A text this evening is found
in the book of Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 21 and verse
27. Ezekiel 21, 27. I will overturn,
overturn, overturn it and it shall be no more. until he come whose right it
is, and I will give it to him. I will overturn, overturn, overturn
it, until it shall be no more, until he come whose right it
is, and I will give it to him. The subject, in a sense, we might
say, is the threefold overthrow of sinful self. The threefold overthrow of sinful
self. But let us, before we really
examine the text more closely, just make three simple observations. First of all, I want to say something
with regards to the historical context of this verse. You might think it rather a strange
verse. And really, historically, here
in this portion we're reading of the end of the monarchy in
Judah. The overthrow of that monarchy
that was established, of course, in the days of King Saul but
then King David and then through the generations there were those
kings who sat upon David's throne even after there was the division
of the kingdom following the death of King Solomon. There
were still those in Judah with the capital there in Jerusalem
who were David's descendants sitting upon the throne. But then the last of the kings
was that man of whom we read called Zedekiah. And he is spoken
of here in verse 25. Thou profane, wicked prince of
Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have and ends. Remember, Ezekiel is ministering,
he's the prophet of God at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem,
the very things that we were reading of there in 2nd Kings
chapter 24. And the words I say at verse
25 are speaking specifically of that man Zedekiah. We saw how it was Nebuchadnezzar
who made him the king after Jehoiakim and in fact in the second book
of Chronicles in chapter 36 and verse 13 we are told how Nebuchadnezzar
made him swear by God he was a vassal prince really and he
rebels against his master Nebuchadnezzar and yet there in 2nd Chronicles
36 as I say he had sworn an oath that he would be faithful and
here in the context again verse 23 we read of them that have
sworn oaths them that have sworn oaths and how solemn it was to
break the oath if we go back to chapter 17 And in the 16th
verse of that chapter, As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in
the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath
he despised and whose covenant he break, even with him in the
midst of Babylon he shall die. neither shall Pharaoh with his
mighty army and great company make for him in the war by casting
up mounts and building forts to cut off many persons seeing
he despised the oath by breaking the covenant when lo he had given
his hand and that on all these things he shall not escape. How faithful the prophet is in
reminding this man Zedekiah of that solemn thing that he had
done to break the oath by rebelling now against Nebuchadnezzar, the
king of Babylon. And so, God's judgment must come. Verse 25, Thou profane, wicked
prince of Israel, whose day is come when iniquity shall have
an end. And God says, I will Overturn! Overturn! Overturn it! And so the kingdom was no more.
No descendant would sit on David's throne there in Jerusalem for
some 600 years. Well, that's something of the
historical context. Words being addressed to that
wicked prince, that wicked king. But also, with regards to the
text, we must recognize there is also a fulfillment of this
prophecy in terms of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Because
what does the text say? It's until He come, whose right
it is, and I will give it to Him. Or remember the words that
the angel speaks to the Virgin Mary was to be the the mother
of our Lord very human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ of course
is derived from his mother the Holy Ghost comes upon her the
power of the highest overshadows her and that holy thing says
the angel that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. He had no human father but he
had a real human mother that highly favoured woman and we
must not we must not despise the Virgin because of Rome let
us recognise she was greatly blessed and she was one who could
rejoice in God her Saviour and the angel comes and we read of
that visitation of the angel don't we? in the gospel Luke
gives us some detailed account of it already there in Luke chapter
1 verse 30 the angel says to her
fear not Mary for thou hast found favour with God behold thou shalt
conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shalt call his
name Jesus he shall be great and shall be called the Son of
the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David." Oh, mark the words. The Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of his father David until he come, whose
right it is, says God through the prophet, and I will give
it him. So, whilst we have to take account
of the history, Real historic events are being spoken of in
this prophecy, and yet also we have that fulfillment that centers,
of course, in Christ, the person of the Savior, and He's coming
into this world. But then also, thirdly, with
regards to this text, I say that there is also a spiritual fulfillment,
or a spiritual application. Because surely, This is what
I want to come to as we examine the verse more closely. This
verse has to come into our soul. It's no good just having God's
Word before us on the page of Holy Scripture. We want God's
Word to be applied to us. We want to enter into it. We
want the Word to enter into us. We want to experience the grace
of God as He sets it before us here on the page of Holy Scripture. And I say there is a spiritual
application in that what we have here is also true in some measure
in the experience of all those who know the grace of God in
salvation. And so as we look at the words
for a while tonight, I want to divide what I say now into two
parts. I want to speak first of the
sinner, And then secondly, I want to speak of the Saviour. Evidently, we have the Saviour
at the end of the verse. Therefore, we must have the sinner
at the beginning of the verse. So, let us begin there. I will
overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more. Is it not a fact, friends, that
Every saved sinner must be totally overturned with regards to any
confidence or any trust in himself. If we know anything of the grace
of God we have to be brought to that. All that we are as sinners
must be completely and utterly overturned. Nor can he expect
to be perfectly saved until he finds himself utterly lost. All we have to be utterly lost
before we can come to salvation. And that's a lesson that of course
we learn at the beginning but it's a lesson that we're continually
learning. Wasn't that the experience of
the apostle when he speaks of himself there at the end of 2nd
Corinthians and he speaks of that thorn in the flesh? and
his pleadings with the Lord that this might be removed. And yet
he is only having to prove as he comes to realize ultimately
that he is dependent only upon the grace of God. That's sufficient.
And so what does he confess? At one point he says there in
2 Corinthians chapter 12, though I be nothing. Or the grace of God for Paul
is everything. And what is Paul? Paul is nothing. Paul is a zero. Paul is a cipher,
a nothing. A non-entity we might say. And
now we see this apostle so much speaking in those terms when
he deals with those legalists who want to bring the believers
in the various churches that have been so instrumental in
establishing they want to bring these people back under the yoke
of the law as if there's something for them
to do and Paul has to deal with these legalists he deals with
them almost in all of his epistles I know principally we see it
of course in the epistle to the Galatians but we see it in others
also writing to the Philippians and there in that third chapter
which in many ways is a very personal chapter to Paul because
he speaks so much of his own experience and he warns him doesn't
he? Beware of dogs, beware of evil
workers, beware of the concision Or they made so much of circumcision
these legalists, they wanted to bring Gentile believers under
the yoke of the law, they must be circumcised. If they are circumcised,
Paul tells them they are debtors to the whole of the law. But
Paul doesn't call them the circumcised, he calls them the concision.
Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision as if
these cuttings that they're contending for are illegal cuttings. That's
the force of the word concision. They're cuttings that ought not
to be practiced. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. No confidence in the flesh. Overturn! Overturn! overturn it. And as I say, doesn't Paul go
on here to speak of his own desires, his own experience. Verse 8,
yea, doubtless, he says, I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may
win Christ. and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death." Why? This man is crucified with Christ. All that he was, all that he
ever had, he counted all as dung, refuse. That that we sometimes
by accident put our foot in, maybe when we're walking down
the pavement and we want to get it off our feet very quickly.
And that's what Paul says of all that he ever once had. It
was all dung, refuse, nothing. A nasty thing. Oh, this is the apostle, you
see. And he is teaching us here that we have to come to that,
the end of ourselves, nothing of ourselves. Nothing of ourselves. Overturn. Overturn. Overturn
it three times. Aren't we told that a three-fold
cord is not quickly broken? Well here's the three-fold cord. All to be broken. Love not the
world, not the things that are in the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, the pride of life. There's the three, four things.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.
It's not of the father. It's of the world and the world
perishes. All there is to be this overthrow then. There's
the overthrow of profaned self the overthrow of polluted self
as it were that which is born of the flesh is flesh that which is born of
the spirit is spirit or that which is born of the flesh it
never changes does it? never improves the Lord Jesus
himself says that that that is born of the flesh is flesh. No
wonder the flesh lost against the spirit and the spirit against
the flesh and these are contrary one to the other. If we have
that seed, that divine seed, that new nature, that divine
nature in us, there will be a conflict with the old nature, the old
man of sin, that which is born of the flesh. It's not sacred. not holy. It's profane. It's wicked. The carnal mind,
the natural mind, it's enmity against God, Paul says. It is
not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. That's
the natural mind. The word in our authorised version
is carnal, but it's the mind we're born with. It's what we
are by nature. And it's enmity against God.
and it's not subject to God's law and it says indeed it cannot
be, it's impossible all those gentile believers that Paul speaks
of there in the fourth chapter of his epistle to the Ephesians
Ephesians 4.18 well he speaks of them in verse 17 Gentiles. This I say therefore and testify
in the Lord that she henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who
being past feelings have given themselves over unto lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness with greediness that's the old nature,
that's the old man but you have not so learned Christ, he continues
or the profane, the polluted self must be overthrown sometimes think of that little
couplet in the hymn that we just sang In vanity I spent my youth,
the thought now fills my heart with shame. We're ashamed, aren't we? Of
what we were. All before God in his goodness
and in his grace found us out. The years that the locust has
eaten, the canker worm, the caterpillar, the palmer worm, wasted years.
dead in trespasses and in sins it all has to be overthrown profane vain self the overthrow
of proud self also proud self it's all it's there isn't it?
oh it's so much in us we see it
in in the garden what's that in the fall when the instrument
of Satan, the serpent comes to the woman and says, he shall
be as God. Oh, there's pride, there's pride,
it's in the fall and we're there, with Adam and Eve in the garden.
And you know, isn't it a truth that when the sinner is first
awakened, what does he do? He seems to want to do something. He flies, as it were, to the
idea of of doing something, flies to a covenant of works, really.
Even there on the day of Pentecost, why do they cry out to Peter
and the other disciples, what shall we do to be saved? What
shall we do? Surely there's something to be
done. We see so personally in the case of the Philippian jailer,
when he comes trembling before Paul and Barnabas, and he says,
Sirs, what must I do? All by nature we're wedded to
it, aren't we? And what do we have to learn?
We have to learn that the law of God is a spiritual law. The God's law doesn't just have
to do with actions or words. The God's law has to
do with our thoughts and our feelings. The Lord is spiritual,
says the Apostle, but I am carnal, sold unto sin. Proud self. Proud self. Well, what does it say here at
the end of verse 26? Abase him that is high. Abase
him that is high, I will overturn. Overturn. overturn it. There is the overthrow not only
of profound self, but also proud self. That is how God has to deal with
us. Brings us to the end of all that we are. Thou turnest man
to destruction, says Moses. Thou turnest man to destruction
and siest return ye children of men. And then, what a presumptuous
self. Again, we see it sometimes, maybe
it's been true in our own experiences. Instead of being ready to look
to God, to pray to God, to wait upon God, calling, crying, seeking,
what do vain men do? They grasp at something beyond
the teaching of God. or they like to speak, you see,
of duties that are to be performed, duty of faith, duty of repentance,
these sort of ideas. And yet Christ says, no man can
come to me except the Father that hath sent me draw him, and
I shall raise him up at the last hour. It is written in the Prophets,
they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. It's all
God's teaching. It's not the ideas of men. All
our men presume with God. It's not of Him that willeth,
not of Him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy. We're not to presume, are we?
Men like to presume that they have a will that is fresh. Men don't like the idea, you
see, of our wills being in bondage to sin and yet that is the truth
that he said before us here in holy scripture man's will is bound up with what
man is and our very natures are fallen we would only ever choose that
that is contrary to God because we're in a state of alienation
from God and our will is not subject to
the law of God neither indeed can be as we've already said or the state of man by nature
no free will and yet people love to think of ability creature
ability there's something that man can do surely there's something
to be done it's a very humbling when the Lord really takes us
in hand and begins to teach us the truth it's a complete and
utter overthrow of self. Now Jeremiah addresses the people
of his day and in many ways he was a contemporary of course
with Ezekiel. Here is Ezekiel ministering to those in the captivity
and there is Jeremiah just previously living at the time when these
things happen. And I think of those words in
Jeremiah 22 and verse 29 when he says, O earth, earth, earth,
hear the word of the Lord. God says, I will overturn, overturn,
overturn it, and it shall be no more. And the Prophet addresses men
and says, Oh Earth, Earth, Earth, hear the word of the Lord. Oh man, why his body was made
of the dust of the Earth and then God breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life and he became a living soul. But man now, you
see, having transgressed? Why, in the day that thou eatest
thereof, God says thou shalt surely die. He's dead in trespasses
and sins. Or what? What will become of
him but for the grace of God? Only God can save the sinner,
but it is appointed unto men once to die. And then cometh
the judgment. earth thou art and unto dust
thou shalt return that's what man is, he's made of the dust
of the earth he'll return to the dust of the earth and it's
all very humbling, isn't it? that's the negative part of the
text God says I will overturn, overturn, overturn it and it
shall be no more but that's not the end of the text because He
continues until He come whose right it is and I will give it
Him. Oh, there's hope here. There's
hope for the sinner. And what do we see? We see divine
sovereignty in the sinner's salvation. The grace of God. The sovereignty of the Father
is here. I will give it Him, He says. Until He come who's right it
is. That's the Lord Jesus Christ as we've said. He's fulfilled
with His coming as we saw there in Luke chapter 1. And I will
give it Him. Didn't The Lord God made choice
of the people, and He made choice of them of course, in Christ. Oh, we're reminded of that blessed
truth in that great opening chapter of the Ephesian epistle. And the language that we have
there in Ephesians 1-3 Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. According as he hath chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blind before him in love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will through the praise of the glory
of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Do you notice? That's one sentence
here in our Authorized Version. It's a long sentence. It runs
from verse 3 through verses 4, 5 and finishes at verse 6. One
sentence. And what is the great theme that
runs through this sentence? It's the sovereignty of God in
election and predestination. But how these people are chosen
in Him, it says. He has chosen us in Him, that
is in Christ Jesus. He has predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. It's all in Christ. The elect
in Christ are adopted in the Lord Jesus Christ. I will give it Him. And how does the Lord Jesus Christ
respond to this? In Hebrews chapter 2 and verse
13 He says, Behold I and the children which God hath given
me. takes up those words first spoken back in Isaiah chapter
8 Isaiah of course is speaking of the children that God had
given to him, it's part of his message but there's a far greater
than Isaiah in it Christ takes up those words and says behold
I and the children which God hath given them changing the
figure he is the head of the body, the church Oh, there's the sovereignty of
the Father, having made choice of a people, and elected them
before the foundation of the world in Christ. But there's
also the sovereignty of the Son. They are His by right of donation. That's what we have here in verse
27. Until He come whose right it
is, and I will give it Him. God as given them to Christ,
now he's by donation, he has that right to them, but there's
more than that, isn't there? He also has them by the right
of redemption. He has them because he has paid
a ransom price for them. He has purchased them for himself. Or for as much as you know, says
Peter, that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your
father's box, he says, with the precious blood of Christ as of
a lamb without blemish and without sparks. Christ has redeemed them. He has paid the price that was
demanded by the Holy Lord of God. He has every right to them. He has the right of donation
by the Father, but also the right of redemption by the shedding
of His precious blood, that is purchased possession. But then, there's also the sovereignty
of the Holy Spirit. God says, I will give it Him. How are these elect ones brought to the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes, He has paid the price of
their redemption, but how do they come to enjoy that possession,
that salvation? It's by the work of the Spirit.
There must be that great work of regeneration Why? All that they are as sinners
has got to be completely utterly overthrown. Profane self, proud
self, presumptuous self, everything about self. They must come to receive a new
nature. They must be partakers of the
divine nature. And doesn't the Lord Jesus declare
it so plainly there in that great third chapter of John's Gospel?
Verily, verily, except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God, says Christ. And again we see how it's one
of those statements that is so significant and he therefore
prefixes it by saying verily. Twice. You know what the word
is, it's the word Amen. Amen! Amen! So be it, so be it,
truly, truly. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the Kingdom of God. But how can a man be born again? Ask Nicodemus when he's old. Well, he has to be born of the
Spirit. It's a new birth, it's a spiritual
birth. It's not another physical birth. It's something far more
glorious, far greater than that. It's the work of the Spirit.
And the wind, says Christ, bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor
whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of
the Spirit, or the mysterious circuits of the winds. You know not from whence it has
come, whether it's going. Mighty winds. So is everyone
that is born of the Spirit. Born again, born from above.
Born from above as John the Baptist says later in that third chapter
of John, verse 27, a man can receive nothing except it be
given him from above. He must be born again. What is the text saying then,
ultimately? Is it not saying that we must
come to this, that we are nothing? And God? God is everything. Salvation is of the Lord, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost. The great eternal purpose of
the Father. O the blessed coming of God the
Son, and the payment of the ransom price, that great sin-atoning
sacrifice, and in the blessed work of God the Holy Spirit,
when He comes to make the Father's purpose and what the Son has
procured a reality. in the soul of that sinner who
is born again oh look at what we read here again
in the context the end of verse 26 it says exalt him that is
low exalt him that is low and abase him that is high I will
overturn overturn overturn it and it shall be no more until
he come whose right it is and I will give it him or that we might learn what it
means then to to be nothing everything overturned all that ever we thought
of ourselves brought to the spot that Paul was so
familiar with a zero a cipher that the Lord Jesus Christ might
be all and in all Until He come as right it is, says God, and
I will give it Him. May the Lord be pleased to bless
the verse to us.