Purity, Obedience, and Unity

Introduction

It is no secret that all of us have made mistakes, nonetheless a pure heart is a requirement in effort to follow God. Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.” Considering that this is February and deemed as Black History Month it sparked a few thoughts as it pertains to movements. When we think about the civil rights movement the impurity within the hearts of legislators and powerful individuals caused acts of resistance such as sit-ins, marches, and protest. Nonetheless the acts of defiance were to shed light on the sins of injustice such as racism and hate.

I took some time and looked at many of the tenets of pledges that some of these young and older people took. I stumbled across the pledge card that many students who joined the fight for freedom would sign and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

They are as follows:

I HEREBY PLEDGE MYSELF--MY PERSON AND MY BODY--TO THE NONVIOLENT MOVEMENT. THEREFORE I WILL KEEP THE FOLLOWING TEN COMMANDMENTS:

MEDITATE daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.

REMEMBER always that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation-not victory.

WALK and TALK in the manner of love, for God is love.

PRAY daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free.

SACRIFICE personal wishes in order that all men might be free.

OBSERVE with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.

SEEK to perform regular service for others and for the world.

REFRAIN from the violence of fist, tongue, or heart.

STRIVE to be in good spiritual and bodily health.

FOLLOW the directions of the movement and of the captain on a demonstration

When I read these guidelines I see works like pray, sacrifice, seek, strive and follow. One of the biggest things that destroys movements is selfish behavior, disobedience and poor reactions.

An act of injustice should not promote the Christian to return a sinful act with a sinful act nonetheless righteousness and justice begin with obedience and sacrifice.

As we approach the tenth chapter of Ezekiel, the Glory of the Lord departs the temple nonetheless the power of God teaches a very valuable lesson. In effort for us to progress as a church and community purity has to be infused in our churches and then our churches need to be the prime example for a pure heart in the community! I need us to see the example of obedience in this text, whether it was the cherubim or the man clothed in linen, obedience was a part of the equation.

Purity and obedience lead to unity. Unity with God and unity with each other! There is no way we can be unified if we do not have a pure heart and a spirit of obedience that sustains us during the toughest of times.

Watch the Throne

One thing that we must be cognizant of is the fact that we have to keep our eyes fixed on God. Even when our surrounding are desolate God is where our focus needs to be.

Ezekiel 10:1-2 “And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne. Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, “Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in as I watched.”

If Ezekiel would have had tunnel vision on the land it would have caused him to miss what God was doing.

Our eyes have to be fixed on the Lord. Psalm 121:1 “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help?”

When I know where my help comes from my surroundings do not have such a daunting affect.

Nonetheless let us understand the consistency with the word of God. Jeremiah 17:12 “A glorious high throne from the beginning Is the place of our sanctuary.”

God Desires Purity

Purity is more than just removing the issue or refraining from participating in the sinful activity. Understand that stopping is a very pertinent step but it’s not the end, we literally have to be cleansed of the issue otherwise it will resurface.

Ezekiel 10:2 “Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, “Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in as I watched.”

We have to rid ourselves of the sin, and after we rid ourselves the area has to be disinfected. Putting a band-aid over the wound is not enough.

It’s similar to leaving raw meat on a counter, it’s not enough to just removed the raw meat from that spot and disposing of it properly, you have to remove it from that spot and you have to disinfect the area. The smell, the bacteria has to be cleaned up.

The temple had been infected by sacrifices not sanctioned by God.

Leviticus 1:9 “but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.”

Exodus 29:18 “And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.”

It’s similar to baptism, we can stop sinning but if we do not disinfect our lives with obedience the bacteria and remnants can infect our lives more than we truly realize.

These coals from the altar brought cleansing to the land.

The altar was the place in which sin was atoned for and it became a place in which the glory of God was disrespected because of the sacrifices made at that time were contrary to the will and way of the Lord.

One must understand that chapter 10 verse 2 is a very daunting moment in the prophecy of Ezekiel, this purging of sin was similar to the way Sodom and Gomorrah was treated. Genesis 19:24 “Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens.”

Understand God’s power, people can be as disobedient as they want to be, his providence and power are still shown. The cherubim are unified and obedient, the wheel and the wheel in the middle of the wheel are obedient.

Obedience

Understand that this is a daunting moment, when we read out this experience that Ezekiel has earlier in the book, his vision is accompanied with a rainbow in this instance, the rainbow is not here. Nonetheless the sign of grace and mercy is evident in the chapter prior as he marked the obedient. Understand that judgement is prominent and the only way to prepare for the judgement of God is to be obedient.

Understand that God will get the glory and every knee will bow in submission to the Lord. Even when we do not obey God has the ability to ensure that the right lesson is learned. If we won’t be revolutionaries against the oppressor God has a way of implementing revolution by destroying what we ruined to build it up the way He desires.

Understand if we aren’t obedient, and God’s glory is not shown by the church, God has the power to show up anywhere.

Ezekiel 10:4 “Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory.”

God can show up anywhere, and when we can’t get right, he’ll show us how to get right.

The court outside was full of the Lord’s brightness. God will get due praise and reverence one way or another.

Understand this example of pure obedience. “Take a handful of burning coals and scatter them over the city” - Say Less

Ezekiel 10:6 “Then it happened, when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” that he went in and stood beside the wheels.” - Say Less

Obedience was not in question! They knew the assignment and fulfilled the duties. If we can’t be obedient through faith, our journey will continue to be difficult.

Understand that even in the midst of terrible judgement, God’s wheels were still turning and His purpose being worked out. Even when the world thought they had gotten rid of Jesus, God had a wheel to work out. That word wheel means to roll away. Even after Jesus had been pronounced dead in a grave, God rolled away a stone that led to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What we may perceive as an issue shouldn’t be a discouragement, allow God to be the wheel in our live that rolls all of our problems away.

Obedience brings us closer to God - John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.””

God will always send an example for us to look to. The man clothed in linen, the cherubim were obedient.

We are thankful to God for his grace! This is a foreshadowing of another man that would come to this earth and purify the world, and mark those who are obedient. I’m thankful that Jesus died on the cross that I might through forgiveness have a chance at purity by accepting this invitation of obedience!

You want to understand the will of God for your life, be obedient Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Unity

Ezekiel 10:16-18 “When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them. When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when one was lifted up, the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them. Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.”

The work of the Lord is going to take some unity. Pay close attention to the movement of the cherubim. When the cherubim stood still the wheel stood still when one lifted up the other lifted itself up. But understand that obedience has to be a priority for the people of God!

You can’t have unity without obedience and you can’t have obedience without unity!

The goal is to walk with God as we walk together! Imagine if the world was obedient and unified on the tenets of love!

If we are going to be unified, we are going to have to sacrifice some things that bring us together even when we do not want to.

Ephesians 4:1-3 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Walk worthy!

Walk humbly

Walk gently

Walk with longsuffering

Walk, bearing one another’s burdens!

Walk with obedience - and that is what keeps us endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit!