You would. Actually, we're going
to be in Ezekiel chapter 16 tonight, but first of all, we're going
to be in a few other places, so if you want to just earmark
Ezekiel 16, that's where we'll be looking at in a little while.
The name of the message is The Time of Love. The Time of Love. And today our text will be found
in Ezekiel chapter 16, verses 1 to 14, where we'll see a picture
of our natural state And we see a picture of our natural state
as spiritual Israel, and then we see the manifold blessings
which we have in Christ Jesus, our Lord, who is the God of Israel.
But before we go there, let us take some time on a brief history
of Israel's beginnings. Now, we know that the nation
of Israel, which in a time became very powerful. They became a
very powerful nation. They became a great nation. In
the days of David and Solomon, they were a great nation. But
it started out with one man, didn't it? Abraham. Abraham. Turn, if you would, to Joshua,
chapter 24. But again, keep your finger in
Exodus, because we'll be going there. I mean, in Ezekiel. Joshua 24. Now God, when he called
Abraham, Abraham, beloved, was steeped in idolatry. He was steeped
in idolatry. He was in the heathen land. And
the scriptures plainly, plainly bring that forth. And I want
us to think where we were when God called us. We were in the
same place. We were serving other gods, weren't
we? Which weren't really other gods. And sometimes we were serving
the God of self, even. Thinking that, oh, we're good.
I'm not an axe murderer. Surely God will let me into heaven.
There's none righteous, no, not one. There's none good. Look
at this in Joshua 24, two and three. And Joshua said unto all
the people, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, your fathers dwelt
on the other side of the flood in the old time, Turah, the father
of Abraham and the father of Nechor. And they served what? Other gods. And I took your father
Abraham from the other side of the flood and laid him throughout
all the land of Canaan and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac.
So God called Abraham out of idolatry. That was the state
that Abraham was in. Now turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy
7. Abraham was an older man when God called him, and at that time
he had no children, and his wife was well older in years, and
well past the age of childbearing, and yet came from this one man
a mighty nation. A mighty nation. He went from
nothing spiritual to heaven, everything, all by the grace
of God. And all by the power of God.
Because if God had left Abraham in that idolatry, he never would
have known God. But he was one of God's chosen
people. And again, it's all by the power
of God. We see this declared over in Deuteronomy chapter 7,
look at verses 6 to 8. For thou art an holy people,
and Brother Roy and I, we always do a devotional every Sunday
night, and we were looking at a devotional by Octavius Winslow
tonight, and that brother brought out the fact that we are only
holy in Christ. We're only holy in Christ. So
when you see that, for thou art an holy people, know that the
only way we're holy is in Christ. No other way. No other way. unto
the Lord thy God were his. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself. God has chosen you if
you're one of his blood-bought people. God has chosen you unto
himself. Isn't that amazing? That's absolutely
stunning. Me, a sinner? Yeah. Saved by
the grace of God in Christ. And to God, I'm a special people
and so are you if you're one of his people. Oh my, and we're
chosen unto himself. Above all people, we've seen
that. Does this not scream of God's
distinguishing grace right here before us? We see that in our
own lives, and now we see it here. And Israel, remember, is
a picture of the church, beloved. Above all people that are on
the face of the earth. Remember we're chosen out of
our generation. Just let that sink in. That's
just incredible in itself. You're a chosen generation. Chosen
out of your own generation by God in eternity. Look at this. The Lord did not set his love
upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than
any other people. For you were the fewest of all people. But
because the Lord loved you. There's the key right there.
Why are we, we who are His born-again, blood-bought people, why are
we born again? Why are we loved? Why are we Christ? Because God's
loved us. And we know that's an eternal
love. And because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto
your fathers, hath the Lord bought you out with a mighty hand and
redeemed you out of the house of the bondman from the hand
of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Now we know he's speaking of
Israel here, but again, Israel is a picture of the church. We
have been bought out of the world, beloved. And that is the Egypt. Egypt is a picture of the world.
