What and How A Prophet Speaks

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:07.429 Beloved. Let's turn to God's word. Now in Ezekiel, Ezekiel, chapter 2 00:00:07.589 --> 00:00:27.579 three, I'm going to be reading verse sixteen through the end of the chapter, 3 00:00:27.739 --> 00:00:39.689 Sixteen through twenty seven. Le Grass withers, flowers fade, but the 4 00:00:39.770 --> 00:00:47.369 word of our Lord stands forever. Let's give our attention to it. And 5 00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:51.399 at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me. 6 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:55.640 Son Of man, I have made you a watchman for the House of 7 00:00:55.759 --> 00:01:02.200 Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them 8 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:06.870 warning from me. If I say to the wicked, you shall surely die 9 00:01:07.590 --> 00:01:11.790 and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his 10 00:01:11.909 --> 00:01:17.629 wicked way in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for 11 00:01:17.829 --> 00:01:23.939 his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if 12 00:01:23.939 --> 00:01:26.260 you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his 13 00:01:26.379 --> 00:01:32.219 wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered 14 00:01:32.340 --> 00:01:38.090 your soul again. If a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice 15 00:01:38.689 --> 00:01:42.209 and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die because you have 16 00:01:42.329 --> 00:01:47.519 not warned him. He shall die for his sin and his righteous deeds that 17 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:51.879 he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at 18 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:57.280 your hand, for if you warn the righteous person not to sin or but 19 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:00.879 if you warn the righteous person not to sin and he does not sin, 20 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:06.950 he shall surely live because he took warning, and you will have delivered your 21 00:02:06.989 --> 00:02:12.110 soul. And the hand of the Lord was upon me there and he said 22 00:02:12.110 --> 00:02:15.539 to me, arise, go out into the valley, and there I will 23 00:02:15.539 --> 00:02:20.780 speak with you. So I arose and went out into the valley and behold, 24 00:02:20.819 --> 00:02:24.300 the glory of the Lord stood bear stood there like the glory that I 25 00:02:24.419 --> 00:02:29.939 had seen by the cabar canal, and I fell on my face, but 26 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:34.090 the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke 27 00:02:34.210 --> 00:02:38.490 with me and said to me, go shut yourself within your house and you, 28 00:02:38.729 --> 00:02:44.009 Oh son of man, behold. Cords will be placed upon you and 29 00:02:44.169 --> 00:02:47.159 you shall be bound with them so that you cannot go out among the people, 30 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:52.879 and I will make your tongue clinging to the roof of your mouth so 31 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:57.520 that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a 32 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:02.030 rebellious house. But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth 33 00:03:02.469 --> 00:03:07.389 and you shall say to them. Thus says the Lord God. He who 34 00:03:07.389 --> 00:03:12.389 will hear, let him hear, and he will refuse to hear. Let 35 00:03:12.430 --> 00:03:31.569 him refuse, for they are a rebellious house. So, as we have 36 00:03:31.689 --> 00:03:38.729 seen in the previous verses, in Ezekiel, God has called this Prophet to 37 00:03:38.090 --> 00:03:46.280 a very, very high and hard task. He has called Zekiel to preach 38 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:53.319 judgment, not to people that want to hear it, but to a rebellious 39 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:55.469 house, a people that do not want to hear it, a people that, 40 00:03:55.590 --> 00:04:06.270 the Lord said previously, will not listen. And nevertheless is Zeke and 41 00:04:06.389 --> 00:04:14.020 nevertheless Ezekiel must speak. He must speak, and that fact has been impressed 42 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:18.459 upon him in two ways. One, through his vision of the glory of 43 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:26.449 the Lord. Ezekiel has come face to face with a divine warrior, a 44 00:04:26.569 --> 00:04:30.649 king seated on his throne, on the move, ready to judge his people. 45 00:04:32.290 --> 00:04:38.329 Ezekiel has seen what is coming as he sees of the Lord, and 46 00:04:38.490 --> 00:04:42.959 he hears what is coming as he hears the Lord. And this is also 47 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.560 impressed on his Ekiel in another way, not only through his eyes, but 48 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:51.560 also through his words and and in his own body. It would seem unable 49 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:58.709 to stand. The spirit of God lifts him up. That same spirit that 50 00:04:58.870 --> 00:05:06.259 causes the divine warriors chariot to move injustice lifts up the Prophet and enables him 51 00:05:08.019 --> 00:05:13.220 to work, enables him to do the things that he is called to do, 52 00:05:13.540 --> 00:05:18.819 to speak as he has been told to speak. And now, as 53 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:23.490 we come to this passage in Ezekiel three, the end of his equel three, 54 00:05:23.569 --> 00:05:28.889 this is impressed yet once more. This call of Ezekiel is not short, 55 00:05:28.930 --> 00:05:33.810 it is not brief. We see it impressed over and over again on 56 00:05:34.129 --> 00:05:38.600 this is not just for his ekiel's benefit, loved, but it's for ours. 57 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:43.560 It reminds us that we must listen to what he has to say. 58 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:47.600 This is a man who has come face to face with the Lord, God 59 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:51.629 Almighty, who speaks a word of judgment, who does not wink at sin, 60 00:05:53.709 --> 00:05:58.589 who has seen the rebelliousness of his own people and is coming in judgment. 61 00:05:58.629 --> 00:06:04.339 If we are going to just walk away ignore it, we find ourselves 62 00:06:04.379 --> 00:06:11.339 in similar danger. These chapters are here for us to see what is Egal 63 00:06:11.420 --> 00:06:15.379 sees, to hear what is evil, hears to know the heart of God, 64 00:06:15.660 --> 00:06:21.810 the will of God. What a blessing that is to us if we 65 00:06:23.810 --> 00:06:29.170 if we have ears to hear and eyes to see. And the way that 66 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:33.680 this is impressed even further here in this passage is by a word to the 67 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:38.439 prophet, not only to speak as he has been spoken to, but a 68 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:43.800 warning that if he does not, he will die. He will die, 69 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.509 in other words, as God speaks in this passage, in verses sixteen through 70 00:06:48.589 --> 00:06:55.829 twenty seven, there are two audiences immediately in view, the people that is 71 00:06:55.949 --> 00:07:03.939 Ekiel will speak to, and Ezekiel himself. That same righteousness and obedience that 72 00:07:04.060 --> 00:07:11.259 God is calling the people to, God is also calling Ezekiel to. You 73 00:07:11.379 --> 00:07:15.579 remember, perhaps in a previous verse, when God told is Ekiel, don't 74 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:19.610 be rebellious like these people are. Speak as I have spoken to you. 75 00:07:19.970 --> 00:07:26.810 The Lord essentially says the same thing again. He says this and impresses this 76 00:07:26.970 --> 00:07:31.519 in two particular ways as he thinks about his word to the wicked and his 77 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:38.600 word to the righteous. Let's look at it again. He says, if 78 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:43.399 I say to the wicked, you shall surly die and you give him no 79 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:46.790 warning, nor speak to the wicked or nor warn the wicked from his wicked 80 00:07:46.829 --> 00:07:50.269 way in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die from his 81 00:07:50.389 --> 00:07:56.149 iniquity, but his blood I will require your hand. Do you see the 82 00:07:56.269 --> 00:08:00.180 two audiences there? The two people that really need to listen to this, 83 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:05.420 the wicked. If they do not turn or if they do not hear, 84 00:08:05.540 --> 00:08:07.180 in other words, I should say if they do not hear the warning of 85 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:11.860 the Lord, they don't get off. It's like, Oh, I didn't 86 00:08:11.860 --> 00:08:16.129 hear the word of the Lord, so I'm okay. No, he says, 87 00:08:16.490 --> 00:08:22.649 if they don't hear, they shall die. Why? Because of their 88 00:08:22.730 --> 00:08:28.959 iniquity. It's not as though they there salvation or or there. I'm sorry, 89 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:33.559 they're their judgment is dependent on whether is Zekiel does well or not. 90 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:41.990 They are judged because they have not done well. There's already a problem even 91 00:08:43.029 --> 00:08:48.429 before the Prophet speaks. They've already been condemned, they've already fallen into sin. 92 00:08:48.110 --> 00:08:52.909 That person, even if Ezekiel doesn't say anything, will still die. 93 00:08:56.299 --> 00:09:01.379 Why? Because of their sins. They will be held to account for their 94 00:09:01.419 --> 00:09:07.220 sins. But then, speaking to Ezekiel directly here, God says, but 95 00:09:07.419 --> 00:09:11.210 his blood I will require at your hands. They will be accounted for for 96 00:09:11.289 --> 00:09:15.929 their sins and you will be accounted for yours, accountable for your sin. 97 00:09:16.210 --> 00:09:20.769 And what would iszekiel sin be in that instance? His refusal to obey the 98 00:09:20.889 --> 00:09:26.080 word of the Lord and speaking the word of the Lord. Verse Nineteen. 99 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:28.600 But if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or 100 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:33.960 his wicked way, God doesn't hold a Zekiel to account for that. Why? 101 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:39.990 Because Ezekiel's done his job. Ezekiel has fulfilled the commandment. The man 102 00:09:41.110 --> 00:09:43.110 who stays in his wicked way, yes, he will still, he shall 103 00:09:43.269 --> 00:09:48.789 die for his iniquity. But you, Ezekiel, will have delivered your soul. 104 00:09:50.590 --> 00:09:52.860 Is Zekiel, this man, who is called the son of man, 105 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:58.779 even as Jesus is called the son of man, as Adam is a son 106 00:09:58.860 --> 00:10:03.700 of man, is being called a righteousness. If you obey this, you 107 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:09.529 will live. If you don't obey this, you will die. In other 108 00:10:09.610 --> 00:10:13.809 words, that same law that's being impressed upon the people of God is being 109 00:10:13.929 --> 00:10:18.409 impressed upon the prophet him himself. He doesn't get to sort of rise above 110 00:10:18.450 --> 00:10:24.919 it all. No, he must obey. Similarly, in Verse Twenty, 111 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.039 the Lord Impresses this point again. If a righteous person turns from his righteousness 112 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:35.950 and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall 113 00:10:35.149 --> 00:10:39.909 die. Why? Because you have not warned him. He shall die for 114 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:43.710 his sin, and his righteous deeds that he's done shall not be remembered. 115 00:10:46.429 --> 00:10:48.669 When we break the law, we break the law. God doesn't look back 116 00:10:48.789 --> 00:10:52.860 on our righteousness and go well, there was some good in there. Now 117 00:10:54.100 --> 00:11:00.379 one sin is worthy of our condemnation because God is perfect, holy in every 118 00:11:00.419 --> 00:11:03.889 way. There's no sort of balancing act in this world. We get a 119 00:11:03.929 --> 00:11:07.009 little bit of that kind of grace right. Well, you know, you 120 00:11:07.090 --> 00:11:11.570 didn't file all your stuff on time. By you did really good on this 121 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:15.850 project, so we're going to keep you around. But when we're talking about 122 00:11:15.889 --> 00:11:20.360 the Kingdom of Heaven, we're time about the holiness of God, one fault, 123 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:30.120 one sin, is enough to borrow us from heaven. And if that 124 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:35.710 seems harsh to you, and it does seem harsh to me sometimes, it 125 00:11:37.350 --> 00:11:43.549 tells us something about our understanding of sin. It's too low, we think 126 00:11:43.590 --> 00:11:48.019 of our sin is too low. If we can look the glory of the 127 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:54.019 Lord here, of the glory of the Lord in His divine wrath and his 128 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:58.259 mighty power, with lightnings and flashing, the flashing of fire and his thundering 129 00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:03.129 and the angels and the wheels and go. It sin really that bad, 130 00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:09.529 then we have not understood what sin is and we have not understood the holiness 131 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:16.320 of the Lord, and honestly, we never really will until we've come into 132 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:22.039 perfection, when we come into the glory of the Lord. And so don't 133 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:26.200 pass over these things and let them just sort of in one ear out the 134 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:33.789 other. Understand the importance of these things. Righteous deeds are not remembered when 135 00:12:33.830 --> 00:12:39.590 the one who is righteous commits sin. But if Ezekiel again, turning to 136 00:12:39.629 --> 00:12:45.340 the Prophet himself, but if Ezekiel does not warn the righteous who has turned 137 00:12:45.659 --> 00:12:50.740 toward wickedness, as he said, before his blood I will require of your 138 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:54.179 hands. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin and he does 139 00:12:54.340 --> 00:13:01.450 not sin, he will surely live because he took your warning and you will 140 00:13:01.490 --> 00:13:07.529 have delivered your soul. So righteousness is required on both the hand, on 141 00:13:07.649 --> 00:13:18.919 both the part of the Prophet and on the part of the people. But, 142 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:26.509 as we come to see, isekiel's ability to do this, this thing 143 00:13:26.669 --> 00:13:33.190 that God has totally, one hundred percent required of him, is totally one 144 00:13:33.230 --> 00:13:39.549 hundred percent dependent on God, and we see that in the verses after he 145 00:13:39.669 --> 00:13:45.100 receives yet again, another vision of the glory of the Lord, another again, 146 00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:48.620 the spirit entering him and setting on him, setting him on his feet. 147 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:50.899 And then he says to his Zekiel, in Verse Twenty Four, go 148 00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:56.090 shut yourself within your house and you a son of man, behold, cords 149 00:13:56.129 --> 00:13:58.049 will be placed upon you. You shall be bound with them so that you 150 00:13:58.090 --> 00:14:03.529 cannot go out among the people. He says, I will make your tongue 151 00:14:05.529 --> 00:14:09.929 cling to the roof of your mouth so that you shall be mute and unable 152 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:24.149 to reprove them. So God, in his perfect wisdom, gives this spectacular 153 00:14:24.789 --> 00:14:30.509 vision to this prophet, to this man, commissions as is a prophet, 154 00:14:30.990 --> 00:14:35.350 warns him with the most dire of warnings, that he must speak as he 155 00:14:35.429 --> 00:14:39.539 has spoken to that he must go to the wicked and he must go to 156 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:41.980 the people of Israel and tell them what the Lord says, and then he 157 00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:48.299 shuts his mouth, sticks him in a house and binds him up. Why 158 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:56.090 would God Commission a Prophet in this way and in such a strong way and 159 00:14:56.250 --> 00:15:07.000 then shut him up? Ask Joseph, ask Daniel, ask Paul, ask 160 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:16.519 Jesus, who went as silent as a lamb to be bound to across. 161 00:15:24.909 --> 00:15:33.830 What this teaches us is that God is sovereign over everything, over the prophets, 162 00:15:33.830 --> 00:15:48.139 over Providence, over salvation, over judgment. We like to think that 163 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:52.129 if we get, or if we were to receive a sight of God, 164 00:15:52.330 --> 00:15:58.690 a vision of God, like Ezekiel had, that would be enough to inspire 165 00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:02.610 us, to equip us to then go live our lives in the service of 166 00:16:02.730 --> 00:16:11.000 God and to do great things. But it's not enough. Ezekiel doesn't only 167 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:17.559 need to receive this vision, he doesn't only need to be commanded by God, 168 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:22.269 he must also be set free by God and empowered, set on his 169 00:16:22.389 --> 00:16:27.710 feet to speak. We like to think that if we'd get a sight of 170 00:16:27.789 --> 00:16:30.950 God, that would be enough, or we like to think that if we 171 00:16:32.029 --> 00:16:38.259 knew the gospel of Jesus Christ enough, then that would be enough to compel 172 00:16:38.379 --> 00:16:41.580 us to good works, or that or that, if we order that, 173 00:16:41.659 --> 00:16:47.929 if the the bad news of God's judgment was terrifying enough, that perhaps that 174 00:16:48.090 --> 00:16:53.570 would be enough for us. But it's not. It's, of course, 175 00:16:53.809 --> 00:16:59.730 great to know the Gospel Really, really well, and it's of course great 176 00:16:59.850 --> 00:17:03.559 to how to know the bad news and fear the coming judgment, and it's 177 00:17:03.599 --> 00:17:10.319 of course great to have the visions of God as we all have received it 178 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:17.990 here through the Prophet's words in his Ekiel, but without the spirit of God 179 00:17:18.829 --> 00:17:26.349 moving in our hearts, it's not enough. We like to think it's enough 180 00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:30.019 because we will like to think that it would be enough if for us to 181 00:17:30.180 --> 00:17:34.140 just sort of get this sort of, I don't know, gas in our 182 00:17:34.220 --> 00:17:37.859 take or something, and then we're sort of good to go on our own. 183 00:17:38.380 --> 00:17:41.019 And then we begin to think of all of our lives in this way. 184 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:47.009 We think, well, if I'm gentle enough, for forceful enough, 185 00:17:47.089 --> 00:17:49.529 for important enough, for our harsh enough, or whatever it is we think 186 00:17:49.569 --> 00:17:55.009 we need to be, that that will then enable us to speak the word 187 00:17:55.089 --> 00:17:59.799 of God and to live in the word of God, that, having perhaps 188 00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:06.720 understood x well enough or seen X or experienced x, that then we can 189 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:10.799 live the Christian life and do as we ought to do and speak as we 190 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:15.109 ought to speak, live as we ought to live. But what God is 191 00:18:15.190 --> 00:18:19.910 teaching Ezekiel and what God is teaching his people through him, is that nothing, 192 00:18:21.190 --> 00:18:26.509 nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing can read can break our rebellion against 193 00:18:26.549 --> 00:18:34.259 God to get except for God himself. Ezekiel will speak the word and they 194 00:18:34.299 --> 00:18:41.410 won't hear. That's a hard teaching, because we'd like to think that. 195 00:18:41.529 --> 00:18:45.329 Well, if I heard from a Zeek killed for crying out out, I 196 00:18:45.690 --> 00:18:51.890 I'd listen to that. No, he wouldn't, you wouldn't, because our 197 00:18:52.009 --> 00:19:00.599 sin is that bad, our sin goes that deep. It's not enough to 198 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:04.920 say here I am, send me. God must also send you, he 199 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:11.230 must be with you, he must empower you, and that's what he is 200 00:19:11.430 --> 00:19:19.430 teaching us through Ezekiel, that we are entirely, entirely dependent on him and 201 00:19:21.069 --> 00:19:27.420 on His grace to change our rebellious hearts and to move us. And I 202 00:19:27.460 --> 00:19:34.380 think that for most of us it makes us uncomfortable. It makes us, 203 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:40.970 and we hate to say it, but really it makes us too dependent on 204 00:19:41.170 --> 00:19:48.569 God. If we're honest, I think we're just not comfortable with letting go 205 00:19:48.210 --> 00:19:55.759 that much, with admitting that we need him that much, that he is 206 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:02.960 really that much in control, and that's why we don't pray. It's why 207 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:07.630 we don't read our bibles, it's why we're sleepy and kind of unaffected when 208 00:20:07.630 --> 00:20:15.069 we hear of the glory of God in his word, because we're just not 209 00:20:15.269 --> 00:20:22.660 that hungry. We just don't feel the need that much we think we kind 210 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:26.140 of, maybe a little bit, maybe a lot, can handle it on 211 00:20:26.220 --> 00:20:32.619 our own, perhaps with God's help here there. But that's not what is 212 00:20:32.740 --> 00:20:34.930 Ekiel is showing us. That's not what God is showing us through Ezekiel. 213 00:20:37.569 --> 00:20:41.049 What he's showing us is that we cannot manage on our own, we cannot 214 00:20:41.130 --> 00:20:47.250 change our hearts on our own, we cannot save ourselves. We need him 215 00:20:47.289 --> 00:20:55.720 entirely. So I think part of US feels like we don't really want to 216 00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:00.519 be that dependent on God. We think we can partly manage ourselves on our 217 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:03.390 own, and I think the other part of US thinks that we're simply scared 218 00:21:03.869 --> 00:21:10.670 of what would happen if we admitted that we do in fact have these sins. 219 00:21:12.309 --> 00:21:18.509 And it's scary to go before the Almighty God facetoface, like Ezekiel does, 220 00:21:19.059 --> 00:21:22.779 because if we were really honest about how much we need him, if 221 00:21:22.779 --> 00:21:26.819 we're really honest about how much we've sinned against him, it's scary to come 222 00:21:27.019 --> 00:21:33.690 face to face with the Living God. It's terrifying, and so we rather 223 00:21:33.809 --> 00:21:41.049 not think about it really, and so we are. We put ourselves in 224 00:21:41.089 --> 00:21:48.880 this weird position where the choice seems to be pretend to be asleep, even 225 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:52.319 though we know we're not asleep and we know we need to wake up. 226 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:56.559 But just kind of keep your eyes closed and pretend the alarms not going off 227 00:21:56.279 --> 00:22:03.150 and hope that if you wait long enough, something different will happen, or 228 00:22:03.549 --> 00:22:06.750 coming face to face with the fact that the alarms going off and your late 229 00:22:06.789 --> 00:22:10.430 and you've messed everything up. And those, we feel, our two options 230 00:22:10.509 --> 00:22:15.230 and because we our hearts are hard, we just kind of stay there in 231 00:22:15.349 --> 00:22:19.059 bed, we stay stuck, we stay scared, we stay frustrated and we 232 00:22:19.140 --> 00:22:23.619 feel like there's no other option. But God does offer a third way. 233 00:22:30.089 --> 00:22:34.930 Our sin tells us there's two choices. Stay blind in your disobedience and to 234 00:22:36.049 --> 00:22:40.569 your disobedience, pretend it's not there, or come to face with, face 235 00:22:40.650 --> 00:22:47.319 to face with the UNMEDIATED glory of God Almighty. But there is a third 236 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:52.839 way, a way that God provides, a way that is true and a 237 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.920 way that is life. In that way is Jesus, a prophet that is 238 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:03.710 greater than than Ezekiel, who also speaks of coming judgment, who also speaks 239 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:08.910 of the wrath of God, and then takes on the wrath of God himself 240 00:23:10.390 --> 00:23:18.059 to become a mediator between us and God. As a prophet, Jesus speaks 241 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:23.500 the word so that we could hear and live and come to God and His 242 00:23:23.660 --> 00:23:30.970 Holiness through Jesus. So instead of stay ending naked before God and all of 243 00:23:32.049 --> 00:23:40.130 our sin, we stand clothed in the righteousness of God, in the righteousness 244 00:23:40.170 --> 00:23:45.599 of Christ, so that we don't have to be terrified of coming face to 245 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:49.440 God. But we face to face with God, but we come boldly into 246 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:57.910 his throne room, praising him for his salvation, having the weight and the 247 00:23:59.069 --> 00:24:03.789 burden of sin lifted off of our chest, so that we can finally breathe 248 00:24:03.990 --> 00:24:11.740 and be awake and be alive, not to the judgment and condemnation of God, 249 00:24:11.819 --> 00:24:19.500 but to the salvation of God. Jesus, likewise would be bound. 250 00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:27.049 As I mentioned before, Jesus, like the Prophet, would be put would 251 00:24:27.089 --> 00:24:36.769 be silenced, but not forever. Jesus fulfilled the law as a prophet, 252 00:24:36.849 --> 00:24:42.599 as a priest, as a king, as the son of man, perfectly. 253 00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:51.640 He did what Adam failed to do and achieved righteousness for us that we 254 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.349 that he might take our sins and give to us his righteousness. He was 255 00:24:56.670 --> 00:25:03.109 obedient to death, not as a punishment for his sins, but for ours. 256 00:25:04.269 --> 00:25:08.980 And this is the message that we now have in the Gospel. Jesus 257 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:12.940 speaks to us not only of judgment that we as we see on the cross, 258 00:25:14.740 --> 00:25:26.450 but also of salvation. And so beloved cling to the Lord Jesus Christ, 259 00:25:27.369 --> 00:25:33.289 cling to his words, this prophet who speaks the words of Ezekiel better 260 00:25:33.369 --> 00:25:37.480 than Ezekiel spoke them and as Ekiel spoke them by the spirit of God. 261 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:45.000 Not that there was anything sinful about what is ekiel spoke, but it wasn't 262 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.390 as full, it wasn't as perfect, it wasn't as clear and it wasn't 263 00:25:49.430 --> 00:25:53.789 as final as the words of the Prophet of the Lord, our Savior. 264 00:25:56.349 --> 00:26:00.789 And so when we hear his words and we see them, I was going 265 00:26:00.829 --> 00:26:03.740 to say enacted, but I don't want to make it sound like a pretend 266 00:26:03.819 --> 00:26:08.339 thing, right fulfilled in his flesh. It's what I'm trying to get at, 267 00:26:10.059 --> 00:26:18.890 in his body on the cross. Let's hear with faith and believe that 268 00:26:18.009 --> 00:26:25.450 we might receive his righteousness and be saved. Let's pray and