Ezekiel 47:5
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. 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.
The unpassable river is the last stage of waters rising from the ankles to the knees to the loins until they become waters to swim in. The waters flow from under the threshold of the house eastward at the south side of the altar, beginning as a small, very small rivulet before rising into a river that cannot be passed over. That rising means the truth for this time begins in a small way and grows into a large work done by many, reaching many souls not through display or any devising of man but through the working of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of human agencies.
That growth means God's work extends to the east and to the west, to the islands of the sea and to all parts of the world, so that great interests must be managed in many places. It means the work starts very small and increases until it becomes great and living, extending to the east and to the north, to the islands of the sea and to all parts of the world, bringing healing wherever the waters go. God's chosen people and kingdom are not a stagnant pool but a river constantly flowing, becoming deeper and wider as it advances until its life-giving waters are spread over all the earth.
The deepening and widening stream is the spread of the gospel in its purity under the overruling guidance of the Holy Spirit, to be given in clear, unmistakable language, for which God's people must prepare the way of the Lord. The deepening and widening means the work advancing onward and still onward in all fields, nigh and afar off, with men called from the plow and from the more common commercial vocations to be educated in connection with men of experience who understand the truth, so they learn to labor effectively and proclaim the truth with power. Through most wonderful workings of God and divine providence, mountains of difficulty will be removed and cast into the sea.
The workers will labor as those who have experienced the virtue of truth as it is in Jesus. The message will be heard and understood so that men know what is truth, until the whole earth shall have been warned and then the end shall come. Wherever the gospel is received its grace heals the maladies that sin has produced, bringing light, strength and refreshing, and the good fruit borne bears witness to a work of righteousness. The Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in His beams.
Christ worked in this way, and when His methods become the methods of His followers His blessing attends their labors. The work is therefore not to be centered in any one place, not even Battle Creek, but is to be managed in many places by human instrumentalities, with each institution remaining independent working out God's plan under His direction, because burden-bearing gives strength and development. Schools are not to be conducted after the worldly plan. The work at Madison exemplifies this pattern and the message is to be carried in the same way in many places. The acceptable work begun at Madison is to go forward freely and undaunted in Christ in the same simple but effective way.