(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

with your spirit. God, we love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right, well, we're there in Ezekiel chapter number 12, and we've been working our way through the book of Ezekiel on Wednesday nights, taking one chapter a week. And we find ourselves tonight in Ezekiel chapter 12. And just by way of introduction, let me show you a couple of things about this chapter. First of all, for those of you who take notes or if you like to write some things down in the margin of your Bible, this chapter is divided into five different sections. And the five different sections of chapter 12 are marked by the phrase, the word of the Lord also came unto me saying. If you notice verse one there, it says the word of the Lord came also unto me saying, and that's the beginning of section one. And then in verse eight it says, and in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me saying, that's the beginning of section number two. And verse 17 it says, moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying, that's the beginning of section three. Verse 21 says, and the word of the Lord came unto me saying, that's the beginning of section four. And verse 26 says, again the word of the Lord came to me saying, and that's the beginning of section five. You notice that there's five sections there that divide the chapter into the different parts that Ezekiel's talking about. And if you've been with us on Wednesday nights and you've been with us as we've been studying through the book of Ezekiel, you may have noticed that there's been a progression in the judgments and the prophecies. For example, a couple of weeks ago we saw that he was prophesying against the city of Jerusalem. And then we also saw that he was prophesying against the princes, and that's the political leaders of Jerusalem. In this chapter he's going to prophesy against the king, and in the next chapter he's going to prophesy against the prophets. So he's going kind of through the order there and hitting the people, and then hitting the political leaders, hitting the king himself, and then the false prophets. We'll talk about that next week. I want you to notice that this chapter is primarily about the judgment, and it's a prophecy against the king of Judah, which at this time, if you remember when we started the book of Ezekiel, we talked about the fact that the Babylonian captivity came in three different stages, or in three different waves. And the first stage came while Judah had the king by the name of Jehoiakim. If you remember, if you've read 1 Kings and all that, Jehoiakim was the king when Nebuchadnezzar came and took the first wave of captives to Babylon. After Jehoiakim, there was another man who was made king, and his name is Jehoiakim. So Jehoiakim was removed, and Jehoiakim was put in his place. But then Babylon came and took the second wave of captives from Israel, and they removed Jehoiakim, and they put Zedekiah as the king. Zedekiah will be the last king that Israel ever knew, that Judah ever knew, that the people of God ever knew. And Zedekiah is placed there by Babylon as sort of like a puppet king or whatever, and Zedekiah himself ends up not working out, and Nebuchadnezzar comes and destroys the city. So this prophecy is about Zedekiah, and I want you to notice there in verse number 10, we're going to work through the chapter, but just skip down to verse number 10. Notice what it says, Ezekiel chapter 12 and verse 10. The Bible says this, say thou unto them, thus saith the Lord, this burden concerneth, notice the wording here, it says, the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel that are among them. So it says that it concerns the prince, and it's singular. It's talking about what? Now, in the last chapter we talked about the princess, right? And we talked about all the political leaders, remember the 25, the 5 and 20 men. Here we're talking about one, you know, the prince, and you know, some people, they argue about this, and why does Ezekiel call him the prince when he's the king and all those things, and there's a couple of things for you to consider in regards to that. One of them, keep in place there in Ezekiel chapter 12, that's our text for tonight. Go to Ephesians chapter 6 in the New Testament just real quickly, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 6, very well-known verse, you know it, you probably have it memorized, but let's look at it together. One reason that Zedekiah might be calling him the prince as opposed to the king, it may be because of the fact that Zedekiah is the third king in this, you know, since Babylon basically took over, and maybe Ezekiel doesn't really, you know, acknowledge him as the proper king or the rightful king. He's just one of the leaders that was put in charge after the true king Jehoiakim was removed, and keep in mind that Jehoiakim was removed, and then he was replaced with Jehoiakim, Jehoiakim was removed, and then he was replaced with Zedekiah. The other reason he might be using the term prince, you know, when we think of prince, we think of like, you know, the son of a king or something like that, you know, like the kings of England or whatever, but in the Bible, the word prince, princes, principalities, it's all referring to a ruler, and let me just show that to you. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12, we have the famous verse about spiritual warfare. It says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against, I want you to notice this word, principalities, all right? It's the same word that, you know, we get our prince, the princes or the prince, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. You know, when we're talking about principalities, what are we talking about? Against powers, so these are people that are powerful people, notice what it says, against the rulers. So these are people that are in charge, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual awakeness in high places. I want you to notice that the term prince could be talking about just the fact that he's the ruler or the one that is in charge, but this prophecy has to do not with the princes, the five and twenty men that we talked about last week in chapter 11, but with the prince, the king, specifically Zedekiah, and we're going to see that here in a minute. Even though it doesn't use the name of Zedekiah, I'll prove to you that it's talking about Zedekiah. Now, go back to Ezekiel chapter 12, and I want you to notice that in this chapter, and it's going to be a little bit of a longer introduction because there's a lot going on in this chapter, and I want you to notice that in this chapter, we have two object lessons. If you remember, Ezekiel is big on the object lessons where he plays out a sermon. Instead of just preaching it, he'll play it out. If you remember, he set up the whole little city, and he set up the little soldier men, and he played out the siege that would come to Jerusalem. We've seen him do several things like that in this chapter, in this book, and in this chapter, he does two of those object lessons. Notice what it says. Look at verse 1. The word of the Lord came also, the word of the Lord, excuse me, also came unto me, saying, and this is, of course, section 1. Said a man, Thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see and see not, and have ears to hear and hear not, for they are a rebellious house. We're going to come back to that verse later on in the sermon, but look at verse 3 for now. Therefore, thou son of man. Now, God is telling Elijah to play out this object lesson. He says, prepare these stuff for removing. He said, I want you to gather together your things, that's the stuff. He says, for removing. That term removing, they're talking about for moving. He said, I want you to gather your things as if you're going to be moving, as if you're going to be leaving, as if you're going to be going away. Notice what he says, and remove by day in their sight. He said, I want you to do this in the daytime so that people will see you do it, and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight. Now, remember that Ezekiel is in Chaldea. He's in Babylon. He's under captivity, but he's just playing this part or portraying this game, and he's moving from one house to another house, from one place to another place. He says, remove from thy place to another in their sight. He says, make sure they see you when you do this. It may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house. Remember that he's already done a lot of these object lessons, so whenever Ezekiel got to the point where whenever you saw Ezekiel starting to do something, everybody kind of paid attention. What's he up to now? What's he doing now? He starts getting all his stuff together, and he wants to make sure people notice him. I'm sure he's making a lot of noise or doing whatever he has to do, and he's getting all his stuff together as if he's moving somewhere or removing somewhere, and he's removing from thy place to another place. Look at verse 4. Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight. Make sure they see you when you do this, as stuff for removing or as stuff for moving like you're going somewhere. And thou shalt go forth, I want you to do it in the daytime, but then I also want you to do it at even, you know, during the nighttime, in their sight as they that go forth into captivity. So he tells them, not only do I want you to gather your stuff as though you're moving, he said, I don't want it to look like you're just moving. I want it to look like you're going into captivity. Notice the last part of verse 4, as they that go forth into captivity. Look like, he said, Ezekiel, remember when you got taken out of your land and how you had to kind of gather your stuff together real quickly and go out, you know, because you were being removed or you were being moved from Israel to Babylon? He said, I want you to play that again. Let them see you doing that again. Act as if you're being carried into captivity again. Look at verse 5. He says, dig through the wall. I want you to notice that, okay? That's important because we're going to come back to that. I want you to walk up to the wall and start digging through it like if you're trying to get out, like if you're trying to leave town without anybody seeing you, without anybody noticing you. He says, dig down through the wall, and he said, make sure they see you in their sight and carry out thereby. Look at verse 6. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders. Right? He says, you know, grab your scarf or your blanket or whatever, get all your stuff together, tie it in a knot, put it on a pole, like when I was running away from home, you know, if you remember that story, and, you know, carry it on your shoulder, right, and get out of town. Act like you're leaving, you know, dig through the wall. Verse 6. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders and carry it forth. In the twilight. Notice what he says. Thou shalt cover thy face. God says, I want you to cover your face. God said, I want you to put something over your face as you're doing this. Notice that thou see not the ground, for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel. He said, not only do I want you to gather your stuff together, in a hurry, like if you're going into captivity, not only do I want you to walk up to a wall and start digging down into it in a hurry like if you're trying to get out of town, get out of town. He said, then I want you to cover your face, that thou see not the ground. And he said, I'm doing all this, I'm doing all this to set a sign as a sign for the house of Israel. Look at verse 7. And I did so, this is Ezekiel speaking, as I was commanded, and brought forth my stuff by day as stuff for captivity, and in the evening I dig through the wall with mine hand and brought it forth in the twilight, and I bear it upon my shoulders in their sight. Now, in verse 8, so in verses 1 through 7 we get the object lesson, right? In verse 8 through 16 we get the explanation of the object lesson. Notice verse 8. And in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me saying, so we're starting a new section, section 2. Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou? He said, Have they asked you yet? What are you doing? Have you sparked their curiosity yet? Have they asked you, you know, what is this about Ezekiel? What are you trying to show us now? Look at verse 10. Say unto them, says when they ask you, what's this all about? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. This burden, now the burden there is talking about the prophecy, the message that God has given us. This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel that are among them. He said this has to do, he said this is a picture for the prince, and of course that's the king, King Zedekiah. Look at verse 11. Say, I am your sign, like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them. Now the them there is referring to the king and his posse, right? The king and the people that are with him. They shall remove and go into captivity, verse 12, and the prince, talking about Zedekiah, that is among them. He says, look, everything I did is what Zedekiah is going to do when Nebuchadnezzar takes over. That is among them, notice, shall bear his shoulder in the twilight and shall go forth, they shall dig through the wall to carry out their might. He's saying, look, when King Nebuchadnezzar comes and takes over the land, the prince over there in Jerusalem, the principality over there, the leader over there, he's going to run out scared in the middle of the night with a bag over his shoulder trying to dig through the wall, trying to get out of the Syria to carry out their might. Notice, he shall cover his face that he see not the ground with his eyes. Notice verse 13, my net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans. Notice what it says, yet shall he not see it. So God says that I'm going to take Zedekiah to Babylon, he's going to go there as a captive, but he's not going to see it, though he shall die there. He said, when I carry him out there, he will be there for the rest of his life. He will die in Babylon, but part of the prophecy from Ezekiel is that he shall not see it. Look at verse 14, and I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him, to help him. So all of his guards, all of his friends, everyone that's with them, they're going to be scattered about. And all his bands, and I will draw out the sword after them. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I shall scatter them among the nations and disperse them in the countries, but I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, from the pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whether they come, and they shall know that I am the Lord. Now, keep your place there in Ezekiel, and go through the book of 2 Kings, just real quickly. 2 Kings, chapter number 25. 2 Kings, chapter 25, because I want to show you how Ezekiel predicted exactly what would happen to kings at Ekkiah when Nebuchadnezzar would come to take over the land. Because remember, he's already made a prediction about the city of Jerusalem, he's already made a prediction about the princes of Jerusalem, now he's making a prediction about the prince, the principality, the king of Jerusalem. Next week, in the next chapter, we'll see the prediction he makes about the false prophets of Jerusalem. But notice 2 Kings 25 and verse 4. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night. 2 Kings 25, 4. So now we're not reading Ezekiel's prophecy, now we're reading a historical account of what happened when Nebuchadnezzar took over the city of Jerusalem. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gates between two walls, which is by the king's garden. Now the Chaldees were against the city round about, and the king, that's Zedekiah, went the way toward the plain. And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king. So don't you notice, the king and his men of war, they get out of the city by the king's garden. The Bible says between two walls, just like Ezekiel was told to go up to a wall and dig and try to get out. That's what Zedekiah did. But just like Ezekiel predicted that, God would set a snare or a net, and he would trap him. And everyone that was there with him would be dispersed. Verse 5 says, and the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army went and scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Rebla, and they gave judgment upon him, and they, notice verse 7, they slew the sons of Zedekiah. I want you to remember that, because we're going to come back to that later on in the sermon. They slew the sons of Zedekiah, notice what the Bible says, before his eyes. So they bring King Zedekiah, and they bring all of his sons, and they kill the sons of Zedekiah in front of, before, while Zedekiah witnesses and watches his sons be put to death, and then put out the eyes of Zedekiah, so that the last thing that he would have ever seen on this earth is his sons being killed, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon, where he would spend the rest of his life in a city where he would live as a captive that he would never see, because his eyes had been plucked out. This is the prediction of Ezekiel. Ezekiel predicted this play-by-play before it ever happened, and we have a historical account in 2 Kings that it came to pass exactly how it was foretold. Now there's a deeper meaning here that we're going to get into in a little bit, but before we go through that, keep your finger there in 2 Kings 25, go back to Ezekiel chapter 12, and let me show you the second object lesson, because there's two object lessons in this chapter, and the first one has to do with Zedekiah, the second one has to do with what happens after Zedekiah is removed. Zedekiah chapter 12 and verse 17 says this, Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying... So now we're in section 3. Son of man, notice what he says. Ezekiel is going to give another object lesson, right? He's acting out these lessons for people to see. So now God tells him, I want you to do this. Eat thy bread with quaking. So God tells Ezekiel, Ezekiel, when you go and eat lunch, when it's time for you to eat lunch, you know, you go out and find a bench somewhere, a park somewhere, somewhere where people can see you. You take out your peanut butter and jelly sandwich or whatever it is that you're eating, and he said, go ahead and eat your lunch, but I want you to do it with quaking. He said, I want you to do it shaking. He said, I want you to eat your lunch like this. That's what God's telling him to do. He said, I want you to bring up your sandwich or, you know, whatever you're eating. He said, I want you to do it with quaking, like you're shaking. Notice, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness. He said, well, what's the point of this? Well, look at verse 19. And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel, They shall eat their bread with carefulness and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein, and the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Now keep your finger there in Ezekiel. You've got your finger in 2 Kings 25. But go with me. Just flip one book over to the book of Daniel. Daniel, chapter number 5. And it's interesting because God is looking at these people right now, because remember, these people are arrogant people. Remember, they've got a false sense of security, and they have a false sense of superiority. They think they're better than everyone, and they think they're safe. Remember, in the last chapter they kept saying, you know, the city is the cauldron, and we be the flesh. As long as we're in the city, we're safe. And God's dealing with these proud, arrogant people, and they're sitting there thinking that, you know, God can't touch us, no one can touch us, no one can hurt us. And God is telling them, by the time I'm done with you, you're not going to be able to eat lunch without shaking. He said, you guys are all going to suffer of PTSD. I mean, you guys are all going to suffer. By the time you see what I have in store for you, the violence, you won't even be able to eat without quaking and trembling. And it's interesting to me because, you know, today, you know, as a pastor, you know, one of my jobs is to watch people. I'm actually commanded to be vigilant. And you can often watch people. You just have to pay attention long enough, and you begin to see pride to weld up in them. And they get kind of this, you know, this smug attitude where it's just kind of like, don't talk to me. I'm better than you are. Leave me alone. You see it a lot with young people, you know, when they're forced to come to church. It's kind of just this attitude. You know, like, you know, I don't need this. I mean, if I had a nickel for every time I heard somebody say, as soon as I'm 18 years old, as soon as I have a car, as soon as I have a job, as soon as I can do. You know, and in Daniel, we have a young man like that. His name is Belshazzar. I want you to notice Daniel because it reminds me of what Ezekiel is talking about. Now, Belshazzar was not of the children of Israel. He was actually a king of Babylon. But Belshazzar would be like a second-generation Christian because Belshazzar was the son or grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, and this is after Nebuchadnezzar has been converted. Nebuchadnezzar ended up getting saved and Belshazzar would have grown up knowing all the things that happened to Nebuchadnezzar and his conversion because, you remember, when Nebuchadnezzar got saved, he got saved after seven years of spending the judgment of God out in the field acting like an animal. Do you remember that? Because his heart was lifted up, God abased him, and he made him like an animal, and he sent them out in the field for seven years. So Belshazzar would have known all this. Belshazzar would have been familiar with all this. Now, I want you to notice what the Bible says in Daniel chapter 5 and verse 1. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousands. Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem. So he's taken all of the things that were taken out of Jerusalem, and now he's going to use these holy things to party with, to drink alcohol out of, that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem, and the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine and praised the God of gods and of silver and of brass and of iron and of wood and of stone. And here you've got a young man who should have known better, a young man who had seen God work in his own family's life, and now he's in charge and he's just kind of like, I'll do what I want. Bring those vessels that my grandfather brought from the temple, those holy vessels that are used for the service of God. We're going to drink out of them and we're going to party with them, and I'm so great and I'm so confident. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the placer of the wall of the king's place, and the king saw part of the hand that wrote. And by the way, what the hand writes, and we won't look at it, but what the hand writes is that judgment is coming on Belshazzar and on the nation of Babylon. I want you to notice the response of Belshazzar. Then the king's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that his, so that the, notice this, the joints of his loins were loose and his knees smoked one against another. Not real tough anymore, is he? I mean, he's sitting there and his knees are like. And all I'm telling you is that you can sit there and have your proud attitude and your arrogant attitude and you can sit there and say, I don't need this. I'm just here because my wife makes me cum or my husband makes me cum or my parents make me cum. And I'm just telling you that by the time God's done with you, you won't be able to eat without shaking in fear. And you can sit there and say, well, God can't touch me and I can't, and wait till I'm in charge. Okay, Belshazzar, we'll see that. And look, when you call me, I'll love you and I'll meet you at the emergency room. I'll meet you down at the, you know, police department or wherever it is. I'll love on you and I'll be here for you, but just remember, just remember Zedekiah, that you were warned, that Ezekiel had already predicted that there's coming a day when you'll need some counseling by the time God's done with you because there'll be so much violence and so much judgment from God that you won't be able to eat lunch without quaking. You won't be able to sit in a chair without your knees smoting together. And this is the judgment that God gives Ezekiel, and it's interesting because we see it in the life of Belshazzar. Go back to Ezekiel chapter 12. We see the object lesson of Zedekiah being captured, having his eyes removed. We see the object lesson of the people being astonished where they have to quake while they eat by the time God's done with them. But notice, there's also a proverb that God has to correct in the midst of this. Look at verse 21, Ezekiel chapter 12, verse 21. And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, now we're in section four, Son of man. It's interesting how God speaks here. He kind of shows a little bit of his humor. Obviously, God is all-knowing and all-powerful, omniscient, God knows everything. God doesn't need to ask any questions. When he asks a question, he knows the answer before the question comes out of his mouth. But he asks this question, he says, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel saying the days are prolonged and every vision faileth? See, this phrase was something that people had started to say. It was a common proverb that people said. It was a common thing. Because remember, you have Jeremiah living in Jerusalem who's saying Babylon's coming, judgment is coming, God's gonna destroy the city. You have Ezekiel out in Babylon among the captives saying Babylon is coming, judgment is coming, God is gonna destroy the nation. And then people's response to the preaching of these two men was, they would respond with this proverb and they would say, you know, the days are prolonged. Verse 22, and every vision faileth. They're saying, yeah, I know Jeremiah says that, but it never happens. And I know Ezekiel says that, but it never happens. And I know that, you know, but the days are prolonged. It's been like this forever. And look, all you have to learn from this, in fact, go over to 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3, if you start at the end of the New Testament, the book of Revelation, and you head back, you got the book of Jude, third, second, and first John, 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter number 3. Be very careful, young Zedekiah. Be very careful, young Belteshazzar, to confuse the mercy and patience of God, to confuse that and think that because nothing has happened yet, that nothing will ever happen. Because God is a merciful God who gives you chances. Did we not learn that with Jonah? The word of the Lord came a second time unto Jonah. Jonah, hey, praise God for the word of the Lord coming a second time. Many things in the Bible that I didn't get right the first time, and I needed it to come the second time, and sometimes the third time, and the fourth time. But be very careful about thinking, well, if God hasn't done it, the vision is prolonged, Pastor Jimenez keeps saying, but it keeps failing. Be careful with that. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 3 says this, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lust and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning. Now keep your place there, all right? I know we're looking at a lot of places this Bible study night, but keep your place in 2 Peter, go back to Ezekiel 12. So you have this proverb. The proverb is that the days are prolonged and every vision faileth. And the Bible says that even in the latter days, men will say, where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were. Nothing has changed. Everything's the same. They keep saying Jesus is coming back, but He never comes back. So God has to correct this. Look at verse 23. Tell them therefore, Ezekiel 12, 23, Thus saith the Lord God, I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel. But say unto them, the days are at hand and the effect of every vision. God says, I'm going to make it so that you never say that again. He said, my patience is ran out and the judgment is at hand, meaning it is imminent, it is coming. Verse 24, For there shall be no more any vain vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. And this is kind of leaning into the prophet section of it, and it's also leaning into Sunday morning's sermon, because on Sunday morning we're going to talk about preaching that makes a difference and the type of preaching that Jonah had, that God had Jonah preach that made a difference in Nineveh. But I want you to notice that the problem with these people is that those who were preaching to them, look at verse 24, they were getting, see, Ezekiel and Jeremiah's preaching was just too negative. It was negative. They were, you know, mean. And the same thing people say about us today. You know, people will leave this church and say, I just don't like going out, every time I go to Verity, I just feel, you know, I feel like I'm getting beat up. Every time I go, I just feel so guilty. It's like, well, if you feel guilty, quit doing bad things. It's called conviction. It's called the Holy Spirit of God, you know. But, you know, if you feel guilty, then stop doing whatever it is we're preaching. He keeps preaching about soul winning, and I don't go soul winning, so I feel guilty. Let me tell you how to fix that. Go soul winning! He keeps preaching about reading the Bible, and I don't read the Bible. He keeps preaching about prayer, and I don't pray. He keeps preaching about tithing, and I don't tithe. He keeps thinking about working hard, and I'm lazy. Hey, you know, you can get yourself on the right side of that, and that way you can be encouraged by the preacher. You say, you know, you're a negative preacher. No, you're a negative Christian. Preaching is positive for everybody who's doing it. The Word of God is positive for everybody who's following the commandments of God. But these people are saying, ah, Ezekiel, oh, Jeremiah, they're too negative. We want the positive preaching. We want the Joel Osteens and the Rick Warrens. But look, there is a problem with preachers in America today. Even the independent, fundamental, so-called fundamental Baptists that are supposed to stick to the old past and preach the King James Bible. You never hear them preach anything negative. It's all goodness and light. It's all positive. It's always good. There's nothing ever anything wrong with it. What's wrong with these people? For there shall be no more any vain vision. They were getting a bunch of vain visions, a bunch of, you know, visions that made them feel good. They were empty, nor flattering divinations. They were having their preachers stand up and saying, you're okay. You're fine. I know you're a drunkard and an adulterer and an idolaterer, but it's fine. Let me flatter you. And you say, well, what's wrong with that? Here's what's wrong with that. You may hate me. And that's okay. Look, if you hate me, that's fine. I'm going to love you. Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that are, you know, that's what the Bible says. So look, you may hate me, but look, as long as I can get you to get right with God, I've done my job. You say, I don't like pastor, but his preaching has helped me grow. Then mission accomplished. Then we'll just have to get along in heaven, I guess. You know, that's fine with me. People, they get this idea, they're like, oh, you know, you know, pastor preached this and that was for me or he preached that. And that was for, you know, for this situation. And first of all, let me say a couple things about that. Number one, you know, tonight, there's 138 people here tonight. You think I know what you were going through yesterday? Pastor's preaching that because of what I did yesterday. No, I didn't. Okay. I don't care. That's the Holy Spirit, number one. But number two, even if I did, you're like, oh, you're preaching at me. I was like, isn't that the point? Isn't that why we're here? Oh, yeah, you're preaching at me. Yeah, I thought that's what we were doing. Isn't that what church is? Yeah, I want to help you. And if I have to become your enemy to do it, that's fine too. Paul said, you know, that the more he preached to people, he said, the less I was loved, then that's fine. Look, I want you to love me and I love you and I want to have good relations with you, but I'd rather you be right with God. I'd rather you just get it right. And here they had these vain visions, these flattering divinations. Did you keep your place in 2 Peter? Go back to 2 Peter, look at chapter 2. You say, well, Pastor Mendez, why are all these preachers preaching these positive only sermons? Why are not even the independent so-called fundamental Baptists even taking a stand against perversions in our day today? Well, the Bible tells us exactly why. It's because of the love of money. I mean, the love of money is the root of all evil. Notice 2 Peter 2, look at verse 1. But there were false prophets also among the people. Don't miss this. Even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction, and many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. Let me tell you something. Because of the limp-wristed, positive only preachers today, the way of truth is evil spoken of. You can't preach the truth. You preach the truth today in what they call you, a hate preacher. But here's the thing. Look, if every preacher in America stood up and preached against the filthy sodomites, it wouldn't be controversial. Look, if every preacher in America preached that men should dress like men and women should dress like women, just like what the Bible says, men should have short hair, women should have long hair, men should wear men's garments, and women should not put on a pair of pants. If every preacher in America preached that, it wouldn't be controversial. You say, well, why is it evil spoken of? It's evil spoken of because of the false preachers. Notice verse 3. And through covetousness shall they with fain words make merchandise of you. Why do they do it? Why does Joel Osteen preach the way he does? Why does Rick Warren preach the way he does? Why do you do it? Because of covetousness. Because if I just preached positive only, if I brought in a rock band and just preached a 20-minute light sermon, this church would have more people in it. It would be the wrong people, though. It'd have more people in it, but it'd be a bunch of unsaved people, a bunch of worldly people. But they'd put more money in the offering plate, we'd make more money, and it would be great. They'd do it why? For covetousness. Shall they with fain words, not true words, fake words, make merchandise of you. For them, it's a business. T.D. Jakes is running a business. He's making merchandise. And by the way, that's also talking about we sell stuff in the bookstore to make merchandise of you. The Bible says to make not my father's house a house of merchandise. And all that's connected. It's all a love of money. It's all this negative against the negative preachers, and it's all positive, it's all nice, it's all great. But that's not what you need. That's why God ordained negative preaching. And again, I'm already preaching my Sunday morning sermon, so excuse me for that. Go back to Ezekiel 12. You're probably going to hear all that again on Sunday morning. So it's all right. There'll be more people here. That should hear it too. Ezekiel 12 24. Verse 25. For I am the Lord. I will speak the words that I shall speak shall come to pass. It shall no more be prolonged for your days, O rebellious house. Will I say the word and will perform it, saith the Lord? Verse 26. Again, the word of the Lord came up to me saying, so now we're in section five. Son of man, behold, the day of the house of Israel, say, the vision that he seeth is for many days to come. And he prophesied of the times that are far off. Therefore unto them, thus saith the Lord God, there shall none of my words be prolonged anymore. But the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God. And here's all the Bible is teaching us here, is that payday is some nay. And you will reap what you sow. And you can sit there and say, oh, it's coming another day. Or it will never come. But God says, don't fool yourself. By the time I'm done with you, you won't be able to stop shaking and stop trembling and stop being fearful. And you could have just feared God all along. Now go back to Jeremiah 38. Let me just show you a couple of things. In fact, I'm sorry, go back to Ezekiel 12, just real quickly. All of that has to do with the object lessons and the explanation of the object lessons and all that. We have to get through that so you can understand that. Let me give you the main point, the main focus of this chapter, what it is that God is trying to teach through all of this. Because in verse one, we basically add the introduction to the chapter. The word of the Lord also came unto me saying. And in verse two, we find the thesis. Do you remember when you had to write an essay and I gave the thesis statement? Here's what this chapter's about. In chapter two, in verse two, we have the thesis statement. I better not do that because someone's going to make me look like I'm a New World Order or something. Verse two. Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house. Notice what it says. Which have eyes to see and see not. They have ears to hear and hear not. For they are a rebellious house. All of this is a picture that God is trying to show. He's actually using Zedekiah as the picture of it. Go to Jeremiah 38, just real quickly. We're almost done. You're there in Ezekiel, just go backwards, past lamentations, into the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 38. We're almost done. We're going to look at a few passages in Jeremiah. And then one passage in John, and then we're going to finish up. Jeremiah 38. I want you to understand something about Zedekiah. Because remember, the main application is Zedekiah, right? The prince. I want you to notice something about Zedekiah. Zedekiah had seen the truth. Jeremiah 38. Now, there's several passages I could show you. For sake of time, I'm just going to show you one. Then we go to different places in Jeremiah to make this point. Jeremiah 38, verse 14. Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah. Because they eventually locked up Jeremiah. The prophet unto him in the third entry that is in the house of the Lord. And the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing. Notice these words. Notice what he says. Jeremiah's in prison. Zedekiah the king comes to see Jeremiah. He says, I have one question for you. And then he says this. He says, hide nothing from me. Now, when you hide something from someone, what do you cause them to do? You cause them to not see it. Right? If I'm hiding something from you, I'm making it so you cannot see. So here Zedekiah comes to Jeremiah. And he says, I have a question I want you to answer. And it's interesting the wording that he uses. Because he says, I don't want you to hide anything from me. Hide nothing from me. I want to see it. Jeremiah clearly. Verse 15. Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, if I declare unto thee, will thou not surely put me to death? And if I give thee counsel, will thou not hearken unto me? So Zedekiah sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, as the Lord liveth that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death. Neither will I give thee into the hands of these men that seek thy life. Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, thus saith the Lord God, the God of hosts, the God of Israel. So remember, he said, I want to see it. Don't hide it from me. Make sure I see it clearly. And he asked him the question, he said, what's going to happen when Nebuchadnezzar shows up? This is what Jeremiah tells Zedekiah. If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live. He says, look, if you just surrender and say, you know what, this is God's will. God's will is that Babylon take over. God's will is that we go into captivity. And Jeremiah is telling him, if thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live. And this city, notice, this city shall not be burned with fire. And thou shalt live, don't miss this, please don't miss this, and thine house. Jeremiah told Zedekiah, when Zedekiah said, I have a question for you, I don't want you to hide anything from me, I want to see it clearly. What needs to happen? Jeremiah said, if you give yourself to, if you just surrender, not only will the city not be burned, you will live and all your sons and all your family and thine house. So how does Zedekiah respond to this truth? But if that will not go forth, let me give you the other part of it, to the king of Babylon's princes, then the city, then shall the city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. Now I want you to notice, he doesn't say anything about the family here, he doesn't say, but your family will be fine. So how does Zedekiah respond? Verse 19. And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, what almost everybody says when they don't want to do something that God tells them to do, I am afraid, I am afraid of the Jews that are falling to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into the hands and they mock me. Here's what I want you to understand, go to Jeremiah 52. Zedekiah saw clearly, understood clearly, comprehended clearly, and even his warning says, hide nothing from me, make sure I see it all. And when Jeremiah said, well here it is, here you go, he says no, I'm too afraid, I'm afraid to do what the preacher says, I'm afraid to do what the man of God says, I'm afraid to do what God has called me to do. So what happened? We've already seen it, but let's see it from the book of Jeremiah, 52 verse 8. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, this is when he's trying to run away, and overtook Zedekiah on the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him, and they took the king and carried him up into the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him, and the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Now if you would have just done what God told him to do, he could have saved his house, Jeremiah 38, 17, but because he was afraid, disobeyed God. Now his sons paid the price, and they slew also the princes of Judah and Riblah, and he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and the king of Babylon bound him in chains and carried him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death. Go back to Ezekiel chapter 12 verse 2. Ezekiel chapter 12 verse 2, Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, Zedekiah, which can see clearly, Zedekiah, which say, Let me see it, and hide not anything from me, Zedekiah, and see not. They can see, but they refuse to see. They can see, but they choose to ignore it. They can see, but they say, No, I've got my reason why I am afraid. They have ears to hear and hear not, but they are rebellious house. So how does God respond to this? Here's what God responds to. This is the whole point of this chapter. When you can see and you choose not to, eventually God removes your ability to see, and he plucked out the eyes of Zedekiah. It's a physical illustration, but God is teaching. Go to John chapter 12. We'll be done right here. God is teaching that when someone has the ability to perceive, to see something clearly, to understand something, and then they choose not to see. They have eyes to see, but they see not. They say, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to go there. I'm not going to do what God has asked me to do. God says, You do that long enough, Zedekiah, because Zedekiah had a chance after chance after chance with Jeremiah. God says, I'll eventually take away your ability to see, and he did it physically for Zedekiah. He physically removed his eyes so that he went to Babylon and lived the rest of his life in a city that he never saw. See, this whole chapter is actually teaching us of a doctrine in the Bible, which is not a popular doctrine today, and no preachers almost in this whole world want to preach it, but it's called the reprobate doctrine. Zedekiah, I'm not saying Zedekiah was a reprobate, but his story pictures that when you have the ability to see something clearly that God has showed you, you better move on it because God may eventually remove your ability to see what God has showed you clearly. Let's look at it one more time, another passage, John chapter 12, verse 37. John 12, 37 says this, But though he had done so many miracles, talking about Jesus, before them, they saw the miracles, yet they believed not on him. They clearly saw the miracles, and they chose not to believe. They see, but they choose to see not. They have ears to hear, but they choose to hear not. Verse 38, that the saying of Isaiah, now this is from Ezekiel, but Isaiah also said it, Jeremiah also said it, that the saying of Isaiah as a prophet might be fulfilled, would you speak, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the army of the Lord been revealed? Therefore, I want, just don't miss this please, 39, therefore they could not believe. Please get that. In verse 37, they chose not to believe. Verse 39, they could not believe. Because when God reveals himself to you, and you have eyes to see, and you choose like Zedekiah to see not, eventually God will remove your ability to see. And in verse 37, they saw the miracles, yet they believed not. Their choice, they chose not to believe. Verse 39, they could not believe. Because that Isaiah said again, don't miss it, he hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts. But Pastor Jimenez, doesn't Jesus want everyone to be saved? You must have read something that I didn't read, because it doesn't sound like John is saying that. Notice what he says, why did he blind their eyes? Why did he harden their hearts? Why did he not allow them to see with their eyes, nor understand what they hear? Because look, he says, and be converted, he's saying, I didn't allow them to see, I didn't allow them to hear, I didn't allow them to be converted, and I should heal them. He said, I'm not allowing these things. These things, said Isaiah, when he saw his glory and spake of them. You say, well, that's not fair. Look, it's not fair that God allows people a chance to get saved, and when they reject it, and when they reject it, and when they reject it. It's not fair that Zedekiah was told exactly play by play. Play by play, not only from Jeremiah, but from Ezekiel. This is what's going to happen. This is what's going to happen. This is how it's going to go down. You're going to run in the middle of the night, you're going to try to go through the wall, they're going to capture you, they're going to take your eyes out, they're going to kill your kids. It doesn't have to happen, it doesn't have to go that way. And you know, we as preachers stand up and tell people, don't go that way. Don't make that decision. Don't go down that road. Why don't you understand? Why don't you see? And the reason is because sometimes God removes your ability to see. When you see and you choose to see not, He may remove your eyes so that you cannot see. And we see that spiritually, but look, even Christians, even Christians, I'm not talking about losing your salvation, but even Christians, God reveals truth to you, He reveals truth to you, He reveals truth to you. And you say, not today, I'm afraid, not now. Look, eventually there might come a day where God, you just, you can't even see, you talk to Christians, you're like, I don't understand how you don't understand. And it's like God just says, you know what? When you're ready, like Jonah, to start back up, we'll start back up where we left off. Because sometimes God just doesn't move you on. So we see from the story of Zedekiah that he saw clearly, but then his ability to see was removed. And that should be a warning to all of us. Of course, for the unsaved, that eventually people do lose their opportunity to be saved. And I don't understand why this is such a controversial thing about the reprobate argument. Here's the thing, and as it is a point that a man wants to die and after this is a judgment, eventually, and if a unbeliever dies, he loses the opportunity to be saved anyway. You know, with a reprobate, it just happens before they die. But even with Christians, I'm not saying they lose their salvation, please understand that. But even with Christians, you can come to the place where the salt has lost his savor. And God says, I just, I give you truth, I give you truth, I give you truth. You keep denying it, you keep denying it, you keep denying it. And God says, we're just done. We're just done. Because when you refuse to see, God may take away your ability to see. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for Ezekiel chapter 12.