A Pure River Of Life
Revelation 22:
"And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street
of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and
yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing
of the nations."
He
showed me a pure river of water of life, and that word life is the word "zoe", which means, the pure river that flows is the
life of God. This river flows from the throne, showing that it's God's life
flowing with authority. From the throne flows the pure river of water of life
that issues in the priesthood. You remember Jesus said "If any man thirst,
let him come to me and drink, for out of His innermost being shall flow rivers
of living waters representing the Spirit of God that shall flow out of your
innermost being.
The
throne of God is not outside of you. The throne is a spiritual realm that is
within you. The Apostle Paul told the Ephesians that we have been raised up
together and seated together with Christ in the heavenly places. We now operate
from the heavenly realm and not the earthly carnal realm. As we learn to speak
from this heavenly realm the earth will be subdued and the kingdom established
on the earth. At the present time the powers of darkness are beginning to shake
and fall with the appearing of Christ within His people.
The only thing
that will build the church is the divine life in humanity. Nothing else will
work. No amount of programs and committees, and no amount of teaching people in
an outward way to do outward things, nothing that has the stench of carnal religious work or reasoning's will
build the Church. The only thing that will build the church is when we receive
that divine flow of the spirit within. That will produce the fruit of the
spirit, love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, meekness, self-control. It’s
only by the divine life flowing out of us that will build the church, the city
of God.
When
we turn our hearts to the spirit within, this divine flow of the pure water of
life begins to flow. It is by the flowing of this river of life within that we
are transformed from one degree of glory to another. Jesus said if you believe
in me, out of your innermost being will flow the living water. So when we open
to God, the divine flow of His life begins to flows out of us. It is only that
pure flowing of His Spirit that builds the church. When you minister to
someone, if what is flowing out of you is the character of the Holy Spirit, the
fruit of the Spirit that has been grown within you, that is what builds the
church. Human nature can't love enough. Human nature cannot love the unlovely.
Human nature cannot love those who will not, or cannot conform to certain
patterns and rituals, and regulations. Many precious people have been hurt by
the church because of rejection of their lifestyles or many other things. It is
the love of Christ through us that will restore them to fellowship. It is the
love of God that will reach out and touch the hearts of those who have been
rejected by religion.
So
many of God’s people are still trying to contact God by reaching outside of
themselves, trying to touch God with the mind. We even sing songs like “Reach out and touch
the Lord as He goes by.” There is certainly nothing wrong with singing songs
like this but we must realize God is not just outside of us, but is the very
substance of our being. There comes a time when instead of reaching out to touch a God that is so abstract we begin to release the
divine life from the depths of our being. This brings change to us and to those
around us.
If
you've been regenerated, deep within your spirit there is a flowing river. In
that river is the tree of life that brings healing wherever it flows. Jesus
said, "I am the Life". The Tree of Life simply represents God as food
to man. Jesus said, John 6:35
“I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall
never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” John 6:57 “As
the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.”
Flowing
from the throne of God is a pure river, which is the Spirit of God that has
flowed from the throne of God into our very being. And that's why Jesus said,
"He that really believes in me," not intellectually, not one who just
believes that Jesus is and he lived, not one who just believes that Jesus died
on a cross, but he who truly believes in, adheres to, trusts, relies on me,
from that one, out of his innermost being will flow living waters. As we learn
how to release that which is already within us, that river is a flow that is
continually flowing from the throne of God through the spirit, into the church
of God, and flowing out as a fountain. It is a pure river of life; it's the
pure Spirit of God that's mingled with humanity, and that is for the healing of
the nation’s