Through the Bible - Ezekiel

The Word of Scripture reminds us of the prayer Jesus offered in John chapter 17: "Sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth." Lord, we pray that You would continue to sanctify and cleanse us by the washing of the water of Your Word as we look at this great book tonight. I pray that You would give us insight and transform us as we renew our minds, for we ask this in Jesus' name. And everybody said, "Amen."

How many of you read through the book of Ezekiel this week? It's a long book. Just one of you? That's okay; it is a hard book. The very first chapter is intriguing, with a wheel within a wheel and all the crazy stuff going on there. I'm not going to interpret that for you.

As I've been reading through the book of Ezekiel, I've been thinking about the judgment of God because it is so clearly seen. The authorship of this book is not really contested at all by scholars and Bible teachers. Ezekiel himself mentions several times that he is the writer, with God speaking directly to him and calling him to do some very strange things as a sign to the people. In fact, several times in this book, God says, "You are a sign and a witness to the people."

Ezekiel was a sign and a witness to an exiled people, a people in captivity. He was one of the captives brought to Babylon after the very first initial siege of the city by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC.

The city of Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, but there were two sieges by King Nebuchadnezzar and his armies from Babylon before he finally destroyed it. After he first sacked the city, he put a puppet king in place and said, "I will give you the power to rule." He brought most of the people back to Babylon, and it is believed that Ezekiel was one of those first captives taken to Babylon.

A king was set up in the city, and Ezekiel even prophesied about what this king would seek to do. He would seek the help of the Egyptians to try and defend the city one more time. When Nebuchadnezzar heard about this, he would come and completely destroy the city. Ezekiel was a contemporary of Daniel, who we will be looking at next week. You may remember that Daniel was one of the young men brought from Jerusalem to Babylon and set in the king's court. Ezekiel was also one of the men brought from Jerusalem, and he was one of the captives there.

God spoke to Ezekiel, who was of the priestly tribe in Israel. He was part of those men who were priests, and it is believed that he received these visions when he turned 30 years old. This was the age when the Levites would begin their service in the temple. He should have begun his service in the temple, but instead, he was taken into captivity. However, God said, "I’m not finished with you. You are a priest, and I am going to speak through you to my people and to this nation."

As you go through this book, consider the judgment of God and how He would judge His people and pour out His wrath upon them. Sometimes, when we think about it, we wonder how a loving God, who called these people and speaks so much about His love for them, could pour out His wrath and judgment upon them. This book shows us very clearly why. The words "thus saith the Lord God" are seen 199 times in this book, more than in any other book in the Bible. That is pretty powerful. God is speaking to His people, and He was going to pour out His wrath and fury upon His own people.

The reason He was going to do that is shared with the people 64 times, as He says, "And you shall know that I am the Lord." The purpose of God's judgment was twofold. First, it was for purification; it was to purify the nation of Israel. Anytime you see God's judgment in the Old Testament, it is for the purpose of purification. The second purpose that comes through God's wrath and judgment is that all the world would know.

God says that I am the Lord. When you look at the book of Exodus and that great story of the children of Israel being brought out of Egypt, you'll remember that several times in the book of Exodus it says that Pharaoh hardened his heart. It also says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. God was the one who even stirred Pharaoh to follow the children of Israel after they left in Exodus chapters 14 and 15. It was God who stirred Pharaoh to follow the children of Israel down into the Red Sea.

When you look at that passage, I always have kind of stopped at that portion of Scripture in Exodus chapter 14, where God tells Moses, "I am going to harden Pharaoh's heart, and he's going to follow you. I'm going to make him follow you." I think to myself, God, if you can speak to Pharaoh in that way, why don't you just tell him to go home? I mean, that's the logical thing. Yet God says, "No, I am going to cause him to come after you with his armies." God proclaims, "I'm going to pour out my wrath upon him and his armies so that the world will know that I am God."

God proclaims Himself to the world through His judgments, as we see upon the army of Egypt in Exodus and also on His own people in the book of Ezekiel. It is clearly seen that God says, "I'm going to judge you, and you shall know that I am the Lord." One of the primary purposes of His judgment was twofold: to purify His people and to show that He is God.

Forty-six times we read, "The word of the Lord came to me." Here was a man who was waiting upon the Lord, and God would come and speak to him. God would come and speak to him through visions, and He would simply ask him, "Hey Ezekiel, what do you see?" Ezekiel would write the things that he saw, and I guarantee you Ezekiel did not understand the things that he saw. When he writes about a wheel within a wheel and these creatures with eyes all over them, you can imagine him going through this and thinking, "What in the world is he talking about?" I guarantee he was wondering, "What in the world is that?"

God was just saying, "Write it. I want you to write it down." I don't think that we can come to any definite and sure interpretation of what he was talking about, but we can draw some great applications from those visions. As we read about these creatures with eyes all over them, there is a great vigilance of these creatures that surround God. As you see God traveling around in this book, He has these cherubim, these burning ones, these creatures that are surrounding Him. It's almost like His secret service detail following with God.

These creatures have eyes all over them, and Isaiah saw a very similar picture of these beings. They have six wings: with two wings they flew, with two they covered their feet, and with two they covered their eyes. As we go through all this imagery, we might wonder what in the world is going on here with this wheel within a wheel. Pat and I were discussing this earlier this week. As I was reading through it again, I thought about it many times before, but this time I asked Pat, "What do you think about the wheel within a wheel?" We talked for about half an hour, trying to understand what is happening there.

One thing that is very clear as we go through the book of Ezekiel is that God is on the move. He is present in Babylon with His captive people, seeking to speak to them. Then God catches Ezekiel up and takes him back to Jerusalem to show him what is happening there. Remember, Ezekiel was from the priestly tribe, and at this point in his life, he is 30 years old. He should have been serving in the temple.

In one of the chapters of Ezekiel, God brings him to the city of Jerusalem and takes him to the temple. What does God show him there? He reveals that the people have erected altars of incense to foreign gods within the temple. God takes Ezekiel into a room and says, "Look, there’s a hole in this wall. I want you to peek in." When Ezekiel looks through the hole, he finds a multitude of essentially pornographic images covering the walls, and the priests are worshipping these things. God then confronts Ezekiel, asking, "Do you see now why I am going to pour out My wrath upon this people? I am going to judge them."

In the first part of Ezekiel, chapters 1 through 3, we see the commission of the prophet. God calls Ezekiel and says, "This is what I am calling you to do." We see this in many of the prophetic books; we saw it in the book of Isaiah and in Jeremiah chapter 1. God called these men for a specific purpose. He called Ezekiel to be not only a prophet but also a sign to the people through the way he lived and the things he did.

For instance, God would have Ezekiel lay on one side for 390 days and then flip to the other side for 40 days. God spoke through these unusual actions. He would say, "Alright, tomorrow morning I want you to wake up, pack your things, and go outside the camp. Leave the people and pitch your camp outside. Then, in the evening, come back in, and I will speak to the people. You are a sign to them in the way that you live." Considering that, we can see the depth of God's message through Ezekiel's life.

We are a sign to the people around us, including those we work with and those we encounter in school and classes. God speaks through us to the people by the way we live. They are watching us. God called this man to be a sign to the people, but also to speak His word. God was going to speak to him, and he was going to speak to the people.

In the second portion, from chapter 4 through chapter 24, God speaks about the judgment He is going to bring upon Judah and the people. This brings us back to the theme of the wrath of God, which is seen so clearly in the Old Testament. It is also evident that there is coming a day when God will pour out His wrath and judgment on this Christ-rejecting world once again. Therefore, it is important that we read and understand the Old Testament in the context of what is to come. This understanding should stir our hearts to evangelism and motivate us to share with those who are currently abiding under the wrath of God.

The book of Romans states that the unbeliever, the unrighteous, are storing up for themselves wrath for the day of God's wrath. There is a coming day of wrath when God will pour out the cup of His wrath upon this Christ-rejecting world. This is not a pretty thing. When we go through the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, we see that these prophets had great visions of what God was going to do. They were not excited about it. When Isaiah sees God judging the enemies of Israel, he does not respond with joy; rather, he is filled with dread.

Jonah was the exception to the rule. He wanted the enemies of God to be destroyed and was upset when God showed them mercy. We will delve into that in a few weeks. However, most of these prophets, when they had a vision of what God's wrath truly looks like, doubled over in pain. Ezekiel cried out to God several times, "Oh Lord, this is too much." Think of Habakkuk when God tells him about the judgment He is going to bring upon the people of Judah. Habakkuk cries out, "Lord, this is not right that You do this and pour out Your wrath and judgment."

When God brings His wrath and judgment upon this world at a future time, we believe, taking some of the prophecies from the book of Ezekiel into account, that this could happen very soon.

To do these things should stir us to want to bring the good news of the gospel to people who are perishing, to people who are dying. Why? Well, Paul says in Romans chapter 1 that the gospel, the good news, is the very power of God and it brings salvation to everyone who believes, whether they be Jewish or Gentile. God is able to save people from the wrath that is to come because He poured out His wrath upon His Son, who took our sin upon Himself. That is good news, and we should want to share it with people, especially when we consider what is coming.

When you read the book of Ezekiel, the book of Isaiah, and other prophetic books in the Old Testament, it gives us a very clear understanding of what God's wrath truly looks like. However, something important for us to consider in this discussion is why God pours out His wrath. There are many today who question God and His wrath. A lot of people, especially in my generation, react negatively when you start to talk about the wrath of God, Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible. They say, "Your God is an angry God," and point to all the horrible things that they believe He is doing.

This past week, I was talking with my mom about some of the things that have been coming out. Maybe you have seen the book "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle, which Oprah Winfrey is endorsing. She is essentially discipling millions of people on her website through this New Age material. In discussing this, one of the statements she made was that she had a life-changing experience when she was sitting in a Baptist church at about 27 years old. The preacher was speaking about God's glory and awesomeness, and then he mentioned God's jealousy. She reacted with disbelief, saying, "What? God jealous? I just can't serve a God who is jealous."

This book speaks about the jealousy of God and provides a clear understanding of why God is jealous. I want to look at God's jealousy and God's wrath tonight, so I want you to turn to Ezekiel chapter 16. This chapter, one of the longer ones in the book, gives us a clear understanding of why God is jealous and why He pours out His wrath, even on people that He loves. It is because He loves His people that He chastens them. Remember what Hebrews chapter 12 tells us: "Whom the Lord loves, He chastens." This means He disciplines those whom He loves, and some receive correction. For those who receive correction, it builds in them.

The peaceable fruits of righteousness build godly character and have a way of purifying us. However, those who do not receive His correction and harden their hearts will still have God glorified through their lives. Look at Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 14. God says, "I’m going to destroy Pharaoh and all his army." Why? Because He will be glorified this day in Pharaoh.

This is a key note to write down in your Bibles or in your notes: God is glorified whether a person accepts or rejects Him. God will be glorified through the life of the believer who accepts Him, and He will use them for His purposes. But God will also be glorified through the life of the unbeliever by His wrath, as we will see that He is righteous when He pours out His wrath on the day of Christ Jesus.

In Ezekiel chapter 16, we will pick our way through this passage, remembering that it is part of God's judgment upon Judah, His beloved people. They were a people who expected that God would not judge them. Many false prophets were coming through, telling them, "Don't worry, God loves you. It's okay, God’s not going to judge you." Does that sound like anything we hear today? It does, doesn't it?

