Let us turn once again to God's
word in that portion of scripture from which we read. Ezekiel,
directing your attentions now to chapter 3. Ezekiel chapter
3, and I'll read the first three verses. Moreover he said unto
me, son of man, eat that thou findest. Eat this roll, and go
speak unto the house of Israel so I opened my mouth and he caused
me to eat that roll and he said unto me son of man cause thy
belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee
then did I eat it and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness
those words at the end of verse 3 then did I eat it and it was
in my mouth as honey for sweetness. I want to endeavour to say something
with regards to the sweetness, which is the words of God. In the context, of course, this
is that word that the Prophet was given, which he must digest
in order that he might speak feelingly as well as faithfully
to the children of Israel who at that time were in exile. As we saw in the opening verses
of the book, they were there by the river Tabor in the land
of the Chaldeans. This is after then the fall of
Jerusalem and now They have now entered into what we call the
Babylonian captivity. God's word is sent to that remnant
that is going to be preserved in exile. But as we come of course
to the words of our text, it's not so much that we want to see
it as mere history wants to know what significance it has for
ourselves today. This is God's words and it doesn't
just apply to those to whom it was first given. We know that
what so ever things were written before time were written for
our learning. Paul says that we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. And the first
thing I want to observe here is how this is very much a personal
word. It is in God's words, in that
sense, always a personal word. In the opening words of the chapter,
moreover, he said unto Merth. Very similar to what we read
at the beginning of chapter 2. And he said unto Merth. God must come to us in that very
personal individual manner. We think of the words of the
Lord Jesus to that man that was born blind that we read of in
John chapter 9. Remember how he was cast out
of the synagogue, excommunicated as it were from the privileges
that he enjoyed as a Jew. And the Lord seeks out the blind
man whom he had healed. And what is the word that Christ
speaks to him? He says, Believest thou in the
Son of God? Dost thou believe in the Son
of God? And the man asked, Who is he,
Lord, that I might believe in him? And the Lord reveals himself
to him. But how emphatic is the question
that Christ puts to that man thus now, he introduces the personal
pro now, he doesn't beat about the bush with the man, he comes
to him in a very pointed fashion and asks him personally if he
himself is believing in the Son of God. It's very important that
God's word should come to us in that personal way. Moreover,
he said unto my son, of man. Now observe, the name that is
given to the prophet Ezekiel, we have it several times there
in the previous chapter. We see it again in verse 1 of
chapter 2, he says, Unto me, son of man. And then again we
have the name repeated In verse 3 of that second chapter, He
said unto me, Son of Man. But verse 6, And thou, Son of
Man, be not afraid of them. Verse 8, But thou, Son of Man,
hear what I say unto them. This is a name that is given
time and again to the Prophet. In fact, it is said that it is
used above 80 times in this prophecy of Ezekiel. It is very much a
name of affection. It is, of course, the name that
primarily belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, as we see in the
book of Daniel and that vision that Daniel is granted in Daniel
chapter 7 and verses 13 and 14 Daniel says, I saw in the night
visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the
clouds of heaven, and came to the ancient of days, and they
brought him near before him. and there was given him dominion
and glory and the kingdom that all people, nations and languages
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed. This is the Son of Man who of
course is revealed to us so wonderfully in the New Testament Scripture. He is the Son of God, the Eternal
Son of the Eternal Father. But now, in the fullness of the
time, God sends forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law. He becomes a man. The Lord Jesus
Christ is truly, primarily, principally that One who is spoken of as
the Son of Man. And yet, This is the name that
is also given time and again to Ezekiel. The only other person
who is ever referred to as son of man is the prophet Daniel. There in chapter 8 and verse
17 of the book of Daniel. He also receives this name, that's
the only other occasion. Just that one single occasion
when it is given to Daniel, as I say, somewhat over 80 times
we talked, it is used in reference to Ezekiel. It is very much a
name that speaks of God's affection, that he should bear that name
that was given to the Lord Jesus Christ as he came to do that
great work of redemption. But then, on the other hand,
it is a name that also tends to humiliation. It's a very humbling
name, is that of son of man. Does it not remind us of man's
origin? Literally, son of man is son
of Adam. The name Adam means man. It's
a Hebrew name for for man, one of the names. Ish is another
of the names that can be translated as man, but this is the word
Adam. He is the son of Adam. And what do we read concerning
the first man and his creation? The Lord God created the man,
formed the man out of the dust of the earth. We see there that his origin
is such a base origin. His body was formed simply out
of the dust. And it doesn't only remind us
of the origin of man, it also reminds us that this name of
man stands end after Adam rebelled against God as Adam was disobedient
to the commandment of God and partook of the forbidden fruit,
the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Remember
that dreadful curse that came upon him. What does God say to
the man, the consequence of his sin? Dost thou ask? and unto dust they shall return. All this name in son of man,
