Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Ezekiel 20. In this first service, I'd like
for us to deal with the first nine verses of Ezekiel 20. And then in the second service,
I'd like to deal with the remainder of the chapter. The Scripture sets forth that God Almighty has a remnant. The Lord has a people and it's
a people according to the election of grace. Now, whenever Elijah
complained to the Lord that Israel had forsaken God's covenant They had thrown down the Lord's
altars and slain God's prophets with the sword. And Elijah said,
I'm the only one left. Nobody else. There's nobody else
serving you. I'm it. And the Lord said in
1 Kings 19, 18, He said, yet have I left, that is, I've kept
alive. reserved. Me seven thousand in
Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every
mouth which hath not kissed him." Kissed Baal. And the Apostle
Paul, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, said in Romans
11, 5, concerning that incident, right there, he quoted that incident,
and then Paul said, being directed by the Holy Spirit, even so then,
at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. Now this is what I know. Right
now, according to the election of grace, God has a people. I'm convinced. Many sitting here
this morning, I'm convinced of that. But I know this, they're
still out there. And I know the Lord's going to
call them out of darkness. And I know He's going to save
them and keep them. And I know this, that He's going to call
them out according to the preaching of the gospel. That is the good
news of what God Almighty has done. in the electing, redeeming, and
regenerating grace of God Almighty. I know this. God's going to save
His people. And He's going to tell them about
it. He's going to reveal it to them. He's going to tell them, I saved
you. I called you. You didn't choose
me, I chose you. And you know what they're going
to do? They're going to believe Him. They're going to believe
in God's people, going to be willing in the day of God's power. Now, this remnant, they're born
in this world just like everybody else. They're sinners. That's
how they're born. They come forth from their mother's
womb, liars. Liars against God. Every one
of them is born ignorant of God. They're born ignorant of their
own condition and they have no concern for their eternal security. They just don't care. You talk
to an unbeliever and you tell them, do you realize that this
life is but a vapor and we're going to die? This flesh is frail and it's
failing. And you're going to meet God.
And unless the Lord gives them a
new heart, they just don't care. They don't care. Born. No concern. But every one of
this remnant has been redeemed. They've been redeemed. And according
to God's everlasting covenant of grace, God Almighty, according
to His will and His purpose, has justified them. And they
don't know it yet. Until the Lord gives them a new
heart made willing in the day of God's power, they don't know
that. They're children of wrath, not
meaning under God's wrath, but they're children wrathful toward
God. They're enemies in their mind. Not in God's mind, but in their
mind. But the Lord is long-suffering
to His elect. He's long-suffering, not willing
that any of them should perish. But here they are, they're in
this world. And in the process of time, God's going to save
them. God's going to cross their paths with the gospel. How is He going to get them there?
Whichever way He wants to. They are predestinated according
to the purpose and the will of God Almighty. Predestinated unto
the adoption of sons. How many of them are going to
be in heaven? All of them. All that the Father giveth me, they are going to come. In those
that come to me, he said, I'll in no wise cast them out. The
Lord said in his high priestly prayer of John 17, 12, while
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me have
I kept. And none of them is lost but
the son of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Now, natural Israel, this Bible
deals with a nation that was a natural, was a nation, it was
a nation, Israel, the nation of Israel. And throughout Scripture,
Israel was a type, was a picture of God's spiritual Israel, God's
mercy and grace, And the Lord's dealing with Israel, whether
it be in times of peaceful prosperity or whether it be times of chastisement,
the Lord has ever shown that He's going to be merciful and
compassionate to His people. That nation of Israel was a picture
of the church. And every period of time, whenever
you'd look at natural Israel, what you'd see is, you would
see there were some within it that were types of God's elect,
and there were some in it that were tares. There was always
tares, and there's always tares among the sheep. They're always
there. They're always there. But Israel is a picture, is a
type. Now, in our passage this morning,
verses 1 to 9 in Ezekiel 20, I want us to look for just a
few minutes at this picture. There's always tares, there's
always sheep, there's always wheat, there's always goats,
they're just there. Now let's listen. Let's see what
God has to say. Ezekiel 20, verse 1, And it came
to pass in the seventh year fifth month, tenth day of the month,
that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the
Lord and sat before me on a particular day. Ezekiel, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, said, this is exactly the day that this happened. A group of elders, certain elders,
came to the prophet and they wanted to hear from God. Verses
2 and 3 says, Then came the word of the Lord unto me, saying,
Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them,
Thus saith the Lord God, Are you come to inquire of me? As
I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. before any record is given of
anything they said. They came to inquire of the Lord
from the prophet. And before they uttered a word
according to these Scriptures, the Scriptures doesn't record
that they said anything, God, who knows the hearts of all men,
told Ezekiel, before they said anything, the Lord says, I, the
eternal God, As I live, I'm not going to be inquired
of by that group of people right there. I'm not going to hear them. Why? Why? Just mark your place right there.
Turn back just a few pages to Ezekiel 14, 1-3. Ezekiel 14 verses 1 to 3. Now you think about this, the
Lord who knows the hearts of all men, before they ever said
anything, the Lord told Ezekiel, just tell them, I'm not going
to hear you. Ezekiel 14, 1 to 3, Then came certain of the elders
of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their
idols in their heart and put the stumbling block of their
iniquity before their face, should I be inquired of at all by them?"
Let me tell you what he said. These men have set up the idols
that they rest in. These men have set up in their
hearts their God, and it's not me. Whatever it is, whatever
a man or woman is resting in as their salvation, whatever
it is, It might be your will, it might be your baptism, it
might be you've done this, that, and the other. Whatever you've
set up in your heart, the Lord says, these men have set up in
their heart, I'm not going to hear them. And back in Ezekiel 20 verse
4, He said, Will thou judge them, son of man? Will thou judge them,
cause them to know the abominations of their fathers? Ask the prophet. After the Lord told Ezekiel,
he said, I'm not going to hear these men. They've come to hear
from me. I'm not going to hear them. They
might as well not even ask. I'm not going to hear you. He
said, Ezekiel, wilt thou judge them, or Ezekiel, wilt thou not
pronounce my judgment upon them? Ezekiel, son of man, Will you
not tell them what I said?" You know, God Almighty calls preachers. He raises up pastors according
to His heart. And they have one message. What does the Lord have to say? I've told people this. I know
that the message of the gospel is offensive. to the natural
man. I know that. I know that man
by nature despises God's sovereignty. I know that. But do you know
this? That doesn't change one thing. God Almighty is God Almighty. And the Lord is going to do as
He will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. And nobody is going to stay His hand. And He has
the right to choose to show mercy to one and to leave another to
Himself. God has the right to do that. Son of man, Will you not judge
these? Will you not pronounce what I'm
saying to these men? I want you, he said in that last
part of verse 4, he said, you cause them to know the abominations
of their father's colon. And what's about to follow is
the Lord says, this is the reason I'm not going to hear you. I'm
going to tell you why. He just told them, you tell them,
I'm not going to hear you. I'm not going to be inquired
of by you. And here's the reason. Look at verse 5. And saying to
them, thus saith the Lord God. Now you listen to the word of
the Lord here and see what their beef is. See why God won't hear
them. In the day when I chose Israel,
and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob,
and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I
lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God."
Now let me ask you something. What did the Lord just say? He
said, I have a people that I chose, that I've lifted my hand to,
that I have sworn by my name, because he could swear by no
greater. He swore according to himself. Here's the issue. Here's the
issue. Here's the issue with natural
man. God's sovereign and we're not. There's the issue right there.
I guarantee you, I've had different times that people would, I mean
it happened in Tennessee and it happens here. People will
want to know, they'll call or they'll write me a letter. And
they wanted to know if I would like to participate in the association
of all the churches. We're going to all meet, we're
going to pray for Fairmont, or we're going to do this. And I
said, no. Would you like to meet with us? No. And do you want to know, you
can get along with somebody on a lot of things. But when it
comes to God Almighty being God Almighty, and God Almighty having
a people that He's chosen, and Christ died for them, and He
didn't die for the sins of all the world, and God doesn't love
everybody, and God is not going to save everybody, And no man
has a free will whenever it comes to that. That's where we part
ways right there. It comes down to God being God. And man is a maggot. Man is a dead, impotent sinner. And man doesn't have a free will. And man cannot do anything unless
God Almighty gives him life. Now that's where it's going to
part, right there. Cause them to know the abominations
of their fathers. I chose, he said, in the day
that I chose to make my will known to mine elect, when I set
forth that I decided for my spiritual Israel. You know, when the Lord came
and told some Pharisees, you know, there was a lot of widows
in Israel when Elijah went to that widow woman in Sarepta.
He didn't go to any of the widows in Israel. There was a lot of
lepers in Israel, but he didn't go to any lepers. He went to a leper over in the
Gentiles, and that's where they parted ways right there. Whenever
God Almighty sets forth, He said, I choose, I make alive, I kill,
The Scripture says in verse 6, "...in the day that I lifted
up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt
into a land that I had aspired for them, flowing with milk and
honey, which is the glory of all lands. In that day that I
swore by my name, lifting up my hand to them, to deliver them,
my people, out of Egypt, and place them in the land of my
promise, Then said I unto them, cast ye
away every man, the abomination of his eyes, and defile not yourselves
with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." Now
this is what he's saying to them. He said, I've got a people. I've got an elect inside Israel
that I've lifted up my hand to. And I'm going to deliver you.
I'm going to put you in the promised land. He tells them, he says, throw
away, cast off every one of you the detestable filth, that which you use as worship. See, every one of God's elect,
are born in this world believing the same thing as the world believes. They all believe that. All of
them. And the Lord said, I'm telling
my people, cast off and consider as dung the filthy works of self-righteousness,
trusting in yourselves that you're righteous because of your own
ability and will. We say that to everybody. We
say that to everybody, but I can tell you this, those that the
Lord has lifted up His hand to, those that the Lord has chosen,
those that the Lord has set aside for Himself, though they know
it not yet, and though they may rebel against it now, and they
do, until God gives them a new heart, they do. But there's coming
a time that they won't. And the natural man says, that's
not fair. That's not fair. Verse 8, but
listen to this, to the ones that God has chosen to show mercy.
Everybody did this, but including the ones that God lifted up His
hand to. But they rebelled against me and would not hearken unto
me. They did not, every man, cast
away the abomination of their eyes, neither did they forsake
the idols of Egypt. Then I said, I will pour out
my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the
midst of the land of Egypt." Let me ask you something. Before
God Almighty called you that know Him, you that believe, before
the Lord called you out of darkness, what was your attitude toward
Him? What was your attitude toward
the Lord? The same attitude that every
unbeliever has. You were disobedient just like
I was. You did the same thing that everybody else was doing.
What did Paul the Apostle do when he was Saul of Tarsus? He
persecuted the church. He hated the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth. He had letters of authority.
I'm going to go and I'm going to take them and I'm going to
put you in prison. You all going to stone Stephen? Give me your
coats. I'll hold them for you. What
do you think the Lord's attitude toward Paul was? I've always
loved you. I've always loved you. You've
always been mine. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. But I can tell you this, until God called them out of
darkness, they were rebels. You rebelled, you wouldn't hearken.
They did every man, cast away. They would not. Every man cast away the abomination,
neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. I'm telling you,
I held near and dear to my heart my profession. I gave my heart to the Lord and
you didn't. So that makes me special. I'm holier than you are. Because
I've done this. They would not. And did I deserve
his wrath? Yes. I deserved his wrath. I'm going to pour out my fury
upon them and accomplish my anger against them in the midst of
the land of Egypt. This is what God has spoken through
the prophet. promising a just reward. Now, hold your place right there.
Turn back to Ezekiel 7. This is what the Lord promised
as being a just reward for disobedience. Ezekiel 7, look at verses 1 to
9. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, Also thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord
God unto the land of Israel, and end, the end has come upon
the four corners of the land. Now is the end come upon thee. and I will send mine anger upon
thee, I will judge thee according to thy ways, I will recompense
upon thee all mine abominations, and mine eyes shall not spare
thee, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense thy ways
upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee,
and ye shall know that I am the Lord, thus saith the Lord God,
and evil, and only evil. Behold, is come, the end is come,
the end is come, Watcheth for thee, behold it is come, the
morning is come unto thee, and thou that dwellest in the land,
the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the
sounding again of the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out mine
fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee, and I will
judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee, for
all thine abominations, and mine eye shall not spare, neither
will I have pity. I will recompense thee according
to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee,
and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth." Let me ask
you something. Do you think God's just? You think God Almighty is going
to deal with sin? The Lord says, you tell them
the reason I'm not going to hear them. I set forth my glory. I set forth
my sovereignty. I set forth my right. And you rebelled. I'm going to pour out my fury
upon you, and I'm going to accomplish my anger against them in the
midst of the land of Egypt. I'm going to kill you. I'm going
to kill you. Oh Lord God of heaven, we who
deserve your wrath, we deserve it. But Lord in wrath, Have mercy. I want you to look at verse 9.
And you that know him, rejoice with me. But, but, I wrought
for my name's sake that it should not be polluted before the heathen
among whom they were. in whose sight I made myself
known unto them in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt."
This is what we deserve, because I'm telling you, and you know
this, there's not one man or woman in this congregation this
morning, or in this world, or ever has been, or ever will be,
born in Adam, that deserves any less than God's wrath. That's
what we deserve. The Lord said, I declared myself
and you rebelled. I set forth who I am and you
resisted. And you held dear your idols
to your heart. And I'm going to pour out my
fury on you. That's what I'm going to do. And that's what
he did. That's what he did. He didn't
recant on that. He said, I'm a just God. The
soul that sinned is going to die. He said, but I wrought,
not for your sake, but for my sake. Here the Lord reveals in
verse 9, He said, I wrought. I accomplished. I looked this
word up and it's beautiful. He accomplished a work. I wrought. I did something. That's what
he said. I did something. I wrought. Produced an appointed
offering. I produced it. You rebelled against me and I'm
going to deal with you. I'm going to deal with you. I
wrought for my name's sake, he said, that my name should not
be polluted before the heathen among whom my people were, in
whose sight I made myself known unto them in bringing them forth
out of the land of Egypt. Here's what he said. wrought a work that my name might
be honored." The heathen was not going to say he couldn't
do it. He couldn't bring them out. He
said he was. Sent Moses and Aaron over here
to talk to Pharaoh. And the Lord said, let my people
go. Pharaoh said, who's the Lord
that I should serve Him? The Lord said, I wrought a work.
What did He do? He sent nine plagues. Nine plagues. And after every one of them,
Pharaoh would say, I'm not going to let them go. I'm not going
to let them go. The Lord told Moses, He said,
I'm going to send one more plague. And He said, He's going to let
them go. He said, I'm going to set forth that I'm God, that
I rule. And the Lord told Moses, He said,
this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to come through at
midnight. And he said, I'm going to pass
through the land. And he said, I'm going to kill
the firstborn in every house. I'm going to kill the firstborn
of every beast in every place except where I see the token. Except where I see the blood.
And I want you to tell the people, those who are deserving of wrath,
those who are rebellious in their heart, those who have held close
their idols, you tell them that I said, you take a lamb and you
kill it. On the night that I tell you
to, I want you to dip some hyssop in the blood of the Lamb, and
you put it on the lentil, and you put it on the side post of
the door of their house, and get inside, and I'm going
to come through." And he said, whenever I come
through, I'm telling you, rebellious ones,
You who are deserving of wrath, you who have held close your
idols, you who have rebelled against me in your heart, you
who have done nothing ever but that which is deserving of judgment. And when I come through, and when I see the blood, I'm
going to pass over you. I'm going to show mercy to you.
Not for your sake. Not for your sake. I have wrought
a work for my name's sake, that my name might be honored. And
the Scripture says, at that very night God did that. And Almighty
God's sovereignty was exhibited, and the Lord made known that
he had set a difference between Israel and Egypt. And that very
night, Pharaoh called for Moses and
Aaron, and this is what he said, get out. You and your sheep and
your cattle, all of you, get out. God Almighty has set forth that
He's the Lord, He's God, in heaven and earth. God Almighty shall be approached,
not according to our ways, not according to our will, not according
to our works. He said, when I see the blood,
I'm going to pass over you. I wrought a work for my name's
sake that I might be honored. Pharaoh was not going to say
he couldn't do it. Pharaoh told him, he said, you
get out. God Almighty moved marvelously. Lord, we who deserve judgment,
thanks be unto you. that for your namesake, you have
wrought a work in the glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ
and have dealt with us. The Lord said, this is what I'm
going to do to you. This is what I'm going to do
to you. I'm going to pour out my fury on you. I'm going to
pour out my fury on you. And the surety stood. And He said, My iniquities have
taken hold upon Me. He was made sin for us. And Almighty God did just exactly
what He said He was going to do. He poured out His fury upon
us in a substitute. And we were there. And in Christ,
as our surety and redeemer and substitute, when He died under
the judgment and fury of God Almighty, and suffered the penalty of our
just due, so did we. We were buried with Him, rose
with Him, and we're seated with Him now. Mystery of all mysteries. But I'm telling you, God did
just exactly what He said He was going to do. I'm telling
you, everyone that night did die. That firstborn did die. And it was either in a substitute,
or it was either physically. But God did just exactly what
He said He was going to do. That beautiful picture of that
Lamb set forth the glory of God as our Redeemer, as our substitute,
as our Lamb. Father, here's the wood, here's
the fire, where's the Lamb? God will provide Himself. a lamb. Lord bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake. Amen.