Let us turn once more to the
Word of God and turning to the chapter we were in last Lord's
Day evening in Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 9 and I want to read the end of
verse 3 and verse 4. Ezekiel 9 And that sentence at the end
of verse 3 runs through into verse 4. We read, And he calls
to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn
by his side. And the Lord said unto him, Go
through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem,
and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that
cry, for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. This is the instruction then
that's being given to one of these men that had been spoken
of previously in verse 6. And of course last Lord's Day
evening we were looking in particular at that word, verse 2 rather. The second verse, And behold,
six men came from the way of the higher gate, which layeth
toward the north, and every man a slaughter-weapon in his hand.
And one man among them was clothed with linen, with the writer's
ink-horn by his side, and they went in and stood beside the
brazen altar. And so we consider in particular
this one man, the one man among them, clothed with linen in the
garb, dressed in the garb of a priest, a linen ephod. And we consider though it is
in fact a revelation to Ezekiel of the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the same man that is also revealed to Daniel there
in chapter 10 and verses 5 and 6. and in that portion in Daniel
he's referred to as a certain man but it is in fact the same
construction it literally says in the margin it's one man and
the one man that's being described by Daniel in that 10th chapter
is is clearly the Lord Jesus because the description that
we have there is so similar to what we're told in the opening
chapter of the book of the Revelation where the Apostle John sees the
glorified Christ. John who was so familiar with
the Lord Jesus, the beloved Apostle who was there leaning upon the
Lord's bosom. And he sees now Christ as that
one who has accomplished all his covenanted work having risen
again from the dead and descended on high and entered into his
glory and he sees that glorious vision and the description as
I say in Revelation chapter 1 is so similar to what we have in
Daniel chapter 10 it is the same personage and it's the same man
here that we were thinking of only last Lord's Day evening
one man one man among them clothed with linen, with the writer's
hincorn by his side. And they went in and stood beside
the brazen altar." How we see God's Word to be such a discriminating
and such a separating Word when we think of the ministry that's
to be exercised by this one man and then by those others. The one man's ministry, of course,
is spoken of here at the end of verse four. He's to set a
mark, he has the ink horn, he's to set a mark upon the foreheads
of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations
that be done in the midst thereof. And then the other five, what
are they to do? Well, verse 5, Go ye after him
through the city and smite, and let not your eyes spare, neither
have ye pity. Slay utterly, old and young,
both maids and little children and women, but come not near
any man upon whom is the mark, and begin at my sanctuary. How discriminating is God! Here we have certain men who
are not to be destroyed by these men with their slaughter weapons. They are to be spared. And what
is the mark? Well, they have a mark upon their
foreheads, but there's another mark, and it's this that I really
want us to consider tonight. They are the men that sigh and
that cry. And that's the theme really I
want to take up, the men that sigh and that cry. And the reason why they cry in
this fashion is because of what they witness, the abominations,
the wickedness that's abounding there in the city. It's not the
mark that's made by the ink that mark that's put upon the foreheads
of these men that is the mark of election. No, the mark of
election really is what we're told concerning these men and
what they do. They sigh and they cry and shall
not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto
him though he bear long with them. I tell you He will avenge
them speedily says the Lord Jesus there in Luke chapter 18. Now the same men spoken of by
the Lord Jesus as are spoken of here by the Prophet. Last
week then we were looking at one man clothed with a linen
girdle as it were. Tonight we look at these men. the men that sigh and that cry
and so as we come to the words I want really to divide what
I say into two parts to say something about their prayers and then
something about God's judgments and to begin with the latter
God's judgments God's judgments Ezekiel of course is a prophet
during that period of the 70 years of exile. We were reading
of it there in the second book of Kings, the end of that second
book of Kings, we come to the end of Judah. and Nebuchadnezzar
and his armies have overrun Jerusalem and the people have been removed
into exile. And it's to those people who
are in exile that this man Ezekiel is the prophet. And we see that
quite clearly right at the beginning of his book there in the opening
chapter, in verse 3. The word of the Lord, it says,
came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the
land of the Chaldeans, by the river Kabar, and the hand of
the Lord was there upon him. He is there in Chaldea, Babylon. He's by the river. Keba and is
there to minister unto those who have been removed far away.
Again in chapter 3, verse 15, Then I came to them of the captivity
at Talebib, that dwelt by the river of Keba. And I sat where
they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days. He came to pass at the end of
seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of
Israel. Therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning
from me." Oh, he has a ministry to these people, and he's identified
with them. He sat where they sat. and he
remains astonished amongst them. But he is to convey through them
God's Word. What is the Lord God doing? It
was a dreadful time in Israel's history. It was a time when there
had been much sin and confusion and now God's judgment has come. And that judgment that God visited
upon the people, of course, was somewhat protracted. we saw that
in the chapter that we were reading we have mentioned there of three
particular kings in 2nd Kings 24 in the opening verses we read
of the man called Jehoiachin and he's there, he's king for
some three years and he's a wicked king and then subsequently he's
replaced by another king His own son called Jehoiakim, similar
sounding name, Jehoiakim, is followed by Jehoiakin, and he's
there for eight years, and then he's taken away by Nebuchadnezzar
and sent off into exile in Babylon. And then we have the third king,
a man called Mataniah, who's simply a vassal of of Nebuchadnezzar
is not really serving as king. Nebuchadnezzar changes his name
and calls him Zedekiah. And he is in fact the last of
the kings before the captivity is completed. Think of how long
it's going on, 3 years under Jehoiachin, 8 years under Jehoiachin,
and then 11 years, the reign of Zedekiah, some 22 years in
total. And we stopped reading at the
end of chapter 24, but if we'd have gone on into the next chapter,
Speaking of this man, Zedekiah, he came to pass in the ninth
year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the
month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came, he and all
his host against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and they
built forts against it round about, and the city was besieged
until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. And on the ninth day
of the fourth month, the famine prevailed in the city, and there
was no bread for the people of the land. And the city was broken
up. And all the men of war fled by
night by the way of the gate between two walls which is by
the king's garden. Now the Chaldeans were against
the city roundabout. And the king went the way toward
the plain. And it says the army of the Chaldeans
pursued after the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho.
And all his army was scattered from him. So they took the king
and brought him up to the king of Babylon, to Riblah, and they
gave judgment upon him. What a judgment it was! Verse
7 there, it says, They slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes,
and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of
brass, and carried him to Babylon. This is God's judgment and what
a judgment it was. God is showing Ezekiel what he
is doing and what he will do in his judgments upon Jerusalem. I say we're in the same chapter
that we were considering different words from last Lord's Day but
remember last Lord's Day we also read the previous 8th chapter
and what's recorded there how it came to pass in the 6th year,
in the 6th month, in the 5th day of the month says the Prophet,
as I sat in mine house and the elders of Judas had before me
that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. And what he's got doing is going
to take him as it were in his visions back to Jerusalem. He's
ministering there in in Babylon amongst those who have already
been transported and he says here in chapter 8 and verse 3
what God did he put forth the form of a hand and took me by
a lock of mine head and the spirit lifted me up between the earth
and the heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem
to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north
where was the seat of the image of jealousy which provoketh to
jealousy And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there
according to the vision that I saw in the plain." He had seen
that remarkable vision in the opening chapter. He had seen
the throne of God, as it were, in vision. And the glory of God
upon his throne. And now he's being taken back,
as it were, into Jerusalem to see this awful sight. And what does he say later? in
the chapter there at verse 13 chapter 8 verse 13 he said also
unto me turn thee yet again and thou shalt see greater abominations
that they do and he brought me to the door of the gate of the
Lord's house which was toward the north and behold there sat
women weeping for Tammuz this is one of the gods of the heathens
these people you see they they are desecrating God's temple,
they are worshipping idols. Verse 15, Then said he unto me,
Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Turn ye it again, and thou
shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me
into the inner court of the Lord's house. And behold, at the door
of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were
about five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple
of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they worshipped
the sun toward the east." Here they are worshipping the creature
rather than the Creator. They are sun worshippers. Oh,
what abominations! What have they done? They have
defiled the temple of the Lord with their idols. And as I said,
this is what the Lord God is showing the prophet continually
in these opening chapters. In chapter 5 and verse 11, Wherefore
as I live, saith the Lord God, surely because thou hast defiled
my sanctuary with all thy detestable things and with all thine abominations,
Therefore will I also diminish thee, neither shall mine eyes
spare, neither will I have any pity. All thou defiles, the very
house of God, the temple of the Lord, and the significance of
that place. It was David, wasn't it, who
established the worship of God there upon Manzion? They'd had
the tabernacle through all their wilderness wanderings, they'd
come into the promised land and Joshua had set it up in a permanent
spot as it were at Shiloh. But then in the reign of David,
the man after God's own heart, he had taken Jerusalem from the
Jebusites and he had brought the tabernacle. to Mount Zion
and set it up there, the place of God's worship. And of course,
he desired to build the Temple of the Lord. But he was forbidden. He was a man of blood. He was a man of wars. He was
his son Solomon, a remarkable type of the Lord Jesus, the Prince
of Peace. He was to build the Temple of
the Lord. And it was that temple that they had desecrated, the
very place where God dwells upon Mount Zion. And we see it time
and again, of course, in the book of Psalms. The worship of
God, blessed be the Lord, out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem,
says the Psalmist. And there in Psalm 87, the Lord
loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O city of God. And of course, that opening hymn
that we're so familiar with, those words of John Newton, glorious
things of thee are spoken. Zion, city of our God. Very much
based upon the language of Psalm 87. But, of course, Newton is
Christianizing it. Rightly so. Zion is a wonderful
type of the Church of the Living God, with God Himself in the
midst. But what have these people done?
Well, they have defiled God's house. They defiled the temple
of the Lord. And what was the outcome? God's
glory is departing. God's glory is departing from
their midst. It was that glory that was shown
to the prophet as I said in the opening chapter. You know that
throne and the wheels and the wheels full of eyes. It's a remarkable
chapter, not easy to understand but it's setting forth before
the Prophet and before us something of the glories of God upon his
throne. But God is departing and we see
it in this chapter. Verse 3 The glory of the God of Israel
was gone up from the cherub whereupon he was to the threshold of the
house Oh, he's moving, he's gone up
now, he's gone from the holy place, the holy of holies, the
oracle. He's gone from there to the threshold,
he's about to depart. And so we see it in the following
chapters. Chapter 10, verse 18, then the
glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house
and stood over the cherubims and the cherubims lifted up their
wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went
out the wheels also were beside them and everyone stood at the
door of the east gate of the Lord's house and the glory of
the God of Israel was over them above always now clearly at the
east gate of the outer courts of the house of the Lord And
so it goes on in chapter 11 and there at verse 22. Then did the
cherubims lift up their wings and the wheels beside them and
the glory of the God of Israel was over them above and the glory
of the Lord went up from the midst of the city from the midst
of Jerusalem and stood upon the mountains or the mountain which
is on the east side of the city. God has departed. And God is
continually moving away from them, but it's interesting the
direction in which He is moving. It is an eastwardly direction. And they and their sins are the
very cause. They are the very cause of God's
departure. Back in chapter 8 and verse 6, son of man see or say what they
do even the great abominations that the house of Israel committed
here that I should go far off from my sanctuary that I should
go far off but he's a merciful God you see as he goes he's going
eastward towards Babylon the Lord God you see will preserve
a remnant in the midst of the people. He has not utterly forsaken
