From the time of John the Baptist God announced that the Messiah and Lamb of God would be the one who “baptises with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:29-33; Matt 3:11; Luke 24:49). This is a remarkable claim, for in the period of the old covenant only the LORD himself could send his Spirit. Now however, since the Holy Spirit “has become ‘the Spirit of the man’ (i.e. the man Jesus, the man now exalted and glorified).”(G.C. Bingham), it is Jesus who pours out the Spirit (John 7:39; 20:22; Acts 2:33). The Holy Spirit can come to us only through the perfected humanity of the Son of God. The glorified Jesus immerses us in the River of everlasting life in which he now lives and moves and has his (human) being. From the overflow of his heart filled to overflowing with the love of the Father’s Spirit that he is able to give of the flow of God’s own life to those who confess his Lordship. This is what happened on the day of Pentecost.

Suddenly, all those who received of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost found themselves overflowing from the inside with “rivers of living water” in a stream of love for God and humanity. Filled with the Holy Spirit they all testified to the mighty works of God and people preached powerfully of the risen Christ, thousands plunged into the River and were cleansed from their sins (Acts 2). This is a phenomena repeated throughout the book of Acts, not only Jews but Samaritans (Acts 8:17) and Gentiles (Acts 10:34-48; 19:1-6) come under the cascade of the outpoured River of Life where all is cleansed and forgiven. This River of Love permeated all relationships so that a remarkable and characteristic form of life emerged.

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved…. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35).

The love, generosity and unity of the early church were the fruit born and nurtured by the River of Life flowing from above. As a community they were a colony of heaven, for they looked like Jesus. We soon see the River flowing beyond the confines of Israel, to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), the testimony of apostles culminates in Rome (Acts 28), the River of God has reached Babylon herself, and it runs on still. As in the days of the apostles we are absolutely dependent on Jesus to give us streams from heaven for the empowerment of life and ministry.

One of the great truths that God is restoring today is that the kingdom of God builds the Church, and not the other way around (Matt 16:16-19). It is a fatal mistake to identify the Church with the kingdom of God because this inevitably leads to a form of church-centredness that grieves the Spirit of God and cuts God’s people off from the dynamic of heavenly supply. This is why the history of the Church has been a repeated cycle of ebb and flow. As the Church expands it becomes self-reliant, God withdraws his power and the institutions of Christianity lose their spiritual impact on the nations. In the time of dryness that follows thirsty prayerful believers seek God once again, revival power falls from heaven and the Church expands once more. Soon however the cycle repeats itself again.  It is vital therefore that all our understanding of Christian ministry be set in terms of the River of God[1].

The River finds its closest connection with the Church through the confession of the Lordship of Christ (1 Cor 12:3). This certainly is the testimony of all Christians (Rom 10:9-10) but finds special concentration in terms of the so-called Five-Fold Ministry, an expression drawn from one central text which appears to list five major ministry gifts. “Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”… 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for works of service, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph 4:8, 10-12). This passage teaches that the gift of the Five-Fold Ministry is a consequence of Jesus’ ascension (v.9)[2]. We need to examine the New Testament teaching about what happened when Jesus went up to heaven.

Christ ascended into heaven as a glorified human being to become the heavenly dwelling place of God (Heb 8:1-2; 9:11-12). Jesus himself is both the ultimate temple and place of sacrifice. The powerful presence of his cleansing blood in the most holy place in the heavenly tabernacle (Heb 9:12; 25) provides the basis for the fulfilment of all the Old Testament prophecies linking the temple with the flow of the River of God. The Spirit outpoured by Jesus unites the temple in heaven with the temple on earth, the Church (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; Eph 2:19-22). The inner reality of this union is the sanctifying power of the blood of Christ in both heaven and earth[3]. The River of God flows as a life-giving presence which communicates Jesus heavenly glory to those cleansed by his death on earth. Regeneration means the old fallen heart of man is replaced by a new heart sprinkled clean from guilt and shame by the blood of Christ (Jer 31:31-34; Heb 10:22). The old heart produced the well spring of the river of Man, filthy, evil and polluted. The outflow of the blood cleansed heart is pure and holy. As has been well said, “What the cross cleanses the River fills.”[4]

The author of Hebrews speaks of this action of the cross in a way that enables us to connect the divine stream to the Five-Fold Ministry more directly.“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb 9:13-14; cf. 12:24). There are two vital points in this passage. The first links the Spirit, the bringer of the river, with the state of the believers blood cleansed conscience. Those who have been purified from guilt and shame by the death of Jesus are motivated to serve God not from duty, obligation or to merit salvation, but solely out of grateful love. The running of the holy River is through a holy heart which grasps by faith that through the death of Christ no fundamental impediment exists that would block the indwelling dynamic of the life of God.

The second point that this passage illuminates has to do with acts of ministry themselves. Hebrews says that Christ’s blood frees us “from dead works to serve the living God”. These purified “works” that “serve” God must be the same “works of service” which flow from the Five-Fold Ministry to the Church (Eph 4:12). They are heaven sent works purified by the blood of Christ and empowered by the Spirit. As such they do not partake of striving, self effort or personal profiling that sometimes characterises prominent ministries. They are the fruit of the River of God flowing down to us from heaven in fulfilment of the prophetic promises of scripture.

Paul words at the commencement of Ephesians 4, “when he ascended on high”, are in fact a quote from Psalm 68, “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives”. This prophetic song describes the enthronement of the LORD Mt Zion he rules over the rebellious nations. Most importantly for the purposes of our theme the psalm goes on to say, ““Bless God in the great congregation, the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”” (Ps 68:18, 26). The River of God is equated here with the outpouring of God’s blessings upon his “great congregation”. At the time of the writing of the psalm the congregation that was blessed by the divine fountain was Israel, now this blessed community is the Church. In the context of the connection between Psalm 68 and Ephesians 4 The Five-Fold Ministry that derives from the gifts of the ascended Christ should be understood as a channel of the River of Life. As such these ministries should never draw attention to themselves for they must acknowledge that Jesus alone holds “the seven stars…the angels of the seven churches”[5] and has “the seven spirits of God” (the Spirit in His fullness) (Rev 1:20; 3:1). Christ is the sole possessor with sovereign dominion over the River of God for good of the Church. This ruling aspect of Jesus’ life is fully directed to the great goal of God from the beginning of creation- his glory in the nations.

The River, the Church and the Nations Today

The final vision of the Bible contains a powerful picture of the River of God that needs to be understood as central to all of God’s purposes in saving history.

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. (Rev 22:1-3)

These prophetic words about the final future of all things are not to be understood as some sort of Christian clairvoyance. Through the coming of Jesus the reality of the kingdom of God as the power which will shape the End broke into human history (Mark 1:15; Luke 17:21). The writers of the New Testament grasped in their own experience that the coming of the kingdom of God means the in-breaking of heaven’s presence and power NOW. They were imbibing a spiritual atmosphere and a drinking from the River that provided an essential continuity between the present and eternity.

Through the union between the Church on earth and Christ in heaven as Lord of the River, much of what the scripture teaches about the future River of God applies in our time. Since in the final and perfected state of creation the city of God, the temple of God and the Church of God exist in a perfect oneness[6], the “rivers of living water” which flow through the heart of the believer today (John 7:38) must be seen outflowing of the final River which will heal the whole creation. The outpoured Life of God in me and the outpoured Life of God in heaven are one Life. Despite many contrary appearances, the Church is God’s chosen medium through which the entire creation is in the process of being restored. This is not fanciful speculation but is clearly taught in scripture.

In his conversation with Nicodemus Jesus expounded a deep connection between “born again” and the kingdom of God. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”…. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). The term Christ uses for “born again” can also mean “born from above” i.e. heaven, and is commonly expressed as “regenerated”. A person who is “born again from heaven” enters into the reality of the kingdom of God. This is the same power of God’s Holy Spirit which constitutes the coming new creation (Matt 12:28; Heb 6:5). Jesus’ speaking of being “born of water and the Spirit” does not refer simply to any connection between the physical water of baptism and the Holy Spirit. Prophetically it symbolises that it is the active healing dynamic of the River of God coming upon a person at conversion that translates them from death to life. They are immersed in the reality of the new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15) where River of Life makes all things eternal (Rev 22:1-3).

This truth that the River of eternity is already running through the believer in Jesus is revealed in another of his sayings. ““Truly, I say to you, in the regeneration[7], when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones”” (Matt 19:28). “In the regeneration” refers to the final transformation of all things at the End i.e. the content of the final vision in the book of Revelation which speaks so powerfully of the River of Life. The final regeneration spoken of in Matthew 19 is not only linguistically connected to our personal regeneration (being “born again”) in John 3, but the two are one in substance. All the power and presence of the rushing River of God which will renew the whole cosmos in the future has already renewed us in Christ! The coming heavenly world is not something alien to the believer for we already live by its reality. This is a truth confirmed by the preaching of the apostles.

In Acts 3 we have the powerful story of the healing of the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate of the Jerusalem temple. This gate was most likely located on the east side of the temple, a factor that will add significance to the story. When a crowd came together in response to the miracle Peter began to preach a message which included this proclamation. “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.” (Acts 3:19-21)

The “times of refreshing” of which Peter speaks are the times of the flowing of the River which the prophets proclaimed long ago. Isaiah for example spoke of a time of supernatural abundance, “until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.” (Isa 32:15) This language speaks of the return of the vigour of physical life in Eden when the Garden was nurtured by an encircling river. Peter sees such predictions being fulfilled at a deeper spiritual level. The “times (plural) of refreshing” that the apostle proclaims had in fact began at the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out on “all flesh” and men and women repented at the preaching of the gospel of Christ for the first time (Acts 2:28-39). Those who joined the emerging church entered into a realm of supernatural power, great joy and wonderful fellowship (Acts 2:42-47). The River was running through the midst of humanity with speed and power as never before.

In the context of our key passage (Acts 3), after Peter said to the crippled man, ““In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!””, we read, “And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts 3:6, 8). The energy displayed by the restored man is infallible evidence of the “times of refreshing”. This miracle is more than the record of God’s bounty to a single individual; it is an immersion in the flowing of the River that will heal the whole cosmos. That such powerful restoration is done “in the name of Jesus” reveals that the renewal of creation has come in Jesus as the resurrected Lord of all things. Rivers of living water were poured out by the heavenly Lord through Peter bringing to the crippled a vital share in the glorification of the Son of God. If the Beautiful Gate where this sign occurred was located on the east side of the temple, Ezekiel’s vision of healing rivers flowing from the eastern part of the end-time temple is already being fulfilled in the ministry Jesus is releasing through his Church. Today throughout the world wherever rivers of living water flow out of believers to save, restore and deliver, they proclaim the message, “Jesus has been glorified!” Within this witness to the glorification of Christ is contained the revelation that entire universe shall be healed. All believers are to be engaged in the restoration and transformation of the creation.

The Holy Spirit was not given merely once in history, since the time of Jesus’ glorification the Spirit has “poured out” on the Church again and again (Acts 2:33; 10:45; Tit 3:5-6). It can be truly said of every Christian, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5), “13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:13). The command “keep on being filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18) is a constant exhortation to drink of the waters of God. Paul could say to the believers in Colossae, whom he had never met, “the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world…is bearing fruit and growing” (Col 1:6). He knew that you also knew that the River released by the gospel brings fruitfulness wherever it flows.

We are familiar with the revolutionary tales of the New Testament Church, the conversion of the Roman Empire, the Protestant Reformation, the Evangelical Revivals that touched Europe and America, and the great missionary movements of the subsequent centuries that took the gospel into the entire world. The River of Life has never ceased to run. If we as Western Christians were to lift up our eyes we would see that nations which were once dry places are flowing with water; barren desert lands are producing a harvest for the kingdom of God. A generation ago who would have thought that South America is on the threshold of becoming an Evangelical continent, that thousands of churches are being planted in India, that there would be millions of secret Arab believers in the Middle East and that sociologists would be predicting a Christian China.

We are seeing fresh movements of prayer in every nation of the world; the Global Day of Prayer has involved tens of millions of believers for a decade, the 24/7 prayer movement is bearing fruit 100 fold. In nation after nation there are movements of unity for the healing of the nations. The grass roots explosion of “marketplace Christianity” is another sign of the ever-present River.  “Sometimes we find the River has reached where we never dreamed it would. It is in the arts, in the music, in the singing, in the trades and professions, in the tragedies of a sin-stricken society. That River flows anywhere and everywhere. Nothing can prevent its flow.” (Bingham).

Yet looking out over the landscape of the spiritual wilderness land of secular Australia there is little sign of the flow of the mighty torrent of God[8]. Again and again newcomers to this land have expressed to me their spiritual culture shock when they realise that whatever our previous heritage there are fewer and fewer signs that this is a “Christian country.” To explain why this is so, and to envision where God is moving in it all, we must consider another river, the river of Satan.

The Last Great Vomit of Satan

The above title comes from two main sources; one is a scripture that will be discussed below, the other is from G. Campbell Morgan, a renowned Bible teacher and revivalist of the last century. Morgan described the outbreak of spiritual activity in Azusa Street Los Angeles (1906), the birthing of Pentecostalism, as “the last vomit of Satan.” The importance of the attitudes of Christians to each other for the free flow of the River of God will become clearer as we proceed. Our key passage however is the dramatic portrayal of the spiritual conflict enveloping heaven and earth portrayed in Revelation 12.

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.”

This passage is full of highly symbolic material. The “woman” represents faithful Israel, who gives birth to the Messiah. Satan, represented by a vicious dragon, seeks to devour the male child born to the woman, one “who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron”. Throughout Revelation “the nations” are consistently portrayed as bodies under the devil’s deceiving power (12:9; 13:14; 18:23; 19:20; 20:3, 8, 10). Since the rule of the woman’s son and the rule of Satan are essentially incompatible, the struggle between the two rulers and their respective followers is to the death. This is a major theme throughout Revelation. In the part of the story before us the woman safely gives birth and her child is snatched up by God to his heavenly throne escaping the power of the dragon. This is a description of the ascension of Jesus to heaven and signifies his complete triumph over all evil powers. Within the emphasis of this article ascending to the Father marks the final stage of Christ’s glorification prior to his pouring out the River of God upon the earth (John 20:17). The exultation of the humanity of Jesus triggers off angelic warfare in heaven. Satan is overcome and cast down from heaven to earth, “in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

Since the Book of Revelation is framed in its thinking by the image of the Lamb, “Lamb standing as slain” (Rev 5:6), i.e. dead and resurrected, the scenario that follows is to be anticipated. In John’s apocalyptic vision the murderous attempt of the satanic power to destroy the Church is part of the plan of God whereby the saints will gain victory over the devil in the same way as did their Lord.  “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” The clear message is that the powers of evil are powerless against faithful sacrifice. On the observable plane however the situation appears to escalate when we are told, “The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.” Though he cannot succeed in destroying the faithful Church, he relentlessly “makes war …on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” The onslaught of the river of Satan is the situation in which we constantly live, sometimes despite all visible appearances.

The river of Satan is any stream offered to bring life to humanity other than the true River of God which pours forth from the humanity of Christ. The values of family, nation, race, philosophy, arts, religion, business, media, sport etc. that promise a re – sourcing of the origin of life away from God to self are vast tributaries of this one river of evil. These are streams that will in the end run dry and leave their followers in the misery of barrenness and infertility because they cannot communicate eternal life.

Today in the nations of the world we are witnessing a flood of vile and filthy words and images that threaten to overwhelm the manifestation of the presence of God.  Some of this is very blatant, such as internet pornography and the presence of sex in advertising, media and film. The commodity driven sexualisation of children, the spread of gay marriage, the trafficking of women are features of the modern age. Social media (Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Second Life…) have opened up vistas for narcissism and self obsession unimaginable to previous generations. The idolisation of wealth and the prevalence of conspicuous consumption have taken the cult of human celebrity to new levels. More insidious (because less blatant) is the latest trend to treat food as entertainment rather than as a precious gift needed for life itself. In Australia with a population of just 22 million people 4.11 million viewers watched the last series finale of Master Chef. In my part of the world the local coffee shop has replaced the suburban church as the hub of many communities. All of these self-centred movements constitute a stream of consciousness which flows from below and not from above.

The Satanic river runs most broadly through what the Bible calls Babylon. This is “the great prostitute who is seated on many waters…. drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” (Rev 17:1, 6). The grotesque metaphor of the great harlot is the antithesis of what it means to partake of the pure streams of God. Spiritual Babylon’s cruelty to the Church can be traced through the ages – the persecutions under the Roman Empire, the violence of the Catholic Church to dissenting groups in the Middle Ages, the slaughters under Communism and Nazism, and in our own day the violence of militant Hinduism and Islam directed against the people of God. All this is of vital importance, but how does it connect to what where the River of Life is running in Western lands where hostility against Christianity is mostly ideological and rarely violent? Satan’s strategy in the post-Christian nations is more subtle and insidious than full frontal warfare, but insights concerning it can be found in an earlier chapter of Revelation.

“The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. 14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” (16:12-16)

The Old Testament background to this passage is indispensible to its interpretation. The Euphrates River is the largest river in Mesopotamia; sometimes called simply “the great river” (Gen 15:18; Deut 1:7; Josh 1:4). According to the ancient Greek writer Xenophon, the Euphrates caused the desert to “become a garden of fertility.” This is the language of the restoration of Eden. The Euphrates however has a dark side. Throughout the Old Testament “to drink the waters of the Euphrates” (Jer 2:18) is to enter into alliance with foreign and ungodly powers. Babylon was built on the Euphrates and was the greatest empire in the world at an important time in Israel’s history. When the people of God entered into alliance with this evil power this displeased the LORD (2 Ki 20:12-19; 2 Chr 32:31). Such an arrangement sets the background to the warning given to the Church against the deceiving work of evil spirits in Revelation 16.

In a text that parallels our Revelation passage at a number of points, the good reforming king Josiah goes to battle against the Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo (Armageddon)[9] who is on his way to fight the Babylonians. For political and military reasons it appears that Josiah withstood Necho because of his treaty with Babylon. In what at first sight seems a surprising turn of events Josiah is killed (2 Chron 35:20-22). What follows is the irreversible decline of Judah into increasing ungodliness, the destruction of the nation and the deportation of the people (2 Chron 36). A closer examination of the text however unveils the reasons why god handed Josiah over to defeat. Though he was one of Judah’s most godly kings there is no record that he consulted the, prophets of the LORD as to whether he should go out to war against the Egyptian Pharaoh. Like other kings before him[10], he was deceived by his previous successes and the enticement of foreign alliances, in this case with Babylon[11].

The lesson to be drawn from the Old Testament background to Revelation 16 is that even the righteous need to continually discern spirits. The righteous Josiah failed to discern spirits in his day and perished at Megiddo (Armageddon). This is a type of the final battle of Armageddon which will be preceded by a great failure in the Church to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1). This failure has to do with the illusion of worldly (i.e. Babylonian) influence. For centuries the mainstream Church in Western nations has existed in alliances with state powers. The state churches may have been Roman, Byzantine, Greek, English, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Argentine etc., but in every case the waters of Babylon (Ps 137:1) were allowed to mix with the River of God. Whilst from time to time the Spirit of God broke through the levee banks of organised and corrupted religious forms in periodic revivals these outbreaks rarely transformed the spirit of a nation.

In our day however the major corrupting force in the Western world is not a desire to emulate the influence of the state, but to imitate the success of business. Babylon is a great trading power (Rev 18). We live in a world where finance has replaced government as the key headline in today’s news. Management, marketing and the money it can manufacture have been an enormous influence on the style and message of the Western Church and through it the affluent churches across the world. This must cease!

Babylon is found wherever the senior pastor runs the church as if he/she is a CEO deserving of special honour and glory. The city of evil has penetrated the Church where the diverse giftings of the Spirit to serve has been re-scripted into a catalogue of demographic departments (children, youth, young adults, men, women, families, seniors) so that genuine Christian community is impossible. Another river is running where marketing and motivational messages are used to attract, grow and sustain the Church. Wherever the power of the Spirit is channelled into narrow streams to ensure our services are kept in order and on time we are dealing with an outpouring that comes not from God.

There are other features in Revelation 16 which pertain to the theme of satanic opposition to the River of God. John sees “coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. 14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.” (16:13-14) This image of loathsome spirits evokes memories of the Egyptian magicians who by their evil arts were able to mimic the plague of frogs sent by the LORD (Ex 8:7). Most importantly, wherever the expression “false prophet” is found elsewhere in the New Testament it is used of deception within the covenant community of Israel or in the Church[12]. We must accept that the vomit of Satan can flow through the Church itself. This shocking conclusion is confirmed in other ways in scripture.

Just as the River of God flows through the temple of God (Ezek 47), Satan as “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4) will attempt to cause his river of evil to run in the same space. Paul warns the church in Thessalonica, “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness  is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.” (2 Thess 2:3-4). Since everywhere else in Paul’s writings God’s temple is now the Church[13], his warning means that the power of antichrist can operate amongst the people of God. This is a reality for which God’s people must be fully prepared. As the apostle goes on to explain, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders” (2:9). If the people of God are unfamiliar with the River of God, they will surely be led astray but a false stream that seems to work wondrous healing power. Revelation 16 and 2 Thessalonians 2 picture the same reality of satanic intrusion into the Church. Yet there is even more compelling evidence for this difficult conclusion.

Immediately after we are told that the foul frog spirits assemble the nations in concert against God (Rev 16:14), Jesus speaks to his Church, ““Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”” (Rev 16:15) Such a solemn exhortation that needs to be taken with full seriousness by an affluent and apathetic Church which is rarely on guard. This is because Christ’s warning echoes the judgement that will fall on Babylon herself, she will be judged for her idolatry and left “desolate and naked” (Rev 17:6) Wherever the river of Man emerges under the demonic inspiration judgement is inevitable, the Christian Church should not consider itself immune to a divine visitation of punishment (1 Pet 4:17).

This is a warning to our Church today, a body that has “often failed to live fully in the waters of life, choosing other streams, other flowings which dry up and leave.” (Bingham) The Church of the “last times” as we know it in the Western is far more deeply influenced by deceiving spirits[14] than any of us would like to imagine. In many places men and women have been worshipping an image of God that falls far beneath the testimony of Jesus. Idolatry is rampant amongst us. One only has to consider the history of most revival movements through the centuries, which have begun well and ended in division, scandal and false teaching, to know that it is time to “be self-controlled and sober-minded” (1 Pet 4:7).

Satan’s strategies however are always reactive, he is working from a position of known defeat (Rev 12:12) forever trying to delay his certain end. If Satan is working through a river of evil to assemble all nations to battle against God, it is because he knows that the true River, the River of God is flowing in holy power to bring about the Healing of the Nations. Several years ago I wrote an article called “The Grieving of the Missionary Spirit” which I believe contains a prophetic message prophecy for today. The next section of this message builds on that earlier teaching.

Refusing to Accuse

I want to begin this section with a few historical events whose influence is still contemporary and which illustrate a crucial issue in spiritual warfare. In 1909 fifty six influential conservative and evangelical “brothers” met in Germany and signed the now famous Berlin Declaration. Irritated by the strange, supernatural events surrounding the Pentecostal movement they declared them to be inspired by “a spirit from below” i.e. a demonic power. I can remember the opposition that the Charismatic movement stirred up in the mainstream churches in the 1970’s, it was quite common to meet believers who had been given “the left foot of fellowship” (excommunicated) from their churches, and it wasn’t too difficult to find Christian people that would try to cast out from other believers “the demon of tongues”. Such attitudes deeply grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30) and are incompatible with the sort of spiritual awakening that God is seeking to bring across the globe today.

It is often said that “the children of the last move of God always opposes the next move of God”, historically there is much evidence that supports this theorem[15]. If this is a necessary truth we should expect any fresh wave of the Spirit to be opposed by Pentecostalism. I cannot however think of anywhere in scripture where we are told that the Church must keep on tearing itself apart in this way[16]. It is important that we do not turn the past history of Christianity into a self-fulfilling prophecy about what must happen in the near future. On the contrary, I believe the Lord has shown us exactly how the past bitter lessons of history can be avoided.

During a week of prayer for a local church some years ago the Spirit directed my attention to a particular passage. “Do not let any foul talk keep on coming out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, that it may give grace to the hearers.  And do not keep grieving the Holy Spirit, with whom you were sealed for the day of liberation.  Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:29 -32).

As I was researching the meaning of “foul talk” I believe that the Holy Spirit gave me a picture of something that is genuinely repugnant to him.  I saw Christians speaking against others, their words were negative, critical, pulling-down or judgemental, and as they spoke it was like filth and vomit poured from their mouths and covered those of whom they were speaking.  People were being covered by guilt and shame (Zechariah 3:1- 3). This was a picture of the activity of unclean demonic accusation (Revelation 12:10; 16:13 -14) and the outpouring of the evil of the human heart (Matthew 12:34; Mark 7:21- 23).  I could sense this disgusting action of filthy speaking was what “grieves the Holy Spirit.”  In such a state the Holy Spirit cannot pour out his sweet presence and power.  He is “quenched” (1 Thess 5:19).

In line with this God gave me another picture.  It is an image based on several biblical passages and is linked to the above text from Ephesians 4 by a key Greek word ekporeuomai, which means “to flow out”.  In Ezekiel’s vision of the end – time temple of God, the water of the River of Life “flows out” from under the altar (47:1) and brings life and healing wherever it goes.  The same is true for “the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb” in the heavenly Jerusalem which brings fruitfulness for “the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2).  At the very climax of history, the age – old desire of the Spirit to fill all of humanity with inextinguishable liberation will be accomplished by such a flow.

In the meantime, between the prophecy of Ezekiel and its final fulfilment the church on earth is “the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 3:16).  Only in a holy temple can God abide with presence and power (2 Corinthians 6:16- 7:1; Ephesians 2:21- 22).  In the temple of the body of Christ it is of the utmost importance that we image to one another and to the world that God never accuses, blames, shames or possesses a bitter spirit of judgement.  It is only as we are “kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven us” (Eph 4:32) can the world believe the time is coming when there will be an eternal community of grace in which guilt and shame are no more (Revelation 21:1- 4).

Whenever “bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander” “keep coming out (ekporeuomai) of our mouths” (Eph 4:29-31) a river of evil is running through the Church. Demonic and lying powers speaking through our words are denying the reality of God’s perfectly forgiving grace.  The River of Life could not flow out of Ezekiel’s temple until its altar had been cleansed (Ezekiel 43), so the Church must be cleansed of its spiteful attitudes.  Only when we repent of all evil mind-sets can the final image that the Spirit has given me come to pass.

This is a beautiful image of a holy Church that brings joy and delight to the heart of God (Eph 5:25-27).  As blessing is spoken in the place of cursing the fresh water of the life-giving Spirit replaces the brackish water of our bitter spirits (James 3:10 -11) and those previously covered by abominable filth are washed completely clean.  This pure cleansing is the delight of the ministry of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:9- 11; Titus 3:5 – 6). Until the Western Church as we know it is cleansed from its competitive and critical spirit we should not expect to see the healing of nations in our midst. This requires a definitely and sustained commitment to “Stand!” against all evil powers (Eph 6:11, 13, 14). If Satan as “the accuser of our brothers” (Rev 12:10) is to be expelled from our midst we must refuse to accuse, blame or pull down others in the household of faith, whatever they may have done or might do to us. By refusing to blame his persecutors from the cross (Luke 23:34) Jesus entered into his victory over the powers of evil (Col 2:15) and released the fullness of the power of the River of God’s Spirit. So also a blame-less Church will surely experience the rivers of living water pouring from its heart into a hurting world.