The Glory of the Lord Returns

WEBVTT 1 00:00:10.070 --> 00:00:12.990 So, as you're turning there to Ezekiel forty three, one through nine, 2 00:00:12.990 --> 00:00:16.949 I want to explain just a moment why we are skipping so far ahead of 3 00:00:16.989 --> 00:00:21.820 where we've been. We just finished a chapter eleven, and what you will 4 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:27.300 see is the way things ended there in chapter eleven are being picked up here 5 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:33.820 and connect in a new way in chapter forty three. I'm doing this in 6 00:00:33.939 --> 00:00:38.130 part because our brother Christian here is going to be preaching in many of our 7 00:00:38.170 --> 00:00:42.250 evening services over the summer and so I thought, and as he takes us 8 00:00:42.250 --> 00:00:48.130 through various parables right and so I thought this might be a way to bring 9 00:00:48.329 --> 00:00:53.479 some of the major themes that we've been considering in Ezekiel to a conclusion at 10 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.679 this point, and perhaps we'll pick it up again in the future, but 11 00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:00.719 you'll really enjoy hearing this, the word of the Lord here from Ezekiel Forty 12 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:07.989 Three. It's very encouraging. Let's hear our God's word now versus one through 13 00:01:07.030 --> 00:01:12.189 nine. Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east, 14 00:01:12.230 --> 00:01:17.069 and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east, 15 00:01:17.750 --> 00:01:19.819 and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters and 16 00:01:19.980 --> 00:01:25.700 the earth shone with his glory, And the Vision I saw was just like 17 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:29.900 the vision that I had seen when he seem to destroy the city, and 18 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:34.450 just like the vision I had seen by the Cabar Canal. And I fell 19 00:01:34.530 --> 00:01:38.489 on my face as the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate 20 00:01:38.609 --> 00:01:42.049 facing east. The spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court 21 00:01:42.849 --> 00:01:49.040 and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. While the man 22 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:52.680 was standing beside me. I heard one speaking to me out of the temple 23 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:55.719 and he said to me, son of man, this is the place of 24 00:01:55.879 --> 00:02:00.439 my throne and the place of the souls of my feet, where I will 25 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:05.629 dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever, and the House of 26 00:02:05.709 --> 00:02:09.389 Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they nor their kings. 27 00:02:09.909 --> 00:02:15.069 By their wharring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places, 28 00:02:15.979 --> 00:02:21.460 by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my door posts, 29 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:24.900 with only a wall between me and them, they have defiled my holy 30 00:02:24.939 --> 00:02:30.770 name by their abominations that they have committed. So I have consumed them in 31 00:02:30.889 --> 00:02:35.409 my anger. Now let them be put now let them put away their warring 32 00:02:35.810 --> 00:02:38.610 and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell 33 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:57.719 in their midst forever. He may be seated well here in Ezekiel. Forty 34 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:05.389 three, Ezekiel mentions two previous visions, the visions that we have been going 35 00:03:05.629 --> 00:03:09.110 over over the last several months or so. At the beginning of the book, 36 00:03:10.389 --> 00:03:15.699 Ezekiel Mentions two visions. You notice how he says and the Vision I 37 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:21.139 saw verse three was just like the vision I had seen when he came to 38 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:24.379 destroy the city. That's the one that we most recently heard of. And 39 00:03:24.539 --> 00:03:29.490 then he adds just like the vision that I had seen by the Kebar canal. 40 00:03:30.849 --> 00:03:36.330 You remember that, of course, when the Lord reveals to Ezekiel this 41 00:03:36.969 --> 00:03:42.919 amazing scene, when he carries him up by this vision and he sees the 42 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:49.960 chair of EAM, these ministers of flaming fire, he sees these great wheels 43 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:54.909 within wheels, this mighty chariot and which the Lord moves throughout the Earth. 44 00:03:57.110 --> 00:04:01.030 We saw the Lord himself seated on this throne far above, lifted up and 45 00:04:01.509 --> 00:04:08.870 in these high places, ruling over everything, seeing everything, powerful over everything, 46 00:04:09.830 --> 00:04:15.060 the eyes of the wheels, having eyes all over them, everything moving 47 00:04:15.500 --> 00:04:20.259 on according and perfectly according to the will of the spirit of God. These 48 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:26.009 amazing scenes that call to is it caused Ezekiel himself to fall on his face, 49 00:04:27.129 --> 00:04:30.329 of course, humbled our hearts as well. And this scene, this 50 00:04:30.449 --> 00:04:34.769 vision that he saw in those early chapters of the book, as it's recorded 51 00:04:34.810 --> 00:04:40.879 again, he had a similar vision in the latter chapters, the more one 52 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:44.600 recent ones that we read, and there we saw that this place, the 53 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:47.639 spirit, the glory of the Lord, was on the move, and it 54 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:54.029 was on the move in a very terrifying direction. Last time we read about 55 00:04:54.069 --> 00:04:59.550 how the glory of the Lord exited the Holy Place of the temple and moved 56 00:04:59.750 --> 00:05:02.589 o out toward the East, away and he saw the presence of the Lord 57 00:05:02.709 --> 00:05:09.259 lift up and leave, leave the place where God had said he would dwell, 58 00:05:09.300 --> 00:05:13.740 leave, the place that Solomon had prayed to and had built according to 59 00:05:13.779 --> 00:05:17.939 the Lord's will, in which the Lord had descended and ruled a mudd among 60 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:24.290 his people. We saw the Lord leave and in his leaving we saw all 61 00:05:24.370 --> 00:05:30.850 of that terror and wrath and judgment against his people coming down upon them. 62 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:36.399 And why? Because of the things that is ekiel speaks of here. whorring 63 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:44.160 after other gods, murder dead bodies. Of He speaks of the kings everywhere, 64 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:48.920 but that was because of their judgment. They're constant bloodshed in the kingdom. 65 00:05:49.910 --> 00:05:57.629 Instead of being a kingdom of a people united by love, neighbors watching 66 00:05:57.670 --> 00:06:03.189 out for neighbors, giving and sharing and supporting one another, Israel had become 67 00:06:03.339 --> 00:06:10.899 this terrible place that looked just like the nations around them, and this God 68 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:15.819 had promised if this had happened, they would be destroyed, just like he 69 00:06:15.939 --> 00:06:23.050 destroyed the nations who were before them. The last time we looked at, 70 00:06:23.449 --> 00:06:27.689 we considered the temple of Ezekiel. was taken on a tour of the temple 71 00:06:27.810 --> 00:06:32.959 grounds. He was shown that among the leadership of the people and among the 72 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:39.920 Laity of the people, idolatry had just grabbed hold of their hearts. Worthless 73 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:46.399 objects had come to take residence in the temple itself, the place where God 74 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:49.110 was called, was supposed to dwell, the place where God had said his 75 00:06:49.269 --> 00:06:56.990 presence. People had the audacity to set up idols. They're in the temple, 76 00:06:59.269 --> 00:07:03.540 sometimes in hidden ways, sometimes in obvious ways. These foolish, worthless 77 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:11.459 places or objects had come to take the hearts of his people, the people 78 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:15.689 of God, people that he had rescued out of Egypt. He had decimated 79 00:07:15.889 --> 00:07:20.649 the the whole, the whole, a religious system in Egypt, as well 80 00:07:20.689 --> 00:07:25.370 as their economy and their king and all of the rest. He had shown 81 00:07:25.410 --> 00:07:30.759 himself to be powerful and rule, or and king over every false god, 82 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:35.759 over every idol Egypt, and our king had not been able to hold God 83 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:41.519 and his people in Slavery. He said they will worship me, and he 84 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:48.910 set them free to do so. And now that people was enslaved to false 85 00:07:49.230 --> 00:07:54.550 gods. Instead of crusting God as their king, instead of him being at 86 00:07:54.550 --> 00:07:58.699 the center of their kingdom, at the center of their lives and their worship 87 00:07:58.779 --> 00:08:03.740 and their everything, he had taken a back seat to their lusts and everything 88 00:08:03.819 --> 00:08:11.259 was falling apart. Bloodshed, injustice, bribery, corruption, abuse of power, 89 00:08:11.379 --> 00:08:15.689 of idolatry, of course, and the consequences of these things war, 90 00:08:16.250 --> 00:08:22.209 famine and worse. And instead of learning from their foolishness and their foolest ways, 91 00:08:22.250 --> 00:08:28.199 they did what people enslave to sin always, always do. They press 92 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:35.240 harder and they pressed deeper into that sin, like a man drowning who should 93 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:39.840 know how to swim. But instead just flails and grabs at graspless things all 94 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:48.149 around him. Israel was drowning in their own sin and though profit after Prophet 95 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:52.750 was thrown them, help was calling them to repentance, was telling them to 96 00:08:52.909 --> 00:08:58.220 turn, they just kept flailing, they just kept grabbing at all the things 97 00:08:58.259 --> 00:09:03.539 that they wanted to grab. And now God's people were going to come under 98 00:09:03.620 --> 00:09:09.610 judgment, and they did. In the chapters that we skipped, we we 99 00:09:09.850 --> 00:09:13.450 see, you will read there, of the coming to pass all of the 100 00:09:13.570 --> 00:09:18.929 things that is Ekiel saw in the visions that we read, the destruction of 101 00:09:18.009 --> 00:09:24.960 Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, bloodshed everywhere. Is Ekiel saw in 102 00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:30.840 those visions what God was going to do, having been rejected by his people. 103 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:35.639 He was going to give them over to that rejection and those corrupt desires 104 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:41.870 and he was going to leave. And the result was the undoing of a 105 00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:46.909 covenant that God had made with Israel. They broke the covenant and now all 106 00:09:46.950 --> 00:09:52.860 the curses were going to come upon them, and indeed they did. Israel 107 00:09:52.980 --> 00:09:58.980 broke apart the most relation, most important relationship, not only in their lives 108 00:09:58.659 --> 00:10:03.259 but in all the world, because it was through Israel. Remember that the 109 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:07.409 hope of the nations would be founded. Remember that it was in Abraham that 110 00:10:07.490 --> 00:10:11.850 he would be the father of many nations, that many nations would be blessed 111 00:10:13.169 --> 00:10:16.250 through him, through this family, through this people. It wasn't just their 112 00:10:16.409 --> 00:10:20.759 hope, it was all our hopes, and now it was all dashed. 113 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:31.159 Or was it? It wasn't all dashed, it wasn't all finally destroyed, 114 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:37.389 and that was because God had made promises and, unlike his people, who 115 00:10:37.429 --> 00:10:41.710 failed to keep their promises, God would keep his. Yes, he would 116 00:10:41.710 --> 00:10:46.669 bring down the curses upon them. Yes, they would experience war and famine 117 00:10:46.710 --> 00:10:50.860 and bloodshed and all of these things. He would destroy them for their sins. 118 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:54.899 But according to his awesome promises of grace that he had made to Abraham, 119 00:10:56.299 --> 00:10:58.860 they had made to David, God would establish, through this people, 120 00:10:58.860 --> 00:11:03.409 a kingdom that would be forever. There would be offspring that would be left, 121 00:11:03.730 --> 00:11:09.009 there would be a remnant that would preserve. God would keep his promises 122 00:11:09.889 --> 00:11:15.009 and he would save them from their sin. And as we read in Psalm 123 00:11:15.129 --> 00:11:22.000 Eighty seven, we read of cush Egypt and Rahab and these other foreign nations 124 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:30.000 coming to call Zion their own city. What an amazing promise, this sort 125 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:33.190 of bringing in of the nation's foreign people saying, yeah, I belong, 126 00:11:33.830 --> 00:11:39.070 I belong to Israel, Abraham's my father, says the Egyptian, says the 127 00:11:39.110 --> 00:11:45.669 Babylonian, he says the American, these amazing promises of the people of God 128 00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:52.059 coming in from all over the world to be established once again in this place 129 00:11:52.659 --> 00:11:56.740 and here in his echil forty three, those glimmers of hope that we saw 130 00:11:56.860 --> 00:12:01.090 in the beginning, the man who went through the city and took names of 131 00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:09.730 those who were repenting, for example. Here we see that hope in a 132 00:12:09.850 --> 00:12:13.730 really wonderful way because here, instead of the departure of God, which we 133 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:18.960 saw before, the exiting of the presence of God from the people, God 134 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:26.120 abandoning them to their own sins, here we see him coming back in amazing 135 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:30.190 seeking. He goes to the gate, verse one. He's led, is 136 00:12:30.269 --> 00:12:33.070 Egel has led, to the gate, the gate facing the east, the 137 00:12:33.190 --> 00:12:37.830 gate where the Lord had left by, and behold the glory of the Israel 138 00:12:37.149 --> 00:12:43.750 was coming from the east. Perhaps our reminder, in a connection with the 139 00:12:43.830 --> 00:12:48.820 sun itself, a light that shines in the darkness, darkness that does not 140 00:12:48.019 --> 00:12:52.059 overcome it, a light that raises a hope that comes up in the morning, 141 00:12:52.100 --> 00:12:56.539 a day spring that brings us joy and gladness after a long night. 142 00:12:56.700 --> 00:13:01.049 Here comes from the East the god of Israel, but not the sun, 143 00:13:03.129 --> 00:13:07.250 the god of the Sun, coming from the East and all his glory and 144 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:09.850 the sound of his coming like was the sound of his going, all of 145 00:13:09.970 --> 00:13:16.440 those angels and that great chariot, like the sound of many waters. Have 146 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:22.240 you ever stood by the ocean and heard it move as it roars, even 147 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:26.360 from the beach, even of a relatively calm one? It's a loud thing. 148 00:13:26.350 --> 00:13:31.190 And here this is the sound that Isekiel here is like the rush of 149 00:13:31.309 --> 00:13:37.509 many waters. The Lord is coming, this giant sound and as the glory 150 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:43.139 of the Lord comes, Iseki'l sees in this vision the earth itself Shining With 151 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:52.220 glory, the Lord's glory reflecting off of the Earth, this amazing, resplendent 152 00:13:52.419 --> 00:13:58.529 thing. You remember that when the Lord showed himself to Moses, when Moses 153 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:03.649 went up into the glory of the Lord on Mount Sinai and he we he 154 00:14:03.769 --> 00:14:09.210 came back down, his face to reflected the glory of the Lord so much 155 00:14:09.250 --> 00:14:13.960 that the people said, cover it up, it's too much and here is 156 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:20.559 EEK. You'll sees the earth shining with the glory of God, and he 157 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:24.830 reminds us, as we've already considered in verse three, to think about this 158 00:14:24.990 --> 00:14:31.070 in terms of the previous visions that he's had. The vision was like the 159 00:14:31.070 --> 00:14:35.470 vision I saw, was just like the vision I had seen when he came 160 00:14:35.549 --> 00:14:37.820 to destroy the city and just like the vision I had seen by the cabar 161 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:45.539 canal, and I fell on my face. And what happens? Well, 162 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:48.059 the glory of the Lord enters the temple by the gate facing the east, 163 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:52.929 and the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court and Behold 164 00:14:52.970 --> 00:15:01.409 the glory of the Lord filled the temple before we learned, as we consider 165 00:15:01.529 --> 00:15:07.480 these images, several things. Let me list a few. One in these 166 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:15.000 visions we learn about the majesty of the glorious, Most High God. We 167 00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:18.559 have these pictures, in these visions, to help us to see, through 168 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:24.990 these words, the gray and glorious presence of God, visions which caused easy 169 00:15:24.149 --> 00:15:31.669 fuel to fall on his face, passages that have filled us with awe and 170 00:15:31.870 --> 00:15:37.659 trembling at times, remembering the majesty of the Lord. Something and these visions 171 00:15:37.700 --> 00:15:43.299 that should take cause us to take a deep breath as we contemplate the awesome 172 00:15:43.460 --> 00:15:48.259 power of God in his mighty angelic armies, in his most awesome chariot, 173 00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:56.610 is omnipresence and his omniscians and his omnipotence, in his most holy nature. 174 00:15:58.409 --> 00:16:02.970 We also learned the of God, in his perfect goodness, that in all 175 00:16:03.090 --> 00:16:08.639 of this splendent glory, he does not tolerate sin. He doesn't wink at 176 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:12.600 it, he doesn't protect it, he doesn't hide it, he destroys it. 177 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:22.789 God doesn't respect those who abuse their power and hide their sin and lead 178 00:16:22.909 --> 00:16:26.149 the people astray. He's not afraid of them, like we so often are. 179 00:16:26.470 --> 00:16:32.509 He doesn't tremble he who sits mightily a throned upon all of them, 180 00:16:32.789 --> 00:16:36.139 who can take the king's heart and turn it like water in his hand. 181 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:41.940 He's not afraid of people that were often afraid of the chariots of Egypt don't 182 00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:48.570 begin to compare to the chariot of the Almighty God. We also learned that 183 00:16:48.730 --> 00:16:52.610 God, in his judgment, is awful and terrible. Not only does he 184 00:16:52.730 --> 00:17:00.169 not tolerate sin, not only does he not tolerate the people who would abuse 185 00:17:00.370 --> 00:17:03.960 those whom they are called to care for, and the idolatry of his people, 186 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:10.640 who are called to be holy and and and walking in love. That 187 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:17.670 lack of toleration is in fact a great judgment and terrible. God doesn't brush 188 00:17:17.789 --> 00:17:23.150 these things under the rug. He destroys them. He destroys and punishes those 189 00:17:23.230 --> 00:17:30.380 who would commit them, and we learn from these things, as so much 190 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:37.059 of the Bible teach, is that it's God's gracious presence that is what saves 191 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:41.700 us. To be in the presence of the Most High God, apart from 192 00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:45.769 His grace, is to be destroyed, it's to be afraid, it's to 193 00:17:45.849 --> 00:17:52.930 be terrified. But when he brings us in, having forgiven our sins, 194 00:17:52.170 --> 00:17:59.160 instead of judging us for him in welcoming us in, we have life itself 195 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:04.519 and we have it abundantly. All this reminds us of the importance of the 196 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:11.200 centrality of God in the life of the people. God is not just an 197 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:17.789 idea, but he must be present, in central among us in every way. 198 00:18:18.750 --> 00:18:23.910 That's what this temple represented, that's what his presence they're represented love, 199 00:18:23.990 --> 00:18:30.779 and this is important for us to remember, because our temptation is always to 200 00:18:30.980 --> 00:18:37.940 replace God with idols, just as they did, people in authority to replace 201 00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:45.450 his power with their power, and sometimes this happens in really on bold and 202 00:18:47.289 --> 00:18:52.410 outrageous ways and sometimes it happens in very subtle ways. Either way, it 203 00:18:52.490 --> 00:18:56.000 shouldn't be acceptable in the lives of people who are made in the image of 204 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:02.319 God. We should never be people that are moving God to the periphery when 205 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:06.400 he is the one who is to be at the center. We treat him 206 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.509 sometimes like he's an emergency savings account, you know, just there in case 207 00:19:10.630 --> 00:19:14.309 we need him, or, to use an analogy, we treat God as 208 00:19:14.349 --> 00:19:17.710 if he was a to use another analogy, we teach God sometimes as if 209 00:19:17.750 --> 00:19:21.869 he was a candy dish on the counter at your office at work, something 210 00:19:21.910 --> 00:19:25.140 that you pass by every now and then and grab a little something out and 211 00:19:25.420 --> 00:19:27.299 helps a little bit, makes the day a little better, but not really 212 00:19:27.380 --> 00:19:33.140 important. If it disappeared, you'd be fine. People think they can find 213 00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:38.089 their way in life without this God, although he is the only one who 214 00:19:38.130 --> 00:19:42.809 gives purpose and meaning to everything and whom is the beginning and the end of 215 00:19:42.890 --> 00:19:47.970 all things. We think we can find our own way. We think we 216 00:19:48.049 --> 00:19:49.970 can keep him at the edge, as we think we can put ourselves as 217 00:19:51.089 --> 00:19:56.599 central, or fame or money or power, busyness or family or whatever. 218 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:04.839 There's only one thing, only him. A try in God, who is, 219 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:08.309 it can be and always is, at the center of everything. When 220 00:20:08.349 --> 00:20:14.910 we move away from that, that's how we lose our lives. There are 221 00:20:14.950 --> 00:20:18.990 so many people today trying to find their identity, their place in the world. 222 00:20:18.109 --> 00:20:23.859 They're so lost they try to find it through social media, knowing that 223 00:20:23.980 --> 00:20:30.819 the bottom will fall out at any moment. Get Rich quick schemes are everywhere. 224 00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:37.289 Think of people putting all their hopes and cryptocurrency or whatever, sad stocks, 225 00:20:37.410 --> 00:20:42.690 constant movement from place to place, where rutelessness, wandering, hopeless people, 226 00:20:42.730 --> 00:20:49.440 a culture filled with anxiety and sadness, constantly questioning our identity, not 227 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:55.200 knowing where to turn, what to do. These passages and is ek'll tell 228 00:20:55.319 --> 00:21:00.039 us where our identity is to be found. It's in this awesome God who 229 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:07.950 created all the world and who has rescued us through his own plan of salvation, 230 00:21:08.029 --> 00:21:11.910 WHO's called us out of sin and bondage so that we might live in 231 00:21:12.029 --> 00:21:15.390 him. And that's what he's promising here in his ekiel, in this vision, 232 00:21:17.630 --> 00:21:22.980 a return into the world, into the center of the world into Israel 233 00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:32.220 itself. And as we go on and read, we read that you remember 234 00:21:32.259 --> 00:21:37.089 is ekiels brought into these central places. And what does God say through this 235 00:21:37.730 --> 00:21:41.769 man standing beside him? He says in verse seven, son of Man, 236 00:21:41.730 --> 00:21:45.930 this is the place of my throne and the place of the souls of my 237 00:21:47.130 --> 00:21:52.759 feet. This is a reminder to us that even here, in this vision 238 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:59.160 of the Temple of God, his temple, the most holy place, is 239 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:07.950 just where God sets his feet, this footstool, this most glorious thing of 240 00:22:07.269 --> 00:22:12.190 everything that anything could be imagined, in the most holy place in all the 241 00:22:12.349 --> 00:22:18.900 world. It's where God puts his feet. This is how far above God, 242 00:22:19.140 --> 00:22:26.019 God is above anything that we could imagine. The temple on Earth did 243 00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:30.210 not contain him, and indeed even the temples of the new heavens and the 244 00:22:30.250 --> 00:22:41.250 new earth will not be able to contain him. We ought to wonder and 245 00:22:41.569 --> 00:22:48.400 marvel and praise God for who he is. And here he is in his 246 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.400 graciousness and his blessing, because he says here I will dwell in the midst 247 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:59.430 of my people, of Israel forever. These kings that used to always vie 248 00:22:59.589 --> 00:23:03.150 for power, that would set up their house right next to mine. No 249 00:23:03.390 --> 00:23:10.589 more of that. They're dead bodies will be removed away and all will be 250 00:23:10.750 --> 00:23:14.980 made right. The central promise here, we find in other places in his 251 00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:18.700 ekil, for example, is ecyl thirty seven that we read this morning, 252 00:23:18.140 --> 00:23:22.660 is that God would dwell in the midst of his people, he would cleanse 253 00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:27.009 our hearts from all this gross idolatry and he would be with us forever and 254 00:23:27.130 --> 00:23:36.490 ever. And a new dawn is dawning. And ultimately we see this fulfilled 255 00:23:37.369 --> 00:23:41.400 in Christ. How do we know this? We know this because the a 256 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:48.839 temple was rebuilt, but this itself was just another earthly temple pointing forward to 257 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:52.880 that Lord who would come. Matthew one in twenty three, we are told 258 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:59.109 that Jesus is called Emmanuel. God with us. He is the fulfillment of 259 00:23:59.190 --> 00:24:03.990 the promise of these of the presence of God. Consider what John says and 260 00:24:04.029 --> 00:24:10.099 John One hundred and fourteen. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among 261 00:24:10.259 --> 00:24:14.779 us. This is Ezekiel language, isn't it? This is the prophecies being 262 00:24:14.900 --> 00:24:18.619 fulfilled, Jesus, the son of God, coming and dwelling among us. 263 00:24:18.819 --> 00:24:21.420 And you what John says after that in one hundred and fourteen, he says, 264 00:24:22.220 --> 00:24:26.849 and we have seen his glory and we have seen his glory, we 265 00:24:26.970 --> 00:24:30.650 have seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Hebrews, 266 00:24:30.730 --> 00:24:34.690 one of the three says the sun is the radiance of the glory of God 267 00:24:36.210 --> 00:24:44.759 and the exact imprint of his nature. In the song of Simion Luke, 268 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:48.960 on seventy eight and seventy nine, we read that because of the tender mercy 269 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:52.430 of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give 270 00:24:52.430 --> 00:24:56.789 light to those who sit in dark places and in the shadow of death, 271 00:24:57.309 --> 00:25:03.230 to guide o our feet into the way of peace. This is what God 272 00:25:03.390 --> 00:25:08.500 was doing in Christ. He was revealing his glorious nature in the world through 273 00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:15.980 the Sun, our savior. Now that savior would die. He would be 274 00:25:17.019 --> 00:25:21.259 a rejected stone, is a way, one of the way the scriptures put 275 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:25.250 it. The Nation's would take him and then they're a great building project of 276 00:25:25.329 --> 00:25:29.170 the world. They would look at Jesus and say not for us, not 277 00:25:29.410 --> 00:25:33.529 for our project, we don't need him. But that rejected stone, the 278 00:25:33.650 --> 00:25:40.279 Bible says, becomes the corner stone of the new temple. And listen to 279 00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:42.319 this. What Peter says in First Peter, two, four and five, 280 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:48.279 as you come to him, a living stone, rejected by men but in 281 00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:55.190 the sight of God, chosen and precious. You Yourself, like living stones, 282 00:25:55.230 --> 00:26:00.190 are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, 283 00:26:00.670 --> 00:26:08.460 to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. What the Bible 284 00:26:08.619 --> 00:26:15.660 teaches us is that this final temple in which God will dwell amidst his people 285 00:26:15.460 --> 00:26:19.369 is a temp pull in which he is, that self, the cornerstone, 286 00:26:19.410 --> 00:26:26.490 and we it are those living stones built up, his Holy Spirit dwelling in 287 00:26:26.569 --> 00:26:30.089 US, the body of Christ. God is so more close with us, 288 00:26:30.289 --> 00:26:36.039 and we can even begin to express and imagine. The scriptures talk about it 289 00:26:36.119 --> 00:26:41.160 in these glorious ways, and we must hold fast to those truths. And 290 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:48.430 when we do, we can begin to pray and Sing, as the psalms 291 00:26:48.470 --> 00:27:00.069 do. And all close with this psalm one hundred and thirty nine. Oh 292 00:27:00.190 --> 00:27:03.819 Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit 293 00:27:03.900 --> 00:27:07.700 down and when I rise up. You discerned my thoughts from afar. You 294 00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:11.779 search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways, 295 00:27:11.740 --> 00:27:15.460 even before a word is on my tongue. Behold, oh Lord, 296 00:27:15.579 --> 00:27:18.849 you know it all together. You Hem me in behind and before you lay 297 00:27:18.930 --> 00:27:23.170 your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful to me. For me 298 00:27:25.089 --> 00:27:29.769 it is high. I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from Your 299 00:27:29.809 --> 00:27:33.319 Spirit, or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend the 300 00:27:33.400 --> 00:27:37.359 heaven, you are there. If I make my bed and Shole, you 301 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:40.920 are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the 302 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:45.390 uttermost parts of the sea, even there, your hand shall leave me and 303 00:27:45.549 --> 00:27:48.710 your right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely, darkness shall 304 00:27:48.750 --> 00:27:52.789 cover me in the light about me be night. Even the darkness is not 305 00:27:52.829 --> 00:27:57.309 dark to you. The night is as bright as the day, for darkness 306 00:27:57.349 --> 00:28:03.339 is as light with you, you, for you formed my inward parts. 307 00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:06.779 You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I 308 00:28:06.900 --> 00:28:12.329 am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it 309 00:28:12.490 --> 00:28:18.089 very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made 310 00:28:18.130 --> 00:28:22.170 in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. You saw my 311 00:28:22.289 --> 00:28:26.480 unformed substance. In your book were written every one of them. The days 312 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:32.480 that were formed for me. As yet there was none of them. How 313 00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:36.640 precious to me are your thoughts, Oh God? How vast is the sum 314 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:41.279 of them? If I would count them, they are more than the sand. 315 00:28:41.869 --> 00:28:49.309 I awake and I am still with you. Oh that you would slay 316 00:28:49.390 --> 00:28:52.390 the wicked, Oh God, Oh men of blood, depart from me. 317 00:28:52.910 --> 00:28:56.940 They speak against you with malicious intent. Your enemies take your name in vain. 318 00:28:57.579 --> 00:29:00.900 Do I not hate those who hate you, Oh Lord? Do I 319 00:29:00.019 --> 00:29:03.940 not loave those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred. 320 00:29:04.180 --> 00:29:07.539 I count them my enemies. Search me, Oh God, and know 321 00:29:07.740 --> 00:29:11.009 my heart, try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be 322 00:29:11.049 --> 00:29:19.049 any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting here 323 00:29:19.529 --> 00:29:27.160 is the song and the prayer of someone who is at rest in the presence 324 00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:33.039 of God, knowing that wherever they are in the world, no matter wherever 325 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:37.519 they go, in the darkest praise in the brightest place, God is supreme 326 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:41.470 over them, all, over it all, and he has them in the 327 00:29:41.549 --> 00:29:48.069 palm of his hands. God is present with us in this way through Jesus 328 00:29:48.109 --> 00:29:52.710 Christ, and so, beloved, don't seek him elsewhere. When God has 329 00:29:52.750 --> 00:29:56.539 revealed his glory to us in this person, in this son. Don't go 330 00:29:56.740 --> 00:30:02.740 searching for him anywhere else. Give Him all your praise and give him all 331 00:30:02.819 --> 00:30:07.130 your glory. Find your future hope here and remember that this Immanuel, this 332 00:30:08.089 --> 00:30:11.890 God with us in Jesus Christ, this glory that is revealed to us this 333 00:30:12.130 --> 00:30:15.529 cornerstone of the new temple, is the same one who said to us, 334 00:30:17.089 --> 00:30:21.599 surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 335 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:26.880 We Find God in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit, who unites us 336 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:32.160 to us, to him in such a way that we become the very temple 337 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:37.750 of God. I'll praise and glory to the Triune God. Amen. Let's 338 00:30:37.789 --> pray.