Ezekiel

We're in the book of ezekiel, chapters 2 and 3 starting verse 1 of chapter 2.

The Lord said to me, son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you. As he spoke, the spirits 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 for 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. And he said to me, son of man, eat what is before you eat this scroll, then go and speak to the people of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, son of man eats this scroll I'm giving you and fill your stomach with it.

So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. He then said to me, Son of man go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel. Not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand, surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you, but the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me. For all the israelites are hardened and obstinate.

But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are rebellious people. And he said to me, son of man listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. Go now to your people in exile and speak to them.

Say to them, this is what the sovereign lord says, whether they listen or fail to listen. Then the spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the lord rose from the place where it was standing. It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other. And the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. The spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit with the strong hand of the lord on me.

I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the River Kaybar, and there where they were living, I sat among them for 7 days, deeply distressed. At the end of 7 days, the word of the lord came to me. Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel. So hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, you will surely die, and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life.

That wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin. But you will have saved yourself. Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin.

The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin, and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning. And you will have saved yourself. The hand of the lord was on me there, and he said to me, get up and go out to the plane, and there I will speak to you. So I got up and went out to the plane.

And the glory of the lord was standing there. Like the glory I had seen by the river Kaybar, and I fell face down. Then the spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said, Go, shut yourself inside your house, and you son of man, they will tie with ropes. You will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people, and I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them for they are rebellious people.

But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, this is what the sovereign lord says. Whoever will listen, let them listen, and whoever will refuse, let them refuse for they are a rebellious people. Thank you, Allison. Big passage, Lots of imagery there for us to have a look at. I I guess that's really going to, test the translation software.

I mean, we couldn't have started with a more obscure book, really, than ezekiel. And and, actually, I'm really wondering what what I what Chinese man I am. I hope I'm mad because it's translating, and some of you can put earphones in and hear hear it in Chinese. And I I hope I hope I'm a man, you know, and what what Korean person am I or a Polish person? I I don't know.

It'd be interesting. But, yeah, we're gonna test that software in ezekiel. Let's pray. Father god help us now. These are very serious, pictures that you've painted here, in that reading.

Please help us to, listen and, and apply it to our hearts. We pray. Help us not just to dismiss this stuff, but by your spirit, would you speak to us in Jesus' name? Our man. Now what we were seeing last week that, Ezekiel had this massive vision of the of the of god.

And we saw Jesus actually on on his throne. And we saw that he's he was training to be a priest, but now god's gonna make him into a a prophet The job of the priest, if you look in in the bible is is fairly routine and mostly safe, but the job of the prophet is not routine and very rarely safe. The job of the priest is often respected and liked, but the job of the prophet is very often despised and rejected. In Luke's gospel, Jesus, whose in his hometown is being hounded out of his hometown. He says this.

Truly, I tell you no profit is accepted in his hometown. At the beginning of the great sermon on the Mount, Jesus says these words, blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you because of me and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before me, and before you. So he's saying that, you know, you're in line if you're insulted and persecuted with the profits because they always are false prophets, well, they get it easy because they wanna say what people they say what people wanna hear. And people like them, and they say nice things.

And, mostly, they don't get persecuted false prophets because they're saying what the world says. In fact, Jesus says to false prophets, woe to you when people speak well of you. Now in the next 2 chapters in chapter 2 and 3, we're gonna see the making of a prophet of god, ezekiel. From priest to prophet. As I say, last week, we saw this, Ezekiel saw this clear vision of who god is, and he never loses that.

You get that a couple of times even in these chapters. He's reminded of of that vision of the throne of god. And so in order to do the work of god, in order to actually be a prophet, you need that vision of god. And then he's called to the work. So here's my first point, the mission.

Look at chapter 2 verse 3 to 5. He, that's god, 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. And whether they listen or fail to listen for 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 of 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 terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. So here he is. He's seen this vision of god, and now he's given his mission. And his mission is to go to an awful group of people.

Let's be honest. I mean, listen, listen to how they describe. Rebellious. And rebelled against god. Not not just stroppy rebellious people against each other, but they're rebelling against none other than the god of the universe.

That's how daring these people are. And not only that, they're still in rebellion. They've not repented of their rebellion, and then they're obstinate, and they're stubborn. And they're like briars, and they're like thorns and scorpions. This is a tough gig.

This is an uncomfortable calling. Ezekiel is not promised an easy path. He's promised a hard path where there'll be very little thanks and there'll be much opposition. And he's got to proclaim the word of god to people that largely don't wanna hear it that could will contest it. And notice the do not be afraid.

In verse 6, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Clearly, there's opposition going on. To ezekiel, organized, and vocal.

There'd be pressure groups against, ezekiel. Because ezekiel is like a re relic of the past. We don't need profits like that. The the the the the older people. He or he's eccentric or he's mad.

You listen to people who read his e kill. He's he's eccentric in certain years, but they dismiss him for that. Or he's mad, or he's just gone too far in his language. Wait until we hear some of the stuff Eikhael says, that's just too crude. I mean, a man of god, would would he talk like that?

Do not be afraid, says god, as he's called to this mission work. Do not be afraid of their words. Now when I was younger, there was this phrase around. I don't I don't know whether, you've got in in your country that you're from, a a similar thing. But it went like this.

If people were calling you names in the playground or at school, it went like this sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. That was what you said back to people that said nasty things about you. Sticks and stones were made by bones, but words will never hurt me. And it was 1 of the most stupid sentences that you could ever think of because words really hurt. In fact, sometimes they hurt more than sticks and stones.

It's just not true. Words injure you, hurt you, destroy you. They twist and exaggerate and threaten you. They, can turn people against you. They can belittle you.

They can spread rumors that it's impossible for you to actually deny. And then the words of the false prophets their words that are nice and everybody likes. And ezekiel, can't you be a little bit more like them? They feed people with encouraging words, but their lies. And they turn god into a false god.

Those false prophets are so encouraging. God, he's there to help us in our need. You portray god as if we should obey him. Do not be afraid of their words. Do not be afraid of their briars and thorns and Scorpions.

This is an uncomfortable mission that you're going to. They are prickly. They're like thorns. They'll cancel at you and cut you as quick as possible. And they're like scorpions.

It's you know, they're gonna inject you with their poison. They're just, you know, a scorpion, you you never sort of think a scorpion has a a nice, relaxed chilled out time. It's always ready, isn't it? To strike It's always walking around so angry. Isn't it?

Ready to talk. Have a go at you. Well, the people around you, EZekiel, every time you speak, they're they're they're they're stuffing away, ready. You wanna have a go at you. Zekah walks in the room, and it was no fun for him to walk in the room.

People turn away. People whisper. A friend of mine in the center of London, who's an evangelical anglican, he said that he would go to meetings with anglican ministers. This is recently, in in the center of London, and he would walk in, and because he was trying to stand up for what the Bible says, he would walk into meetings, and people would go they would hiss at him. Well, that's ezekiel, hissing, despising.

No no discussion. No serious talk, but just nasty hissing. Jesus says, and we're gonna see this tonight. So it's interesting how these sermons will pull together. Jesus said do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.

Rather be afraid of the 1 who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Ezekiel, get your priorities right. Get your fears right. You've seen who I am. The awesome 1.

Fear me, don't fear others. And when you understand who god is, it gives you that boldness, not to fear others. Do not fear their rebellion. I think this is an interesting 1. Because their rebel rebellion had led them to believe and trust in pagan gods.

Verse 3 of chapter 2 is a very interesting, verse and can be translated like this, and some translations do this. He said to me, god said to me, son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites to the rebellious pagans who have rebelled against me. God is calling the covenant people of god, pagans. Well, we'll see when we go into Ezekiel, just what's going on in the temple by the time you get to Ezekiel 8. But they are pagans.

They're worshiping false gods, false spirits, with powers of wickedness, demonic evil. That's that's where the people of God had got to. They're pagans. Don't be afraid of their powers and their witchcrafts and their evils and their satanicness. Don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid to preach even if these people won't listen to you. Look at verse 7 of chapter 3. But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me. For all the Israelites are hard and obstinate. In ezekiel's day, actually like our day, people wanna hear what is nice and comfortable, and what they're itching is want that they want to hear.

They're not prepared to hear what god says, what god thinks, what god's district description of the world is, what god's description of sin is. And so to challenge the world, you've gotta be some strong person who understands who god is. Don't fear them fear me. And so because they are hard and obstinate, god says I'm going to harden you up. Now this happens.

I don't think god just hardens people up, but as you go forward to do the work, he gives you backbone. Here, he's gonna give you a forehead. Look at verse 8, but I will make you as unyielding and as hardened as they are. Verse 9, I will make your forehead. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint.

Now I don't know how the translators are gonna translate this, but this this is like, you know, this is a glasswegian forehead. You've got here, isn't it? Now you may not understand that if you're not from this country, but up in Scotland, they make them harder. Don't don't don't they? Yeah.

And you've got Scotland and they're the hard ones of of our sort of nation. But then you've got the glass regions, and they're harder than anyone, and they have glasswegian foreheads, and a glasswegian kiss. If a glasswegian says, can I give you a kiss? Run. A Glasswegian kiss is a forehead smacking down on you to break your nose.

So in our country, we we understand, you know, and so, ezekiel, he's saying, hey, listen. I know we wanna naturally move away from controversy, and we naturally are afraid of people, but I'm gonna give you a glasswegian forehead. And I'm gonna I'm gonna train you so that you will be strong. We need this. We need a bit of Glasgow forehead in us when it comes to the word of god.

Not in any other area of our lives. I really don't mean, that we're people that are looking for fights. I'm not talking about us being unpleasant people. I'm not talking about us being belligerent, or hostile, or angry, or bullheads when it comes to every area of life. You know those people.

They're absolutely terrible, and they're very ungodly. They're they're Glasgow foreheads on every issue. You know? I don't like that coffee. You know, they're they're just contentious.

He's not saying that. They're rude and ungodly, but he is saying when it comes to the word of god, I want you to be unyielding and unbear bending. That's what he's saying. It's becoming increasingly urgent, I think, in our surrounding culture because people know the word of god less and less and less. It's increasingly urgent that we are unbending when it comes to the word of god.

Everything else we can have opinions on, and they don't really matter. But we're unbending when it comes to preaching the word of god. What is sad about our country at the moment is that there are less and less and less, and it's a crisis, men going into Christian ministry. Less and less men going into Christian ministry. Why?

Because it's so easy to be canceled, because it's so easy to be fearful. Do not be afraid. The failure of the prophet is not measured in how many people come to hear him or how many people are converted. The failure of the prophet, the rebellion of the prophet is for the prophet to fail to speak god's word whatever happens. It's so easy to be afraid.

It's so easy to allow fear to take over, afraid of people, afraid of friends, afraid of the popular views that are around, afraid of being silly, or old fashioned, or boring. Afraid of being, you know, dismissed as crude. Brothers and sisters, we need to be praying. We need to pray that we'll see the throne of god and the lord Jesus Christ for who he really is. And then maybe we won't be afraid of people in telling them the truth.

We'll have foreheads that are strong. We need to pray that. That's why we need prayer meetings. That's why we need to pray. But god will raise up young men to go and be strong in the lord.

That's the first point, the mission. The second point is the message look at chapter 2 verse verse 9. Then I looked and I saw a hand stretched out to me, and it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament, and morning, and whoa, chapter 3, and he said to me, son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll. Then go and speak to the people of Israel.

So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, son of man eats this scroll, I am giving you, and fill your stomach with it. So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. Ezekiel is to eat the word of god. He's to eat this scroll.

Ezekiel's eyes, his ears, his feelings, they've all been taken up with the vision of god. Now his taste buds must be as well. Everything about him, feeling, vision, hearing, sight, taste needs to understand the word of god. And the ruler of the lord Jesus Christ. He is to absorb the word of god in his very, very system.

He's not just to speak out words. It's much, much more than that. It's his life. The word is to become part of him. He's nourished by it.

He's to be energized by it. He's to be empowered by it. He's not just an Alexa. Where you just say, Alexa, play the word of god on Spotify. That will be interesting what happens.

Alexa, play the word of god on Spotify. Yeah. That'd be interesting what happens when people are listening at home now. He's not just saying, play the word of god. It's not just saying words.

It's god's word incarnated into him. So that it's him authentically speaking, but authentically speaking god's word. Notice the scroll in in chapter 2 verse 9 is written on both sides. There's no room for ezekiel's thoughts. He can't jot down anything else.

It's written on both sides. There's no he can't add his own thought. These these this message is entirely of god written on both sides. It's a hundred percent divine origin, and yet it has to become his He has to eat it. He has to digest it.

He has to absorb it. He needed the word of god himself. He needed to digest the word of god and make it part of himself. And that involves the a response in heart and mind. You see, he's not being made into a bullhead.

He's being made and remade into god's vehicle to speak the message. And the message is not easy. The scroll was covered. Look at it, front and back, with lament, morning, and woe verse 9 on both sides of it. Rewritten the words, lament, morning, and whoa.

And then in verse 3 of chapter 3, so I ate it. You get this. This is class's ezekiel. It's the the words that he's eating are lament, morning, and woah. So I ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey in my mouth.

Well, that's odd, isn't it? There's a paradox there. Scroll is full of lament and woe and morning. And he says it's delicious. By honey.

I had honey on toast this morning. Delicious. Lovely. In the book of Revelation, and it should come up in re revelation chapter 10, John, who's writing the book of Revelation, experiences the same thing, and he's told to eat the scroll. It's a very it's very, very similar.

If you ever preach revelation, you need to know ezekiel, because the 2 go together. But look at these words here. Here is John. Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me once more, Go take the scroll that lies open in the hands of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll.

He said to me, take it and eat it. It won't turn your stomach sour. But in your mouth, it would be as sweet as honey. I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.

Then I was told, you must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings. So do you see this scroll, this word of god, it has this bitter sweet experience. It's sweet in the mouth, and it's sour in the stomach. What is that all about? Well, if you think about it, that's the Christian experience, isn't it?

Jesus says, again, in the sermon on the mount, blessed, blessed is a sweet word. Bless it are those who mourn. Morn is a bitter word. Bless it are those who mourn. And if you understand the Christian message, on any level, the gospel message is knowing that you're more sinful than you could ever have thought of.

It's bitter, but then it's knowing that you're more accepted in god through Christ than you ever dreamed of. It's sweet. That's the Christian message. It's always bittersweet. If you're a preacher says, Paul, preaching the gospel, has the smell of death.

For some, when you preach the message of god, people are saying it stinks. I hate it. It's rotten, but it has the smell of perfume to others. Those who repent. They're saying it's beautiful.

It's gorgeous. It's 1 of the interesting things that happens for Christians. We're saying the word of god is so wonderful, so refreshing, so alive. And others are hearing it as judgment and hell and horrible. Look at verse 14 of chapter 3 of ezekiel.

The spirit then lifted me up and took me away. And I went in bitterness. He just had it in his mouth, and it was sweet. See, the bitter sweet, and I went in bitterness. And in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the lord would on me.

I came to the exiles, who lived in Tel Aviv, near the River Kaybar, and there, where they were living, I sat among them for 7 days, deeply distressed. The words there are very, very strong words. They're quite extreme. The word bitterness there, is used of a very, very nasty taste, but it's used of it the emotion of distress and grief. So he tastes it, and it's sweet as honey in his mouth.

But then as it brews in his stomach, there's grief There's bitterness. The word anger means boiling, you're red hot with displeasure. So here's Ezeekiel. He's eaten this sweet message of the word of god. But now it's boiling furious in his heart.

He's now broken hearted and full of grief, and it takes, as it says here, the strong hand of the lord, to hold those emotions down in ezekiel. And as the strong hand of the lord is holding those emotions down, he's knowing the incarnation of what it is to feel like god to the people. But god desires a message of sweetness and salvation. And yet when god sees their sin, it's bitter and ugly and gross. And as you read through ezekiel, you'll see it extraordinary descriptions.