son of Adam, doesn't just remind us of man's base origin, it also
sets before us the sad end of man, as one who is a rebel against
God. But also the name indicates to
us something of man's frailty, how man is but a feeble creature,
in the 9th Psalm and verse 20 we read these words, put them
in fear that the nations may know themselves to be but men. See Lord. The nations are to
know that they are but men. God is the great creator, man
is but the feeble and frail creature, a creature of a dying, who knows
as a creature all the limitations that appertain to the creation. He is so feeble, so dependent
upon God to constantly strengthen him and sustain him. He's a creature
of the day, he knows all those limitations of time and of space. In the book of the Prophet Jeremiah
we have those remarkable words, Jeremiah 22, 29, as he addresses
the people he says, O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of
the Lord. O man is of the earth, earth. O man is but a creature, so feeble
and so friar. And this is the name of Jesus.
I say that this name has this tendency, should have this tendency
to humble a man, to make him feel what he is. He is but a
creature, and he's a sinful creature, a rebel against God. He's made
of the dust, and the dust he is to return. And God addresses
him as he is. Now we see then something of
the unworthiness of the man. The psalmist cries out, what
is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that
thou visitest him? And yet God does visit men. He
visited Ezekiel, he speaks of this man. Moreover, he said unto
me, son of man, all God's conditions, even to these evil creatures,
these sinful creatures, these filthy creatures who have transgressed
His holy laws and sinned against Him. God grants such a revelation
of Himself. This is the one who is speaking.
As we see there in the previous chapter at verse
for as he receives his commission to go and to speak God's truth
to the nation that is now in exile God says they are impotent
children and stiff-hearted I do send thee unto them and thou
shalt say unto them thus saith the Lord God thus saith the Lord
God All this is a real revelation of God. And what is the effect
where there is this condescension on the part of God when he comes
and reveals himself and makes himself known to a man? Well,
we see it in Ezekiel's experience, do we not? There, at the end
of chapter 1. What was the effect? How he is
humble to the very dust of the earth. It tells us in that last
paragraph having described God's chariot as it were, the living
creatures, the wheels within wheels. And he says, verse 26,
above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness
of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon
the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance
of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber
as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance
of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins
even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire and it
had brightness round about him. This is that one before whom
the seraphims, the burning ones, must bow their heads must cover
their faces, which is the glory of God. As the appearance of
the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the
appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance
of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, he says. And when
I saw it, I fell upon my face and I heard the voice of one
that's bad. He is humbled, you see. He is
brought to the very dust. It was the same experience, was
it not, that another of the prophets had, Isaiah's experience, if
you have it described there in chapter 6, where he also is favoured
to see something of the glory of the throne of God. The king
of Isaiah had died. The throne there in Judah is
vacated as it was. Oh another will fill the throne.
But here is the throne of God, the God who is from everlasting
to everlasting. And he sees the seraphim. And what does he do? He fills.
He fills his own sinfulness. He pronounces woe upon himself. Woe is mine for I am undone. For I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes
have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts." And one of those seraphim
is sent with a burning coal from the brazen altar to purge the
sin that is upon his unclean lips. All the application of
that that was typified there at the brazen altar, the sacrifices
that were made, all pointing to Christ. the living coal taken
and applied, and his sin, his purge taken away. But how humbling
it was an experience for the prophet Isaiah, just as we see
here with his eagle, he falls down before the vision, he fell
at God's feet, where he saw something of the glory of God. And then
of course when we come to the New Testament we also have the
experience of a man like Peter when Christ performs that miracle,
the great raft of fish in chapter 5 of Luke's Gospel and here is
this man who is an experienced fisherman of course. Clearly
this was a remarkable thing that these fishermen experienced when
they took in such a great raft of fish and so great was it that
filling the ships they were beginning to sink under the white and when
Simon Peter saw this he fell down at Jesus knees saying depart
from them for I am a sinful man oh Lord the revelation you see
of the glories of Christ overwhelmed and we see it again of course
in that very last book of the scriptures John's vision granted
to him there in the Isle of Patmos when he sees something of the
glories of the risen and the ascended Saviour. And John also
falls at his feet as dead. When I saw him, I fell at his
feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last I
am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,
amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. This must be the
experience of any who know what it is to receive God's word as
that personal word. Moreover, he said unto me, all
friends are we those who can say we know it in some measure.
not the same depth of experience of these men, called to be prophets,
called to be apostles. But surely we must be those,
if we have received God's word in a personal way, it has had
an effect upon us. We are humbled before Him, we
understand something of His glory, we see something of our sinfulness,
and we feel it. And our mouths are stopped. Every
mouth needs to be stopped. All the world must become guilty
before this great God. It is in a personal word that
we have here, but then also what we see in Ezekiel's experience
is the application. The word is applied. In the verses that we've read
at the beginning of chapter 3, this role is to eat it. he opened, so I opened my mouth
and he calls me to eat that roll going back to the previous chapter we see
the effect as the word is received you see the opening verses of
chapter 2 he said unto me son of man stand upon my feet and
I will speak unto thee, and the Spirit entered into me when he
spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that
spake unto me." It is the Spirit who is applying the Word here.
He gives the commands and then he affects the obedience. What
God says, the Prophet is made to do. This is the application,
is it not, of the Word of God. And God's Word must come to us
like that. It's not enough that we see it on the page of Holy
Scripture. We thank God that we do have
the inscripturated words. And we, I trust, have that high
doctrine of Scripture. We do believe it is inspired
of God. It's infallible. It's inherent
in every part. It's God's Word to us. But all
to know the blessed application for that Word to be brought home
to our soul. how we are to receive with meekness
Jameson, receive with meekness, with humility, the engrafted
or the implanted work that is able to save the soul. Not enough
just to have the letter of it, we want to feel something of
its gracious power and authority. Now what do we see here as the
word is applied to the Prophet? First of all, the Spirit comes
to raise this man up. He raises him up and we see that
at the beginning of the second chapter, do we not? And that
second verse, the Spirit entered into me when he spake unto me
and set me up upon my feet. When I saw it, he tells at the
end of the previous chapter, I fell upon my face. and now
he is to stand up upon his feet and in order for him to stand
the Spirit must come into him. You see when God gives a command
that command is empowering, that's the effectual word of God. It was Augustine of Hippo who
said give me what thou commandest and command what thou wilt. It is not enough to have the
bare word of command. God must also give what is commanded. The word must come in and effect
your manner, must it not? And the preacher tells us where
the word of a king is, there is power. This is the word of
God. God says, son of man, stand upon
my face. The Spirit entered into me when
he spoke unto me and set me upon my feet. How striking it is.
We see something similar in Psalm 27 and verse 8. David says, When thou sayst,
Seek ye my face, my heart said thy face, O Lord, I will seek.
You see, when God says it, always God said that to us, Seek my
face. And have we been moved by that
Word of God to literally seek His face, to call upon Him, to
pray to Him? We can never pray until God speaks
that Word, when God says it, and God applies it and brings
it home to us. Why God makes us to seek His
face, and how does God do it? Well, He might bring us into
circumstances, situations, where we're completely at an end of
ourselves, At our wit's end we know not what to do. It's all
under the sovereign hand of God. He is telling us to seek His
face. And you make us seek His face. This is why He has appointed
for His children such tribulations in this world. That they might
be seekers after Him. That they might be those who
are crying and calling upon Him day by day. When they say, seek
Him by faith, My heart saith, Thy face, O Lord, will I see. And we see the remarkable power
of the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, do we not, at the grave
of his friend Lazarus, there in that 11th chapter of John's
Gospel. He speaks to the Father in verse
42, I knew that Thou hearest me always. But because of the
people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that
thou hast said unto them. When he had thus spoken, he cried
with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came
forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was
bound about with a napkin. Jesus said unto them, Loose him,
and let him go. For we speak, you sons, and even
the dead must obey his voice and he says Lucy and let him
go with what authority the Lord Jesus Christ is able to speak
he speaks the word of God now here in Ezekiel we find an interesting
word of command in chapter 18 and verse 31 God gives this word, chapter 18 verse 31, make you
a new heart and a new spirit. That's an interesting word of
command. And if we simply leave it at
that and don't take account of the analogy of faith, the teaching
of the whole of the scripture, we might imagine that men do
have it within their own power, their own ability to make a new
heart, to make a new spirit. But we know, we know that that
is not the case. Men cannot make themselves a
new heart or a new spirit. That's what God commands, but
what God commands, God in the new covenant also accomplishes. he says as much does he not hear
in chapter 11 and there at verses 19 and 20 I will give them one
heart and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the
stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart of
flesh that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances
and do them and they shall be my people and I will be their
God." Make you a new heart, make you a new spirit, he says, in
one part, but then he tells us, you see, how it will be done.
I will give them one heart. I will put a new spirit within
you. And then again we see it very
much in terms of that new covenant. In chapter 36 and verses 26 and
27, a new heart, also will I give you and a new spirit
will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out
of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh and I will
put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes
and you shall keep my judgments and do them. God's command, for
what God commands, God also gives. Isn't this God's way in the new
covenant? What is the great promise of
the new covenant? Well, the great promise of that
covenant, of course, is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Lord
Jesus Christ has come to usher in that covenant of grace, and
He makes it plain to His disciples that He must depart, He must
go away, or the Spirit will not come. And as Christ accomplishes
his work, and is raised from the dead and descends on high,
so we see how on the day of Pentecost he is the one who sheds abroad
the Holy Ghost. And here is the promise you see
at the end of Luke. Then in the last chapter, verse
49, Behold I send the promise of my Father upon you. that tarry
ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power
from on high. All the blessed work of the Holy
Ghost, a great promise of the New Spirit. It is the Spirit,
you see, that enters into Ezekiel as God speaks His Word unto him. The Spirit entered into me when
He spoke unto me, you see. And this is how we must receive
the Word of God. We must receive it at the hand
of the Holy Spirit. It is the promise, I say again,
of the New Covenant. It is the Spirit that quickens
us, says Christ. The flesh profiteth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are
life. That is those words that Christ
speaks by and through the Spirit. their spirit, their life, they
produce life, they make a life they cause the sinner to live
even the sinner who is dead in trespasses and sins just as Lazarus
was physically dead so Christ speaks the word and Lazarus comes
forth from the grave all this is our blessed work
then that we serve as God's word comes to a man it raises him
up the sinner dead in trespasses
and sins. He must be born again. He must
be born of water and of the Spirit if he is to see the Kingdom of
God. How does the Spirit work then? How does He apply the Word? He
applies it in such a fashion as to cause the prophets to be
set upon His feet. He raises them up. And then he
does something more. He reveals the Lord Jesus Christ. He reveals the Lord Jesus Christ. It's interesting what we see
there in that second chapter. Such a similarity between the
beginning of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3. Look
at what it says there. At the beginning of that second
chapter, the Spirit entered into me when he spoke unto me and
set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spoke unto me. That,
in order that, I heard him that spoke unto me. It is the Spirit
who enables him to hear what is being spoken. And what is spoken in the Word
of God, it is of course the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ that
we have here. Search the Scriptures says Christ.
These are they that testify of mercy. As the Bible is the inscripturated
Word, Christ is the incarnate Word. The Scriptures and the
Lord bear one tremendous name. The written and incarnate Word
in all things are the same. A man must not only be raised
up, he must be made to hear the Word of Christ, to receive that
revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And isn't this the blessed
ministry of the Holy Spirit? Isn't this what the Spirit comes
to accomplish in the soul of the sinner, even to grant the
revelation of Christ? Paul when he writes to the Church
of Corinth, he reminds there in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 10 he says God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God for what man knoweth the things of
a man sayeth the Spirit of man which is in him even so the things
of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God, the natural man. Receive us not the things of
the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. If we are to receive this Word
which was first inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit
must come to open our minds, open our understandings, move
our wills, warm our hearts, how we leave that gracious ministry
of the Spirit revealing these things. Christ says again concerning
him when he comes he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto
you. That's the ministry of the Spirit.
To reveal the things of the Lord Jesus Christ. No man can say
that Jesus Christ is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. And we see
here how the Prophet must eat the roll before he can go to
speak the Word of God. Eat this roll, it says, and go,
speak unto the house of Israel. He can only speak God's Word as he has first received the
Word of God. And if we are those who would
be true witnesses for Christ and bear testimony to the Lord
Jesus Christ, we must first partake of these things. There needs
to be that blessed application, that revelation. Paul says when
he pleased God to reveal his Son in man, there was that gracious
inward revelation in his soul. Christ was made real to him.
Now what do we see here then? We see how the Spirit raises
the man up, sets him upon his feet and grants him such a revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is that revelation of
Christ? Is it not the revealing of all those glorious riches
of the Gospel? all the rich foods that the gospel
is to the poor sinner he says to us here in verse 3 of the
third chapter then did I eat it and it was in my mouth as
honey for sweetness it was honey, it was sweet and
yet how strange when we are told at the end of the second chapter
what the roll contained. It's a scroll of course that
we're reading off here. It's written on both sides. He spread it before me and it
was written within and without and there was written therein
lamentation and mourning and woe. He is to speak of sad things,
bitter things. And yet, as he comes to partake
of these words, it is as honour to his taste. It's that that
is sweet. This is such a strange mixture
that we have here. It's sweetness in the mouth,
as it were, and it's bitterness in the belly. It's the same as
we see in the experience of John in the Revelation. John is given a little book which
he is to eat there in Revelation 10 and verse 10 he says I took
the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up and it was
in my mouth sweet as honey and as soon as I had eaten my belly
was bitter such a strange mixture of bitterness and sweetness at
one and the same time what does he teach us? our friends does
he not remind us how important it is vitally important that
we know something of the bitter thing that sin is we must know
the bitter thing that sin is if we are going to know in reality
the sweet thing that the gospel is To the hungry soul, says the
wise man in the Proverbs, to the hungry soul every bitter
thing is sweet. All when we are made to feel
what sin is, the awfulness of it. We have to examine ourselves. Driving across here this morning
thinking began to think, well, what do I really know of that
awful, bitter thing that sin is? Do I really see the horror
of it? We have such low views of these
things, we don't understand. We want the Lord surely to come
and to open our eyes, to open our understandings, and to cause
us not only to understand, but to feel that bitter thing, that
we might know how sweet the gospel is, Remember what they were to
eat with the paschal lamb at the Passover in Exodus chapter
12 and verse 8? They are to eat the Passover
lamb with bitter herbs. Oh, and the bitter herbs, I think
it's Matthew Henry says, the bitter herbs gave such a sweet
relish to the paschal lamb. And isn't that all so true with
us friends. We need to see, we need to feel
the bitterness of sin that we might know the sweetness of that
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover he said unto me, son
of man, eat that go findest, eat this roll and go speak unto
the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he caused
me to eat that roll or the spirit must cause it, must apply it
and he said unto me son of man cause thy belly to eat and fill
thy bowels with this roll that I give them then did I eat it
and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness that rich gospel
feast that God prepares for the sinner and it all centres of
course in the Lord Jesus Christ How the Prophet Isaiah speaks
of it again, that Gospel feast in chapter 25, verse 6, he says,
in this mountain, oh this is the Mount Zion, is it not, in
this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people
a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the leaves, of fat
things full of marrow, of wines on the leaves, well refined. And in the New Testament, that
gracious invitation that's given to the Laodicean church, where
Christ speaks of himself standing at the door knocking. Any man
open to me, I will come into him, he says, and sup with him,
and he with me. Or that we as a people then might
know what it is to sup with the Lord Jesus Christ. The heart
says the wise man knoweth his own bitterness and the stranger
doth not seem to meddle with the joy thereof or that we might
know something of that joy in that great salvation the sweetness
of the gospel in our Lord Jesus Christ as we feel the bitter
thing that sin is then did I eat it and it was in my mouth as
honey for sweetness. The Lord bless. His word to us. Jesus those happy souls does
bless, who hunger for his righteousness, who seek the smilings of his
face and thirst for fresh supplies of grace. Number 979. Jesus, those happy souls, those
blest, Who hunger for His righteousness, smilings of His face and thirst
for fresh supplies of grace. They cannot hear contented lips
on all which his earth can hear, their souls can feast on nothing
less than Christ's eternal righteousness. Some sweet portays they have
below But the bright world in which they go Will never glorious
blaze ever felt. May this my blessed experience
lead to hunger, and all my righteousness to Thee,
which can both food and comfort give. Then when at death my soul
shall rise And within the skies I shall
partake the heav'nly store, and feast and sing for The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen.