And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God (Ezekiel 11:19-20).

The failure of the Old Covenant grounded in the Mosaic Law was not the failure of the Law but the failure of the people of God to obey the Law (Hebrews 8:7-9). The glorious provision of the New Covenant was that God would make it so that His people would obey Him. He would take away their stubborn and rebellious heart and give them a soft and responsive heart. 

While we all humbly acknowledge our sinfulness, even that a day does not go by that we do not sin, no one is more painfully aware of this than the Christian addict, whether he is addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex, food, etc. Even as the addict struggles to break free from the chemical, psychological, or emotional pull of his addiction, he also deals with constant guilt and a sense of powerlessness to change.

The addict is simply an amplification of the condition of every man. We are all slaves to sin: "We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way" (Isaiah 53:6a). "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12). We were all as good as "dead in our transgressions and sins" (Ephesians 2:1), for "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). 

Under the Old Covenant, there would be no hope for us, only condemnation;however, under the New Covenant, "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:23), so that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1), for "the LORD has laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6b). "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus Christ, therefore, has become the gateway into the blessings of the New Covenant for all of us, who were slaves of sin. 

Therefore, dear friends, let us praise the LORD this morning! What we could not do, He did for us. What we cannot do, He will do for us. The righteousness that we needed, He gave. The righteousness that we seek, He will finally accomplish in us when He brings us into His heavenly kingdom (Matthew 5:6). Even though we are daily reminded of our depravity, let us just as often acknowledge Christ's sufficiency and give God our Father all thanks and praise in Jesus Christ our Lord!

As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I fell on my face and cried out saying, “Alas, Lord God! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?” (Ezekiel 9:8).

God gives a vision to Ezekiel of His judgment on Jerusalem. He tells a certain man to put a special mark on those that have mourned over the sins of the city. Then, he tells another six men, executioners, to kill anyone and everyone without this mark on their forehead. As Ezekiel watches the outcome, he soon realizes that no one has been given the special mark, and only he is being spared slaughter. When he realizes that God is destroying the entire remnant of Israel in Jerusalem, he falls on his face in deep distress.

Friends, I think Ezekiel thought that at least some would be spared. Surely, even a few, would be spared. The wrath of God is scary indeed! All were given to slaughter, both young men and old, single ladies and married women, and even little children. None were spared. 

There were perhaps about two-and-a-half million people that came out of Egypt in the Exodus. The population of Israel had multiplied immensely from the seventy-two that came into Egpt in Joseph's day. Yet, unbelief decimated an entire generation of Israel by the time they entered Canaan forty years later. Once they were established in the land, the persistence of their rebellion led to many judgments and finally exile from the Land. By the time of their return, the millions had become only thousands. Apart from the hundreds of exiles taken with him to Babylon, Ezekiel saw that there was no one left of the remnant of Israel in the Land. 

Friends, this should be a sobering reminder to us not to be too optimistic about many being saved for that Day. Recently, a guest speaker at my church gave an entire message about how there will be "many" in heaven. He tried to argue that the few are many. Really? In Noah's day, only eight were saved. Sure, eight is many compared to none or one, but who would argue that eight is anything compared to the millions and perhaps billions that perished forever in the Flood. Yes, there will be an uncountable number of people saved at the end, but the descendants of Israel were also described as growing to an uncountable number of people. This uncountable number meant a few million. Three million is a large number, but compared to everyone that ever lived, it is less than .1%. Rather than thinking that a few are many, it is more accurate to understand just the opposite, namely, that the many are few. This is why our Lord Jesus taught,

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14).

Only a few find the way to eternal life. Those saved are a remnant of the remnant. Jesus gave this somewhat cryptic prophecy:

When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

The implicaiton is that there will hardly be a one that truly believes when the Lord Jesus comes back for His own. This suggests that as the end days near, there will be less and not more true believers. 

Friends, as I have shared, my heart is distressed. Even as I write, I feel tears well up in my eyes, because, as I believe I am truly saved, I also think that I am saved by the skin of my teeth. What does this suggest for my Christian brothers and sisters, who are so much more confident than I? They think that things are fine. They hardly meditate on His Word. They simply go through the motions of Christianity. Their prayers are all about temporal things. They are so busy and concerned about how to make this life work well for themselves. Are they saved? Or will they be found to have merely given lip service to God?

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, what is this proverb you people have concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are long and every vision fails’? Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will make this proverb cease so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.” But tell them, “The days draw near as well as the fulfillment of every vision. For there will no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I the Lord will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord God.’” (Ezekiel 12:21-25).

The false visions and flattering divination that the people of Israel heard were prophecies of peace and prosperity. These were the prophecies the people believed, rather than those of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who proclaimed oracles of God's judgment. Generally speaking, most, if not all, of the prophecies from the LORD were prophecies of judgment rather than prosperity. This was fitting with the universally sinful and rebellious condition of the people. In fact, on the few occasions, where God prophecied deliverance, it was either immediate and in response to prayer (e.g. God's response to Hezekiah's prayer for deliverance from the Assyrian king) or else God gave a sign to verify it (e.g. Isaiah's prophecy to King Ahaz of Judah regarding deliverance from Israel and Syria in Isaiah 7 ). Note this observation from Jeremiah:

From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true (Jeremiah 28:8-9).

The false prophet Hananiah, prophesied that there would be peace. All the other false prophets and priests agreed with his prophecy. Thus, Jeremiah seemed to be in the minority. But Jeremiah said that all the true prophets that came before them generally prophesied only disaster, so it was not Jeremiah but Hananiah that was in the minority. Hananiah would only be proven true if his prophecy came true. Otherwise, he was a false prophet. 

In light of the false prophecies that were being embraced by the people of Judah, God declared that He would not delay bringing about the judgment He prophesied in truth through Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. He would bring this judgment to pass in their day.

Friends, I cannot help but think of those claiming to be prophets today. They are not declaring words of judgment for sin but rather of prosperity. They tell people things they like to hear. They say things like "God will give you a great youth ministry" or "God will build your business" or "God will make you riich," etc. Not only are these inconsistent with the great majority of biblical prophecy, but they often take no responsibility when these things don't traspire as prophesied.

Someone declares that he heard something from the LORD. And then, when it does not happen, he simply says that God must have had something better in store. How is this different from some Jehovah's Witnesses, who predicted Jesus' coming on such and such a day, and when He was not seen, they first changed their time frame and then declared that He did come, only not physically but spiritually. Is this prophecy in truth? Certainly not!

These are the kinds of statements and prophecies coming out of the mouths of ignorant people in some churches today. These are the kinds of things coming out of places like Kansas City and the International House of Prayer (IHOP), and now, even organizations like Youth With A Mission (YWAM). And just like the false prophets of old, when the prophecies don't come true, they just change their prophecy. Unfortunately, in Ezekiel's day, they did not have the luxury to simply change their story, because they all died on account of their false prophecies. 

Friends, the only reliable truth is biblical truth. Do not trust in anyone who claims to have heard from the LORD. More likely than not, they do not know what they are talking about and are spouting only what has come from their own imaginations. You do not need such prophecies to please God. With the Bible, you are thoroughly equipped to do every good work that God requires:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple (Ezekiel 9:3).

Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 10:4).

Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.(Ezekiel 10:18-19).

Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. The glory of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it (Ezekiel 11:22-23).

If you follow the "glory of the LORD" references in today's reading, you will notice that the glory of the LORD, which represents God's Presence, departs from its place in the Temple and then departs from its residence in Jerusalem. Symbolically, it represents God no longer being with His people to bless them in the Land of Promise. As far as we know from Scripture, the glory of the LORD will remain absent from the Temple and city until the time of the end (Revelation 15:8; 21:23). However, in a shrouded form we might say the next time the glory returned was when the boy Jesus remained at the Temple, confounding the religious teachers with his understanding and his answers (Luke 2:46-47).

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They will know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord (Ezekiel 12:15-16).

Here's a remarkable text. God spares a few people, but not because they they are righteous, but so that they might testify that God is judging them because of their wickedness. This should demonstrate to us that God is very much concerned about His Name. As I've contended elsewhere, it is true that God loves His people, but this love for His people does not trump God's jealous concern for His Name and glory. Thus, throughout the Scriptures, He receives glory from those who receive mercy as well as those who are condemned. This should cause people like Rob Bell, who only have a one-sided view of God (i.e. that God is love), to pause and recognize the sobering reality of God's holiness and wrath. 

Friends, as New Testament believers we have something the Old Testament saints never had, namely, the permanent residence of God within us. So we read in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20,

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

We also read in Ephesians 1:13-14,

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Friends, we do not have to fear losing our salvation, for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not like the Presence of the LORD in the Temple. He is in us on the basis of Christ's eternal sacrifice for our sins, which is based on the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31ff) that God unilaterally and eternally gave to those He has chosen to enjoy Him forever in His kingdom. If you know that you have believed in Christ, you can also know that you were chosen in Him, for the Bible in no uncertain terms teaches that whoever believes in Him is not condemned but will have eternal life (John 3:18, 36).