All right, we're there in Ezekiel chapter 5.
And I'd like to just say thank you
to everybody who's praying for me as I was traveling.
And I came back from my trip extremely sick.
And honestly, I'm not the type of guy who calls in sick.
In fact, I don't think I've ever missed a service at church
because I'm sick.
But honestly, I probably would have called in tonight
if it wasn't for the fact that I've missed
whatever many services.
I didn't want to miss another service tonight back home.
So I apologize.
I'm not going to shake any hands.
And right after service, I'll probably just walk out
and go home if that's OK with you.
But I just didn't want to miss another service here.
I know a lot of you have been wondering where I've been.
I got in late last night.
And Pastor Anderson and myself and Paul Whittenberger
and a man from Faithful World Baptist Church,
his name's Abdul, we went to the Holy Land.
And we actually toured the biblical sites.
And we filmed a documentary.
And just so you know, it wasn't a vacation.
We're working 12-hour days, all nine days that I was gone.
No day off, 12-hour days.
We skipped lunch almost every day,
sometimes skip dinner or breakfast.
It was intense to film a documentary in nine days.
That's something that they've never done before.
But we had to get it done in the time that we had allotted.
And so because we are making a documentary,
I'm not able to give you any more information than that.
So I was in the Holy Land.
And we're touring biblical sites.
And we're making a documentary about it.
And you'll get more info when the documentary comes out.
But they'll sue me if I give any other info other than that.
So I'm not allowed to give you anything else in regards
to that.
I want to thank the men that preached this afternoon.
I went through and listened.
I was pretty sick, so I just sat there.
But I listened to all of the three messages
from Brother Oliver and Brother Stecky and Brother Jared.
And everybody did a great job.
And I appreciate you being able to step in for me
while I was gone.
All right, we're there in Ezekiel chapter number five.
And I'm going to do my best to preach tonight.
I'm not feeling well.
And if I start rambling or don't have coherent sentences,
I apologize.
But I'll do the best I can.
We're there in chapter five.
And this is basically a short chapter
about the judgment of God.
And I want to just real quickly tonight give you
six statements that we can learn from this chapter.
Just so you know, this is not coffee.
It's tea.
Somebody got this for me.
So I'm not drinking coffee up here.
But instead of water, I'm drinking tea.
Look at verse one.
The Bible says this.
And now, son of man, take thee a sharp knife,
take thee a barber's razor, and cause
it to pass upon thine head and upon thine beard.
Then take thee balances to weigh and divide the hair.
Now, the chapter begins with this picture that God
is telling Ezekiel to paint, where
he's to go through and to shave all of the hair from his body.
He's supposed to take a knife and take a barber's razor
and cause it to pass over his beard and over his head.
And this idea is often used in scripture
to illustrate the judgment of God.
In fact, keep your place there in Ezekiel.
It's obviously our text for tonight.
But go with me to the book of Isaiah.
If you go backwards, you're going
to go past Ezekiel, Lamentations, Jeremiah,
into the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah chapter number seven.
Isaiah chapter seven, look at verse 20.
Isaiah chapter seven and verse 20, the Bible says this.
In the same day shall the Lord shave
with a razor that is hired, namely by them
beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head
and the hair of the feet.
And it shall also consume the beard.
So we see here in Isaiah that the same type of picture
is used, that the Lord shall shave with a razor that
is hired, namely then beyond the river,
by the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet.
And it shall all be consumed with a beard.
So I want you to notice that this
is often used as a picture.
And just something real quickly, I'm
not preaching through Isaiah.
But if you look at verse 20 there,
it's interesting because the Bible says that the Lord shall
shave with a razor.
Notice that he says that is hired.
And the idea there is that God will bring
his judgment upon his people.
But God does not desire to bring his judgment upon his people.
In fact, he's going to use a razor to bring his judgment.
But he has to go and hire that razor.
He says he will shave them with a razor that is hired.
It's like if you were threatening
to give your kid a spanking, and you don't even own a paddle.
You have to go buy a paddle so you can spank.
That's the idea here that God is trying to say.
He's saying, look, I don't want to bring judgment upon you.
I don't want to bring punishment upon you.
But I will take a sharp knife and a barber's razor.
I will shave the beard and the head and the hair off
of your body and bring that.
But if I do it, he says, I have to go hire a razor.
I have to go hire someone to be able to do that.
Go back to Ezekiel chapter 5, verse 2.
Now notice, he begins to explain the types of punishment.
Because remember, he told Ezekiel to shave his head
and shave his beard.
Notice verse 2.
He says this.
And thou shalt burn with fire a third part
in the midst of the city.
So if you remember, he had made this little city.
Remember that?
He had portrayed a city upon a tile.
And then God tells him, I want you to take the hair
that you shaved from your head and that you
shaved from your beard.
And I want you to divide it into three parts.
Notice verse 2 there.
Thou shalt burn with fire a third part.
So he said, I want you to divide the hair into three parts.
Part of it, one third of it, you're
going to burn with fire in the midst of the city.
Now what does that mean?
What does that represent?
And we're going to go through all of the verses tonight
in Ezekiel chapter 5, but we're not
going to go through them maybe necessarily in order.
But God tells us when he divides these three
parts of his hair into three different parts,
he explains to us what that represents.
I want you to notice that the first part
was to be burnt with fire.
Notice verse 2 again.
When the days of the siege are fulfilled,
and thou shalt take a third part and smite about it
with a knife.
So he's supposed to take a third part
and put it into the city, the city
that he built upon the tile to portray the city.
And he's supposed to burn it with fire.
Then he's supposed to take another third part,
and he's supposed to just smite it about with a knife.
So he's supposed to take the knife
that he just used to shave and set it down
and just smite it about.
And then take a third part, and thou shalt scatter in the wind.
So he's supposed to take the other third part
and just throw it into the air, just scatter it into the wind.
Now what does this mean?
What do these three parts mean?
Notice verse 12.
Go down to verse number 12.
Ezekiel 5 and verse 12.
The first part that should be burnt with fire.
Notice verse 12, it says this.
A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence.
That's disease.
And with famine, that's starvation.
And they shall be, notice this word,
consumed in the midst of these.
So if you remember, according to verse two,
he was supposed to put the third part in the midst of the city,
and he was supposed to consume it with fire.
Now what that represents is that God
is going to consume the people that are
left in the midst of the city.
He's going to consume them with pestilence and with famine.
Now look, I don't know about you,
but dying of starvation, I believe,
and I think most people would agree,
is probably one of the worst ways to die.
I mean, it's slow.
It's painful.
It just doesn't come soon enough when you literally
die of a famine or starvation.
And it makes you do, it makes some people
do some really odd and weird things that we would never do.
Look at verse 10, Ezekiel 5 and verse 10.
Notice what the Bible says, therefore, the fathers,
notice this, shall eat the sons in the midst of thee,
and the sons shall eat their fathers.
And I will execute judgment in thee,
and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter in all the wind.
I want you to notice that he's supposed to divide the hair
into three parts.
The first part is going to be consumed
in the midst of the city, and what that literally means
is that there's going to be pestilence, disease,
and famine, and usually those two things go together.
And people are going to starve to death,
and they're going to get so hungry
that the fathers will literally eat their sons,
and the sons shall eat their fathers.
And I'm sure the idea there is that an older father will
take a younger son and kill him, and cook him, and eat him.
And an older son will take an elderly father
and maybe kill him, and cook him, and eat him.
And you say, well, that would never happen.
It's happened through history where people get so hungry,
and it's so much torture to be a die of famine and starvation
that people literally become cannibals
and start attacking each other and eating each other.
That's the first option.
Now, there's a second option.
Well, actually, look at verse 16 just real quickly
before we get to the second option.
Ezekiel 5 and verse 16 says this.
When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine,
which shall be for their destruction,
and which I will send to destroy you,
and I will increase the famine upon you,
and will break your staff of bread.
Notice verse 17.
So I will send upon you famine and evil beasts,
and they shall bereave thee.
And pestilence and blood shall pass through thee,
and I will bring the sword upon thee.
I, the Lord, have spoken it.
So God says, look, we're going to divide these people.
And by the way, this is talking about Jerusalem.
Just real quickly, look at verse number 5.
Notice what it says.
Verse number 5, thus saith the Lord God, this is Jerusalem.
So the hair that Ezekiel is shaving off
of his head and his beard is representing Jerusalem.
I've set it in the midst of the nations and countries
that are around about her.
So he's talking about Jerusalem, and he's
saying that he's going to divide the people into three parts.
The first part is going to stay in the city,
and they're going to be consumed with pestilence,
with disease, with famine.
They're going to get so hungry, they're
going to start eating each other.
He says this is going to be the first type of punishment.
Now, there's a second punishment.
Look at verse 2 of Ezekiel chapter 5.
We saw the first part.
And thou shalt burn with fire a third part
in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege
are fulfilled.
Notice verse 2, or the second part of verse 2.
And thou shalt take a third part,
here's a second of the thirds, and smite about it
with a knife.
So he tells Ezekiel, take the third part, and take your knife
and just smite about it.
Now, he's doing this in front of a crowd, remember?
And he's smiting about it.
Now, what does that represent?
Look at verse 12.
Ezekiel 5 and verse 12.
Ezekiel 5, 12 says this, and the third part shall die
with the pestilence and with the famine.
They shall be consumed in the midst of thee.
We read that.
Notice the second part.
And a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee.
So here's what he's saying.
He's saying a third will die in a famine
with pestilence, with disease.
Another third is going to be collateral damage.
When the military comes in and takes over the city,
when the Babylonian armies come in, a third of the people,
when they actually take over the land, a third of the people
are going to just be killed in that military advancement.
And a third shall fall by the sword.
That's why he tells them to take the hair
and to smite about it with the razor,
because the razor represents the sword of Babylon.
And he's going to smite them with the sword.
Now, notice the third option.
Look at verse 2 again.
Look at the last part of verse 2.
And a third part, thou shalt scatter in the wind,
and I will draw out a sword after them.
So he says, you're going to take one third
and consume it with fire in the city.
That represents the pestilence of famine.
You're going to take another third
and smite about it with the knife.
That represents the military collateral damage, the fact
that the army is going to come in and just kill
a third of the city.
And then you're going to take another third part,
and he says, I want you to just take it
and scatter it into the wind.
Now, what does that represent?
Well, look at verse 12, Ezekiel 5, 12.
Look at the last part of verse 12.
It says, and I will scatter a third part into all the wind,
and I will draw out a sword after them.
Look at verse 10, last part of verse 10.
And the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all
the wind.
Now, what is that picture that God is going
to scatter them into the wind?
That pictures the captivity that the children of Israel
are going to go into, because if you remember,
when Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem,
that's where we get the stories of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego.
That's where we get the stories of Daniel.
That's where we get Ezekiel himself is in captivity.
And he's saying, a third of the city
is going to be scattered throughout the world.
He said, I want you to scatter it into the wind.
And that represents the fact that a third of you
are going to be taken captive.
A third of you are going to be killed
when the military comes in to take over the city.
And a third of you are going to die of starvation
during the siege before the military comes in.
So keep in mind, the ones that are killed by the sword,
they went through the famine, and they survived it.
So here's a question I have for you.
Of those three options, which one would you rather be?
I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't necessarily
want to live in captivity.
But I'd much rather go into captivity like Daniel
and like the three young men and like Ezekiel.
I'd much rather go into captivity
than to die of starvation.
I'd much rather go into captivity
than to survive starvation and then be killed with the sword.
I'd much rather go into captivity.
But here's what I want you to understand.
And keep your place on Ezekiel.
Go with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter number nine.
And when you get to Romans, keep your place there.
Put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there,
because we're going to leave it, and we're
going to come back to it.
I told you I wanted to give you six lessons we
can learn from this chapter.
And here's lesson number one.
Don't play Russian roulette with God.
Because here's what you need to understand.
God decided that he was going to take this city,
and a third would die a terrible death of famine and starvation.
A third would survive the famine and starvation
and be killed immediately as the military advances
and takes over the city.
And a third would be scattered into the city.
And here's the thing.
Nobody was guaranteed that they would be any one of those three.
Everyone was guaranteed that they
would be one of those three.
But nobody was guaranteed that they
would be one of those three.
And here's what you need to understand.
When we go into sin, when we go into sin
and God has to bring his punishment upon us,
you don't know what third you're going to end up in.
You don't know if you're going to have the grace of God
and the mercy of God upon your life
to where you're simply going to go into captivity,
or you don't know if you might be in that third that's
going to starve to death or that third that's
going to survive or starve and then be killed.
You don't know where God's punishment
is going to land with you.
And here's what I'm trying to tell you.
When you decide to go into sin, when you decide to purposely,
when you know what the Bible says
and you know what the word of God says
and you know what is expected of you and you sin
and you transgress the laws of God
and you know that God's punishment is upon you,
you don't know how severe that punishment is going to be.
And what you're doing is you're literally
putting a gun to your head.
And you're just hoping that the chamber will be empty.
You're just hoping that when God's punishment comes down,
you're hoping that you'll be one of the third that
maybe goes into captivity.
But you're playing a game with God.
And you say, well, is God just to do that?
Is God just to make some people, a third of these people,
die a terrible death of starvation?
Is God just to make another group survive the starvation
and be killed immediately?
Is God just to take another group and, for whatever reason,
be merciful to them and allow them to be scattered into
and taken into captivity?
Is that just of God?
And here's what you need to understand.
God can do whatever he wants.
Romans chapter 9 and verse 18, notice what the Bible says.
Romans chapter 9 and verse 18 says this, Romans 9, 18.
And keep your place there in Romans
because we're going to leave it and come back to it.
Therefore, hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy
and whom he will he hardeneth.
You know what, God can do whatever he wants.
And God can have mercy on you if he wants to.
And God can come down hard on you if he wants to.
And at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter
because if you're saved, you deserve
to die and go to hell anyway.
And you don't know how hard God might come down on you.
And when you play with sin, and when you disobey God,
and when you purposely sin and go
against what God has called you, what you're doing
is playing a game where the odds are stacked up against you.
Because listen to me.
We often talk about God being the God of a second chance.
And I believe that.
But he's not necessarily the God of the seventh chance
or the ninth chance or the 15th chance.
And you don't know when his punishment comes what third
you're going to be in.
He didn't tell, hey, Ezekiel, here
are the names of the people that are going to go into captivity.
And here are the names of the people.
He just said, here's where my judgment's going to come down.
And you don't know where you're going to lie.
And you're playing a dangerous game.
You're playing a dangerous game when
you decide to sin against God.
So the first lesson we learned from this chapter
is that we should not play Russian roulette with God.
Because he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy.
And on whom he will, he hardeneth.
And of course, we know that's talking about reprobates
and things like that.
But the principle is there that God can show mercy
to whoever he wants.
God can be just to whoever he wants.
And God can come down hard on whoever he wants.
Look at verse, keep your places in Romans 9.
Go back to Ezekiel chapter 5 and look at verse 3.
We saw not only the types of punishment.
Aren't you notice the object of his punishment?
Verse 3 says this, thou shall take thereof a few in number.
We're going to come back to that in a minute.
And mine them in thy skirt.
Then take of them again, and cast them
into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire.
Thereof shall a fire come forth in all the house of Israel.
Notice verse 5, we already saw it.
Thus saith the Lord God, this is Jerusalem.
I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries
that are round about her.
And I want you to notice that this punishment,
the object of God's punishment was
Jerusalem, which was the city that God chose
to have his name there.
It was a city that God chose to have the tabernacle there,
and to build the temple.
And this city becomes the object of God's destruction.
Look down at verse number 14.
Notice the result of this punishment.
Verse 14, Ezekiel chapter 5 and verse 14 says this,
moreover, I will, notice what he says.
He's talking of the city of Jerusalem.
Notice what he says.
Moreover, I will make thee waste,
don't miss this, and a reproach among the nations.
He tells Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel, he says,
I will make thee waste and a reproach among the nations.
Isn't that exactly what the Jews and the nation of Israel
has become today, a reproach among the nations?
That are round about thee and the side
of all that pass by, look at verse 15.
So it shall be a reproach and a taunt.
And look, and I don't have time to go into it.
I thought about it, but if you want to look at it,
just type in timeline of anti-Semitism in Wikipedia.
And the list that comes up is longer
than I could read in this sermon.
And I'm not justifying or saying that it was right,
but I'm here to tell you that wherever the Jews go,
they're a reproach.
Wherever the Jews go, they are persecuted.
Wherever the Jews go, they suffer persecution.
And God put you say, why?
Because the wrath of God is upon them.
Why?
Because he said, moreover, I will make thee waste
and a reproach among nations.
And it's interesting to me today that Christians
want to look at the Jews as though they're
God's chosen people or there's something special about them
because they were physically born of the line of Abraham.
And that's even up for debate whether that's even true.
But here's what you need to understand.
The Jews disobeyed God, and God made them a waste.
Here during the time of Ezekiel, but even in the New Testament,
the Bible says that God took away from them.
God took away from them and gave it the fruits
thereof unto another nation.
You don't have to turn there, but if you remember,
you say, why is it that wherever the Jews went in history,
they were being thrown out.
They were being persecuted.
Why is that?
In Matthew 27, you have to turn there.
But in Matthew 27, verse 24, remember
when Jesus was being crucified, the Bible
says this, when Pilate was tall, that he could prevail nothing,
but that rather a tumult was made.
He took water and washed his hands
before the molded do, saying, I am innocent of the blood
of this just person.
See ye to it.
This is Pilate trying to say, I don't want to do this.
And obviously, he should have stood up to them.
But he was trying to at least make the point
that it was not my will.
I'll read verse 25 to you.
Then answered all the people, this is the Jewish people,
and said, his blood be on us and on our children.
And you want to know why they have the curse of God upon?
It's funny because today, you talk to Christians,
they're like, oh, they have the blessing of God upon them.
Really?
Because it seems like they have the curse of God upon them.
And they have the wrath of God upon them,
because they're not even saved.
But they brought that curse upon themselves
when they crucified the Savior.
And they said, hey, his blood be upon us and on our children.
And that curse has been following them.
It's the result of God's punishment.
He said that he would make them a waste
and a reproach among the nations.
Go back to Ezekiel, chapter 5, look at verse 3.
We're going to go right back to Romans,
so keep your place there.
So the first lesson we see is that we
don't want to play Russian roulette with God.
But the second lesson that we can learn from this chapter
there is always a remnant.
So be part of it.
Because when you look at those three options,
you say, I don't really, you know, if I have to be one,
I'd like to be the one in the captivity.
But also take thereof a few.
See that word, those words?
A few, a number.
And bind them in thy skirt.
OK, he's talking about taking his, the part of you.
Go to Romans, chapter number 11.
Romans, chapter number 11.
There is always, God always deals with a remnant.
Broad is the way that leaded to destruction.
But there are few that God deals with.
There are always a few that are a remnant.
Romans, chapter 11, and verse 1.
Romans 11 and verse 1 says this, I say then.
This is Paul speaking, of course,
under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
He says, I say then, hath God cast away his people?
Question mark.
And he's talking about the Jewish people.
And he's saying, is God done with all of the Jewish people
or has he cast them all away?
He says, God forbid.
You say, well, pastor, I thought you just said
that they were anti-Christ and they had the wrath of God.
You know what?
Every unbeliever has the wrath of God upon them.
But you know that even Jews could be saved.
Notice what Paul says.
He says, for I also am an Israelite
of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin.
He says, I am a physical descendant of Abraham.
I am an Israelite.
And he says, because I'm saved,
God has not cast away all of his people.
In verse 2, God has not cast away his people,
which he foreknew.
What ye not what the scripture saith of Elias?
He says, look, here's what he's saying.
This is how it's always been.
He says, don't you remember Elias?
We're going to study Elijah on Sunday nights
here in a couple of weeks.
And he says, don't you remember Elias,
how he maketh intercession to God against Israel,
saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets
and dinged down thine altars.
And I am left alone.
And they seek my life.
Remember, Elijah said, I'm the only one that's left.
And they want to kill me.
I'm the only one that's left.
Nobody's standing with me.
Look at verse 4.
But what saith the answer of God unto him?
I have reserved to myself 7,000 men
who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
What was God telling Elijah?
He was telling him, there's always a remnant.
There's always a group.
There's always been a people.
Notice verse 5.
Even so then, at this present time also,
there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
There's always a group and a remnant that God deals with.
You don't have to be any of the three parts that
has the judgment of God.
There's always a remnant.
So we should try to be a part of it.
Can we learn from that?
Here's what we can learn.
No matter how bad the world gets,
no matter how bad the world gets.
By the way, no matter how bad so-called Christians get,
we should endeavor to be part of the remnant.
And look, and if what we're doing
goes against what everybody else is doing,
if what we're doing goes against what everybody else is
doing, the way we raise our children,
the way we have our marriages, the way we educate our kids,
the way whatever it is, if what we're doing
goes against what the entire world is doing,
where even Christians mock at us, that's OK.
Because there's always been a remnant.
There's always been a small group of people
that God has dealt with.
And that's good for us to know, because sometimes we
feel like we're all alone.
And Elijah felt like he was all alone.
But God said, you're not alone.
There are 7,000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal.
Go back to Ezekiel chapter 5, through verse 5.
So we saw number one, the first lesson we can learn
is don't play Russian roulette with God.
Lesson number two, there's always a remnant.
There's always a remnant.
So find it and be part of it.
You say, Pastor Jimenez, what part?
If I have to choose between the three,
I'd rather be scattered into the wind.
But if I can choose, I'd rather be part number four
and just be in the skirt.
Just be part of the field.
Just be in the remnant of God.
Lesson number three, look at verse five.
Let's say the Lord God.
This is Jerusalem.
I've said it in the midst of the nations and the countries that
are round about her, verse 6.
And she had changed my judgments into wickedness,
more than the nations and my statutes,
more than the countries that are round about her.
For they have, notice this wording,
refused my judgment and my statutes.
And have not walked in them.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God,
because you multiplied more than the nations that
are around about you and have, notice these words,
not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgment,
neither have done according to the judgment of the nations
that are round about you.
God is telling them, why is this going to happen?
Why is it that a third of you are going to starve to death
with famine and pestilence to the point
where fathers are eating their sons
and sons are eating their fathers?
Why is it that a third of you are going to survive that
and then be killed immediately when the army comes in
and captures the city?
Why is it that a third of you are
going to be scattered throughout the whole world?
Here's what he's telling them.
It's because of their disobedience.
It's because of their disobedience,
because they changed my judgments,
because they changed my statutes,
because they have refused my judgments and my statutes,
and have not walked in them, have not walked in my statutes,
neither have kept my judgment.
I used to have a pastor, Pastor Nichols, actually, growing up.
He would often say this quote.
And his quote is point number three.
It says, the path to God's blessing
is through the door of obedience.
The path to God's blessing is through the door of obedience.
You want to have the blessing of God in your life?
Obey.
You want to have the blessing of God in your life?
Obey his commandments.
You want to have the curse of God upon your life?
Disobey.
Look, it's that easy.
I realize that it's easy to say that, and it's harder to do.
But that's what it is.
You want the blessing of God?
Obey.
You want God to bless you, to help you, to be with you?
I'm not saying that you won't go through hard times
or difficult times, but you want God's blessing upon your life?
You just obey.
Listen, every kid in this building
needs to learn right now.
Before you grow up and start making all sorts of mistakes
and start doing all sorts of things
that you're going to regret, just
realize this, that the path to God's blessing
is through the door of obedience.
And if you want the curse of God upon your life,
then just disobey.
Just refuse the judgments and statutes of God.
Refuse to walk in them.
Refuse to keep his judgment.
Look, here, you want to ruin your life?
Listen to me.
Some of you adults need to get this.
You need to write this down.
The reason your life is a mess is
because you come to a church, like this church, where
we thunder the word of God and the precepts of God,
and we teach you, thus saith the Lord God.
And you take it in, and you say, oh, that's nice,
but not for me.
And then you wonder why your marriage is a wreck.
And then you wonder why your finances are a wreck.
And then you wonder why your relationships are a wreck.
And you wonder, and you say, well, they seem to be blessed,
and they're saved, and I'm not blessed.
It's because you're not obeying.
It's that simple.
I mean, it literally just comes down
to the path of God's blessing.
It's through the door of obedience.
If you just do what God tells you to do, He'll bless you.
He'll care for you.
And by the way, when you do what God tells you to do,
you know what you'll be.
You'll be the remnant.
You'll be in the skirt.
You'll be different.
You'll not be like everyone else.
Look at verse 6.
And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness.
Why don't you notice these words?
More.
More than the nations and my statutes.
I want you to notice these words.
More than the countries.
God is talking to the city of Jerusalem,
and He's saying, you're going to be cursed because you disobey.
He's telling them the path to God's blessing
is through the door of obedience.
But then He tells them this, and here's point number four.
When God's people sin, it is more severe
than when the world sins.
He's looking at Jerusalem, and He's telling them,
look at verse 6 again.
He's saying, your wickedness is more than the nations.
He said, you disobey my statutes more than the countries
that are round about her.
He's talking about Jerusalem.
Look at verse 7.
Therefore, saith the Lord God, be multiplied.
Notice what He says.
More than the nations that are round about you.
And I've not walked in My statutes,
neither have I kept My judgments,
neither have I done according to the judgments of the nations.
Notice what He says in the last part of verse 7.
He says, neither have done.
He said, not only do you do more than the other countries
and nations round about you to disobey Me,
but He says, last part of verse 7,
neither have done according to the judgment of the nations
that are round about you.
He said, you're not even as good as the nations around you.
Have you ever noticed that when God's people get into sin,
they're usually worse?
Have you ever noticed that?
Teenagers in the world rebel.
It just means they have a bad attitude
and they argue with their parents.
Teenagers in church rebel, and they just go crazy.
The world gets divorced, but it seems like Christians,
when they get divorced, they just go crazy.
Committing adultery, doing this, doing that, fornicating.
It seems like when Christians get backslidden,
they do worse.
They do worse than the world.
And he said, you've done more wickedness than the nations.
You've done more than the countries round about you.
He said, neither have you done according
to the judgments of the nations.
He said, you're not even as good.
Look, here's what I'm trying to tell you.
You can go out into the world and find Mormons
that are going to die and go to hell,
and they're faithful to their spouse,
and they're good husbands.
And they come home and talk and conversate with their wives,
and spend time with their children.
And then you got fundamental Baptists,
and they're jerks to their wives.
And you say, how does that happen?
Well, it happens because usually when Christians get into sin,
they do worse than the world.
They do worse than what the world does.
And you say, well, what can we learn from that?
Here's what we can learn.
When God's people sin, the sin is more severe.
But when God's people sin, the punishment is more severe.
Look at verse 8.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God,
behold, I, even I, am against thee.
And I will execute judgment in the midst of thee
in the sight of the nations.
Verse 9, and I will do in thee, notice what he says,
that which I have not done, and whereunto, I
will not do any more.
God is telling them, he's like, the punishment
that I'm about to bring on you, the one that he's described,
the fact that you're going to die of pestilence,
and beasts are going to attack you,
and you're going to eat your own children.
And then those of you that survive that
are going to be killed immediately
as soon as the military takes over the city.
And then some of you are going to be scattered into the world.
And I'm not minimizing that.
I mean, that's a terrible thing.
These children will be kidnapped from their parents
and taken into other countries, and they'll never
see their families again.
He says, I'm about to do.
I'm about to do that which I have not done,
and whereunto I will not do any more.
God's saying, my punishment is going
to be the most severe punishment that the nation of Israel
has ever seen.
You say, well, why does God give them such a severe punishment?
Because their sin is so severe.
Doesn't the Bible say unto whom much is given,
much shall be required?
I mean, look, the Bible says, go to 1 Peter chapter 4.
1 Peter chapter 4.
If you start at the end of the Bible, the book of Revelation,
you go backwards.
You've got Jude, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st John, and 2nd and 1st
Peter, 1st Peter chapter 4.
Now do me a favor.
When you get to 1st Peter, put a ribbon or a bookmark there,
because we're going to leave it, and we're
going to come back to it.
I say this often to you.
As Christians, we don't play by the same rules as the world.
You say, well, the world lies, and the world cheats,
and the world steals, and everything
seems to be fine with them.
Yeah, but they don't have a Heavenly Father
who's chastising them, who's trying to correct them,
and love them.
1 Peter 4.17 says this, for the time
has come that judgment must begin at the house of God.
And if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them
that obey not the gospel of God?
God is going to get the world.
But you know, before he gets the world,
judgment begins at the house of God.
And we need to be careful that our sin,
we need to be careful that we don't go crazy
when we get backslidden.
I mean, Christians get back.
I mean, think about it.
Think about just our church or churches like ours.
I mean, people come here, and I realize
that many of the people that leave here or we kick out
of here weren't even saved to begin with or were reprobates.
But even if they were, they have a so-called testimony
of Christianity.
And what happens?
They get kicked out of here for being an idiot and a moron
and bringing heresies into church.
And then what do they do?
They attack churches.
They create social accounts and videos,
and they attack pastors, and they attack.
They're worse than the world.
I mean, when the Orlando protests happened at our church,
most of the people out there weren't sodomites.
Sodomites are too lazy and crazy to be out.
You know what it was?
It was so-called Christians out there standing against us.
It was that street preacher down the street,
that useless piece of crap, you know,
coming and then preaching against our church.
And it's so-called Christian.
And I realize that they're not saved.
But it seems like when these people that are supposedly
God's people, you know, they do worse than the world.
I mean, they're worse than just the guy
you work with at work that's not saved, that's worldly,
that goes fish on Sunday.
They're worse than that.
But you know what?
Their punishment will be more severe.
Because unto whom much is given, much shall be required.
Look at verse 8.
Go back.
Keep your finger there in 1 Peter.
We're going to come right back to it.
Go back to Ezekiel chapter 5.
Ezekiel chapter 5.
Excuse me.
I want you to notice a theme that you find in this chapter.
And we'll just do it real quickly.
Look at verse 8.
Therefore, thus saith, I want you to notice these words,
the Lord God.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God.
Behold, I want you to notice these words, I.
This is God speaking.
I, even I, am against thee.
Look at verse 9.
And I will do in thee that which I have not done,
and whereunto I will not do any more the like.
Look at verse 10.
Therefore, the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee,
and the sons shall eat their fathers.
And, notice these words, I. This is the Lord speaking.
I will execute judgment in thee.
And the whole remnant of thee will, notice these words,
I scatter into the wind.
Look at verse 11.
Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God.
Surely, because thou has defiled my sanctuary
with all thy detestable things and with all thine
abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee.
Neither shall, notice, mine eyes spare.
Neither will I have any pity.
Look at verse 13.
Thus shall mine anger be accomplished,
and I will cause my fury to rest upon thee.
And I will be comforted.
And they shall know that I, the Lord,
have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished
my fury in them.
Look at verse 14.
Moreover, I will make thee waste.
Look at verse 15.
So it shall be a reproach, and a taunt, and instruction,
and astonishment unto the nations that
are round about thee, when I shall execute judgment.
Look at the last part of verse 15.
I, the Lord, have spoken it.
Look at verse 16.
When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which
shall be for their destruction, and which I
will send to destroy you, and I will increase the famine
upon you.
Look at verse 17.
So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts,
and they shall bereave thee, and pestilence and blood
shall pass through thee.
And I will bring the sword upon thee.
I, the Lord, have spoken it.
Why don't you notice the theme there?
The theme is that this is God.
This is God bringing his judgment upon his people.
If you kept your place there in First Peter,
excuse me, yeah, in First Peter, just go backwards
towards the book of Hebrews.
You're going to go past James into Hebrews.
Past James into Hebrews.
While you turn there, let me read for you
out of Lamentations 4.11.
Lamentations 4.11 says this, the Lord has accomplished his fury.
He has poured out his fierce anger,
and has kindled a fire in his eye on,
and it had devoured the foundations thereof.
Y'all know why we have worldly Christians today?
I realize I'm preaching to the choir.
You're here on a Wednesday night.
I get that.
You want to know, though, why?
I'm talking about legitimate, born again,
Bible-believing Christians, and you can't get them
out of soul winning.
You can't get them to do what the Bible says.
You can't get them to tithe.
They're barely faithful to church.
You can't get them.
You preach the Bible, preach the Bible, preach the Bible,
and it's like it goes in one ear and out the other.
So why is that?
It's because we don't have a healthy fear of God.
I mean, that's what it comes down to.
Hebrews 10 in verse 30 says this,
for we know him that hath said, Hebrews 10, 30,
vengeance belongeth unto me.
I will recompense, saith the Lord.
And again, the Lord shall judge his people.
Notice, it's not the Lord's going
to judge someone else's people.
Not the Lord is going to judge the world,
and God is going to judge the world.
But look, you do well to be less worried about the homos
out there and more worried about how God is going to judge you.
The Lord shall judge his people, verse 31.
Notice the context of verse 31 is the judgment
of God coming upon his people.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God.
Now, are you afraid of God?
You say, how do you even know if we're afraid?
Well, do you follow his commandments?
We can tell.
It is real easy to ask yourself, do I fear God?
Well, do I fear God enough to realize
that when I disobey his commandments,
he might completely destroy me?
He might allow Satan to destroy my flesh.
He might punish me.
I mean, look, it is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of a living God.
And the fifth thing we can learn from this chapter is this,
that you should fear being in the hands of an angry God.
We could use all sorts of examples.
I like to use the tithe example, because I think
we can all understand money.
But you say, Pastor Jimenez, every time I get paid, I tithe.
You say, why?
Because I fear God.
Because I need the blessing of God upon my life.
Because I can steal that 10% from him,
but I'm afraid what God would do to me.
And some of you, you're like, I don't understand.
I'm always having this problem, and that problem,
and this, and that.
And it's like, well, the door to God's blessing
is the path to God's blessing is the door of obedience.
But you've heard me say that before.
And you're not changing anything because you don't fear God.
And when we realize that we serve
an awesome and powerful God, when
we realize that we serve a God who is a consuming fire, when
we realize that it is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of a living God, we'll change our actions.
We'll change the things we do.
Go back to Ezekiel chapter 5.
I'll give you the last one, and we'll be done.
I said number one tonight, just some lessons
we learned from this chapter.
Don't play Russian roulette with God.
Where are you going to land on those thirds?
It's better not to go down that road.
I said number two, there is a remnant.
There's always a remnant, so be a part of it.
I said number three, the path to God's blessing
is the door of obedience.
Number four, when God's people sin, it is more severe.
And when the world sins.
Number five, you shouldn't fear being
in the hands of an angry God because it is God's judgment
that comes down upon you.
And that's emphasized over and over in this chapter.
God says, I will bring it.
I, the Lord, have spoken it.
When I shall sin, when I will sin,
when I shall execute judgment, when I have accomplished it.
Number six, look at verse 15.
We're done.
So it shall be a reproach and a taunt.
Why don't you notice these words?
An instruction and an astonishment unto the nations
that are round about thee.
God says, what I'm going to do to you, Jerusalem,
what I'm going to do to you is going
to serve as an instruction.
It's going to be a lesson and an astonishment.
He said, those looking around are going to be surprised
what God has done unto his own people.
He said, it's going to be an instruction
and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about
thee.
Here's the sixth lesson we can learn from this chapter.
Learn from all examples, even bad ones.
We should learn from all examples.
And we should learn from good examples.
We should try to look at individuals
that are doing well in life, and that are having good marriages,
and raising good children, and try to learn from them.
But you know, you can also just learn from bad examples.
I make mental notes when people get backslidden.
They leave this church, and nothing wrong
with leaving this church if you go to another good church.
When they just quit on God, they quit on church,
they get covetous, they decide to make their lives
to pursue money.
You know what I do?
I make a mental note.
And I tell myself, I'm going to check in on that guy.
I'm going to check in on that family five years from now,
10 years from now.
See how it worked out for them.
And unfortunately, I've pastored long enough now
that I am getting some reports of people
who quit church five years ago, six years ago.
And they're divorced.
They're depressed.
They're not doing.
You say, why?
Because there is a way that seemeth right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death.
So look, when people do it, people get backslidden,
leave this church.
I'm not saying to be critical or criticize them.
Obviously, we ought to love them,
and we ought to pray for them.
And when they get right with God,
we ought to bring them back into the fold.
But when people get backslidden, and we throw them out for sin,
and they don't want to get it right,
you know what I just do?
Just make a mental note.
Just say, I'm going to check back in on that person
in a year from now.
See how they're doing.
Two years from now, see how they're doing.
And the result is never good.
Because when you go down the path of disobeying God,
all you have, all that there is for a believer
there is the wrath and the curse of God.
Because the path to God's blessing
is through adorable obedience.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.