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Amen. All right, well we're there in Ezekiel chapter number 44 and we've been making our way through the book of Ezekiel and I appreciate your faithfulness to the house of God and just kind of been taking one chapter a week and it's now the 44th week in the book of Ezekiel and we're almost done and if you remember what we've been doing is we've been looking at these theories because the last eight chapters of Ezekiel have to do with the Ezekiel's temple and it's very controversial section because a lot of people have a lot of different thoughts and over the last three weeks, this being the fourth week, we've been looking at the different theories for Ezekiel's temple and I'm gonna explain to you why I don't believe those those theories. You remember the first theory was that the temple is symbolic not to be taken literally and I explained to you that in chapter 41 why I don't believe that. Then we talked about the theory that this is Ezrel or Zerubbabel's temple that they built after the captivity, after the Babylonian captivity in chapter 42. I explained to you why I don't believe that and then we talked about last week whether or not this was the temple in the eternal state after the millennial reign and last time we were together in Ezekiel I explained to you why I don't believe that. So this week what I'm going to do is I'm going to answer the question is Ezekiel's temple the temple of the millennial reign and and the reason I saved this one for last is because this is probably the most popular theory of all of all especially among Baptists is that the temple we're reading about is the temple during the millennial reign. Now I told you I was gonna go through four weeks, four theories, dismantle them or explain to you why we don't believe those and then I was going to give you my theory but Brother Stuckey's preaching next week so I'll just let him deal with that. No I'm just kidding. After Brother Stuckey gets them preaching then I'll explain to you my theory so you have to wait on that but if you remember we've been going through I've been giving you a basic outline and then I've been giving you the theories then a practical application. I'd like to move quickly through the outline tonight because of the fact that there are actually several applications in this chapter that I like us to focus on so if you're taking notes you can write these down and we'll just start by giving you a quick outline of the chapter. The chapter is basically divided into into three major sections and if the the first one if you want to write maybe a number one or a letter a would be the East Gate and the Prince and in verses one and two we see that the that the East Gate is shut. If you remember from last week the glory of the Lord came back to the temple and it came in through the East Gate Ezekiel 44 verse 1 notice what the Bible says then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looked toward the east and it was shut then said the Lord unto me the gate shall be shut it shall not be open then no man shall enter in by it why is it shut because the Lord the God of Israel have entered in by it therefore it shall be shut. Then in verse 3 we learn about the privilege of the Prince and we've talked about this before in Ezekiel so I'm not going to spend time on it some people have different theories about this Prince and people think it's the Lord Jesus Christ some people think it's King David I think they're both going to be in an end times prophecy but here in verse 3 it says it is for the prince the prince he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord he shall enter in by the way of the porch of that gate and shall go out by the way of the same so we see this section about the East Gate and the Prince then we see the second section of this book so if you'd like to write a number 2 or a B and we see those who are admitted into the temple so in verse 4 we see the glory of the Lord again filling the temple it says then brought him the way of the North Gate before the house and I looked and behold the glory the Lord built the house of the Lord and I fell upon my face in verse 5 he's told to mark well you'll notice there it says mark well concerning all the ordinances he says again at the end of the verse mark well then in verses 6 through 9 he talks about those who are excluded from the temple I'm not going to read all the verses we just read it a few minutes ago but notice verse 6 he says thou shalt say to the rebellious even to the house of Israel and then notice verse 7 in that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers notice verse 8 and you have not kept the charge notice verse 9 thus ate the Lord God no stranger uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh shall enter into my sanctuary so he's explaining to them those that are excluded from the temple and then we have the third section of this chapter which is the laws and the priests so in in verses 10 through 14 we see the Levites who went astray notice verse 10 and the Levites that are gone away far from me when Israel went to stray which went to stray away from me after their idols they shall even bear their iniquity look at verse 13 and they shall not come near unto me to do the office of the priests unto me nor to come near to any of my holy things in the most holy place but they shall bear their shame so there are some priests who are not allowed to come in and do the work that they used to do before these are the Levitical priests and they are allowed to help if you notice verse 14 but I will make them keepers of the charge of the house for all the service thereof and for all that shall be done therein so notice these Levitical priests have been they've been demoted where they're not allowed to do what they've normally done there's another reason why but we don't you know we haven't seen that happen we never saw that happen in the Old Testament or anything like that notice verse 15 but the priest the Levites so there's only certain priests that are allowed to keep the charge and it's the sons of Zadok that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me they shall come near to me to minister unto me they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat in the blood saith the Lord God and they shall enter into my sanctuary and they shall come near to my table to minister unto me and they shall keep my charge so