Tonight I'm going to begin preaching
from Ezekiel chapter 7. I'm not going to be able to finish
it all tonight. I don't want to wear you out
because I have so many points that I'm going to bring forth
here. So I'm going to divide the message probably into two
parts unless I get too waxing eloquent. and might have to divide
it into three parts. But I don't know. I just kind
of... I think some of the best preaching that you'll hear is
just going through the scripture as we're doing. And I want to
make sure that we don't miss the kernels, the jewels of truth
that God has for us in Ezekiel 7 and in Ezekiel 8 as we come
to that. The title of the message is Repent
for the end has come repent for the end has come Ezekiel the
prophet has been prophesying to the exiles in Babylon of the
destruction of Judah and especially the destruction of Jerusalem
you see at this point in time that hadn't happened yet Jerusalem
was still there and it hadn't been destroyed yet but its destruction
was coming soon And you remember the false prophets who stood
against Ezekiel. They said, oh no, no, we're fine.
Peace, peace, peace. That's the message. That's the
basic message of all false preachers. Peace based on something that
really doesn't bring peace. Peace based on a lie. Euphoria,
a false sense of well-being, a false sense of happiness. But
Ezekiel stood with Jeremiah. Now, Jeremiah was back in Jerusalem.
But they had the same message. And you remember, Jeremiah sent
a letter to the exiles in Babylon, telling them that Jerusalem and
Judah was going to be destroyed. So Ezekiel aligned himself with
another one of God's prophets in preaching the destruction
of Jerusalem. Now this chapter, chapter 7,
sets forth the final destruction of Judah and Jerusalem. That's
what it does. What are your thoughts? Think of this, and before we
get into Ezekiel 7, turn over to Luke chapter 13 with me. I
mentioned this at the end of the last message in chapter 6. But what are your thoughts? What
are my thoughts? What are most people's thoughts?
When we hear of a city, or a nation, or a region being destroyed in
whatever way, whether it's being an invading army, or a hurricane,
or a flood, or a tornado, what are your thoughts? What are my
thoughts? What are most people's thoughts?
And in every generation, when people look at things like that
as God's judgment, now you know not everybody looks at those
things as God's judgments. Some people say, well that's
the devil, and we know better, it's not. The devil doesn't have
that kind of power. The devil only does what God
allows him to do. Now that's what the scripture
teaches. You say, well, how do you explain all that? I can't
explain all that, and I'm not here to do that. I'm here to
preach the Bible. I'm here to preach the word.
I'm not here to fulfill the chasm of curiosity that men have about
things that cannot be answered. That's not what we're here. And
when preachers try to do that, they'll always go wrong. But
in every generation, when people see those things as the judgment
of God against sin, in essence, they are. They usually misunderstood, misunderstand
them and misinterpret them because lost, fallen men and women always
respond to such things with self-righteousness. Things like, well, they got what
they deserved, or that was such an evil place. You all remember
that when that hurricane came through and destroyed New Orleans. There were preachers who said,
well, New Orleans was such an infamously sinful city, and God
finally brought it down on them. He just got tired of, well, and
the implication is there, well, now, we here in Ashland, we're
holier, we're better, we're more righteous, we don't deserve that.
