Pray, amen.
Amen.
All right, we're there in Ezekiel chapter 22.
And we've been working our way through the book of Ezekiel
on Wednesday nights, going chapter by chapter.
And we find ourselves in this chapter.
Ezekiel 22, especially the end of the chapter,
is a very well-known passage, probably
one of the most well-known passages in the book of Ezekiel
at the end of Ezekiel 22.
And we're going to go through the entire chapter tonight.
And we're going to cover every verse.
But we're going to jump around a little bit as we cover it
and go through it.
And I just want you to notice as we begin the chapter.
And really, the entire chapter is kind of
build up for the end of the chapter, those famous verses
at the end of Ezekiel 22, where he
says that he sought for a man among them that would build up
the hedge and stand in the gap.
And I want you to notice in verse 1
that he begins by talking about their sin.
And in this chapter, what we really see
is we see the scope of their sin.
In fact, if you'd like to take some notes,
you can maybe write down that statement.
The scope of their sin is what we see in this chapter.
It's interesting because he goes through the different areas.
He talks about the sins of the people.
And then he talks about the sins of the politicians.
Then he talks about the sins of the preachers.
And he goes through and kind of highlights
the scope of their sin.
And it's just really a dire state they find themselves in.
And you know, as I was studying Ezekiel 22 for this sermon
tonight, it just kept hitting me over and over
that the Bible is completely relevant today.
As I was reading this chapter and kind of studying it
and thinking about it, honestly, I
felt like I was reading a newspaper from 2019
about the United States of America
because it's very applicable to us today.
And I want you to notice he begins
by talking about the sins of the people.
Notice verse 1 there.
He says, moreover, the Lord came unto me,
saying, now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge?
Wilt thou judge?
Notice what he says.
He says, the bloody city.
Now, he's talking about the city.
When you see the word city there,
he's referring to the people, the community.
And I want you to notice that the first thing
that he highlights in regards to the sins of the people
is the fact that they are shedding blood
or that they are shedding innocent blood.
He calls it the bloody city.
In verse 2 there, he says, yea, thou
shall show her all her abominations.
Notice verse 3.
Then say thou, thus saith the Lord God, the city.
Again, highlighting the sins of the people.
He's talking about the people and the city.
Notice what he says.
He says, the city shed blood in the midst of it
that her time may come and maketh idols against herself
to defile herself.
Notice verse 4.
He says, thou, referring to the people,
he said, art become guilty in thy blood
that thou hast shed.
He's highlighting the fact that this is a bloody city
and that they are shedding blood,
that they are guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed
and has defiled thyself and thine idols which thou hast
made and thou hast caused thy days to draw near
and art come even unto thy years.
Therefore, have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen
and a mocking to all countries.
Skip down to verse number 9.
Notice what he says in verse 9.
He says this, in thee, the thee there
is referring again to the city, the people.
He says, in thee are men that carry tales to shed blood.
And in thee, they eat upon the mountains.
In the midst of thee, they commit lewdness.
Look down at verse number 12.
He says, in thee, again referring
to the city, the people, great men, excuse me,
verse 12 there, in thee have they taken gifts to shed blood.
He's saying, there are people who are getting paid to kill.
He said, there are people who are receiving gifts
in order to shed blood.
Look at verse 13.
He says, behold, therefore, I have
smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain
which thou hast made and at thy blood which
have been in the midst of thee.
And again, we see this theme throughout this chapter
as he talks about, and this is not the only sin.
We're going to look at the other sins that he's referring to.
But he talks about the shedding of blood.
And you say, well, Pastor Jimenez,
you were talking about the fact that this is
very applicable to us today.
And you know what, in 2019, Ezekiel 22
is applicable to this nation as a bloody city that
shed its blood, as a bloody city that allows people
to take gifts in order to take blood.
You say, how does it apply today?
It applies in the sense that we have legalized
and we have allowed abortions in this country for many,
many years now, and even decades.
If you're paying attention to the news,
you'll know that abortion is a hot topic right now.
And abortion should be a hot topic all of the time.
But right now, specifically because of certain laws
that were passed in the state of New York,
and I'm going to talk about it a little bit tonight.
But I want you to understand that we're
supposed to be this civilized nation and country that
upholds rights for all human beings,
and everybody's supposed to have their rights,
and they're all supposed to be equal, and this and that.
But yet, in this civilized and humane modern country of ours,
we are told that since January 22, 1973,
there have been roughly 50 million children killed
in the wombs of their mother.
And Ezekiel 22 applies to us today
when God can look down to us and say, this is a city.
This is a nation that shed its blood.
We are become guilty in the blood that has been shed.
And I appreciate the fact that it's on the news,
and I appreciate the fact that people are talking about it.
But you know, as Christians, we need to understand,
and I'm going to talk about it tonight
just because it's in the text.
But honestly, I'm preparing, and I'm
planning on bringing a specific sermon just
on the atrocities of abortion in our day today.
But we need to understand that this is a big deal,
that we as Christians need to take a strong stand
on the sanctity of human life.
Because here, you had these people.
They were shedding blood.
They were killing it.
We know from other passages in Ezekiel and Isaiah
and Jeremiah that a lot of these were innocent children being
put to death in regards to their idolatrous practices.
But today in America, you have the exact same thing
happening when 3,000 children on average
are being killed today through abortion.
And you know, even in the State of the Union last night,
the president brought up the abortion practice.
And I'm not necessarily a fan of Donald Trump,
but I appreciate what he said.
It's not enough, but I appreciate
what he said in regards to abortion.
But all of us as Christians, and really
as decent people, need to just raise our voices
and make it clear and make it heard that we are not for this.
We are against it.
And honestly, it's not enough to just talk about it.
It needs to come to an end.
Because of the fact that there is innocent blood
being shed in our country, just like at the time of Ezekiel.
And I want you to notice that it was a dire state
they found themselves in as the people were shedding blood.
But that's not it.
Why don't you notice another sin of the people.
If you look down at verse 3, the Bible says this,
then say thou, thus saith the Lord God,
the city shed blood in the midst of it, that her time may come.
Then he says this, he highlights another one of their sins.
He says, and maketh idols against herself
to defile herself.
He talks about the fact that there
is idolatry in the land.
Notice verse 4, he says, thou, again referring to the people,
are become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed,
and has defiled thyself, talking about the people,
in thine idols.
Skip down to verse number 12.
I want you to notice what he highlights about these people.
He talks about the idols.
And you say, well, in America, we're not big on idols.
But I want you to notice what he says in verse 12
about these people.
He says, in thee, referring to the city, the people,
have they taken gifts to shed blood.
Notice, thou hast taken usury and increase,
and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbor's extortion.
He refers to the fact that they are idolatrous people,
but they are also covetous people.
He says that they are taking usury and increase.
They have greedily, they're with greed.
He says they have gained of thy neighbor by extortion.
Notice verse 13, he says, behold,
there I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gains.
I want you to notice, he says that the people are gaining
financially through extortion.
And then he calls it a dishonest gain.
Notice verse 9, he says, the people of the land
have used oppression and exercised robbery.
So he says, look, they're extorting,
they're gaining financially, they're taking usury,
they're taking increase, and then they
have exercised robbery.
Keep your finger there in Ezekiel 22.
That's obviously our text for tonight.
But go with me to the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter
number 3.
He talks about the second sin of the people and its idolatry.
But then he talks about their greed and their covetousness.
And this really applies to the United States of America today.
Colossians chapter number 3, if you find 1st, 2nd Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.
Colossians chapter 3, when you get there,
do me a favor and put a ribbon or a bookmark or a bulletin
or something there because we're going to leave it
and we're going to come back towards that part of the Bible.
So it'd be great for you to be able to find it quickly.
Colossians chapter 3, notice verse 5.
Today people might say, well, we don't worship idols
in the United States.
Well, notice what it says in Colossians 35.
The Bible says this, mortify therefore your members
which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence.
And notice what he says, covetousness, which is idolatry.
So just because you maybe, unless you're a Roman Catholic,
don't actually physically literally bow down yourself
in front of a statue.
In the United States of America, we
have another god, which they call the almighty dollar.
It is the sin of covetousness, which is idolatry.
It is greedily and gaining gain greedily.
Go back to Ezekiel 22.
And what's interesting, what I think about when I see this,
in verse 12, when he says that thou has greedily gained
of thy neighbor by extortion.
You know what I think of when I read that?
What I wrote down here in my notes right next to that
is the welfare culture of America.
Because today in the United States of America,
we have this welfare culture.
And don't misunderstand me.
I think if there are people in need, and we can help them,
and I think there's a place for that.
But you know, it was an interesting day
when as an adult, I realized that there
are people in this country that are totally
within their ability to go out and work,
and yet refuse to work.
And they're allowed to just live in this country,
be fed and clothed and housed in this country.
You say, how in the world can a man or a woman who's healthy,
who's strong, who's not disabled, who has no problem
going off to work, how can they live in this country
without going to work every day?
Well, it's done because what they have
is they have greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion.
Because you know what the government does?
It takes money from those of us who do work,
from those of us who do go and work every day,
and they say, well, that's your taxes.
Well, nobody asked me for permission.
They just took it, and they said if you
don't allow us to take it, we're going to put you in prison.
That sounds like extortion to me.
When he says, you're going to go, he says, some of you
are going to go off and work every day, all day,
start businesses, get up early, stay up late, go work,
and then there's going to be lazy bums in your country,
then we're not talking about people that are disabled.
We're not talking about people that aren't.
We're talking about people who can get up and work
and refuse to, but the government will take your money
and then will give it to them.
Thou has greedily gained of thy neighbor by extortion,
is what the Bible says.
He says, I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain.
The people of the land, verse 29,
have used oppression and exercised robbery
and have vexed the poor and the needy.
And let me tell you something.
The welfare system in the United States of America
does not help the poor and the needy.
All it does is it vexes and hurts them even more.
You hurt individuals.
Look, when you give them money to do nothing,
you are not helping them, you are hurting them.
You think your little liberal heart,
your little tender heart,
you think that you're doing something wonderful
for these homeless people out here.
When you give them money, you are not doing anything
but helping them with their drug addiction
and with their alcohol.
You say, well, you're not compassionate.
Don't you think people should,
look, I'll tell you this,
I'm not any more compassionate than God is.
The Bible says God is love.
And the God who does not love, he is love.
The God who embodies love says
that if a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat.
So look, either you're smarter than God
or we've got compassion backwards.
Because you say, what's the best thing you could do
for some lazy bum, somebody on drugs and alcohol?
Look, and we wanna help people on drugs and alcohol.
We wanna love people on drugs and alcohol.
You say, what's the best thing you could do?
The best thing you could do is not give them money.
It's not to help them get them back to work.
It's to get themselves even deeper into the addiction.
The best thing, you know what,
going hungry might help them a little bit.
A little tough love might be a good wake up call.
But yet we live in a country like Ezekiel lived
that is not only a country that sheds blood
but it is a country where the people,
where some of the people have increased
and have gained greedily by their neighbors
being extorted through dishonest gains.
Notice the third sin of the people.
Go to verse eight.
We saw the first sin was the shedding of innocent blood.
We saw the second sin was that of robbery and extortion,
covetousness and idolatry.
The third sin is that of turning away from God.
Notice verse eight.
He says, thou, referring to the people,
have despised mine holy things
and has profaned my Sabbaths.
Notice verse 12.
He says, in thee, referring to the people,
have they taken gifts to shed blood.
Thou has taken usury and increase.
Thou has greedily gained thy neighbor by extortion.
Notice what he says.
He says, and has forgotten me, saith the Lord God.
The third sin that's highlighted here,
the sins of the people,
is the sin of turning away from the things of God.
Now you're there in Ezekiel.
Go to the book of Hosea.
If you're there in Ezekiel,
you're gonna go past the book of Daniel,
into the book of Hosea.
Hosea chapter number four.
And Hosea is obviously a contemporary of Isaiah.
This is before Ezekiel,
but it's the same timeframe
where the judgment of God is coming.
And then in Hosea chapter number four,
I want you to notice what he says in verse number one.
Notice what the prophet, Hosea,
cause Ezekiel said that they have despised mine holy things.
They have profaned my Sabbaths.
He says they have forgotten me, saith the Lord God.
Hosea chapter four in verse one says this.
Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel,
for the Lord hath a controversy
with the inhabitants of the land.
God says, I have a beef with the people of the land.
I've got an issue with the people of the land.
You say, what's God's issue?
Here it is, because there is no truth,
nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
And by the way, when you don't have the knowledge of God,
you're not gonna have truth or mercy either.
You say, oh, we need a land with truth,
and you need God.
We need a land with mercy.
True mercy comes with God.
Notice verse six, he says,
My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge,
because thou has rejected knowledge.
I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest
to me, seeing thou has forgotten the law by God.
I will also forget thy children.
See, we see, if you go back to Ezekiel there,
the third sin was the sin of forgetting God
or turning away from God,
and we are experiencing that in America today.
We are experiencing the de-Christianization
of this country.
And of course, the United States of America,
there's always been wicked people here.
I'm not saying everybody that's lived in this country
has been a Christian, but by and large,
this has been a Christian nation.
It's been a nation that has identified itself with God.
This has been a nation that has written on its currency
in God we trust and a republic under God
and the Pledge of Allegiance and all those things.
But yet today, we are turning away from that as a nation.
When we had a scripture written
on the walls of the Supreme Court,
now they're saying you can't,
even in a courthouse,
you can't reference the Ten Commandments,
the first major law given to all of mankind.
In a courthouse where you're supposed to uphold things
like thou shalt not kill, like not to steal,
like not to do these things.
And yet today, we're told no, it's Christian,
so therefore, we need to forget about it.
Therefore, we need to ignore it.
And just like in Ezekiel's time,
when people, when God would say,
thou has forgotten me, saith the Lord God,
today, God could say to our nation, thou has forgotten me.
Notice the fourth sin of the people, verse nine.
He says, in thee are men that carry tails to shed blood,
and in thee they eat upon the mountains.
In the midst of thee, notice what he says,
in the midst of thee, they commit lewdness.
And I won't get into details, I don't wanna give too much,
but boy, we live in a nation
that commits lewdness and perversion.
Look at verse 10.
In thee have they discovered their father's nakedness,
and in thee have they humbled her
that was set apart for pollution.
And one hath committed abomination
with his neighbor's wife,
and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law,
and another in thee hath humbled his sister,
his father's daughter.
See, Ezekiel's looking down at a people,
and he's saying, this people, they've forgotten God.
This people is practicing lewdness and perversion.
This people is gaining through usury,
and gaining through extortion and dishonest gain.
These people are shedding innocent blood.
He's looking down at his nation, and I read this,
and I think, man, are you talking about
the United States of America?
Because it sure sounds like it.
And he's just highlighting the sins of the people,
and you say, well, how can that be?
Here's how it is.
There's no new thing under the sun.
Wicked sinners during the time of Ezekiel
are just like wicked sinners today.
Notice verses 23 and 24, he says,
and the word of the Lord came unto me saying,
unto man, say unto her, thou art the land.
Again, referring to the sins of the people.
He says, thou art the land that is not cleansed
nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
So we saw that he refers to the sins of the people,
but then he also refers to the sins of the politicians.
Notice what he says, look at verse five.
He talks about the sins of the political leaders.
He calls them the princes.
He says those that be near and those that be far from thee
shall mock thee which are infamous and much vexed.
Notice verse six, behold, the princes.
These are the political leaders, the politicians.
He just got done talking about the sins of the people.
Now he's gonna talk about the sins of the politicians.
Notice what he says, it's interesting.
He says the princes of Israel, everyone were,
I want you to notice this phrase,
in thee to their power.
He says everyone were in thee to their power.
Notice, to shed blood.
Now if you remember, we saw that
the people were shedding blood.
He highlighted the fact that the people
were all shedding blood, but now he says
not only are the people shedding blood,
but he says the princes of Israel, the politicians,
the political leaders, everyone were in thee
to their power.
I thought that was an interesting phrase,
kind of a difficult phrase to understand
that word power there.
I went back and I wanted to see how else
that same word there that the King James translators
chose to translate power.
I wanted to see how else that same,
the underlying Hebrew word, how else they translate
that same word in different parts of our King James Bible.
And I saw this, that that word that's translated power there
it's also translated in our King James Bible
as the word strength and as the word hopin,
which is an older word meaning to help.
And here's what Ezekiel is saying.
He's saying the people are shedding innocent blood,
but then he says behold the princes of Israel,
everyone were in thee to their power to shed blood.
What he's saying is this, every one of them
is strengthening the people or helping the people
to shed blood.
So he's saying not only are the people shedding blood,
because this is about the scope of their sin.
They're in a dire state.
Ezekiel's trying to explain to us how bad things have gotten.
He said not only are the people shedding innocent blood,
but he says the politicians, the political leaders,
the princes are actually helping the people shed
innocent blood.
They're hoping them.
They're helping them.
They're strengthening them.
They're powering and empowering them to shed blood.
And again, this reminds me of the recent law
passed in the state of New York City.
I don't know if you're familiar with the law.
And again, I think I'd like to just preach
an entire sermon on this sometime in the next few weeks.
But the state of New York City just
passed a new abortion law, making it easier for women
to get late-term abortions.
And of course, since the 70s, it's
been legal in the United States of America to have abortions.
But it has been difficult to have a late-term abortion.
Now look, all abortion, no matter when it happens,
is murder, period.
It is a life at conception.
The Bible clearly teaches that.
And we'll talk about that in another sermon.
But in our country, it has been difficult,
after the 24-week mark of a pregnancy,
to get a late-term abortion.
It's been a difficult thing.
It does happen, but it's rare because of the fact
that the baby is basically after 24.
I mean, they have babies that are born at those marks.
And survive outside of the womb.
I mean, they're completely formed and able to live
outside of the womb.
And again, please understand, my position
is that they are a baby from day one, from conception.
But these late-term abortions have been difficult.
But now, in the state of New York, and also in Virginia,
they tried to pass a similar law,
making it easier to be able to have a late-term abortion.
Because in the past, to have a late-term abortion,
you had to, like in Virginia, you
had to have three different doctors all agree on the fact
that the mother was going to die if they
didn't have the abortion.
And again, I'm not saying I agree with those things,
but they have to go through all these processes
in order to be able to get a late-term abortion.
Now, in the state of New York, the law is basically this.
Any doctor, without having to go to anybody else,
just any doctor on their own, can
perform a late-term abortion if they, all on their own,
deem it necessary for if it's in the best
interest of the mother.
So where before, if you had a late-term abortion,
you had to go to this panel, and you
had to talk to these people, you had to get all this approval,
people had to allow you to do it.
Now, any doctor can just decide, even while the mother
is giving birth, can decide that it's
in the best interest of the mother to kill the child.
And even during birth, it's legal now
for a doctor to take a human life.
And you say, yeah, well, I mean,
abortions were already happening.
But look, we need to get this to go away,
not make it easier for people.
And here, we're told of these princes who are
empowering people to shed blood.
And that's exactly what Governor Cuomo, or whatever his name is
in New York, is doing.
The princes in New York state are empowering people
and strengthening people and making it easier for people
to shed blood.
Notice verse 27 there in Ezekiel 22 and verse 27.
He says, her princes in the midst thereof
are like wolves ravening the prey to shed blood,
to destroy souls, to get this honest gain.
And I read this, and Ezekiel's talking
about politicians that are making it easier for people
to kill other people.
And I think to myself, man, that's
exactly what's happening today.
Politicians making it easier for people to shed blood.
Look at verse 7.
He talks about the other sins of the politicians.
He says, in thee have they set light
in thy father and mother, and in the midst of thee
have they dealt by oppression.
With strangers in thee have they vexed the fatherless
and the widow.
Notice verse 27.
He says, her princes, talking about the sins
of the politicians, her princes in the midst thereof
are like wolves ravening.
It's interesting that he talks about these wolves ravening.
The Bible talks about wolves that are going to,
in regards to spiritual leadership,
he says they're like wolves ravening the prey to shed blood
to destroy souls, notice, to get this honest gain.
So he talks about the sins of the people.
Then he talks about the sins of the politicians.
But I want you to notice, thirdly tonight,
he talks about the sins of the preachers,
the spiritual leadership.
He calls them the prophets and the priests.
Notice verse 25.
He says, there is a conspiracy.
I like that terminology.
There is a conspiracy of her prophets.
And I'm here to tell you that today, there
is a conspiracy among the prophets.
He says, there is a conspiracy of her prophets
in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion.
He talks about a ravening wolf, which Jesus calls
false prophets a ravening wolf.
Here he talks about a roaring lion.
The Bible calls Satan a lion, seeking whom he may devour.
He says, like a roaring lion ravening the prey,
they have devoured souls.
They have taken, notice what he says,
the treasure and precious things.
They have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
So he's talking about the sins of the preachers.
Because he's talking about the sins of the people
and the sins of the politicians.
Now we're talking about the sins of the preacher.
You say, what are the sins of the preacher?
Well, one is that they're motivated by money.
Because he says, they have taken the treasure
and the precious things.
Go to Titus, chapter number one.
If you kept your place there in Colossians,
you're just going to go past first and second Thessalonians,
first and second Timothy, into the book of Titus.
Titus chapter one, look at verse 11.
There's lots of verses we can look at on this subject.
I'm not going to look at all of those.
I'll just give you one real quickly.
Titus chapter number one, and look at verse number 11.
The Bible says this, talking about false prophets.
He says, whose mouths must be stopped,
who subvert whole houses, teaching things
which they ought not.
They teach things which they ought not.
You say, why?
What's the motivation?
For filthy lucre's sake.
Say, why does the false prophet get up and preach lies?
I'm getting ahead of myself.
But why does he do it?
He does it for one reason.
Because there's good money in it.
They do it for money.
They do it for the treasure.
Keep your finger right there in Titus,
because we're going to come right back to second Timothy.
They do it for the treasure and the precious things.
They do it for the private jets.
They do it for the mansions.
They do it for the air conditioned doghouse.
You know, you think I'm joking.
They do it.
Why?
Because they're motivated by money.
And it's interesting, because Ezekiel
looks at the preachers of his day, and he says, man,
they have taken the treasure and the precious things.
And I look at the false prophets today,
and I say, they have taken the treasure
and the precious things.
It's almost like he's talking about us.
Look at verse 26.
He continues with the sins of the preachers.
He says, her priests.
So in verse 25, he's talking about the prophets,
spiritual leaders.
Now in verse 26, he's going to talk about the priests.
Again, spiritual leaders.
Her priests have violated my law and have
profaned my unholy things.
You say, well, what have they done?
Notice what they've done.
They have put no difference between the holy and profane.
Neither have they showed difference
between the unclean and the clean,
and have hid their eyes from my Sabbath,
and I am profaned among them.
Notice verse 28.
And her prophets have dobbed them with untempered motor,
seeing vanity and divining lies, and saying,
thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.
You say, what are the sins of the preachers?
Here's the sins of the preachers.
They are preaching lies.
They are saying that they speak on behalf of God
when they do not.
And you say, well, how do you know?
Here's how you know, because they have, verse 26,
they have put no difference between holy and profane.
They have not showed a difference
between the unclean and the clean.
See, you say, how do you know if someone is preaching the truth?
How do you know if someone is a true Bible preacher?
Here's how you know when they tell you
what you do not want to hear.
See, when you come to the very Bible,
you say, Pastor Benz, you're constantly stepping on my toes.
I had several people, and they said it in good humor,
and I took it that way.
I'm not saying this was wrong for them to say it,
but I had a few people come up to me on Sunday morning.
They said, man, you stepped on everybody's toes today.
You got on everybody.
And I take that as a compliment.
Amen?
You say, well, Pastor, why would you
want to step on your toes?
When I step on your toes, that should tell you
that I'm preaching the truth, because if all I wanted
was your money, I'd never say anything
that was going to offend you.
And look, did you realize it's easier
to preach a positive-only sermon than it is to preach negative?
It's easier to get up here and just lie and say,
you're doing great.
God doesn't care about the fact that you're a fornicating
adulterer or whatever.
God doesn't care.
Look, it would be easier for me to get up and just
preach a positive sermon.
Jesus loves you.
God is good.
Hell is cold.
Don't worry about it.
Put money in the other.
It's easier to preach a positive-only sermon.
It's more difficult. It's more difficult
to get up here and preach a sermon that
steps on your toes.
Some of you are like, I'm like, I'm not done till I get it.
It's harder to preach the sermon that's going to get on you.
But look, you say, my job is to make
a difference between the clean and the unclean,
to make a difference between the holy and unholy,
to get up and say, look, there are some things that are wrong,
that are wicked, that we should not be a part of.
There are some things that God does not desire for us.
That's what a true preacher does.
But the preachers of today, there's
a conspiracy among them to lie.
There's a conspiracy among them to not tell the truth.
You can keep your place there in Titus.
Go to 2 Timothy.
2 Timothy is just right before Titus.
You got 2 Timothy chapter 4.
You say, that was back in Ezekiel's time.
No, it's in our time too.
2 Timothy chapter 4, look at verse 3.
Notice what he says.
This is talking about the end times.
I believe this is talking about us.
For the time will come.
Paul said 2,000 years ago, for the time will come.
I'm telling you today, the time is here.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.
They don't want you to get up and preach sound doctrine.
They don't want you to get up and preach the truth.
After their own loss, have they heaped to themselves,
teachers having itching ears.
And they shall, notice, turn away their ears from the truth
and shall be turned unto fables.
I'm here to tell you that the positive only preacher is
a false prophet.
Look, when Joel Osteen gets up and says,
I never used the word sin.
I never used the word sin in my sermons.
I never used the word hell.
It's too negative.
You know, what I want to say to Joel Osteen
is, are you better than Jesus?
Because Jesus used the word sin and hell.
Jesus preached hell.
Oh, no, it's too negative.
You know what Joel Osteen is?
He's a false prophet.
Yeah, you don't have the right to say that.
Show me when he gets up and he declares something holy or un.
You know what Joel Osteen says?
Everything's good.
Everything's great.
Billy Graham said, well, the Muslims
just have to follow their light.
As long as they follow the truth that has been revealed to them.
People don't like it when you preach against Billy Graham.
Billy Graham said that the Muslims and the Hindus,
as long as they follow their light, they'll go to heaven.
That's heresy.
That's damnable heresy.
You say, why would Billy Graham say that?
Because if he didn't say that, he'd lose out on money.
That's why.
Because false prophets are motivated by money.
False prophets will preach lies.
They'll tell lies.
They'll say anything for a buck.
And we see at the time of Ezekiel
that these people were doing it, but then we see it today.
We see at the time of Ezekiel that the people
are shedding innocent blood.
We see at the time of Ezekiel that there's
extortion and dishonest gain.
We see at the time of Ezekiel that they're forgetting God,
that there's lewdness and perversion.
We see all this, but we see it today.
And you say, well, why are you making that connection?
You're making that connection.
Because where they end up is what will end up.
Because not only do we see the scope of their sin,
we see their dire state.
But I want you to notice, secondly,
that was all point number one, by the way.
You're taking notes?
Point number one, the scope of their sin.
The sub-points, the sins of their people,
the sins of the preacher, the sins of the politicians.
Got it?
Here's point number two, the severity of their sin.
The first point's the longest.
We'll go through this quickly.
We see the severity of their sin.
We see that there is pending doom.
Notice verse 14.
And I don't want to spend a lot of time on this,
but I want you to notice what God says.
God says, because of this, he says,
can thine heart endure or can thine hand
be strong in the days that I shall deal with thee?
I, the Lord, have spoken it and will do it.
And I will scatter thee among the heathen
and disperse thee in the countries
and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
He's saying, look, I'm going to do these things because
of your sin.
And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself
in the sight of the heathen.
And thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
Verse 17, and the word of the Lord came unto me saying,
Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross.
All they are brass and tin and iron and lead
in the midst of the furnace.
They are even the dross of silver.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God,
because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore,
I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
Verse 20, as they gather silver and brass and iron and lead
and tin into the midst of the furnace
to blow fire upon it to melt, so will I
gather you in mine anger and in my fury
and will leave you there and melt you.
Yea, I will gather you and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath
and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace,
so they shall be melted in the midst thereof.
And ye shall know that I, the Lord,
have poured out my fury upon you.
This is the God that the false prophets never preached about.
They want to talk about God is love.
And you know what?
God is love.
But you know what else?
God is also holiness.
God is also judge.
God also will judge the earth and will judge sinners.
Why don't you notice, thirdly tonight,
not only do we see the scope of their sin,
not only do we see the severity of their sin,
but we see, thirdly, the state of their sin.
And it is a hopeless condition.
Notice verse 30.
He says, and I. This is God speaking.
He says, and I sought for a man among them.
And the truth of the matter is that this verse
is such a powerful verse.
It really deserves its own sermon.
And I will preach an entire sermon just out
of this verse one day.
But let me just quickly give you just three thoughts
in regards to this verse.
He says, and I sought for a man among them.
Why don't you notice, first of all,
the reality of God's search.
It's interesting in this verse that God doesn't say,
I'm looking for an army.
I'm looking for a military.
I'm looking for, he doesn't even say I'm looking for a king.
God is just looking for someone.
He says, and I sought for a man among them.
All God needs is one man.
All God needed was David to beat the Philistines in Goliath.
I love what Jonathan says when he and his armor bearer
are going to fight the Philistines on their own.
And he talks about the fact that God can do something
with a little or a lot.
Little is much when God is in it.
I mean, that is the story of my life.
That is the story of this church.
Little is much when God is in it.
And the truth of the matter is that God does not
need an entire army, an entire military, an entire nation.
God is not looking for an entire movement.
He's just looking for one man.
He says, and I sought for a man among them.
But I want you to notice, not only
do we see the reality of God's search in this verse,
but we see the requirement for a specific man.
See, he's looking for a man, but he's not looking for any man.
He's looking for a man, but he's looking for a specific man.
He says, and I sought for a man among them.
He says this, that should make up the hedge
and stand in the gap before me for the land.
See, God says, I don't need much.
I just need one man.
I just need one person.
I just need one person who, like Isaiah would say,
here am I, Lord, send me.
He says, I just need one, but I need
one that will make up the hedge and stand in the gap.
Go to Ephesians, chapter number six.
Ephesians, if you kept your place there in Colossians,
if you go backwards, you have Philippians,
and you've got the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians, chapter number six, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians,
Ephesians.
When I say that word stand there,
it makes me think of Ephesians, chapter six.
Notice what the Bible says there in verse number 11.
Ephesians, chapter six, and verse 11, he says this,
put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand.
See that?
He said, and I sought for a man among them.
I should make up the hedge and stand in the gap.
In Ephesians, he says, put on the whole armor of God.
You say, why?
Why do I need to put on the whole armor of God?
That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore, the word wherefore means for that reason.
For what reason?
Because of the fact that we're not wrestling
against flesh and blood.
Look, this is not a physical battle.
It is a spiritual battle.
We are wrestling against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against the devil
and his angels themselves.
He says, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God.
You say, why?
That ye may be able to withstand in the evil day.
And having done all to stand, he says, stand therefore,
having your loins good about with truth,
and having on the breastplate righteousness.
You know that, God?
He says, I want someone who's building up
the hedge and someone who's just willing to stand.
Listen to me.
In the United States of America, I
understand that sometimes we feel like we're all alone
and we need to take a lesson from Elijah when God tells him
that there are 7,000 that have not bowed to me to bail.
And I understand that, and I'm with that.
The United States of America is getting to the point
where we're really the last man standing.
On the sins of this nation, on things
like the perversion of homosexuality,
the abortion holocaust, on simple doctrines and beliefs,
we are really the last people standing,
it feels like sometimes.
I'm not saying our church, but our church and churches
like ours, and we need to learn that God is simply
looking for a man who is willing to stand.
He says, and I sought for a man among them.
You go back to Ezekiel 22.
He said, and I sought for a man among them.
We see the reality of a searching God.
He said, I should make up the hedge and stand in the gap
before me for the land.
We saw the requirement of a specific man.
But thirdly, just out of this verse,
I want you to notice the remorse of a scarce volunteer.
He says, at the end there at verse number 30,
I want you to notice those four words.
He says, but I found none.
Probably one of the saddest statements
in all of the word of God.
He just got done telling us of all the shedding
of the innocent blood, and the perversion, and the robbery,
and the stealing, and the fact that the princes are not
helping, and the politicians are empowering all of this,
and the fact that the preachers are not standing up and making
a difference between right and wrong,
and they're just getting paid off and just going down.
And God gives us all of these details.
And he says, but you know what, I'm still looking for a man
if I could find someone who will stand
in the gap before me for the land that I should not
destroy.
He says, but I found none.
But I found none.
Therefore, verse 31, he says, for that reason
have I poured out my name of aviation upon them.
I've consumed them with the fire of my wrath.
Their own way have I right on the fence upon their head,
sayeth the Lord God.
Would to God that it would never be said,
would to God that it would never be said of this nation,
or of this state, or of this city, if God looked down
on the United States of America, if he looked down
on the state of California, if he looked down
on the city of Sacramento, that he would not say,
but I found none, that we at least
would be willing to build up the hedge, and stand
in the gap, and take a stand, and take a strong stand,
and take a stand that's not popular,
and take a stand that people will criticize us for,
and take a stand that people will protest against us for,
and take a stand that people will persecute us for,
but that we would be willing to stand
against the wiles of the devil.
Spire heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word.
Thank you for this chapter, highly applicable
and relevant today.
Lord, we ask that you would please help us.
I realize that sometimes we kind of live
in our own little bubble, and everything is good
in our world as we lead our Christian lives.
Lord, help our eyes to be open to the atrocities
of the shedding of blood in this country.
Father, I pray that you would help our eyes to be open
to the sins that are around us,
or that we might take strong stands,
and that we might be used to view,
to keep judgment from coming upon our land.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray.