Okay, this evening now we want
to take a look at Ezekiel chapter 16. And we'll look briefly at
verse 1, down through verse 14. I'm taking the title for the
message from the words found in verse 8. God said, when I
passed by thee, that is God's elect, polluted in their sin,
and I looked upon thee, it was a look of love, I looked upon
thee, It was a look of mercy. And behold, thy time was a time
of love, not a time of wrath, not a time of judgment, but a
time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee
and covered your nakedness, and I swear unto thee and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and you became
mine. We're his, he bought us with
his blood. So the title of the message is
called just simply The Time of Love. And we know that it's a
look of mercy, it's a look of grace when God looks upon his
people and has mercy upon them for Christ's sake. Every believer
can certainly confess that our salvation we enjoy And the blessings we enjoy is
only because of God's sovereign, effectual love unto us. Here in his love, not that we
love God, he loved us. We only love him because he first
loved us. And he's loved his people with
an everlasting love. And he said, therefore, with
everlasting kindness, I'll draw them unto me. There never has been a time when
God has not loved his people in Christ. He chose us in Christ
and he chose us out of love in him. Now in this chapter, Ezekiel
16, we see God's sovereign mercy to us through Christ. It is a
beautiful picture of the Lord's salvation to His covenant people. This is the story of every believer. This is our spiritual biography
from the dunghill of sin to the throne of glory by the Lord's
purpose and grace freely given to us for one reason, for Christ's
sake. For Christ's sake, is God who
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but rather His purpose, His grace, given us in Christ? before the foundation of the
world. You remember I read that prayer of Hannah a few weeks
ago, found in 1 Samuel 2, where it said, he raises up the poor
out of the dust, he lifts the beggar from the dunghill to set
them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory,
for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he has set
the world upon them. We see so clearly and plainly,
don't we, that our salvation that we enjoy is by the Lord's
purpose and grace. As we often say, salvation is
of the Lord. And we can say that as sinners,
saved by the grace of God. We can say, our salvation, God
saved me by His grace, His purpose and grace. Now, all that has
been written in the Old Testament has the same purpose of the New
Testament. All scripture is God-breathed,
God-inspired to teach us the gospel. Old Testament scripture
and New Testament scripture has one message, and that message
is salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. All things must be fulfilled
which are written in the law and the prophets and in the Psalms,
our Lord said, concerning me. all about the Lord Jesus Christ.
To him give all the prophets witness, that includes Isaiah,
that includes Jeremiah, that includes this man Ezekiel, the
prophet of God who is given this vision. We know that all things
written aforetime were written for our learning that we through
the comfort of the scriptures, the comfort of the scriptures
might have hope. As we see God dealing with this
national people, Israel, in sovereign mercy, sovereign choice, sovereign
love, even so we see God dealing graciously with his spiritual
Israel, the true sons of Abraham, his elect, his elect. As many
as be of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. For the just shall live by faith. Now in this, story of salvation,
and in this picture we have in this little infant girl that's
cast out, we see the gospel story, don't we? When we read through
that, didn't you just see the gospel story there? We see those
three R's, don't we? Ruined at Adam, redeemed through
the Lord Jesus Christ, and regeneration by God the Holy Spirit. I pass
by thee and I say unto thee, live. And we live by His sovereign
grace. Now, here's the first thing we
see. Let's read verse 1 down to verse 5. Again, the word of
the Lord came unto me, saying, What a blessing it is to have
the word of the Lord, son of man, cause Jerusalem, that is
the people of God, to know her sinfulness, her abomination,
and say, thus said the Lord God unto Jerusalem, your birth was
not pretty. Your birth and your nativity
was at the land of Canaan. Canaan, go all the way back.
into Genesis and Canaan was called cursed. Thy father was an Amorite. and thy mother was a Hittite.
Talking about Abraham's beginning, God found him in the land of
the heir of Chaldees. His father was an idolater and
his mother was an idolater. And yet this man, 75 years old,
God called him out and said, you get out and I'll show you
a land to whom you shall go and I will bless you with a multitude
of people. As for thy nativity and the day
when you were born, thy navel was not cut, Neither was thou
washed in water, none to supple thee, thou wast not salted at
all, purified, or swaddled at all. No one pitied you to do
any of these things unto you, to have compassion on thee. but
thou was cast out in the open field to the loathing of thy
person in the day that thou was born." Now we see in that scripture
the description, a description of our ruined condition in Adam. Now I'm told by some of the old
writers of scripture, commentaries, that the pagan nations years
ago, there was a custom of leaving unwanted, deformed infants to
perish in the field. You'll find no better picture
of our state at birth in Adam than the story of this infant.
When they had a child that they didn't want, they just threw
the child out into the open field. No one cared for the child. No
one helped the child. The child was totally helpless.
What's going to happen to that infant cast out in the field?
Well, it's going to die unless somebody comes by and does something
for it. We were born in sin of fallen
parents. In sin did my mother conceive
me. We would come forth from the
womb speaking lies. We did not come into this world
as those who might stand or fall, but we came in this world as
those who were already fallen and sinful in Adam. In Adam all
died. Representation, you can't get
away from that. That's through and through the
Word of God. In Adam all died, representation. But thank God
there's more to that representation. In Christ shall all be made alive.
God raises us up in the same way in which we were fallen in
a representative man. And Adam all died and Christ
all shall be made alive. Ours was a state of total depravity,
total inability. This newborn infant is helpless
and hopeless without any power or ability to help itself. All
it can do is cry. and then perish. And that's us. By nature, we're without God,
without hope, without Christ in this world. And if God doesn't
come by in a time of love and mercy and do something for us,
we'll lay out there in that darkness, deadness, and filthiness of our
sin and justly perish. No outside help is available,
it says here in verse five, no I pitied thee, none. They just
passed by and said, just die. No I pitied you, no one had mercy
on you to do any of these things unto thee, to have compassion
on thee, to love thee, but thou was cast out into the open field
to the loathing of thy person in the day that you were born,
and that's us. This is a true picture of a fallen
sinner. No outside help is available.
No mercy. The law must condemn us. Holiness
is offended and must pass by. Truth is sworn to testify against
us. Justice bars it. sharp sword
to destroy us, the soul that sinneth must surely die. That's in Ezekiel 18 verse 4.
The soul that sinneth shall surely die. This loathsome sight is
the true picture of what we are before God. From the sole of our foot, Even
to the head there's no soundness, but wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores. You remember Isaiah chapter 1? But notice as you look at this
infant that's called in the time of love from the bottom of their
feet to the top of their head, they are blessed of God through
and through. If there's any help for such
a sinful creature as we are, it must come from outside ourselves. It must come from God alone who
justifies the ungodly. He finds us in this terrible,
terrible condition. And he doesn't pass us by because
he's Put us in that covenant of grace. He's chosen us in Christ,
and when he comes by with the gospel, he says, live. And you know what happens? We live. And the second thing
is this, the good news of the gospel, verse six through eight.
When I passed by thee, now others passed by thee and had no pity.
The law looked on you and said, just die in your sin. The law
had no pity on thee. When I passed by thee and saw
thee polluted in your blood, sinful in your own guilt, I said
unto thee, when you was in your filthiness and in your guilt,
live. I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy blood, live. Now, did this cast out infant
merit any? of God's attention. Do we merit
any mercy from the Lord? I have caused thee to multiply
as the bud of the field. Thou hast increased and waxen
great. Thou art become excellent. Ornaments
thy breast are fashioned. Thine hair is grown, whereas
you was naked and bare. Now here's this infant grown
up. mature and beautiful through His comeliness. And when I passed
by thee and looked upon thee, behold, it was a time of love. That word behold there reminds
me of another verse. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God. And I spread my skirt over you,
over thee, I covered your nakedness. You remember Adam tried, fallen
Adam tried to cover his nakedness, didn't he? With fig leaves. Didn't work, did it? People try
to cover their sin with immorality. Won't do. I swear unto thee and
entered into a covenant with thee, sayeth the Lord, and you
became mine. Oh, this is such a blessing.
Here's the good news of the gospel. Salvation for sinners. Here we
see a sovereign display of salvation to sinners, to the guilty. What
God did for us, not what we've done for Him. It's what He has
done for us. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. God committed his love for us
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us when we were
yet without strength. I pass by thee, and we know he
passed by on purpose, didn't he? God saves every sinner he
wisely saves by his purpose. You remember from John chapter
4 where the Lord said, I must needs go through Samaria? Why
must he go through Samaria? Well, there's a woman there that's
a sinner that's guilty, but chosen of God in that covenant of grace.
And he passed by in a time of love and gave her life. I passed
by thee, notice verse six, I passed by thee and saw thee truly. And I said unto thee, live, live. We did not seek him, he sought
us. We did not choose him, he chose
us. We did not come where he is,
he came to us where we are. He was mindful of us and set
his love upon us before the foundation of the world. The Lord our God entered into
an eternal covenant of mercy on our behalf with the Lord Jesus
Christ, our surety. That covenant's ordered in all
things and is sure. The Lord Jesus Christ we know
is the sacrifice and surety of that covenant. No one can add
or disannul or change that eternal covenant of grace, can they?
Our Lord came to us in the person of his son. In the fullness of
time, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them. Christ took our human nature
to himself apart from our sin, obeyed the law of God for us,
and redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. Boy, what mercy. Think of it. The Holy One of God came and
took upon Himself, married to Himself, put in union with Himself
our humanity apart from sin, honored the law of God in His
life and in His death satisfied that penalty, redeemed us from
the curse of the law. What mercy, what grace. I saw
thee polluted, He says in verse 6, the Lord saw us as we really
are and yet He didn't pass us by. He loved us. Mercy's for
the miserable, grace is for the guilty, salvation is for sinners. Remember those Pharisees complained
when the Lord went home to eat with publicans and sinners? They
said to the disciples, why does your master do that? And the
Lord spoke up and said, those who are whole don't need a physician,
but those who are sick, go learn what that means. I'll have mercy,
not sacrifice. I didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Aren't you thankful? God commended
his love toward us and that while we were yet sinful and ungodly,
the Lord Jesus Christ saw us polluted in his blood and didn't
pass us by. I said unto thee, when he was
in your blood, live the same way that our Lord stood before
the grave of Lazarus, who had been dead four days, decaying
and rotting flesh. Someone told the Lord, don't
take that stone away. Lazarus, his body stinketh. And the Lord said, remove the
stone. And the Lord said, Lazarus, come
forth. And he that was dead came forth.
At the same way, the Lord quickens us. He speaks in power. He commands
us to live. You hath he quickened who were
dead? As the father quickens whom he will, even so the son
quickens whom he will. Aren't you glad? He passes by
on purpose. And our sin is no problem to
our salvation. He came to save sinners. He came
to seek and to save the lost. You have He quickened who were
dead. Our Lord quickened the sinner to life through His Word,
by His will. Death gives way to life. Darkness
becomes light. He commands the light to shine
out of darkness. Inability gives way to strength. And our enemies flee away. It's the same power that raised
up the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. It's the same power
that it takes to raise a dead sinner to life in Christ. Ephesians chapter 1 tells us
that. We believe according to the working of His mighty power.
And it's the same mighty power that raised the dead body of
the Lord Jesus Christ up that third morning. Same power. The power of God. Salvation is
a mighty operation of God. It's just a mighty operation
of God. Look at verse 7. He said, I caused
thee to multiply as the bud of the field and has increased and
waxed and great. I caused thee. Thou art become
excellent Our breasts are fashioned, our hair is grown, whereas I
was naked and bare." What blessings we have in Christ. I cause thee
to multiply as the field. Notice these words of grace.
Multiply. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. He caused us to increase. Where sin abounded, grace does
much more abound. He's made us to enjoy the great
mercies of the Lord. He's called us excellent, excellent
ornaments He gives us. All spiritual blessings in Christ.
And he causes us to grow in grace. Thine hair is grown, he causes
us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We were naked, lifeless, poor, and needy, yet the Lord has blessed
us abundantly with all spiritual blessings. In him dwells all
the fullness of a Godhead bodily, and in Christ we are complete. Look at verse 8, when I passed
by thee and looked upon thee, behold, behold, behold, here's
the reason behind his mercy to the miserable. Covenant love,
covenant mercy, sovereign love, thy time was a time of love. I spread my skirt over you, I
covered your nakedness, and I swear unto thee, entered into a covenant with
thee, saith the Lord, and you became mine." Boy, what a great
promise God has given to us in Christ. The reason behind His
mercies is covenant love. It's ordered in all things and
sure. Not our love for Him, but His
love for us. His love for us. Nothing can
separate us from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He loved us with an everlasting
love. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. If he chose us in love, redeemed
us in love, and called us in love, nothing can separate us
from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I covered
your nakedness. He took away our reproach and
shame and guilt and made us righteous and holy in Christ. You remember
from reading Isaiah 61 10, he's clothed us with the robe of righteousness
and he's given us the garments of salvation. Christ himself
is the Lord, our righteousness. God made him to be sin for us. He knew no sin. He makes us the
righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He's covered our nakedness,
put away our sin. and made us whole in Christ,
justified us freely by His grace. In verse 9, down through verse
14, we see this deliverance and these blessings are given to
us here. Verse 9, then I washed thee with
water, the water of His Word, I thoroughly washed away thy
blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee
with abroided work and shod thee with badger skin. I girded thee
with fine linen. I covered you with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments,
and I put bracelets upon thy hands, a chain upon thy neck. I put a jewel on your forehead,
earrings in thine ears, a beautiful crown. upon thy head. Thou wast decked with gold and
silver, thy raiment was fine linen and silk, broided work. Thou didst eat the best bread,
fine flour, and honey, honey, and oil. Thou wast exceeding
beautiful. Thou didst prosper into a kingdom
Thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty, for it
was perfect through my comeliness, which I put upon thee, saith
the Lord God. Now let's just look at a few
things here in verse nine, down through verse 14. The Lord Jesus
Christ has washed us with the water of his word. He's made
us to know him through the gospel and to make us know that it's
the blood that maketh atonement for our soul. The blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin. And notice the completeness of
our salvation. He's clothed us with a special
garment crafted especially for us. A broided work. You ladies
know something about broidery. Detail work. And he shot us with
badger skin. That is, he's given us durable
shoes. You remember Paul says, your
feet were shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. He's
covered us from head to toe. He's girded us with fine linen,
covered us with silk. This is a royal apparel that
belonged to kings and priests. He's made us kings and priests
unto our God. Unto him who loved us and washed
us from our sin and made us kings and priests unto our God. Verse
11, 12, He's adorned us with precious jewels of His grace,
typical of spiritual gifts we have in Christ. Bracelets on
our hands, hand blessed to labor to serve the Lord. A chain upon
our neck, believers willingly serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
A jewel in our forehead, believers openly confess the Lord Jesus
Christ They assemble where the gospel is preached. They identify
with his people. Earrings in thine ear. The ears are marked. You ladies
wear earrings, don't you? What does that mean? That means
the ears are pierced. were swift to hear him speak. He said, my sheep, I know them
and they hear my voice. And then he gives us a crown
on our head, shoes on our feet, crown on our head, all the way
from head to toe. who crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercies. You remember over here, don't
turn, let me just see if I can find it for us, over here in
2 Timothy chapter four, where Paul said, I'm ready to be offered,
the time of my departure is at hand, I've fought a good fight,
I've finished my course, I've kept the faith, henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge shall give me in that day, not to me only,
but unto all of them also that love his appearing." It's a crown
of righteousness. Christ is our righteousness.
Our gracious Lord provides all things for us, a glorious covering
and constantly feeding us with the bread of life, fine flour. That's Christ our bread, is it
not? And then he says, honey, Fine flour and honey. There's
a scripture over in Psalm 81 verse 16. He said, I fed thee
also with the finest of wheat and honey out of the rock have
I satisfied thee. I remember reading a book years
ago entitled Honey Out of the Rock from that verse. And that's
Christ. He is the rock. He's the sweetness
of salvation that comes out of that smitten rock. The church
does prosper under the care of our good, great, and chief shepherd,
in spite of all demons, false prophets, and the very gates
of hell shall not prevail against his church. We do prosper into
a kingdom. And it's a spiritual kingdom,
too. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper. I love that word, prosper. The
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Remember, I'm over
here. Don't turn, let me get it for
you. You know this verse so well. Isaiah 53, yet it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. He had put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper, prosper in his hand. Whatever God does prospers, my
friend. The church does continue to prosper
under the care of our great shepherd. Verse 14, in closing, the church's
beauty is Christ Himself. Thy renown went forth among the
heathen for thy beauty. We don't have any beauty of our
own. We weren't born beautiful. He makes us so. It was perfect
through my comeliness. It was perfect through my beauty.
Perfect! of his fullness have we all received
grace for grace, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord."
The church's beauty is Christ, Christ himself, which is freely
imputed to us. You remember we read Abraham
believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness? Our
salvation we have in Christ is perfect. Perfect salvation. We stand complete in Christ,
don't we? If you want to turn here, you
can, but if we turn over here to the book of Colossians, where
we read in Colossians 1, Verse 12, giving thanks unto
the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son,
in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sin, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. Verse 16, Colossians 1, for by
him were all things created that are in heaven, And in the earth,
visible or invisible, whether it be thrones or dominions, principalities
or powers, all things were created by him and for him. For he is
before all things, and by him all things consist. He is the
head of the body of the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Read on now. For it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness dwell, having made peace through the
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. And you sometimes alienated
enemies in your mind that cast out an infant by wicked works. Yet now he reconciled. It was a time of love. I said,
and he lived. in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy, to present you holy, you, unblameable,
unreprovable in his sight. Wow. See what he's saying there? Thy renown went forth among the
heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect through my comeliness
which I put upon thee, saith the Lord. Now don't turn to this,
let me just read it. Now to Him that is able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence
of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Savior
be glory and majesty and dominion and power both now and forever. And then the last word of the
book of Jude says, Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, that's a blessed, blessed
picture of our salvation we have in Christ.