Ezekiel

And, if you have a hard copy of the Bible, then please do, take it up and turn, to the book of ezekiel.

And we're gonna be looking at the the first 2 chapters this morning, and Sarah is gonna come, and read that for us. In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the River Cabar, The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of god. On the fifth of the month, it was the fifth year of the exile of king Jahoyukin. The word of the lord came to Ezekiel the priest the Sunabuzzi by the river Kibar in the land of the Babylonians. There, the hand of the lord was on him.

I looked and I saw a violent storm coming out of the north. An immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light The center of the fire looked like glowing metal and in the fire was what looked like 4 living creatures. In appearance, their form was human, but each of them had 4 faces and 4 wings. Their legs were straight. Their feet were like those of a calf and glamed like burnished bronze.

Under their wings on their 4 sides, they had human hands. All 4 of them had faces and wings. And the wings of 1 touched the wings of another. Each 1 went straight ahead. They did not turn as they moved.

Their faces looked like this. Each of the 4 had the face of a human being. And on the right side, each had the face of a lion. And on the left, the face of an ox, each also had the face of an eagle, such were their faces. They each had 2 wings spreading out upwards.

Each wing touching that of the creature on either side, and each had 2 other wings covering its body. Each 1 went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go without turning as they went. The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures.

It was bright and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning. As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its 4 faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels. They sparkled like topaz, and all 4 looked alike.

Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any 1 of the 4 directions the creatures faced. The wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all 4 rims were full of eyes all around. When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved, and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose.

Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, they also moved. When the creatures stood still, they also stood still. And when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal and awesome.

Under the vault, their wings were stretched out 1 towards the other, and each had 2 wings covering its body. When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the almighty. Like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings. Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings.

Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like glowing metal as if full of fire, and that from there down, he looked like fire and brilliant lights surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the lord. When I saw it, I fell face down and I heard the voice of 1 speaking.

He said to me, son of man stand up on your feet and I will speak to you. As he spoke, the spirit came into me and raised me to my feet and I heard him speaking to me. He said son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites. To a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.

The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them. This is what the sovereign lord says. And whether they listen or fail to listen, but they are a rebellious people. They will know that a prophet has been among them.

And you son of man do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid though briars and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. You must speak my words to them whether they listen or fail to listen for they are rebellious. But you son of man listen to what I say to you.

Do not rebel like that rebellious people. Open your mouth and eat what I give you. Then I looked and I saw a hand stretched out to me in it was a scroll which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe. Thanks, Sarah.

I don't know whether you wanna come back up and explain it to us. Well, we're starting ezekiel. It's a book I've wanted to do for many, many years. And, so it's quite exciting to start this journey in ezekiel. Let's pray.

Father, there's so many images here and things that are rather strange to us, and we're thinking, what what what what could this really be? Please help us now to see the lord Jesus Christ in it and to live in the light of what we see in Jesus' name, our man. I don't know. Is is there anyone here that's had a a really a particularly memorable birthday or a memorable celebration of a birthday. Is any can you think of a birthday that you've particularly yeah?

Carl? What was that? I didn't hear what you said there. You were walking up a mountain. Yeah.

So anybody else, particularly walking up a mountain on his birthday? Well, that's great. Well, ezekiel definitely has a memorable birthday, the prophet of this book. The book actually opens with his birthday, but it was a day that was gonna absolutely change everything about him. And everything around him, really.

The book opens on the day of his thirtieth birthday. When his parents had him in his arms as a little baby 30 years before, maybe he was a little runt of a boy. Maybe he was a a, you know, a tiny little thing because they call him ezekiel. And ezekiel means, may the lord strengthen him? So I I don't know how big or small he was, but may the lord strengthen him?

And this was gonna happen on his thirtieth birthday. God's birthday gift to him at 30 was to strengthen him. Now how's god gonna strengthen him? Well, how would god strengthen anyone? Well, let's have a think about it.

Now for 25 years, Ezekiel had been, train been training as a as a priest in Judah, so that he could be a priest in the temple in Jerusalem. The priests were trained in all kinds of things, not just sort of religious details, but they had to know the anatomy of animals. They had to know butchery. They had to know how you skin animals and how you present them and so forth. They had to know the law of god.

They had to know the Torah. And plus when you read ezekiel, once we get into it, you'll see that ezekiel is a highly educated bloke. He he knows about politics. He knows about history all around him. And so priests with all of that education graduate on their thirtieth birthday.

They're meant to go into the temple on their thirtieth birth birthday. They're a fully fledged priest, and they can enter the temple of god in Jerusalem. But at the age of 25 years, of age, Izekah was taken from all of that. He was taken away from all the comforts of home, and all that was familiar to him, all his habits and traditions and religion, and all his family life, his language, the smells, the food, the weather, and his priestly position. He'd been taken away into exile, with others from from Judah by king nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.

He had invaded Judah. He had, captured the king of Judah, Jahhoiachin, and he had taken, the educated and the elite and the priests and brought them into exile in Babylon. So here's ezekiel and he's been in Babylon in exile for 5 years. And now on his birthday, all that training, all that education, had come to nothing. It should be in the temple, but it had come to nothing.

He finds himself with very little prospects in a strange land. And people aren't actually singing happy birthday to him. The well known song that was being, doing the rounds in, in that day were by the rivers of Babylon, where we sat down, where we remembered Zion. People were thinking of the place, their home place. So here's ezekiel, and he feels abandoned by god.

I mean, where is god? Here he is by the rivers of Babylon. And all that training, all that potential, had come to nothing. And then what happens? We're told the heavens open in verse 1, and there's a violent storm.

With an immense cloud from the north. I mean, what a graduation ceremony this is for a priest who now has nothing to do and no temple to work in? This is a disaster. Many of you here in this church are in a strange land. This is a strange land for you.

A lot of you. It's not your first choice that you found yourself here in in this land. You're by the rivers of the thames, which is, not very clean. Some of you are actually refugees. Some of you are highly educated in your home country, but here, You could only get a menial job if a job at all.

You feel abandoned. You could identify with his e kill, can you? Here he is, a stranger in a strange land. What are you gonna do with that supposed disaster? And how could god be in that?

So, versus 1, for 3. Look at it. In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the river Kaybar, heavens were opened. And I saw visions of god. On the fifth of the month.

It was the fifth year of the exile of King Juho Echin. In verse 4, I looked, and I saw a violent storm coming out of the north. An immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal. Here he is on his birthday.

And here's my first point. I looked, and I saw a violent storm. Now 1 of the difficulties with describing these these visions, visions of god and the spiritual realm is that we're limited to human language. That's, you know, obviously so. And that we can only describe things in the language that we're familiar with.

And this is what we call app app, apocalyptic language. It's the same as the book of Revelation, the last book in the bible. It's a apocalyptic language. And that basically means it's very big. It's very noisy.

It's very loud and visual in its description. That's apocalyptic language. And you're not meant to take every detail. You're you're meant to sort of live in it and feel the force of it. Now there is obviously meaning, as I'll show you in a minute, but we gotta be careful with what we don't miss the the forest for the trees that we get so bogged down in tiny details that we miss the actual explosion that's going on here.

It's a kind of symbolism, that you get here, but you you can't take it as linear pictures, apocalyptic literature. There's a mixed metaphors and all sort of things go on. That's why it feels weird to us. It's like if you watch the lord of the ring, of films. You know, you've got these these orcs and all of these enemy arm pouring over the hills.

It's massive. And you're meant to sort of feel it. It's like IMAX. It's like surround sound. That's what's going on here.

Look at verse 4. I looked, and I saw a violent storm coming out of the north in an immense cloud. With flashing lightning, and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looks like glowing metal. Now a a north easterly wind for us, makes everything cold in this country.

We know it comes from the north from the northeast is freezing winds. Well, here for ezekiel, that from the north, that's where the enemies come from. The enemy invades from the north. And so Izikael is being invaded by this darkness, this storm that's growing and threatening him by the minute. It's it's like a mushroom cloud, a rising and looming over him after a nuclear bomb's gone off.

It's like a pyrochastic surge that is pouring down a volcano. It's like the dust and the rubble, rushing through New York streets when the Twin Towers fell down. That's what's going on here. It's all embracing. Do you see that?

This immense cloud and it had flashing lightning in it and fire at the center of it glowing, metal as well. It's it's an all embracing vision that's going on here. But what's it about? Well, look at verse 1, the end of it. The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of god.

Now that's not just a description of the heavens are open that we use that phrase. You know, when it suddenly pours down, you know. So, oh, the heavens are opening. Obviously, I think that happened, torrents of rain, but it's describing the parting of the invisible barrier between Earth and heaven. Ezekiel is seeing what's going on behind the scenes.

Ezekiel is seeing the curtain drawn back and there's god working all the time when he hadn't seen him before. And what is going on? Well, god seems to be coming. He's coming from the north. God seems to be coming in judgment as an enemy.

God, the pure, the holy 1, like fire and glowing metal, has come in the center of this this cloud. This is way more frightening than any, normal enemy from the north. This is now god appearing to be our enemy. So he's taken up. But in all that horror, and all that noise, ezekiel noticed something.

Look at it, verse 4. There's a silver lining. I looked, and I saw a violent storm coming out of the north, an immense cloud of flashing lightning, and surrounded by brilliant light. There's the cloud with a silver lining. There's the crack cloud surrounded by bright light.

The dark cloud had a silver lining. The hymn writer and and poet William Cooper writes, that amazing that amazing song. God moves in a mysterious way. God moves in a mysterious way. A misaligned that says behind the frowning providence, So behind the work of god, behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.

It's an extraordinary line, isn't it? What an extraordinary line that is? And then he goes on and says, ye fearful saints, courage take. The clouds that you much dread are big with mercy and will break with blessings on your head. That's our god.

He's not to be messed with. He's got some little trivial thing. He comes with this cloud. But the cloud only temporary obscures the sun, and it doesn't extinguish it. Behind the cloud, there's a smiling face.

Now just before I move on, just notice another couple of phrases. So, verse 1, the end of verse 1, it says, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of god that he saw. And then verse 3, the word of the lord came to ezekiel the priest, so he heard. He saw he heard. And then at the end of verse 3, There, the hand of the lord was on him.

So he was touched by the word of god. So he saw, he heard, and he touched. This is this is a this is a very real experience going on here. He sees, but he doesn't have to guess at the interpretation. He hears what this is all about, and he's touched by it.

This is real stuff going on here. It's like the everyday world around the rivers of Babylon. It's just going on as normal, but now suddenly a Zeekill has been open to the truth. The truth that god is there working. And not not he's not only working, but god is there intimately, personally, coming to ezekiel.

That he will know him, understand him, and he's touched by the living god. So that's the first point I want you to see. The second thing is I looked, says ezekiel, and I saw 4 living creatures. I looked, and I saw 4 living creatures. I looked, and I saw a storm.

Now I looked, and I saw 4 that saw 4 living creatures. So Ezekiel sort of he's looking at the clouds. He's sensing all of this stuff going on. He sees the silver lining. And now his vision is seeing through the clouds and He sees these emerging creatures, and they're very much alive.

They're very much active, and there's 4 living creatures. They're within the burning holy presence of the living god, if you see, they had human characteristics indicating that they're bearing something of the image of god. They had wings so that they could swiftly be about god's business and move around, like this thing. They, they had human hands so they could serve. And they're constantly in touch with each other.

Their wings were touching. And they would move straight away wherever god wanted them to go. And then they had 4 faces. Look at verse 10. Their faces, looked like this.

Each of the 4 had the face of a human being. And on the right side, each had the face of a lion. And on the left, the face of an ox, each also had the face of an eagle. And what's that all about? Right?

So each living creature has 4 faces. This is apocalyptic literature. Yeah? It's the same imagery you get when you turn to the book of Revelation. And, in chapter 4, where we're brought in to the throne room of god, the same creatures, 4 creatures.

They go to the 4 corners of the earth. Now the Bible doesn't believe the earth was square. It's a saying it's like north, south, east, west, They there are 4 of them because they're 4 creatures, and they go to everywhere on the planet. The human face stands for the intelligence of people that are ruling over creation. The lion is royal and bold.

It's the king of the beasts. The ox is strong in service. It's a strong thing. And the eagle soars above and sees all things, but also it's a comforting thing. So god talks about bringing his people out of out of Egypt and that he held them up like Eagles on Eagles wings.

It's an expression you find in the Bible quite a lot. And those in the Middle East would have understood that that whole expression because there is an eagle there that when the baby eagle is, not fledging, it's right up on the top of the rocks, and it's scared to sort of jump and fly. The mother eagle boots it out so it falls, but the father eagle is flying around just in case the little thing doesn't flap to rescue it. And that's a picture of god. He says I do that for you, for for my people.

So god's throne here, this throne that we're shown with these 4 living creatures, the throne of god is intelligent, It's royal, it's strong, it sees all things, it's compassionate, it's caring. And yet at the same time, there's blazing calls. Unlightening flashing. This is the throne of god. I looked and I saw the 4 living creatures.

They can quickly move at the bidding of the spirit. Now, Ezekiel needed to realize that while he was here as an exile for 5 years, and now is his birthday, and nothing seems to be going on, he needs to realize that actually God is active. And as we'll see in a minute, god has been training ezekiel in a way he didn't even realize. And these servants of god, these 4 living creatures are they're not idle. They're active.

God is working behind the scenes. You may not see it. But when the curtain's drawn back, you see it. And then Zekiel needs to realize that god is fully active in this world. My third point, I looked, and I saw wheels within wheels.

This is a bit people love about Isikyo. They think he was on drugs, or they think this is some kind of alien sort of spaceship that comes to town. Look at verse 16. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels. They sparkled like topaz, and all 4 looked alike.

Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any 1 of the 4 directions the creatures faced. The wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all 4 rims were full of eyes all around. See?

We got wheels within wheels and eyeballs everywhere. It's an amazing thing. It's like a a strange chariot. And and certainly, ezekiel would have been, you know, he would have seen the Babylonian military parades, you know, like all of those despots do. They have the military parades going and how many tanks they've got, and they're all standing up saluting all of those things going along.

Well, this would have reminded him of the chariots of of Babylon, the great dominant power of the world. And, yeah, the technology here is way better than any Babylonians have got. These chariots, they have wheels within meals. They could move in any direction quickly. And they they even read on.

They even can they could even rise up. There's vertical take off here. These are they can hover like drones. And then the rims are full of eyes. What does that mean?

Well, they can see everything. They don't miss a thing that's going on. No enemy can creep up on them because they're looking in every direction. And every blade of grass that they roll over, they know. They know everything.

So here's the throne of god, knowing everything highly mobile moves by the spirit of god, has this strength and royalty and intelligence and compassion and knows everything. This is the god that now Izika was being faced with. Active. And if if you like, so effortless compared to the the great tanks and the Babylonian chariots of iron, are gonna get bogged down. These are drones that can go around quickly.

I looked and I saw wheels within wheels, my fourth point. I looked and I saw a throne. So here is his e q. He now has taking his gaze up. He sees the cloud.

He sees the faces in the cloud, and now he's looking above. What's above these? These 4 living creatures. Look at verse 22. Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was, was what looked like something like a vault Now the vault there, he means he means like a roof like this.

This would be the vault. But vaults, those roofs are often sort of curved like a like a rainbow. So spread out above the heads of the living creatures was, what looked, something like a vault sparkling with crystal and awesome. And under the vault, their wings were stretched out. 1 towards the other, and each had 2 wings covering its body.

At verse 25, then there came a voice from above the vault, so over the heads as they stood with lowered wings. So they're sort of bowing down. They're like sort of pillars holding the vault up, but they're not holding the vault up as well. And then verse 26, above the vault over the heads, was was what looked like a throne of, Lapist, Zulu. I'll say it now.

Backed anyway. And, high above on the throne was, a a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be is waist up. He looked like glowing metal as if full of fire. And that from there, down, he looked like fire.

Brilliant lights surrounded him, like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was his radiance around him? This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of 1 speaking. So he looks and he sees above this ceiling on the heads of these 4 creatures, a throne, the lord. Is above everything.

He's above everything else. 4 living creatures, a powerful beings, but he's above them. The lord is seated on the throne. Look at verse 28 again, like the appearance of the rainbow. In the clouds on a rainy day, so was his radiance around him?

A rainbow is what? The rainbow speaks of grace in the midst of judgment. That's what a rainbow is about. If you, read the old testament, you know, and Noah, the flood comes. And then the rainbow is a signature of god, saying I won't send that flood again.

There's there's grace in judgment. So you've got a silver lining around this cloud of judgment that's coming. Remember? And now you've got this rainbow. You grace, even though there's judgment coming.

And then there's radiance about him. There's this love and grace, radiate radiating from him. This glowing metal full of fire, bright light surrounding him, the glory of the lord. We have such a pathetic vision of god so often. We talk about god.

Don't we? We debate about god. Do you believe in god? There are just ridiculous questions. If there is a god, what is he like?

Can't we see that he's big and grand? If he created the universe, then he's some awesome being here. And here's this picture of an awesome being. Here we are chatting away. Let's have a talk about god.

Let's get our theological books out and see whether we can dissect god, and the curtain is drawn back, and there's god. The creator of the universe, vast, splendid, glorious, powerful, judging that which is impure. And yet radiating grace and love. On the throne is none other than the likeness of the lord Jesus Christ. When we did Revelation chapter 1 a few weeks ago, you see Jesus takes up many of these pictures.

This is the lord Jesus Christ. Sitting on the throne, ruling. Jesus, the 1 who died on a cross and rose again, the ruler of life and death. And Ezekiel is overwhelmed when he understands who god is, and he falls on his face. But just notice what is quite interesting.

Notice this. It says the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the lord. He was overwhelmed and fell on his face and yet he's 3 steps removed from actually seeing the lord. The appearance of the likeness of the glory of the lord was enough to push him on his face. So my fifth point, the voice.

The voice. Chapter 1 verse 28. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard a voice of 1 speaking. Chapter 2, he said to me, son of man, I don't think that's the way Jesus used the son of man.

I think it just means son of Adam, just a human 1. He said to me human 1, stand up on your feet, and I will speak to you. As he spoke, the spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. And I heard him speaking to me, he said son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation, that has rebelled against me, they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I'm sending you are obstinate and stubborn, say to them this is what the sovereign lord says.

Now we'll see more of that next week, hopefully, but just see this voice speaking to him. The vision of god that god sent ezekiel, that vision of god pushes ezekiel on his face. The spirit of god sets him on his feet. Look at verse 2 at of chapter 2. As he spoke, the spirit came into me and raised me to my feet.

And I heard him speaking. I I actually think this is Izuku's conversion. I think this is the real working in the heart of Ezekiel. He'd been trained as a priest. He understood lots of stuff about god, But now this is god breaking into his heart.

This is what Jesus would call in the new testament being born again. This is what Ezekiel will tell us in ezekiel chapter 37 dead dry bones living when the spirit of god comes into them. The same spirit is sent. To ezekiel, the spirit that's sending the throne and the 4 creatures wherever he he wants to send them is now the spirit that's come into ezekiel. He's thrown on his face when he understands who god is, and he's brought up onto his feet when the spirit comes into his heart.

And now his equal is to go and to speak. And on his birthday, that's god's present to him. On his birthday, he's making ezekiel ezekiel. May god strengthen you? He's being strengthened for this task.

God had been training him in ways he didn't realize. Ezekiel, remember I said this, lived among a people suffering dislocation, suffering loss and trauma, with all the emotional and spiritual brokenness that goes with that. The stress of split families, he knows. Where there are still loved ones in Judah, his home country. Some of you know this horror.

You know this horror. You long to be in your country, and you long your for your country, to be sorted out. And perhaps you long for for the for the temple that you worshiped at to be rebuilt or the god that you believed in to be restored in some way. To ezekiel knew all of all of this pain. But his informal life training was that god was going to strengthen him for prophethood.

All his training in priesthood, god's glory. And now he's a prophet. The story that you've written for yourself is not necessarily the story that god has written for you. And you'll never be happy until you realize that. Law is behalf of life.

Why has god brought you here? What what why are you in this position? Why of your prospects mean not much at all? On your thirtieth birthday, you hope to be a priest, and now you're a nothing. In all of that pain in life, god had been training you for something bigger, ezekiel.

So just a few things then that we learn from this. What do we learn? The vision of god always does a number of things. God is bigger, and more awesome than you could ever imagine. He isn't some domesticated little god.

He's not limited to holy places. You don't need to go to Jerusalem or Mecca or the Ganjis or some holy mountain to find god. He's by the rivers of Babylon. He's by the canals of Cadar. Hey, Bar.

He's by the thames. Your hope should not be in returning to your homeland or even for better days. Your hope is knowing god's present here. Your hope is knowing how god is working in you here and how you could work for him. Have you ever come to that point?

God is much more awesome than we think. God works in mysterious ways to use us for his glory. Second thing is we are much smaller than we think. We are tiny. We are so insignificant.

We brag and we boast. Think we do clever things. But we're so small. We're a drop in the back bucket. God is big, which is the third point.

God uses the weak and the small. May god strengthen you is Izeku's name. May god strengthen you. Izeku was called to speak to his people in a foreign land. And maybe that's why you're here in London.

You've left the land of your home, but maybe god's bringing you through that pain so that you will speak to people in the foreign land. So we it's been a wonderful thing doing, the chai the Chinese group that we've had in the morning to try to talk to lots of Chinese people about the lord Jesus Christ. Well, what about you? The Polish? South Africans, Koreans, Hong Kong.

Why are you here in a foreign land by the rivers of of TEMs? Well, god hasn't it's not an accident. He's works, and he's planned, and he's brought you here. But you may be a prophet to your people. And it often looks like god isn't involved in your life, but pull back the curtain and you'll see god's providences moving and working.

Pull back the curtain a bit more and you'll see a smiling face behind some of those frowning providences. Last thing, have you seen something of the bigness of god? Have you seen something? Are you resisting the idea that god is big and glorious because you like your little arguments? Are they so small?

That you can't see the grandeur of of god. We talk about god so lightly as if he's just another thing. When you see who god is, you fall down on your face and see that he is in charge and not you. Have you ever come to that point? Have you ever released your soul into that?

That god is in control, not you. Have you not come to that point? And have you heard his word speaking to you in judgment and grace? In judgment and grace, speaking to you, in judgment and grace. And have you received his spirit?

Have you ever received the spirit of god? That causes you to stand to be remade so that you can do the work of god that he's called you to do. Ezekiel chapter 1 and 2. Let's pray. Father god help us to take this stuff and buy your spirit, apply it to our hearts in Jesus' name, amen.