Eze 2:4 For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.

In the previous chapter, we see Ezekiel after seeing the vision of God, fell down and worshipped Him (Ezekiel 1:28). Then God spoke to him and commissioned him to preach to the His rebellious nation, the children of Israel (Ezekiel chapter 2). 

Please note: Ezekiel was sent to a people who were rebellious. If you were Ezekiel, would you still want to go? Perhaps you will be telling God it will be a waste of time. If today, God tells you to go and preach to the Thai people. You will probably reason with God: “Please send me to America, it is a “Christian” nation; they will be more receptive. But the Thais are predominantly Buddhist; they will not listen.” 

But God has a purpose for sending Ezekiel to a people who would not listen: “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” (vs 5). 

There are reasons why the gospel must be preached regardless of the kind of hearts of the people:

1.  Demonstrates God’s Mercy: That God in His mercy had given them due warning.

2.  No Excuse: That the hearers themselves are to be blamed for not believing it. They cannot say that they have no preacher to reprove them of their sins and warn them of the consequence.

3.  Shows God’s Impartiality: That God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). The gospel is for all (Mark 10:15).

4. The job of the gospel preacher is to preach and not to judge. Paul wrote: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14). 

Those rebels may not listen, but at least they will know that a prophet has come to them. The prophet will keep reminding them of their sins and call on them to repent. How the rebels would react to the message is not the prophet’s problem. 

Hence, preachers, don’t choose your audience; preach the word. The apostle Peter was at first hesitant about preaching to the Gentiles. But God revealed to him that the gospel is for all. In the end, he concludes this this affirmative statement: “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34-35). 

Every preacher of God’s word should take heed that it is God’s message he is delivering to the people. Do not be discourage if no one obeys the message. They are rejecting God and not you. And, they are rejecting their own salvation. God said to Samuel when the people asked for a king: “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7). Likewise, our Lord Jesus said to the apostles: “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me” (Luke 10:16). 

Ezekiel’s mission was clear; he was to be God’s spokesperson. Ezekiel was not commissioned to be a P.R. man (public relations guy), but a mouthpiece of God: “thou shalt speak my words unto them” (vs 7). And, we are commanded to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2). 

There are still many who will rebel against God’s words; they still will not listen. But the Great Commission remains the same: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,” (Matthew 28:19). Our job is to preach and not to judge. Are you preaching the word?

Jimmy Lau

Eze 3:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

The prophet Ezekiel was commanded to eat a scroll which contained the word of God. Well, he ate it. What did it taste like? He said: “It was in my mouth as honey for sweetness” vs 3). 

In Revelations 10:10 we find the apostle John was commanded to eat a little book. He ate, and found it sweet as honey in his mouth, but after he had eaten it, it made his belly bitter. The word of God and the vision that he saw, were sweet. The “bitterness” is due to the painful nature of the message the he was to deliver; he was commanded to “prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (Revelations 10:11). His road ahead would be difficult. 

How about us? What does the word of God taste like to us? Sad to say, many professed Christians find the word of God bitter to their taste. Why do I say that? The one word that I could describe the attitude of some about the word of God is, BORING. The word of God bored them to death. They would not read it not touch it. Sad, isn’t it? When Christians can spend hours on their Facebook, watching movies, surfing the internet, but not a minute on the word of God. 

Those who love God, love His word. The psalmist wrote: “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103). The entire chapter of Psalm 119 is devoted to the praise of God’s Word. How does the psalmist demonstrate his love for the word of God? He says: “O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).     

“O how I love thy law!” It starts with a heart that loves the word of God. Those who love the word of God will want to mediate on it every day. And they will not simply spend a few minutes on it and close it. The psalmist mediates on it “all the day”. He meditates on God's word because he loves it, and then loves it the more because he meditates in it. He could not have enough of it; all the day was not too long for his converse with it. 

“It is said of some men that the more you know them the less you admire them; but the reverse is true of God's word. Familiarity with the word of God breeds affection, and affection seeks yet greater familiarity. When “thy law,” and “my meditation” are together all the day, the day grows holy, devout, and happy, and the heart lives with God.” (Treasury of David, e-sword). 

The Word of God is sweet because truth is beautiful and beauty is only found in holiness. Hence, the word of God is bitter to those who love their sins but sweet to those who desire holiness like God. 

Nothing can benefit us like the scriptures: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 

The word of God is sweet because of the good benefits that come through meditating on it. What are some of the benefits?

1.  Keeps from sin (Psalm 119:11).

2.  Comforts in affliction (Psalm 119:50).

3.  Gives Understanding to the will of God (Psalm 119:104, 105).

4.  Gives Eternal Life (John 5:39; 6:63). 

If we abandon the Word of God, we will die spiritually. Only the Word of God gives the life which matters in the end. So let’s start reading the Word of God daily for the end is eternal life: “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:2).

Jimmy Lau

P

Faith and Feelings!

Sometimes people greet each other with the question, "What do you know?" instead of the more standard greeting, "Hello, how are you?" Frequently the greeting, "What do you know?" is answered with, "Not much." What are you supposed to say – "A lot? Everything? More than you do?!" So, again, "What do you know?" Sometimes we think we know a lot more than is really so! Want proof? Take this quiz: #1 How long did the Hundred Years’ War last? #2 What country makes Panama hats? #3 From what animal do we get catgut? #4 What is a camel’s-hair brush made of? #5 Where are Chinese gooseberries from? #6 How long did the Thirty Years’ War last? (answers below)

I hope you did better with those questions than I did! Religiously, people rarely confess ignorance. Ask someone are you sure you are saved and a common answer goes something like this – "Yes, I know I am because I feel it in my heart." Is that right? Can I trust I am saved just because I "feel" saved? What about those days when I don’t "feel" very saved and God "feels" far away? And what about Proverbs 14:12 which warns, "There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death." Or Jeremiah 17:9 that warns, "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" I’m not against feelings in religion. We need "heart-felt" religion that "obeys from the heart" the God-inspired doctrines in the New Testament (Romans 6:17). What we don’t need is a faith based solely on feelings. Romans 10:17 declares, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Thus it is proper to put feelings in our (Bible-based) faith, but not faith in feelings alone! Romans 10:17 is found in the middle of the apostle Paul’s long discussion concerning the Jewish people’s ignorance of and rejection of Christ. The sound of the gospel had "gone out to all the world, and their words to the ends of the world" (vs 18). Paul and other inspired first century preachers had carried the good news of God’s Man and plan of salvation to Jews and Gentiles alike all over the Roman Empire. Romans 10 is a summary of what happened when they did – as a nation Jews largely ignored and rejected the gospel of Christ while many Gentiles accepted and obeyed it. Paul declares that the Jews "have not all obeyed the gospel" (verse 16a). In Romans 10:2-3 we discover they had strong feelings that they were pleasing God, having a "zeal for God, but not according to righteousness." Paul goes on to say in what many today would label as offensive langauge that they were "ignorant of God’s righteousness," and that they "have not submitted to the righteousness of God." There’s no way around it – they were sincere and felt strongly about their religion – but they were sincerely wrong! We must not trust religious feelings that are uninformed and unguided by Scripture, no matter how strong they are. The only way we can know for certain we are pleasing God is by trusting and obeying His inspired word (see 1 John 5:13)! Let us put feelings in our faith, not faith in our feelings. Think about it. (Answer to quiz questions: #1 116 years [1337 7o 1453] #2 Ecquador. #3 From sheep and horses. #4 Usually squirrel fur. #5 New Zealand. #6 Thirty years, of course, from 1618 to 1648.) 

         By: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN