Pursuit without Partition
The Pursuit • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Recap Pursuit series: leading into Pour Over Nights, pursuing the presence of God
Week 1: Pursuit of His Presence - Worship & Service
Week 2: Pursuit in Praise - Praise & Music
This week: Title: Pursuit without Partition
Ezekiel 8:7-12
Contextualize Ezekiel’s prophecies
Ezekiel prophesied this chapter around the beginning of the sixth century BC before Babylon took Judah into captivity for their own obstinance toward God…
By this point, Ezekiel and other prophets have heralded warning after warning to Judah that if the people didn’t turn their hearts back to God that judgement would come…
This judgement wasn’t just punishment from God it was done with a direct purpose, stated over and over again throughout the prophecies:
That they will know that I am the Lord…
So when Ezekiel sits down with the elders and leaders of Judah, God gives him another vision and this time it is of a hidden place the people thought God would not see…
The elders and leaders have come to hear from the prophet and what God opens up is not just another warning, but a shining light in the dark place…
God takes Ezekiel to the temple in Jerusalem, the capital of Judah and the spiritual epicenter of all worship to God.
When he gets there he gets near the entrance of the court, just outside the place where only the priests were allowed to be…
This was supposed to be a place dedicated to God and his meeting with the people…
But look what Ezekiel finds…
7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.
8 He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance.
9 And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.”
10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around.
11 Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising.
12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ”
There are some elements you need to understand to get the full impact of what Ezekiel is seeing…
First is that this was in a hidden chamber in the temple, the door was in a hidden place behind a wall… They thought they were so well hidden that God would not see them…
In the New Testament, the temple isn’t a building anymore, rather the meeting place of God, the temple today is found in our hearts…
16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
“I will dwell in them and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
With this striking parallel in mind, it makes me wonder if God were to send Ezekiel into the courts of our hearts, would there be a hidden door?
Would there be a chamber that we thing to ourselves God cannot see?
Would there be a place where we have even put up a wall in front of the entrance so no one might find it…
A partitioned place in our heart…
Somewhere we have partitioned off from others, from our own focus, from God…
What did he find in the hidden place?
Idol worship… The very thing God had warned them about over and over again…
Reliance and trust on the solutions of the world around them rather than putting their trust in God…
This was the place that should’ve been reserved for God!
This was a sacred space not intended for anything but meeting with God, but instead they filled it with their own preferences, their own solutions, and their own priorities..
That’s what these images represented… They weren’t just demonic influence, they were an attempt to control life’s circumstances…
These idols weren’t just there as decor, they were an attempt to bring control back to some effort of man…
It’s the same mistake they made in the garden by taking the fruit of the knowledge which wasn’t theirs to carry..
Idol worship was just another way to manipulate the outcome with religious effort…
We feel disconnected from this idea because we don’t have idols on our mantels, we don’t have an ashera pole in our yard and we don’t make sacrifices to the images of creatures…
But in some ways we are still guilty of the same issues… If idol worship was about controlling the outcome, then don’t we have a tendency to do the same?
We may not bow down to a statue, but when we use prayer as a last resort rather than an immediate response don’t we engage in the same misplacement of priority?
We may not carve images on our walls, but when we think if we would have prayed harder or with more words or just the right words or with the right fervor and emotion that somehow it might invoke a reaction from God… are we not replacing who He really is with an idol of religion?
That’s what they did in Baal worship… Remember in 1 Kings 18 on Mount Carmel? They shouted and jumped on the altar and cut themselves to work up a fervor until they would be in a trance like state from the pain and blood loss…
The intent was not fr a connection with God, not even a connection with the wrong God… No this idol worship was about controlling the outcome, invoking an answer or reaction…
The real issue here is that they were searching for some other way to get the outcome they wanted, while keeping the lifestyle they wanted, and doing what they wanted…
I would submit to you today that the influence of the culture that would have you forsake the authority of scripture, abandon God’s description of Himself, live however you want, be self reliant, and have no need for trust in the God of Heaven is not just cultural influence… IT IS IDOL WORSHIP!
Any attitude that puts self in the seat of God is idol worship…
That’s why the second half of verse 11 is so striking:
11 …each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising.
The fragrance of the cloud of incense was rising…
It was that fragrance that had been especially marked for worship to God…
It was these same tools that were separated and set apart for the worship of God…
When that fragrance was raised… When they smelled that scent, it was supposed to be a symbol of their prayers to God!
So what they were doing seemed spiritual… It even felt spiritual… It even smelled spiritual!
BUT IT WAS IDOL WORSHIP!
And remember where it’s happening, it’s in the inner chamber of the temple… it’s in the hidden places of your heart…
Call EC for help
It’s in the place God intends to meet with you.. but it’s walled off and locked up…
It’s behind a partition of your own making…
And if you’re honest about it you’ve come back to it so many times you think either God doesn’t care or he’s overlooking it, but God sees even the innermost parts of who you are!
Here’s what happens…
We build walls in our hearts to cover up our own insecurities, our own fears, our own pride, our own shame…
And we tell God, you can have all of me, but the moment He starts moving toward the wall where your stuff is hidden, you pull away…
You think God doesn’t really need that part of your heart to meet with you…
You think you can just meet in other rooms and leave this one alone and that’s enough… But if He doesn’t have all of you, He doesn’t have any of you…
There’s no such thing as half way saved…
But you have these things that are painful to touch…
Show First Wall:
- Fear of Rejection
Result of an identity rooted in others, you need the approval of everyone around you and it eats you alive when someone doesn’t like you…
The moment someone turns you away, even for a good reason, your broken and hurting and feel worthless…
- Bitterness and Unforgiveness
You say you’ve forgiven, but really you’re avoiding and distancing and isolating in order to not have to face what’s happened…
Not only do you not want to see them, but you can’t talk about it without becoming emotional or angry, just the thought of what happened riles you up…
If it weren’t for your image and being a christian, you might just go find them…
- Shame / Secrets / Hidden Sin
You feel guilty any time you think about it, you fear that one day it might be exposed…
You reject any kind of accountability…
you run from vulnerability…
Flip Wall to “Good Side”:
- The wall you use to cover your fear of rejection is “People Pleasing”
“I’m being all things to all people”
“I’m just loving people well”
“I’m just trying to build bridges”
But instead of having your confidence in Christ, you build an identity based on perception management, constantly being concerned about what everyone around you thinks about you and your form of success is when people speak well of you…
But the bible says, they hated Jesus and they will hate you, but your identity isn’t found in their approval, it’s found in CHRIST!
- The wall you use to cover your bitterness and unforgiveness is barriers…
In fact, we call them boundries and often use the word healthy, but let’s call it what it is, you’ve put up a barrier that no one can get past, not even God…
You say things like…
I’ve forgiven, but I’ll never forget…
I’m protecting my peace…
I’ve given it to God, but I just don’t deal with them anymore…
It looks like healing, but it’s really avoidance, passive-aggressive distance, or isolation.
True healing doesn’t just create space, it restores what was broken!
- The wall you use to cover your shame or secrets or hidden sin is “Healthy Distance”
You keep everyone at arms length, never vulnerable, never accountable…
You say things like,
“God knows my heart”
“That’s just between me and the Lord”
You use the excuse that you’re working on it on your own, but you’re still bound in the secrets of your inner chamber behind the wall you built to protect yourself!
Show the Second Wall:
- Pride, control, and self reliance
This is the result of a lack of trust in God! It’s the same mistake they made in the garden, thinking they needed to handle the knowledge that wasn’t theirs to bear…
You say the right things, do the right things, but you find yourself lacking in prayer, because you have convinced yourself you don’t actually need God day by day…
- Fear of not being enough, insecurity
You look faithful, you look like you’re always on top of things…
You always show up. It’s your goal to work harder than everyone around you…
But it’s driven by the fear of failure or the fear of not being good enough… It’s not faithfulness, it’s obligation and obligation is just bondage under another name…
- Avoidance
You think you’re helping yourself heal by moving on, letting it go, putting it in a box and shelving it for later, but really…
it’s just avoidance of pain… Avoidance of sorrow…
It sounds like the right thing, but it’s isolating…
True healing includes God and others in the grief, allowing others to walk through your trauma with you…
Flip second wall to “Good Side”:
-The wall you use to cover the pride and control and self reliance is false sense of Confidence or Boldness…
You say things like…
“I’m just walking in authority”
“I’m not here to be liked, I’m here to tell the truth..”
“I don’t have time for people who can’t keep up.”
You use the guise of confidence, but it’s just pride in a mask… You don’t pray unless it’s with people.
You don’t like the words surrender, submit, or weakness.
But pride doesn’t know how to rely on God and is the root of the idol worship we talked about earlier… Real confidence comes from our identity in Christ, and our reliance on Him…
- The wall you use to cover the fear of not being enough and insecurity is a false sense of excellence…
You say things like…
“I’m pursuing excellence”
“I’m just being faithful”
“Why isn’t everyone this on fire?”
“Why can’t everyone be this dedicated?”
Faithfulness is good, but if it’s driven by fear of failure or an identity tied to performance, it’s not healing, it’s bondage and obligation and striving and legalism…
- The wall you use to cover avoidance is a false sense of strength…
You put on a strong face, and say things like…
“I’m declaring victory”
“I don’t need people, I have God!”
“I’m just focusing on me and Jesus right now”
These things sound spiritual and they sound strong, but most of the time they are covering up the pain and avoiding the place in your heart that you don’t want anyone to see or touch..
So you build these walls, these partitions in your heart, and dress them up with spiritual language…
You keep moving forward the way you are, nevermind the festering that’s happening behind that partition…
You cover it all up, hidden in the depths of your soul, hoping that no one ever finds out, and some of you have gone on this way for so long that you even think God will allow you to keep on going this way until you get to heaven…
But He’s either got all of you, or none of you…
And the minute you see Him moving toward that area of your life, you put up more barriers…
String out caution tape…
The only way you will ever be able to get real healing, real deliverance, real freedom from bondage and fear and shame and doubt it to let HIM IN TO DO HIS WORK!
He will renovate the inner chambers of your heart!
Have EC grab the hammer and keep asking if he can do it…
In fact, later in the book of Ezekiel, God gives this promise to those in exile:
24 “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.
25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
26 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
This is what he wants to come in and do! He wants to knock down the partitions you’ve built in your heart!
He wants to clean you out and make you new!
He wants to heal you to the uttermost!
In this pursuit of Him, He wants all of you!
But look…
He’s standing at the wall… waiting on you to allow Him to do it…
You’ve been trying to do it on your own..
You’ve been trying to clean up behind the wall before you take it down…
But God doesn’t intend for you to do it yourself!
He’s got the tools and the power to take the walls down!
All He needs is you to LET GO AND LET HIM DO HIS WORK!
ALL HE’S WAITING ON IS YOUR YES!
EC SMASH!
Break through the Fear of rejection!
Break through the bitterness and resentment!
Break through the Shame of secret sin
Break through Pride and control issues
Break through the fear of not being enough
Break through insecurity
Break through the avoidance of pain and trauma
AND LET HIM IN!
HE CAN HEAL YOU!
HE CAN DELIVER YOU!
HE WILL LOVE YOU!
HE WILL CARE FOR YOU!
HE WILL BRING YOU VICTORY!
Call Worship Team
This is the pursuit of His presence! In our pursuit, we must pursue Him without partition!
Altar Call