We've been bought out of that, beloved. And how have we been
bought out? By a mighty hand. By a mighty
hand, we've been bought out. We could never bring ourselves
out. We've been bought out. We've been redeemed. And it says
that, and redeemed you. Who redeemed us? The Lord Jesus
Christ. He purchased us, didn't he? Yeah. Oh, my. And the only reason that
Israel had become a great nation is because of God's grace and
power in making it so. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason. And so we know, turn now if you
would to Jeremiah 18, we know it's so because of the illustration
of the potter in Jeremiah chapter 18. Look at this. Jeremiah 18, verses 1 to 6. The word which came to Jeremiah
from the Lord, saying, Arise and go down to the potter's house,
and there I will cause thee to hear my words. And I went down
to the potter's house. And behold, he wrote a work on
the wheels. So here's this potter. He's got
a lump of clay. And what's he going to do with
it? Well, look at this. And the vessel that he made of
clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it again,
another vessel. It seemed good to the potter
to make it. Who has the power there, the potter or the clay? The clay's not saying, I've mentioned
this before, the clay's not saying, well, I want to be a candlestick.
Is it? It's not saying nothing. It's
formed however the potter wants it to be formed. He has all the
power over that clay to do whatever he pleases to do. We know the
picture there, don't we? Oh, we know the picture there.
That's us. That's us. Then the word of the
Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, can
I not do with you as the potter? Now think of that with spiritual
Israel, with God's elect. Think of that
with the whole world. Can he not do with the world
and the people in it whatever he pleases? He can, can't he? Because he's the potter. He can
do whatever He pleases. O house of Israel, can I not
do with you as this potter, saith the Lord? Behold, as the clay
is in the potter's hand, so are you in mine, O house of Israel. That ties right in. That ties
right in with Scripture where it says that He does whatever
He wills. In the arms of heaven. and all
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He doesn't
need any of us, beloved. Just remember that. He's God. He chose to save us
by His grace. All to manifest His mercy and
His love is absolutely wonderful. Now let's turn to Ezekiel chapter
16. With all that in our minds, let
us turn to Ezekiel chapter 16, and we'll read verses 1 to 14. Look at this. And again, verse 1, The word
of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to
know her abominations. And say, Thus saith the Lord
God unto Jerusalem, Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land
of Canaan. Thy father was an Amorite, and
thy mother a Hittite. Well, he's speaking of Abraham
and Sarah. And we know they were idol worshippers. As for thy nativity and the day
that thou was born, thy navel was not cut, neither was thou
washed in water to supple thee, thou was not salted at all, nor
swaddled at all. None I pitied thee to do any
of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee, but thou was cast
out in the open field to the loathing of thy person in the
day that thou was born. When I passed by thee and saw
thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy own blood, live. What a beautiful word. Live. Live, yea, I said unto thee,
when thou wast in thy blood, live. I have caused thee to multiply
as the bud of the field. Now remember, Israel became a
great nation. Who was it that done that? God. God allowed that to happen. And
I caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou
hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to an excellent
ornaments. Thy breasts are fashioned and
thine hair is growing, whereas thou was naked and bare. Now
when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was
the time of love. And I've spread my skirt over
thee, and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord thy God, and thou becamest
mine. Look at those marvelous words.
Thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water.
Yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed
thee with oil. I clothed thee also with brooded
work, and shod thee with badger skin, and I girded thee about
with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee
also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and
a chain on thy neck, and I put a jewel on thy forehead, and
earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head." She's
just adorned, isn't she? These picture all the spiritual
blessings we have in Christ, beloved. Thou wast decked with
gold and silver, and thy remnant was of fine linen and silk, embroidered
work, and thou didst eat fine flour and honey and oil, and
thou wast exceedingly beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a
kingdom, and thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy
beauty, for it was perfect through my calmliness. Now notice that. It was perfect through my calmness,
God says. which I put upon thee, saith
the Lord God. We'll visit that later on. Now
take note in verses 10 to 14, their beauty was perfect through
his beauty, beloved, through his beauty. See the word calmliness
there in verse 14, it's translated in the Hebrew as magnificence.
Glory, splendor, majesty. Just as we saw in our study in
Song of Solomon, our beauty comes from where? It comes from Christ,
beloved. It comes from Christ. It comes
from His righteousness. Oh my. God looks upon us, He
sees the perfect spotless righteousness of Christ, which He has put upon
us. Which He has put upon us. Now
we know again that Israel in the Old Testament is a picture
of spiritual Israel in Christ. All our Lord did in Israel is
a picture of what he does for us. So let us come to this text
with that in our minds, and I believe we'll be blessed, beloved. I
believe we'll find this to be a wonderful passage as the Holy
Spirit illuminates the scriptures to us and teaches us the things
of Christ. Over in Galatians, turn if you
would to Galatians chapter 3 and then put your finger in Romans
chapter 2. Over in Galatians chapter 3 verse 7, the scripture
makes clear this absolutely wonderful statement. Know ye therefore, Galatians
chapter 3 verse 7, know ye therefore that they which are of faith
the same are the children of Abraham. Paul's declaring that
those who are born-again blood-washed saints are the children of Abraham.
Spiritual. We're spiritual Israel, beloved. We're spiritual Israel. Now turn to Romans chapter 2.
And look what it says here. A similar statement is made in
Romans chapter 2, verses 28 to 29. Romans chapter 2. Verses 28 to 29. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly, and that circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit. That means you're born again. And not in the letter, whose
praise is not of men, but of God. Notice that. But he is a
Jew, which is one inwardly. In circumcision is that of the
heart. We who are his blood-bought people
are spiritual Jews, beloved. We're one in Christ. We're one
in Christ. It's absolutely amazing. And
these verses plainly bring forth that the born-again believer
is a spiritual Jew. And what marvelous, wonderful
news this is. Again, he is a Jew which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart. It's God's
work in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not
of man, but of God. See, we give praise to our great
God, don't we? For what he's done. Not only
for us, but in us. In us. Again, all power. This is all by the power and
might of our great and glorious God. Let's go back to Ezekiel
chapter 16. And let us look at this tonight.
And we'll see that we who are born again, blood washed saints,
we go from being spiritually bankrupt. spiritually bankrupt to having all spiritual blessings
in Christ. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Let us take and look at these
first verses. Let's look at verses three to
five where we see what we were. We see what our natural state
was when we were born into this world. What a picture we have
here. And say, thus saith the Lord
God unto Israel, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of
Canaan, thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother, a Hittite. We
were born dead in trespasses and sins, just like our mom and
dad. Just like our mom and dad were.
Ezekiel, chapter 16, verse 3. And now let's look at verse 4.
And as for thy nativity, in the day thou was born, thy navel
was not cut, neither was thou washed in water to supple thee.
Thou was not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None I pitied
thee to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon
thee. But thou was cast out in an open
field to the loathing of thy person in the day that thou was
born. Infanticide was practiced in
the ancient world and it's defined as the act of killing a baby
within a year of birth. Also, it's a person who kills
an infant, especially their own child. And this was a disturbingly
common act in the ancient world. It was a disturbingly common
act in the ancient world. It was said that in Sparta, This
practice was organized and managed by the state. All Spartan infants
were bought before a council of inspectors and examined for
physical defects. And those who weren't up to their
standards were left to die. were left to die. If a Spartan
baby was judged to be unfit for its future duty as a soldier,
it was abandoned on a nearby hillside and left alone. And
the child would die of exposure or be rescued and adopted by
strangers. And we know that in the pagan
nations of old, unwanted, deformed babies were left in fields to
perish just as in Sparta. And we see that even in our text,
it's bought forth, isn't it? They were just left. And what
a picture we have in our text here today, tonight, of our natural
state. We're born of fallen parents
because we all fell in Adam. We were shaped in an iniquity
and conceived in sin. And the scriptures declare of
the wicked that our natural state was we were estranged from the
womb and we go astray as soon as they be born speaking lies.
That's our state. That's our natural state. We
come into this world in this fallen state of absolute total
depravity. And like this baby here, that's
left alone to perish in a field, we are absolutely helpless. Think
of that. If a parent takes a baby and
leaves it in a field like what we see here, that baby needs
its parents, doesn't it? And that baby is going to perish
if it's left there. If someone doesn't come and rescue
it, it's going to perish. It's going to perish. And so
this is our state, beloved, when we come into this world. We are
helpless. And that baby was hopeless. It's
been abandoned. Helpless and hopeless. And we
know that baby had no power and no ability to change the state
that it was in. That was us in our natural state. We were in that same state. with
no ability. Take note of verse 5. None I
pitied thee to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion
upon thee. But thou was cast off in the
open field to the loathing of thy person in the day that thou
was born. Hopeless. And strangers from
the commonwealth of Israel is what we are in our natural state,
beloved. The scripture declares this, that at that time ye were
without Christ. That was our state. We were without
Christ. Be an alien from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, having
no hope. This baby had no hope. None at
all. It was helpless, hopeless, no
power to help itself, no power to change the situation that
it was in. None at all. We were strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, Ephesians
2.12. That was our state. We're sinners by birth, we're
lawbreakers. We're lawbreakers by choice.
We're lawbreakers by birth. That's what we are. And the law
of God must condemn us, right? In that state. Because the holiness
of God is offended. It's offended. The justice of
God bears its sword to destroy us. This is our natural state,
beloved, by our birth. And this is the true picture
of a fallen sinner. And the scriptures proclaim about
us from the sole of our foot to the top of our head, there's
no soundness in us. None. That's what we are in our
natural state. But wounds and bruises and petrifying
sores, putrefying stores. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter three, though. Romans chapter three. And we're seeing
our text. We're seeing in this text that
in our state, we're hopeless. We see that in what we looked
at in Ezekiel there, right? We're hopeless, helpless, no
power to change anything. But beloved, help must come from
above. Help must come from above. Help must come from God and God
alone. Look at this in Romans 3, starting
in verse 10. As it is written, there is none
righteous, No, not one. That means that everyone born
into this world, that there's none of us who are righteous.
That's what that is. Plainly, as you can say it, there
is none righteous. We're all born sinners, all born
sinners. Romans 3 10. Now look at verse
11. There's none that understand
that this is our natural state. Now look at this. There's none
that seek it after God, even though you got False preachers
tell them people, God, He's just up there wringing His hands.
He so much wants you. That's not what the Scripture
claims, is it? Because they have no ability to come to Him. That's what the Scripture says
right here. We don't understand the things of God. There's none
righteous. We're all sinners. There's no
understanding in our minds of the things of God. And then it
says, there's none that seek after God. And we all know, we who are the
redeemed of the Lord, we know what we were like before. Did
you seek God before he saved you? Not at all. We sought the
things that pleased us, didn't we? Look out for number one. Eat, drink, and be merry, because
tomorrow we die. That was our thoughts, just like
the old Romans used to say. That was how we were. And we
didn't know any better. We had no understanding of who
God was. And we did not seek Him. We did not seek Him. Look, it says there in verse
12, they're all gone out of the way. They're all together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. No one does good. We're sinners. Everything we do, think of the
best thing you do, it's tainted with sin, even as a believer.
Your best prayers are tainted with sin. The best sermon a preacher
can preach is all tainted with sin. Oh, but praise God, we have a
Redeemer. Praise God, we have a Redeemer. Look at this. Their
throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of the asp is under their lips, whose
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift
to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. In the way of peace have they not known. We knew
absolutely nothing about the way of peace. We knew absolutely
nothing about He who is the Prince of Peace. We knew absolutely
nothing about He who is our peace with God. That's our sting. And when you tell people this,
they recoil. No, surely I'm a good person.
No. No. We're all sinners. And then look,
it says this. And there's no fear of God before
their eyes. Oh, how much we see that nowadays. No fear of God. No fear of God. Vicki and I were
talking about, there's a whole generation now that's being raised
that their parents were God haters, right? Who never went to church. And now these kids are growing
up and they have no desire to be in church. They have no desire
for the things of the Lord. They have no fear in their eyes. But oh, one day, oh, if they
die in their sins, they're gonna be trembling. Because God is real. He's real. Now we know that, look at verse
19, now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law, that's every human being, right?
Except Christ, because Christ is the God-man. He's the seed
of the woman, he's the sinless one, but as far as you and I,
this is talking in our natural state, every one of us. Now we
know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them who
are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and that
all the world may become guilty before God. So think of that,
before when I used to think my good would outweigh my bad. Do
you know what I was saying to that? I was saying I wasn't guilty
before God. So if you hear someone say, well,
I'm a good person, surely, they're basically telling you, I'm not
guilty before God. That's what they're telling you.
But what does the scripture say? That's what's most important,
right? It just told us that all are guilty before God. Everyone. Everyone, every single person
in this room, in a natural state, and when we were in our natural
state, guilty before God. Now we who are redeemed now,
now we're clothed in the precious righteousness of Christ, and
praise God, it's all because of what he's done and not in
what we've done. But this is the state of natural man right
here, right here. All men may become guilty before
God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified. We can't be justified
in any doings. That's what the scripture here
plainly declares. You cannot be justified by your
works at all. It's impossible. In his sight,
for by the law is the knowledge of sin. We're lawbreakers, beloved. And we have no way to rectify
that in our natural state. But now, look at this, but now
the righteousness of God without the law is manifest, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God,
oh my, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon all them that believe. For there is no difference for
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness, it's all about
Christ and all about His righteousness, for the remission of sins that
are past through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just in the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. What a Savior. We saw there man's natural state,
hopeless, helpless. But oh, what a Redeemer we have.
What a Redeemer we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so, we see
there in verses 10 to 18, man's awful state in Romans chapter
3. We see that the law condemns
us and we're all guilty in our natural state before God. And
then we see in verses 21 and 26, the righteousness of God
without The deeds of the law, because Christ fulfilled the
law for us, is manifested by faith in Jesus Christ unto all
and upon all them that believe. Help must come from above. It must, it must. It must come
from above. And beloved, it does in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ, in and through him. And it comes to
every one of God's blood-bond saints, His elect. Now, in light
of what we just read in Romans 3, let's turn back to Ezekiel
16. And knowing that help must come
from above, let us consider our next point from the text,
which is what God has done. What God did. What God did for
us. Look at this in verses 6 and
7. And when I passed thee and saw
thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy blood, live. Now remember, that little baby
has no ability, no power. But God passes by and says, I
said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said
unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. I have caused
thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased
in wax and grate, and thou art come to excellent ornaments.
Thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is growing, whereas
thou was naked and bare. So she was, the baby was naked,
and now the baby's clothed. Oh my. Note here in the fact
that we did not seek him. Do you notice that? Baby can't
do no seeking, can he? But he sought, he sought out
that little child. Beloved, he sought us out in
the natural state we were in. He sought us out. In our inability, and in our
helplessness, and in our hopelessness, we did not come to where he was.
He came to where we were. That's what our God does for
his people. False religionists again tell
people that God has invited them. Or is waiting for them to come
to him. That he's done all he can do. And the gift is offered to you,
but but see, you've got to you've got to come and take it. But
but what do we see in this text here? We see that the child has no
ability. We see that the Lord comes to them. Praise be to God, our great God
and King. Think of this. He was mindful
of us. You ever think of that? Brother Matt, He was mindful
of you in your natural state. He is mindful of you. He came
to you. It's absolutely stunning, isn't
it? He was mindful of us. And His love has been set upon
us from eternity. From eternity. From before the
world began. Ever just sat and just thought
upon that? It'll excite you. His love, God's
love was set upon each one of His sheep in Christ. from eternity. Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit entered into a covenant of mercy on our behalf, beloved. Turn, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. Just
let that sink in, though, that God's love, if you're one of
his people, was set upon you from eternity. I hope we think about that this
week. I hope we ponder that precious truth. And if he loves us, and we know
he does, then he'll watch over us. Then he cares for us. It's wonderful. Look at this
in 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 13 and 14, but we are bound to
give thanks Always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning,
we know that's in eternity, chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. And who do we believe? Christ. We believe the gospel proclamation
about Christ, don't we? It's wonderful. The only reason
we do is because we're born again. Where unto He called you by our
gospel, each believer is saved by the gospel, being preached
and proclaimed by the Lord, which points us to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is our Savior and our Redeemer. By our gospel. Each believer
can say, this is my gospel, this is good news for me. For me. To the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now turn to Hebrews chapter 13,
if you would. It was Christ who took our place
as our surety before God's law and justice. It was he who obeyed
the law in our place. It was he who took our sins upon
himself. It was he who redeemed us to
God by the shedding of his precious blood. It was all him. It was
all him. He came to us, didn't he, too,
in that state we were in. But he purchased us on Calvary's
cross, beloved. 2,000 years ago. Look at Hebrews
13, verses 20 and 21. Now the God of peace that bought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working
in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Let's go back to
our text again. And the scripture says, I saw thee polluted in thy blood.
Look at Ezekiel 16, 6. I saw thee polluted in thy blood. God sees us like we really are.
He knows every thought we think. He knows all our motives. Everything,
nothing's hid from him. Absolutely nothing. Nothing at
all. When we're lost and when we're
saved, he knows it all. He knows it all. He sees our sinfulness in our
natural state, doesn't he? Because the text here proclaims
that he sees us again as we really are. I saw thee polluted in thy
blood. When God the Holy Spirit reveals
to us our desperate need for Christ. And we see our sinfulness
as God sees it. We see that we have sinned before
a holy and righteous God. We see that it is us. It's my
sin that's offended the law and justice of God. And we see we
see we see our desperate need for Christ, don't we? We see
it. When God, the Holy Spirit, when
we're born again, regenerated, and we just flee to Him. We just
flee to Christ. And this is undeserving mercy.
You know, this is mercy for the miserable. This is grace for
the guilty. The salvation that we have in
Christ. Because we saw over in Romans, we're all guilty, aren't
we? But we who are His people receive grace and mercy from
God. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 9. Matthew chapter 9. This salvation in Christ is for
those who are real sinners. Those who are real sinners. I
love these portions of scriptures where it says that our Lord sat
with publicans and sinners. I love that. I'm still a sinner, but I'm saved
by grace, but I've not forgotten where I came from. The pit that the Lord took me
out of. The things that I did and was
doing, and places that you go. I know it's all under the blood,
but praise God it's under the blood. Praise God all my sins
are forgiven. Is it so with you? We're rebels,
aren't we? I was talking to Brother Ron
Trabant, we were talking about, we're still rebels even after
we're saved. My, we are. But praise God, all
our sins are forgiven, beloved. But when I see portions of Scripture
like this, it just makes my heart leap. Look at this in Matthew
9, verses 10 to 13. You know, the religious folks, we looked
at that a little bit this morning, they hated the Lord. They hate
Him. But look where our King is. Look
where He is, beloved. Matthew 9, starting in verse
10. And it came to pass as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold,
many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His
disciples. That's us. That's a picture of... We're publicans and sinners just
like them. And when the Pharisees saw, now
when the self-righteous religious Pharisees saw this, what happened?
Did they say, oh, that's a blessing. He's ministering to the people,
the publicans and sinners. No, they were so full of self-righteousness,
so full of who they thought they were, so full, self-righteousness
just oozes out of them. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said unto his disciples, and I imagine they said it with
disdain, they just said it with hatred, why eateth your masters,
Republicans and sinners? And I ask you, are you sinsin? Every believer knows that we're
sin sick. Now, we're saved and redeemed,
but we're sin sick, aren't we? And whether a person in their
natural state believes it, they're sin sick. People talk about pandemics and
worry about, oh, if a pandemic breaks out, There is a pandemic
of sin already and it's going to kill everyone. But when Jesus heard that, he
said unto them, they that behold. They who are self-righteous,
they who think that they're good. Need not a physician. Think of
us in our natural state here. I remember how I used to think.
See, this is what we are by birth, by nature, and by choice. This
is our state. We don't see a need for a physician. But praise God, the Holy Spirit
shows his people their need. They that behold need not a physician,
but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Is God showing
me you're a sinner? Oh, praise God, He shows His
people we're sinners. And we flee to Christ, don't
we? We flee to the great position. But isn't it marvelous that our
Lord sat with publicans and sinners? Isn't it absolutely wondrous?
The King of glory. He didn't snub his nose and say,
well, I'm not gonna sit with that person. That's what the religious Pharisees
did, didn't they? He didn't say that. Praise God,
he sat with publicans and sinners and that he came. He came for
the sick, the sin sick. And he reveals to us our sinfulness
and our desperate need for him. And he he calls us, doesn't he? He calls us by his grace and
we come to repentance in him. We cast ourselves upon Him. We
plead for mercy. God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
We're not looking at anyone else. We're looking at ourselves. God,
be merciful to me. But God commanded His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Let's go back to our text in
Ezekiel chapter 16. Look at verse 6. It says, I said
unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said
unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. The same way
that our Lord stood before the grave of Lazarus, who had been
dead for four days, and He called him forth to life in the same
way He calls us forth, beloved. He calls us forth. All by His
power. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
5. All by His power. He calls us out of our state
of spiritual deadness. And He makes us alive in Christ.
All by His almighty power. All by His almighty power. John
chapter 5, verses 21 to 29. For as the Father
raises up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth
whom He will. For the Father judges no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father, which hath sent him.
Verse 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but
is passed from death unto life. What wondrous words, beloved.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and
they that hear shall live. And that's what happened. God
called us when we were dead, weren't we? He gave us life. For as the Father hath in himself,
so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath
given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is
the Son of man. Marvel not at this, for the hour
is coming, in which all that are in the grave shall hear his
voice, and it shall come forth, they that have done good, unto
the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto
the resurrection of damnation. So when the Lord quickens and
gives us life through the preaching of his word by the power of the
Holy Spirit, Death gives way to life. Darkness becomes light. Inability
gives way to strength. We're made willing. And we flee
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And let us never forget that
the same power that raised Christ from the grave raised us from
our spiritual deadness, beloved. The same power, same power was
exercised. Our last point tonight is our
time of love. What we are now, beloved, what
we are now, look at this in verses 8 to 14. Now when I passed by
thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was a time of love,
and I spread my skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness, yea,
I swear unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee, saith
the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with
water, yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and
I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broidered
work, and shod thee with badger skin, and I girded thee about
with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee,
and remember the baby, it was naked. Oh my, I deck thee also
with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on
thy neck, and I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in
thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. Thus was thou
decked with gold and silver, and thy remnant was of fine linen
and silk, embroidered work, and thou didst eat fine flour and
honey and oil, and thou was exceedingly beautiful, and thou didst prosper
unto a kingdom. and thy renown went forth among
the heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect through my calmliness,
which I put upon thee, saith the Lord God. My, my. This wonderful text in verse
eight, the scriptures proclaim that it was a time of love. It
was a time of love. And this is not based upon our
love for Christ because we know that before we were generated
by the power of the Holy Spirit, we had absolutely no love for
God. We had no love for the Lord Jesus
Christ. We had no love for his people.
We had no love for the word of God. And this time of love is
because he loved us first. And we love him because he loved
us. Because he loved us. And notice
also, it was He who covered our nakedness. It's His work. It's His work,
beloved. He covered our nakedness, just
as He did for Adam and Eve. We looked at that last week in
our study on Cain and Abel. It was he who took away our reproach,
beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ took our
sins and shame, our guilt. The sinless one died for sinners
on Calvary's cross. The just one died for the unjust.
And we are made holy and righteous in Christ, in Christ alone. Behold,
the days come and say the Lord that I will raise unto David
a righteous branch and a king shall reign and prosper and shall
execute judgment and justice to the earth. In his days. Judas shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell safely. And this is his name, whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. O my, for he hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Note in verse 8, I wash
thee with water. I wash thee with water. It is
God and God alone who cleanses us. with water and blood, just
as the hymn writer wrote, let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin a double cure, which
means justify and sanctify and save from wrath and make me pure.
We are justified and sanctified in Christ and Christ alone. We
are redeemed by our great savior. Now look at what the Lord does
for us. By his grace, he clothed thee.
It says, I deck thee, which means adorn thee, I put a beautiful
crown on your head, and this is all done for us in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. All by His merits, beloved. All
by His merits. All by what He's done. Take note
in verse 8, at the end of the verse, and thou becamest mine.
This is all by grace. This is all by grace. It is the
Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone, who again, who has brought us
from death to eternal life. from the pit of corruption which
we were in. We saw that natural state in
Romans, didn't we? We even saw that natural state
in the first part of this text. That's where we were. It's God
who's brought us out. It's by His power and by His
might, beloved. In Jude, Jude writes of summing
up the fact that our salvation is of the Lord from beginning
to end when He says this, now unto Him that is able to keep
you from falling. and to present you faultless. Faultless, faultless,
the scripture declares faultless before the presence of his glory
with exceeding joy, he does it with exceeding joy. To the only
wise God, our savior, be glory. And majesty and dominion and
power both now and ever. Now in Jude there it says, and
to present you faultless, take note of verse 14, which declares
this, your beauty is perfect through my commonness, which
I have put upon thee. Oh my. Clothed in the precious,
spotless righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's God
who's put it on us. It's God who's put it on us,
beloved. The whole work of salvation whereby
a sinner is lifted from the dunghill of sin, which we were in, washed
in the blood and made righteous and exalted to eternal life and
glory is of the Lord and only of the Lord. Glory to his name. Glory to his
name. Heavenly Father, we thank thee
for the wonderful picture which we've looked at tonight of how
we were in our natural state. hopeless, helpless, with no ability
at all to take ourselves out of that situation. But oh Lord,
you saw us. You see your people. You know
your sheep by name. And oh Lord, at the time of love,
we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And we flee to
thee, Lord Jesus. We pray that you would be glorified
and magnified. And we who are your redeemed
people, we just praise your name. For this wondrous work, as we've
seen tonight, it's all of Thee. It's all of Thee. We are adorned
with Thy perfect, spotless righteousness, Lord, which You wrought out for
us when You lived and died here upon this earth. And Lord, we
will be forever grateful. And our song in heaven will be
again worthy as the Lamb, worthy as the Lamb. All glory goes to
Thee, O Lord. We pray that if it's your will
to draw one of your lost sheep, to show them their desperate
state. Lord, we pray that you would, and that we give you all
the glory and honor and praise for it. We love you, and we praise
you in Jesus' name.