On The Other Side of The Water | Student Pastor Zach Hammond
by Zach Hammond
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Ephesians 5:26-27, James 1:22-24, 1 John 2:19, Psalm 119:9-11, 2 Kings 16:17-19, Ezekiel 47

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/zach-hammond--on-the-other-side-of-the-water
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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you remain standing for just a few moments we're going to turn to ephesians chapter number 5 and verse number 26 ephesians chapter 5 and verse number 26 what an amazing uh weekend it has been with the curtis family uh brother aaron sister emily curtis we're so honored to have them with us today great friends of mine for a long time even before i was married i guess before i was here i i've told people the story i don't even know if i've i've told brother curtis this before but i i credit brother aaron curtis to saving me from being deaf um i used to play drums growing up and when i met him i was with uh with brother ryan johns out of atlanta and for some reason i was playing drums and we met in chattanooga and i remember he gave me this 15 to 20 minute spill on what it meant to to have in-ears and properly how to do it and i was up there banging on cymbals and he was talking to me about decibels and how this thing was affecting me and i he introduced me to a lady that was an audiologist that um it just i i honestly probably would not be able to hear anything today if i would have continued down the path i was on so he is um not just a friend but he is um an exceptional musician but he is um probably one of the most intelligent guys you'll ever sit down and talk to about when it comes to the audio world and uh music and theory and all those things so we're honored to have them today and just great people it's good to have the has already been mentioned the guards of family and just so many different ones i think i saw sister atkins here today and so atkinson is so good to see you we're looking around we have a lot of guests that are coming through either this morning or tonight for strong tower youth camp and we're just excited we took 2020 off not by our own will but because god saw fit and we just believe that 2021 is going to absolutely blow the roof off of that place we already have in attendance they don't have any more beds for us we are in the air mattress mode and just trying to make everything happen and we're just believing that the lord is going to supply amen ephesians chapter 5 and verse number 26 that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish pretty much sums up what we're here to do today right the church the bride of christ we've come to wash ourselves with the word with the infallible word of god today that when we sung about it this morning that when he calls the church home when he calls his bride home that we're going to show up without spot without blemish without any defects without any flavor of the culture around us we're going to show up as a righteous a holy a pure bride that's been washed by the water i want to preach to you for just a few minutes this morning on this topic on the other side of the water on the other side of the water if you lay your bibles down and lift your hands to heaven let's ask the lord to speak to us today god we love you i thank you so much for what you've already done in this room i thank you for every man woman boy and girl that's made their way to the house of the lord today god that you have inhabited this place today and i believe without a doubt that you are not finished here today god that you have a word that you have uh given me and that i would speak god to you god that you would speak uh to your people today through me god that you would anoint this vessel o god today god it's not by my power my might but by your spirit today that i would uh do my best to uh to to communicate to the body to edify the body with the word today god i pray that you would move in this place and we we give you all glory and honor and praise today and could you one more time before you're seated just in the amen of a prayer could you clap your hands to the lord today god we exalt you we worship you and we lift you up today amen amen amen god bless you today you can be seated on the other side of the water we understand in scripture as i uh build a foundation for a few minutes it's the water that stands between god's people and the next level that god has for them in so many instances in the bible on the other side of the water is always a promise a miracle a land a move of god god uses water to divide the land in the very beginning of our book god uses water to start over because the earth has become wicked when noah finds grace the bible says eight souls were saved by water the water drowns but the water also delivers god uses water to float moses into pharaoh's court while he was trying to use it to destroy a generation by demanding every firstborn be thrown into the river a mother does just that because god's water not only destroys but it delivers god when he divides the water to allow his people to walk from captivity to freedom on dry land behind moses and his word pharaoh had a second thought on letting his people go so once again the water delivers but the water also destroys we already see the dual nature of the water or the dual nature of the word that it also edifies it delivers but it also drowns some things out it also destroys some things that is the goal of the word of god what the adversary was going to use to try to kill you will be the very thing that god uses to deliver you the greatest adversary of the church today is not necessarily hollywood or the devil the greatest adversary of the church are those who once went through the water that once were baptized in his name that once read the truth and now believe a lie if anything deters christianity today as the the movement of hypocritical christians in the united states claim to be christian the statistics are high but the attributes and the morals of christians are very low if you look at the state of the united states so it makes sense that pharaoh what you tried to drown us with will be the very thing that god delivers us with that what's coming against us today as the last days and the church that's standing for god what we're fighting most is the same thing that's going to deliver us if we learn what the water does today we understand that if we truly get an understanding of the word of god and the power of the word of god today it's going to be very simple the topic today and the principle and the application but if we open our eyes to what the water does today i believe without a doubt that we can see a great move that we can see a great revival that we can have less depression that we can have less divorce that we can have less counseling sessions that we can have less uh medicated christians that that claim to have all kinds of fear and anxiety and issues i believe that if we truly get to the water today and we understand what happens in the washing of the word of god that some things can change on the other side of the water what we need today church what you need today father mother young person today is on the other side of the water there are some things that you're fighting today that maybe nobody else in this room knows about that can be fixed that can be taken care of if it's just left in the water the water is established today to either drown or deliver you it really determines where you're going on what on how the water really affects you it really determines today not only where you're going but who you're listening to on what the water is doing to you today some people aren't at church today because they don't want to hear what the word has to say about their life the water is suffocating them the water the word drowns them when they come into the house of god so they would rather find some extracurricular activity or take an extra job that works them through the weekend because they don't want to come be drowned in by the word you can't can't help but think through all the instances that god uses water and some are on the beneficiary side and some are scraping the side of a boat trying to get in where god found just eight souls that would listen to the word the water divides us today from the next level so god's people they get out of bondage through the water the scripture says completely surrounded by water and they set up a tabernacle for worship a place of meeting that god could be in their midst where we see the same three steps that we see in the gospel in the book of acts as the plan of salvation of blood water and spirit they established what they call the tabernacle plan the this tent of meeting in the and then god's people have to go through this process of the altar the laver and getting into the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant would sit this laver this place of the water it's the place they went to before they went into the presence of god because there's always the presence and the move and the anointing and all the things we want as christians the benefits and the promises and the signs and the wonders and miracles are all on the other side of the water what we want what we desire if you're sitting in this room today you've expressed enough interest in god to know that you want what's on the other side of the water most christians don't really love this side they don't really love the altar the bloody the repentance those things but we really want what's on the other side of the labor we love the move we love the experience we love the benefits we love the expression and and we everybody you you have a healing crusade you have a move of god uh and everybody wants to come right everybody wants to see it everybody wants to experience but i'm here to present to you something that i feel like is happening in our world today and it's happening sadly in the church and that is when the priests left the bloody place the altar where they had sacrificed which represents repentance for us they left the altar and some went to now the place of washing and what you've got to understand is when they came to that laver and forgive my poor illustration of this bird bath today but if they came from the altar they looked a mess and i know it's hard for us to even paint this picture but blood everywhere they've just strapped down some kind of animal to this altar and tied it down and cut its throat and sacrificed it unto god just like we come to this altar and if we're honest a lot of times it gets pretty messy a lot of times we bring some things to this altar that's just between you and god and maybe even your spouse or maybe even your kids or your coworkers or those people closest to you don't realize what you're fighting to keep yourself on an altar because it gets messy it gets bloody you have to ask god to forgive you for some things that you would be ashamed to speak out loud but you get honest with god and you get to a place after that point you come to a place of the water and what happens here is what i hope that you get the revelation and your eyes open to today is when the priest came and when you come today to the water there is still residue of repentance on you this is what the lord showed me as many times we get repentance and god forgives us of our sins which repentance means that i was going one direction and god forgave me and i turned around and began a new path with god headed in the right direction and that's powerful it's extremely powerful what god does at an altar you've got to have an altar if you're going to make it with god you've got to have the fire of the altar to even use in the holy of holies i am not mistaking the power of the altar today but here's one thing we've got down pat is the altar especially in this church i'll close out this sermon today just like we close out a sermon every service and when we make an altar call it's full and you come down and you pray and tears well up and you shout and god forgives you but then i fear that there's many times that god forgave you of things in repentance that do not truly get consistently remitted because we've mistaken the water as a one-time experience of getting in the water and being baptized in the name of jesus which we know is essential for salvation but the remission of sins is something that constantly has to take place because just as much as repentance put puts me going the right direction remission put sin going the right direction remission turned sin around you ever heard anybody that had cancer in their body and they said the cancer is in remission it means that it's not going this direction it's going it's not growing it's going the opposite direction so if you could see this picture that god gave me just this past month and just studying that we begin the right path and many times people just want to walk right past this and walk right on to the holy ghost because i was baptized when i was eight years old i was baptized when i came into the church and we don't realize the power of the water and we get frustrated because we don't have access to what's on the other side of the water but we didn't truly wash off the residue some of you are trying to walk into the holy of holies with the blood from the altar on you you've got the res hear this with me some of you are forgiven but you have not forgiven yourself because that happens at remission you say i can't get over what god's gotten over i can't get past what god's already dealt with i can't god forgave you but you're still a little bitter god forgave you but you've still got some problems god forgave you but you they've done me wrong yeah you've got to wash that blood off you've got to wash those problems off you've got the residue of what god's done but right here's where i take care of it myself i've got to take some action i've got to get to the water i want to present to you present to somebody in the house of the lord today that the word of god is what you need you have repented you have a why you you you've got some blood on your hands you've done what god asked you to do but you still have the residue of what god has forgiven you of it's so powerful today we want a moving of god we want the stirring of god we want revival but i'm telling you it's on the other side of the water the spirit's coming it's on the other side of the water there's a new level for this church on the horizon but it's on the other side of every single person falling in love with the word of god there's a new demonstration there's a new anointing for you young man there's a new anointing for you father for you mother but it's a demonstration it's an anointing that's on the other side of the water this watering place for the priest this brazen laver was made of bronze and this is so powerful to me and i hope you tie this back to ephesians 5 26 where we started today but they brought this bronze laver in to this tabernacle this place of meeting with god and the way that they made this because god had trained them to make things to build things in egypt but they were only really unable to make the things for the tabernacle with what they brought out of egypt and it says when you begin to study this that they took the bronze looking glasses or in our terminology the bronze mirrors of the women and melted down the mirrors of the women to make this looking glass of a labor so we see here that this all teaches us so many things the labor was formed by the giving of the image of the woman or you and i know as the bride of christ the image of the church today is in the washing of the water what this church should look like is all dependent upon what the word of god says right so here's the question i have for you today is to be a part of the church to make it to make sure that you're in the boat can you give your image can you give what you want to look like for what the church needs to look like can you give your image for his a young lady woman of god today who is it that you're trying to please young lady do you care more about pleasing god or the lustful desires of the men of this world do you care more about social media likes than being christ-like that's what we're going to get into here a little bit today do you do you do you have a young man man of god because the church today have you created a lustful culture because i'm completely convinced that the looks of a woman is based upon the heart of a man have you created the image of the church have we washed ourselves consistently that the man is derived from the image of the water that the woman is derived from the image of the water because we understand that great families make great churches great families who come man woman children right the image of the family the image of what the church should look like is what's being challenged today not just in our world not just in courtrooms but in the church today it's being challenged what we're going to look like in many countries in many counties in many states the question right now is is your church going to allow homosexuality in its door and let it sit on the pew and let it get on the platform and let it be okay and we're just going to allow that image to become a part of the church the image is being challenged because the water is being troubled so we have created this this this image here of the church of first apostolic church and i'm here to warn a group of young people i'm here to warn a group of middle-aged married uh adults that are my age the 20 to 35 that you're in the middle of a lustful culture that's denying the image that god has given us of his word you're in a crazed sensual lustful pleasure driven world and i'm here to tell you today with every part of god's anointing inside of me that we better look and see the image of who god wants us to be is in the water it's in the washing of his word my identity is found in the word it's a looking glass you know i i've i've never uh i've seen people that that get into the holy of holies i've seen people that experience the anointing and the power of god but i've also seen people who never get truly into the presence of god because they took a bath because they didn't take on his image they got in water and i never saw him again they were baptized on a sunday night when the spirit was moving because it was cultivated by the bride and they felt convicted and they repented of their sins and they got in the water but you can't just come to the water you've got to change your image this is a confrontational place if we're truly honest this is more confrontational than that is it's easy to say god would you take this off of me god would you forgive me of this who doesn't want to be forgiven but some people don't like to change what they look like on social media some people don't want to get rid of their friends some people don't want to change being bitter some people don't want to change talking about people some people just want to live the way that they want to live and the altar will forgive you of some things but the water washes you into a new creature you can't get by the water and keep carrying those same old burdens how do you see yourself today if you feel like a slave you hadn't been through the water if you're bound in worship this morning you better get through the water you can't get rid of some addictions today god can remit that i am chosen i am called i am a conqueror some of us need to hand over our image today some of us need to let god melt down our mirror into a new creature in christ jesus no matter what your past looks like today no matter how old you are no matter if you were abused when you were a child no matter what you what your your home life looked like growing up i don't care how many mistakes you've made in your past how many mistakes you've made this week i'm challenging somebody today that god's forgiven you but you need to come wash that addiction off you need to come wash those problems off you need to come wash those labels off young person it happens at the water because on the other side of the water we become a son and a daughter of god that's where we become a part of the family of god i become a king's kid i sit at the king's table i get to hold my head up high because i've taken on his name at the water james 1 and 22 really puts it in the living color for us you've heard it before but be ye doers of the word and not just hearers only deceiving your own selves for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is likened to a man beholding his face his natural face in a glass for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway forget it the manner that he was you've met those people i'll see some of those people next week at strong tower did you look in the mirror before you came in here huh right honestly i've had those mornings yesterday morning i came into choir practice and i woke up a few minutes late and i come in and brother nolan said hey you got some shaving cream in your ear thank you let me take care of that you know you know but you've had it you've been a job before and been working and all of a sudden you you get there in the break room and you realize it's 11 o'clock and you look across and somebody they didn't have time to fix their hair right they didn't really have time to look in the mirror they didn't have time to really evaluate the sad thing is some of them did you know but um many times she didn't have time to really go by and evaluate what you look like you know i've got to think today if there's anything that frustrates god i've always thought that people misused the mercy of god probably more than anything else they frequent an altar but god has he has shed his blood and his mercy draws us to repentance his mercy is new every morning which means he's drawing you to repentance he's drawing you he's drawing you he's drawing you he's drawing you but i believe that there's anything that frustrates god it's what james says here is that people come to church and hear the word of god or people get up in the morning and they're doing what they know to do and they open up their proverb for the day or they open up their their daily devotion and they read the word of god and they put it back down and they never change anything i saw that hair was out of place but i'm just going to go with it today i know that that don't really match but i'm just going to roll with it i know that i need to change the way i talk to people but i'm just going to keep living like that i know that i need to spend some time with my kids and train them and do some things but i'm just going to keep doing what i'm doing i know the word is a lamp and to my feet and a light into my path but many times we want to pray but we never pick up the word of god i ask you today what is it that your life is missing and i would say you could probably answer it with i just need a little bit of the word there's people in here today that's looking for direction it's at the water some of you are worried about your calling what is it i'm supposed to do next i don't feel like i'm being effective enough in the kingdom of god it's at the water it's not a one-time experience the word is your washing we must have the word to keep us out of egypt the word is so powerful if there's anything that i know is that this church loves the word of god preaching to the choir to savior this church you don't love preaching you love the word of god but the problem is is that it's not enough for you to love the word and the pulpit the word has to get in our hearts the word has to become active in your life we're not sending a priest in anymore with a curtis i'm not sending pastor in on my behalf i now walk through i now die daily i now take up my cross and i wash and i've got to make sure that i'm applying what the word says whether it's from a pulpit or whether it's from a a a a coffee house wherever it is that you decide to read the word of god and put it into action play it on audio in your car on the way to work whatever you got to do to get some water to get some washing of the word in your everyday life it's essential it's a must first john chapter 2 and verse number 18. now this is what makes it so fearful it says and they went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would have no doubt continued with us the water will keep you from leaving you say well leaving the church no leaving a relationship with god the sad thing is is many people attend church but they left church a long time ago they're not a part of what god is doing through the church because they don't have enough word to do anything i've been forgiven i've experienced the holy ghost i was even baptized but i don't know enough about who i am and what jesus is and what it means to be apostolic when somebody asked me what i do and why i go to church and why do you speak in tongues and why do you do when when it comes to the i don't know the answer to those questions i don't have this in my heart i don't go to it enough to be effective because the effectiveness of being a child of god the effectiveness of being an apostolic that's on the move is on the other side of the water i don't know why i've been on this kick lately but what what what would be wrong with someone being a licensed minister but primarily being a licensed contractor it's like we want the pastor to be the one that handles the water we want to revert back to the old testament we want jesus and his manifestation and his moving to be out of the box but essentially we want the pastor to be the one that just handles the labor and when we have biblical questions or we find somebody that needs a bible study or needs to be prayed for or needs a word in their life we're going to call pastor but for the church to be what god wants it to be you've got to be the word on your job site you've got to be the word in your family father you've got to be the word wherever it is that you're at young person in a classroom at a lunch table wherever it is that you find yourself to your family they need a word and their and pastor's never going to be there at the table when you're all gathered around and somebody needs some life spoke into their situation somebody needs healing at that very moment somebody needs deliverance and you are there on site but if you don't have the word that's why he says whatever you do and where to do you do it all in the name where's the name at it's in the water it all comes from the word of god it all is is driven from have i not written unto you because you know not the truth but because you know it that no lie is of the truth it's all on the other side of the water people don't backslide that love the word of god in other words people that love the word of god don't look back i'm going to stay when i like it i'm going to stay when it makes me happy i'm going to stay when it makes me mad i'm going to say when i don't like it i'm going to stay here when i agree i'm going to stay here when i disagree i'm going to stay here when he's moving i'm going to stay here when he's not moving i'm going to stay here when i feel and i hear answers and god is deliberate and god's healing but i'm going to stay here when it's dry and it's dead and we're waiting and we're sowing but we haven't seen the season come yet i am on the other side of the water i'm not going back to egypt pastor i'm not going anywhere i need the word of god we ought to be able to quote scripture to your problem you ought to be able to speak life into dead situations you ought to be able to activate the living word of god he that loves the law nothing shall offend them too many people are sitting on boats today are working on the sabbath are doing things that god never called them to do all because they lost their love they went from altar to holy of holies altar to getting the holiness alter to get me a move alter to revival they come to youth camp they come to camp meeting they come to this they come to that they come to christmas they come to easter they come they want that move they want to the motion and the movement you're having a healing they get sick they want the healing they want the benefits but they don't want the water law lovers don't get offended but deception is such a scary thing perception is such a scary thing the agenda of our world's culture and our adversary has always been built on the foundation of a lie because when you build off of a lie you can change the function of the water what he used throughout the old testament to deliver is the same thing that destroyed some people when you lose your love for the word of god it'll look like you're drowning rather than being delivered psalms 119 and 9 wherewith all shall a young man cleanse his ways by taking heed thereto according to thy word with thy whole heart i have sought thee oh let me not wonder from thy commandments thy word have i hid in my heart that i might not sin against thee in order to stop sinning in order to stop misusing the altar in order to keep from from getting into the holy of holies you keep the word just just let it stay in the pulpit don't let it get in your heart stay on this side of the water and you'll frustrate yourself and you'll frustrate yourself to the point where you really don't understand why you're coming to church i really don't even know why i'm here pastor i'm really just not getting anything out of service it's what keeps me from sinning his word and my heart take heed to the word now i i love music i love worship and i love fellowship but we've got to fall in love with the word of god and i know today it's very popular but young people hear me middle-aged people hear me we don't need some social media charismatic preacher and a pair of jordans that's telling you what your image should be this cannot be supplemented by the world wide web this cannot be supplemented by a 30-second clip of somebody telling you that if you give this or you do this that god's going to give you what you know what you need is to open this book for yourself and say god i know you've called me i know you've chosen me oh i feel the power of the holy ghost today i feel his presence coming down in this place why don't you lift your hands for a moment god i love your word god i love the doctrine god i'm apostolic because of the word of god oh i believe i'm in the church today that believes this but i need the word i believe so i i need some thou shalt not young people i need some word that separates me from egypt i need some word that draws a line i need some word in this day and age it says come out from among them and be ye separate come out from among them holiness without which no man shall see the lord because why i'm on the other side i'm on the other side of the water you can be seated speak speak the word to me lord crucify me mold me shake me with your word for such a time as this when deception and lie and a message that's that's so false is at an all-time high can i give you something today the time will come when man will not endure sound doctrine you ready for this if i was reading it today i would say the time has come when man will not endure sound doctrine we're here all aboard get on the boat because if you're going to float with the world if you're just it's going to go into flow and it's going to be easy doctrine and nothing that's confrontational to the flesh god started with confrontation god started with the ten commandments god built on 80 percent no negative to the flesh no the water's not going to be comfortable the water's going to tell you to stop the water's gonna tell you no the water's gonna tell you to change whatever you do don't fall pray don't fall prey to what some people are doing to the water because we learn it in second kings chapter 16 verse number 17. king ahaz cut off the borders of the bases and remove the labor from off them and took them down to the sea off the brazen oxen that were under it and put it on the pavement of stones and the covert of the sabbath and they had built in the house and the king's entry with out turned he from the house of the lord the king of syria now the rest of the acts of ahaz which he did are not written in the book of chronicles of the kings of judah you can see this if you could just understand this today this is what is happening in our world today and i hope i paint you a picture as to what happened with king ahaz he took the water that was supposed to be high enough up here that i can see my image and he took it off of its bases and he set it down on the floor and what king a has do it did in in in second kings chapter 16 is just what's happened in our world today if we're not careful people come to an altar and they want to get right into the ministry they want to get right into the work of the lord and because it's on the ground we can easily just walk right over it i don't want to deal with the change i don't want to line up to what you say i've got to do to be involved it started and i i know it this is on the world wide web and people might get offended by this but it started in the lobby churches want to make it okay that we can lower the water in the lobby no if i'm going to come serve in the holy of holies and be a golden candlestick and handle the word of god and be a fresh incense unto god and be in his presence i've got to be remitted of sin i've got to take on the name i've got to be his i wish you could see this with me too many churches are playing hopscotch with the water the water's got to be elevated the water's got to be on a pedestal the water's got to be where i could see who i am the water's got to be where i can face it i can deal with it i got to make sure that i'm right in god's eyes see this with me i hope you can understand this i'm running out of time lord help me we must keep it elevated in our life how many people have fallen prey to what happens at the water one of the most argumented things in the word of god in a christian culture today is what happens at the water are you going to take on his name or are you going to take on his titles huh why is it argument why is it so argumentative why is it the number one debated topic because if you don't get what's right at the water you don't get what's on the other side of the water you understand the devil knew that if i could create a false doctrine that at least involves the water he couldn't take the water away because after all the whole time we've been taking pharaoh has been taking the water to drown a generation when god's taking water to save a generation we're not going to remove the water we'll still baptize you but we're not going to get the word right but we got to understand that inside the water the reason god uses water after all is that it's h2o and it manifests itself just like god does in three different properties solid liquid gas father spirit sun but it's still water he uses water because it's plentiful you're never going to run out of water people talk about where the water short is no it's the most plentiful substance on earth and it's all not only plentiful but it's essential for life here on earth we understand the water plays a huge toll but this water is so powerful in the labor if i keep it at the right spot because it does what god does when i look at the water it looks back at me when i look at the water a lot of word makes sense do it to others and it'll do unto you give and it shall be given to you return unto me and i'll return unto you when i point at the water it points back at me when i look at the water it looks back at me when i want to give it gives back unto me it's amazing how the water is reflected it's amazing how the water is such a resemblance of the word of god it puts everything into my court but when i frown it frowns back at me when i don't do right it tells me that i'm wrong it's amazing what happens when i forgive i'm forgiven but it all happens at the water if you stand to your feet and closing we all want to get into the flow of god's spirit i believe what happens at the altar is changed at the water for his presence but i began to do some digging i began to do some studying and i realized that in so many ways the sin is stopped at the water so if you don't if we could summarize everything up today if we don't put sin in the right direction we can't get on the other side of the water god does something really amazing in the old testament years and years ago anybody remember a place called sodom and gomorrah sodom and gomorrah was so wicked god said i can't flood the earth anymore but i'm going to burn this place down he literally burned it to a crisp you know where sodom gomorrah once set today is the lowest place on earth it's the lowest place on earth and when i begin studying this enlightened me and changed my view of this even more of what happens at the water because sodom and gomor lies at the bottom of we what we know today as the dead sea according to arcola archaeological and historical studies the reason the salt content is so high in the dead sea is due to the sulfur that melted from the city of sodom and gomorrah you see the jordan river is a little over 150 miles long and it comes to a screeching stop when it hits the dead sea the most disturbed piece of water in the bible is the jordan river you cross over jordan you get the promised land after all jesus was baptized in the jordan river it's disturbed by god over and over and over again but you see the promised land is just like god he paints us a picture it has two bodies of water the jordan river begins and then it opens up and funnels and pours brother naomi gallons of water into what we know as the sea of galilee and then at its bottom at its base it continues downward and like i said i believe it's at 156 miles exactly it comes to a screeching stop where it flows into the sea of salt or the dead sea the lowest place on earth the dead sea has no fish it has no vegetation it has nothing to show for itself because it has no outlet you've heard that priest you've heard that mention but it's not because it doesn't have a great source you see today it has an incoming altar but it doesn't have an outgoing outpouring because it's stagnant and it sits but the sea of galilee rather it's always giving it's it's it's this fresh moving body of water it's flowing but the dead sea you've got the same old same old same image yesterday that you had today it's a taker it's not a giver the day comes the sun evaporates evaporates most of the water in fact today they say that the dead sea is split into two little small pools and it's about to just be all dried up because it gives nothing it just evaporates get the same source as the sea of galilee which witness the ripple of peter's miraculous walking as he marched across his surface jesus uses the sea of galilee as a pulpit i can't help but see that the promised land has two examples of what happens at the water some people get to the other side and some people are just stagnant and live life whether it be on bar stools or church pews and never change but i'm here to tell somebody you're hearing the same word today the jordan rivers flowing today the water is still active today the name of jesus is a strong tower and it's all dependent upon whether you want to get in the water today you want to walk in the word of god today because ezekiel prophesies after seeing the kitchens of the temple and the prophet noticed the trickle of water issuing from the holy of holies past the altar in ezekiel 47. a god led him out the north gate and the eastern gate was closed however around the temple the eastern gate he saw water coming out from under the building of the south side of the gate the guide measures the depth of the water you've heard that part of ezekiel where he says it's at my ankles then it was at my knees then it was at my loins and all of a sudden ezekiel said i had to swim all of this is prophecy of what he says is going to flow out of the temple and he says specifically study it it's a fun study ezekiel 47 is it's all flowing to revive the dead sea ezekiel says that zechariah says it says that fish will swim again he said it'll have life because the prophecy is is that everybody should get on the other side of the water it says that right now that there is avenues if you study it out it's a fun study there is gorges and there's avenues of water that are swelling up from beneath the surface all around the dead sea as if it's just setting up the last days of god because it's never been god's will that anybody stop and be stagnant god's painted a picture for every single one of us not just one time in the bible but you've got you've got historical evidence you've got all kind of things that you can look at that teach you what the water does and my goal for you today before you leave here is that you let whatever it is that you walked in here with you leave it in the water pharaoh you don't go any further than right here pharaoh i've discussed many different things with you down here at an altar i've put blood on the doorpost many times but today's the day that i've made up my mind that i'm going to look down and i'm not going to walk out of here like a slave i'm not going to walk out of here with any condemnation i'm not going to walk out of here feeling the same way that i came in i'm going to walk out of here because i've been through the water and i've been changed by the word by the word of the lord before we come and pray and they begin to sing scripture comes to mind that the truth will make you free people don't like the water because they think the word says the truth will set you free the altar sets you free the truth makes you free making is something that's a little bit different than setting i can set the bird free and the bird flies off but to make something free takes some time it takes some changing of the image it takes some maneuvering it takes some molding of the potter in the clay and so this morning i hope that in some ways somehow that the word of god has opened up your eyes that you could walk just a little bit more free today and you could put sin in the right direction i think some people walked in this place today according to the word of the lord and what i feel in this room they're just a little bit frustrated and i want to open up these altars for you today you frustrated you've been dealing with depression and bad decisions and identity crisis and bad relationships and and whatever the case may be you whether it be gossiping or lying or this or that i i would ask you today in a congregation if we could close our eyes and we could lift both of our hands and i want to open up these altars today but for a moment i want to just give you a little bit of a a washing of the word of god listen to me church family today we've come to the water and there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in christ jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit if any man be in christ he is a new creature for all things are passed away and all things are become new you're a chosen generation come on let that word wash you today you're a royal priesthood you're a holy nation today you're a peculiar people why because you're on the other side of the water and you should show forth the praise of him who called you out of darkness into this marvelous life young lady you're feeling insecure today before i formed thee in the belly i knew thee and before you came out of your mother's womb i sanctify thee i ordain thee for such a time as this your body is a temple of the holy ghost which is in you which you have of god that you are not your own for you bought with the blood of jesus christ therefore glorify god in his image in your spirit which is god's i'm here to tell a family today i'm here to tell somebody today that what you need is in the word it's in the washing of the word of god come on could we respond to his word this morning i don't want to just be a hearer i want to be a doer i want to come around this altar today and i don't want to just repent repentance is great but i want to be changed in your presence god i want to be changed in your presence come on we might have lowered the word of god we need to pick it up knock the dust off the word knock the dust off that old bible and let it be what it can be in our lives oh my god come on there's a move on the other side of the water today come on the words gone forth come on the words gone forth will you respond to it today is there a father that would lift his hands today and let god change some things about you come on remove anger remove doubt remove fear oh the presence of the lord is here today if you need to be baptized today if you've never been baptized in the name of jesus oh i can't even express to you what would happen to you if you got in that water today oh there's a resurrection on the other side of the water there's a rolling stone on the other side of the water today oh we bless your name jesus is calling jesus is is jesus i'm going home different than i can come on the water swirling today come on the remission of sins is still for you today it wasn't just one time for baptism it's still for you today oh come on go through the water this morning once again go through the water once again today oh let the remission of sins cleanse you let it wash you oh i pray in jesus name we leave here free and clean we live here delivered in jesus name