In chapter 16, verse 1, the word of the Lord came to me saying, "Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations." God wanted Jerusalem to understand why He was going to judge them. He instructed me to bring the indictment against them, saying, "Thus saith the Lord unto Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan." God says, "Remember your roots. Consider where you came from."

We talked about this last week on Sunday morning. Religion often focuses on who your birth is from. In the Gospel of John, chapter 8, they were saying, "We are Abraham's children. We are Moses' children. We are God's children." But Jesus responded, "No, you are not. You exhibit the characteristics of your father; your father is the devil."

So God tells these people to remember where they came from, that they are not perfect. They kept going back to Abraham and Jacob, claiming, "We are children of Israel, and God’s not going to judge us." Thus says the Lord unto Jerusalem: "Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite."

Sometimes we think, "Look at my birth; everything's great. I had Christian parents and grandparents and great-grandparents. Even my great-great-great-grandparent was a pastor." We may believe that this makes us something special, but God says, "No, you were just..."

Pulled out of the world, your father was an Amorite and your mother was a Hittite. As for your nativity, in the day that you were born, your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to supple you. You were not salted at all, nor were you swaddled. God says that when you were born, there was nothing special about you, and nobody took care of you. Nobody was there for you. There was no other God that was going to come and take care of you. No, I pitied you.

In verse 5, God says, "To do any of these to you, to have compassion upon you, but you were cast out in the open field to the loathing of your person in the day that you were born." God says to remember your birth; you really were nothing special. In fact, nobody loved you. No, I pitied you.

But notice this in verse 6: "When I passed by you and saw you polluted in your own blood, I said unto you, when you were in your blood, live." Yes, I said unto you, "Live." God comes to a dead man and says, "I want to give you life." He came to these people who were nothing and said, "Live."

"I have caused you to multiply as the bud of the field, and you have increased and waxen great. You have come to excellent ornaments; your breasts are fashioned and your hair has grown, whereas you were naked and bare." God says, "Listen, you've grown up, and you've grown to maturity. Now, when I passed by you and looked upon you, behold, your time was come, the time of love. I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore unto you and entered into a covenant with you, saith the Lord, and you became mine."

God says, "I separated you. I brought you out from nothing. You would have died if I hadn't done anything, and then you've grown to maturity. You came to the day of love, the time to be married, the time to be betrothed. I came by you and cast my skirt upon you," meaning I came and chose you to be mine, to be my bride.

Then I washed you with water and thoroughly washed away your blood from you. I anointed you with oil. God came and washed us, just as Ephesians 5 says, "by the washing of the water of the word." He anointed them with oil; we know that God has anointed us with the oil of the Holy Spirit.

That's right, I clothed you also with broidered work, so these are nice, expensive clothing that God has given to them. I shod you with badger skins and girded you about with fine linen. I covered you with silk. Look at the way that God adorns His people; He gives them these great gifts and makes them beautiful.

I decked you also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands and a chain about your neck. I put a jewel...

On your forehead, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head—do you get the picture? Can you imagine it? Here is Israel, and God says, "I took you while you were a little child. Nobody wanted you; they disposed of you, cast you in a field. I came and found you, washed you, and cleaned you. I brought you to maturity, and then I clothed you in beauty and righteousness. You were decked with gold and silver, with clothing of fine linen and silk embroidered work. You did eat fine flour, honey, and oil."

Not only that, I fed you with the greatest things that I could give to you. I brought you into a land of milk and honey, and you were exceedingly beautiful. You prospered into a kingdom, and your renown went forth among the heathen for your beauty, for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon you, saith the Lord.

God says, "Listen, you were beautiful because I made you beautiful. You're not beautiful because of yourself; you were nothing of yourself. I made you beautiful because of my comeliness, because of my beauty that extended to you." But you did trust in your own beauty. Isn't that the way of man so many times? God has given us all things; He has poured out upon us abundantly, and then somehow, in some way, we think it's of us.

That's what happened with Israel. You did trust in your own beauty, and with all that He had given to you, notice what you did: you played the harlot because of your renown and poured out fornications on everyone that passed by. God says, "You took the beauty that I gave to you and squandered it. Every single thing that passed by, every foreign god, you called them to yourself and played the harlot with them."

Of your garments, you took and decked the high places with diverse colors. All this wonderful clothing that God had given to the people was taken to make high places for themselves, where they played the harlot. But like things shall not come; neither shall it be so. These things have never happened before, nor should they ever happen.

God says, "You have also taken fair jewels, the fair jewels that I gave you, and my gold and my silver, which I had given to you. You made yourself images of men and committed whoredom with them. You took the broidered garments and covered them, and you set my oil and my incense before them."

So God says, "You took everything that I gave you and made all these false gods and places of worship. You took the good food and the oil that I gave to you and offered it to these false gods, my meat also, which I gave you, the fine flour."

Which I gave thee, and the oil and the honey wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them, all the false gods, for a sweet savor. Thus it was, saith the Lord. Moreover, thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. God says not only that, but you took the children that I gave you and offered them to these false gods. Is this thy whoredoms a small matter? God asks them, "Do you think that this is a small matter?"

He continues, "Thou hast slain my children and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for these false gods. In all your abominations and your whoredoms, thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth." He says, "I want you to remember where you came from. You turned away from me, but in all of this, you never remembered where you came from. When you were naked and bare and polluted by thy blood, you had nothing, and I called you. But you've forgotten that. You forgot what I did for you."

It came to pass after all thy wickedness, "Woe, woe unto thee," saith the Lord. God says that after all of this, it got even worse. He says, "This is unbelievable woe that thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, or these great high places. You have made thee a high place in every street, every street that you could find in Jerusalem. At every corner, you made worship centers, just like Paul found in the pagan city of Athens when he went there. They did this in Jerusalem. You have built a high place at every head of the way, so on every high hill, you built high places."

"You've made thy beauty to be abhorred, and you've opened thy feet to everyone that passed by and multiplied your whoredoms." I think that you can use your imagination and understand what he's saying. He is saying, "You have opened yourself to every single thing that came your way."

"You have also committed fornication with the Egyptians, thy neighbors, great of flesh, and you have increased thy whoredoms to provoke me to anger." Now, people ask how it is that God could be jealous and how it is that God could pour out His wrath. But as you go through this, you begin to see the condition. Remember, God was slow to anger. This was 490 years that God waited before He poured out His judgment upon these people. Constantly, He called them to come back to Him.

How did He do that? He patiently would send prophets to them and say, "Come back to me, return to me." But they would turn in their whoredoms, and a lot of times, they would kill the prophets or persecute them. Thus, you increased in your whoredoms to provoke me to anger.

Look at verse 27. Behold, therefore, I have stretched out my hand over thee. Why am I judging you? It is because of your wicked ways. I have diminished thine ordinary food. God first began by bringing a famine and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee. He allowed them to be delivered into the hands of their enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of thy lewd way. Notice that He says the works that you do even shame the Philistines. That's a pretty heavy statement. The things that you're doing, even the Philistines don't do.

You have played the whore also with the Assyrians because thou wast insatiable. Yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and you could not be satisfied. That's one of the key things we need to remember: we will never be satisfied by what the world has to offer. Israel tried every possible thing, and nothing satisfied them. They were insatiable, really. The more they sought after those things, the more empty it left them. They went after every possible thing that they could, and their appetites couldn't be satisfied.

You have moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan and unto Chaldea. From one place to another, they just multiplied in their wickedness, and yet thou hast not been satisfied herewith. No satisfaction. I think we sing songs about that, don't we? How weak is your heart? God says, "How weak is your heart?" saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all things. Pardon me, the work of an imperious, whorish woman.

He says that thou buildest thine eminent places, these high places in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street. You have not been as a harlot in that thou scornest hire. What God says here is that you offered yourself as a whore to all these false gods, but not as the regular harlots of the world, because they do it for a fee. You did it for free; you just gave yourself up for nothing.

You are like a wife that commits adultery, taking strangers instead of her husband. They give gifts to all the whores, but you give thy gifts to all thy lovers. Most of the time, a prostitute receives some sort of gift or payment for what she would do, but here, you paid your lovers and hired them that they may come unto thee.

On every side, for thy whoredom, the contrary is in thee from other women in the whoredoms, whereas none follows thee to commit whoredoms. In that thou givest a reward and no reward is given unto thee, therefore, you are contrary. Again, he restates that instead of receiving any sort of thing for what you've done in your whoredoms, you've given everything to your lovers.

Wherefore, O harlot, notice that God calls His beloved people here a harlot. He says, "Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord. This is what I speak to you. Thus saith the Lord: Because thy filthiness was poured out and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers and with all the idols of the abominations, and by the blood of thy children which thou didst give unto them, behold, therefore, I will gather all thy lovers with whom thou hast taken pleasure and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated. I will even gather them round about or round against thee and will discover thy nakedness unto them. I'm going to show them your weakness, that they may see all thy nakedness.

I will judge you as a woman that breaks wedlock or sheds blood, for those that shed blood are judged. I will give thee blood and fury and jealousy, and I will also give thee into their hand, into the hand of your enemies. They shall throw down thine eminent places, your high places, and shall break down thy high places. They shall strip thee also of thy clothes and shall take thy fair jewels and leave thee naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones and thrust thee through with their swords. They shall burn thine houses with fire and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women.

I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot. Thanks, Pat. He says, "I'm going to cause you to cease from playing the harlot." Remember, one of the things I said that God's judgment does is purify. It purifies. Prior to Israel going into captivity in Babylon, they were filled with idolatry. You know what Babylon did to them? It took away their idolatry.

Now, that didn't mean that they were perfect when they returned to the land at all, because they picked up something else while they were in the land of merchants, which is Babylon. They became materialistic in Babylon and returned from Babylon as merchants. Even to this day, what do we associate the Jewish people with? Money, Hollywood, merchandise. That's what they picked up. You know, God is in a continual process of purifying us, and once He removes...

One impurity from us leads to another. We begin to see that there is something else that God wants to purify from us. God will purify His people; He purifies us every single day. He says to them, "I will cause you to cease from playing the harlot." God is declaring that He will remove their idolatry. We see God's mercy in this, but His mercy came through wrath. Sometimes we can't grasp that, but notice that His mercy came through His wrath because He was going to remove their idolatry through His judgment.

So, God says, "I will cause you to cease from playing the harlot, and you shall give no hire anymore." You are not going to hire yourselves out anymore to these false gods. God continues, "I will make My fury toward you to rest." He is saying that He is going to judge them, but there is coming a day when He will rest from His judgment. That is a wonderful aspect of God's anger; it does not extend forever. He says, "I will make My fury toward you to rest, and My jealousy shall depart from you. I will be quiet and will be no more angry because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have fretted Me in all these things."

Therefore, God says, "I also will recompense your way upon your head." We should be so grateful to God that He does not recompense our way upon our heads. He calls to us, as He said to the people through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 6:16, "Stand in the way and see the old paths and walk in this new way." God wants to give us a new heart; in fact, He wants to transform us completely from the inside out. We see that in Ezekiel 36:26, the promise of the new covenant.

There is coming a day when He will pour out His grace and mercy upon these people, and we are the recipients of God's grace and mercy today. We are so thankful for that, that He no longer remembers our old ways. However, for those who reject the gift received in Christ Jesus, God will recompense them according to their ways. This means God will judge them according to their doings, and none of us want to be judged according to what we have done. He says, "Behold, I will also recompense your way upon your head," and you shall not commit this lewdness above all your abominations.

Behold, in verse 44, everyone that uses Proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, "As is the mother, so is her daughter." You are your mother's daughter, who loathes her husband and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters.

Which loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite. Notice that thine elder sister is Samaria. Now, Samaria was the capital city of the northern ten tribes in the land of Ephraim, and so they were oftentimes called Samaria. At the time of Ezekiel, the northern ten tribes had already been judged by the Assyrians.

God says, "Your elder sister Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand, and thy younger sister that dwells at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters." God reminds them of their origins, that they were no different than the people of Sodom. Sodom is a general term here used for the Gentile peoples, those who were not considered Jewish. God says, "Your sister was Samaria, the northern ten tribes, and I judged them. But I also have judged these Gentile peoples, which are related to you as well. Remember your origin; you were an Amorite, a Hittite. You came from the land of Canaan like all the others."

God continues in verse 47, "Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations. But as if that were a very little thing, thou hast corrupted more than they in all thy ways." God says, "You think Sodom and Gomorrah were bad? You think the people in Samaria were bad? They were wicked; they never had a single good king among the northern ten tribes. But you think they were bad? You've done worse than they. As I live, saith the Lord, Sodom thy sister has not done, nor she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters."

God says, "You have been worse than Sodom in the way that you've lived." Now, God gives us insight into the sin of Sodom. A lot of times, we associate the sin of Sodom with homosexuality, but I want you to notice what God says here. That was one of the sins they were involved with, but behold, verse 49 states, "This was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride."

The first thing mentioned is fullness of bread and abundance of idleness in her and her daughters. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor or the needy. This was the major sin of Sodom; they were a proud, prideful, and arrogant people. They had everything and were lazy because of it. They would not help the needy and the poor. They had an abundance, but they wouldn't assist those who were in need. They were haughty and committed abominations before me. Therefore, I took them away as I saw good. Notice that I removed them from the land. Why? Because I could see.

It was good to remove them from the land. Why? Because these people were so wicked that they were perverting the whole land. God says, "I've got to remove them," and this is the good thing to do. Notice God's grace in removing sin.

In verse 51, it states that neither has Samaria committed half your sins. The people of Judah were so arrogant that they looked at Samaria, the northern ten tribes, and figured they got what came to them for good. They were wicked, and so God judged them. God says, "Listen, they hadn't committed half your sins, but you have multiplied your abominations more than they and have justified your sisters in all your abominations which you have done."

God says, "You make Samaria and Sodom look innocent. You, who have judged your sister, bear your own shame for your sins that you have committed, which are more abominable than theirs. They are more righteous than you in comparison." The children of Israel and Judah were so wicked that they made Sodom and Gomorrah look righteous. "Yea, be thou confounded also and bear thy shame, in that you have justified your sisters."

When I shall bring again their captivity—the captivity of Sodom and her daughters and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters—then will I bring again the captivity of your captives in the midst of them. This is so that you may bear your own shame and may be confounded in all that you have done, in that you are a comfort unto them.

God says, "You know, on the day of judgment, you are all going to stand before me—Sodom, Samaria—and you are going to be judged along with them." Essentially, this is what God is saying to His people.

In verse 55, it states that when your sister Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then you and your daughter shall return to your former estate. For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was discovered, as at the time of your reproach of the daughters of Syria and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines who despise you round about.

You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, saith the Lord. You have very clearly shown forth your lewdness and your abominations. For thus saith the Lord, "I will even deal with you as you have done." God says, "I'm going to judge you according to your works, which have despised the oath and broken the covenant."

Nevertheless, look at this; this is beautiful about God. Nevertheless...

I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. Then thou shalt remember thy ways and be ashamed. When thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger, I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant. I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Thou mayest remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth anymore because of thy shame when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord.

So God says, "I'm going to judge you," and He explains why He is going to judge the people. It is because of their sin. His wrath comes because of sin. The wrath of God is revealed upon all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, as we are told in Romans chapter 1. God will pour out His wrath and His judgment upon those who have rejected Him, upon those who refuse to repent, and He will be just in His judgment. On that day when those people are judged, everybody that sees and witnesses it will all say, "Amen, so be it; it's right what should be done."

Yet God would still call out to these people, "Come, return to Me." One of the most beautiful things about the prophetic works, as we go through Isaiah until Malachi, is that we see constantly God speaks about how through this judgment a remnant will come forth. Remember, God's work of judgment is for the purpose of purification. You see this idea of the remnant coming forth throughout the book of Ezekiel as well. God says, "I will ultimately bring forth this remnant. I'm going to establish a new covenant," He says, "an everlasting covenant with the people," which we'll see in a moment when we go over to chapter 36.

But flip over to chapter 18. The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, "What mean ye that use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'?" Have you ever heard this before? God says, "Why do you keep using this proverb?" This came up also in the book of Jeremiah in chapter 31, verse 29. God told Jeremiah—remember, Jeremiah was previous to Ezekiel in time chronology—God says, "Listen, when this judgment comes, this is going to be the proverb. This is going to be the saying that they're going to say: 'Our fathers did eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'"

On edge, we wonder what exactly this means. Well, Jeremiah gives us an explanation in Lamentations chapter 5, verse 7. He tells us exactly what this means, and we see it more fully amplified when we read chapter 18 in a moment. Lamentations 5:7 states, "Our fathers have sinned and are not," meaning they were judged, "and we have borne their iniquities."

What this passage means is that our fathers have eaten sour grapes, and our children's teeth are set on edge. Our fathers sinned, and we're being judged for their sin. Oh God, so unjust! We're being judged for what our fathers did, and this is what the people in Jerusalem thought at that point in time. Remember, we always seem to think of ourselves as righteous, don't we? It's always about what the other guy did.

We live in a day when my generation wants to blame everyone else and doesn't want to take responsibility for what they've done. It was my upbringing; my dad wasn't nice, and that's why I went into this school and shot 20 people. We don't take responsibility. They thought, as do the people of our day, that we're being judged because of what our parents have done.

But notice what God says here. He asks, "Why do you keep using this proverb that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge?" As I live, saith the Lord, "You shall not have occasion anymore to use this proverb in Israel." God says that after He tells them what's going on in chapter 18, it's done. They can't use that excuse anymore, saying the devil made them do it or it was their dad's fault.

"Behold, all souls are mine," verse 4 states. "As the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine, and the soul that sins shall die." We're not judged because of what our parents did ten generations ago, nor are we judged specifically for what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Sometimes we think, "That's stupid! If Adam hadn't eaten that fruit, we wouldn't be in all this trouble now." We might think, "Had I been there, I would have done just fine."

However, I think that 1 Corinthians 10 applies: "Take heed when you think you stand, lest you fall." We need to remember this and understand it, especially when we're talking with people who don't know the Lord. The soul that sins shall die, and many people don't think they're sinners, just as the people to whom Ezekiel was speaking and ultimately to whom God was speaking didn't think they had done anything wrong. Most people in our day don't seem to think they have done anything wrong either.

The best way for us to expose sin is to shine the light in the dark places, and God's word is a lamp unto our feet. The Bible tells us in Romans...

Chapter 3, verse 20 states that by the law comes the knowledge of sin. If you want to show someone they are a sinner, just reveal the law to them. Let them see for certain that they are a sinner. If you tell somebody that they are a sinner, they might get mad at you and become offended. We all understand that. When we say, "Oh, you're a sinner; you're going to hell," they might respond, "How do you know me? You don't know who I am. Who do you think you are, buddy? You self-righteous punk hypocrite! You must be one of those Calvary Chapel Christians." That is often what people think.

However, if you let the Bible tell them they are a sinner, they don't have anything to say; they don't have a leg to stand on. You can simply say, "Let me show you this verse here." It says that if anyone looks upon a woman to lust after her, they have committed adultery in their heart. Have you ever done that? They might say no, but you can ask, "Really? Have you ever told a lie? Because I think you might have just now."

You can go through the Scripture, which says that if you are angry with someone without cause, you have committed murder in your heart. Have you ever done that? They might say no, but you could point out, "I just saw you exit the freeway, so I'm assuming you were probably angry with at least somebody on the freeway." You show them the law and say, "Listen, this is what the law says. By the law comes the knowledge of sin."

People often want to think God is unjust in His judgment. They argue that it is not right for God to judge or to bring His wrath upon this world. However, God brings His wrath upon this world for a reason. Could you serve and worship a God who is in heaven tonight, looking down and seeing rape, murder, and little children being abused, either sexually or physically? Would you worship a God who looked down on that and said, "That's okay"? I don't think so. We understand there needs to be a reckoning, don't we?

We are thankful that God extends grace, and that is what the gospel declares. But before someone can receive grace, they must grapple with the fact that they are a sinner and that the soul that sins shall die. God explains this to His people starting in verse 5.

"If a man be just and do that which is lawful and right, and has not eaten upon the mountains"—remember, this refers to worshipping false gods in the high places—"neither has he lifted up his eyes to idols to the house of Israel, neither has he defiled his neighbor's wife, nor come near to a minstress woman; hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge; hath spoiled none with violence; hath given his bread to the hungry and has covered the naked with a garment; he that hath not given forth upon usury, neither has he taken any increase; that has withdrawn his hand from iniquity; has executed true judgment between man and man; has walked in my statutes."

And has kept my judgments to deal truly. He is just, and he shall live. God says in verse 10, if he begets a son, this just man has a child, a son. If this son is a robber, a shedder of blood, and does the like of any one of these things, and does not perform any of those duties, but even has eaten upon the mountains and defiled his neighbor's wife, has oppressed the poor and the needy, has spoiled by violence, has not restored the pledge, has lifted up his eyes to idols, has committed abomination, has given forth upon usury, and has taken increase, shall he live?

Then God says, do you think it's right for this one who has been wicked? Do you think it's okay for him to receive righteousness and enter into eternal life? Is that okay? He shall not live, God says. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die, and his blood shall be upon him.

Now, lo, in verse 14, if the wicked man has a son and he sees all his father's sins which he has done, and he considers and does not do such things, he has not eaten upon the mountains, neither has he lifted up his eyes to idols in the house of Israel. He has not defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has he oppressed anyone. He has not held the pledge, has neither spoiled by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry and has covered the naked with a garment. He has taken his hand from the poor and has not received usury nor increase. He has executed my judgments and has walked in my statutes. He shall not die for the iniquity of his father. Praise God, for he shall surely live.

As for his father, because he has cruelly oppressed a man who has been spoiled, his brother by violence, and did that which was not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity. Yet, say you, why isn't that the cry of non-believers today? Wait a minute, I don't think that's right. Well, who are you to stand in judgment of God?

Yet you say, why does not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes and has done them, he shall surely live. The soul that sins, it shall die, God says, and the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

But if the wicked will turn, notice this in verse 21, if the wicked will turn from his sins that he has committed...

And keep all My statutes and do them. That which is lawful and right, he shall surely live and shall not die. All his transgressions that he has committed, they shall not be mentioned. Praise God! Unto him and his righteousness that he has done, he shall live.

Have I any pleasure at all in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord God. Is it not that he should return from his ways and live? God says, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. I desire that they would turn, that they'd repent." The New Testament tells us this as well. Peter says God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance.

But verse 24 states, when the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his wickedness that he has done shall not be mentioned. I'm sorry, all his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned. In them shall he die.

Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not equal." You say, "Well, that's just not fair." God, hear now, O house of Israel! Is not My way equal? Are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and dies in them, for his iniquity that he has done, shall he die?

Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness and commits that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul and live. Because he considers and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live and shall not die. Yet, saith the house of Israel, "The way of the Lord is not equal." O house of Israel, are not My ways equal? Are not your ways unequal?

Therefore, I will judge you, God says, O house of Israel, everyone according to his way, saith the Lord God. And so what does God say to His people? Circle that word in your Bibles: repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby you have transgressed, and make a new heart and a new spirit.

For why will you die, God says, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, saith the Lord God. Wherefore, turn yourselves and live.

The call was given, or the commission was given to Ezekiel in chapter 3. He says to him, God says, "When you see the wicked..."

Turn to wickedness. You need to call out to them. How shall they hear without a preacher? We need to make sure that we give the call.

In Ezekiel chapter 3, verse 17, God says to Ezekiel, "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore, hear the word of my mouth and give them warning for me." When I say unto the wicked, "You shall surely die," and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity. But God says, "His blood I will require at your hand."

Yet, if you warn the wicked and he turns not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity. But you have delivered your soul. Again, when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered. But his blood I will require at your hand.

Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous man and the righteous sin not, he shall surely live because he was warned. Also, you have delivered your soul. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He said unto me, "Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will talk to thee there."

God gives this word to Ezekiel and says that when you see a wicked man walking in wickedness, you need to call to him to repent. Give him warning that the wrath of God is coming. If he repents, praise God, God will save him.

The scripture is interesting; it says godly sorrow leads to or produces repentance leading to salvation. How is godly sorrow produced? Show somebody how they have transgressed God's law and how they have brought shame to His name. Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be repented of.

But here, God says if you see a wicked man walking in wickedness, give him warning—the warning of what? The coming judgment of God. If he listens to you, praise God, God will save that soul. If he rejects it, he'll die in his sins, and you have been released from the debt.

If you see a righteous man turn and begin to walk towards wickedness, the scripture tells us that we need to warn that person to turn. Now, everybody will ask, "Are you saying you can lose your salvation?" I don't believe you can lose your salvation like you can lose your wallet. There are some groups of people that say, "Well, you sinned today, so you need to go back to a great glory crusade and repent once again because you lost your salvation." The scripture doesn't teach that.

The Scripture does give warnings, just as we see in the Old Testament and in the New Testament as well. There are warnings given to those who depart from the faith and make shipwreck of their faith. Paul says, "Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world." This was a man who was initially a follower of Christ and seemed to be a co-laborer with Paul. There are others in the New Testament who also seem to have departed from the true word of God. Have they lost their salvation? Only God knows. However, we have been given a call to urge them to repentance so that they may walk in righteousness. Remember, by their fruits you will know them. If a person is not walking in righteousness, then the only fruit I can see is bad fruit. At that point, I have to say, "Well, maybe they're not saved. Maybe they were never saved." I don't know, but the call is still the same: repent. This is the same call that Ezekiel gave.

The interesting thing is that Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1, "I am a debtor to the Jew and the Greek." Why? Because God has given us the words of eternal life, and we are in debt to take that word to the rest of the world. The Scripture seems to declare some sort of reckoning on the day of Christ Jesus, so we need to make sure that we give the warning that Ezekiel gave. It's not an easy thing to do because you might be unpopular. We like to be popular, don't we? We want people to like us, and if we tell people that they're sinners, they might not like us.

However, Paul said, "Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved." He expressed in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 that he would very gladly spend and be spent for their souls. He knew that it didn't matter what the temporal well-being of these people was; he didn't care if they didn't like him. He wanted to ensure that they were standing with him on the day of Christ Jesus. He would say, "I am so concerned about your souls. I don't care if you get mad at me. I will very gladly spend and be spent for your soul."

Although you may be the most unpopular person in the world here, praise God if you get to heaven and all those people say, "Thank you for warning me." There is coming a day of judgment; there is coming a day of wrath. The Bible makes it very clear that those who abide under the wrath of God are there by their own choice, and they will be judged. There will be no one to say, "Oh, that's not fair." These people said to God, "You're not equal in this," and He responds, "No, it's not that I'm not equal in this; you're not equal in this. You want to have the benefits of being My children, but you want to live whatever way you want to live, and it doesn't work that way." There is going to be a reckoning, and so we see the judgment of God upon Judah.

In chapters 4 through 24, we see God's judgment upon Judah. However, in chapters 25 through 32, the judgment of God extends to the Gentiles. God does not play favorites in His love or His judgment. As we look through chapter 18, we find that the soul that sins shall die, and the soul that repents shall live. It does not matter who your parents are; it does not matter if you are a child of Abraham or if you follow Moses. The soul that sins shall die, and the soul that repents shall live.

God pours out His judgment upon the Gentiles, but He is also willing to judge His own people. Why? He does not want them to remain the same. God's judgment comes for purification and so that we may know Him. In chapters 25 through 32, we see the judgment of God upon the Gentiles.

When we reach chapters 33 through the end of the book, we encounter a very interesting passage of Scripture dealing with the restoration of Israel. God was going to judge His people and exile them into the land of Babylon. That exile, that judgment, would be for their good and for their purification. However, He promised that He would bring them back into the land.

In Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 26, God says to His people that a new covenant is coming. He will give them a new heart and put His Spirit within them. This restoration signifies the renewal of His people.

There are two different restorations spoken of in the last several chapters of the book of Ezekiel. The first restoration was to occur after they were exiled in Babylon for 70 years. However, the temple would be destroyed a second time, which we know took place in 70 AD.

There is another proclamation given that God would revive these people who had been scattered throughout the whole world. At that time, they were scattered to one nation, Babylon, but the book of Ezekiel declares that the people would be dispersed into all the world.

This valley of dry bones represents a dead nation, but God would come in chapter 37 and ask the question to Ezekiel: "Can these dry bones live?" Ezekiel responds, "Lord, you know." God then breathes upon them, and all these bones begin to connect together. Sinews are put over them, and God breathes into this group of people. The nation of Israel would become a nation once again, just as Isaiah spoke of, and Ezekiel delivers this great prophecy.

Ezekiel chapters 36 and 37 discuss the restoration of Israel. On May 14th, we will have a service here on Wednesday night to celebrate the 60-year reunion, or anniversary, of the nation of Israel becoming a nation once again. On May 14th, 1948, they became a nation in one day, just as the scripture said it would happen, as we read in Ezekiel chapters 36 and 37.

The book is very interesting, and I believe that God's prophetic outline in Ezekiel chapters 36 through 40 provides a chronology for end times events that is very important. The nation of Israel becomes a nation once again; the dry bones are breathed into and rebuilt instantly. Immediately following this, we have Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, which are intriguing because a group of nations comes against the people of Israel.

In Ezekiel chapter 38, verse 1, we read, "And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Son of man, set thy face against Gog in the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal, and prophesy against them. Say, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief of Meshach and Tubal. I will turn thee back and put hooks in thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine armies and horses and horsemen, and them clothed with sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, and all them that handle swords—Persia, Ethiopia, Libya with them—all of them with shield and helmet. Gomer and all his bands, the house of Togarmah, and all of the north quarters, and all his bands, and many people with thee. Thou prepare thyself, thou and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.'"

Ezekiel chapter 38 declares that after the restoration of Israel, there will come an attack from all these nations mentioned. It is very interesting that as you read even the news today,

You see that these nations are mentioned today. We have to do some research to figure out who these nations specifically are. Remember, God was speaking to a man who lived 2,500 years ago, and those nations had different names back then. We understand this because the names of cities still change today. For example, Istanbul was once called Constantinople. The names change, but it's still the same people group.

When you start to go through these groups of people, you find that Gog, Magog, Meshek, and Tubal are very likely names associated with Russia. In fact, Meshek seems to be the very same root of modern-day Moscow. There is also a city in Russia today called Tobolsk, which is probably Tubal.

Then we read of Persia. Until 1913, we knew exactly who Persia was, but they changed their name to Iran. When we talk about Ethiopia, we are not just referring to the one nation of Ethiopia; we are talking about all of Northern Africa. As we go through some of these other nations mentioned, such as Libya, Gomer, and Togomar, there are some people who believe that Togomar is very likely the area of Turkey. It seems to hint that it might be that way.

There is also some discussion about who Gomer is; some people think that it is Germany, but we don't know for sure. When you look at these nations and consider what is going on today, you find that just about every one of these nations mentioned is predominantly Shiite Muslim.

I don't know if you've listened to some of the things that President Ahmadinejad of Iran has had to say in recent years about what he wants to do to Israel, but it's not just him; it's all of the Shiite Muslims and what they want to do to Israel. It's interesting that they have a very close connection with Russia. Vladimir Putin, who recently stepped down, has been involved in a lot of talk with these nations.

As you consider what is going on, they don't like Israel; they want to take Israel out. They would like to have that land, and something is going to stir them to make them want to come there. Some believe that it has to do with oil reserves that might be under the ground in Israel. Until about ten years ago, they didn't think there was any oil in Israel, but now they are starting to discover oil there, and they are finding that it might be the mother lode. You can understand why some people might want that piece of land.

It's interesting that there is a nation that is not mentioned here, which was one of the greatest problems for Israel: a nation called Babylon. Now, Babylon is mentioned in the last days, but not in this passage as one coming against the children of Israel. It is kind of interesting that we have overtaken Babylon. There may be a reason why they are not mentioned, and so we look.

Forward to this coming to pass; it will come to pass. It may come to pass in our lifetime. Everything seems to be set in place for it to come to pass. An interesting thing takes place right at the end of that, though: they are miraculously destroyed. Ezekiel chapter 40 talks about a new temple, and I believe that once this takes place, as described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, there will be a third temple built in Jerusalem.

Now, why is that important for us? It is important because Jesus told His disciples in Matthew chapter 24, when they asked Him, "When shall the end be, and what shall be the sign of Your coming?" He listed a whole bunch of signs that are not the sign. He spoke of wars and rumors of wars, pestilence, and earthquakes, but He said, "The end is not yet; these are the beginnings of birth pains." Then He said, "When you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, get out of town, because then shall great tribulation come." For that to take place, there has to be a temple in Israel, and we see these things coming to pass.

The book of Ezekiel has some very interesting end times verses for us to consider. We don't have time tonight; we'll probably come back to the book of Ezekiel in the future because it is such a powerful book. But God's wrath is coming. The book of Ezekiel declares that we may be very close to the time of God's outpouring of His wrath. As a result of that, we should be out in the world warning every man so that we might present every man perfect before Christ. If you warn the wicked and he turns from his sin, he shall live. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness towards wickedness, then we are called to warn that person and call them to repentance. The wrath of God abides upon all unrighteousness and ungodliness of those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

On that day, no one will stand before God and say, "That's not fair." We will all stand and say, "Amen, amen." Although we won't like to see it, we will all say, "Amen, amen."

Let's stand and pray. God, we do thank You for the truth of Your Word. We ask that You would help us to write these things on our hearts and be prepared to share them as we go into the world. Lord, as we leave here tonight, going into the mission field that You've called us to, I pray that You would equip us. Lord, enable us to speak with boldness the truth and to warn those who are walking in unrighteousness.

And ungodliness. Tonight, Lord, if our hearts have drifted in any way, I pray that the warning of Your Word would cause us to turn once again back to You. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank You for Your life. I hope you have the Word of God in your heart. If you do not, you will lose your way and hinder your progression. When you are perfectly happy, you may listen well, but also know that all your experiences matter. You just feel so emotional. Do it then, and now, with your music. It brings so much energy, and I will show you very much.