Progression in the Holy Spirit

In Ezekiel 47:1-5 (AMP) states:
Then he [my guide] brought me back to the door of the house [the temple of the LORD]; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house (temple) toward the east, for the front of the temple was facing east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by the way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was spurting out from the south side [of the gate]. 3 When the man went out toward the east with a measuring line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water that was ankle-deep. 4 Again he measured a thousand [cubits] and led me through the water, water that was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand [cubits] and led me through the water, water reaching the hips. 5 Again he measured a thousand [cubits]; and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be crossed [by wading].

This is telling us what will be in the Kingdom Age, but this is also what we, as Children of God, can experience now! Ezekiel is following Christ as He measures the waters that flow from the door of the temple through the altar.

The Man with the line in His hands is Christ Jesus. He has been instructing Ezekiel to follow Him, as we should now be following Him. In verse 1, the door mentioned is Jesus, as He is the source of everything that we will ever need, and the altar is the Cross, which is the means/way/avenue through which we receive. John 14:6 says no man can come unto the Father but by Me. Our access to God is through the Cross of Christ. Remember in previous blog posts, I stated that Jesus and the Cross should never be separated. When our Faith is not placed in the Cross of Christ, or we are not taught that this is where our Faith should be placed, we end up with what Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 11:4, which is another Jesus, another gospel, all backed by another spirit, which is NOT the Holy Spirit.

The waters mentioned in these scriptures symbolize the Holy Spirit. In verse 3, Ezekiel is brought through the waters to his ankles. As Ezekiel followed Christ as He continued to measure through the waters, in verse 4, the waters are now knee-deep. Jesus continues to measure the waters, and now the waters are loin-deep. In verse 5, the waters had become a River that he could not pass over—it’s open and never ends. The Spirit of God overtakes us, flowing into us.

At the time of initial Salvation (conversion), we are born into the Spirit; we are saved! Baptism with the Spirit is different, as it effects a surrender—we cease to resist and submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit (the power/right to make decisions and enforce obedience). We are told in Romans 8 of the law that governs how the Holy Spirit operates in our lives (see previous blog post). It is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus that has set us free from the law of sin and death. This Law that governs how the Holy Spirit operates in our lives is what Christ Jesus did to set us free from sin and death—dying on the Cross! This is how the Holy Spirit can freely work in our lives to bring about that which God has for us in His Word. So we must have our Faith (how we get anything from God) in the Cross of Christ (the parameter in which the Holy Spirit has authority to operate in our lives) in order for the Holy Spirit to be able to work “to enforce obedience” to the Will of the Father in our lives.

Once we have initial Salvation, ankle-deep in the water (the Holy Spirit), we continue to follow Christ into deeper water (deeper in the Spirit) to knee-deep. The knees depict prayer, looking to and total dependence on the Lord. It’s a deeper level of surrender in the Spirit unto the Lord. Here we are acknowledging Him in all our ways so that He might direct our paths (Proverbs 3:6). We aren’t looking to ourselves, abilities, or knowledge, but surrendering and depending completely on Him to direct us. We are depending (looking to/having our Faith in) what He accomplished on the Cross for us (knowing that this precious act, on our behalf, made everything possible). After understanding that we must depend on Jesus and what He has accomplished for us on the Cross, we are able to follow Christ into waters to the loins. Here we truly come to understand how the Holy Spirit works/operates in our lives, and it is by us exhibiting continued Faith in the Finished Work of the Cross. It is a law unto the Spirit, and He will not deviate from this law. It must be the Cross of Christ. If we have our Faith in anything other than the Cross of Christ, we are, in a sense, tying the hands of the Holy Spirit. This is why a lot of our prayers go unanswered; the object of our Faith is in the wrong thing. There must be only ONE object of our Faith, and that is the Cross of Christ.

These progressions of water lead us to a River that is vast and deep, where we cannot pass over. We surrender, and it begins to take over us and flow into us. So, as we follow Christ and progress in the waters—the Holy Spirit—from ankle-deep (Salvation/Conversion), to knee-deep (prayer and dependence), to loin-deep (understanding how the Holy Spirit is able to operate in our lives), to the River that we cannot pass, we are surrendering to the Spirit so that He might do that which ONLY He can do in our lives. This is all due to our Faith being properly placed in the Cross of Christ.

Imagine having the Holy Spirit operating at 100% of His Power in our lives... Mind-blowing!

1 Corinthians 1:18 states:
For the message of the Cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the Power of God.

We missed this important part—the Message of the Cross—or we forgot/left it behind; worse yet, we outright reject it. Satan has initiated his greatest weapon in the Church, and it is the removal of the preaching of the Cross of Christ from its pulpits! That which the Apostle Paul says we should preach is pretty much non-existent in most churches. There are millions sitting under ministries that do not follow the Word of God (The Bible) in preaching the Message of the Cross, who will probably end up in Hell! That’s a scary thought. When Christ returns, will He find Faith in the Earth? This is what Jesus Himself asked; not my words! He will be looking for Faith in what He accomplished on the Cross for all of us. We must depend on and understand what was accomplished on the Cross for us. Our Faith in the Cross of Calvary saved us, justified us, and daily sanctifies us.

I truly believe that God graces us in our ignorance. Some receive Christ as Lord and Savior, being led to the “ankle-deep waters,” and never progress in the Spirit—never moving past initial Salvation. Staying at the level where they think they are getting things from the Lord, but instead they are getting things by the arm of the flesh. Some never progress to their knees, where they pray and surrender in total dependence to the Lord; never reaching the understanding of how the Holy Spirit has the authority to operate in our lives—having our Faith in the Cross of Christ—God’s Plan, God’s Way! We were once ignorant of the true Way of the Father. If you are a reader of this blog, you now know that God’s Way is His Son’s (Jesus) Finished Work on the Cross at Calvary—Jesus’ Death, Burial, and His Resurrection. Again, the only way we get anything from God is our Faith, but that Faith MUST be in the right object. There is only One Way, One Truth, and One Life—it is the fact that Jesus’ precious sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary has afforded us EVERYTHING that God has for us. The Cross of Christ is the DOOR through which we must access to have the Holy Spirit working in our lives to receive all that the Father has for us.

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