sons of Zadok they're allowed to keep the charge then in verses 17 through 19 we get clothing standards for the priests notice verse 17 it says and it shall come to pass that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court they shall be clothed with linen garments and no wool shall come upon them notice verse 18 and they shall have linen bonnets upon their heads and they shall have linen breeches upon their loins notice verse 19 and when they go forth into the outer court even into the outer court of the people they shall put off their garments wherein they minister so in verses 17 through 19 we've got the priest clothing standards in verse 20 we've got the priest hair standard it's like these guys are going into the military you know they're being told what to put on how to cut their hair notice verse 20 neither shall they shave their heads nor suffer their locks to grow long they shall only pull their heads then in verse 5 we're told about the priest and the wine verse 21 neither shall any priest drink wine when they enter into the inner court that's of course talking about alcohol and then in verse 20 we're told again we're told about the priest and his wife notice or who he is allowed to marry verse 22 neither shall they take of their wives a widow nor her that is put away but they shall take maidens of the seeds of the house of Israel or a widow that had a priest before so they were only allowed they weren't allowed to marry someone that had already been married and this doesn't apply to to New Testament Christianity obviously if someone's spouse dies and they're a widow they're allowed to marry somebody else obviously gods against divorce period but they these priests were not allowed to marry just any widow if they were going to marry a widow it had to be a widow that was already married to a priest and otherwise they were supposed to only marry a maiden which is the biblical word for a virgin a woman that had not been with a man then in verses 23 and 24 he talks about the work of the priest notice verse 23 and they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane and cause them to desert discern between the unclean and and in controversy they shall stand in judgment and they shall judge it according to my judgments and they shall keep my laws and my statutes and all my assemblies and they shall hollow my Sabbath sent in verses 25 to 27 he talks about the defilement of the priest he says in verse 25 and they shall come at no dead person there is an exception there for father for mother for son for daughter or brother or sister in verse 26 it says and after he is cleansed they shall reckon unto him seven days and last part of verse 27 it says he shall offer his sin offering say it the Lord God then in verses 28 to 31 we have the inheritance and the provision of the priest because if you remember the priest did not get an inheritance like the rest of the people they did not get land allocated to them so God explains this in chapter in verses 28 to 31 notice and it shall be unto them for an inheritance I am their inheritance and you shall give them no possession in Israel I am their possession verse 29 they shall eat the meat offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs and the first of the firstfruits of all things and every oblation of all of every sort of your oblation shall be the priest he shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house so he explains the fact that they were not to receive land that they were supposed to live off the tides to live off the sacrifices of the people so that's a real basic outline there that you get through the the book here or the chapter of Ezekiel 44 so let's jump into the theory because like I said I've got several applications that I'd like to make for you tonight but let's get into the theory so the theory is this is Ezekiel's temple is Ezekiel's temple the temple of the millennial reign now it's kind of this kind of not not not hard to debunk or not hard to understand the first thing you need to get is this we've seen it if you've been paying attention throughout all of the chapters of Ezekiel's temple I'll highlight it for you in this chapter but it's been in every single one chapter 40 excuse me not every single one but it's been in most of them chapters 40 through 43 and it is this that Ezekiel's temple has animal sacrifices so if you take the position that Ezekiel's temple is the temple of the millennial reign then you also have to take the position that during the millennial reign there will be animal sacrifices because in Ezekiel's temple there are animal sacrifices let's look at it look at Ezekiel 44 and verse number 7 Ezekiel 44 7 and in that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh to be in my sanctuary to polluted even my house notice what he says when you offer my bread the fat and the blood so notice they were offering these priests the the their Levites but they're of the line of Zadok they're offering bread and they're offering fat and they're offering blood notice verse 8 and ye shall and ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things but if that keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves notice verse 11 yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary having charge at the gates of the house and ministering to the house they shall notice what it says slay the burnt offerings and sacrifice for the people and they shall stand before them to minister unto them so it's very clear that they are killing animals they're slaying they're having burnt offerings they're having sacrifices look at verse 15 look at the last part of verse 15 they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood saith the Lord God look at verse 24 and in controversy they shall stand in judgment and they shall judge and according to my judgment and they shall keep my laws and my statutes and all my assemblies and they shall hollow my Sabbath so they're not only performing animal sacrifices but they're also keeping the Sabbath day whatever is happening here in Ezekiel's temple they're sacrificing animals they're keeping the Sabbath notice verse 27 and in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary he shall offer his sin offering saith the Lord God so notice they're offering a sin offering look at verse 29 they shall eat the meat offering and the sin offering and the trespassed offering and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be there so it's very clear in this chapter that they are sacrificing animals they are having their holy bread they are keeping the Sabbath day so if you believe if you take the position which many people do that Ezekiel's temple is the temple of the millennial reign then you have to take with that the fact that you believe that during the millennial reign of Christ this is after the tribulation after the rapture after the battle Armageddon we're living we're back in our glorified bodies the Lord Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning on this earth for a thousand years and we're reigning with him and then you have to believe that during that time there would be animal sacrifices now some people would ask well what's the big deal about that why couldn't there be animal sacrifices well go to the book of Hebrews with me Hebrews chapter number 7 Hebrews chapter number 7 and if you start at the end there in the book of Revelation and you head backwards you'll have the book of Jude 3rd 2nd 1st John 2nd 1st Peter and Hebrew James and Hebrews Hebrews chapter number Hebrews chapter number 7 to start and you say well what's the problem with having you know having animal sacrifices during the millennial reign here's the problem the problem with having animal sacrifices during the millennial reign is that the Bible in the New Testament under the New Covenant is extremely clear that the animal sacrifices have been done away with all right now there's many passages we could look at to prove that I'll just show you a couple real quickly Hebrews chapter 7 look at verse 12 notice what the Bible says for the priesthood being changed there is made of necessity a change also of the law so the Bible is clear that the law there has been a change in the law from the Old Testament to the New Testament from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant there has been a change now I want you to notice what it doesn't say it doesn't say that the law has been done away with it doesn't say that the law it doesn't exist anymore but the Bible does tell us that there's been a change in the law why has there been a change in law because there's a change in the priesthood the priesthood has changed and because the priests have changed there is of necessity a change also of the law now you're there in Hebrew 7 go to Hebrews chapter number 9 Hebrews chapter number 9 and look at verse number 9 Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 9 I preached a lot of sermons about this in the past I don't want to spend too much time on it but in Hebrews 9 9 the Bible says this which was a figure for the time then present now if you read the context and you can do that in your own time if you'd like he's referring to that Old Testament covenant the law he says that it was a figure it was a shadow and the idea there is that it was not the thing but it was the image of the thing you understand what I'm saying if you look at somebody's shadow if I if we were outside and the Sun was hitting me and you could see my shadow I don't know if can you see my shadow back here if you saw my shadow on the wall you know what that shadow is not me but it is a figure of me it it looks like me it's it's meant to resemble me but it's not me and this is what Paul I believe is writing the book of Hebrews and that's up for debate as well I think it's Paul but whoever's writing the book of Hebrews under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost is letting us know that that Old Testament law those sacrifices all those things that they did the mean offerings and the sin offerings and transfer those offerings those were a figure notice verse 9 for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience now let me just stop here for a minute and say this the same people that will tell you that the temple of the millennial reign has animal sacrifices in it they're called dispensational is they'll tell you that the animal sacrifices are making a comeback in the millennial reign they'll say yet right now during the church age there's no animal sacrifices but during the millennial reign there'll be sacrifices and dispensational is will teach that those are the same people that will tell you that back in the Old Testament people used to do sacrifices in order to obtain salvation that they were saved by works in the Old Testament that they had to keep the law that they had to do the sacrifices but notice verse 9 tells us that those sacrifices could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience look salvation has never been of works it's never been by keeping sacrifices it's never been by keeping religious acts those things that they did back then were symbolic they were a figure they were a shadow of better things to come notice verse 10 which stood talking about the sacrifices only so people say oh the the law has been done away with well here's the problem with that Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law and and the problem with that thinking is that Jesus didn't destroy the law if anything he upped the ante on the law he said you have heard that he had been said and then he made it better he made it stronger he made it a more strict law notice Hebrews 9 10 because he just told us there was a change in the law of necessity because of the priesthood being changed there was a change in the law you say okay well what changed well he's gonna tell us verse 10 which stood only these are the only things that changed in the law which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and cardinal ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation you say what changed from the Old Testament law to the New Testament law what changed that we don't longer have to follow or observe today meets drinks divers washings cardinal ordinances that was imposed on them until the time of Reformation you understand that that's all that changed so today you got the liberals are saying oh no you're not under the law you're under grace look they were under grace back in the Old Testament if they were saved no the Bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord so those are our no the law doesn't apply look did you know that in the New Testament it's still a sin to commit adultery it's still a sin to bear false witness it's still a sin to the moral laws still apply you say what changed from old to New Testament the ceremonial laws the things that had nothing to do with morality they were just figures they were symbolism of things to come you say what are they meat drinks divers washings cardinal ordinances everything that had to do with something being ceremonial they would kill an animal they would have a special washing they would put on special clothing they would do a special ritual he says those things were imposed on them until the time of Reformation you see that in verse 10 now you say well what's the time of Reformation is that when Martin Luther you know nailed his 99 thoughts about the Pope or whatever no that's man that's man's Reformation the Reformation that the Bible because what does it mean to reform something it means that you're gonna fix it means that you're gonna make it better so he says look the law had a problem that those sacrifices could not make anybody pure they couldn't save anybody so those meat offerings those symbolisms those figures those shadows they were imposed on them until the time of Reformation you say well what was when did the fort when did the law get reformed verse 11 but Christ being come when Jesus came he reformed the law he didn't get rid of the law he reformed it he got rid of a part of it what part the ceremonial part of it everything having to do with the Levitical priesthood it's done it's gone there's no more Levitical priests there's no more meat offerings there's no cardinal ordinances there's no Sabbath day all those things were done away when Jesus came and and and please understand this only those things were done away everything else still applies but Christ being common high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle because look Moses did most have a tabernacle yes did Solomon have a tabernacle yes did the rubable have a tabernacle yes but you know what Jesus he brought in a New Testament and it was a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building remember we learned about it last week that during the eternal state the tabernacle of God will come down but it'll be God himself it won't be a building notice verse 12 neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained that's what it says eternal redemption for us see all of those sacrifices I preached to the book of Leviticus I don't remember two years ago or something we took one week every Wednesday night took one chapter of Leviticus and we went through all those sacrifice remember we learned every single one of those sacrifices pictured Christ in some way those were all a figure of things to come because Jesus all that pictured was that when Jesus died in the tabernacle in heaven and the Holy of Holies in heaven in the mercy seat in heaven Jesus our high priest did not walk in he did not walk in with with blood of goats and calves he blotted he walked in with his own blood and and he purchased us and he gave us eternal I love that term eternal redemption you say why is it why is it called eternal because it's eternal security he said I'm secured through the blood of Christ say well your well yours well your salvation ever expire will the blood of Christ ever expire eternal redemption for us verse 13 for the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctified to the peering out of the foot of the flesh how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God and it's clear look we could go to a lot of passages about this but it's very clear it's very clear in the Bible that when Jesus came the sacrifices were done in fact the Bible tells us that Christ who is our Passover because here's what so the dispensational so say the sacrifices are making a comeback and in the millennial reign we're back to work salvation they've got to keep the sacrifices well that goes against what the book of Hebrews and what the entire New Testament teaches but then some people will say this and again I don't think these are bad people I don't think they're bad people I you know I think they're they're good people they're Baptist people they're saved they just don't understand Ezekiel and they're trying to make it work and then some people will say this they'll say well the ceremony they'll say the the temple Ezekiel's temple is gonna take place during the millennial reign and there will be sacrifices but they'll say all those sacrifices will only be ceremonial they won't be for salvation and they'll say and look this sounds good but don't you you got to think through these things when you're studying the Bible and your thing you got to think through this they'll say it they'll be ceremonial and they'll say it's just like our New Testament version of the Lord's Supper or our New Testament version of baptism and here's the thing our New Testament version of the Lord's Supper and our New Testament version of baptism those are called ordinances you know why they're called ordinances because an ordinance is something that was commanded to do that was not moral it was just symbolic that's why in the Old Testament if you study it out all of those laws that have to do with the meats with the sacrifices with the washing they're called ordinances and in the Bible tells us that Jesus nailed the ordinances on the tree why because he didn't get rid of the law he just got rid of the ceremonial aspect of the law well guess what baptism is an ordinance the Lord's Supper is an ordinance because it pictures it symbolizes baptism isn't salvation but it pictures salvation when somebody's standing there at the water and the water crosses their body and they go down into the water and they come up out of the water that is a picture of the death burial and resurrection Lord Jesus Christ back to the Lord's Supper is a picture of salvation when we break the bread we are symbolizing the broken body of our Savior it wasn't even the bread of life when we pour the juice when we pour the cup we symbolize the shedding of his blood those things are symbolic those things can't save you those things will never save you so they'll say well that's how the sacrifices they're they're not gonna be for salvation anymore they're just gonna be ceremonial okay here's the problem with that sacrifices have always been ceremonial they we just read it they've never been for salvation they've never been something you did to get saved they've always been symbolic they in fact the Lord's Supper is just the New Testament continuation of the Passover now think about this though why did there have to be a change in the Passover to make it because is our Lord's Supper just like the Passover in the Old Testament no why did there have to be a change because when Jesus came there was a reformation of the law so what changed think about it the Passover they had the blood pictured on the doorpost they had the unleavened bread and then they had the lamb what do we do in the Lord's Supper we have the cup that pictures the blood we've got the bread the unleavened bread and what's missing the lamb you say why because the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is our Passover see here's the problem with saying that the sacrifices are coming back is that that would be sacrilegious that would be idolatry to put a lamb for us to sacrifice the lamb because Jesus fulfilled that Jesus is our Passover so here's the point that I'm making there's no way there's no way that there are sacrifices that sacrifice are coming back in the millennial reign so what do I do with Ezekiel 40 through 48 if it's not the millennial reign if it's not the eternal state if it's not Jerusalem temple if it's not these things well you come back a couple weeks from now I'll give you my thoughts on that but the point is this it's not the millennial reign temple because the Bible is clear that the sacrifices are done the Sabbath days are done people say oh like yeah you I go to church on the Sabbath day well you you need to read the Bible because those days those things are done it's gotten there's no there's no keeping of those ceremonial ordinances all right so let me let me end tonight by just giving you some practical applications from this chapter there's a lot of practical applications in this chapter so let me let me give some of those to you quickly go back to Ezekiel 44 and let me see where to start I kind of I kind of changed my outline just real quickly I want to make sure that I do this in order so here's the first here here's the first application I'd like you to look at if you go to Ezekiel 44 and look at verse number where was it verse number 17 the first application is this and I want to deal with this because it doesn't come up in Scripture a lot so whenever it does come up in Scripture I always want to make sure that I touch on it Ezekiel 44 17 remember when I gave you that outline verses 17 through 19 it talked about the priests and their clothing when verse 17 the Bible says this and it shall come to pass that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court they shall be clothed with linen garments and no wool shall come upon them whilst they minister in the gates of the inner court and within notice verse 18 and they shall have linen bonnets now what they bonnet a bonnet is a hat so they're supposed to have hats upon their head and they shall have linen breeches you see that word breeches b-r-e-e-c-h-e-s that is just an older spelling of the modern word britches which means pants they shall have linen britches or breeches upon their loins and they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat so I want you I just want you to notice cuz look Ezekiel Ezekiel lived you know 600 700 years before Christ we're now 2,000 plus years after Christ you know well over 2,500 years maybe close to 3,000 years ago Ezekiel wrote about the fact that the men were wearing linen breeches they were wearing pants and and here's the point that I want to make throughout history men have worn pants today when you study the Bible or not say the Bible goodnight when you don't study the Bible and you study books written by individuals and they got pictures they always have Jesus in a dress they always have the Apostles in a dress they always have the the Bible characters they're always wearing this dress they'll say oh back in those days you know they didn't wear pants well not according to Ezekiel he says that the priests wore linen breeches oh well you know it wasn't invented back then look it's putting on a pair of pants that complicated I mean think about it if they if they could figure out shirts they could probably figure out pants and the Bible is very clear that they wore pants the priests wore pants I go to Deuteronomy 22 Deuteronomy 22 and and like I said this doesn't come up a lot so when it comes up I want I want to deal with it the Bible is very clear Old and New Testament I'll show it to you in the New Testament as well that God created male and female and he expects them to look different to be different now look when I started very Baptist Church nine years ago there was already a trend of Baptists who were no longer preaching this doctrine that men should wear pants and that women should not wear pants that they should wear skirts and dresses let's look at it Deuteronomy 22 look at verse 5 Deuteronomy 22 5 notice what the Bible says the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man according to this verse there is something that pertains to a man that a woman should not wear neither shall a man put on a woman's garment according to this verse there's a garment that belongs to women that men should not put on for all that do so our abomination unto the Lord thy God and I want you to notice that word abomination because it's funny to me how all these Baptists they want to preach about and as they should I shouldn't say all these Baptist because many of them aren't preaching it anymore but you know there was a day when Baptists were preaching against the sodomites the homos there's an abomination but you know what cross dressings and abominations of God too and God says look there is a certain type of clothing that men should wear that women should not there's a certain type of clothing that women should wear that men should not so now we already read in Ezekiel that the guys were wearing linen breeches and look throughout history women have worn dresses and skirts men have worn pants whenever you see a society where the men were wearing dresses you had a bunch of pedophile sodomite psychopath reprobates all right throughout a history men wore pants and look the Bible is clear the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man neither shall a man put on a woman's garment for all that do so abomination Lord our God and look a hundred years ago or eighty years ago or whenever it was you know people used to in society women wore skirts and dresses men wore pants and then we had this movement come in where women stopped wearing skirts only and they began to put on pants as well and look people say well you know it just says that there's a certain clothing for men and a certain clothing for women so pants you know there's certain types of pants that are for women that that men don't wear okay here's the problem with that the only thing that makes a woman's pair of pants different than a man's pair of pants you know and again this was ten years ago because even this is changing now too is that a woman's pair of pants was tied on her body that was it men wore pants that were baggy you know that weren't you know just hugging their body and and women did it so look is that modest is that is that what God God wants you to just be wearing clothing that just shows every aspect of your body ladies so look the Bible is clear and here's what happened women started wearing pants and at first it was this kind of I can't believe this but then it became normal and what are we seeing today men are wearing dresses men are wearing skirts and you know what over the last several years it was just kind of like and now it's just becoming normal and look if we're gonna fight against all the perversion and sodomites transgender and pedophiles and all those things it starts right here with men looking a certain way women looking a different way and God says men should wear pants and women and ladies should wear dresses but if that's not it also I want you to notice that he mentions their hair go back to Ezekiel Ezekiel 44 and look at verse number 20 Ezekiel 44 in verse 20 notice what he says neither shall they shave their heads nor suffer their locks to grow long he says he's telling the priests and you say what was he telling them he's telling I don't want you to be dressing in extremes I don't want you shaving your head necessarily but I don't want you growing your hair your locks long either he says they shall only pull their heads what what does that mean it just means to have a haircut that's short but it's not shaven and and it's it's short enough to where it's not long now does the Bible teach this in the New Testament let's let's look at it go to 1st Corinthians 14 1st Corinthians 14 and look at verse number 11 1st Corinthians 14 and verse number 11 I'm sorry not 1st Corinthians 14 good night for 1st Corinthians 11 verse 14 I'm dyslexic sorry 1st Corinthians 11 in verse 14 notice what he says does not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair it is a shame unto him look the Bible says it is a shame for a man to have long hair oh that's that's in the Old Testament I'm pretty sure first Corinthians is the New Testament but if any man knows what he says verse 15 but if a woman have long hair it is a glory to her for her hair is given her for a covering look here's what God said God said women put dresses on skirts on men put on a pair of pants men cut your hair short women have your hair long I want you guys to look different I made you the way I made you and I don't want you to blur the line between the sexes and that's exactly what's happened in our society today you've gotten got you know both male and female are wearing pants both male and female are wearing skinny pants both male and female have kind of long hair kind of short hair they're looking exactly the same this is what God does not want God wants and look I realize our society is crazy but at least within Christianity we should you know look like men and and ladies look like ladies and you know what if you've got ladies if you've got a pair of pants back home you know you need to study this out in the Bible I've given you some verses you know make this your conviction and then go home and throw those pants away it's an abomination is what the Bible says God is not pleased with it I'll keep your place there in 1st Corinthians because we're gonna come right back to it but go back to the book of Ezekiel let me give you another application book of Ezekiel and go to verse number not not 928 Ezekiel 28 I want to show you something it's just another application here in Ezekiel 44 and verse 28 the Bible says this and it shall be unto them for an inheritance I am their inheritance when we talk about the Levitical priests and he shall give them no possession in Israel I am their possession they shall eat the meat offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering now look what he's teaching us here is how the Old Testament priests got paid because these guys are working in a temple all day long they're like butchers they're they're they're they're killing these animals they're sacrificing them they're they're grilling them all right a family friend a advertisement right here you know be like the Old Testament priests grill a cow all right or something they're they're grilling these animals they're having these burnt sacrifice or working you say well how do they eat because they're not obviously why they're doing this they're not out working their field they don't even own a field because there was no possession given unto them God said I am their possession so how do they live verse 29 they shall eat the meat offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be there so when the people brought their offerings to the temple and they gave their sacrifice unto Lord yeah they would kill that animal they would take the blood they would sprinkle it they would do whatever they had to do but when it was all said and done when they're sitting there cooking that meat and they would eat that they would live off of the sacrifices notice verse 30 and the first of all the first fruit what's the first fruit that's a tie because this was an agricultural society they would go out and they would bring in the first the first fruit the first 10% that came off that wheat field or off that vineyard or whatever they would give that to the Lord well what would they do just put that in a storage somewhere till it went bad and they throw it away no the priest that's how they got paid and the first of all the first fruits of all things and every oblation of all every sword of your oblations shall be the priest you shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough that he may cause notice that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house you say how did they live here's how they lived people tithes and then they lived off that tithe and then God tells the people if you tithe I'll bless you all right this is found throughout the Old Testament go to Malachi Malachi chapter number three last last book in the Old Testament should be fairly easy to find Malachi chapter excuse me I'm saying all the wrong numbers tonight Malachi chapter 2 look at verse 14 no Malachi 3 what am I what is wrong with me good night where am I not verse 14 3 10 all right no that's what I want 3 10 good night yeah 3 10 it splits up in my page here that's why I'm missing Malachi 3 10 look what he says bring you all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now here with saith the Lord of hosts if I will not open you the windows of heaven no here's the blessing that he's talking about and Ezekiel remember Ezekiel he said the blessing to rest in thine house so here's the blessing he says if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it here's part of the blessing I will rebuke the devourer for your sake and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground neither shall your vine caster fruit before the time in the field saith the Lord of hosts and all nations shall call you blessed for ye shall be a delights of land saith Lord of hosts so notice in Malachi we're told that there's a blessing for the tithe in Ezekiel we're told that there's a blessing in the tithe he says that I will cause the blessing of the to rest in thine house and you say what's the purpose of type well one of the purpose of type is that there might be food in mine house that's what he said look at verse 10 again bring you all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house all right we ordered 20 large pizzas on Sunday night and had cake and ice cream and had time for a fellowship you say oh that was nice you say how did we pay for that what tithe people gave so that there might be meat in in the house of God that you know that's how we do all our activities around here that's how we you know you like all the food that we have you like the doughnuts you like all the free activities all the homeschool activities how's that paid it's paid through people giving their type go back to 1st Corinthians I'm not sure if you kept your place there 1st Corinthians chapter 9 and and here's why I'm bringing it up because people today they'll say well the tides done away with that was under the Old Testament now wait a minute we just read that the only things that were done away in the Old Testament were the cardinal ordinances right the meats the sacrifices those things you say well what about tithing well what tithing was they'll say oh that was done away with the Mosaic law here's the problem that you've got people tithing before the Mosaic law is given you've got Abraham and Jacob tithing to the Lord tithing to Melchizedek now here's what's interesting because we just read in Ezekiel how did the priest get paid in the Old Testament they got paid through tithing is the priesthood done yes it's done away with but notice that the Apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians 9 uses that priesthood that's been done away as an example of how New Testament spiritual leaders pastors evangelists deacons should get paid notice what he says in verse 9 and you know some of you people get weird about these things like pastor you're preaching about tithing and you get paid to the tithing is that weird look if I don't preach about it who's gonna preach about it if I don't teach this to you who's gonna teach it to you look at verse 9 for it is written in the law of Moses the law has been done away well apparently Paul didn't get the news flash because he's writing a New Testament book and he's about to quote the Old Testament law for his written law of Moses thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn he says look there's this principle in the Old Testament that if an ox is working you don't muzzle his mouth so that he can't here's what he's saying if someone's working you should feed them if someone's working you should take care of their physical needs now you say is he talking about oxes I don't have an ox well look at verse 9 does God take care for oxen he says look now that's not about ox I mean it's a good idea to not muzzle that your ox your physical ox what is working the field but he said God is teaching as a principle that if someone works they should get paid look at verse 10 or sayeth he it because he's not saying about the ox does God take care for oxen no verse 10 or say it all together for our sakes for our sakes so what does he say for our sakes he says for our sakes that you should not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn he says for our sakes no doubt this is written that he that notice what he says ploweth should plow in hope and he that thresheth in hope should be a partake of this if somebody's working there should be a hope there there should be something they're looking forward to that they're going to get paid for what for what they work look at verse 11 if we have sown unto you spiritual things if you and here's what he's saying and this is what I'm saying to you if you came to Verity Baptist Church and we've sown unto you spiritual things we've taught you the Bible it's helped you in your life your parenting is better your marriage is better your financial state is better you're you know because here's what we believe we believe that when you learn the Bible and you study the Bible and you apply the Bible your life gets better the Bible makes your life better the Bible says that Jesus came not that they might have life but that they might have life more abundantly now look if all you want is life you'll get you can get born again and have life but God says there's more to it than that I want you to live the abundant the victorious Christian life that's why you get plugged into church that's why you show up for Wednesday night Bible study that's why you show up for Sunday mornings Sunday night why so that's a man of God can study the Word of God can preach the Word of God and help you apply it to your life so your life gets better here's what Paul says notice notice verse 11 if we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things here's what he's saying if we've helped you spiritually is it that big of a deal that we're reaping carnally say pastor you're preaching about this because the offerings are low no the offerings aren't low everything's fine all right you say why are you preaching about this because it's in the con it's in the chapter all right and every once in a while it's good to be reminded about these things and here's what I've learned if I just deal with it on a regular basis then I don't have to preach that hey guys you know they're closing they're gonna close down the building if you guys don't start well you know we got rid of you know the the donuts are cut in fourths now and you know there there will not there will be only a quarter of a donut till the offerings go up look I'm glad that our church is generous I'm glad that we've had the finances to literally I mean this church literally supports a church in Manila it's supported a church in Vancouver it's supported a church in Boise it's right now supporting a church in Fresno I'm thankful for the generosity of the of God's people but you know one of reasons we've been able to do this because you've had a pastor that has taught you about what God expects and God expects you to tie notice verse 11 if we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great thing if we shall reap unto your carnal things verse 12 if others be partaker of this power over you are not we rather nevertheless we have not used this power but suffer all things as we should hinder the gospel of Christ do ye not know here's what I want you to notice verse 13 say well how should the pastor get paid how should the church staff get paid you know this church staff works they work hard there's a lot that gets like oh how should they get paid well notice verse 13 do ye not know that they which ministered about holy things talk about the Old Testament priests do you not know that they which ministered about holy things live of the things of the temple didn't we just read that how did the Old Testament priests live people gave to the temple and they lived off of what was given do you not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar those who are waiting or working at the altar sacrificing those animals they partake of that they eat of that they give it to their wife they give it to their children that's how they live notice what he says verse 14 don't miss these words even so what does that mean in the same way in this in what way the same way at the old is what he's saying the same way at the Old Testament priests got paid how did he get paid people tied to the temple they lived off of that the food was there for everybody they had you know big days and special days they had great celebrations but the the priests ate off that as well notice the 14 even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live up the gospel what does that mean he's saying the Old Testament priests have done but here's what he's saying the New Testament spiritual leadership of pastors and deacons and evangelists and those that work for the church and that work in the spiritual realm that even so have the Lord ordained that they would preach the gospel should live of the gospel and here's what that means that the pastor should get paid the same way that the priests got paid through the tithe so don't tell me the tithe has been done away with the tithe show me a verse of Bible where Jesus said the tides done it's gone because I can show you tons of verses where he says the Sabbath is gone the the the you know the the oblations and the special clothing and the washings those things are gone and here's the thing the Levitical priesthood is gone and those sacrifice are gone but Paul tells us even though that's gone the New Testament spiritual leadership gets paid they eat the same way so we learn this application from Ezekiel that you should tithe and and by the way pastors should tithe you know those I'm I'm positive because I check it but I you know people that work on our staff they tithe and and if they don't tithe then we have a talk with them you say oh they tithe even though they live off the tithe yeah you know they need to be faithful with their giving and things like that as as well okay I'm running out of time let me give you one last real quick application and then we'll be done and and I'm just giving this to you because it all goes together and it's this that in the Old Testament and then in the New Testament salvation has always been the same and not only we proved that from Hebrews earlier but let's just prove it real quickly from Ezekiel Ezekiel 44 verse 7 in that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers here's who they were not allowed to bring into the sanctuary uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh notice verse 9 thus saith the Lord no stranger uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh people say oh well in the Old Testament they got saved by keeping the law getting circumcised in the flesh in the New Testament it's a circumcision of the heart Romans 2 28 and 29 you have to turn I'll just read it for you the Bible says for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly meaning in his flesh neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart and in the spirit not in the letter whose praise not a man but of God so here's what this message also say they'll say the circumcision of the of the heart that's a spiritual thing in New Testament but we just read in Ezekiel that they were supposed to be uncircumcised in their heart and in their flesh and again the point is this salvation has always been salvation has always been a heart matter it's not been about the outward works it's not been about keeping the law those things are done away circumcisions done away with because that was a ceremonial thing that was done to symbolize the reproach of Egypt and the reproach of the world being taken off of them the Sabbath days those things are done away but salvation has always been by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ by calling upon the Lord in faith for salvation let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer how many father thank you Lord for your word I think for this chapter Lord and there's a lot there and there's even other things that we just just skipped and what I pray that you bless it and help us to learn it Lord and several things here that we don't hit a lot we don't talk a lot about tithing but but we when it comes up we should talk about it and we don't talk a lot about clothing standards but when it comes up we want to talk about it and thank you Lord that even in Ezekiel 44 there's just so many practical things that apply not only to them in Ezekiel's time but to us today we love you in the matchless name of Jesus Christ we pray amen