It does turn again to God's Word
in that portion we were reading, in particular Ezekiel chapter
9, the second chapter that we read. We're in chapters 8 and
9 and I want to direct you to the words that we have here in
the second verse. This mysterious book full of
strange events and remarkable visions and here the prophet
declares and behold six men came from
the way of the higher gate which lies toward the north and every
man the slaughter weapon in his hands and one man among them
was clothed with linen with the writer's inkhorn by his side
and they went in and stood beside the brazen altar. And what I
want us to consider most particularly tonight is this particular individual
who is different to the others in the verse. And one man among them, it says. 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. It's this one man
that I want us to consider. The Lord Jesus says to the Jews
in the New Testament, search the Scriptures in them, you think
that you have eternal life. And these are they that testify
of me." And we are therefore to expect that when we read the
Old Testament Scriptures, we will meet again and again with
that man, Jesus of Nazareth. And it is that man who is being
spoken of in the verse before us tonight. One man among them
was clothed with linen, with the writer's inkhorn by his side. Or that we might see then something
of the wonder of that person we just sang in the hymn, didn't
we? Concerning the man. Show us that loving man. that
rules the courts of bliss, the Lord of hosts, the mighty God,
the eternal Prince of Peace. Is that how we come under the
sound of God's Word? We want to see a certain person,
we want to behold a certain man, the man Christ Jesus. And so
to consider something of this one man. We read of him again
at the end of the chapter. It says, Behold, the man clothed
with linen, which had the ink on by his side, reported the
matter, saying, I have done, as thou hast commanded me. Who
is the one who has done all that the Lord God ever commanded him?
That is the Lord Jesus Christ. Considering then, as our theme,
one man, the language that we have here in the text, and one
man among them, And as we come to consider this particular passage
of scripture I want just to deal really with two points. First
of all to say something with regards to the man and then in
the second place to consider the mark. He has the writer's
inkhorn by his side and there's a reason for that as we see in
the words that follow the commandment that he's given to him. as the Lord says unto him in
verse 4, go through the midst of the city, through the midst
of Jerusalem, and set a mark, or mark a mark upon the foreheads
of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations
that are done in the midst thereof. And so in the second place I
want to say something with regards to his work. The mark that he
is to set upon those who are sighing and crying. Two points
then. Firstly, the man. And here is
a man who is apart. He is different to the others
who are spoken of in the verse. We read of six men. Behold, six
men came from the way of the higher gate which lay toward
the north, and every man the slaughter weapon in his hand
and one man among them and this man is distinct, he's different
to the others and this man in fact is the same man that we
read of in the book of Daniel. In fact, we read of him this
morning. He's that man that's spoken of
in Daniel chapter 10 and verse 5. Daniel says there, I lifted
up mine eyes and looked and behold a certain man. And the margin
says that literally it says, and I beheld one man. It's the same man that Ezekiel
is speaking of, the same man that Daniel actually saw. Remember what we're told in that
remarkable passage there in Daniel 10. Verse 5 following, he says,
I lifted up my nose and looked, and behold, a certain man, or
one man, as we have in the margin, clothed in linen. whose loins
were girded with fine gold of Uphaz, whose body was like the
beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as
lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour as polished
brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men that were
with me saw not the vision, But a great quaking fell upon them,
so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and
saw this great vision. And there remained no strength
in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption,
and I retained no strength. Yet I heard the voice of His
words, and when I heard the voice of His words, then was I in a
deep sleep, on my face, and my face toward the ground. As we
said again this morning, isn't that the same person that we
read of in the New Testament? There in the opening chapter
of the book of the Revelation, where John sees something of
the glories of the resurrected and ascended and glorified Christ. One like unto the Son of Man,
he says, and describes his personage and the language if you compare
Daniel 10 which we were just reading and what we have there
in Revelation chapter 1 it's clearly the same individual that
he's being spoken of it is the man and it's the Lord Jesus Christ
what does Pontius Pilate say there in In John 19, the Jews
delivered Jesus of Nazareth over to the Roman authorities. They
wanted rid of him, they wanted him executed, but they didn't
have that authority. Palestine was a Roman province. There was a Roman governor. He
had the authority. and they deliver Christ over
to the Roman governor and now his soldiers ridicule him really
the Jews come and they say he was saying he was the king of
the Jews and so they put a crown of thorns upon the Lord and they
dress him in purple and they scoff at him and they buffet
him and then he comes forth and as he comes forth wearing the
crown of thorns and the purple robe we're told and Pilate said
unto them behold the man behold the man and it's this man that
we read of here in Ezekiel and the strength of what he said
there in John chapter 19 the significance of those words,
behold, you remember the force of that word here is something
to be seen, here is something to look upon here is that that
we are to fix our eye upon, behold the man oh we are told aren't we how
God created the first man There, in the beginning, we have
the record in Scripture concerning the manner in which God worked
in creation. Now, in six days, He made all
things out of nothing, and there's a certain progression. And how
does God work? Well, you know how God works.
He simply speaks the words. By the word of the Lord were
the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of
His mouth. He spake and it was done. He commanded and He stood
fast. He simply says, let there be
light. And there is light. And then He says, let the dry
land appear, and the dry land appears. This is how God works.
But as I say, there's a certain progression and when we come
to God's work on the sixth day and He's creating the man now,
but He doesn't create the man like He does the rest of creation.
He doesn't just speak the man into being. All God speaks, but
He speaks to Himself. There's a consultation, as it
were, between all the persons in the garden. God said, let
us make man in our image, after our likeness. And so Adam is created. God takes
the dust of the earth and forms his body, breathes into his nostrils
the breath of life, He becomes a living soul but it's not good
for the man to be alone. So God takes a rib from the man
and forms the woman and brings the woman to the man. This is
how God works. The wonder of creation as we
have it set before us here in Holy Scripture. And it all centers
in the man that God is pleased to create. That is the first
man. And the Apostle says, doesn't
he there in 1 Corinthians 15, the first man is of the earth,
earthly. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. Wasn't it one of the Puritans?
It was Thomas Goodwin who would say in the sight of God there
are just two men. In God's sight there are two
men. By nature we're all in Adam. We're all in Adam. He is the
head of the race. He's our representative head. And when he sinned, we sinned
in him. And we have received from him, of course, our very
natures, our fallen natures. You can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean. Adam was created in the likeness
of God Yes, but what happens? Adam and Eve transgressed, they're
in the garden of Eden, in the paradise of God. They're disobedient
to the Lord's commandment, they're sin. And then Adam bears a son after
his own likeness. Adam was a sinner, his son was
a sinner. We're all born dead in trespasses and sins. We're all by nature in Adam.
But God sees another man. Well, there's another man besides
Adam. The first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last, Adam, was made a quickening
spirit. There's another Adam. And who
is the other Adam? Adam is a type of the Lord Jesus.
Here is the man. It's the man Christ Jesus. And
there we see him time and time and time again in Scripture.
Remember Jacob there in Genesis 32, and he's a penny hour. He's returning now. He's spent
all those years with labor. His father-in-law has come with
his wives and all his children. And he's fearful because he's
coming back to where Esau is. And how he had stolen the birthright,
how he'd been such a cheater supplanter. He was Jacob, Jacob
by name, Jacob by deeds. He'd supplanted his brother who
had the birthright. And now he's fearful, and we're
told how there at the brook, Jabbok, he wrestles with the
angel. It says there wrestled a man
with him. the angel of the Lord. But it says there wrestled a
man with Jacob to the breaking of the day. Who was the man?
Well, that's the same man that we read of here in Ezekiel chapter
9. This man who is spoken of, as
I said, throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, in anticipation,
of course, to what will come in the fullness of the time.
when God will indeed send forth his son, his only begotten son,
made of a woman and made unto the Lord, the man, Christ Jesus. And now that man is so glorified, glorified as we see him there
in Revelation chapter 1. But the same description, as
I said, that we also find in Daniel chapter 10. Now what do
we read concerning this man? Well, Daniel says there in chapter
10 and verse 6, his eyes as lamps of fire. His eyes as lamps of
fire. John says in the Revelation,
his eyes were as flames of fire. It's the same man, you see, but
what of his eyes? Why, they are burning! They are
penetrating! They're all seeing, they're all
searching, these eyes are. These are the eyes of the Lord
that run to and throw throughout the whole earth. For there is
nothing that can be concealed from his sight. Men might look
on the outward appearance, but this God looks upon the hearts
of men, and he sees into the very depths of the souls of men. Isn't that a truth? We have it,
of course, before us quite clearly in the 139th Psalm, which speaks
to us of some of the attributes of God, the attributes of omniscience. He is all-knowing. He knows all
things. he's omnipresent, he's in all
places and as I say, his eyes as lamps of fire and when we
come to the end of that psalm 139th psalm we have the prayer,
don't we? the prayer of David, search me
O God O search me O God know my heart, try me and know my
thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead
me in the way everlasting is that how we come under the word
of God is that how we pray as we come under the word of God
that God would search us through and through that he would look
into the many depths of our souls we were speaking this morning
on that beatitude blessed are the pure in heart for they shall
see God but if we see God, God sees after we want God to see
us as we really are and show us what we really are these eyes
you see lamps of fire all seeing and this is a God you see who He's a holy God and a righteous
God and a just God. A God that cannot behold sin,
cannot look upon iniquity. A God who can by no means clear
the guilty. All such is God's character.
The sinner must bear the punishment that is due to the sinner. The
soul that sinneth it shall die. or the wages of sin is death. And so we see it in the portion
that we read. We read chapter 8, the terrible
wickedness of the people there in Jerusalem. The temple desecrated
with their idolatrous ways. The whole land full of violence.
And what does the Lord God say here at the end of chapter 9
verse 10? As for me also, mine eye shall
not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their
way upon their heads. Sin must be punished. And that's what God's about here
in this 9th chapter. After chapter 8 we come into
the opening words of chapter 9, He cried also in mine ears
with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the
city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon
in his hand. And behold, six men came from
the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every
man a slaughter weapon in his hand. And one 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." Here are the destroyers, but there's one amongst them
that's different. There's a different man here. One man among them. was clothed
with linen, it says. Now that's significant, he's
clothed with linen. And we're told, aren't we, back
in the book of the Leviticus, how the priest shall put on his
linen garments. That is the garb of the priest.
The priest would wear linen. And we read in 1st Samuel 22
of something of the cruelty of King Saul when he kills the priests. There in chapter 22, the first
Samuel, verse 17, the King Saul said
unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn and slay the priest
of the Lord, because their hand is also with David, and because
they knew when he fled and did not show it to me. But the servants
of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priest
of the Lord. And the king said to Doeg, Turn
thou and fall upon the priest. And Doeg the Edomite turned,
and he fell upon the priest, and slew on that day four score
and five persons that did wear a linen ephod." There it is you
see, the garb of the priest. Doeg slew 85, four score and five persons that
did wear a linen ephod. So the dress of this man that
we have in our text, one man among them, clothed with
linen, it's the Lord Jesus. And it's the Lord Jesus being
revealed here in his priestly office. And as a priest, what
does he come to do? He doesn't come as that one who
is going to judge men for their sins. No, he comes as that one
who is going to make the great sacrifice for the pardon of the
sins of his people. Here in Islam, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. God's wrath will be turned away
from His people because that wrath of God is going to be visited
on the person of His only begotten Son. That's what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done. He doesn't come to punish. He
comes to bear the penalty Himself that there might be pardon for
His people. It's interesting, isn't it, what
it says at the end of the verse They went in, it says, and stood
beside the brazen altar. Oh, here's the priest, and he's
standing at the brazen altar. And there at the brazen altar,
of course, he makes the sacrifice. And the Lord Jesus is that one,
who has made the great sin-atoning sacrifice. Oh, this is the wonder
of this man. One man. One man. among them,
was clothed with linen. He is the only priest. There
are no other priests. The Bishop of Rome might pronounce
himself to be the Supreme Pontiff, the chief priest as it were,
and he might have many priests under him, and they might imagine
that they make bloodless sacrifices in the Romish Mass. But it is
a dangerous deceit and a blasphemous fable as we read in the 39 articles
of the so-called Reformed Church of England, the Church of the
Protestant Reformation. That's how the Church of England
defines what the Mass is. A deceit, dangerous deceit and
a blasphemous fable. There is but one priest who has
made one sacrifice for sins forever. And he has done all that was
commanded him. As we see at the end, remember.
Behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the ink on by
his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast
commanded me. Or the Lord Jesus could say to
the Father, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished
the work that thou gavest me to do. Oh, he has finished the transgression,
he has made an end of sin, he has made reconciliation for iniquity,
he's brought in everlasting righteousness, he's sealed the vision and the
prophecy. Oh, what a wonder is this man and all that He has
done in order for the salvation of sinners. Obedience. And obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross we're taught. That's
the extent of His obedience. He loves the Father. He comes
not to do His own will, but the will of Him who has sent Him
and to finish His work. He loves the Father. He will
do all the Father's bidding. and he loves those that the Father
has given to him and having loved his own which were in the world
how he loves them he loves them to the end or such is his love
it terminates there in his death upon the cross when he dies the
just for the unjust to bring sinners to God this is the man
then that we read of but let us for a little while think of
his work the work that he does with a writer's inkhorn by his
side, it says. And then the command that God
gives to him, verse 3, the end of verse 3, we're told, and he
called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's
ink on 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. And then he speaks to the others,
verse 5, to the others he said, in mine hearing go ye after him
through the city and smite let not your eyes spare neither have
you 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 and they began at the ancient men which
were before the house, that is before the temple begin at my
sanctuary it begins there you see, at the
house of God what does Peter say? does he
not speak about it's time for judgment to begin at the house
of God judgment beginning at the house of God and if the righteous scarcely
be saved where shall the ungodly and the sinners appear? God will begin his judgment in the house of God or the great
danger you see of an empty profession just a form of godliness and
yet knowing nothing of the power of Godliness when God's judgments
begin begin at my sanctuary it says isn't the church in a sense the
very threshing floor of the Lord Jesus his fan is in his hands and there
he will sift his people We have to examine ourselves. We are going to observe the Lord's
Supper presently and we are to approach that blessed ordinance
as those who would see the importance of that examination. Let a man
examine himself and so let him eat of this bread and drink of
this cup, it says. We don't examine ourselves to
find anything worthy in ourselves, anything that would commend us
and give us some qualification that we manage to earn in some
measure. No. Are we those who simply desire
to behold the man? It's the man, you see. It's always
the man. One man. A certain man. It's the Lord Jesus. And it's
that man that we have to know. It's that man that we have to
trust. even as we come to partake of the Lord's supper. And they're all marked, aren't
they? That's the thing here. They're all marked. They have the mark of God's elect.
We're told the foundation of God standeth sure. The Lord knoweth
them that are His. He knows them. why their names
are written in the Lamb's Book of Life from before the foundation
of the world. And the men with their slaughter
weapons can go nowhere near these characters. They're a specific people whom
the Lord God himself has marked out for himself. They're marked
out by the Holy Spirit. grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption it says,
are sealed again remember the language that
we have there in Revelation 7 John said I heard the number
of them that were sealed and they were sealed and 144,000
of all the tribes of the children of Israel The 144,000, now you
know what ridiculous things the JWs say with regards to the 144,000
who are sealed. Nonsense, they speak. What does
it mean, that word there in Revelation 7? Well, we have to remember
that there's no more any 12 tribes of Israel. the ten tribes that
rebelled against the house of David when Solomon's son Rehoboam
became the king there were the ten tribes that rebelled they
made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king and they had their their
kingdom in the north in their capital in Samaria and they began to sink ever more
and more into sin and eventually the Assyrians come and Israel
there in the north is taken and the ten tribes are scattered,
are lost. They're all over the world, they
intermingle with all the gentile nations, those tribes have gone.
Now in the south there was Judah, the house of Judah still loyal
to David, who of course himself was of the house of Judah, and
little Benjamin united with Judah, And eventually, of course, God
does visit judgment upon Judah also, but it's later. It's not
under the armies of Sennacherib, not
under the Chaldeans. It comes under
the Babylonians, that judgment on Judah, and they're taken into
exile. are taken to Babylon and they're
there 70 years but then when the Persians come under Cyrus
they're restored and so there's a return to Jerusalem there's
a rebuilding of the Temple of the Lord there's the rebuilding
of the walls of Jerusalem the days of Ezra and Nehemiah and
so when we come to the New Testament There is Palestine and there
are still Jews in Palestine in those days and the Lord Jesus
Christ of course himself comes of the house of Judah. I say
all this because we're aware, very much aware at the moment
in the news continually about Israel and the Jews in Palestine
and so forth. When they were eventually scattered
those Jews after the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, their
cry let his blood be upon us and upon our children and by
the year 70 the Roman legions come and they laid siege to Jerusalem
and the temple is destroyed and the Jews are scattered but they
did maintain their identity They didn't mix as had happened with
the 10 tribes, with all the Gentile nations. They are still there
as a distinctive people. But there are not 12 tribes,
and yet there in Revelation there are 144,000 seals of each
of the 12 tribes. 12,000 from each tribe 144,000. Well, of course, we know there
in the Revelation the numbers are all symbolic. The whole book
is full of symbols. We're not to understand that
in any literal sense. What it means, it's that number
that suggests perfection. It's the complete company of
all the election of Christ, not one missing. God's new Israel
as it were 144,000 everyone for whom the Lord Jesus Christ shed
his precious blood and they're sealed they're sealed, they're
marked they're marked by God himself how many are there? well it's amazing isn't it because
in that same chapter Revelation 7 And verse 9, we read of their
number, Behold, and lo, a great number, it says, which no man
could number. It's innumerable, it's a great
quantity of people who have been saved by the precious blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's thousands and thousands
upon thousands and they're all there and they're all those who
are sealed by the Holy Spirit and the Lord knoweth them that
are His but election to us is secret as we're told there in
Deuteronomy 29.29 the secret things belong unto the Lord our
God and the things which are revealed belong unto us and to
our children and God has not revealed to you or me or anyone
else who the elect are. The Lord knows, He's marked and
Christ knows for whom He shed His precious blood, as that great
high priest. But we don't know. Election is
secret to us. But are we not told to give diligence
to make our calling and election sure? That's what Peter says, Brethren,
give diligence to make your calling and election sure. And he's exhorting,
of course, the people of God there in 2 Peter 1.10. He says
what we do, we want to be sure, we want to know, we want an assurance
of salvation. You see, there are marks, there
are marks whereby we can know who the elect are. And there's
one mark in particular that we see here with regards to these
people. Who are those upon whom the mark
is set? Set a mark or mark a mark upon
the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the
abominations that be done in the midst thereof. There is the
mark. And it's on those that sigh and
that cry. All prayer is a mark. Prayer
is a mark. I don't know, sometimes I look
at myself and I say, well, do I really know what prayer is?
Do I really bear that mark? One thing to stand in a pulpit
or to stand up in a prayer meeting and to pray, but what do I know
of prayer in that secret place? where the Lord says that we are
to go into the closet and shut the door behind us and we are
to seek our Father in secret and the Seer in secret will reward
us wholefully. It's a very searching mark, isn't
it? Or remember what Christ tells
a parable concerning prayer. He spoke a parable unto them
to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint there
in Luke 18 and he speaks of the unjust judge and the poor widow
and the judge won't hear her but she's such a pest and such
a nuisance her importunity so in the end he must And the Lord
says, And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and
night unto him though he bear long with them? I tell you that
he will avenge them and that speedily. What do the elect do? They cry. They cry unto God day
and night. They live that life of prayer. They sigh, they cry, they groan,
they moan. Or they come with David and they
say, Lord, all my desire is before Thee, and my groaning is not
hid from Thee. How they pray. That's their mark,
you see. Are we those who do that? We
see the situation about us. We see the wickedness that abounds
on every hand. Or do we sigh and cry for all
the abominations? We look within our own hearts
and what can we do? We have to continually bring
that acceptable sacrifice of a broken and a contrite spirit.
That's what we have to bring. A contrite and a broken heart. Confessing our sins, acknowledging
our utter unworthiness. But you know the amazing thing
is this, isn't it? That God keeps an account of
all his people. when we come to the last of the
Old Testament books, the prophet Malachi. And what does Malachi
say? He speaks of them that fear the
Lord. They spake often one to another
and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance
was written before the Lord for them that feared the Lord and
that thought upon His name. Or do we fear the Lord? Do we
think upon his name. Do we think upon this man that
he said before us here tonight in the text? One man among them
was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side,
and they went in and stood beside the brazen altar. Do we think
on that man? God keeps a book, you see. He
has that book in which the names of all his people are written.
They're remarked people in that sense. They're sealed with the
Holy Spirit of promise. And God marks their prayers.
Oh, there's that lovely verse, isn't there? Psalm 56, verse
8. Thou tellest my wonderings, put
down my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book? Oh,
we don't pray in vain. God puts our tears in his bottle
when we come and sigh and cry. And our names are in his book.
And how is it? It's because of this man. It's
all in this one man. It's all in him, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the great high priest of our profession. or that we might know Him, or
that you might know Him. No man can say that Jesus Christ
is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. But you know the Lord Jesus tells
us, doesn't He? We can have the Holy Ghost. How much more shall your Heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Well, you ask. You ask that God
would give you the Holy Spirit because you're aware no man can
say that Jesus Christ is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. We have
to ask. Ask and it shall be given. Seek
and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. All this one man is clothed in a linen ephod But
the priests don't just make sacrifice, do they? They also present prayers. They don't just attend at the
brazen altar, they're there at the golden altar. The altar of
incense. Oh, we're to look to this man.
We're to trust in this man. One man. Among them. Clothed. with linen. Oh God grant that we might each
and every one of us know him and know him as our God and know
him as our Savior. Let the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us. Amen.