I mean, some crude and violent descriptions. And it's just in a sense, those descriptions are how god feels about sin. This is god revolted. And yet there's a sweet message of salvation. That's what's going on, and he sits for 7 days.

Just taking this in. It's very hard to explain the most the emotions of a preacher. I've been a preacher now for years, and it is very hard to explain the emotions. You're very often very eager to preach. There are very positive emotions, but there's very often bro brokenness and hurting.

Have a look at Jesus here. I don't think I put these up, but but just listen. This is Jesus in Matthew 23. Listen to the bitter sweet. He's talking to people, and he uses bitter sweet in the same breath.

He turns to the false teachers, and he says, if we had lived in the that he's he says, you you say, if we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. That's what they're saying. So you testify against yourself, but you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead then and complete what your ancestors started. You snakes.

You brood of vipers says Jesus. How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore, I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. He's describing how they're treating the word of god.

He's describing how they're gonna treat him. But god in his kindness has sent prophets and teachers and sages to teach them, but you will crucify them. There's a bitterness there, but then listen. In the next sentence, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under the wings.

You are not willing. You see the bitter sweetness of a preacher? There's strength and condemnation in the way that you've treated the word of god. But, oh, I long. I long to gather you.

I long for the sweetness. Viewed to come in, bittersweet. That's my second point. Here's the third point. The responsibility then of a profit.

Now I won't spend long on this because this watchman picture comes up again in, ezekiel, and we may spend more time then. I'm not sure. But in verses 16 to 21 of chapter 3, you have this watchman illustration. And, he spent 7 days remember, brewing up this stuff, and now god comes to him and says, now it's time to get up and do the work and go and speak. And just before that, though, I want to impress upon you the life and death task you have as a prophet.

It's the responsibility is massive. And he gives this illustration, and I won't go into it in detail, you can read it there, and it's fairly easy. Of a watchman. It's vivid. It's challenging.

He says you're gonna be a watchman. Now what's a watchman? Basically, you have a town, a village, city, The watchmen would stand on a high tower or a mountain or a high place and would watch for the enemy. They're just watching. Is there any enemies coming, and they're looking out?

And if they saw an enemy coming, they would alert the people in the town, whatever time, day or night it was, with a horn or a shout or a trumpet. They would get the attention of the people The enemy's coming. The enemy's coming. That was the job of the watchman. And god says to ezekiel, if you don't act as a watchman and don't warn them about my judgment, then the their blood is on your head.

But if you warn them and they listen or they don't listen, then the blood isn't on your head. You've just gotta do the job. Some will listen, some won't. But your job is to warn, but if you don't, you're not being the prophet that I want you to be. So it's a very easy, illustration.

But it's it's the massive responsibility. Life and death, your prophecy here. That's what he's saying. But just before I move on, do you see the grace here? I love this about god.

There's always a silver lining to the to the storm cloud as we were seeing last week. There's judgment, but there's always a silver lining there. Do you see the grace in all of this? Who's he a watchman for? He's a watchman for the enemy coming.

Who's the enemy against the people of god at this moment? God. So god has told him to watch out for god. There's grace in that. Because god could have said, I don't want you to be a watchman.

I'll just come like a thief in the night. But he doesn't. Because there's a longing for mercy in god, and there's a longing for mercy in the prophet. There's a longing to preach Jesus, the honey in the mouth. There's a longing for that.

But that moves me onto my fourth point, the sign, the house. Did you notice that when Allison read it? I mean, it's just weird. So here's his e kill. He's told that he has to preach.

He's told to not be afraid. He's told to be a watchman. He's told if he doesn't speak, then the blood is on his head. He's now sent to a house, a home, interesting that that word house can mean temple. There's a lot in that, but I can't play with that today.

I'm afraid. So remember he's a priest, Temple or anyway, stop it. Stop it. Ezekeh, he sent to his house, which could mean temple, which anyway. And he's told to shut up.

This is very ezekiel. 1 writer says this, what happens next plums the depths of paradox almost to the point of farce. Yeah. Did you get it? Get up.

I'll give you a forehead like a Glasgow. Don't be afraid. Preach the gospel. If you don't preach, you're in trouble. Yeah?

