Hey, uh, what's our game?
They're working.
Yeah.
That's what we're doing.
Well, next time, we'll be working on it.
Yeah, that's what we're doing.
We'll organize it for me.
Daddy!
It's getting hard to do.
Exactly.
What are you doing with your face?
Trust and obey, number 325.
It begins when we walk with the Lord
in the light of his word.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 325.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
Let's sing it out on this first verse,
number 25.
My soul of fire,
him number 401,
set my soul of fire,
him number 401,
set my soul of
fire, Lord, for thy holy word,
him number 401.
my soul
of fire,
serve
thy holy word
burning
in me
Let your voice be heard.
Billions of the darkness, faithless day and hour.
I will be your witness, building with my power.
Set my soul afire, Lord.
Set my soul afire.
Make my life a witness of my saving power.
Billions of the darkness, waiting for my word.
Set my soul afire, Lord.
Set my soul afire.
Set my soul afire, Lord.
Lord, I'm lost in sin.
Give to me a passion, as I seek to live.
Help me not to falter, never let me fail.
Fill me with my spirit, and I will prevail.
Set my soul afire, Lord.
Set my soul afire.
Make my life a witness of my saving power.
Billions of the darkness, waiting for my word.
Set my soul afire, Lord.
Set my soul afire.
Set my soul afire, Lord.
Make my life a sign.
For too long I've wandered, endless day of strife.
Nothing else now matters, but to live for me.
I will be your witness, as you live in me.
Set my soul afire, Lord.
Set my soul afire.
Make my life a witness of my saving power.
Billions of the darkness, waiting for my word.
Set my soul afire, Lord.
Set my soul afire.
Amen.
Good singing.
This time we'll go through our announcements together.
If you don't have a bulletin, slip up your hand nice and high.
We'll get to you with one.
On the inside, we have our service time.
Sunday mornings at 1030 is our preaching service.
Sunday nights at 6.
Wednesday nights at 7 is our Bible study.
Tonight, we're in Ezekiel chapter number 2.
We've got the solany times listed there below, as well as
salvations and baptisms.
Cross the page.
Congratulations to the Akinosho family on the birth
of baby Elizabeth.
Everybody doing well?
All right.
Good to hear it.
So God bless them.
Be sure to congratulate them.
The monthly Spanish night is tomorrow, August 12th, at 7 p.m.
Also, I'm going to be preaching down in Tucson tomorrow night
at 7 p.m.
And then below that, all ladies and teen girls are invited to a
baby shower in honor of Gabriela Jeffrey on Saturday,
August 14th, from 2 to 4.30.
Oh, wait a minute, folks.
There's been an upgrade, it looks like.
Instead of light refreshments, it's going to be Hawaiian
barbecue that's being served.
So in case you were on the fence about this, this is going to be
a Hawaiian barbecue thing.
And that's going to be this coming Saturday, 2 to 4.30,
right here.
Please RSVP to Mrs. Suzanne Forte.
And then join us for the roller skating night.
That's next Thursday.
Like all of our church activities, it's free.
You just show up at the USA Skateland in Chandler.
And it's going to be from 6 o'clock to 8 o'clock.
And it's free.
It's reserved only for our church.
So we're looking forward to that.
On the back, we've got the note about the ladies retreat that's
coming up pretty soon here, August 25th through 28th.
And so be sure to read those details and act accordingly.
And then below that, other upcoming events, we've got a
bunch of small town soul winning trips that are still coming up.
And then, so this Friday and Saturday, Brother Segura, is
Raymond going to be back by then?
Oh, okay.
All right.
So he's just on a short trip.
Okay, great.
So yeah, so we've got all these trips listed here and the music
emphasis night, also the camping trip coming up.
So that's about it for announcements.
Let's go ahead and count up the soul winning from the past few
days, going back to Monday.
Anything from Monday on soul winning?
All right.
Anything else from Monday?
Got it.
Anything else from Monday?
All right.
What about Tuesday?
Anything from Tuesday?
All right.
And then what about today?
I didn't get any kind of a total in the van.
So anything from today?
One from today?
All right.
Anything else from today?
Gotcha.
All right.
Very good.
Keep up the great work on soul winning.
With that, let's go ahead and sing our next song.
Come lead us.
All right.
We're going to sing Psalm 126.
You should find that insert there in your hymnal there.
If you don't have one, please raise your hand.
Let's sing it on this verse.
When the Lord turned again, the captivity of Zion.
He who lightened that dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter
and our tongue with singing.
Then said they among the heathen,
the Lord of the great things grew
and the Lord of the great things knew us.
Whereof we are glad,
turning in our captivity,
O Lord,
as the streams in the south.
Lay the sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Then said they among the heathen,
the Lord of the great things grew
and the Lord of the great things knew us.
Whereof we are glad,
even going forth in heathen,
bearing precious heat,
should doubtless come again.
Should doubtless come again with rejoicing,
waiting if she's with me.
Then said they among the heathen,
the Lord of the great things grew
and the Lord of the great things knew us.
Whereof we are glad.
Amen, and your hymnals now, please turn to hymn number 235.
I know I love thee better, Lord,
let any earth rejoice,
though thou hast given me the peace,
let shall keep me in thy peace.
Now I am home,
and thou hast given me the peace.
O yet my dole's power
There shall be man in store, The half that's ever yet been sold.
A possible and free, The half that's ever yet been told.
The blood it plans to feed, I know that thou art hearer still,
When any earth we've come, Next year is the thought of thee,
When any love be sold, The half that's ever yet been told.
A possible and free, The half that's ever yet been told.
The blood it plans to feed, Thou hast the quietest in my heart,
With me I will be glad, Without the secret of my heart,
I could not be but sad, The half that's ever yet been told.
A possible and free, The half that's ever yet been told.
The blood it plans to feed, O Savior precious, Savior mine,
What will thy presence be, In such a life of joy can ground,
What on earth with thee, The half that's ever yet been told.
A love so full and free, The half that's ever yet been told.
The blood it plans to feed.
All right, this time we'll pass the offering plates around.
As the plates go around, let's turn our Bibles to Ezekiel chapter number two.
Ezekiel chapter two, as we always do, we'll read the entire chapter, starting in verse number one.
Follow along silently with brother Dan as he reads.
Ezekiel chapter two, beginning in verse number one.
In Ezekiel chapter two, the Bible reads,
And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
And the Spirit entered into me when he spake unto me,
And set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel,
To a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me.
They and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.
For they are impudent children, and stiff-hearted.
I do send thee unto them, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.
And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear,
For they are a rebellious house, yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
And now, Son of man, be not afraid of them,
Neither be afraid of their words, though briars and thorns be with thee,
And now doest dwell among scorpions.
Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks,
Though they be a rebellious house.
And thou shalt speak my words unto them,
Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear,
For they are most rebellious.
But thou, Son of man, hear what I say unto thee,
Be not thou rebellious, like that rebellious house.
Open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
And when I looked, behold, and hand was sent unto me,
And lo, a roll of a book was there in.
And he spread it before me, and it was written within and without,
And there was written therein, Lamentations, and Mourning, and Woe.
Dear Father, in Heaven, please fill the Passover spirit,
And please give us ears to hear and receive wisdom from the servant of the grave.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Amen. Ezekiel chapter number two, we're getting into the actual meat of the book of Ezekiel, the actual preaching.
Chapter one was just an introduction setting the scene for how Ezekiel received these revelations.
And the thing that's emphasized in Ezekiel chapter one is the fact that God is speaking directly to Ezekiel.
He's not just getting this through a dream or through divine inspiration, as God would often speak to prophets in that way.
You know, God talks to Moses about how he would often appear to prophets through dreams,
or the spirit of the Lord would come upon them and they would prophesy.
That's not what's going on here.
This is actually the Lord showing up and speaking with audible voice, as the Bible says, speaking expressly to Ezekiel.
And so the Bible takes the time in chapter one to describe the scene of God showing up with the cherry beams and all of the glory and the whirlwind.
And he's shown this amazing vision, and he actually hears audible voice.
Now at the end of chapter one, it says at the very end of the verse there of chapter one, verse twenty eight, it says,
this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face and I heard a voice of one that spake.
So he's so awestruck by the sight of the Lord and by hearing the Lord's voice that he falls down upon his face.
And this is a very typical reaction when people are in a situation like this.
Of course, John, the apostle in the book of Revelation, when he sees the vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, he says he fell at his feet as dead.
And then the Lord lays his right hand upon him and says, fear not, I'm the first and the last.
And then he's able to receive those revelations.
Well, in the book of Daniel, Daniel also has a similar reaction.
And in Daniel, it goes into more detail about how he just has no strength.
He basically just falls to the ground and just collapses. And he can't get up.
He's just so awestruck and terrified that he just came and move.
OK. And so here we see something similar where it says in chapter two, verse one.
And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon my feet and I will speak unto thee.
And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me and set me upon my feet that I heard him that spake unto me.
So we see that he's not actually even able to stand up of his own strength.
He has to be given strength by God in order to stand up, just like Daniel, where God had to touch him and give him strength.
And Daniel talks about the fact that he's like, I can't even get up.
And then God has to come over and give him strength supernaturally, because this is not an everyday thing, you know, to be confronted by the God of the universe and to be in the presence of these angels and things.
And so the Lord has to cause him to stand upon his feet.
Now, we could take a spiritual application of this, because the Bible often talks about standing in reference to, say, standing your ground or standing up for what's right.
You know, we think of the famous passage about the whole armor of God in Ephesians chapter six.
And it says, take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.
And so it says three times in a row, stand, stand, stand, right?
So the whole armor of God allows us to stand.
And so what I would take from this spiritually is that if we are going to take a stand for the things of God, if we're going to stand our ground as the world is trying to beat us down and get us to change
and get us to back off on some of our core fundamental beliefs and to get us to change on things that the Bible clearly teaches, if we're going to stand, we're going to need God's help in order to stand.
And so that's what's pictured here by the Spirit entering into him and setting him on his feet, causing him to stand.
We as human beings are weak.
The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
We need God's help in order to stand.
We need the spiritual whole armor of God.
We're not going to be able to stand in the flesh.
And that's why whenever Hollywood actors or famous celebrities of whatever type, typically when they accidentally say something that's correct every once in a while, they always end up having to take it back.
And they're sorry, you know, you think of Tim Hardaway saying, you know, that he hates gay people.
He doesn't want this homo on his team or whatever.
Well, you know, of course he took it back and he went to classes to teach him how to love homos even more.
And he took classes and he's posing with his graduating class.
These are the homos who taught me how to be tolerant.
He's posing with homos and doing all this stuff.
You know, why is that?
You know, what he said was correct.
What he said came from probably, I'm guessing, a religious upbringing.
And yet, even though what he said was true and from the heart when he talked about the perversion of homos and the wickedness, he's not going to stand on that because the flesh is weak.
When everybody's coming at you and your professional life is on the line and you're facing all this backlash, you know, it's hard to stand and we need the Lord's help.
We need the Holy Spirit of God to strengthen us, to help us to stand our ground.
You know, the Bible tells us to be faithful unto death.
And we have lots of examples in the Bible of people who are faithful unto death.
But the Lord can help with that because obviously in our own physical strength, we could be weak and want to just buckle under the pressure, go along to get along.
But here we see the Spirit of God entering into him and causing him to stand.
Now, I'm not just pulling that out of nowhere because this whole chapter is about preaching to people who don't want to hear the message, who are rebellious and not going to listen and standing your ground against those people.
So that's why I do think that there is some symbolism here in verse 1 and 2 about standing for God and the Holy Spirit causes us to stand.
You know, when we as preachers preach God's Word and then the media comes after us, our friends come after us, maybe even family comes after us and our peers, maybe even our preacher friends come after us, you know, if we're going to stand on what's right, you know, we need God's Spirit to strengthen us and give us that boldness to take a hard stand and sometimes even to stand alone.
Now the Bible says here in verse 2, the Spirit entered into me when he spake unto me and set me upon my feet that I heard him that spake unto me and he said unto me, son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me.
They and their fathers have transgressed against me even unto this very day.
And this is one of the things about the book of Ezekiel that God refers to Ezekiel by this title, son of man.
So this is a theme throughout the book of Ezekiel calling him son of man.
And what does the word son of man mean?
It means simply human being.
And Jesus Christ is often referred to as the son of man, the son of man, the son of man.
He's called the son of God, of course, but he's also referred to as the son of man.
And so this is just emphasizing his mortality, emphasizing the fact that he is a human being and that's why Jesus called the son of man.
That's to emphasize the fact that Jesus Christ was a human being.
And you say mortality.
Yeah, because Jesus died on the cross and that's the most important thing that he did.
He died and he was buried and rose again.
And so Jesus Christ was human, right?
Jesus Christ, the son of man.
He's both son of God and son of man.
And that is how he was able to die on the cross for our sins because an ordinary human being would not be able to die for our sins because they would be a sinner as well.
But because he's the son of God, he's also divine.
So he's both human and divine and he's able to die on the cross for our sins and he was buried and he rose again.
That's the most important part of the gospel or the crux of it.
And so Ezekiel being called the son of man, a lot of people have puzzled over this.
You know, what does it mean?
Why is he called the son of man?
I don't really read too much into it because I think it's just simply a reference to the fact that he is man.
I'm God, you're man, I think is what God's emphasizing there.
He's basically just separating between himself and Ezekiel, the human messenger versus the Lord showing up in all his glory.
And so he says, I'm sending you to the children of Israel to a rebellious nation that had rebelled against me.
They and their fathers have transgressed against me even under this very day.
Now let's remember the context of the book of Ezekiel.
What's going on in the book of Ezekiel?
Well, look at chapter 1 verse 1.
It says, now it came to pass in the 30th year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Kibar,
that the heavens were open and I saw visions of God in the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity.
So the book of Ezekiel is taking place during what's called the Babylonian captivity.
The children of Israel have rebelled against God, they've worshiped false gods.
Jeremiah is warning them.
The book of Jeremiah, which comes right before the book of Ezekiel,
Jeremiah is constantly warning them, telling them what's going to happen if they don't get right with God and they rebel against Jeremiah
and the Babylonians come in, take over their country and take them captive into Babylon.
And the children of Israel are going to be in captivity in Babylon for 70 years.
The book of Lamentations, the little book tucked in between Jeremiah and Ezekiel,
is looking back on the destruction of Jerusalem and how bad things are and lamenting how bad it was from the judgment of God.
In the book of Jeremiah, it even records a little bit after the Babylonian captivity,
where the children of Israel, even after Nebuchadnezzar has come in through his armies and destroyed Jerusalem and taken them captive,
where they're still rebelling against God.
So all the way up through the end of the book of Jeremiah, they're in rebellion.
Now, God has prophesied that they're going to come back 70 years later, that they're going to be in captivity for 70 years.
That's what Jeremiah prophesied.
But let me ask you this.
Is the children of Israel's coming back just a sure thing whether they get right with God or not?
And the answer is no.
They have to get right with God.
That's why Daniel, when he does the math in Daniel chapter 9 and figures out that the 70 years is about up
and it's about time for the children of Israel to go back to the promise land, you know what he does?
He starts praying and begging God for forgiveness and confessing the sins of Israel because he wants it to happen.
Because, you know, God might plan on bringing them back, but if they rebel against the Lord, you know, things can get delayed with God.
Look at the 40 years wandering in the wilderness, you know.
It's like, hey, I'm going to take you into the promise land.
Okay, but if you rebel against God, what does he do?
He says, okay, I'm going to take you into the promise land 40 years from now when you guys are all dead and it's going to be your children.
And so God has consistently, let me tell you why this is so important.
God consistently in the Bible punishes them when they do wrong, rewards them when they do right,
and the way that he punishes them is often taking them out of the promise land or not allowing them to enter the promise land
or sending other people to come in and harass them in the promise land or enslave them within their land.
But think about this, they couldn't go in the promise land in the book of Numbers because of their unbelief.
They're not allowed in and then what does God do?
God makes them wait 40 years and 40 years later, again, it's not a sure thing that children of Israel still have to follow.
They still have to follow Joshua.
They have to believe Joshua that, you know, and Joshua puts it out there to them.
You know, are we going to do this or what?
And the thing is, once they get right with God after the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, once they have the faith, now they can enter the promise land.
Okay, the other generation couldn't because they didn't have the faith.
Joshua's generation has the faith, they follow Joshua, they go with them into the promise land.
Then later, they sin against God and the Babylonian captivity takes place.
Then they get right with God and they're brought back 70 years later in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah and all those stories.
Okay, then when they rebel against Jesus Christ, they're once again kicked out of the promise land in the time of Christ.
Now, a lot of Bible teachers today would have us to believe that God brought them back to the promise land in unbelief in 1948, which makes absolutely no sense because they didn't get right with God.
Nothing changed.
So it's not like God says, okay, I'm going to go ahead and put you in the Babylonian captivity for 70 years and then after 70 years of your time out in the corner, you get to come back no matter what.
That makes no sense, my friend.
That'd be like if he let 40 years go by in the wilderness.
What if they would have said, oh, we can't do it.
We're scared.
There's giants in the land.
We don't, you know, we don't think we could do it.
You know what God would have done is just say, okay, let's do another 40 years.
Or you think he's just going to be like, oh, that's okay.
I mean, when you're when your father's whined and complained and didn't have the faith, I made them wander in the wilderness.
But you guys just get a free pass.
You guys get to come in the promised land anyway.
Is that how God works throughout history?
Is that how he works throughout the Bible?
He doesn't care with him.
A day is like a thousand years.
He'll make you wander in the wilderness more if that's what it takes.
And so to sit there and say, oh, God brought them back in unbelief.
That's absurd because God's never done anything like that in the Bible.
God doesn't reward people for rebellion and disobedience and say, oh, I know I kicked you out because you rejected Jesus.
But let's bring you back even though you still reject Jesus.
That makes no sense.
Does not make sense.
Israel becoming a nation in 1948 is just a complete fraud.
What it is, a bunch of white people from Europe, a bunch of Polish people, Russian people, Hungarian people and German people whose ancestors converted to Judaism.
Mixed in with a little bit of actual descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob like we all are since the Jews are scattered into every nation under heaven.
But these people are genetically more white than anything.
Just look at them.
They're white people, my friend.
That's their main genome.
Now look, they got a little brown mixed in.
So do all of us.
We're all mixed as humans.
But they are predominantly ethnically Eastern Europeans.
That's why the predominant ethnic group in Israel today are called Ashkenazis.
Now why are they called Ashkenazis?
Well, just look up who Ashkenaz is in your Bible and you'll find out that Ashkenaz is a Gentile.
Okay, because that's who they're descended from.
They say, well, it's because we were in Germany, you know.
Ashkenaz is Germany. We were in Germany.
You know, that's why we're Ashkenazi.
Yeah, you were in Germany all right because you're German.
You were in Hungary all right because you're Hungarian.
Yeah, you guys were in Russia because you're Russian.
Because you're mixed because it's been thousands of years.
And you know what? People convert to Judaism even now.
People converted to Judaism in every century.
People got out of Judaism.
Here's the thing. This is how Judaism is.
Judaism is this box that people are constantly coming into and getting out of because it's a religion, not an ethnicity.
So throughout the last 2,000 years of history, you've had a lot of people bailing from Judaism and becoming Christians
and just, you know, following Christ and moving on.
Or even bailing out of Judaism and going to Islam or whatever.
I mean, people are just becoming an atheist or whatever and just not even practicing and just forgetting that they're even Jewish after a few generations.
So people have been getting out and people have been getting in, getting out, getting in, getting out, getting in, getting out, getting in
to the point where it's not the same ethnic group anymore.
Even if it were the same ethnic group, God doesn't care.
Because God says, don't think to say within yourselves you have Abraham to our father.
I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
He doesn't care if Abraham's your ancestor, you know, 4,000 years ago.
Hey, 4,000 years ago Abraham was my ancestor.
It's like, so what? It's meaningless.
We're all so mixed anyway since then. It's been 4,000 years.
It's crazy. It's meaningless.
So the point is that the people, this is what happened in 1948, a bunch of people who are part of this false religion, Judaism,
a bunch of people who are part of this group of people, Jews, okay, who reject the Lord Jesus Christ,
okay, they basically through the help of the satanic organization known as the United Nations
and with the help of evil people like Lord Rothschild and all these other power brokers,
they basically founded a new Jewish state over there called Israel.
And now we're supposed to believe that that's God blessing them.
Why would God bless them when the Bible told me that the wrath has come upon them to the other most?
My Bible says that the wrath of God is on them.
The wrath has come upon them to the other most.
If you don't believe on the Son of God, I thought God's wrath is abiding on you.
So is God's wrath abiding on unbelieving, Christ rejecting Israel?
I mean, he's mad at them even in the Old Testament.
His wrath is on them here.
How much more today, thousands of years later, they've rejected the Lord Jesus Christ.
The New Testament is available on every corner bookstore.
They hear the gospel over and over again and reject it.
They are not blessed by God.
That is not, well, God brought them back into the nation in unbelief.
You know, because this is what the dispensationalists have been telling us for the last 75 years.
OK, think about this.
It's been like almost 75 years now we've been hearing this story about, well, God brought them back in unbelief.
And then once they're in the land, you know, he's going to give them a new heart or whatever.
OK, so when's that going to happen?
Because the people who came in 1948 are pretty much all dead now.
So guess what?
That prophecy, think about this now, that the dispensationalists have been telling us this prophecy.
They told us that they are being brought into the land in unbelief and then God's going to convert them and give them a new heart.
OK, then here's my question.
Why didn't that happen then?
You know what? That has been proven to be a lie because we are here in 2021 and that didn't happen.
Well, it's different people.
That makes no sense.
Why would he bring in a whole generation of people that's all, you know, he's going to bring these people in and say like, oh, we're going to bring them in and give them a new heart.
Well, actually, not them, their kids.
OK, well, then leave them in the wilderness then if it's going to be the kids.
You know, it's like God brought them in when it's actually a generation that's actually believing in him.
But we've been told this lie that said, well, he's just kind of changing up the order a little bit.
He's just going to bring them in the land and then they're going to get right with God, except he brought them into the land, quote unquote.
But did they ever get right with God?
So how many years have to go by before we call that a failed prophecy?
Because here we are almost 75 years later, wouldn't we say at this point that that generation has passed away?
This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.
This is the possibility of the victory.
It's all happening.
And then here we are in 2021.
Well, guess what? You guys were wrong.
So, you know, we should do discard the wrong end times theology of independent fundamental Baptists because they've been shown to be wrong.
Now, first of all, we should have discarded it anyway because it was never biblical.
It was never what the Bible said.
But at this point, how can anybody still be hanging on to it when it was proven wrong?
I mean, at this point, it's like the people after the great disappointment, you know, when they predicted Jesus was going to come back in the mid eighteen hundreds and then it didn't happen.
And they're like, well, but they're still right, though.
You know, at this point, you're just being stubborn, my friend, because this great revival that you promised us in Israel, Israel turning to Christ.
It didn't happen.
It's not going to happen.
It's never going to happen because you're theologically wrong because what you taught was never biblical.
But now you've been proved wrong because that those people were brought into the land in unbelief and they stayed in unbelief and they died and went to hell in unbelief because now the people living in Israel are not that same generation.
I mean, maybe you could find a couple of people that are 90 or something.
But let's face it, the generation living over today is virtually all people who were born after that.
OK, and they are not closer to being Christian now than they were back then.
They're farther.
They've not they're not look at the trend.
Are they getting more Christian, more Christian, more?
No, it's the opposite.
It's the reverse.
So this is important to understand the Book of Ezekiel.
This is key.
You say, why are you going off on that?
I thought we're talking about Ezekiel.
Ezekiel is dealing with the same situation where the children of Israel are in captivity and he needs to preach to them and get them right with God.
If they're ever if they're ever going to come back to the promised land, they've got to get right with God.
And by the way, everybody's not coming back.
Read books like Ezra and Nehemiah.
Everybody doesn't come back, my friend.
They got it.
The ones who come back are people.
They get right with God.
God's hand is upon them.
God brings them back and they're worshipping the Lord and they're serving God.
That's who gets that's who comes back.
And here's more proof.
Twelve tribes of Israel.
What about the 10 northern tribes?
They went into captivity, too, didn't they?
They went into the Assyrian captivity.
Before this, did they ever come back?
Nope.
Ten lost tribes because they went into captivity to the Assyrians and they never got right with God and came back.
They're just done.
Now, that's why I'm saying it's not necessarily just a sure thing that everybody gets to come back because it's their birthright or something.
It's not.
So Ezekiel's ministry is starting out in Chapter two here.
This is the first thing God tells him.
Right.
I mean, God appears to him.
He falls on the ground.
God picks him up and supernaturally infuses him with strength so that he's even able to listen to what God has to say.
The first thing he says, first words out of his mouth, giant book, 48 chapters.
What's the first thing God says?
Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, the wonderful chosen ones who can do no wrong.
He starts out saying, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me.
He's saying, look, this nation has rebelled against me.
That's why you're in captivity.
You're going to go preach to them.
And he pretty much tells them right away, they're not going to listen to you.
They're going to rebel against you.
They're going to fight you.
They're going to persecute you.
And they're not going to listen.
But you know what?
Don't worry about it.
Just preach God's word anyway.
Just preach the truth anyway.
Whether they hear or whether they forbear, they'll know that a prophet has been among them.
Preach to them anyway.
Okay.
Now later, they're going to get right with God.
But look, my friend, where we are in the timeline.
We're in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity.
So are we anywhere close to when the children of Israel are actually going to come back?
Not at this stage.
No, this is way early.
So they're still rebellious.
But Ezekiel is starting this process of preaching to them and rebuking them and getting them right with God.
And later on in the book of Ezekiel, there are going to be some messages of hope.
Talking about how, hey, I want to bring you guys back.
And it's going to be great.
And you can come back to the promised land.
The nation's going to exist again.
But at this point, it's just starting out, look, these people are rebellious.
You're preaching against them.
They're not going to like it.
They're not going to listen.
But you need to do it because I said so.
So, you know, this is an important chapter for a preacher to read and understand.
Because we as preachers need to understand that people are not always going to receive our message.
And that a lot of the things that we preach are going to be unpopular and could cause people to hate us or fight us.
But we need to be faithful and preach God's word anyway and leave the results to him.
And not worry about, oh, people don't like what I'm saying, I better change my message.
No, we just need to preach the word of God.
So he says, I send thee to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me.
They and their fathers have transgressed against me even unto this very day.
So they're still not right with God.
For they are impudent children and stiff-hearted.
I do send thee unto them and thou shalt say unto them, thus saith the Lord.
You're going to go and you're going to tell them what I say.
You're my messenger.
You're going to preach my word.
They're stiff-hearted, meaning they're stubborn.
They don't want to budge.
They're impudent, meaning that they're shameless.
And they have no shame for what they've done.
They don't feel bad about it.
They're stubborn.
They're rebellious.
I mean, this is just the kind of ministry you want God to give you, right?
Hey, I've got a ministry for you.
You're going to minister unto people that are stiff-necked, stiff-hearted,
rebellious, impudent, and they're not going to listen to you.
Great.
When do I start?
You know, but God's asking them to do some hard things.
He's going to ask them to do some harder things in a couple chapters.
But that's another story.
He's got to do some very hard things.
But it says here, whether they hear, verse 5, or whether they will forbear,
for they are a rebellious house.
I mean, you know how these people are.
What do you think's going to happen, Ezekiel?
Hey, they're either listen or they're going to not.
Spoiler alert, they're not going to listen.
Okay, because they're rebellious.
Yet shall know that there has been a prophet among them.
You know, what that tells me is that if we preach God's Word,
if we speak the truth, whether people listen or whether they don't listen,
whether they hear or whether they forbear,
they know a prophet's been among them.
They know that the Word of God has been spoken.
They're without excuse.
They know the truth.
You know, that's our job is just to warn people,
put the truth out there for what it's worth,
and let them do what they want with it.
You know, if I go out soul-winning and I knock doors
and I preach the gospel to people and people don't get saved,
I don't feel like a failure.
Because you know what?
I went out and I preached the Word of God,
and I preached the gospel,
and it's not up to me whether people get saved.
It's not my fault that they didn't get saved.
I preached, and you know what?
They are without excuse,
and they know that the Word of God has been among them
and that a prophet has been among them.
And so, you know, it is what it is.
You know, if I get up and preach a successful sermon,
to me that's just if I faithfully have preached God's Word
and I've been an effective preacher of God's Word.
It's not based on how popular the sermon is.
It's not based on the view count on YouTube or something.
You know, that's not really what determines
whether the sermon was a good sermon
or whether it was the right sermon.
It's not about how many likes it got versus dislikes.
Some of the best sermons are gonna have the most dislikes.
That's just the way life is.
And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them.
Don't be scared.
Because, look, these people are gonna fight him.
They're gonna persecute him.
They're gonna hate him.
They're gonna rebel against him.
He's saying, be not afraid of them.
Neither be afraid of their words.
Though briers and thorns be with thee
and thou dost dwell among scorpions,
be not afraid of their words,
nor be dismayed at their looks,
though they be a rebellious house.
Now, what do scorpions and briers and thorns
all have in common is they're sharp, painful, stinging.
And so he's saying, look, don't be afraid of these people.
They're gonna sting you.
They're gonna bite you.
They're gonna hurt you.
They're going to try to intimidate you.
Don't be afraid of them.
And God said the same thing to Jeremiah
in Jeremiah chapter 1.
When he's calling Jeremiah chapter 1,
he says, be not afraid of their faces.
Now, the emphasis on the face is because, as a preacher,
you're looking out at people's faces.
And I preach sermons where I see people out there,
and they're just like, you know, people give you, like,
a dirty look while you're preaching.
Now, I've learned over the years not to worry about it
because some of the dirtiest looks I've gotten from people,
people then came up to me afterwards and said,
I love that sermon.
That was so great.
And I'm just like, why did you glare at me the whole time?
And then other people, like, smiled at me the whole time
and then tell me how they hated it and how wrong I am.
So I've kind of learned not to worry too much
about people's faces.
And what I do when I preach is, you know,
I only look at people that are encouraging to me.
You know, if people are discouraging to me,
I don't look at them.
And this is what's discouraging when people are just kind of like,
ah, you know, or people are just kind of just zoned out
and just, you know.
I try to avoid those people making eye contact
because I don't want to get discouraged.
So I like to look at people that seem like they're really
paying attention and they're really listening
and they're turning to the scriptures
and they, you know, are tracking with the sermon
because it's encouraging to me.
But here's the thing.
You know, if I got up and preached to a hostile crowd,
everybody's giving me a dirty look.
Everybody hates me.
You know, I got to just keep going,
just keep plowing forward,
maybe even preach a little harder
because it sounds like these people need what I'm saying
if they don't like it.
And so God says, don't be afraid of their faces.
Don't be afraid of their words.
You know, their words are going to be sharp
like briars and thorns
and it's going to sting you like a scorpion.
You know, sometimes people can say things to you that hurt.
Saying, don't be scared.
Don't be afraid.
Don't be dismayed at their looks.
That's similar to what he said in Jeremiah.
Be not afraid of their faces.
Don't be dismayed at their looks,
though they be a rebellious house.
And thou shalt speak my words unto them,
whether they will hear or whether they will forbear
for they are most rebellious.
I mean, is this being emphasized or what?
How many times?
Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention something.
They're rebellious.
And he's telling them, like, every verse,
like, they're rebellious, they're rebellious,
they're rebellious.
Oh, by the way, one more thing,
they're rebellious, okay?
And so he keeps hammering that.
But he says, speak my words unto them,
whether they will hear or whether they will forbear.
You know, it's exactly what the apostle Paul says
in the New Testament when he says,
be instant, preach the word.
He said, be instant in season, out of season.
Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine,
for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.
But if their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears,
they shall turn away their ears from the truth
and shall be turned unto fables.
What do you do when the world's turning to fables?
What do you do when they won't endure sound doctrine?
What do you do when preaching of God's word is out of season?
You preach the word anyway.
It doesn't matter.
You don't change anything.
You change nothing.
You preach the Bible.
You preach my word when people like it.
Preach my word when people don't like it.
Preach it when it's popular.
Preach it when it's not popular.
But you see, church is changing with the times, don't you?
A lot of the stuff that I preach
that the independent Baptists get mad at me,
they were preaching it 30 years ago when it was cool.
You know, when it was cool to preach against the homos,
they were all doing it.
They were all ripping face and the crowds cheering
and saying amen and everything.
As soon as that gets unpopular, it's like,
whoa, that's out of season.
And then they change.
But you know what?
The word of God didn't change.
The word of God did not change.
And so we need to preach the word of God.
Every part of the word of God is what we should be preaching.
And there's nothing that should be cut out
because, well, it just doesn't match with our culture.
Everything in the Bible needs to be preached as it is written.
And whether people like it or not,
it's not my job to worry about that.
It's not any of our job to worry about that.
It says, but thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee.
You listen to me.
Don't listen to them.
Don't be afraid of their words.
Fear my words.
Listen to what I'm saying to you.
Don't listen to them.
Listen to me.
He says, thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee.
And notice the use of the word thou, son of man.
He's talking to one person.
He's saying, look, I'm talking to you.
You're one person.
They're a rebellious house.
What's interesting, obviously Ezekiel is one of them
as far as an Israelite.
But God's not grouping him in with Israel.
God's saying, well, they're a rebellious house.
But thou, son of man, you individually,
don't be scared of them.
Just listen to me.
Listen to what I'm telling you.
Hear what I say unto you.
Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house.
Don't be like them.
Just because that's your background, just because that's
your family, just because that's the country where you grew up,
just because that's the generation you're living in,
you be different.
And today in 2021, let's face it, young people,
if you want to serve God today, you're
not going to be able to just fit in perfectly with this world,
are you?
You think you're just going to go
and you're just going to be the big man on campus
and you're going to be the coolest kid in the school
and the coolest kid in the junior high
and the coolest kid in the high school
and the coolest kid on the college campus
and you're going to be the cool dude at work
and everybody wants to hang out with you
because you're so cool.
You know what, if that's your goal,
you have already failed to serve God
because it's not going to happen.
You cannot be cool, popular, accepted,
and just fit in perfectly in 2021 America
and serve God at the same time.
So why don't you choose this day whom you're going to serve?
Do you want to be cool in 2021 America
or do you want God to be pleased with you
because those two things are mutually exclusive,
you can't do both.
You're not going to be able to do both.
There are going to be some things
that make you stand out in this world.
Oh man, I just want to fit in.
Teenagers struggle with this.
Teenagers are wired this way
to want to conform and fit in
and be like everybody else.
And let me tell you something,
you're not going to be able to do it
and serve God at the same time.
It's like, oh, I don't want to be seen in public
wearing skirts and dresses all the time
because then, you know, what if they realized
that that's all I ever wear?
Oh, well, God forbid that they would actually think
that you dress like a lady all the time.
Wouldn't that be terrible?
Oh, you know, I don't want to go down
to the swimming pool or the beach
because, you know, then if they see me wearing my swim dress
instead of being in my colored underwear
known as a bikini or a swimsuit,
it's really just colored underwear.
It doesn't matter what color it is.
You're out in your underwear, you're out naked.
You know, your naked rear end
is out there for the world to see, right?
You've got your buttocks uncovered
in public nakedness
showing off your naked rear end.
You're barely covering anything.
And it's like that's a shame
according to the word of God.
But we live in an impudent world.
We live in an impudent world
where people just go out naked, right?
I mean, I wouldn't be comfortable with that.
I wouldn't be comfortable with just putting on
a pair of underwear and just going to the beach.
You know, you don't see me in a Speedo or something.
You know, I wear swim trunks that go down to my knees
like the Bible says,
covering my loins and my thighs and my buttocks.
You know, I go down to the beach or I go to the lake
or if I go swimming anywhere,
I'm going to wear shorts that go down to my knees.
And Christian or no Christian,
I don't want to be in Speedo anyway
because I'm a human being.
I'm not an animal.
You know, monkeys, they go naked.
Am I right?
Apes and chimpanzees and orangutans.
And you know, orangutans,
are those the ones that are really shameful
where they don't even have any hair on their backside
and it's just like a naked butt?
What animal is that?
Baboon, thank you.
Sorry, I'm not up on my primates apparently.
I mean, you're a bunch of baboons out there.
And you know, look, at the swimming pool,
it's a baboon.
Naked rare ends everywhere, right?
You go to the beach, the ocean, the lake,
it's a baboon fest.
Bunch of naked butts out there.
But not only that, today it's not even just the beach
or the ocean now.
Now people walk into a restaurant.
The shorts are so short, it's a baboon pair of shorts.
You say it's a Daisy Duke.
No, it's a Daisy baboon is what it is.
You know, why?
Because animals go naked because they're animals.
Okay, as human beings, instinctively,
we know that it's embarrassing to be naked publicly.
I mean, isn't that just something
that we instinctively know?
Now here's the thing.
Little tiny kids, they don't know this.
They're toddlers.
And so they'll run around naked, you know,
because they have to get their diaper changed
and they have to exist as a toddler or a baby.
So they don't care, right?
They'll take a bath.
They'll run out of the bathtub naked.
They'll streak through the house.
Woo!
But here's the thing about that, though,
is that we don't have to sit down with them typically
and have some talk with them and be like,
okay, now, you know, it's time to start wearing clothes
and you can't be naked anymore.
They get to a point where they naturally
don't want to be naked anymore.
They get to a point where they realize,
okay, I'm naked, I need to get dressed,
and they have that natural shame
that is a normal part of being a human being.
That's why cultures everywhere,
all throughout the world, people wear clothes.
People wear clothes.
And even these cannibals, for crying out loud,
you know, they at least put something on.
You know, and some of you are going to the mall
and the beach and wearing the amount of clothing
that a cannibal wears, okay?
And you need to dress like a Christian human adult
made in the image of God,
not like a cannibal and not like a baboon, right?
You need to dress like a human being
that has some dignity and respect for your body
and not just putting yourself out there on display.
But I don't know about you,
but if I were forced to be naked publicly,
I'd be embarrassed.
I'd be ashamed of that.
And you'd say, well, that's just because you're out of shape.
I was like, I don't care what,
I don't care if I was in the best shape of my life.
I don't want to be seen naked.
You don't want to be seen naked.
It's embarrassing.
It's a shameful thing.
But there's a rebellious generation out there
that's impudent, shameless.
They glory in their shame.
And they'll just, they'll go naked and they don't care.
And they want to show off their naked body
because they don't have respect for themselves
and they have no shame
and they don't care what God said about having dignity
and covering the shame of your nakedness with clothes
the way that God has taught us not to be like unto an animal.
And so he says, don't be like them.
Don't be like this.
You listen to what I'm saying, Ezekiel,
and don't be like them.
And so that's why I would say to our young people is,
you know what, why don't you listen to the Word of God
and not just try to be like this generation
because this is a messed up generation.
This Generation Z or Millennial Generation
or whatever you want to call it, it's messed up.
And the music that they're promoting is messed up.
The clothing is messed up.
The lifestyle is messed up.
Their version of the family is messed up.
Their version of just about everything is messed up.
We need to get on the Word of God's program.
And you know, you need to make peace with the fact
I am never going to be the coolest dude.
I am never going to be loved and accepted by this world.
And I'm never going to be the big man on campus.
It's just not going to happen.
You need to come to grips with that and make peace with that
because if you think that somehow you're smarter
than Pastor Anderson and you're smarter than these other men of God
and you're smarter than other Christians around you,
you've cracked the code where you're going to be able to be super cool
in this world and also not compromise on the things of God.
No, you didn't.
You did not crack that code.
What you are is you're just going to be a compromiser is what you are.
Because if you actually stand up for what's right,
there's going to come a clash.
And you might be able to get along for a while.
And look, I'm not saying that to get along in this world, my friend,
because look, I've been in this world.
I've been saved since I was six years old.
I've been really serious about serving God until I was about 16, 17.
I've been serving God for a long time.
And you know what?
I've been to high school, public school.
I've been to college.
I've been in the workplace.
I've been in a bunch of workplaces.
And you know what?
I was able to get along.
I got along with people in school.
I got along with people at work.
I was able to function in ourselves.
I'm not saying just get so different that you can't even function.
But what I am saying is that you know what?
I was able to function, but I was marked by people as this guy is different.
Like, I was marked because it's like this guy's reading his Bible.
He doesn't drink any alcohol.
He's not going to go party with us.
He's not into fornication.
He's not into the dirty jokes.
You know, you're going to be marked.
People know that you're different.
And so you know what?
You're not really going to be an insider.
You're going to be a little bit of an outsider.
I'm not saying you can't function and get along with people.
The Bible says as much as possible, as much as like this,
we should try to live at peace with all men.
So I do think you should get along in whatever worldly place you're functioning,
whether it's a job or school or whatever.
You should get along and be at peace.
But you know what?
If you're actually living for God, people are going to realize that you're not the same as them.
And they're going to see you.
Maybe it's because you're dressing differently.
Maybe it's because you're reading your Bible.
Maybe it's because you don't drink.
It's because you're not blaspheming God along with them or doing drugs or whatever.
You're going to be different.
And you know what?
Sometimes you're even going to be made fun of.
Sometimes you will even be the butt of people's jokes.
They'll laugh at you.
There are going to be times when they mock you and call you a goody-two-shoes
and you're so straight-laced and you're just so strict and you're such a baby
and you don't know the ways of this world and you're just this innocent little child
and they're so sophisticated and mature and cosmopolitan and worldly
and you don't know you're just this poor, little, ignorant baby Christian.
And look, let me just ask for a raise of hands.
Who has ever had somebody make fun of you for being a Christian, either at work or at school?
They made fun of you for being a Christian or believing the Bible.
Yeah, of course.
Okay, so look around, kids.
You think you're going to be different, though?
All those hands go up.
All the adults are raising their hands.
But you're going to be different, right?
Well, if you deny Christ, if you pretend not to be a Christian,
if you never open your mouth about anything, if you never speak the Word of God,
if you never witness or give the Gospel to anyone,
if they hand you a beer and you just drink it so as not to offend them,
if they tell you a dirty joke and you just give them a courtesy laugh,
if they want to show you something filthy and you just look at it so as not to offend them,
then yeah, you're going to fit in just fine.
But you know what? You're not serving God at that point, are you?
If you're just going along with all the sinful ways of this world,
at that point, you're just one of them at that point.
I'm glad you're saved. I'm glad you're going to heaven.
But you know what? You're not going to do much for God like that,
being a compromiser like that where you just go along with everything that this world wants you to be.
I'm telling you, you can't be like this rebellious house.
He's telling Ezekiel, don't be like them.
You be different. Listen to me. Listen to what I'm saying.
Don't listen to what the world's telling you about marriage.
Listen to what I'm telling you about marriage, what God's telling that is.
Listen to what God is telling you.
God's telling Ezekiel, listen to me. Don't listen to them when it comes to how to dress,
when it comes to how to live your life, when it comes to alcohol.
Listen to God. Don't listen to them.
And this chapter, it's talking to a preacher, but everybody needs this chapter.
Any man, woman, boy, and girl need this chapter that says, you know what?
When they're trying to get you to drink and you don't want to drink, be not afraid of their faces.
Don't be afraid of their looks. Hey, if you're among briars and thorns and scorpions.
You know, I just looked over at Brother Segura and this jogged my mind.
You know, what about in the military, pressure to drink?
You remember that? You were telling me stories about that,
how there was a lot of pressure on guys in the military to drink,
and you were telling me about your buddy, and they were giving him all the worst duties
because he refused to drink alcohol, right?
And he stood his ground, and did they make fun of him?
But in the end they didn't, but I'm sure initially they did.
Initially, because he told me this story a few times, get your story straight.
No, no, no.
What he was saying when he said they didn't make fun of him is because in the end they didn't make fun of him,
because he stood his ground, he didn't drink, he did the jobs, and eventually he was respected,
he climbed the ranks, he did well, and they didn't make fun of him anymore after that.
But initially, what did they say about him initially?
Yeah, they said if you won't drink with us, you're going to be hazed,
you're going to have the worst enlistment, you're never going to go on liberty,
you're going to be working the weekends, and he just said fine.
It is what it is, let's go.
He stood his ground.
Now look, I do believe, and look, I've been mocked and made fun of for being a Christian,
just like most of you have, but you know what, though, I have noticed, though,
is that when you stand your ground, though, in the end, though, people aren't laughing anymore.
So if you actually have a backbone and endure the criticism, you get through that stage,
you get through that stage where you're being made fun of and laughed at,
you push through, you stand your ground, and at the end of the day, people say,
you know what, I respect that guy, because that guy stands up for what he believes in.
And pretty soon, when their life starts going down the toilet, and they see you prospering,
and they see you being blessed by God, you know what they're going to say?
Hey, maybe he's right.
Maybe he was right, maybe I should have listened to him, because I see what he's doing,
he's not drinking, he's not doing the drugs, he's reading the Bible, he's going to church,
he's preaching the Word of God, and all of a sudden, I'm looking at him saying,
you know what, his life seems to be working out, and my life's going to crap.
Why? Because this world is junk, that's why.
And it's the Word of God that gets us on the right path,
and it's the world that is going to take us to the garbage can.
And so, don't be like them.
And you know, I just wish I could just get young people to realize, it doesn't matter what people think.
Because at the end of the day, you know, when you're 40 years old, and you've got your life,
you know, it's not going to matter what people thought.
You know, I wonder, when your liver is failing, does it matter what people thought?
When you got sclerosis to the liver?
When you get your second DUI, and you're going to jail, and it's costing you 15 grand,
do you really care what people think?
Or are you just upset about the fact that you've got this criminal record,
you're going to jail, you lost your job, you owe 15 grand, but I wonder what people think.
I wonder if you're going to care what people think when your marriage is falling apart and you're divorced.
I wonder what people think.
But you know what, when God's blessing you, and you're serving God, and things are going well for you,
guess what, you're not going to care what people think.
Because you know what, when you're actually happy in life because you're serving God,
and you're fulfilled through the joy of the Lord, you don't care what people think.
Because here's the thing, you want to know what I don't have?
I don't have this whole, this little care what people think shaped hole in my heart.
Like, oh, you know, my life's good, but it's missing something.
I just wish I could get more accolades from the people of this world who don't love Christ.
I just wish that unsaved people would glorify me.
I just wish that people who don't believe in Jesus would just have respect for me.
Do you really think that that thought even, but guess what, you think I'm alone?
Because you know what, we're filled with a room full of people here who think the same way I do.
You think all the other 30 and 40 and 50 year olds in this room,
do you think any of them give a rip about what somebody thinks about their choice not to drink,
or do drugs, or the fact that they dress modestly when they go to the beach,
or the fact that they go to church three times a week?
You know what, nobody cares.
You care because you're immature.
You care because you're a child, and you know what, you should grow up and stop caring.
Start realizing that at the end of the day, your life is not going to be based on what people thought about you.
The things that are going to matter to you when you get older, you know what you're going to care about?
You're going to care about your marriage, you're going to care about your kids,
you're going to care about your health, you're going to care about your job,
you're going to care about your bank account, you're going to care about your situation in general.
But you know, you're not going to give a rip what your high school friends think about, you know.
Hey, we got the 20 year reunion coming up.
I didn't even go. I didn't go to any of them.
I'm not going to, I don't care. I don't even know who those people are.
I don't even remember their names. They don't matter.
Well, I got to lose 20 pounds so I can go to the reunion.
Why? Hey, everybody, look at me.
And you know what? I guarantee that millions of people have done that.
Am I right? Millions of people. You know what they did?
They lost the weight. They got it all together.
They want to go to the reunion and tell all their old friends, hey, look at me.
I'm a lawyer now. I'm a doctor now.
You know, I'm a contractor. You know, I'm making money.
Look at me. I'm still in shape.
Look at my beautiful wife. Look at my handsome husband, whatever the case may be.
And they get all excited about going there and showing off.
Look at me. I made it. I succeeded.
I'm so much cooler than you thought I was back then.
But I promise you that, I guarantee you that even if it all went the way they imagined it,
I promise you that every single one of them went home with a very empty feeling.
Super disappointing. Waste of time.
They should have eaten all the Cinnamon Toast Crunch they wanted
because nobody cared that they lost that 20 pounds.
Nobody even cared for one second.
I mean, you say, why do you go on and on about this?
Because I just want to shake young people and just be like, it doesn't matter.
No one cares. Nobody cares. It doesn't matter.
And if they do care, you shouldn't care about the fact that they care.
I don't care that you care that they care. God doesn't care.
You know what I mean, though? Because it's a hindrance to serving God.
What are some of the hindrances to serving God? Caring what other people think.
I mean, he says, don't be afraid. Be afraid of what? Their words.
Well, you know, last time I checked, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.
So why are you afraid of people's words? Why are you afraid of what people are saying?
Let them say whatever they want. God knows the truth. You and the Lord know the truth.
It's fine. He said, be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house.
Open thy mouth and eat that I give thee.
And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me, and lo, a roll of a book was therein.
Now when we see the word roll, it means scroll.
Think about, think about roll, you know, S C on the front of it.
It's the same thing. And a scroll is rolled up.
So the Bible will often call what we would call a scroll.
The Bible often call it a roll, but it's the same.
He's not saying like, you know, it's a roll, like a Hawaiian roll with butter.
I mean, that'd be, it would be a better, it'd be better taste.
But he says, lo, a roll of a book.
So that, that's your clue here that this is not a Hawaiian roll,
but Hawaiian rolls do sound pretty good right now.
He said, lo, a roll of a book was therein.
So it's a scroll and he spread it out before me.
So he's basically unrolling a scroll, right?
So you can read what's inside.
And there was written therein, lamentation and mourning and woe.
And then, you know, in the next chapter, he's,
he's going to basically eat the scroll and then preach.
It's just like in revelation chapter 10, similar, similar idea here,
but basically for purposes of today's sermon is equal chapter two.
What we need to see about the scroll is that, okay,
here's what you're going to be preaching is basically what he's being shown.
You're going to listen to me. It doesn't matter what they think.
It doesn't matter what they say. You listen to what I'm saying.
And then he's like, okay, here's the message you're going to preach.
Lamentation, mourning and woe.
Sounds great.
It's a negative message. Am I right?
Lamentation, mourning, woe.
He's not patting people on the back, telling them about their best life now.
This isn't Joyce Meyer, God is not mad at you.
No matter what you've done, no matter who you are,
God's not mad at you.
That's what it says on the back of the jacket of Joyce Meyer's book.
God is not mad at you.
And I'm thinking to myself, God, I want to write a book called God's mad at you.
God is really mad, mad at you.
And on the back of the jacket will be like, you know,
God's probably more mad at you than you think.
Now, I don't think God's mad.
Look, I don't think God's mad at you guys that are here tonight.
I don't believe that God's mad at me.
But I'm saying, in general, the people of this world, yeah, God's mad at them.
God's angry with the wicked every day.
Sorry to confuse you with the Bible.
But it's a negative message.
You know, God has called us to preach some negative things.
And we've got to preach it, whether it's popular or not,
we've got to preach those negative things, you know.
We shouldn't be all negative, there's positive too.
But guess what?
If we read the book of Ezekiel, we're going to get to the positive stuff.
But first, we've got to get through some mourning and some lamentation and some woe.
So don't get hung up on what people think.
Don't become positive only.
Because look, there are a lot of positive aspects of Christianity that the world likes.
I mean, the world likes love one another, love your neighbor, don't steal, don't kill.
The world likes that.
But the world doesn't like it when you say, sorry, I'm not a baboon.
The world doesn't like that.
You know, because when they're all stripping down, I mean, here's the thing.
What would be more embarrassing?
Being in a situation where you're the only one who's naked?
Or being in a situation where you and everybody else is naked?
What's more embarrassing?
The one where just you're naked would be the most embarrassing.
I mean, this is not a trick question.
If everybody were naked, it wouldn't be as embarrassing if just you're naked.
So here's these bunch of naked people out there.
They want you naked too.
Because you're embarrassing them when you show up in a knee-length dress and they're naked.
It's kind of embarrassing to them.
It's kind of like, wait, I'm naked, you're dressed, this is weird.
Whereas it's like, okay, I'm naked, but you're naked too, all right.
You know, we're okay, we're in this together.
Safety in numbers.
So of course Eve wants to get you to eat the apple too, Adam.
And I know it wasn't an apple.
But, you know, of course Eve wants to get you to eat the forbidden fruit too, Adam.
And the naked people, they want you getting naked too.
And you know what, if they get drunk, they want you drunk too.
Because if you're sober, you'll know what an idiot they're acting like.
But if everybody's drunk, then everybody doesn't realize how stupid they are.
But if one guy's sober, it's like, whoa.
We need you drunk too. We don't need a designated driver, we're going to use Uber.
Everyone needs to be drunk so that everyone can be an idiot together.
Everyone naked.
This is the way the world will try to influence you for wrong.
And you've got to take a stand and obey what the Lord tells you.
And stop caring so much what people think.
If I cared what people thought for one day of my life,
if I went through one day of my life where I genuinely cared about what people thought,
my head would probably explode with all the junk people say about me and all the attacks.
You know, it's just my head just like...
It's not going to work.
You can't serve God and care what people think so much.
You've got to just get past that.
Grow up, amen.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for this great chapter, Lord.
And thank you for Ezekiel the prophet.
And Lord, I pray that in the coming weeks as we study Ezekiel,
you'd speak to us, Lord, and that we would grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And it's in his name we pray, amen.
Amen. If you need the words for this, number 467, the B-I-B-L-E.
We'll sing it twice. Number 467.
Sing it out.
The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me.
I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E.
The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me.
I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E.
Amen. Great singing tonight. You are dismissed.