he saw a rainbow around
the throne. That's what Ezekiel saw, the
token of God's covenant. Now hear me, in case I forget
to say it when we get to chapter 36. Everything God does. Everything God does. He does because of that covenant. Nothing comes to pass except
that which is brought to pass by God who sits upon the throne. And nothing is brought to pass
by our God except that which is according to the stipulations
of the covenant made between the Father and the Son as our
purity before the world began. They both had a vision of burning
lamps of fire, that is, of God the Holy Spirit and of the living
creatures, whose sound was the sound of many waters. And to
both John and Ezekiel was given the role of a book. John saw
it in chapter 5. He saw it again in chapter 10,
in the hands of the Lamb, the angel, who stood with his feet
upon the earth, and his feet upon the earth, and one foot
on the water, and he's here holding the book in his hand. Ezekiel
is made to eat this book, and then go and prophesy. Now this,
said Ezekiel, was the appearance, look at it, chapter 1, verse
28. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of
the Lord. This was the appearance of the
likeness of him who in our time was made flesh and dwelt among
us, that one in whom we behold the very glory of God. It is
the sight of Christ crucified that saves us. It is the sight
of Christ crucified that gives us faith in him. But the sight
of Christ crucified is the sight of Christ on his throne. There is no knowledge of Jesus
Christ. There is no saving faith in Christ.
There is no knowledge of the living God, except as we behold
him, the crucified man, who satisfied the justice of God for us, now
seated upon the throne of God, accepted as our substitute. That throne of God is the mercy
seat. The throne of God is the place
of perpetuation, the place where the sacrifice is accepted, where
God shows his glory. And we are brought to faith in
Christ only when we are convinced that our sin has been put away
by the satisfaction of divine judgment. There is set the substitute
who put away our sin. He's the Lord of all, to whom
God has given dominion and power over all flesh. Ezekiel himself
portrayed and typified the Savior. If you turn to chapter 4, you
see in this chapter that the Lord God gave Ezekiel his message. He sent his prophet to the nation.
He was sent to warn them of wrath and impending judgment. But in
the midst of the warning, he gave a picture of hope. Ezekiel
is required here to lay on his side. First on his left side
for 390 days, and then on his right side for 40 days. Each
of the 390 days representing 390 years of Israel's stubborn
rebellion, turning continually to idolatry. Sitting up cast
from Dan and Bethel, the 40 days on his right side represent the
40 years of idolatry in Judah under Manasseh's wicked, idolatrous
reign. Ezekiel is required to lay on
his side as one man bearing the sins of many. and bury them to
the full extent of their just punishment. Ezekiel, you lay
down there and you bear the sins of my people. The Lord Jesus
Christ, God's dear Son, was made to be sin for us, made to bear
our sins in his own body on the cursed tree, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Then in chapters 4, 5
and 6, this is what he declares. God will punish sin. He will by no means clear the
guilty. He will punish the transgressor.
He will honor his holy law and punish you for your sins. No man is going to escape the
wrath of God. No man is going to escape the
judgment of God. He will either punish your sins
to the full satisfaction of his holy justice in the person of
a substitute, until sin is fully put away. For he will punish
your sins in you, and the everlasting torment of your soul in that
horrible pit called hell." When we get to the 8th verse of chapter
6, the Lord in wrath remembers mercy. promises that some indeed
shall escape his wrath through the sacrifice of the substitute. In verse 8 he tells us that a
remnant shall escape. In verse 9 he says when they
escape they shall remember me. And then he says they shall acknowledge
their sin, and they shall loathe themselves. Then in verse 10,
they shall know that I am the Lord. They shall be made to know
who I am. And then Ezekiel saw God's God give us eyes to behold the
wonder of his providence. When Ezekiel saw the glory of
God upon the mercy seat in the face of Christ in his sacrifice,
he saw that the God of glory is a God of absolute, unalterable
purpose, and he executes that purpose in his daily covenants,
fulfilling his will always, in all places, in all things, with
all his creatures. In verses 15 through 25, he gives
us this vision of wheels. The wheels of divine providence. Many wheels in one big wheel. And they are all moving at all
times, but moving in one straight direction. Moving exactly according
to the purpose of God. Moving neither to the right hand
nor to the left. Now hear me, and hear me well.
God Almighty never changes or alters His purpose, not for a
second, not anywhere. Or sometimes it appears that
he does. When Hezekiah was warned of death, the Lord sent his prophet
back after Hezekiah prayed and had him fifteen years to his
life. But God hadn't changed. God hadn't changed. When the
Lord God said he repented of him concerning the fact that
he had made man, it is but a human expression describing God Almighty
in his anger and wrath toward men because of their sins. God's
purpose didn't change. God's purpose didn't change.
The scriptures speak of us praying and seeking the Lord for many
things, and we seek him for his mercy. But God's purpose doesn't
change. God's purpose includes the prayer
that causes his grace to come upon us, and he sees his grace
upon us that causes us to pray. God doesn't change at all. When
men do this or that, and they receive the exact wages of their
transgressions. Are men turned to God in faith,
looking to him for grace and mercy, and receive his salvation? God's purpose doesn't change.
He is but accomplishing exactly what he willed from eternity,
the wills of providence are like many, many years in one great
wheel, one great piece of machinery, running from the decree of God
from eternity, through the ages of time, through the course of
history, never varying, not turning to the left, not turning to the
right, but running straight toward the throne of God's glory in
eternity to come, when men everywhere shall know and confess, I am
the Lord, and he will show forth in you. the exceeding riches
of his grace, and the glory of his great name." God's providence
is ruled by the hand of that man, in verse 26, who sits upon
the throne. And it is ruled, as I showed
you a little bit ago, through the bow of God's covenant. This
was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, Ezekiel
says. And when I saw it, I fell upon
my face. Oh God, teach me not to argue
with your providence, not to murmur with your providence,
not to complain with your providence, but to follow my face and worship
my God who does all things well and does them all just for me.
Just for me. Then in chapter 3, Ezekiel sets
before us a picture of God's grace. Here he seems to be describing
his own experience of grace. He was one who was raised up,
as it were, from the dead. Look at verse 1. He said unto
me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet. He's falling down as one
day. The Lord kills and the Lord makes
alive. Stand upon thy feet and I will
speak. And the Spirit entered into me
when he spake unto me. and set me upon my feet." Isn't
that good? He said, Stand up! Stretch forth your hand! But
he can't stand, he's dead! He can't stretch forth his hand,
he's withered! He came with the Spirit in his
hand to him and set him on his feet. And I heard him that spake
unto me. And then the Lord spoke and made
him a prophet, a prophet to a rebellious people. He saw a hand The very
same hand that John saw holding the book. The very same hand
that John saw take the book. Not ask for it, but take it,
and one who had the right, because he's the Lion of the tribe of
Judah who prevailed to take the book, and to loose the seals
thereof. It's the hand of the Lamb of God. The man sitting
on the throne. A hand to help him. A hand to
guide him. A hand to protect him. It is
a hand to help you. to guide you, to protect you. It is an omnipotent hand, an
omnipotent hand that has been pierced by the wrath of God Almighty
when it was made to bear our sins. You saw a book, the same
book John saw, It is the book of God's eternal purpose, no
question about that. It had been written on the front
side and back, inside and out, nothing left, not a spare space
in the book, but it was sealed with seven seals until the Lamb
who had been slain takes the book and opens the seals, and
it is Christ the Lamb of God who fulfills all the purpose
of God. God required Ezekiel to do something
in verses 1, 2, and 3. He required him to eat the book. Eat the book? Tear out pages
of the book and eat it? No, no, no. Eat the book. That is who requires and demands
that you and I bow to his purpose. And if we're His, He's going
to see to it that we bow. He's going to see to it. Oh,
yeah. God forgive us. God forgive me. I murmur a lot. I try never to
let you see it, but I gripe a lot. I gripe a lot. What a horrible
shame. But if I'm His, He'll teach me
to bow to His purpose. He'll teach me to want things
just the way He does them, exactly as He does them. You see, God
demands that we be reconciled to Him, absolutely reconciled
to Him. Reconcile to him as God. Reconcile to his will. Reconcile
to his purpose. Reconcile to his way. He didn't
just tell Ezekiel to eat the book. In verse 2, he made him
eat it. Aren't you thankful? You would never bow to God's
will when it cost your will if he didn't make you bow to his
will. It never happened. He made him
eat it. And when he had eaten the book, he says, once I got
a taste of this thing, once I was reconciled to God, it was sweet. It was sweet. And when we are
at last fully reconciled to our God in the perfection of heaven's
glory and see As we cannot see now the wonder of his wisdom and
goodness in all the affairs of our lives, it will be as sweet as honey
to our souls forever. We will see that our God has
done exactly what he would, and what he would was for our everlasting
good and his glory. This man, this prophet, he's
a man made strong by God. Paul said, when I'm weak, when
I'm strong, he's a man who receives all God's word into his heart.
He's a man moved and motivated and consumed with God's glory.
Ezekiel was said throughout this book, God says, you go lay on
your side. Okay, I'm going to lay on my
side. Give me an explanation. Go lay on your side. You meet
your bed by measure. You drink water when I tell you
to. Don't drink when I tell you not to. You go here. When your
wife dies, the loved one of your heart, when she dies, Don't you
murmur and don't you weep, these people are watching you! You
show them that you're a man who belongs to me, reconciled to
me." Ezekiel, this prophet, is a man
made to be a watchman over the souls of men. A man shut up to
the will and glory of God. Here is Ezekiel's experience
of grace. And that's a pretty good description
of ours. He gives us two more that stand out in my mind in
this prophecy. You can read them at your leisure.
In chapter 16, he says, Now this is the house
of Israel. You were naked, cast out in your
mother's womb. Nobody cared enough about you
to cut your navel. Nobody cared enough about you
to wash away the pollution of your blood. Nobody cared enough
about you to even cover you up where you lay. A rotting mass of flesh. I hear people talk about it as
a The Lord passed by and saw that baby and hurried up there
and cried, No, the baby was dead, long dead, polluted, corrupt,
vile, cast off, unwanted! And he said, Then I passed by
thee, and behold, thy time was the time of love. And I spread
my sweat over thee, and I said unto thee, Yea, I said unto thee,
live, and thou becamest mine. That's exactly what God does
for chosen sinners at the time of his love. He comes where you
are, spreads over you the skirt of Christ's righteousness, and
speaks life to your soul. And you live. You live. And he puts the ornaments of
his grace on you, and crowns you, and puts an earring in your
ear, puts a necklace on your neck, bracelets on your arms,
and a crown on your head, and says, You're beautiful. You're
beautiful. Beautiful through my comeliness,
as I put a fun name. In chapter 37, the Lord takes
Ezekiel to Valley of Dry Bones, a place where there'd been a
battle a long time ago. Long before Ezekiel was born,
those bones had been out in the field so long that they were
separated, and they were parched, and they were dry. And the Lord
said, Ezekiel, what do you think? He said, I see a whole bunch
of bones. Looks like somebody was slaughtered here a long time
ago. And he said, Ezekiel, can these bones live? Can these bones live? If it's left up to them, no.
If it's left up to me, no. If it's left up to anything outside
the throne of God, no. But Ezekiel didn't think like
that. He said, Lord, you know. You know. And the Lord said,
prophesy these bones. What? Prophesy these bones? How come? Because that's just
the shape we're in. Our whole race has been scattered
across the valley of time. have scattered for a long time
because of the war that took place back in the Garden of Eden,
and we have been dead a long time, no sign of life in us,
no sign of life in us, until God sends a prophet and speaks
the word of his grace and says to dry bones, And he says, prophesy
now from your spirit, call for the wind of heaven to come, and
watch the wind blow upon these bones. What do you do with them?
Nothing. Nothing? How do you talk to them? Oh, but if God sends his spirit
with his word, watch the bones stand as a living, mighty army
before God. That's a picture of God's grace.
Then in chapter 7 through 10, And in the ensuing chapters,
until you get all the way over to the end of the book, Ezekiel
deals with judgment. Judgment. Judgment upon Judah. Judgment
upon Israel. Judgment upon Egypt. Judgment
upon Tyre and Sidon. Judgment upon Babylon. Judgment
upon Assyria. Judgment upon Gog and Magog.
You mean picture that? Those things that symbolize the
great battle between God's church and this world, the great opposition,
the whole world raises up against God's people. Those things that
symbolize Antichrist and the violence of war against the little
city called the Jerusalem of God. You mean all of them? are
brought to exactly where God would have them, and brought
to the exact end God ordained for them, that's exactly what
this is. That's exactly what this is. Don't fret about Antichrist
and the great war at the end, the great battle of Armageddon.
Don't fret about them, children of God, don't fret about them.
God's already bitten the hand. Babylon's going to fall. Babylon
is going to fall. And Christ shall yet through
his word in his church. That means we're going to prevail.
That means Babylon, God, and Magog, Tyre, and Sidon, Egypt,
none can stand against God's people. His church, the very
gates of hell can't stand against it. You understand that? But
the judgment of God that falls upon the nations of the world,
that which fell upon Israel, and that which falls upon the
nations is just. It is just. God says over and
over again, therefore, therefore. As a matter of fact, he compares
in chapter 22, I believe it is, he compares Israel and Samaria
to two women. He says they were both mine.
They were both mine. And they're both whores. They've
given their sails utterly to idolatry. And the Jews who despised the
Samaritans had behaved worse than the Samaritans themselves.
Their idolatry is even more vile. The Jews took Temas and set that
lifeless idol in the very house of God. and offered sacrifice
to tables in the house of God. And God says, therefore, therefore,
I will cut you off, and I'll use Babylon to do it. And you
shall be utterly consumed, the whole nation consumed. This judgment is just. Now hear me, We recognize God's purpose, we
recognize God's sovereignty, we recognize God's decree. I'm
not about to back up to make it sound better to any man. And I understand this too. You're
not going to hell because of God's decree. No man's going
to hell because of what Adam did in the garden. But in the
18th chapter of Ezekiel, the Lord says twice, the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. Men and women perish under the
wrath of God because of their own transgressions. But the judgment
is preceded by a great separation. This judgment, we are told in
chapter 8, verses 3 through 6, is preceded with a man clothed
in white linen, the Lord Jesus Christ, with an acorn in his
hand, who was sent to put a mark upon the foreheads of God's chosen
inmate. He says, as we read in Revelation
7, hurt not the earth until the 144,000 had been sealed in their
foreheads. In other words, judgment shall
not fall upon God's earth until God's elect have all been saved
by his grace. till all is real is saved. And
this judgment, chapter 10, will be executed by the hand of the
Mediator, that very same Mediator we call the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the glory of the Lord went
up from the cherubim, and stood over the threshold of the house.
And the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was
filled with the brightness of the Lord's glory. And the sound
of the cherubim's wings was heard, even to the outer court, in the
voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. And it came to pass,
when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, take
fire from heaven, from between the wheels, between the cherubs. Then he went in and stood beside
the wheels, and one cherub stretched forth his hand from heaven, and
the cherubs unto the fire that was between the cherubs. And
he took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed
with linen, who took it and went out. The Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment to the Son. In that day, men and
women who have despised the Lamb will cry for the rocks and hills
to fall upon them, crying out, Save us and hide us from the
face of the Lamb. Now, look at chapter 20 and see God's covenant. I've
been telling you this throughout the message. All God's works,
both in the judgment of his enemies in time and in eternity, and
in the saving of his people in time and to eternity, is the
result of a covenant made with Christ before the world began.
In the experience of grace, the Lord God brings his people into
the bond of the covenant. As I live, saith the Lord God,
surely, with a mighty hand, with a stretched-out arm, and with
fury poured out, I will rule over you, and I will bring you
forth, bring you out from the people, and will gather you out
of the countries wherein you are scattered, with a mighty
hand, with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out. And
I'll bring you at last into the bond of the covenant. I'll seal
to you the covenant of my grace. And then in chapter 36, he describes
that work more fully. He tells how he'll put a new
heart in us, take away the heart of stone, pour out his spirit
upon us, cause us to keep his judgments, cause us to dwell
in the land, says you should be my people and I should be
your God. And then he says, I will save you from all your uncleanness. Let me see if I can find that,
in chapter 36. Here it is, verse 25. Then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your
filthiness, and all your idols will I cleanse you. When the Lord gets done, When
his work is finished, we will be cleansed, entirely, fully,
forever cleansed from all the idols we have cherished in our
hearts, from all the filthiness of sin and all the consequences
of it, forever. forever, so that we will forever
stand in the presence of God Almighty in his house, in his
temple, in his New Jerusalem. And when we are forever in his
presence, and he forever in our presence. we shall rejoice in
him and he shall rejoice in us forever swimming in the river
of the waters of his infinite love from which he would not
allow us to pass rejoicing in his goodness And that which was desolate shall
be fruitful. As the river flows from the throne
of God, from the place of sacrifice, that river constantly flowing
to our souls, that river flowing out from the very Lamb of God
himself, wherever the river is, there's nothing but vegetation,
corn and barley and trees and pasture. Rich, rich, richness
for our souls. all the desolation of sin gone
forever. And I'll tell you the name of
that place. Look in the very last sentence of the last chapter. Verse 35, the very last sentence.
Here's heaven. Here it is. Here it is. The name of the city From that
day shall be Jehovah Shabbat. What's that mean? The Lord is
there. The Lord is there. is there.