When I was at Newcastle last
week, before I went up there, Brother Bruce Crabtree called
and asked me to do something a little unusual. He asked if
I would, on Sunday morning, take the first session of our worship
services and give an oral autobiography. I've never been asked to do that
before. And so I did. I think they recorded it. I'm
not sure. If you want to hear it, you'll have to get a copy
from Brother Bruce of the church there at Newcastle. I've been
going up there preaching to them for over 30 years, very regularly. And they're dear friends, and
perhaps that was the best place to do what he asked me to do.
But I don't plan to do that again, and I don't even have notes for
it. But if you want to get a copy, you can see Brother Bruce about
it when he's here at the conference. Needless to say, in preparation
for that, I had to do a good bit of reminiscence, and I don't
mind that. That's always good for you. No
man alive has greater reason than I do for humility and gratitude
before God. No man has greater reason to
constantly devote himself to the glory of God and the will
of God and the praise of God. No man deserves less and no man
has received greater superabounding mercy than the one talking to
you. Surely, goodness and mercy have
followed me all the days of my life. I couldn't help observing the
fact when we began reading through the book of Ezekiel this week,
that the experience of grace that Ezekiel had in many ways
resembles my own, and I'm sure you found it to be the same with
you. As we think about God's grace
and goodness and mercy to us, we are wise to contemplate many
things. I try to spend a lot of time
thinking about eternity. God set my heart on eternity. Let me live for eternity. Let me weigh all things in the
light of eternity. Let me value everything exactly
as it shall be valued in eternity. Moses said, Lord, teach us to
number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Teach us
to number our days so that we may set our hearts upon Christ. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God, where your life is hid with God in Christ. Oh, be wise. immortal souls and
live for eternity. I try deliberately, deliberately. Every time I experience a little
sickness, or one of you does, every time I find someone diagnosed
with a fatal disease, I have a good many friends who right
now are or just dying, that's not really a good way to put
it. PJ, they're beginning to start to live. They're almost
better. I try to recognize the brevity
of my existence in this world. Your life here is just a vapor, just a vapor. Who on earth cherishes
a vapor? It appears for a little while
and is gone. And that's talking about your
life. That's not talking about your house and your car and your
job and your money. That's talking about your life.
It's just a vapor. It appears for a little while
and is gone. You're a fool if that's all you seek. You're a
fool if you live only for time. I think often about this as well.
I've given much thought to this fact just recently. There are
some people in this world who shall be saved. There are some
who shall be saved from eternal damnation. Some chosen of God
to salvation and elect redeemed people who must and shall be
saved. The Lord God has written a book
of remembrance called the book of life in which he declares
They shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels and
I will spare them. I'm seeking their salvation.
I'm on the trail of Christ's sheep, looking for God's elect. Spend our lives seeking out God's
chosen. Some of you here are among them. A people loved of God, chosen
of God, redeemed by the precious blood of God's dear Son. A people
so precious that God owns you as his crown jewels in the crown
of his glory. And whatever comes in time, whatever
judgment comes, when the final destruction of this world comes,
When men and women stand before God in everlasting judgment,
you who are his shall be spared, spared by his grace. And then
I've really thought a lot about this. If I read this book or write,
and I know I do, those who are saved by God's free sovereign
grace in any generation are but few. Our Lord said, many are
called, but few are chosen. You find that to be true in every
age in this world. Yes, God's elect shall at last
make up a multitude that no man can number. But in every age,
in every generation, those who are gods are but few. Sometimes just one in a city. Just one in a huge city. Lot was the only man in Sodom
who knew God. The only one. God's people are
not a silent majority, but rather a very vocal minority. Sometimes
just one in a city. Always just a remnant our Lord
said there are many Queens, but my beloved is one few in the
world Few in the professed church there were just a few eight souls
in Noah's day a few in Abraham's day a few in Moses day a Few
in our Lord's day a few in the Apostles day and just few in
our day. I don't ever expect that I don't
ever expect to be found among the majority of people in my
opinions and thoughts about anything. Not ever. God's people in this
world are always few in number. And if you're numbered among
them, you will be numbered among a few people despised by everyone. despised by the whole world despised
by the political world despised by the Education educational
world despised by the civil world despised by the religious world
