Come with me in your Bibles to
Ezekiel chapter 20. Ezekiel chapter 20. I've entitled this message, A
Great and Glorious Future. A Great and Glorious Future. And of course we're going to
see that in the spiritual eternal promises of Almighty God to His
elect people, His elect out of every kindred, tongue, and nation,
Jew and Gentile, as it is considered and fulfilled and secured in
and by the Lord Jesus Christ as He comes through in the promises
of God for His people. We sing that song, that hymn,
God will take care of you. And we believe it because God
said it. And he's taken care of us up
to this point. He will not forsake us. Well,
when you read passages of scripture like this, you begin to wonder
some things because you see here God dealing with a rebellious
nation, the nation Israel. In fact, the first part of this
chapter, as we studied last time, is a record of their sin and
their rebellion, the sin and rebellion of the nation, of the
Hebrew children, the nation Israel, first during their exodus from
Egypt, in that great and glorious time when they were so blessed
with the providential goodness of God who brought them out of
that captivity, and the very first thing that they did when
they saw trouble. is they despaired and they disbelieved
God. They began to complain. We read
about that. And then God delivered them in
spite of themselves. And then he brought them across
the Red Sea and brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai. And
then they began to complain again. When Moses left and went up on
the mountain, they began to despair. In fact, they fashioned another
god, a false god, the golden calf. And they began to worship
and dance around it. And you know what happened there.
But yet God still didn't forsake them. He kept them together.
And then we see their wanderings in the wilderness and how many
of them rebelled against God then. And how the nation, when
they came up to the brink of the promised land, how they disbelieved
God, rebelled against God. And yet God did not forsake them. Look at Ezekiel 20. Look at verse
11. God says here, he says, I gave
them my statutes. I showed them my judgments, which
if a man do, he shall even live in them. It's talking about the
old covenant, the Sinaitic covenant. That's the Ten Commandments,
the ceremonial laws, the laws of the priesthood, the civil
laws, all those laws that God gave them, establishing them
as a nation, making that covenant. And a verse like this is not
teaching that a sinner can be saved or have eternal life by
their works. He's simply talking about the
terms of that covenant and the quality of their life within
that land that he gave them. Now we see a picture of that.
We could say if any person could keep the law of God, they would
live forever. But we know that that's not the
case with us. We know that's not the case with
any man or woman fallen in Adam and born in sin. By deeds of
law shall no flesh be justified. But look at verse 12. He says,
moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths. That's the Sabbath
rest, the seventh day Sabbath, the weekly Sabbaths, the yearly
Sabbaths, the year of Jubilee. All of those Sabbaths were pictures,
types, of a greater Sabbath, a spiritual Sabbath, an eternal
Sabbath, the Sabbath that the people of God have forever and
ever because we rest in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
His blood alone, His righteousness alone for our whole salvation.
Christ is our Sabbath and He'll continue forever to be our Sabbath. We read there in Hebrews chapter
4 last time, there remains a Sabbath for the people of God. And that
Sabbath is Christ and him crucified and risen. And he said, I gave
them those Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they
might know that I'm the Lord and that sanctified them, that
set them apart. But he says in verse 13, but
the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness.
They walked not in my statues. They despised my judgments, which
if a man do, he shall even live in them. And my Sabbaths they
greatly polluted. Then I said, I will pour out
my fury upon them in the wilderness to consume them. But I worked,
I wrought for my name's sake. In spite of Israel's sin and
rebellion, God did not utterly destroy them. He says that in
verse 17. And he kept them together as
a nation. And he brought them through to
this point in history where Ezekiel was prophesying to the remnant
of the nation that had been taken to Babylon. And the key of their
existence, the key of their continuance is in those words, for my namesake. That's the key to it. That's
the ground of it. In other words, it was all because of God's glory
and God's promise. It had absolutely nothing to
do with any goodness or power or worthiness in the people of
the nation. And what a great picture of our
salvation that is. Salvation by grace. Our salvation
is totally for God's name's sake, His honor, His glory revealed
in the person and finished work of Christ, the face of Jesus
Christ. The salvation of God's elect,
Jew and Gentile, through the promise and the coming of the
Messiah. It has absolutely nothing to
do with anything we do or don't do or try to do or any goodness,
power, or worthiness in us. It's all due to worthy is the
Lamb. Every bit of it. And that's His
namesake. That's how God is glorified.