his people. The godly seed is to be found
yet in that little remnant. Here is Ezekiel, the prophet,
ministering unto them. Jeremiah also ministers unto
them. Daniel is amongst them, ministering
there to that very small remnant, the very remnant that Isaiah
speaks of also. When Isaiah receives his call
Remember what the Lord God says to him there at the end of the
sixth chapter. Isaiah has a message, but to
whom is he to speak these words? Well, he's taught, as he asks
the Lord. In chapter 6 of Isaiah verse
11, then said, I, Lord, how long? And he answered, until the cities
be wasted. without inhabitant, and the houses
without man, and the land be utterly desolate. And the Lord
hath removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in
the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tent,
and it shall return, and shall be eaten. As a tile trimmed with
an oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves,
so the holy seed. shall be the substance thereof
or there was a holy seed there were the people who were an elect
people and isn't this the people that we read of in the words
of our text those upon whom the mark is set the foreheads of
the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that
be done in the midst thereof or there is a people Now, there's
a mark set upon them. Now, we don't know who the elect
are. We're not to expect that we will
see them bearing a mark upon their foreheads, but the mark,
really, of the elect that's being spoken of here is the fact that
they sigh and they cry for all the abominations that be done
in the midst thereof. They're a praying people. wasn't
that the mark that God gave to his servant Ananias when he was
told to go to the street called Straight there in Acts chapter
9 where was this man sort of tasked as his arch persecutor
but now he's a changed man he's known the efficacious grace of
God he's been kicking against the pricks but the Lord has dealt
with him, the Lord has saved him he's been led as a blinded
man into that house and Ananias, the Lord's faithful disciple,
is to go and anoint his eyes that he may see again. And how
is this man assured as he goes to such a man who has such a
reputation as a persecutor? Behold he prayeth. There is the
mark. Oh, there is the mark of God's
election. The secret things belong unto the Lord. The Lord knoweth
them that are His. The secret things belong unto
the Lord, but the things that are revealed belong unto us and
to our children. And here is the mark that we're
to look for. Do we bear the mark? And we need
to sigh and to cry because of all the abominations that are
done in the land. And we can think of our own land,
our own nation, and the unspeakable things, the abominable things.
We often say, what would our parents? Maybe they were not
even Christian parents. Some have been favoured with
believing parents, but not all, and we think of our parents,
our grandparents, but there were standards, there were things
that were abominable to them, What would they think of the
day in which we're living? You know the sort of things that
are abroad now in this land, so-called same-sex marriage. Contrary to God's words, contrary
to nature, God makes it quite plain, therefore shall a man
leave his father and his mother, and shall be joined unto his
wife, and they shall be one flesh. All that sacred union, the marriage
union, What confusion he's brought into
the midst, the confusion that was there in Jerusalem all those
years ago. Why we see it abroad, in our
own land. And it gets worse and worse. And that's how it was, as we
see in the 8th chapter, he's turned and he sees one abomination
and then the Lord shows him another abomination. And so it is now,
it's it's unspeakable really gender
identity not just transvestites now I mean once upon a time there
were those who were transvestites it's clearly forbidden by God
in Deuteronomy 22 a man is not to wear a woman's clothing a
woman is not to wear a man's clothing but there were those
and there have been those I suppose But it's not just a question
of transvestites now, there's transsexuals. In fact, there's utter confusion. There are people who deny any
binary gender. They'll be what they are. One
day they'll be one thing, another day they'll claim to be another
thing. Utter confusion. The abominations that are done
in the land. And you know, there's a sense
in which we should not be surprised. We should not be surprised if
we but take account of what the Lord God says in his words. Remember
the words of the apostle writing in 2nd Timothy. In these pastoral
epistles he's addressing these young men, Timothy and Titus,
with regards to their ministry of the word of God and 2nd Timothy
is the last of all the epistles of the Apostle, the last letter
that he ever addressed that's found here in the Canon of Scripture.
And in the third chapter of 2nd Timothy, Paul writes this now
also, that in the last days perilous times shall come for men shall
be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
truth-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers
of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God. having a form of godliness
but denying the power thereof from such he says turn away or
from such turn away we're not to be surprised then because
the scripture tells us perilous times times of awful abominations
the complete and utter rejection of God and the word of God But
does he not, in a sense, come nearer home? We see it here in this fourth
verse. Where is it that the abominations
are being done? The mark is to be set upon those
that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are being done
in the midst thereof, in the midst of Jerusalem. in the midst
of Zion, in the midst of the temple, there upon the mount. And all of course that is really
in so many ways a typical, it's a typical thing, it directs
us really to the church. It's a type of the church, Zion.
It's strange, isn't it? Because we're familiar, I'm sure,
that there are non-conformist chapels, and, well, this chapel's
given the name Salem, which of course means peace, but there
are chapels that bear the name Zion, or Mount Zion. These expressions taken from
the Old Testament scriptures and applied to the places where
the Lord's people meet. Zion Jerusalem, that's a type
of the church. And when we read of those perilous
times, there in 2nd Timothy 3, it speaks of some having a form
of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Now, many are
not churches at all, really. There are buildings about, and
there are people who meet in these buildings, and they, in
a sense, have a form. and the common people think that
that's a church but it's no church at all they
know nothing of the power of the grace of God it's just a mockery and the things
that take place is in these churches you see we might be ready to
condemn those sins of the flesh but what of spiritual sins? or
what of spiritual sins? Remember the words of Peter,
how he says the time is come, the judgment must begin at the
house of God and if it begin first in us, what shall the end
be of them that obey not the gospel? And if the righteous
scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear? Where do the judgments begin?
Oh, they begin at the house of God, very much so. These men
with their slaughter weapons. It says, doesn't it, at the end
of verse 6, Then they began at the ancient men which were before
the house. That's where it begins. It begins
at the house of God, are we? how we have to look to ourselves
and examine ourselves it's all very well for us to condemn others
but God forbid that we should ever have that spirit of the
Pharisee and think that we're any better than others come not
nine million I'm older than that that's the language of the Pharisee
or what of us? what of our spirituality? are
we those who sigh and cry? and we sigh and cry over our
own hearts and our own faults and our own failings. Always
to pray for the nation, of course we are, we're bidden in scripture.
To pray for those who are in authority over us. We know that
the powers that be, they are ordained of God. They're accountable
to God. It's for us to pray for them.
And now we need to be much in prayer. Well, the Psalmist recognizes
that truth. Help, he says. Help, Lord, for
the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the
children of men. Oh, do we feel it. We need the
Lord to help, the Lord to appear. And yet we scarce know how to
begin to pray or where to pray. But we sigh and we cry. and that's
the mark you see of those who are the Lord's elect they know
what size are or they need that gracious help of the Spirit do
we feel our helplessness? it's good to feel that we're
helpless that we can do nothing to be brought to the end of ourselves
that's when we need the Spirit to come He helps our infirmities
it says He makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot
be uttered. And we know that He that searcheth
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit. Or how His
intercession is according to the will of God. Now we need
that blessed ministry of the Spirit time and time again. Help Lord. Help says the Psalmist. Again, look at the language. that we find in the 146th Psalm,
and there Psalm 146 and verse 5 he says, Happily, is that man
that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the
Lord his God, which make heaven and earth, the sea, and all that
therein is, which keepeth truth for ever, which executeth judgment
for the oppressed, which give us food to the hungry. The Lord
looseth the prisons. Oh, this is the one that we need
to help us. And happy is that man. Oh, happy
is that man that hath the Lord for his help. Is that how we
feel? We need the Lord himself to appear. And we scarce know how to pray.
The situation at times does seem to utterly overwhelm us. What are we to do? Are we those
happy souls whose hope is in the Lord our God? Look at the
language that we have here in the text, this fourth verse.
Who is the one that speaks? Well, it tells us the Lord said. The Lord said unto him. That is, that one man clothed
with his linen garment, his linen ephod, and his writer's ink horn. And who is the Lord? Well, it's
Jehovah, it's the Covenant God. Quite evidently here at the beginning
of verse 4 we see it. It's that Covenant God who is
the help of his people and that was David's help remember when
David comes to the end of his days the last words of David
King in Israel sweet Psalmist of Israel King in Jerusalem and
oh what's David's comfort he has made with me an everlasting
covenant ordered in all things and sure he says this is all
my salvation all my desire Oh, we draw our comfort, surely we
draw our comfort from the Lord. He searches Jerusalem. We're
told, aren't we? We're told there in the language
of Zephaniah 1 and verse 12, I will search Jerusalem with
candles and punish the men settled on their knees. He searches Jerusalem to punish
the men who are settled on the Eldez. Oh, we're not to be settled
on Eldez. Woe to them that are at ease
in Zion. It's interesting, I read recently
in a sermon and the remark was made, they are in Zion. That's
a comfort, they're the Lord's people. But there's a woe upon
them, they're at ease. We're not to be at ease. When
God searches Jerusalem, He will deal with those who are on their
knees. We're to be those who are much
exercised. Are we exercised when we see
the situation all around us? None of these things come by
chance, do they? God's sovereign in all things.
And the wise man observes and understands. As we read at the
end of the 107th Psalm, do we observe, do we try to discern
what the Lord is doing, what the Lord is saying? Are we those
who, when we see the situation, we move, we move to sigh and
to cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof,
and we want the Lord God to appear. Or we long that God will appear
yet. and does he not promise that?
the language that we have in another psalm, psalm 12 and verse
5 for the oppression of the poor and the sighing of the needy
now will I arise saith the Lord and set him in safety from him
that puffeth at him all the Lord has promised to arise at the
sighing of his poor people and you know Doesn't Ezekiel go on
later to remind us that those sighs and those cries are not
in vain? Remember when we come to the
end of the 36th chapter, we have that verse and we often refer
to it when it comes to our prayers. The prayers is truly God's ordinance because he promises that he will
hear the prayers of his people. Right at the end of chapter 36,
thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by
the house of Israel to do it for them. I will increase them
with men like a flock, as the holy flock as the flock of Jerusalem
in a solemn feast. So shall the way cities be filled
with flocks of men, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Near is Ezekiel ministering to those who are there in exile.
What are they to do there to continue their sighing and their
crying? And then of course at the end
of the chapter we come into that remarkable vision of the valley
of the dry bones. And again the prophet says the
hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the spirit
of the Lord and sent me down in the midst of the valley which
was full of bones. and caused me to pass by them
round about, and behold, there were very many in the open valley,
and lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man,
can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord, thou
knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and
say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord, And
he prophesies, he preaches, that's what he's doing. And there's
a shaking and the bones come together. And then they're covered
in sinews and flesh. Then said he unto me, prophesy
unto the wind. Thus saith the Lord, come from
the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon this land that they
may live. so I prophesied as he commanded
me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood up upon
their feet and exceeding great honor it's God answering the
prayer of his people there was Israel oh they were languishing
they'd been taken again into exile languishing there in Babylon
but there would be restoration and can we not encourage ourselves
will not the Lord hear our prayers we will not sigh and cry in vain
If we do but bear this mark, the mark that's upon the man,
that sigh and that cry, for all the abominations that be done
in the midst thereof. And of course we go back to that
one man, clothed with linen. He's the great high priest. He's
accomplished his priestly work upon the earth. He's made the
great sin atoning sacrifice. He will see the travail of his
soul. He has not shed his blood in
vain. He has redeemed the people to himself. And now, having died, he's risen
again from the dead, ascended to heaven and ever lives to make
intercession. And he takes our poor sighings
and our cryings and presents them and they prevail. Oh, can
we not encourage ourselves then? in the Lord our God, or to be
those who are the men that are spoken of in the text, the men
that sigh and the men that cry, for all the abominations that
be done in the midst thereof. Oh, the Lord be pleased then
to hear such prayers and to answer our prayers. God grant us that
faith to believe that God will do the thing that we ask of Him. And the Lord bless His word to
us tonight. Amen.