And that's the way people see those things. But look at Luke
13, look at verse one. He says, there were present at
that season, some that told him, told the Lord of the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Now that
was an historical event where Pontius Pilate, who was Caesar's
governor in Judea, sent his soldiers to destroy some Galileans who
had gone to sacrifice. And it says in verse two, And
Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans,
these ones whom Pilate slaughtered, were sinners above all the Galileans
because they suffered such things. Do you think that the reason
that these Galileans got slaughtered is because they were greater
sinners than anybody else in Galilee? Is that how you look
at this thing? And look at verse three, he says,
I tell you, nay, but except you repent. You shall all likewise
perish. You're just as evil and wicked
as they are. That's what he's saying. You need repentance in
the same way that they needed it. Why did God spare you and
not them? That's God's business. But I
guarantee you this, it had nothing to do with you or me being better
than them. Now that's right, you understand
that? Look on, verse four. Or those
18 upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them. This is what
the insurance companies would call an act of God or an accident. This tower fell upon these people,
slew them. Think ye that they were sinners
or debtors is the word there. You might see it in your concordance. You know, sometimes the word,
there's several words in the New Testament used for sin. One
of them is a debtor. Sin is running up a debt. And
he said, you suppose that they were sinners that they owed more
to God's justice above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? You
think that the reason that happened to them is because they were
the worst of us and we're better? It didn't happen to us. And he
says in verse 5, I tell you, nay, no, but except you repent,
you shall all likewise perish. You see that? Now there's no
doubt about it. Now whatever this repentance
is, all men and women born of Adam need it equally. The best of us and the worst
of us. And the Bible says that in order for a sinner to come
to repentance, that sinner must be brought to repentance by God. In other words, sinners will
not repent on their own. Look back here at Ezekiel chapter
6. Remember the last chapter. He spoke there of God's judgment
against Israel, against Judah and Jerusalem. And in verse 8
he says, Yet will I leave a remnant that you may have some that shall
escape the sword among the nations when you shall be scattered through
the countries. There is going to be a remnant that God is going
to spare. And he says in verse 9, and they that escape it, you
shall remember me among the nations, whether they shall be carried
captive. They're going to remember God. That's the same as when
God says, under the new covenant language, they shall all know
me from the least of them to the greatest. That's when a sinner
comes to know his sin in light of Christ. They're going to know
Christ. And he says, because I'm broken
with their whorish heart. Now, this remnant that God spared
Did He spare them because they were better than the rest of
Israel? No. He said, I am broken with
their whorish heart. They had a whorish, idolatrous,
unrepentant, disobedient, unbelieving heart just like all men and women
by nature. He says, which hath departed
from Me. They had departed from the Lord just like the rest of
them. And with their eyes which go a-whoring after their idols,
they're going to remember this and they're going to see this
and he says, and look here, here's the repentance now. And they
shall loathe, despise, hate themselves for the evils which they've committed
in all their abomination. They're going to take sides with
God against themselves. That's what repentance is about.
They're going to see that if God gave them what they deserve,
they would perish. And that their only hope of salvation
is in the promise of the grace of God in the future coming of
the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says in verse 10, and
they shall know that I am the Lord and that I have not said
in vain that I would do this evil unto them. They'll know.
You see, man has to be brought to repentance. Man will not of
his own will repent. In the book of 2 Peter 3 and
verse 9, you don't have to turn there. We're told that God is
not willing that any of His elect should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. Repentance like faith is the
gift of God. Every blessing, every spiritual
blessing, that a sinner saved by grace experiences and responds
with is a gift of God's grace through Christ. The fact that
we see things that we didn't see before. The fact that we
hear things that we didn't hear before. The fact that we believe
things, know things, and love things that we didn't believe,
know, and love before. It's all a gift of God's grace.
And I'm saying all this to help me and you understand how blessed
we are. I mean, we're a blessed people.
And to understand this, that the blessings that we enjoy tonight,
and every day have nothing to do with the meritorious works
that we do or think we're doing. It has nothing to do with our
goodness or our righteousness because we have none before God. It's all grace. It's all grace. Repentance, like faith, is the
gift of God, and it's God who brings us to repentance through
conviction by the Holy Spirit in the new birth, which comes
to us in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why I read that
Psalm 80 there in the opening, when he says there in verse 17,
let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand. That's Christ,
the man of God's right hand. That's the God-man. The Son of
Man whom thou made is strong for thyself. That is, God the
Father strengthened the humanity of His Son to endure what He
endured as the sin-bearer of His people, the substitute. And He says, because of that,
verse 18, so will not we go back from thee. The reason that we
won't turn from God is because of the Son of God's right hand. It's not because of our goodness
even now. And he says, quicken us and we'll
call upon thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of
hosts, and cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved.
That's repentance. That's what he's talking about.
God brings his people to repentance through a saving view of our
sins in light of Christ and the righteousness that he established
in his obedience unto death for his people. Because Christ came
to this earth and did his great work, proves to God's people
that we have nothing in and of ourselves to recommend us unto
God. And that all our sins, and not just our sins of immorality,
now they're enough to sink a thousand worlds to hell, but also our
sins of religion. And Ezekiel is going to deal
more with religious sins Well, he deals with them here, but
he's going to specify religious sins in line with the temple
of the Lord in Ezekiel chapter 8. What did Paul write in Philippians
chapter 3? He was a religious sinner, self-righteous, legalist,
trying to keep the law. And what did he say? I count
it all but dumb that I may win Christ and be found in him. Well, here in Ezekiel chapter
7, there are six points of repentance in light of impending judgment.
And that's why I wanted to divide this. Six points of repentance. And I'll give you each six of
them as we go along. Now, in the first nine verses,
look at Ezekiel 7. In the first nine verses, here's
the message of God to the people. And here it is. Listen to it.
It's a message. Listen. It's a doom and gloom
message. It's this, no mercy for Israel. That's what he's
saying. There is no mercy for Israel.
And the lesson to us and to them basically goes to this. My friend,
there is no mercy for you. There's no mercy for me without
Christ, the mercy seat. That's what he's saying. Listen
to what he says. Moreover, verse one, the word
of the Lord came unto me saying it's the word of Jehovah. This
is the covenant God. Now this is not just some aspect
of God. That is a wrathful God. He is a wrathful God. He's wrathful
to any and every center who comes to him without Christ, but he's
the same God who saves by grace. And he says in verse 2, also
thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel.
An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.
That means the whole land. And that means the people in
it too. He's not just talking about droughts
here and hurricanes and tornadoes. He's talking about destruction
of the promised land. And he says in verse 3, now is
the end come upon thee. This is impending judgment and
doom. And I will send mine anger upon
thee. That's not the emotional anger
that we associate with ourselves, but that's the justice of God
against sin. And he said, I will judge thee
according to thy ways and will recompense upon thee all thine
abomination. Now that's spoken, that same
phrase or phrases like it in this one chapter is stated five
times throughout this. And that's point of repentance
number one, right here. Here it is, point of repentance
number one. Sinners must be brought to repentance
of our ways. our ways okay now hold on to
that thought let's read on and I'll come back to it he says
in verse four and mine eyes shall shall not spare thee see God
has his eye on his people to protect us and provide for us
but he said my I won't spare thee neither will I have pity
but I will recompense thy ways upon thee and thine abomination
shall be in the midst of thee and you shall know that I am
the Lord there's the second time that phrase is used I'll recompense
thy ways unto thee. Verse 5. Thus saith the Lord
God an evil, an only evil, that means a single evil, behold is
come. Now what is the single evil that
he's talking about? He's talking about the destruction
of the city and the temple. That's what he means by that.
He says in verse 6, an end is come, the end is come, and watcheth
for thee, behold it is come. That word watcheth means to stay
awake. In other words, don't go to sleep
on this. Don't ignore this. You know, people by nature doubt
the second coming of Christ. And you know why? Because it
hasn't come yet. But it's coming. It's coming. We know it is. You know why?
Because God said it is. In God's faith. We don't know
the exact time and day. Don't need to know. But we know
it is and we're to live every day as if it's going to be today.
We are. Verse 7, The morning is come
unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land. You know, for believers,
the Bible speaks of morning as a time of joy. Joy cometh in
the morning, the psalmist said. But for unbelievers, the morning
is the dawning of the day of wrath. That's what he's talking
about. He said, O thou that dwellest in the land. The time has come.
God's long suffering is over now. God's forbearance is over,
the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the
mountains. In other words, this right here is not just something
that's echoing through as men shouted, but it's from God, and
he says in verse eight, now will I shortly pour out my fury upon
thee and accomplish mine anger upon thee, and I will judge thee
according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine
abominations. Verse 9, And mine eye shall not
spare, neither will I have pity. I will recompense thee according
to thy ways, and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee.
And you shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth. At the
point of repentance, number one. Sinners, we must be brought to
repentance of our ways. God will judge thee according
to thy ways. Five times in this chapter. recompense
upon thee all thine abominations." The ways of man, whatever way
it is, the ways of fallen man, when it comes to a relationship
with God, when it comes to anything according to what God requires,
and certainly when it comes to salvation, the ways of man are
always an abomination to God. That's right. That word abomination
means unclean. It means detestable to God. Look
over in Luke chapter 16. He speaks to the Pharisees here,
verse 14. Their religion, Luke 16, 14,
it says, the Pharisees also who were covetous. The Apostle Paul,
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in Colossians chapter 3, equated
covetousness with idolatry. It's to covet something. It's
to desire something more than the glory of God. They heard
all these things and they derided Him. They derided the Lord. Verse
15, it says, He said unto them, you are they which justify yourselves
before men. But God knoweth your hearts.
For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the
sight of God. Those are words of repentance
for sinners. The ways of man are always the
ways of human sin and depravity, even immorality. Say, well, what
sin do I have to repent of? All sin, no matter what form
it takes, no matter what goal it is. But the ways of man are
always the ways of human ignorance. It's the ways of human works,
sinners working for salvation. It's the way of human attainment
and determination. And it's the way of human will.
Proverbs states it twice. In Proverbs 14.12 and Proverbs
16.25, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death. In the Sermon on the Mount, the
Lord spoke of man's way as opposed to His way. And you know all
about that. He talked about the way of righteousness,
the way of God's grace, the way of truth. And He says in verse
13, Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and
broad is the way. There's the broad way that leadeth
to destruction. And many there be which go in
there That's any way to God other than the one way which is His
grace through Christ based on His blood and righteousness.
He says, because straight is the gate and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. In John
chapter 14 and verse 6, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of Himself
in these terms. He said, I am the way. The truth
the life no man cometh unto the father, but by me look over at
Romans chapter 9 with me Here's the here's the fact here's the
stuff of repentance right here Now everyone can look at the
immoral perverted rebellious segment of society and Without
hesitation and embarrassment we can say they need to repent
and they're right. That's right. There's no doubt.
There's no argument there. I'm not here telling you that
men and women don't have to repent of their immoral, irresponsible,
rebellious behavior. And if you're a believer and
you're engaged in any act of open immorality and rebelliousness,
perverseness, you need to repent. The Apostle Paul addressed that
in the church at Corinth when they were engaged in fornication
and adultery. That's not Christian behavior.
That's immoral. That's the behavior of the world.
He said that's the way the heathen act. And we're not to be identified
with things like that. But here, listen to what he's
talking about. Over in Romans chapter 9 and verse 31, listen
to this. He says, but Israel, which followed
after the law of righteousness, Now these folks were not engaged
in what society would call an immoral behavior. They were engaged
in religious sin. And he said they have not attained
to the law of righteousness. They didn't make it. They didn't
meet the standard. They didn't come up to snuff.
They missed the mark. Why? Verse 32. Because they sought
it not by faith. Well what does that mean? What
does it mean to seek righteousness by faith? He says they sought
it by works of the law. Well, they stumbled at that stumbling
stone. As it is written, Behold, I,
Lanzine, a stumbling stone and rock of offense, whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed. To seek righteousness by faith
is to seek it in Christ. Find it in Christ. You see, we
must repent of our way of righteousness because our way always exalts
the flesh. Our way always leaves us room
to boast. But the way of God's grace in
Christ through his blood always puts us in the dust where we
belong. Look at verse four, Romans 10 verse four. For Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe. Repentance is a submission to
Christ who is our only righteousness because we believe in him. We
rest in him. Another way of stating this,
when the Lord says back here in Ezekiel 7 that, I will judge
them according to their ways and recompense them. I'll give
them what they deserve. Is that what He said? They'll
reap what they sow. Many object to this because of
scriptures that seem to indicate that what we see is judgment
by our works. I heard a man say, and I wrote
an article about this, a man said, I heard him say it on the
radio coming back last Sunday. And he made this statement, he
said, the difference between the sheep and the goats is what
they do and don't do. And I said, well, you know, there
is certainly a difference between the sheep and the goats and what
they do and don't do, but that's not what makes the difference.
God's grace makes the difference, you see. So what about according
to our works? Well, the Bible speaks of our
works as the fruit of God's power and grace in our lives and the
evidence of God's power and grace in our lives. No more and no
less. But you see, we must be brought
to repentance of our way, whatever way that is, if it's anything
other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If it's anything other
than salvation, totally, sovereignly, by God's mercy and grace through
the blood and righteousness of Christ. any immoral way, any
religious way, any way that would deny the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ. Now, look down at Ezekiel 7,
from verse 10 to verse 15, the message that the prophet has
for the people is this, the day of judgment is at hand. It is
at hand. Now, you've been told by your
prophets, your false prophets, that it's not coming, that you're
going to avoid it, that everything's fine. But in your pride, you've
refused to believe what Ezekiel had to say, what God's prophet
had to say. Well, the day of judgment is at hand. And the
message for us and to them is this. Listen, folks, God is faithful
to his threats. Now, we don't mind hearing that
God is faithful to His promises. But put it in this context, God
who is faithful promised eternal judgment and damnation upon all
who come before Him apart from Christ. He's faithful to His
threats. Let's read it, verse 10. Behold
the day, behold it is come. The morning is gone forth, the
rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. Now there's point of
repentance number two. Number one, sinners need to be
brought to repentance of our ways. Number two, sinners, we
need to be brought to repentance of our pride. Pride. Because pride is the problem.
Pride is the natural child of unbelief, isn't it? Somebody
said, well, unbelief is the natural child of pride. Well, either
way. Either way you want to put it, they come together, don't
they? Pride. Alright, hold on to that. Let's read on. Verse 11. Violence
is risen up unto a rod of wickedness. Now the rod that hath blossomed,
I believe is speaking of, that word rod, it can be It can be
like a rod of judgment or a rod like a branch or something. I
believe what he's referring to there is the family, the branch
of Israel and what they had grown into. They blossomed. But what
have they come to be in their blossoming? Have they come to
be a people of the Lord who existed for His glory? No, they had come
to be wicked. Pride hath budded with it. And
look at verse 11. Violence is risen up unto the
rod of wickedness. They had blossomed into wickedness. And he says, none of them shall
remain, nor of their multitude, nor of theirs. In other words,
anybody in that land, neither shall there be wailing for them.
Nobody's going to shed a tear for them. Verse 12, the time
has come, the day draweth near, let not the buyer rejoice, nor
the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof,
for the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although
they were yet alive, for the vision is touching the whole
multitude thereof. That is the word of God, is going
to the whole multitude, which shall not return, neither shall
any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life, And he
says, they've blown the trumpet even to make all ready. In other
words, they've blown the trumpet to assemble their numbers to
fight this judgment off. But look at verse 14, but none
goeth to battle. For my wrath is upon all the
multitude thereof. The sword is without outside
the city, the sword. The pestilence and the famine
within. The sickness and the starvations within. And he that
is in the field shall die with the sword, and he that is in
the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him. The day of
judgment is at hand." You see, when he talks about
the buying and the selling there, what he's saying is there are
men and women by nature put a lot of stock in what they buy and
what they sell, don't they? Get a lot of pleasure out of
what we buy and what we sell. He said, that'll be gone. There'll
be no pleasure in that. And all of it will be worthless
then. What you think you own, what you value, what you buy,
what you sell, nothing. Nothing. Well, let's go back. Point of repentance number two.
That's verse ten. Sinners must be brought to repent
of their pride. The rod of wickedness. Their
pride. What is their pride? Their pride was their confidence.
Their confidence in themselves. their confidence in their possessions,
their confidence in their position. They prided themselves that they
were God's chosen people. They prided themselves that God
would protect them even without faith in Him, even without obedience
to Him. They prided themselves in their
physical connection with Abraham, we be Abraham's seed. They prided
themselves even in their circumcision. They prided themselves in their
works of the law. They prided themselves in their
own righteousness. What happens when pride blooms
and it reaches its end, its fulfillment? Death. It's just like James said
in James 1.15, sin, when it reaches its end, brings death. When God, when His long-suffering,
His patience is over, And that's it. Then the proud sinner who
stands before God and men and boasts of his own righteousness
or boasts of his salvation without any foundation from God's truth
will be brought down. That's the point of pride. When
God brings us to repentance, where does our pride go? Well, basically we summon up
in what the Bible calls to glory in the Lord. 1 Corinthians chapter
1 and verse 31 repeats the words of the prophet Jeremiah, let
he that glorieth, let he that boast, let he that hath confidence,
glory in the Lord. It doesn't mean that all our
pride is gone. We'll have a battle without all
of our lives, won't we? We still have pride to deal with
within ourselves. But God the Holy Spirit, when
He brings us to conviction of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment and brings us to Christ, He gives us a heart to
do what? To glory in the Lord. Our boast,
our confidence is in Christ. Paul wrote in Galatians 6.14,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. I can tell you right now, I'm
a proud man in that sense. But I'm proud of my Savior. I'm
proud of Him. I boast in Him. Philippians chapter
3 and verse 3. We are the circumcision which
worship God in spirit and glory or rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. I have absolutely no confidence
in myself as far as salvation, forgiveness, righteousness, eternal
life and glory. It's all in Christ. I have one
single claim. Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
That's the simplicity that's in Jesus Christ. Sinners must
be brought to repent of that pride. But look back at Ezekiel
7. Remember there in verses 12 and
13. Listen to what he says again. He says, The time has come, the
day draweth near, let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller
mourn, for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. For the
seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they
were yet alive. For the vision is touching the
whole multitude thereof, which shall not return. Now listen
to this, neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his
life. There's point of repentance number
three. Sinners must be brought to repentance
of our iniquity In your concordance it might read this way Neither
shall any strengthen himself whose life is in his iniquity In other words, he's in the iniquity
of his life and his life is in his iniquity You see, there's no gain, no
pleasure, no security in buying and selling here, and his life
is... You know what I thought of when I read that? I thought
about false preachers who buy and sell salvation. And that's
exactly what they do. You can have this from God if
you'll do this. That's buying and selling salvation.
You see, there's no power for those whose lives are in their
iniquity. And when I see that word iniquity,
I always think about Matthew 7, 21, those false preachers.
Lord, haven't we prophesied in your name? Lord, haven't we cast
out devils? Lord, haven't we done many wonderful
works? Only to hear him say, depart
from me ye that work iniquity. Their lives were in their iniquity.
Their salvation was in their iniquity. You know what that
word iniquity means. It means inequity. It means we
don't measure up. It means we fall short. It's
sin. Even the best that man attempts,
even Job's friend knew that. Back over in Job 15, listen to
this. Job 15 and verse 14, he says,
What is man that he should be clean? And he that is born of
a woman, that he should be righteous. Behold, he putteth no trust in
his sanctuary. The heavens are not clean in
God's sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh
iniquity like water? You see, our righteousnesses
are iniquity. That's right. Worse, you know,
we say that, maybe that doesn't drive the point home. So what
does the Lord do? He puts it in graphic language
in Isaiah 64, 64 and verse 6. And he says, our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. It always falls short. It never
measures up at our best vanity. You see, in order to be saved,
we must have the righteousness of God in Christ. The revelation
of the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ. Freely imputed,
charged, accounted as and received by God-given faith. Submission
to Him. We must repent of our own righteousness. And then this buying and selling
of salvation will stop. Look over it. Isaiah 55. And I'll close with this tonight.
We'll pick up here next week. But listen to this. Isaiah 55. We talk about buying
and selling religion. Buying and selling salvation.
Buying and selling indulgences. You remember that's what Luther
got so upset over. Buying and selling blessings.
That's what preachers are doing today. Listen to this, verse
one of Isaiah 55. Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. He that hath no what? Money. Now that's us, religiously speaking. We come before God. Just put
buying and selling out of your mind. Whatever that we think
we've got to buy with, it's iniquity. Repent of it. Change your mind,
change your heart. That's what God has to bring
us to. He says, come ye buy and eat. Now how are you going to
buy and eat if you don't have any money? He says, ye come buy
wine and milk without money, without price. Wherefore, why do you spend money
for that which is not bread? That's what the false preachers
in Ezekiel's day and in our day were selling. Something that
wouldn't satisfy the hunger. And your labor for that which's
satisfied, not hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which
is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness, or in health. Incline your ear and come unto
me here and your soul shall live. Now, where's all this? Where's
all this fulfillment, this goodness, this righteousness that we need?
Look at it, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
even the sure mercies of David. Now, what is it? That's Christ,
our surety, right there. And he says, behold, I've given
him for a witness to the people and a leader and a commander
to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest
not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because
of the Lord thy God, for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath
glorified thee. Now seek ye the Lord while he
may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. All right.