That's why we're left with nothing to glory in or to boast in but
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And what a great picture that
is. You see, if we had been a member of this nation, left to ourselves
like they were on the whole, we would have been just like
them or worse. just like them or worse. And I think in some
ways we prove that to ourselves just about every day. Just about
every day. If we think about it, really
stop and think about it, we do. And that's this preacher included.
We do. I don't have anything to plead
before a holy God but the merits of my Savior, the merits of my
Lord. Even though God kept them together,
even though they remained as a nation in spite of all this
rebellion and always for His namesake. Look here at verse
23. God did punish them for their
rebellion. Look at it, verse 23. He says,
I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that
I would scatter them among the heathen, disperse them through
the countries. And we see this off and on throughout
their history in different forms. He says, because they had not
executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, polluted
my Sabbaths, their eyes were after their father's idols, just
like their fathers were idolaters, they turned right back to it.
He says, verse 25, wherefore I gave them also statutes that
were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live.
Now, that's a strange verse. God gave them statutes that were
not good. You know, God is good. That's
his nature and everything he does is good. What does that
mean? Well, one translation says it this way. It could be translated
like this. Since they were determined to
live evil lives, God gave them statutes that could not produce
goodness and laws that did not produce life. And I think about
the old covenant. The old covenant was not given
to these people as a means of salvation and righteousness.
It was given to show them their sinfulness and their depravity.
That's how it was a schoolmaster to lead them unto Christ. In
other words, it was given to show them that there's no hope
of salvation or righteousness for me according to the terms
of a conditional covenant. But it is a strange passage,
isn't it? And there's a lot of differences of opinion. What
I believe it really, and what I said was true about the law,
the old covenant law, it was given to show them their sin.
But what I believe this is teaching is simply this, it's kind of
the same thing that Paul stated in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 when
he was talking about the gospel ministry. You know, the gospel
ministry is to some a savor of life unto life. But to others,
it's a saver of death unto death. And here God had given them these
statutes, and yet what did they do with them? They despised them,
he said. They turned against them. They
rebelled against them. In fact, they actually twisted
it and turned it and made it a self-righteous system of work
salvation. How many times did our Lord confront
the Pharisees about their sin and their unbelief and their
reply to Him was, we have Moses or we keep the law of Moses or
we be not sinners. Well, what were they trying to
do? Well, they were trying to establish righteousness by their
works and not by faith in Christ. Some say that what this means
is that God gave them up to their unbelief and to their idols.
And that could be so. Look at it again, verse 25. Wherefore,
I gave them also statutes that were not good and judgments whereby
they should not live. In other words, they wanted to
go into idolatry. God said, well, I just let them
and let them have what they want. And what a testimony that is
to us. I want to tell you something.
Lord, don't give us what we want in the realm of salvation. Because
by nature, what do we want? We want a way that exalts us.
We want our way, not God's way. God's way is the way of grace
and mercy all in Christ. Our way is a way that leaves
us room to boast. Well, he says he gave them what
they wanted. And then look at verse 26. He
says, and I polluted them in their own gifts, and that they
caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb. that
I might make them desolate to end, that they might know that
I am the Lord. That has to be a reference to the sacrifice
of their children that took place to the God Moloch outside of
Jerusalem. And that sad, sad period of time
when they sunk to the lowest of the low. He goes on, he describes
it, look here, here's their rebellion in the land of promise. Now when
they got into the land of promise, look here, verse 27. Therefore,
son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, saying to them, thus
saith the Lord God, yet in this your fathers have blasphemed
me, that is their idolatry, in that they have committed a trespass
against me. For when I had brought them into
the land for the witch I lifted up my hand to give it to them.
Then they saw every high hill." Now that's referring to idolatry. And all the thick trees. It's
kind of like pantheism or worshiping nature. That kind of thing. And
they offered there their sacrifices. Not at the temple of the Lord
now. Not where the Shekinah dwelt. Not where the pictures and the
types of Christ were found. But out there in the world. Out
there. where they could be free, as
they would say. And there they presented the
provocation of their offering. Their offerings, instead of being
accepted of God, provoke God. You know, in Hebrews 3, he speaks
of that. They provoke me. Provoking God. I don't know how
to describe that or explain that, but I'll tell you what it is.
It has to do with not trusting the Lord. It has to do with not
resting on Him in every way. And He says, there also they
made their sweet savor and poured out their drink offerings. That
was their view of it. They expected God to accept it.
Just like Cain did. But God rejected it. In verse
29, He says, Then I said unto them, What is the high place
whereunto you go? That's a question that's given
to make a point. Look where you are, he says,
and the name thereof is called Bema unto this day. Bema means
high place, that's what it means. It's a place of idolatry. And
listen to this, this is interesting now. Listen to what happens here,
verse 30. Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith
the Lord God, are you polluted after the manner of your fathers
and commit ye whoredom after their abominations? Like your
daddies before you, you did the same thing. For when you offer
your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire,
you pollute yourselves with all your idols even unto this day.
And shall I be inquired of you by the house of Israel as I live,
saith the Lord, I will not be inquired of you. Now they rejected
the clear testimony of God. They get into trouble and then
they want to go inquire of God. And he says, I've had it. And
in the next chapter, you're going to see, you see the sword of
God's wrath is ready to plunge and there's no stopping it. So
he says, I won't be inquired of you. There's nothing you can
say to stop this. There's nothing you can ask to
stop this. You've gone past the point of no return. But verse
32, very interesting. Listen to what he says. And that
which cometh into your mind shall not be at all that you say we
will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to
serve wood and stone. And you know what he's saying
there? He's telling them that I know what you're thinking.
God knows your thoughts. The word of God, sharper than
any two-edged sword, dividing asunder the thoughts and intents
of the heart, the motives. And here's what he's saying,
I know what you're thinking. Why do you think they're doing all
this? The reason is it's because it's in their mind and in their
heart to be just like the nations around them. Remember, that's
what got them into trouble about choosing King Saul. We need a
king like other nations. Now, let me tell you something.
Somebody said one time in a message that, well, they didn't need
a king. God was their king. Well, now, wait a minute. God
had already promised them a king. He did that. He told Abraham,
kings will come out of you. He said, the scepter shall not
depart from Judah until Shiloh. There's gonna be a scepter in
Judah, that's a king. The problem of their desiring
a king was not just desiring a king, they wanted a king like
other nations. We want a king like they got.
We wanna be like them. Look, they're impressive, you
see. And that's what's happening here.
That's the reason they went after their... They wanted to be in
cahoots with their worldliness. They wanted to be like the...
You know, it's like people today. You know, you see false... Are
you impressed with false religion? You might say, boy, I wish we
could be like them and have all this stuff and that stuff, this
activity and that activity and blah, blah, blah. All those facilities. Is that the secret of your heart?
Is that your mind? What do we need? What do we really
need? What do our children need? I'll tell you what they need.
They need the gospel. They need the gospel of God's grace in
Christ. They need to hear Christ preached. They need to hear the
word of God preached. You say, but they're not interested.
Well, you weren't either at one time. But I know who can make
them interested. And it's the Lord himself. And
so that's where they need to be. So they said, well, we'll
be as the heathen. We'll be just as prosperous and
just as big and just as talked about and famous as they are.
And that's what brought them down into this. It's kind of
like, it's feeding the flesh, isn't it? It's feeding the flesh.
Well, listen to what he says here. Verse 33. He says, As I
live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with
a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule
over you. Now God is going to rule over
them with an iron fist. He is going to bring down His
force of authority. And they are going to be kept
together by force in spite of themselves. That's what's going
to happen. He said, I'll rule over you with
fury poured out, with a stretched out arm. Now what you're going
to see there is one of the major differences between the old covenant
and the new covenant. Under the old covenant, God ruled
over this nation of rebels with an iron fist. Under the new covenant, what's
it going to be like? It's going to be different, isn't
it? God's going to rule, but not with a stretched out hand
of wrath, not with an iron fist, but he's going to draw his people
in with cords of love. And he's going to give them a
new heart, a new spirit. Remember Jeremiah 31? We'll read
that later on in Ezekiel 36. I'm going to give you a new heart.
I'm going to write my laws in your mind, in your heart, not
on tables of stone. That ministry of condemnation
which was laid upon them as a burden that, for the most part, kept
them in check, though it could not change the heart. And so
as we read this last part of this chapter, you can see different
applications there. You can see the temporal application
to national Israel in their future, but you can also see a great
and glorious future for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
let me show you what I'm talking about. Look at it. He says in
verse 34, He says, I'll bring you out from
the people and we'll gather you out of the countries wherein
you're scattered with a mighty hand and with a stretched out
arm and with fury poured out. Now he did that to the nation
when he brought them back out of captivity. But you know what? That's what he does to his church
when he brings them out as they're scattered throughout this world.
God has a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation,
and he's gonna get the gospel to them. And he, by the Holy
Spirit, is gonna bring them out. And it's with fury poured out,
but it's fury poured out not upon them, but upon Christ. Because
that is the security of our in-gathering. The ingathering of the church
is secured and certain because of God's fury poured out upon
the Lord Jesus Christ for the sins of his people. Didn't he
say that in John 12, 32? He said, if I be lifted up, that's
the cross, I will what? Draw all unto me. So we're gonna be gathered in.
Well, how do we know that? Well, God chose us, Christ redeemed
us. The Holy Spirit's gonna regenerate
us. And then he says in verse 35, I'll bring you out into the
wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face
to face. Verse 36, like as I pleaded with
your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will
I plead with you, saith the Lord God. Now God's pleading with
them is not God begging them. That's not what this means. This
pleading is a matter of a debate like in a courtroom. That's what
that pleading is. And what he's saying, he's going
to bring this whole man, he's going to bring them out, gather
them in, you see, going to bring them into the wilderness of the
people, and there he's going to bring this matter in debate
between him and the people. It's an image of like a plaintiff
in a law court meeting the defendant face to face. I'm going to meet
you face to face. And what he's saying here is
he's not dealing with Israel arbitrarily, but it's in most
righteous justice. That's what that's talking about,
justice. I'm going to meet with you in justice. I'm going to
do right among you. Now obviously we see that again
as it applies to the nation Israel as God kept his promise to Abraham
to keep them together. Even in spite of their punishments
and even the manifestations of His wrath, He kept them together.
God did that which was right. God kept His promise. But oh,
how this is fulfilled in the in-gathering and accepting of
His spiritual nation, the elect, as it pertains to them in the
Lord Jesus Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ, God
meets us in justice. Yes, there's mercy. Thank God
for His mercy. Yes, there's love. He draws us with cords of love.
Yes, there's compassion there. Grace. But it's always God pleading. There's charges to be made. But they cannot come upon us.
For who shall I lay anything to the charge of God today? They
come upon Christ. They come upon Him. And that's
how we're gathered together as a church. And he says, look at
verse 37. He said, I will cause you to
pass under the rod. Now that's like the rod of a
shepherd counting his sheep. Taking a census. And he said,
I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. Now you might
see in your concordance there that word bond means delivering.
The delivering of the covenant. Now again, what's going to happen
there? Well, as it applies to the nation
of Israel under the old covenant, again, God kept his promise.
He delivered them. He delivered them out of Egypt.
He delivered them at the Red Sea. He even delivered them in
the wilderness. He brought them into the promised
land. He delivered them several times in many ways there. Now
they're in Babylon. They're gonna be there 70 years,
God's gonna deliver them, he's gonna keep his promise to Abraham,
and that promise will not be fulfilled completely to the point
where God's through with him as a nation until what? Until
Shiloh comes. We'll talk about that in the
next chapter. Until Messiah comes, you see. But, and then he's gonna
be done with them. That's when he, as Jeremiah said,
gives them that bill of divorcement, you might say. It's already been
given, but then they experience. The thing about this, what covenant
are we under? Not Sinai. We didn't come to
Mount Sinai with all of its thunderings and lightnings and threatenings,
which meant death for the sinner. We come to Mount Zion. Look on,
verse 38, he said, I'll purge out from among you the rebels
and them that transgress against me. You know, God did that throughout
their history. And then they continue to rebel
again and again and again. Well, what happens under the
new covenant? God purges out the rebels. You
know how he does it? He separates the sheep from the
goats. He makes his people willing in the day of his power. He brings
us to submit to him. He says, I will bring them forth
out of the country where they sojourned. They shall not enter
into the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the
Lord. Those rebels will not enter into the land of Israel. That's
a picture of entering into the salvation which is of the Lord.
Only those who believe in and rest in Christ enter the promised
land, the true promised land, the salvation that God freely
provides by His grace through Christ. Do you trust Christ? That's the key. And then he says,
as for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, go ye
serve everyone as idols hereafter also, if you will not hearken
unto me, but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts
and with your idols. That's speaking of how God is
going to bring them to that point where they worship idols no more.
And all this is gonna be fulfilled, not by any goodness or works
of the people, but by the power and goodness and purpose of God.
So he says, well, you go ahead and you serve your idols, if
you won't hearken unto me. And then he says, there's coming
a time when you won't pollute and dishonor his holy name anymore.
That time will be over. Now, verse 40, for in mine holy
mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel. You see
that? He says, saith the Lord God,
there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land
serve me. There will I accept them and
there will I require your offerings and the first fruits of your
oblations with all your holy things. Covenant blessing. What is that holy mountain? Some say it's Mount Moriah. You
know what happened on Mount Moriah? That's where Abraham offered
his son Isaac unto the Lord and he was delivered. Some say that's
the same as Mount Zion. I believe it's so. Mount Zion,
the height of Israel. Did you see that? The mountain
of the height of Israel. That means this is a mountain
that is preeminent above all others because of the glory of
God resides there. Well, how does the glory of God
reside there? You know they came back after
70 years in captivity and you know what they did? They rebuilt
the temple. But in that temple there was
no Shekinah. The glory of God didn't reside
there. There was no Shekinah. It was gone. What do you mean
Shekinah? Remember what that is? That's
the presence of God. That's the greatest manifestation
of the glory of God to be found. That was in the Ark of the Covenant,
in the mercy seat, where the high priest went with the blood
one time a year. Where in the world is this mountain,
this mountain of the height of Israel, where His glory resides? I'll tell you where, it's in
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ on Golgotha's hill. Where the
glory of Almighty God is both a just God and a Savior shines
forth in the salvation of rotten sinners like us. That's where. My soul, His justice, His holiness,
His righteousness, His truth, His omniscience, His omnipotence,
His omnipresence. It's all right there. His mercy,
His love, His grace. The infinite God. revealing himself, manifesting
himself, honoring himself, keeping his promises, showing himself
to be all-powerful, all-righteous, and faithful. Great is thy faithfulness. Right there. There's the glory.
That's the Shekinah in the face of Jesus Christ. And in the church, Mount Zion,
the Lord's holy mountain, namely the gospel church, that will
be the place where Jesus Christ will bring all His redeemed people,
where righteousness resides, not in them or by them, but in
Him as they stand in Him, and where they are all accepted in
Him. And even their worship. I don't
know where your mind is at tonight. But you know something, if you're
in Christ, your worship tonight is accepted of God. And when
you get up and leave this place, you don't have anything to brag
about, do you? Except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Isn't that
right? The holy things. Our prayers. Reading the scripture. Singing
the hymns. Expressing our love and concern
for one another. All of that is accepted of God.
Why? Because of the Shekinah that
resides in the mountain of the height of Israel. Jesus Christ
and Him crucified and risen. The sweet savor of His person. God and man in one person. Would
you want to appear before God and any other person but He who
is both God and man? He who can not only touch the
infinite, but reach down and lift the beggar off the dung
heap. Would you want to stand before God in any other way but
washed in His blood and clothed in His righteousness? This sermon
that I'm preaching to you, I wouldn't dare stand before God and say,
God, could you accept me because of that sermon I just preached?
Did you hear that? Wasn't that a good one? That
would be the same thing saying, Lord, Lord, haven't I preached
in your name? Wouldn't it? No, sir. The sweet savor of His person,
His blood, His righteousness will be the one gracious cause
and ground wherefore all shall be gathered and all shall be
blessed and all made everlastingly happy. And that's what He says. Then, look here in verse 40,
He says, or there shall all the house of Israel. You could say
then shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land serve
me, serve the Lord. And there will I accept him.
Verse 41, I will accept you with your sweet saber when I bring
you out from the people. That's what the church is, the
called out ones, redeemed of the Lord. And gather you out
of the countries wherein you've been scattered and I will be
sanctified in you. before the heathen. How is he
going to be sanctified in us? When we believe him, trust in
him, rest in him. That's no light thing, brethren. That's a miracle. That sets you
apart. It's not what you're wearing.
It's not even where you go to church, except the fact that
the gospel is preached here. It's the fact that you trust
Christ and lean not to your own understanding and your own ways.
In verse 42, he says, you shall know that I am the Lord when
I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for
the which I lifted my hand to give it to your fathers. And
there shall you remember your ways. Now here's repentance.
My ways, oh, my ways. How awful, my ways. And I'm talking
about my religious ways. And all your doings, my doings.
He said, wherein you've been defiled, they defiled us. They
were defiled and they defiled us. It was just defilement upon
defilement upon defilement, even in our efforts to be good people. And you shall loathe yourselves.
Remember what old joke said, I hate myself and repent in sackcloth
and ash. In your own sight for all your
evil ways, evils that you've committed, Oh, Lord, if thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand? And you shall
know that I am the Lord when I have wrought with you for my
namesake. There it is again, for my namesake.
What's the reason for it? His namesake, his honor, his
majesty, his glory. For my namesake, he says, not
according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt
doings. Oh, ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God. Well, these
next verses there, beginning verse 45, they really go with
the next chapter. So we'll pick up there next time,
but I hope that's been helpful. Take my life and let it be.