God's people are few then forth I Turned to the book of Ezekiel
and started to read and when I got to chapter 9 and read verse
8 I was over utterly overwhelmed by this statement of the prophets
experience and By the time I got to this verse, I'd already begun
reading Ezekiel's words as though they were my own. Ezekiel chapter
nine, verse eight. And it came to pass while they
were slaying them. Now the picture in this chapter
we read earlier is a picture of judgment, the utter destruction
of Jerusalem and the temple. But if you read the book carefully,
you'll find out that the temple at Jerusalem had already been
destroyed. The city was already sacked and
taken captive. So the vision that Ezekiel has
is not referring to that literal temple in Jerusalem that was
destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and destroyed by the Babylonians,
but rather it's referring to the ultimate judgment of God
upon all the nations of the earth. Ezekiel said I I saw these six
men and this one other man this seventh man with an acorn by
his side That's the Lord Jesus Christ and judgment has come
and it begins at the house of God He said it came to pass while
they were slaying them the old and the young the men and the
women and the children No sparing no pity. No mercy while they
were slaying them and I left when I was left came to pass
that I fell upon my face and cried and said ah Lord God wilt
thou destroy the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury
upon Jerusalem I was left the word left Might better be translated
spared. Read it that way. God's destroying
everybody. God's wiping men off the face
of the earth. Old and young, rich and poor,
learned and unlearned, religious and irreligious. God's wiping
them all off the face of the earth in swift judgment, in furious
anger. Ezekiel said, I was spared. I
was spared. That's my subject. That's my
message. Oh, my soul rejoice and give thanks. I was spared. I had heard about grace before.
But it was like hearing about the royalty of the Queen of England. I've been to England a number
of times. I've been to Buckingham Palace a number of times. And,
you know, I've always just walked right by it. And my British friends,
I'm sure, don't understand. But it just doesn't matter to
me. It just it just doesn't matter to me. She comes to Lexington
with the horses, you know, fairly often. I've never even thought
about going over to see her, but she's royal to the British. She is. But to me, she's just
an expensive politician. That's all. I mean, nothing to
me means nothing to me. And so it was with the grace
of God. until God calls his grace to
be mine. You see, grace is never glorious
in the eyes of poor sinners until you experience it. You will never have any appreciation
for the grace of God until you experience it. But once experienced,
there's nothing so glorious as grace free Sovereign saving grace. Now hold your Bibles open here
to Ezekiel chapter 9. Now I want to show you three
things in this message. First, I was spared because God
spared me. Second, like Ezekiel, I found
grace in the midst of great wrath and judgment. And then third,
spared sinners always respond to grace with humility and praise. Number one, let's begin here.
I was spared because God spared me. Because the Almighty God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, before the world was, said, see
yonder, that poor wretch to be born down in southeastern North
Carolina, that nobody born to nobody's Who came from nobody's
that child who shall come forth from his mother's womb speaking
lies that rebel who is useless worthless nothing He's precious
to me He shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels
I Will be his God and he shall be my child. Oh How he spared
me spared from the wrath of God, spared from death and hell, spared
from all the consequences of my sin, spared the eternal torments
of the damned, because God would not leave me to myself. Oh God, how I thank you for stepping
in my way, for interfering with my life, for stopping me in my
mad rush to hell, spared because God spared me. Have you ever
noticed how the scriptures speak of God's gracious intervention
in our lives? Two words. Two words. Be sure you get these two words.
Sweet, profound, Understood by no one except folks who experience
it but God But God those two words, let
me show you how they're used in the book look at Romans chapter
5 When there was no help for any
of our hopeless helpless race I Was spared by blood atonement
When the Lord God stepped in at Calvary and sacrificed his
darling son as my substitute. Romans chapter 5 verse 6. When
we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. Do you understand that? Do you
believe that? Christ died for the ungodly.
Christ died for sinners. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. Christ died for sinners, the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die. Yet peradventure for a good
man, some would even dare to die. But God. God's ways are not your ways.
God's ways are not my ways. We would never dream of dying
for the ungodly. Not you, not me. We would never
dream of dying for someone we consider worthless and useless. We would never dream of making
any sacrifice of any significance for the useless human beings.
We make sacrifices for folks who have some worth about them.
