Going Deeper (Pastor Brandon)

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

Ezekiel 47 · chapter mention Ezekiel 47 · chapter mention

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

Ezekiel 47 · chapter mention

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

John 7 · chapter mention

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

John 7 · chapter mention

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

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

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