If you preach, then that's okay. Go and preach. Now go home, and I'm now gonna tongue tie you, and I'm gonna have your hands tied, and I'm gonna shut you in the house. Don't speak. Yeah?

What is that about? You'll you'll find that expression when you read ezekiel a lot. What is that about? Yeah. Let me read it just so you get it.

Verse 22 of chapter 3. The hand of the lord was on me there, And he said to me, get up and go out to the plane, and there I will speak to you, and I got up and went out to the plane, and the glory of the lord was standing there. So that's the second time in chapter 2, he's seen the glory of the lord. Like the glory I'd seen by the Rubikaber, and I fell down. He's never far from the presence of god in order to do this work.

Then verse 24, then the spirit came on to me, raised me up to my feet, He spoke to me and said, go shut yourself inside your house, and you son of man, they will tie with ropes, and you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them for they are rebellious people. But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, this is what the sovereign lord says. It's weird, isn't it? What's going on? Well, we're see, and particularly next week where we really see it in detail, ezekiel not only spoke the word of god to people, but he lived it before them.

That's why he had to eat it. And he lived it in such a way that they saw god's message betrayed before their very eyes. He's doing what we would call action parables. If you just look at verse 4 chapter 4 verse 3, it says, this will be assigned to the people of Israel. He is in acting out signs, action parables for them to see.

Now what is this action parable about? What does it mean? Well, verse 26 again, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them for their rebellious people. What is the worst judgment you could ever have? You see, the watchman's saying god's coming.

Get ready. But now the watchman's silent. No word. No word from the watchman. No word about you repenting.

God's not speaking. It's the worst judgment ever. We're left in our sin. We don't even know how we should repent or what we should repent of. If you bind the preacher, says god, they're binding with ropes, if you bind the preacher, I will stop speaking, and I'll leave you to the false prophets.

And the false prophets lie about me. There's no stronger judgment than that. So he's acting out where they are. They're in danger. But, of course, there's grace in the acting out, isn't there?

And then verse 27, there's the but. But when I speak to you, I will open my mouth. I will open your mouth and you shall say. You will go to the people. Now let me just say this.

These people didn't think their sin was that bad. That's why when you read Izekio and you see the horrors, is is how god feels about sin. They thought god was maybe a little bit annoyed at them, but not much. That they would, remake Judah. They would remake Jerusalem.

The temple would be restored. They thought their big enemy was really Babylon and not god. It was just the nations against them, and it wasn't god. And ezekiel for 7 years in his house. Is going to act out.

He'll come out and then speak sometimes. He'll go back into his house. He's going to show them that god is their enemy. God is the judge, not not circumstances or Babylon. And there's very little good news for 7 years until chapter 33.

There's very little good news from Izikil, because they're putting their hope, not in god, but in circumstances. If Jerusalem could be restored, But in chapter 33, Jerusalem is completely fallen. And then there's no hope. And when they're at the bottom of hope, the only place to turn is god. That's what's going on here.

It's bittersweet. They're gonna have to taste the bitter before the sweet. Now let me apply this quickly and briefly. Think of our world. Think of our world now.

It's good stuff going on, isn't there? I mean, the weather's horrific, but it's alright. We've got food, and we breathe, and we're in a really 1 of the richest parts of the world. We're doing well, aren't we? Quite nice.

Some of us got houses, flats, food, friendships. The world for most people looks good. Although there's terrible pain going on, we pretend that pain isn't really there. And god can't be judging us. There's hope for a better life.

If only I could get a better job, if only I could sort my mental health out, if only I could there's hope. Well, look what Romans says, and I think I've got it up. Romans chapter 1 verse 8. This is the world we're in, verse 18. Got it?

The wrath of God is being revealed. Now, The problem is we're living by the rivers of Babylon, and we may be out of place and out of sorts, but it doesn't feel that bad, and is god against me what it's not until the cloak is opened until the curtain is opened, where we really see what god thinks of us. The wrath of god is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Since what may be known about god is playing to them, because god has made it plain to them, for since the creation of the world, god's invisible qualities, his eternal powers and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made so that people are without excuse. For although they knew god, they neither glorified him as god or gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools. And exchange the glory of the immortal god for images made to look like mortal human beings and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore god gave them over in their sinful desires. Of their hearts to ****** impurity for the degrading of their bodies with 1 another. They exchange the truth about god for a lie and worshiped and serve created things rather than create a god.

Who is forever praised our men. Paul is writing in the new testament and saying, there's something of the wrath of god already on us. And what we look around and say, well, I'm free I'm free to be ******** whatever I wanna be. That's a handing over. That god's wrath is already here.

Why is there so many issues? Why are there so many problems? What is going on in our world? Well, there's the wrath of god here in part. And that is a warning to us that there is the wrath to come.

He's holding back his full wrath. In grace and kindness. But are you listening? Are you living a happy little life? Are you saying, well, no, it's Babylon and circumstances.

Surely god can't be against me. Is he keeps saying god is against you? It's worse than you ever thought it was. And you need to understand that bitterness before you understand the sweetness. Of the god who sent Jesus to come and die for us.

If you're living an unrepentant life, my dear friend, you're playing. With your eternal soul. If you don't know the sweetness of the forgiveness of sins, if you don't know blessed are those who mourn, If you don't know that, then as it said in our catechism, the wrath of god is to come. You see something of it here. But it's bigger there.

So the world, the the application of ezekiel to the world, but the application to us as a church is that we have to be prophets to this world, brothers and sisters of Cornerstone. This isn't just a club. We're prophecy to this world. We we've gotta take the responsibility of a watchman. We have to call out whether people like it or not.

You're in danger. But god's wrath is on you, but come to Christ, and he'll take it for you. Bitter, sweet. We have to speak the truth out. We need to learn not to be afraid.

That's why Come and pray. Let's pray. We'll not be afraid because we are afraid. We need Glasgow foreheads. Yeah?

We're not going around giving people Glasgow speeches. But we are strong with the word of god that we would speak out the truth. And in order to speak out the truth, we need to be moved by the sins in this world. Take on something of what god sees when he looks out at this world, and the horrors, and the bitterness, and the stabbings, and the violence, and the gruesomeness and the 1 upmanship. Our job is to speak out the truth as prophets.

We need to raise up preachers. Those of you have got any gift at all. Stop mucking about. Stop being afraid. Come on.

Let's get together. Let's get out and preach. Last thing. Sorry, no. Not the last thing.

Third thing, what about you? Could you do something? We're crying out for youth leaders. Don't you want young people to hear the word of god? Or perhaps you should be doing something about that.

We're crying out for youth leaders. We've given them a way to hope church. We we we we need now new ones. What about you? Ever see Rory.

Rory, stand up. Yeah. Sit there. Stand up. That's power for my son-in-law.

What about what about you? Can you do something? The third thing is, do you see Christ in all of this? I hope so. The vision of Christ, the great sovereign lord, the bitter sweet, The cross of Christ, so bitter, prepared to take all of those ugly descriptions of sin.

And when you read it in ezekiel, so and some of you read it in the home groups, the some of the awful stuff is prepared to take that on himself in order to die for those sins so that we don't have to. The bitter sweetness of that. Keep that vision in mind. How he loves us, how sweet his love is, as he takes the bitterness of our sin. Keep that in mind, and that that will give us a boldness.

That will give us a forehead to go into the world and tell about the lord Jesus. Let's bow our heads and pray. Heavenly father, we pray that, as a church, you would help us to continue to be faithful to your word and to hold out the message of life to this world. And we do pray for your help for that because by nature, we we are scared of truth, and we can be embarrassed and we can shy away, and, we can turn from faithfulness. And so we need you, please, to strengthen us, to give us those foreheads and to give us that conviction that what the world needs most is your truth.

And we thank you lord Jesus that before we are prophets, we are sinners who have been saved by your grace. We thank you that you did die for our sins. You took all of the judgment that is so visually described for us here, all of that you took for us. And you have not only saved us, but you have made us your watchmen. What an amazing thing, and to help us lord Jesus to stick close to that cross so that we can keep preaching faithfully.

In Jesus' name. Oh, man.