But God commendeth his love toward us. in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. I was spared from the ruin of
Adam's fall, spared from the curse that fell upon the human
race, spared from everlasting damnation by the blood of Christ,
because God gave his son to die in my stead. Look at Genesis
chapter 31. Genesis chapter 31. Though I
lived as a rebel, running from God, just like Jacob here ran
from Esau, hiding out in a faraway country as Jacob did in Laban's
house. All the years of my rebellion,
I was spared by God's prevenient grace. I talk little about the things
I've done because they're not fit to be talked about. The religious world takes fellows
that had a football career and could have been something in
the NFL or somebody who was a movie star or a rock star or a country
singer and oh, what they sacrificed to serve God. Ron Wood, I didn't
give up anything. except hell. I spent my life flirting with
death and damnation. I spent my life toying with judgment. I spent my life inviting destruction. But God in his prevenient grace
would not allow Those things that destroyed many I knew to
harm me. Oh, I took poison into my mouth
every day and God wouldn't allow it to hurt me because of his
prevenient grace. Look at this. Genesis 31 verse
five, Jacob's talking to his wives. He said unto them, I see
your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before,
but the God of my father hath been with me. And ye know that
with all my power, I have served your father. I've served Laban.
And your father hath deceived me and changed my wages 10 times. But God suffered him not. to hurt me. David was pursued by Saul, but
God delivered him not into his hands. Turn to Romans chapter
six. Romans chapter six. I've been thinking about this
a lot the last couple of three months. Here the Apostle Paul gives us
a strange reason for thanksgiving. It seems out of order. It seems
to be wrong. But if you read the book of God,
there are a good many people with Christ and his people in
glory today who I have no question give thanks to God for some strange
things. Merle, I see around the throne
of grace a woman by the name of Abigail who was married to a wretched,
wretched man, a proud, vain man by the name of Naboth, giving
thanks to God that she was married to that wretched man. Because
if she hadn't been, she'd have never met David. I see at the throne of God and
of the Lamb, a woman sitting there who spent 12 years of her
life with a continual issue of blood, giving thanks to God for
that unclean disease that bowed her body to the ground for 12
long years. For if she had not been so bowed
and unclean, she would never have touched the master's skirt.
I see a man seated on the throne with Christ at the throne of
grace, sitting before him, worshiping him and giving thanks that he
was born blind and spent his life begging. Because Bartimaeus
understands, had he not been born blind, he would never have
seen the Redeemer. And look at Romans chapter 6,
verse 16. that to whom you yield yourselves
servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom you obey, whether
of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be
thanked that ye were the servants of sin. But ye have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. Being
then made free from sin, You became servants of righteousness.
God bethanked that you were the servants of sin. Now, almost
everybody says, well, read that, God bethanked that though you
were the servants of sin. That's not what it says, Alan.
That's not what it says. God bethanked that you were the
servants of sin. How can you give thanks for that?
How can you give thanks for the fall and for the experience of
bitterness that's in your soul to this day because of all you
are by nature and all you've been in your life and all you've
done? How can you give thanks? If I had never known what it
was to be unclean, I couldn't know what it is to be clean.
If I had never known what it was to be in bondage, I could
never know what it is to be in liberty. If I had never known
what it is to be a sinner, I could never know what it is to be a
saint. If I had never known ruin by the fall, I could never have
known blood redemption and known Christ my Redeemer. Oh, God be
thanked. Whatever it is that God in His
providence has done and whatever it is that God in His providence
has brought you through, He spared you in His prevenient grace and
orders it not to hurt you. because he's chosen you and redeemed
you. Look at Ephesians chapter 2.
Though I was dead in trespasses and sins, I was spared when God
stepped into my life in regeneration. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
and the power of the air. the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in time past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
For His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved. And not only that, turn over
a couple of pages, turn back a couple of pages to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. The Lord God spared me from wrath. He spared me from death. He spared
me from hell. that which I so fully deserved.
He spared this sinner who had all his lifetime been an instrument
of evil, that he might make me an instrument of good to the
souls of men. He spared me to preach the gospel
of his grace. Verse 26, you see your calling
brethren, How that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, the weak things, to
confound the things that are mighty, base things of the world,
and things which are not hath God chosen, yea, and things which
are not to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh
should glory in his presence. I went to see my doctor Thursday.
Spent a lot of time doing that the last few years. And he's
a very nice fellow, Skip's doctor, Dr. Scully. He's a very nice
fellow and he always keeps up with things I've been doing and
asks questions about where I've been. He said, he said, when
you were growing up, did you ever dream that you might be
doing the things you're doing, going places you're going, and
serving folks like you do. And I thought immediately, no. No, I did think a lot about ways
to stay out of jail. I did have a great fear of winding
up in prison. I did have a great fear of either
killing or being killed. I didn't tell him that. I just
said, no, I had no idea. God spared me because it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And
he was pleased to put this treasure of his grace in this earthen
vessel, preach the gospel to you. Everything I've experienced in
God's providence David these past 62 years Has prepared me
to do what I'm doing for you right now. Oh I was spared I
Was spared And the Lord God Spares me from
myself By his unfailing Immutable grace and faithful mercy David
said I Was a beast before you he said my heart and my flesh
faileth But God Is the strength of my heart? All right, here's
the second thing Back in Ezekiel 9 verse 8 Let's look for a little while
at the context in which this text is found. When Ezekiel declared
with amazement and I was spared, a part of his amazement was the
fact that he found grace in the midst of terrible, terrible wrath
and judgment. I've been talking about my experience.
Let's look at Ezekiel's. His experience is mine. I hope
you can enter into it. In the opening verses of chapter
9, Ezekiel sees these six men and a seventh. These six men
with slaughter weapons in their hands. And a seventh man clothed
with linen with an acorn at his side. Verse 8, and it came to
pass that while they were slaying them, I was left, I was spared. That I fell down on my face and
cried and said, ah, Lord God, wilt thou destroy the residue
of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? But really, the story begins
back in chapter one, Ezekiel chapter one. Follow with me here. God's word came expressly to
Ezekiel. and the hand of the Lord was
upon him. Look at this, verse three. The
word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest. As I prepare to preach to you
three times a week, and as I prepare to preach everywhere I go, I don't spend a lot of time with
people, though I enjoy people. I enjoy being around folks. I
enjoy visiting and just chatting and talking. I enjoy it, but
I don't spend much time doing it here or when I'm traveling. I'm on the road. Some of you
travel with me. I lock myself in the room until
time to go preach. How come? Because I'm begging
God to give me a word for this hour for you. Merle Hart, I've
been begging God this week to give his word expressly to me
for you. God calls your word to come expressly
to me for this hour. The son of Ezekiel is the son
of Buzzi in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chibar. And what's
this? And the hand of the Lord was
there upon him. The word of God came to Ezekiel
as it did to Moses. And when it did, Ezekiel saw
the unveiling, the revelation of the glory of God symbolized
in fire, that fire constantly burning at the altar of God and
carried by Aaron into the holy of holies on the day of atonement. Look at verse four. And I looked
and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north a great cloud,
and fire unfolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and
out of the midst thereof is the color of amber out of the midst
of the fire." God's Word, the revelation of
His glory came to Ezekiel by the mouth of living creatures,
cherubs, angels of God, verse 5. God sent his word, but he
sent it by the mouth of these living creatures. If this all
sounds familiar, it should. What Ezekiel sees here, in these
opening chapters of Ezekiel, is exactly what John saw and
recorded in Revelation chapters 4 and 5. These living creatures,
with the face of a man, are themselves God's messengers, gospel preachers,
by whom God sends his word. If God speaks to you, if God
teaches you, if God speaks to me, if God teaches me, if God
gives me a word, if God gives you a word, it will always be
by the mouth of a man. God speaks to men by men the
word of his grace. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. I have a note in the bulletin
today with regard to our conference. And I realize I can't make you
understand this unless God makes you understand it. If God's pleased to speak to
us, Oscar, if God sends these men with his word and God's pleased
to speak by them, oh, I wouldn't miss that for the world. I wouldn't
miss that for the world. I'm telling you the truth. I
wouldn't miss it for the world. This is how God speaks to man.
These men are directed and moved and worked by the Spirit of God. They're like burning coals of
fire. He maketh his ministers a flame
of fire. It was one of these same men
that Ezekiel sees here that Isaiah saw. who reached with tongs and
got a coal from off the altar, a live coal and touched Isaiah's
lips and proclaimed the forgiveness of sin, forgiveness by blood
atonement. When Ezekiel saw the glory of
God on the mercy seat in the face of Christ, his sacrifice,
he saw that the God of glory is a God of absolute unalterable
purpose. In verses 15 through 25, he speaks
about the wheels of providence. In verse 26, he saw a throne
and a man sitting on it. Then in verse 28, he saw the
bow of God's covenant. This was the appearance of the
likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell upon
my face and I heard the voice of one that spake. He was utterly
withered before the glory of God. He fell on his face as one
dead before God. when a man sees God. Go through this book. Go through
the book when a man sees God. You will find the response always
exactly opposite of what religious folks talk about when they brag
about seeing God. Exactly opposite. This man saw
God and it fell on his face John saw God in his glory and he fell
on his face Moses saw God in his glory and he was with him
before Daniel said Daniel said there was no strength left in
me And saw God and he falls before him now look at chapter 2 Here
the prophet seems to be describing his experience of grace He was raised as it were from
the dead And he said unto me, son of man, stand upon thy feet
and I will speak unto thee. And the spirit entered into me
when he spake unto me and set me upon my feet. He said stand up, but he didn't. He said stand up, but he couldn't.
He was withered without strength before God. So the Spirit of
God enters into him and sets him up on his feet. And he heard
him that spake unto me. Then in verse 9, verses 3 through
10, the Lord God made him a prophet and sent him to his rebellious
people. In verse 9, he saw a hand, the same hand that John saw in
Revelation 5 and 10 opening the book. The hand of the Lamb of
God, the man sitting on the throne. He saw a hand to help him, to
guide him, to protect him. The omnipotent hand of God. A
hand pierced in crucifixion for him. Verse 10, he saw the book. Again, the same book John saw,
the book of God's purpose. And then in chapter 3, verses
1, 2, and 3, God commands him to eat the book. To eat the book? What a strange thing. Eat the
book. Ezekiel was unlike other prophets. Almost everything God told Ezekiel
to say, God told Ezekiel to illustrate by action. Every prophecy, Ezekiel
illustrated by what he did. God tells him to eat the book. But we never will. We won't bow
to his purpose. So he didn't just tell Ezekiel
to eat the book. In verse two, he made him eat
it. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. And as soon as he ate it, it
was sweet as honey in his belly. That's what a preacher's got
to do. He takes the word of God into himself as only God can
put it in him, makes it sweet as honey in his belly, and brings
forth the word to feed God's people with knowledge and understanding.
Ezekiel is here a prophet. Oh, God make me such a man as
he is. Verse eight, he's a man made strong by God. Made strong. so that people everywhere oppose him.
People everywhere talk about him. People everywhere yak behind
his back. People everywhere plot to overthrow
him. People everywhere do what they
can to destroy his name. And God says, don't be afraid
of their faces or of their words. No need to be. He's a man. who receives all God's Word in
his heart, verse 10. The prophet is a man moved and
motivated and consumed, in verse 12, with God's glory. God's prophet,
verses 14 and 15, is a man with a broken heart, burdened before
God. Verse 16, he's a man that God's
made to be a watchman. over the souls of men. Watching
for your souls. Day and night, watching. Watching. Watching for your eternal good.
The prophet is a man shut up, verses 22 through 27. Shut up
to the will of God and the glory of God his Lord. Separated to
the gospel. Now, look at chapter 4. Here the Lord gave Ezekiel his
message. He sent his prophet to proclaim wrath and impending
judgment. But in the midst of this declaration
of wrath and judgment, Ezekiel is told to do a strange, strange
thing. He's told to lie on his sides
first on his left side for 390 days and then on his right side
for 40 days, depicting each day the years of the rebellion of
Israel and Judah in their idolatry. But as he lays on his side those
430 days. I read a good many commentaries
and they fuss about whether this is literal or figurative. It
doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. The message
is the same. But God commands him to lay on his side 390 days,
then flip over and lay on his other side for 40 days. And while
he's laying there, he eats a strange concoction, but just a little
bit every day, just enough to keep him alive. And it wasn't
anything you'd want. It was worse than eating whole
grain dry bread. They'll just nibble it. Stuff that you feed horses. Eat
that and don't put butter on it. You put cow's dung on it. Ezekiel said, I've never defiled
myself. I've never eaten anything unclean.
Well, why did God command his prophet to do that? God says
judgment is sure. And you shall be punished to
the full satisfaction of justice according to your iniquities,
either in yourself or in a substitute man who lays down for you his
life, bearing your sin. Mark, while Ezekiel's laying
on his side for 390 days, he bears the iniquity of Israel.
And when he lays on his side for 40 more days, he bears the
iniquity of Judah. So laying there, Ezekiel is portraying
this substitute man whom God said would come, the woman's
seed, who would crush the serpent's head by bearing your sin before
God and defiling himself with cow's dung. So Christ, who knew
no sin, was made sin for us. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. In chapters four, five, and six,
he declares this, God will punish sin. Sin must be punished, either
in you or in a substitute, in a suitable man whom God himself
shall send. When we get to the eighth chapter,
our sixth chapter in verse eight, The Lord in wrath remembers mercy
and promises that some shall indeed escape his wrath through
the sacrifice of that substitute. In verse 8 he says a remnant
shall escape. In verse 9 he said when they
escape they'll remember me. Then he says they'll acknowledge
their sin and then he says they'll loathe themselves. That's what
God does in his grace. Look at verse 10. When they have
escaped and they remember me and they acknowledge this, when
they loathe themselves, then they shall know that I am the
Lord. Chapter seven and eight, the
Lord shows his prophet the end of the matter, the judgment that
must come. That which is here spoken of
to Israel and Judah reaches beyond the rebellious people. It reaches
to all the world and it begins at the house of God. As if to
say, these who are the eminent in Israel, these who have led
my people in idolatry, claiming to worship God, but instead bring
their idols into my house and worship their idols in my house,
I will destroy them. Judgment must begin at the house
of God. And then the Lord God speaks
by His prophet, telling him that this judgment is absolutely just. Absolutely just, but judgment
preceded by a great separation. In chapter nine, there's this
man. Clothed in linen. The garments
of our priest with an acorn by his side. I read the passage
several times, I kept wanting to read it with an acorn in his
hand, that's not what it says. So he's got an acorn by his side.
And our Lord Jesus, our great priest, was pierced in his side. And with the acorn, he's commanded
of God to go out and mark the remnant. Judgment's coming. Destroy every man, but not this
remnant. This remnant marked by blood
to be sealed by grace. He says, touch not the earth
till I've sealed the hundred and forty four thousand in their
foreheads till these had the mark of blood upon them, blood
sprinkled upon their consciences by the spirit of God, and they
shall be saved. Then judgment is executed by
the hands of the mediator who is so obstinately despised. Now,
look at chapter nine, verses eight to 11. and learn that those who have
been spared, spared to trust the goodness
and grace of God in Christ Jesus, respond with humility before
God. Verse eight, it came to pass
that while they were slaying them, I was left, I was spared. that I fell upon my face and
cried and said, ah, Lord God, wilt thou destroy the residue
of Israel and thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? I'm reminded of second Thessalonians,
Paul speaks about God's judgment, destroying the world with the
religion of Antichrist. He says, but we are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God had from the beginning chosen you. Ezekiel
fell on his face, astonished, with gratitude and humiliation
before God. Amazing grace. How sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
am found. I was blind, but now I see. And
he makes intercession for others, asking God to spare the residue
of Israel. He cries, God, save your elect. Save your chosen, your covenant
people. And then once all of God's chosen are saved, look
at verse 10. This man with the acorn, I'm sorry, verse nine. This man with the acorn does
so. Then said he unto me, the iniquity
of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great in the hand.
The land is full of blood and the city is full of perverseness.
For they say the Lord hath forsaken the earth and the Lord saith
not. And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare. Neither
will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their
head. Judgment's over. All God's elect
have been spared by his grace, saved by his grace. And now he
makes all things new. Now watch this. And behold, the
man clothed with linen, which had the acorn by his side, reported
the matter. Christ, Jehovah's servant, to
whom he's committed all his will and all his glory in the saving
of his people and in the judgment of all flesh. He says, I have
done as thou has commanded me. And God shall be all in all everything
exactly according to God's will. And I was spared. Oh, may God
spare you by His grace. Amen.