I did in the morning as God commanded

Ezekiel 24:15

15 Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

16 Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.

18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

Pray:

Ezekiel was a great man who declared the word of God regardless of his circumstances. Even though his wife had died, he did as God commanded him.

Nebuchadnezzar had come to Israel and Judah to put Gods people into captivity. Now he didn’t take all the people. He left the poor and took the rich for a period of 70 years. But again, not all the Hebrews were taken. Just the wealthiest and most influential. So, the Hebrews at this time are divided.

We know that God never leaves his people without a profile. At this time God had given the Hebrews in Babylon Daniel and Ezekiel.

And to the poor who were left behind God gave them the prophet Jeremiah.

In the land of Babylon, the homesick Hebrews mourn knowing that their Temple had been destroyed and leveled.

And so, God called Ezekiel and told him that he would be a watchman on the wall. And listen to the word of God as it came to Ezekiel in chapter 3:18:

Ezekiel 3:18

18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

In other words. God said to the man that he called. Tell them what I the Lord God want them to hear. Or I will charge their blood to your account.

Now that is a pretty serious warning. But really all God is saying to Ezekiel is speak the truth or else. Or do in the morning as I have commanded you to do.

But first God had prepared Ezekiel for the task he called him too. God never calls a man without first preparing him. In Ezekiel 3: 1-3

3 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.

2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

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.

This roll or scroll represents the word of God. A novice should be very careful in teaching the word of God. It is not a simple book. And if you haven’t eaten it then you are not prepared to teach it. As Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. And this is how God prepared Ezekiel for the ministry. He fed him on his word.

God said Ezekiel I want you to know my word. You won’t understand it unless you feast on it.

The second thing God asked of Ezekiel was that he sit with the people. In Ezekiel 3:15 we read:

Ezekiel 3:15

15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

Last week I told you about the success God gave me as a businessman. But what I didn’t tell you about was how God used that success to show me things. I remember being concerned about having to pay a huge amount in taxes one year. So, I went to a CPA to determine my tax debt. And the CPA told me to guy buy a new truck. Make sure it is a ¾ ton truck as you can write that off and you won’t have any tax debt this year.

In the business I was in I would often try to help people to buy and sell their homes by making my end of the closing more affordable. And in the process, I would meet families who were struggling to achieve the American dream. Working minimum wage jobs. Trying to afford that home. Having up to 30% or more taken from their paychecks before they even saw a dime. How is it that these people were paying all these taxes while working hard every single day. While I was getting wealthy simply by manipulating a tax code that was set up just to benefit the rich. Our tax code turns workers into slaves. And that shouldn’t be so.

I knew what it was like to work 7-day weeks and 12-hour days and barely get by. I knew what it was like to get that paycheck after working so hard and to barely be able to afford a 1-dollar burger at Wendy’s. Much less have time to eat it. I know what it is like to be wealthy, and I know what it is like to be poor. And I believe this is exactly what God was showing Ezekiel. Live among the people so you can better understand.

Gods man must be prepared. And God said Ezekiel learn my word and live among the people. You must have compassion Ezekiel.

I have heard it said that kids today are no different than the kids of yesteryear. Nothing has changed it’s been said. I disagree. The teenagers of the 50’s faced a much better world. The biggest concern according to schoolteachers in the 50’s was chewing gum. Today our children must live in fear of coming to school and getting shot by a school mate. Things are hardly the same. Today school children must face liberal teachers with an agenda. The agenda of grooming them for homosexuality and sex changes. Kids in the 50’s knew a boy was a boy and a girl was a girl. And a homosexual wouldn’t have been allowed near the school grounds. Ezekiel lived among the people and would have seen these changes.

And let me say this about school shootings. People don’t pay attention. And much of what is happening is scrubbed from the internet and unreported by the news. But here is something for you to consider: The Colorado shooter was a non-binary and was likely undergoing hormone replacement therapy. The Nashville school shooter identified as transgendered and again was likely undergoing hormone replacement therapy. The Aberdeen shooter considered itself transgendered and was likely undergoing hormone replacement therapy. The Denver shooter identified as transgendered and was likely undergoing hormone replacement therapy. The recent Iowa school shooter considered itself gender fluid or trans and was also very likely undergoing hormone replacement therapy.

Understand this. The job of the school is to teach reading writing and arithmetic the second we gave them permission to teach sex education we gave them permission to confuse, indoctrinate and destroy our kids. Sex education should be taught in the home and is NOT the job of any government. Especially one as corrupt as ours.

Childrens brains aren’t developed to handle a body that is going against its God given biological nature. The brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 21. Which means a child should avoid drugs, alcohol and especially marijuana. But it definitely shouldn’t be undergoing something as harsh as hormone blockers and hormone replacement therapy.

And would it shock you to discover that the same people behind the transgendered movement are the same ones behind the push for gun control? Here is a list of just a few people on the transgendered front lines.

And I’m going to be a bit deceptive in who they are in order to make a point.

Magnus Hirschfield was a Russian sexologist in Weimar Germany. HE is considered the pioneer of transgenderism and performed the first transgendered surgery. Remember Baphomet is Satan and Baphomet has a womans top and a male bottom.

Mara Kiesling is the founder of Trans student educational resources. She is Russian and a citizen of both Russia and the United States but lives here in America.

Dean Rivera founder of the law project a firm dedicated to trans rights. Russian and a citizen of both Russia and America.

Eliza Byard director of TLDEF which stands for transgender legal defense and education fund. Again Russian and a citizen of both Russia and the US. And there are too many to list.

But what about gun control.

1968 Gun control act: Bill created by a Russian man named Emmanuel Celler.

1988 Senate Bill S-15-23 put forth by Senator Howard Metzanbaum again a Russian.

Sept 1996 The Launtenberg confiscation ammendment. Launtengerg again a Russian.

1997 The Federal gang violence act of 97, put forth by Diane Feinstein again a Russian.

Jan 1999, Russian Senator Barbara Boxer Bill S-193 The handguns standard act.

Again 1999 Russian Senator Herb Kohl Bill s149 the child safety act.

Feb 1999 Senator Frank Wantenburg introduced bill s407 the stop gun trafficking act of 1999.

Also in 1999 Jew Chuck Schumer and Frank Wantenburg introduced bill s443 the no show accountability act of 1999.

!999 Frank Wantenburg again introduces s560 in March Feinstein introduces s549. That is only 25% of the gun control laws created by Russians in the senate. I wouldn’t have time to name them all.

Our constitution says that our right to bare arms shall not be abridged. It seems that people from other countries wants to take away your guns and groom and destroy your children.

The effect of this will be a generation of children who grew up in fear of getting shot up by guns in a public school who will surrender their guns without a fight. It is manipulation on a massive scale. Done by a people from a foreign country, who use AIPAC a special interest lobby to elect 95% of your so called representatives.

Now let me fix the errors in my previous statments. When I said that citizens of Russia had this much control over our schools and our congress. No doubt you were angry.

But what if I told you that none of those people were Russian. That the truth is that they were all Jewish people who had their citizenship in both Israel and the US. And that they were pushing gun control and the LGBTQ at the same time? The average Christian today cannot see it bc they have been so indoctrinated into thinking that they are Gods chosen. But would Gods chosen want to destroy your kids and your God given constitutional protections?

Let me share with you how evil works:

In the late 1980’s I went to school at Central Baptist College. And during that time everyone had a King James Bible. There was no other bible being used in any Baptist church in the BMA in the 1980’s. But the debate was going on. And on that campus people discussed with one another this question. Should we accept other translations?

Fast forward to the very same campus to 2018 where I had returned. And you could hardly even find a King James Version. The New King James version was the bible of the BMA and the King James was under attack. This is how the devil operates. He uses our institutions of higher learning to attack the truth. It isn’t learning any more at all. It is brainwashing. And while I agree that language has changed, I will also be the first to tell you that modern translations committees are paid and receive instructions on exactly what words they are allowed to suggest. If they continue to translate the bible properly, they will be fired.

But you see Ezekiel would have said that’s fine. I know the word. And I’ll teach it just as it is. I am NOT for sale.

Can you imagine growing up in a society where you are forced to go to a place for 8 hours a day and 5 days a week. Just to be indoctrinated into a workforce that robs you blind and turns you into a slave. All the while in fear that one of your classmates is going to snap and shoot you?

The children who are now growing up in fear will be the first ones to agree to give up their guns in 25 years. Hide and watch.

Satan attacks our children 24/7 and we do nothing. And why? Because a tyrannical government wants to take away your right to bare arms. And they are willing to force your children to live in fear in order to convince them to give up their guns. And they will. Too brainwashed to see that Talmudic sex change policies of a sold out government are behind the shootings in the first place. Being taught in school the lie that we are a democracy. No, we are a constitutional republic. At least we were before the Jews came to power.

We have got to love our children enough to home school them. We have got to love our children enough to go back to a home with a mother in it and a father working. Letting the government raise our children in these despicable public schools is exactly what Satan wants.

Ezekiel would have known that. He lived among the people.

I have no doubt that Ezekiel had to deal with the religious crowd in his day. Who do you think you are Ezekiel. You must think you are Moses. You sound like some kind of cult leader Ezekiel. Religious people hate anything real because it convicts them of their own phony materialistic religion.

If Ezekiel had lived in the modern world, they would have accused him of being the next Jim Jones or the next David Koresh. Because modern society has been so brainwashed by Hollywood to hate anything that is real.

Imagine being Martin Luther. Telling people that you are saved by Grace through faith and not by donating money to the Catholic church. Oh, you are crazy Mr. Luther. You are just some kind of cult leader. What you are teaching goes against every single religious leader of your day!!! You just think you are special Mr. Martin Luther.

No. Mr. Luther like Ezekiel would say. I have eaten the word of God and lived among the people. I simply want to share the truth with you. Nothing more.

Again, if I could imagine Ezekiel or Martin Luther preaching and teaching in a modern church. And on a day when the church has visitors. Both of them would see some of the members looking about during the message to gauge the reaction of the visitors. And I believe Ezekiel and Martin Luther would say. Why do you care? Are the opinions of men to be held in higher regard than thus saith the Lord. Shouldn’t we be more concerned about whether or not truth is being taught as opposed to how people receive it?

I think so…..

Of course, there was nothing special about Ezekiel or Martin Luther or any other man God decides to use. They are just men who have put serving God before all else. They are just sinners saved by grace just like everyone else. Anyone who wants to see the truth can see it by studying the word of God. Anyone who wants to serve God may do so. But it is rare that one does. So, they are special only in their obedience to God.

Ezekiel 22:30

30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

God sought a man of courage. God sought a man who wasn’t for sale. God sought a man who would tell the truth in the face of the storm. God sought a man who would stand in the gap between he and the people and could not find such a man. But any one of you could be such a man.

Ezekiel did in the morning as God commanded. And that is the duty of Gods man. Simply to do as we are commanded to do.

The reason we celebrate the great men of God of the past is simple. They stood in the gap and declared the truth against ALL odds. The measure of the greatness of any man isn’t how popular he is but rather how obedient he is to the voice of God.

Then third God told Ezekiel. I want you to be filled with the spirit of God. And so, Ezekiel finds himself a priest on the corner of Babylon. And on that corner, he hears the priests proclaiming that the judgement of God is coming. But the people did not hear him. As we read Ezekiel 2:6

Ezekiel 2:6

6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

Who did Ezekiel have to comfort him other than the spirit of God? Standing alone on that wall, standing in the gap, and warning the people of Gods judgement. And like today they will not listen.

Years ago. I watched a movie called, “There will be blood.” It was a movie about a greedy oilman. It was based on a true story of a Texas oilman. And as the story unfolds you see just what a rascal this guy is. Kidnapping an orphan child so that he can present himself as a family man. Murdering in cold blood a man who tried to scheme him by pretending to be his brother. But that was just part of the story. Of course, there had to be a preacher in this story. And the so-called preacher was a con man named Eli. And Eli wanted to use his hold on the religious community to force this con man into donating money to his church. In the end the murderous oil man outsmarts the false teacher and ultimately murders him. This is how Hollywood always paints ministers. As nothing but con men and charlatans. People who are for sale to the richest man in the community or the church. And unfortunately, there is a great deal of truth to that today.

But it has gotten so bad that any minister who cries aloud and spares not and lifts his voice like a trumpet. Is instantly labeled an actor. Or someone who has upped their game. And this Hollywood brainwashing is so ingrained in the people. That they wouldn’t know the real deal if they saw it.

Well, the real deal is a servant. The real deal may be worth double honor as the bible says. But the real deal doesn’t worship money. The real deal wants the poor to join the church and isn’t just out hunting wealthy members. The real deal has lived among the people. The real deal eats the word of God, and the real deal is filled with the spirit of God.

If you do not believe that God calls men for his purpose and that your pastor was called by God for that purpose. Then you are just practicing religion and nothing more.

I know what it is like to be the member of a religious church. I recall one church where every Sunday after church, the members would meet in the parking lot to bad mouth their pastor. The song leader was angry with him because the pastor wouldn’t let him pick his own songs. Other members were angry with him because he wouldn’t use the version of the bible that they preferred. And let me tell you. That church was deader than a door nail. That was one of the prettiest churches I’d ever seen on the inside. It was beautiful. And it was in a great location. More traffic passed that church daily than just about any church in the state of Arkansas. That church had a beautiful nursery and tons of Sunday school classes. All empty for years.

The people were not on the same page. The people were not in one accord as they were on the day of Pentecost. How could they possibly expect the spirit of God to fall on them and bless the work when all they did was fight amongst themselves.

Of course, the pastor shared his portion of the blame. There really is no need to be a tyrant over the song service. And the version of the bible he preferred was not a very good translation. But the biggest mistake the pastor made, in my opinion, was not allowing himself to be led by the Holy Spirit. And by that, I mean a pastor is responsible for what is taught in the church. He is responsible before God for warning people and declaring the truth. And this man was simply counting down the days until his retirement.

Maybe years of doing battle with people who knew the bible better than he did had taken its toll. I don’t know. But he appeared to me as a shell of man.

God said to him. I sought for a man to stand in the gap. And he responded. No thanks, I have no fight left in me. People think that being a pastor is as easy as just preparing a sermon for Sunday morning. No. It is a battle against powers and principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places.

Paul described it like this:

2 Timothy 4:7-8

7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

For Paul it was a fight to the death. For all of the apostles save John it was a fight to the death. And they willingly fought the battle to the day they were taken out of this world. For Isaiah it was a fight to the death. As the Edomites of his day fought against him until the people stuffed his body into a hollowed-out tree and sawed him in half.

Telling the truth in a world of lies is not something done to be worshipped or to gain popularity. It is the act of a divine calling and nothing more. Jesus said in John 15:18

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you

No doubt if I kept it simple, the world would love me. I mean if I got up here every Sunday morning and preached the same sermon every time about how much God loves you and what wonderful people you all are. And about how we should just abandon all judgement because after all the bible says judge not.

Never mind that it is telling us to judge righteously. No, we must see the bible the way the world wants us to see it, or we just won’t be very popular.

I’m not interested in being popular. I am interested in speaking the truth whether it is popular or not.

Ephesians 4:15

15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

So, let’s take care to teach the word of God in a loving way.

But Jesus said that the world would hate us. How many preachers today walk the line for a paycheck? How many preachers today are afraid to even warn people that unrepented sinners go to hell? So afraid that if they say such a thing they will be fired. As I have said. Hirelings and nothing more.

My vision for Westside Baptist is to do as God commands me every single morning. And that includes Sunday morning. What is your vision?

Do you want the truth to always be taught?

Would you like to stand in the gap and declare the truth? And yes, the truth of the bible is that Jesus saves. And yes, the Gospel message is the most important message in the word of God. But it is not the only message.

When the Tempe in Israel is finished that third Temple and the anti-Christ slaughters his first red heifer. I wonder how many Christians will worship the anti-Christ because they have been taught the lie that Jews are Hebrews and Gods chosen.

Surely warning Gods people is also an important part of the bible.

Listen. The sacrifice for sin has been made in the Lord Jesus Christ. We live in the New Covenant. There is no longer any need for a temple or a sacrifice. Any sacrifice made at this point could only be done for Satan. As Gods perfect sacrifice for our sins has already been finished.

Will I be hated for proclaiming don’t worship the anti-Christ? Sure. But I’m fine with it. Listen to Jude 1:

Jude 11-25

11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

God says don’t go in the way of Cain. And that Cain was twice dead and uprooted. Meaning Cain had no roots in God. Plucked up. Not because of the sin of anger. Anger isn’t a sin. We are commanded to be angry and sin not. Cain was a liar and a murderer because his father was a liar and a murderer. But people will follow him because the whole world has been deceived. And nobody wants to be the odd man out.

Revelation 12:9

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Then in John 8:44

John 8:44

44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

What about you this morning? Will you stand in the gap? Will you do in the morning as God commands? God is looking for someone to stand on the wall and warn the people. Will you answer the call today?

Pray: