The first thousand cubits speak of basic salvation—waters "to the ancles." So it is that when first we receive Christ we have a portion of eternal life given to us.

Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. (Ezekiel 47:4)

More judgment and more life. Waters "to the knees" represents the "Pentecostal" experience. We now have received more of the Holy Spirit than was true during basic salvation. We speak in tongues, and other gifts and ministries of the Spirit may be in evidence.

Let us always keep in mind, however, that the final proof of our abiding in the Spirit of God is not the gifts of the Spirit but the fruit of the Spirit. Many people who speak in tongues manifest very little of the fruit of the Spirit, while others who do not speak in tongues bring forth love, joy, peace, and the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit of God.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit a "tide pool" is formed in us containing the gifts and ministries that have been assigned to us. It is our responsibility to make certain that our "tide pool" keeps on being refreshed by the ocean of God's Spirit. If it is not, our ministries and gifts will continue to operate but they will not contain the freshness of the Spirit of God. Soon the water of life will "evaporate" and our spiritual resources will dry up.

How many people of today spoke in tongues twenty years ago and not since, and do not realize the Holy Spirit has not refreshed them since that time?

Waters "to the loins" (waist) indicate cleansing, reproduction, and strength. Cleansing, reproduction, and strength are located in the hip area of man.

Basic salvation and being filled with the Spirit prepare us for actual entrance into the Kingdom of God, into the fruitfulness and dominion promised to human beings from the beginning. Our fruitfulness and dominion find greatest expression as we move past basic salvation and the Pentecostal experience and proceed into the water of God that is to the level of our waist.

When we are in water to our waist we are beginning to lose control of our own movements and are more at the mercy of the water. The deeper we go in the Lord the more we can say that it is not we who are living but Christ who is living in us.

Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. (Ezekiel 47:5)

Eventually we are completely in the power of the water, so to speak. We are so filled with the Spirit of God, with eternal life, that our adamic strength is minimized. This always ought to be our goal—that He must increase but we must decrease. What a glorious day it will be when there is no more of the adamic life left in us but our wisdom and strength come solely from the eternal Life of God!

To be continued.