November 2
Ezek 3:16-6:14 | PS 104:24-35 | Prov 26:27 | Heb 4:1-16
"As in the days of Noah", these are the times that we find ourselves in. We didn't choose it, but it was chosen for us. We all desire peace, security, prosperity, etc., but such is not the times that we find ourselves in. So what do we do with that information? We can hold onto things for as long as we can. We can make sure that we are fine, even if everyone and everything else is about to go up in smoke. The important question is, what would God have us do? Considering He has placed us in these times, not by coincidence, what does He want us to do? A couple of employees who I have given the gospel message to a number of times before, I recently gave it to them again. It is not that I am judging them in any way, it's just that this is what I am called to do, and I love them. Another co-worker who I have given the gospel message to a bunch of times, but who has been resistant to consider due to the denomination that she was raised in, and the feeling that becoming "born again" would be contrary to her upbringing, who is a wonderful person that I care about very much, received the message once again. One who I work with in the hospital has previously rejected the gospel message, but in the wake of many of the worldly things taking place, many of which she sees as I do, I presented the message once again. We, in Christ, are to give up on no one. We are to assume nothing, based on whether they are a "good person" or not. We must be steadfast in our warning, as we see the world as we know it moving in a terrible direction.
We read in Ezekiel 3:17-19, "“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to 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, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul." He was to deliver an unpopular message that Judah was about to fall. There were no shortage of false prophets who were saying the exact opposite. Their nation was about to crumble and those remaining would either perish or be led into captivity. Our nation is crumbling under the weight of our sin. Though many might perish, others might be harmed, most importantly many will be going into eternal damnation. We read from Jesus in John 8:23-24, "And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”" Read the warning of judgment, and ask yourself if this does not sound like our nation now, as we read in Ezekiel 5:7-9, "Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you, have not walked in My statutes nor kept My judgments, nor even done according to the judgments of the nations that are all around you’— therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Indeed I, even I, am against you and will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And I will do among you what I have never done, and the like of which I will never do again, because of all your abominations."
Yes, God is above all things, but He is not so above us as to be without feelings. We read in Ezekiel 6:9, "Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations." God was crushed by their disobedience and disregard. Knowing this, He has sent His Son, who knows what it is that we go through, having walked this earth as a man, and having experienced so much during that time. We read in Hebrews 4:15-16, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." He is sovereign, and is always in control. So, during these seemingly chaotic times, that we have been placed in, not by accident, may we seek Him continuously through His Word, and boldly reach out to a world who is without hope, without Him.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: