Five words of comfort, and they
are going to be revealed to us in verses 9 through verse 11. But before we look at these five
words of comfort that God gives, the first thing that I would
want you to notice about this chapter of Ezekiel is this. In this 36th chapter, we find
no less than 14 times 14 times the words, thus saith the
Lord. As I've read that to you, I hope
that stood out this morning. In verse 1 it says, hear the
word of the Lord. In verse 2, thus saith the Lord
God. Verse 3, therefore prophesy and
say, thus saith the Lord God. And so on and so a verse 5, thus
saith the Lord God. Verse 6, in the middle part,
thus saith the Lord God. Verse 7, thus saith the Lord
God. And so on and so on throughout
this whole chapter, no less than 14 times. If there is to be any comfort
this morning, if I'm to give you any comfort, Any assurance
to the church of God, listen, it will not come by the words
of man. It will not come by the words
even of this preacher. If there's any comfort for you,
if there's any assurance for you, if there's any salvation
for you, it must be, thus saith the Lord. There's where the comfort
should rest. Thus saith the Lord. If I or
any other man were to come to you with our own word, you should
never hear him. You should never hear him. Paul
said that in Galatians, didn't he? He said, if I or an angel
from heaven were to come and preach to you another gospel,
Other than the one we have preached the gospel of God's grace other
than the one spoken in God's Word He said let that man go
to hell That's what he said. Let him be accursed. Let him
go to hell If there's any comfort if there's any authority this
morning if I have any authority It must be, thus saith the Lord. Otherwise, I have no authority.
My opinion is just about as good as your opinion. It's not good
at all. That don't matter. Your opinion and my opinion doesn't
really matter. Only thing that matters this
morning is this. Thus saith the Lord. That's it. God said. God said. Do you need comfort
in the midst of your troubles? Do you need assurance of your
salvation in the midst of your doubts, unbelief, and fear? Then
don't take my word for it. You won't find any comfort. Your
comfort, if you take my word for it, will probably last until
you reach the door and it's gone. Maybe not even that far. I'm
giving myself a little credit. It probably won't even last that
long. Don't take my word for it. Don't
rely upon your feelings on the subject. Oh, how that happens,
don't it? We trust in our feelings, don't
we? How long does that last? Well,
it lasts until your feelings change. And how often do they
change? They fluctuate with the circumstance. The circumstance is good, you
feel good. Circumstance is bad, you feel
bad. You see, there's no comfort in
that. It's constantly fluctuating up and down, moving tossed about. Now, there's no comfort in your
feelings. There is unstable as water. But
rather, if you need any comfort at all, you should look to the
one who cannot lie. You should look to the Word of
One whose Word cannot be broken. One whose Word cannot change. And that is alone the Word of
God. That is where we should go for
comfort. Any comfort. Any assurance. Consider the fact that God's
Word is eternally tied to His glory. Do you know that? That
God's Word is eternally tied to His glory. You can't separate
it. And so then if God's Word were
to fail, listen to me, if anything in this book were to fail, God
would cease to be God. If anything in this book would
fail, you should throw it away. Because God then would cease
to be God. But over in Isaiah chapter 55,
Hold my place here. Isaiah chapter 55, listen to
what God said. He says, "...for as the rain
cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,
but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth in bud, that it
may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater." Listen,
"...so shall my word be." that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I please. And it shall prosper in the thing
whereinto I send it. In verse 7 of our text, in Ezekiel
36, Therefore thus saith the Lord, I have lifted up my hand,
What does that mean, I've lifted up my hand? That means like when
you go into a courtroom, you would put your hand on the Bible,
you were to raise your hand and swear. God says, I swear. The Scripture tells us that when
God could find none higher than Himself, He swore by Himself. He said, if my Word doesn't come
true, then I am not God. That's what He did. He set, the
Scripture says He set His Word above His name. His name. God said, I swear by my own name
and I'll do what I will. I'll do what I please. Now, lost
men hear that and they say, aha. I got you now. I got you because
there's so many things I could just point out and I could tell
you that God, if God is God, then why is this happening? They
say, if God's word is so faithful and true, then tell me this,
why are there people starving? I don't know how many times I've
heard that foolish question. Why then are people starving?
Why is it that people are not saved? If God is so great and
God is so good, then why are people lost and going to hell? If Jesus died for all men, then
why do men go to hell? These kinds of questions do trouble
religionists. When those questions are asked
religionists, you'll watch, they can't answer. They can't answer. Religionists have trouble with
these questions, and those who believe the false gospel of free
will works religion have trouble answering these questions. But
for those of us who know God and believe His Word, these objections
are easily answered. They're easily answered. People
are starving and dying as a result of sin. People are starving and dying
as a result of sin that brought the judgment of
God upon all men. And I'll tell you this, God is
right and just in all that he does. God is right in all that he does.
Either to starve men or to feed them. Either to kill men or to save
men. Do you not get this? God is absolutely
sovereign. God is God and He does whatsoever
He has pleased. That's who God is. Well, just
in case I told you not to take my word for it, go to Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy 32 and verse 39. See now, that I, even I, am He. And there is no God with me. I kill. Did you hear that? Who kills? God does. If a man dies, who killed him? God did. God did. Now, you can like that or not.
That's just so. God says, I kill and notice this,
I make a life. You go over there and watch somebody
be born, who did that? God did that. God did that. I wound and I heal. Listen, neither is there any
that can deliver out of my hand. Listen to this, for I lift up
my hand to heaven. What is he doing again? He's
swearing. God is lifting up his hand and swearing. He's swearing
this, I live forever. I am the eternal self-existent
God, and who are you to question what I do? That's what he's telling you.
He said, there's no other God besides me. I do everything. Listen to me, if you're here
this morning, because God allowed you to be here. Matter of fact,
you're here because God purposed for you to be here. That's the
reason you're here. The simple answer to all these
accusations is this, God is God and you're not. Do you get that? God is God and you're not. God is sovereign And listen to
me, his word is absolutely sure. Whatever thus saith the Lord,
you bet it's going to be done. You bet it's going to be done.
Who, who can stay his hand or say what are you doing? Can you
say that to him? Will you shake your fist and
your... Let the pot shirt strive with the pot shirt, but do not
let a man strive with his maker. Don't strive with your maker.
He's God and you're not. And he does what he pleases.
Among the inhabitants of the earth and in the armies of heaven,
he does whatever he wants to. That's God. And people who say,
well, God's Word, you know, since God loves everybody and God Jesus
died for everybody, then why isn't God saving everybody? If
He's so sovereign and He wants to save everybody, then why isn't
He? That's simple. Go over to Romans 9. Go over
to Romans 9. See what God says about it. You
know what? Take my word for it. This is
wonderful being a preacher because I really don't have to trust
in anything I say. I just trust in everything He
says. Romans chapter 9, verse 4. Paul here describes the Israelites
as kinsmen. He said, Who are Israelites?
To whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants,
and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises?
Whose are the fathers? And of whom concerning the flesh
Christ came, who is over all God blessed forever. Amen. See,
these people of Israel, They were the chosen people of God. They were given the law. They
were given the prophets while all other nations were left out.
But now Paul says, these Israelites are lost. These rejected Christ. And so then the question comes,
did God's Word fail? Did it fail? Well, He said He
loved Israel, and look, Israel rejected Christ. Does that mean
the Word of God failed? Paul said, absolutely not, verse
6, not as though the Word of God had taken none effect. For,
because they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Neither because they are of the
seed of Abraham are they all children. But in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God. but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed." He said, see, all
those that were born of Abraham, they were not saved because they
were not the children. God's children are an elect people. They're a chosen people of God. Before the foundation of the
world, God set His love on His people, His chosen seed. And just because Israel was lost,
does it mean that God's Word wasn't effectual? Friends, the
reason not all men are saved is because not all men are children
of promise. Not all men are loved of God. Not all men are elected of God's
sovereign grace before the foundation of the world. Jesus did not come
to redeem all men. Take a look again in Romans 9,
verse 13, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I
hated. Now when did God love Jacob and
hate Esau? Look at the verse before it,
verse 11, For the children being not yet born, neither having
done good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election,
might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. Do you not
see that God's love was not set on Jacob because of any good
in Jacob? It was because God would save
him. In John 6, 36-39, Jesus said,
this is the will of the Father. You want to know what the will
of God is? That of all which He hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. Jesus Christ, when He would redeem
His people, should lose none of His people. Therefore the
Gospel, the Word of God is preached to all men, for all have sinned
and stand in need of the blood and righteousness of Christ.
You know what I look at among you, and you know what I see?
Sinners. That's what I see. You know what I can't see? Who God's elect are. No clue. He doesn't give me such knowledge.
It's not mine. It's His. Therefore, I preach
the gospel to everyone. Because I know this, everyone
needs it. Everyone needs it. You need the
blood and righteousness of Christ. And you know what? You should
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You should. You should believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and be saved. But we know that the Word of
God does not fail when it is preached. This is encouraging
for me. Because God's Word doesn't fail.
In other words, He saves whom He will. I preach, He saves. You get that? Who does the saving? God does. God does. For those
elect that the Father has purpose to save, they will hear the Word
of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. They will believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, not because of themselves, not because they
deserve it, not because they could merit it, but because God
willed it. That's my hope every time I preach.
I put that in the bulletin from what Charles Spurgeon has said.
He said, I don't go to the pulpit relying on man to be willing.
I go to the pulpit knowing God is willing to save His people
from their sins. I go this, my hope is that God
would reach down His hand and save you. That's what my hope
is. Not that you would decide for God, but that God would reach
down His hand and save you. That's what my hope. God's people
shall hear His Word, they shall believe, because God has willed
it, and none can deliver out of His hand." Isn't that great?
That's good news. That's good news for me because
I couldn't escape. I ran from God my whole life.
But when God determined to save me, there was nothing I can do. Praise God for that. I'm so thankful. that I couldn't deliver myself
out of his hands when he held on to me. Listen to what the
Word of God says in Psalm 110 verse 3, Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power. And I tell you, in the day of
his power, I was most definitely willing. I was most definitely
willing. Word of God says in Romans chapter
9 verse 15, God says, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Why is it like this? So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. It
is not Is it not also the Word of God in our text? This is the
same thing. Go back to your text. Go back
to your text. This is the same thing our text speaks of. Look
at verse 22 in Ezekiel 36. Therefore say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord, I do not this for your sakes. Why does God save? Well, He doesn't
do it because of you. In this generation, man seems
to be the center of the universe, doesn't he? That he thinks that
God does everything because of him. Listen to me, God does nothing
because of you. God does everything for Himself.
Did you get that? God does everything for Himself,
for His own glory. A man don't like that, but that's
just the way it is. God does everything for his own
glory. He said, I do this. I save you not for your sakes,
but for mine own name's sake. Behold, the elect of God are
here in this text have profaned, verse 23, I will sanctify my
great name which was profaned among the heathen, which you
have profaned. The elect of God, we have profaned
the name of God. Believer, we were not born without
sin. We were like every other man.
dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course
of this world after our own lusts, and we would not bow the knee
to Christ. Why is it that you believed?
You believed. Why is it you believed and no
one else asked? Why is this room not full of
people? Was it because you were smarter
than everybody else? Did you just figure this out?
Is that it? No. We confess this. We are sinners. We have profaned
the name of God and by nature are unworthy of the mercy of
God. Believers, only by the free grace
of God who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, only
because God made Christ wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption unto us. That's the only reason we believed.
That's it. Paul tells us the same words. As we just read, salvation is completely of God. And you who believe, have you
not found his word to be true? I tell you, I found his word
to be true. I know God's word is true and
sovereign, but yet, there's always that but, isn't there? I know
everything that I just said is true. I know it because God said
it. Yet there's always this trouble. I always seem to be in trouble. I'm still weak and feeble. Believer, we still need to be
reminded of this. We still need to be refreshed
concerning God's Word. We need to have our minds renewed. And how does that happen? How
are you comforted? Thus saith the Lord. That's how I find comfort. And I'm going to give you five
things quickly that God says. Look at your text. Five things
God says. First of all, in verse 9, look at what God says. Thus
saith the Lord, Behold, I am for you. I am for you. Oh, you weak and
weary saint, you foolish and slow of heart to believe. This
is not my word to you. This is not man's word to you.
This is God's word that cannot fail. I am for you. I am for
you. Paul says the same thing to us
in Romans 8. If God be for you, who can be
against you? Now that word that Paul uses
there, if, it does not denote doubt, but rather a conclusion. In other words, if you go to
Romans 8 and verse 31, it should read since. Since God is for
you. Since God has given you His Holy
Spirit. Since God has predestinated you
unto the adoption of children. Since God has redeemed you by
the blood of Christ. Since God has justified you, you may know this, God is forever
for you. He has secured all things necessary
to bring us to heaven and left nothing to chance. He left nothing
for us to do. Nothing. Believer, we know that
there are many things against us. Satan's against us. The world
is against us, false religion is against us, the government
is against us, the indwelling sin of my own nature is against
me. Sickness, doubts, fears, all
those are against us, aren't they? And there's no way I can stand
against these foes, not in my own strength. But see where my
confidence rests to overcome all of my foes is in this. God said he's for me. God said he's for me. Now you
can take that to the bank. If you are a believer in Jesus
Christ, I'll tell you this, God is for you. And because God is
for you, no weapon fashioned against you shall prosper. Now
there's a lot of weapons fashioned against you. But they won't prosper. They won't. Because God said
it. God is our strength and our shield.
God holds our hand and none can pluck us out of his hand. Believer,
when all forsake you, say with Paul, God stood by me. Do you hear that? When you or everyone else were
to forsake me, God will not. Why? How can I know that? He
said he wouldn't. He said, I'm for you. And his
word cannot be broken. Rest thyself in God's word, I
am for you. Second, God says, I will turn
to you. Look at that's what he said.
Behold, I'm for you and I will turn to you. We surely ran from God. We surely
hid ourselves and tried to cover our sins by our works. Isn't
that your experience? It's mine. It's every believer's
experience. We all, like our father Adam,
hid ourselves, tried to cover ourselves in the fig leaves of
our righteousness. But God, who is merciful, came
to us. And He did what? What does God
do to a sinner when He comes to him? He exposes him for what
he is. Strips him. That's what God does. He takes all of those things
that he thought was good and turns them into corruption. That's
what he does. When God appears, all our comeliness
becomes corruption. We see ourselves as hopeless,
helpless, unclean, vile sinners. But in grace, listen, he turns
to us with his gospel. with his gospel. Behold, sinner,
how you may be washed and cleaned only by the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no other hope for sinners. Go where you will. Try what you
will. It will not work. The only hope
is that Jesus Christ's blood should wash you from all your
sins. This is what he reveals. This
is how God turns to a sinner. He says, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. And you believe. You believe. There's the evidence He's turned
to you. I can't look inside your heart
and tell you if God's turned to you. How do you know if God's
turned to you? How do you know God's for you?
The only way you know is if He's turned to you. If He's given
you faith. If He's given you faith. Faith
is the evidence of a new life. Faith is the evidence of a resurrected
soul. Faith in Christ alone. God comes to us, He exposes us,
and then He reveals Christ to us, and we believe. May God even
now turn to you and call you that you may know that God is
for you. And thirdly, thus saith the Lord,
I will till You shall be tilled and sown. God says, I am for
you, I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled. In other
words, this is the evidence. This is what happens when God
turns to a sinner. Man by nature are like those,
the ground, the Lord, when He preached that parable, you know,
the sower, and the hard ground, and the thorny ground, and the
stony ground here. That's how man is by nature.
When the words preach, some of you, it'll just bounce right
off and you won't even pay any attention. It's because your
heart is hard. It's cold. It's indifferent.
It doesn't care. Some of you are like the thorny ground or
the stony ground, and you'll receive this Word, but, you know,
pretty soon when you've got to actually give up sin and you've
got to let go of the world, you pretty much will let go of God.
You just let that go. That's because your heart is
not prepared. You see, the Holy Spirit must
come and prepare the heart. And what does that do? He has
to break everything up. He has to plow the ground of
your heart and break up the clods of your self-righteousness. He
has to break up the clods of all your dreams and all your
schemes. He breaks that up and He lays
you out. And then what does He do? He
plants the Word in your heart. That's what He does. Look over
in your text, in verse 26, a new heart. Also will I give you and a new
spirit will I put within you? You see that's what he's telling
you when he says I'm going to tell you and so What he's going
to do is he's going to break up your heart He's gonna break
your heart Have you ever been broken because
of your sin See, that's when the Spirit of God comes and plants
that precious seed in our hearts. And you know what it's going
to do? It's going to grow. That's what it's going to do.
Look at that. He said, I will multiply men
upon you and all the house of Israel in it. God, He comes in,
He tills that ground, He plows it up, He plants His seed, and
we believe on Christ and we turn to Him. And look at the fourth thing.
He said, I will multiply men upon you. That's the fourth thing
God says. Even all the house of Israel,
even all of it. Believer, do not be discouraged
by the smallness of God's church, because it's exactly the size
that God purposed it to be. Don't be... Remember in Zechariah
4.10, God said this, He said, Despise not the day of small
things. Why? Because I have my prophet,
I have my priest and king with His plummet in His hand. The
plummet that lays the line of the church is in the hand of
Jesus Christ. Remember that He is the foundation
stone, and the church belongs to Him, and the church of God
is squarely built on Him. And we who are on Him will not
make haste to leave Him. Believer, do you want to go anywhere
else? Is there any place else you want to go besides Christ?
Is there any other foundation you want to rest your soul on?
No, not me. Not me. Remember that the church
of God is upon Jesus Christ, and we
who believe will not be removed. But all who are outside Jesus
Christ will surely be swept away by God's judgment. But we can
be sure and rest in the Word of God that says this, All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. Look back at your text in verse
10, the second part. He says, and the cities shall
be inhabited, and the waste shall be builded. Behold, this is the
result of the election of the Father and redemption of the
Son, even the new nature and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
He said, I will multiply men, all of Israel, and the cities
shall be inhabited. In other words, that's that new
spirit that He puts within us, His Holy Spirit. And He builds
in us, He creates in us a new nature. Salvation is no mere act of a
man's will, but rather the resurrection and creation of God in a new
nature. by the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit. Faith then is the evidence of this new creation. Do you
believe in God? Do you believe on Christ? Listen
to me. That is because He has created
a new nature in you. That's not natural. Somebody
said, that's not normal. That's un-normal. A normal man
rejects it. A normal man does not believe.
I don't want to be normal. Do you? I'm not normal. I'm a new man. New creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. O man, are you justified before
God? Are you a believer in Christ?
Then know this, God says He will bear fruit in
you. He said, I will multiply upon
you, man and beast, and you shall increase and bring fruit. You shall increase and bring
fruit. How many people today just walk
around professing faith in Christ but have no evidence of it? Isn't it easy to say, I believe?
Can't everybody say that? Everybody can say that. But you
know what? If you really do, there's going
to be evidence of it. There's going to be evidence. If I look at a tree and I say,
now that's an apple tree, how would I know that's an apple
tree? How would you know that? Well, there'd be apples on it,
wouldn't it? There'd be apples on it. Now, I wouldn't look at
a dandelion and say, now that's an apple tree. What are you,
an idiot? That's a dandelion. You want to root that out. You
don't want that. Listen. By their fruits, the scripture
says, you shall know them. John said this, if you say you
love God and love not your brother, you're a liar. Isn't that clear
words? I love the scriptures because
they're so plain spoken. They get right to the heart of
things. God's people, if you truly believe on Christ, I know
this, you'll love Christ. You'll believe on Christ, but
I know this, you'll love me. the most unlovable person you'll
probably ever meet. But you know what? You'll love
me anyway. Why? You're a new creature. Because
you understand what it is to be a sinner saved by the grace
of God. And so you forgive. You're merciful. Why? Because you've been given
mercy. That's why you're merciful. That's
why you're kind. That's why you extend the hand
of fellowship and love and mercy, because you've received mercy. And that's what God said He'll
do. He said, I will bear this fruit in you. And lastly, see
this. In the last part, He said, He
said, I will settle your old estates and will do better unto you than
at your beginnings. And you shall know that I am
the Lord. Believer, how graciously did
God come and begin this work in our hearts? And how much better is our state
now than it was before? I was lost, now I'm found. I was blind, now I see. My state now is better than it
was. And I've received great evidences
and tokens of God's grace. Every day. You know how I know
I receive His grace? Because every day I believe.
Every day I trust in Christ. That's a grace. That's not something
that just I can do. That's something God gives. Gives
us faith. He's proven to us over and over
again that His Word is sure. I'm with you. I'm for you. I'm
not against you. The blood of Christ has cleansed
you. Confess your sins and He is faithful and just to forgive
us all our sins. We've proven this over and over
and over again and today I am better than I was yesterday because
today I'm closer to heaven than I was yesterday. The day is closing
in faster and faster, and soon my end will be better than my
beginning. Didn't Solomon say that, that
the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth?
That is true for every believer. Your day of your death is better
than the day of your birth. Why? You get it all. All that He promised. We just
have a down payment now. But soon I'll get everything. I've not yet seen Him. But I will. I'll see Him I've not yet touched
his hands and his feet, but I will. I've not yet felt his physical
embrace, but I will. And he's going to deal better
with me in the end than he did at the beginning. Peter said that we shall receive
the salvation. I'm going to read it. I don't
want it misquoted. First Peter chapter 1. First Peter chapter 1. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, listen, reserved, reserved in heaven for you, who
are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed. I tell you what, I don't know
everything there is to know about this salvation, but I will. I
will. And so will you. How do I know?
Thus saith the Lord. That's how. I'm for you. I will turn to you. He said, I will. He said, I'm
for you. I'll turn to you. I'll tell you
and I'll sow my word in you. I'll call my people, I'll save
my people, I'll build the way cities, inhabit them, I'll produce
fruit in you, and I will deal with you better at the end than
I did at the beginning. Oh, believer in Christ, see what
we've got to look forward to. Thus saith the Lord. May God add the blessings to
this, his word. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed
in prayer.