Ezekiel chapter 46, verse 19 through chapter 47, verse 12. This is the word of the Lord. And he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests. And behold, a place was there at the extreme western end of them. And he said to me, this is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering and where they shall bake the grain offering in order not to bring them out into the outer courts and so transmit holiness to the people. Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me around to the four corners of the court. And behold, in each corner of the court, there was another court. In the four corners of the court were small courts, 40 cubits long and 30 broad. The four were of the same size. On the inside around each of the four courts was a row of masonry with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. Then he said to me, these are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people. Then he brought me back to the door of the temple and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east, but the temple faced east. The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. And he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east. And behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits and then led me through the water, and it was ankle deep. Again, he measured a thousand and led me through the water, and it was knee deep. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, and it was waist deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, son of man, have you seen this? Then he led me back to the bank of the river, As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, this water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arab and enters the sea. When the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live. And there will be very many fish for this water goes there. that the waters of the sea may become fresh, so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea from En Gedi to En Eglayim. It will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the great sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh. They are to be left for salt. And on the banks and on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing. This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Our Lord and our God, we ask that you would open our mouths and feed us by this word, that your son may nourish and strengthen us, that we may grow in him. We ask in his name, Amen. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. The Lord is holy. The Lord is most holy. There is no one like him. There is no one above him or beside him. He is set apart from all things, for all things have been created by him. All things depend upon him. For in him we live and move and have our being. But he depends upon nothing. He is who he is. As he declared to the children of Israel, I am who I am. He does not depend upon us for his being, and he does not depend upon us for his joy. For he has joy within himself. We do not mean, as with certain men, the joy of one who prefers his own company. He is within himself a communion of joy. For this one God is a trinity of persons. This one God is a communion of persons. The Father in the Son and in the Spirit. The Son in the Spirit and in the Father. the Spirit and the Father and in the Son. In him is the fullness of joy. In him is the fullness of love. As the Father delights in the Son and in the Spirit. And the Son and the Spirit and in the Father. And the Spirit and the Father. and in the sun. The Lord did not create us because he was lonely. It did not create us because he needed something from us. Created us because it was his good pleasure to give himself to us. That we might share his joy, that we might learn his love. The end of our salvation is this very thing, to be brought into the life of God, that we might dwell with him and he with us, that we might be his dwelling place and he ours. But how can that be, that we would dwell in God and God would dwell in us? Perhaps we may imagine it as one dwelling in pure light. As that one dwells in that light, the light would dwell in him and even shine from him. And so it is with God as we dwell in his glory. His glory dwells in us and even shines from us. And is this not what we find in the temple that Ezekiel was shown? Ezekiel sees the Lord dwelling in this place, even though the highest heaven cannot contain him. even though this temple dwells within him, yet he is pleased to dwell within it. And as he is most holy, he dwells in its most holy place. But let us not be confused. The Lord is not most holy, because he dwells in the most holy place. That place is most holy because the Lord dwells within it. Whoever enters that place must share his holiness. They must be invited by him They must be anointed by him. They must be washed by him. They must be cleansed by him and clothed by him. In the Old Testament, this privilege was given to those who served him as priests. They served him in the holy places. And while they ministered to him, they dwelt in the holy places and they ate from his altar. They ate from his table. And near the end of Ezekiel chapter 46, we are told of the holy chambers where the priests were to boil the sin offering. and where they were to bake the grain offering in order not to bring those offerings out into the court and so transmit holiness to the people. But what does that mean to transmit holiness to the people? Why was that to be avoided? In the Old Testament, when one touches what is holy, one becomes holy. And with that, there are two possible results. One of those being death. We see that in the story of Utza, who touched the Ark of the Lord. And what happened? When he touched the Ark, he was struck dead. But the other result may be seen in something required of the priests. In the book of Leviticus, and even in the book of Ezekiel, we are told that when they left the sanctuary, when they left the holy places, they were to put off their holy garments. For whatever shares the holiness of that place, it is bound to that place. and it cannot leave that place. When one touches what is holy, it may be the case that he dies, or it may be the case that he is bound to the holy place and is not free to leave that place. But this brings us to a mystery. For as we come to Ezekiel chapter 47, we read of a river. A river that begins as a stream. A stream that flows from the temple. And in Ezekiel chapter 47, verse 12, we are told the source of this river. Its source is the sanctuary. Its source is the presence of the Lord. If food was not to be taken, from the holy places into the outer court, lest holiness be transmitted to the people. What are we to make of this water that flowed from the sanctuary and poured out of the temple itself as streams of water that become a mighty river? Ezekiel is not kept from those waters. He is led straight into them. He is led until they cover the whole of him, until they become so deep that he could no longer pass with water beneath him and water above him. in this water that flows from the sanctuary? Is it not also holy? Those who wash themselves in it, would they not then become holy? There is no question that the water is holy. We are told that this is not ordinary water. For we are told that wherever it goes, it brings healing and life. Whatever it touches is healed. Wherever it goes, everything will live. is the water of life. And see the trees that are nourished by it. These trees, they not only live, but they themselves become life-giving. As their roots firmly planted by the river, drink from its waters, their leaves do not wither, their fruit does not fail. Does the water give life so the fruit of those trees is ever new? Does that water bring healing So their leaves are for healing. The trees that are nourished by the water that flows from the sanctuary. They become like it. Nourished by the source of healing and life. They are not only healed. They do not only live. They themselves become for healing. they themselves become life-giving. And in this way, we may understand that the holiness of the sanctuary, in the end, it extends beyond the sanctuary. In the end, It reaches to the ends of the earth. See, whatever that water touches, it does not die, but is healed and lives. In this way, the entire world becomes a sanctuary and everything in it becomes holy. Now, we do not yet live in that world. We have said before that this vision will be fully known only in the new creation, in the world that is yet to come. That world that was revealed to the Apostle John when he saw the new heavens and the new earth. And there he saw the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God through the heavenly Jerusalem, with the tree of life on either side, yielding its fruit each month with leaves for healing. But though we ourselves await that day, Yet this vision of Ezekiel has been fulfilled in Christ. For as water flowed from the side of the temple, so water flowed from the side of Christ. And that water that flows from his side brings healing and life. We ourselves have seen that water. It's made known to us in the water of baptism. In baptism, we are washed in that water. In baptism, we are cleansed in that water. And by it, the holiness of Christ is transmitted to us, yet we do not die. Instead, we are healed. We are made alive. By us we become holy and are forever bound to the sanctuary. For we are forever bound to him. In baptism, we see the end of our salvation. For by it, the Spirit dwells within us, and we dwell in the Spirit. And as that Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, so we dwell in Christ, and Christ dwells in us. As Christ is the Son of the Father, as the Father, the Son are one. So we dwell in the Father, and the Father dwells in us. By this water that flows from the sanctuary, We are brought into the sanctuary. This water that flows from the most holy place. We are brought into the life of God. For God himself is the most holy place. By this water, we are brought into the communion of his life. By this water, we are brought into the communion of his love, into the communion of his joy. So consider again those trees. those trees firmly planted by the waters of this river. What's true of those trees must also be true of us. For we ourselves are like trees firmly planted in his house, nourished by the water that flows from his presence, strengthened by the water that flows from his side. As we drink from that water, we are nourished by it. We become like the one from whom it flows. By it, we are healed. We are not only healed, we then become for healing. By it, we are made alive. we are not only made alive, we become life-giving. For as those trees are always yielding their fruit, and as that fruit is for food, so we ought always be yielding the fruit of the Spirit. that others may be nourished by it. That others may be nourished by our love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. These things ought ever be new within us, always ready to be plucked by those around us. That by our lives, they may taste and see that the Lord is good. And as the leaves of those trees never wither, but are for healing. So our words must be for the same. The words that we speak should not wither those who hear them. They should instead be healed by them. For what we have breathed in, we must also breathe out. So our words should be words of grace and truth. That those who hear our words might hear him and be healed by him and flourish. beforehand. You have been saved for this purpose. Not only that you might receive a blessing, but that you might become a blessing. And what greater blessing do you have to give the blessing that you have received? And what is that blessing? It is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. May it dwell in you as you dwell in him. May you bear its fruit. Amen.