Ezekiel 11:19-21 - “Israels New Heart & Spirit”

Series: 1/2

We will be spending two weeks in the Book of Ezekiel this year…

Ezekiel is the 26th Book in the Old Testament - Before the Book of Daniel and after the Book of Laminations…

Ezekiel was a priest and prophet…

Ezekiel was uprooted from his homeland and taken captive to Babylon at the age of 25… at the age of 30… the Lord appeared before him and revealed His glory…

If you were to look at Ezekiel Chapter 1 you would see that:

Ezekiel was in Babylon

The Glory of the Lord was revealed to Ezekiel

Ezekiel 1:28 (ESV)

Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

There are two questions that we always ask ourselves as we approach the Word of the living Lord:

1.) What is God teaching us through this passage?

2.) How do we apply that teaching to our lives today?

These two questions are crucial when you approach God Words because we believe the Words that were written in:

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

In other words, God’s Word is sufficient for every circumstance, situation, or event that occurs in our lives…

With this in mind… Lets open up our Bibles to the Book of Ezekiel. We will be spending our time looking at Ezekiel 11:19-21. Please follow along with me as I read the text…

Ezekiel 11:19–21 (ESV)

And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.”

Context:

Ezekiel was carried off from his homeland to Babylon at the age of 25…

When Ezekiel turned 30… the Lord revealed himself to Ezekiel and showed him the Glory of the Lord…

In Chapter 1:26-28, we are told that Ezekiel fell on his face before the Glory of the Lord…

In Chapter 2… The Lord tells Ezekiel that he is going to send him to the people of Israel… a nation that is filled with rebels… transgressors… sinners… and a people who are stubborn…

In chapters 3 we see that the Lord places Ezekiel amongst the Israelites to be a watchman - Whenever the Lord would speak to Ezekiel, Ezekiel was then charged to warn and relay the message that he was given…

In fact in Chapters 4 - 10 Ezekiel warns the people and tells them that Jerusalem will be destroyed… that there will be judgment against idolatry… That the day of the Wrath of the Lord will come… and that there will be judgment on wicked counselors…

All this to say… that up until Ezekiel 11:19-21 (the text we are looking at tonight) Ezekiel had delivered a message of God’s wrath and judgement because the Israelites were a rebellious and stubborn people… and yet… for the first time… in the text, we see God saying that even though the people are rebellious and stubborn, He is willing to grant them a new heart and spirit… that He is willing to remove hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh… so that the people could walk according to God’s statues and obey His voice…

So… what is God teaching us through this text?

POINT #1: Your heart DESIRES things that are DETESTABLE

The Word Detestable means

Ezekiel 11:21 (ESV)

But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.”

In other words, our hearts are hardwired to cheer for and chase after anything and everything that is in opposition to Christ…

Your heart is focused and fixated on what you want, what you desire, and how you are perceived… Your heart is an idol factory, creating and fixing its sights on the next new and shinny thing to worship…

Apart from God saving and changing your life, your heart is cold, callused, and without compassion…

I can remember throughout my middle school and high school years how my heart worshiped:

The relationship with my girlfriend

Acceptance and approval from my peers and friends

Athletic achievements

Finding approval and validation from parents

STORY #1:

But there is one moment that I am ashamed of that I wish I could erase from memory or go back and change…

I will never forget when I had just graduated college and I was working out at Planet Fitness… you see I was engaged and I was making sure that I looked pristine for my wedding… so I had the pre-workout flowing… the cut-off on, and the beats head phones rockin… When I saw a girl that I went to elementary, middle, and high school with.

I had not seen this girl for 4 years… she lived one street over from me and we used to even ride the bus together every morning on the way to school… she and I are catching up making small talk when she says… Hey Tanner… Do you remember what you used to say to me…

Now… I immediately go back to the glory of days of high school… You see during the last prom our school and class would hand out awards… the award that I won out of my class was best personality… I thought I was perceived as this nice, cool, church kid that everyone loved… so I am thinking this girl is going to sing my praises. I thought I had said something, nice, kind, or even something worthy to be put on a T-shirt…

But she looked at me and said… do you remember what you used to say to me… with a smile on my face, I said I don’t, but what did I say?

She said… you used to say that I needed plastic surgery… I used to tell this girl that I thought she needed plastic surgery…

So much for the good church going kid… so much for best personality… you see I had not seen this girl for 4 years and the first thing that comes to her mind when she saw me was that comment…

What I thought was a joke or funny that brought me validation was something that haunted and stayed with this girl… and the first thing she remembered about me was that…

Friends… I know we are looking at a passage in Ezekiel… written over a 1,000 years ago… but the message still applies to us today…

Your heart desires detestable things… your heart is hardwired to chase after and cheer on anything that you want… even at the expense of others…

Question:

How about you? Have you experienced a time in your life when you have done something that wish you could take back? That you regret? Can you recognize and pin-point times in your life when your heart has pursued, chased after, and desired something that was evil?

Jeremiah 17:9–10 (ESV)

The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick;

who can understand it?

“I the Lord search the heart

and test the mind,

to give every man according to his ways,

according to the fruit of his deeds.”

HEART = is being used as a noun that is referring to “the central point of a persons thoughts (mind), will, emotions, and knowledge of right and wrong (conscience)”

Question #2: Are the central thoughts of your mind, will, emotions, and conscience focused on everything that you want and desire? Or focused on Jesus Christ and what He wants and Desires?

POINT #2: You will RECEIVE your REWARD…

“…I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.”

Often we believe that the actions we do in the dark will not be made known in the light…

Or the things that we do in private will never be exposed to the public…

In other words, I like to live in a world where I do not have to think about or consider the consequences of my actions and choices…

I would much rather move on from mistake and not have to think about it… instead of having to work through and learn from my mistake… or correct a behavior

All this to say… What you repeat for a lifetime will reveal what you receive…

Let me say it again… “What you REPEAT for a lifetime will REVEAL what you RECEIVE”…

There are times I look at my life and think… why do I not know the Lord as well as I feel like I should? How come I look at other peoples lives and they seem like their relationship with God is deeper, sweeter, or more real than mine?

The answer is… what they repeat for a lifetime reveals what they receive…

There life consists of a life that repeats:

- Reading God’s Word Daily

- Having a prayer life Daily

- Looking to the needs of Others Daily

- Seeking out and having a Community of Other Believers Daily

-Dying to Sin Daily

-Worshiping the Lord Daily

We are under the impression that a lifelong relationship with God requires little from us… We read our Bibles for a week and then say… ah life happened… i got stuff going on… other things came up… and wonder why we do not have a deep, meaningful, intentional relationship with the Lord…

Here is why this is scary:

Matthew 7:21–23 (ESV)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

There will be many who receive their reward… which would be an eternity separated from God in Hell… because they thought they were a christian, but never actually knew, spent time with, or submitted their hearts to the Lord…

You will RECEIVE your REWARD… and that reward is either heaven or hell…

Question: If you were to stand before the Lord tonight… and he asked you… why should I let you into my heaven… what would your response be? Are you not sure what your response would be?

POINT #3: Your heart of STONE can only be replaced by a SAVIOR

There are just some things that you can not do on your own…

A patience can not perform an open heart surgery on himself… he needs a physician, a doctor to perform the procedure…

If someone is drowning… they need a lifeguard to save them… a life guard who is trained and capable…

A baby needs to be nurtured by a parent… A parent who knows what their child needs…

You need a savior to save you from your sin… and not just anyone… you Jesus Christ…

I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 5:17

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

In this new creation… you receive a new Heart as well…

Have you ever noticed that a Stone is:

rugged

Solid

Heavy

Unable to change form

Nothing is able to enter or pass through a Stone

Have you ever been around someone who is rugged on the edges or has a chip on their shoulder… have you ever met someone who is so set in their ways that they are not open to reason or guidance… Have you ever encountered someone where you feel the weight of their negativity, anger, rudeness, or selfishness… they are not easy to be around… they weigh you down instead of lift you up… Have you ever met someone who just wont let you in… who feels cold and lacks compassion for others…

Have your ever thought about how a beating heart is in complete contrast…

It moves

It has a pulse

It can feel and express emotion

It can sympathize with others

It carries compassion and can change

It has life

Have you ever been around someone who has a hope beyond themselves… who has joy even in the midst of a tragedy… who can sing in a crowd filled with people who are silent… Have you ever met someone who seeks after others needs… Have you ever met someone who gives love, grace, mercy, patience, and kindness to those who do not deserve it… Have you ever met someone who is light… easy to talk to… easy to reason with… who listens and is gentle… Have you ever met someone who was so thankful for what Jesus Christ has done for them… that all they can do is talk about how this Jesus saved them…

Question: Which one are you? Do you have a heart of “Stone”? Or do you have a heart of “flesh”? Which one would describe you? And if you are someone who says, that you no longer have a heart of stone… but are saved by Christ… If I were to peal back the layers of your life… would it be evident and clear that you truly follow Christ?

Ezekiel 11:19–21 (ESV)

And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.”

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Questions

(Feel free to do icebreaker and get to know the students before jumping into the questions)

1. What stood out to you from the passage and message tonight? Anything you learned, were reminded of, or felt conviction about?

2. We learned that our heart is hardwired to chase after things that are not from God. What does your heart desire most? What do you hold as most important in your life right now? Why?

3. What are some things you have allowed your heart to chase after that you wish you would not have?

4. Do you honestly take your relationship with Christ seriously? Do you prioritize prayer, God’s Word, community, speaking in love and truth, and serving in your life? Or do you find yourself always making excuses?

5. Read Matthew 7:21-23, what is your reaction to this passage? What is your initial response and why? What do you think this passage means?

Handouts

Your heart _______________ things that are _______________

2. You will _______________ your _______________

3. Your heart of _______________ can only be replaced by a _______________