Hearing But Not Heeding
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· 1 view9/11/2022 Evening Worship
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good evening and welcome back!
If you will, start turning in your Bibles to Ezekiel 33.
Tonight we are going to be looking at the subject of Hearing but not Heeding, focusing primarily on Ezekiel 33:30-33 and moving into chapter 34 just a bit.
And in fact, when I started studying for the message I was actually looking at chapter 34 exclusively but something just didn’t seem quite on target with the chapter.
I was missing something and the Lord impressed on me to back up just a tad and look at the verses just prior to chapter 34 and that would give the text context and it would make more sense.
And sure enough when I backed up and looked at the passage at the end of chapter 33, I began to gain some clarity regarding the direction that the Lord wanted me to take this message.
So, without further ado, let’s get right into the passage tonight.
Again, we are in Ezekiel 33, starting in verse 30.
If you are able I would invite you to stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Starting in verse 30, Ezekiel writes . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
“As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Background Context
Background Context
Now, the text I read from comes from a much deeper context and situation that is surrounding the Israelite people.
At the time of this text, the nation had been carried off into captivity by the Babylonians because of their sin and indifference to God for generations before.
And Ezekiel is warning them that unless that change their ways and return to serving God and God alone, they would continue in exile and continue to suffer.
In fact Ezekiel is telling them that things are only going to get worse the longer the continue to stray from God.
And in our minds, we think that just the fact that they had been carried off into captivity would be enough suffering to get them to realize that they needed to turn back to God, but that was not really how the captivity worked.
The Babylonians operated a lot like the Romans is that they understood that the best way to keep order over a captive nation was not so much by force—although they didn’t have a problem using force when the needed to—but was rather by assimilating the people into to their own culture.
Indoctrinating them to the point that the Israelites would begin to co-mingle their beliefs with the beliefs of the Babylonians.
And so long as the Israelites kept things calm and didn’t go against the grain too much, they let them practice their religion and move about freely.
It was only the ones who were different, who refused to go along with the crowd that caused trouble and were dealt with the harshest.
It was kind of like the squeaky wheel getting the grease, but in a bad way.
So, the Israelites were turning a blind eye to sin.
They were trying to fit in with the crowd and not cause a scene.
They wanted to be seen as normal and just like everybody else.
And Ezekiel is coming along telling them that they are NOT supposed to fit in.
That they are NOT supposed to be just normal.
That they are NOT just like everybody else.
And if they did not change their ways, God’s judgement was coming.
And the reason that this passage fits with us today is because we see the same thing happening in churches across this nation.
We see churches all across our land turning a blind eye to sin, just to keep things calm.
Abandoning their basic core beliefs just for the sake of not stirring the pot any.
Just wanting to fit in with the rest of the crowd.
And if we want to take it a step further than that, we have churches that want to be just like every other normal church.
They want to fit in with every other Baptist church, or Pentecostal church, or Nazarene church, or Methodist church.
And it does not work that way.
You cannot take a square peg and fit it into a round hole.
It doesn’t fit.
Every church should look different.
Now, we should all be able to come together in worship and fellowship, but the way we “do church” if you want to call it that, will look differently.
And the reason is, each church, like each person is designed to reach different people.
Our goal is not to be like others—Our goal is to be like Jesus.
And we have to first, understand what the Holy Spirit is telling us.
And secondly, do what the Holy Spirit is telling us.
And sometimes that is difficult—sometimes that is painful—sometimes we are resistant.
Because many times, it requires us to allow the Holy Spirit to change some things.
We Hear You But We Ain’t Doing It
We Hear You But We Ain’t Doing It
But many times we end up just like the Israelites that Ezekiel is addressing here.
So, again starting in verse 30, he writes . . .
“As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’
Now, this is actually a good thing!
Ezekiel’s message is reaching the people and they are interested in what he has to say.
He was a charismatic and energetic preacher that was the “talk of the town.”
The people were going to one another in conversation, “you gotta go hear old Ezekiel preach; he’s on fire.”
The greatest thing since sliced bread.
And as word began to catch on that Ezekiel was a pretty decent preacher . . .
So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.
And herein lies the problem.
The crowds will come in, the church may even gain people in attendance, that “growth” that we are all after.
However, that growth is just in number only.
There is no spiritual growth.
There is no maturing by those that are coming.
They are there more for entertainment and to ease their own minds, than they are to hear and apply God’s Word in their lives.
He says that with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.
James actually says it this way . . .
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
And it manifests this way in the church today.
We come to church, sing a few nice songs, just like everybody else does.
The preacher gets up and gives the Word of the Lord for the day.
Many times the preacher gives the same Word over and over in different ways through different passages.
There is a call to action for the people in the congregation—they are asked to do something.
First, give their hearts to Jesus.
Second, give their lives to Jesus.
Third, engage in the ministry of believers to others—acts of love and service to others.
Or, a vision is shared or a revelation of God’s plan may come.
And they are told of consequences for failing to heed to God’s will and God’s way.
Week after Week in Church after Church.
And people will take the message and think about it.
May even agree with it.
After church even tell the preacher, “that was a good message today.”
And they walk out the door and forget all about it.
Look in the mirror and consider things, but turn and walk away and the word leaves with them.
All because they fail to DO anything.
They fail to CHANGE anything.
Why is this so though?
Jesus tells us . . .
Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
And . . .
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
So, the Word of the Lord, the Spoken Message does not get applied because either:
They don’t understand because Satan has such a hold he snatches it away.
They have no root—no deep root in Christ—a surface level relationship only and when trouble comes they fall away.
They are so overwhelmed with the problems and troubles of the world the word gets choked out.
And a lot of the time it is because . . .
And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’
They have grown so used to the same Word being spoken by the same person, their eyes are closed and their hearing dulled to the message.
Ezekiel says . . .
Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.
I love The Message translation of this as well . . .
To them you’re merely entertainment—a country singer of sad love songs, playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes of it.
However . . .
And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Or . . .
“But when all this happens—and it is going to happen!—they’ll realize that a prophet was among them.”
Altar/Challenge
Altar/Challenge
And for Israel this meant many different things that Ezekiel gets into in chapter 33.
And for the sake of time, I am just going to summarize.
In the first 10 verses of chapter 33, God tells them that because they had failed to heed the word as the leaders and shepherds of Israel (ie the shepherds and caretakers of the CHURCH for us), they would be removed as leaders.
In other words, their unwillingness to bend to God’s will for the sake of their own comfort and coziness (along with greed and selfishness) would result in them not having a say anymore.
Because there was no sound foundation established in following God—remember they were following religion and tradition, but not God, the flock was scattered about at that time.
And instead of doing what it would take to go and reclaim and find the flock, they circled the wagons and just took care of themselves.
So, God said no more.
They were out and God says He will do it himself, starting in verses 11.
He will restore them and He will raise up a new shepherd—a new David—Jesus Himself, who will lead the flock.
And He will also separate the true followers—the true sheep, from the goats—the ones who chose religion over relationship.
And what happens when God separates the sheep from the goats?
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
And the problem is, there are going to be many people who thought they were fine, sitting on the sidelines, playing church, doing their own thing, who will find themselves among the goats because they failed to do the work of the ministry.
They failed to inconvenience themselves for the sake of others.
We need to ask ourselves tonight, where do we fit into all of this?