A PROMISE OF RESTORATION
Ezekiel
11: 14-21; 01/01/2017
Introduction: Ezekiel
was deported to Babylon in 597 BC. Ezekiel was unconventional, he used
pantomime, would cry and wail and slap his thighs, ate a scroll and did many
other unusual things to burn the message into the minds of the people. Through
Ezekiel’s unusual visons and hard hitting prophecies we get the picture of a
holy and transcendent God whose name and glory must be protected. By contrast
Judah had sunk to the depths of depravity in national apostasy. God had to
punish His people because of His hatred of idolatry, so he sent them into exile
in Babylon, but He never stopped loving them.
In Chapter ten we
read about one of the saddest days in the history of Judah, where Ezekiel saw
the glory of God departing from the temple in Jerusalem. Can you imagine what
it must have been like for Ezekiel, to actually see the glory of God leaving
the temple? To add to his shock, there were twenty-five leaders giving misleading
advice to the people. As if these were
not enough, the Lord has exposed the apostasy of the nation of Judah.
Seeing all these
at once, Ezekiel must have been heart broken. So, he fell on his face, lifted
his voice aloud and said, “Alas, Lord God, “Will you bring the remnant of Israel
to a complete end?” Let’s pause here! What does this 597 BC prophecy concerning
Judah have to do with us the people of Hope Church in Sharon? The nation of Judah
in general represents the heart of every human that turns against God, more
specifically an individual Christian believer who has hardened his heart and is
not responding rightly to God.
In the 21st
century, are we any different than the nation of Judah of 597 BC? Whether we like it or not Christianity in the
US and the rest of the western world is on the rapid decline. What is causing
this sharp decline of Christianity in the West? What must we do to stop it?
The reasons could
be many, and one of the reasons I believe is, “Prosperity and affluence,” they distract
people from a life of devotion to God and being committed in a church. Just
before Christmas, Wilma and I visited someone who claimed to be less spiritual
and not interested in going to Church. At the same time, he lamented that very
few these days still go to Church, we asked him what he thought might be the
reason for this lack of interest, he said, “people are simply too lazy to go to
church and they have lost respect.” It is so true isn’t it?
Coming back to our
text. The Lord gave a promise of restoration through Ezekiel to the remnant of
Judah. God was going to restore true worship of himself, he was going to give
them a new heart and spirit, and he was going to restore their vision to serve
him. I believe on this New Year’s Day because He loves us, God is making a similar
promise to us. Let’s look at it in detail.
I. A RESTORED WORSHIP Vs (16)
From
the time of its formation, God’s intentions have been that the people of Israel
would love him, call him father, worship and serve him only and nothing or no
one else. The first two of the ten commandments declare that intention. But as
we know time and again they broke their faith with by worshipping idols and
false gods. As a result, he punished them by removing them from Jerusalem where
the temple, God’s dwelling place was located.
We need to understand that the
temple played a major role in the religious, social, and civic life of the Jews
at that time. For them it was unthinkable to be removed from Jerusalem, but now
they were living in other nations, longing to one day return to Jerusalem, and
worship God again in the temple. Though the Lord scattered them among the
nations he did not leave them without a place of worship, he himself became
their sanctuary or dwelling place. God promised that one day they would return
to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and restore worship.
What can we learn from Israel’s
History? God, had chosen the people of Israel to serve and worship Him alone,
but they rebelled against God. We see some similarities in the way God has saved
us. There was no good in us, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Not
by works but by His grace we have been saved. The purpose was that we might love
and worship and serve him, let’s admit just like the people of Israel, we too
at times turn our backs against him. Instead of worshipping God we worship our
self-made idols of wealth, success, fame, and popularity. When all of our mind, attention, time and
energy is focused on these become idols that rob us of our desire to spend time
with God in worship and prayer.
E.M Bounds, while explaining the
importance of worship in prayer, notes how grace affects our worship, “Where
grace abounds, song abounds. When God is in the heart, Heaven is present and
melody is there, and the lips overflow out of the abundance of the heart. This
is as true in the private life of the believer as it is so in the congregations
of the saints. The decay of singing, the
dying down and out of the spirit of praise in song, means the decline of grace
in the heart and the absence of God’s presence from the people.” [1]
On this First Sunday, how is your
heart? Are you weighed down by the heavy
burdens of life, unable to break forth in singing praises to God? Do you feel
like God is millions of miles away from you? God wants to draw you into his
presence where there is fullness of Joy, He wants to put a new song in your
heart so that your heart once again will be filled with worship of God. When
God comes to your heart and restores worship it will be like in heaven.
II.
A NEW HEART & A NEW SPIRIT (Vs 19)
Vs 19, “I will give them an
undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their
heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” There is rich theology in this
verse. This scripture speaks of the sovereignty of God. He can do what he wills
to do. He can harden hearts and he can soften them if he wants to. Has he
hardened hearts in the past?
There were a few instances where God
hardened the hearts of people, for example God hardened the heart of Pharaoh
(Ex 7:3). God hardened the hearts of the enemies of Judah so that he might
destroy them (Joshua 11:20). But more often than not, in most cases, it was the
people of Judah who have hardened their hearts. They simply refused to believe,
and obey God. They remained stubborn and obstinate. So, he scattered them
abroad.
Through the prophecy, we learn that
the remnant will repent and return and when that happens he has promised to give
them one heart (an undivided heart) and put a new spirit, and in the place of a
stone heart a tender heart that will respond rightly to God’s leading and
guidance.
How does this promise of a new heart
and a new spirit work for us? First of all, we need to recognize that we have
been distracted by many things in life. The cares and worries of life choke our
faith and hinder us from growing in the Lord. Our hearts are divided and our
loyalties have been compromised. Unless we repent and return to God we might be
in a danger of incurring the wrath of God due to our stubbornness and obstinacy.
Though we come to church, regularly, hear convincing messages, attend bible
studies and are active in small groups, we must ask ourselves how much of what
we hear have we been practicing in our day to day lives?
In a gracious way, God is appealing
to us, if anyone here is hardening their heart, listen to what the Holy Spirit
is saying, Hebrews 3:7-8, “Today if you hear His voice do not harden your
hearts.” What is the prerequisite for God to give you a new heart and a right
spirit?
That you repent, and turn to God and
put away anything that might be displeasing to God, then He will give you a
willing heart and a new spirit. What is the purpose of God in restoring true
worship and giving us one heart and a new spirit? So that our vision might be restored.
III. A RESTORED VISION (Vs 20)
God does not do anything randomly,
behind his every act there is a divine purpose. He can cause and use all things
and all people to work together to fulfill that purpose. What was the purpose behind
choosing Israel from among the nations? That they become a beacon of light and bring
hope to all nations. Ezekiel 5:5-6“This is what the sovereign Lord says: This
is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all
around her. Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees
more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and
has not followed my decrees.”
But Israel has disappointed God,
they have lost their God given vision of serving Him. I believe that one day
God will restore His vision for all Israel, and He has been patiently waiting
for that day, but in the meanwhile he has raised up people for himself from
among both Jews and Gentiles, who have accepted His son Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Hope church is a part of that worldwide movement of God. What is God’s vision
for Hope Church? That we might become a beacon of hope not only in Sharon but
around the world. His vision for us is that we might walk with Him and through
our faith and obedience we might glorify Him.
How can we practically do that? We do it by intentionally reaching out with
the gospel to people of all nations. We do it, by becoming devoted followers. We
do it by embracing people regardless of their race, gender and ethnicity or
background.. On this first Sunday of 2017, my prayer for Hope Church is “Oh,
Lord please restore true worship, give us an undivided heart and a willing
spirit and restore our vision so that we might serve you and glorify your
name.” Amen
