{"id":1535,"date":"2021-07-11T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-11T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=1535"},"modified":"2021-07-12T09:44:59","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T16:44:59","slug":"the-seventh-sunday-after-pentecost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2021\/07\/11\/the-seventh-sunday-after-pentecost\/","title":{"rendered":"The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Pentecost-7-07-11-21.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Ezekiel 2:1-5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God\u2019s Command Concerning<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God\u2019s Prophets<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said to me, \u201cSon of man, stand upon your feet and I will speak to you.\u201d&nbsp; As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.&nbsp; He said:&nbsp; \u201cSon of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day.&nbsp; The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn.&nbsp; Say to them, \u2018This is what the Sovereign LORD says.\u2019&nbsp; And whether they listen or fail to listen\u2014for they are a rebellious house\u2014they will know that a prophet has been among them.&nbsp; (NIV1984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I was growing up I had a front row seat to a continuing debate that was taking place between my father and another member of my family\u2014 let\u2019s call him Joe.&nbsp; Joe did not like our pastor.&nbsp; As far as Joe was concerned the pastor was too old, too dry, too rigid, too old-fashioned and too repetitive.&nbsp; Joe was convinced that if we got a new pastor\u2014 someone younger and more exciting\u2014 then our congregation would grow!&nbsp; Every time Joe started to lay into our pastor my Dad would respond with the very same question:&nbsp; Is he preaching God\u2019s Truth?&nbsp; Joe usually responded with something along the lines of, \u201cYeah, he is, but he\u2019s too\u2026.\u201d&nbsp; That\u2019s when my Dad would cut him off and say, \u201cAs long as he\u2019s preaching God\u2019s Truth everything else is secondary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I graduated from the Seminary I actually anticipated that the congregation I was assigned to serve would be filled with people like my Dad.&nbsp; I was wrong.&nbsp; My own personal experience has taught me and more than one elderly pastor has reminded me that it is not unusual to find people like Joe in the congregations we serve\u2014 people who are not fond of the pastor because he is too old or too young or too dry or too old-fashioned or too whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since that is an issue that has been debated in many congregations by many people for many centuries the Lord God made sure that He addressed that issue\u2014 directly\u2014 right here in His holy Word.&nbsp; Our text for today is just one example of this.&nbsp; In order to help us see how God not only handles but also settles the debates that may arise concerning pastors, today let\u2019s study this text under the theme:&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong><em>God\u2019s Command Concerning God\u2019s Prophets.<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp; There are two aspects of God\u2019s command concerning God\u2019s prophets revealed here in this text.&nbsp; First, God\u2019s command concerning God\u2019s prophets is that a prophet needs to be someone who&nbsp;<strong>listens to<\/strong>&nbsp;the Lord.&nbsp; Second, God\u2019s command concerning God\u2019s prophets is that a prophet needs to be someone who&nbsp;<strong>speaks for<\/strong>&nbsp;the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ezekiel was among the first group of people to be carried into exile in Babylon.&nbsp; The beloved City of Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed.&nbsp; Suddenly, five years after Ezekiel had been taken as a prisoner of war, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob granted Ezekiel a vision\u2014 an awesome vision in which Ezekiel saw awesome&nbsp;<em>\u201cliving creatures,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;a powerful vision in which Ezekiel heard the powerful voice of the Lord God Almighty, a vision in which the God of heaven not only called Ezekiel to be His prophet, but a vision in which God also revealed His command concerning His prophets.&nbsp; The first part of that command reveals that from God\u2019s perspective a prophet needs to be someone who&nbsp;<strong>listens to<\/strong>&nbsp;God!&nbsp; Look at how clearly this truth is emphasized in the opening verses of our text.&nbsp; We read,&nbsp;<em>\u201cHe said to me, \u2018Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.\u2019&nbsp; As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like Abraham and Jacob, Moses and Joshua, Isaiah and Jeremiah before him, Ezekiel was given the privilege of listening as the Lord spoke to him directly.&nbsp; Over and over again Scripture emphasizes that true prophets of God&nbsp;<strong>need<\/strong>&nbsp;to be men who listen to and learn from the Lord Himself.&nbsp; Then and only then are they qualified to serve as a prophet of the Lord.&nbsp; In fact, the Lord God made it very clear that if someone was not willing to&nbsp;<strong>listen to<\/strong>&nbsp;the Lord, that person could not be considered to be a true prophet\u2014 a prophet of the one and only true God.&nbsp; (See Jeremiah 23:22)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does this aspect of God\u2019s command concerning God\u2019s prophets still stand right down to this very day?&nbsp; It most certainly does, my friends!&nbsp; There have been any number of people down through the history of this world and there are any number of people in our own day and age who claim to be prophets of God.&nbsp; There are those who claim that God still speaks to them directly.&nbsp; There are those who claim that they still receive visions or dreams directly from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So how do we know, my friends?&nbsp; How do we know if someone who claims to be a prophet is in reality a prophet of the Lord?&nbsp; It all comes down to God\u2019s command that a prophet needs to be someone who&nbsp;<strong>listens to<\/strong>&nbsp;the Lord. &nbsp;&nbsp;This means that you need to compare.&nbsp; You need to compare what the prophet is saying to what God says on the pages of His holy Word and see if the two line up!&nbsp; Sadly, there are modern-day \u201cprophets\u201d who clearly contradict what God says here in His Word.&nbsp; That automatically disqualifies them from being a true prophet of God. &nbsp;&nbsp;The writer to the Hebrews emphasizes this very same truth from a New Testament perspective.&nbsp; In Hebrews 1:1, 2 we are told,&nbsp;<em>\u201cIn the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Where do we find the words that Jesus, the Son of God, has spoken to us?&nbsp; We find them right here in the holy Scriptures that God the Holy Spirit has given to us!&nbsp; (See John 14:26; 16:13)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What this means, my friends, is that no one\u2014 not even me\u2014 no one can claim to be a prophet of the Lord unless they&nbsp;<strong>listen to<\/strong>&nbsp;what the Lord says here in His Word.&nbsp; What this means is that I have no right to stand up here and proclaim my own personal opinions.&nbsp; I have no right to \u201cinterpret\u201d what I think the Bible says in order to make it more \u201clogical\u201d or more \u201cacceptable\u201d to you.&nbsp; I have no right to add to Scripture and\/or to subtract from Scripture.&nbsp; I have no right to twist and turn what the Bible says in order to make it fit in with whatever the latest public opinion polls may reveal.&nbsp; God Himself commands that a prophet needs to be someone who&nbsp;<strong>listens to<\/strong>&nbsp;Him as He speaks through His holy Word!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our text emphasizes this very same point from a slightly different perspective when it reveals to us that God\u2019s command concerning God\u2019s prophets is that a prophet not only needs to be someone who&nbsp;<strong>listens to<\/strong>&nbsp;Him, but God\u2019s command concerning God\u2019s prophets is that a prophet needs to be someone who&nbsp;<strong>speaks<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>for<\/strong>&nbsp;God.&nbsp; Look at verses 3 \u2013 5 of our text.&nbsp; We read,&nbsp;<em>\u201cHe said: \u2018Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day.&nbsp; The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn.&nbsp; Say to them, \u201cThis what the Sovereign L<\/em><em>ORD<\/em><em>&nbsp;says.\u201d&nbsp; And whether they listen or fail to listen\u2014 for they are a rebellious house\u2014 they will know that a prophet has been among them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember, my friends that Ezekiel\u2019s call was to preach God\u2019s Word to God\u2019s people \u2014 people who had been sent into exile because of their sin!&nbsp; Do you think that God\u2019s people were always happy to hear Ezekiel proclaim to them&nbsp;<strong>both<\/strong>&nbsp;God\u2019s Law&nbsp;<strong>and<\/strong>&nbsp;God\u2019s Gospel?&nbsp; Do you think Ezekiel \u201ctailored\u201d his message so that the people who had been carried off into exile could still \u201cfeel good\u201d about themselves?&nbsp; Absolutely not!&nbsp; God&nbsp;<strong>expected<\/strong>&nbsp;that as a prophet of the Lord the prophet Ezekiel would speak&nbsp;<strong>for<\/strong>&nbsp;the Lord.&nbsp; God&nbsp;<strong>expected<\/strong>&nbsp;that as a prophet of the Lord the prophet Ezekiel would&nbsp;<strong>always<\/strong>&nbsp;be able to say,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThis is what the Sovereign L<\/em><em>ORD<\/em><em>&nbsp;says.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; God\u2019s goal for God\u2019s people was that they listen to what the prophet Ezekiel was proclaiming to them.&nbsp; God\u2019s goal for God\u2019s prophet Ezekiel was that no matter whether the people listened or not, in the end\u2014&nbsp;<em>\u201cthey will know that a prophet has been among them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does this aspect of God\u2019s command concerning God\u2019s prophets still stand right down to this very day?&nbsp; It most certainly does!&nbsp; When I was at the Seminary we were told over and over again that when we stand in front of God\u2019s people we&nbsp;<strong>need<\/strong>&nbsp;to be able to say, \u201cThus saith the Lord!\u201d&nbsp; If we could not back up what we were saying with what God says here in His Word, then our professors very bluntly said to us, \u201cSit down because you have no right to be up there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is where I think some preachers today get lost.&nbsp; Instead of standing up for the Truth of Scripture, instead of speaking&nbsp;<strong>for<\/strong>&nbsp;the Lord they \u201ctailor\u201d their message to suit their audience.&nbsp; They \u201csoften\u201d the powerful message of God\u2019s holy Law so that people don\u2019t \u201cfeel bad\u201d about what they believe or what they are doing.&nbsp; They \u201cgeneralize\u201d the message of God\u2019s Gospel so that instead of pointing people to the cross on Calvary\u2019s hill (Pointing to the cross), instead of proclaiming that faith in Jesus as one\u2019s Savior from sin is the&nbsp;<strong>only<\/strong>&nbsp;way to eternal life in heaven, the preacher leaves the people thinking that as long as they live a \u201cgood\u201d life or as long as they try their \u201cbest\u201d or as long as they do this and this and this then God will let them into His heavenly Home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can tell you from personal experience that a preacher doesn\u2019t want anyone to leave church upset because of something we said.&nbsp; I can also tell you from Scripture that any preacher who takes his calling seriously needs to remember what God said to Ezekiel here in our text.&nbsp; No matter what kind of reaction the preacher receives he&nbsp;<strong>must<\/strong>&nbsp;stay focused on saying,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThis is what the Sovereign L<\/em><em>ORD<\/em><em>&nbsp;says.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Over and above everything else the only legacy any preacher should ever be concerned about is that long after he is gone God\u2019s people will be able to look back on his ministry and&nbsp;<em>\u201cknow that a prophet has been among them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Permit me to address one more question before I close.&nbsp; It is my favorite question\u2014&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; Why is it so very critical for a preacher to make sure that he is speaking&nbsp;<strong>for<\/strong>&nbsp;God?&nbsp; Why does God command that His prophets are always able to say,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThis is what the Sovereign L<\/em><em>ORD<\/em><em>&nbsp;says\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; Why does God insist that His prophets stay focused on speaking&nbsp;<strong>for<\/strong>&nbsp;the Lord so that whether people listen to them or not,&nbsp;<em>\u201cthey will know that a prophet has been among them\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; It all comes down to one word:&nbsp; accountability.&nbsp; God Himself will hold His prophets accountable for how faithfully they proclaim His Word.&nbsp; If I add anything to God\u2019s Word, the Sovereign Lord Himself will hold me accountable for that.&nbsp; If I subtract anything from God\u2019s Word, the Sovereign Lord Himself will hold me accountable for that.&nbsp; If I twist God\u2019s Word and try to force it to say something that it was never intended to say, the Sovereign Lord Himself will hold me accountable for that.&nbsp; (See Hebrews 13:17; James 3:1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the very same time, when you stand before the Judge of the living and the dead you will be judged according to what God says here in His Word.&nbsp; Any changes you might make, any changes I might make, any changes anyone might make are deemed irrelevant and inadmissible in God\u2019s heavenly courtroom. God\u2019s Truth&nbsp;<strong>as He gave it to us here in His Word<\/strong>&nbsp;is the standard according to which all people will be judged.&nbsp; (See John 12:48)&nbsp; That\u2019s why it\u2019s important for me to make sure that I am speaking&nbsp;<strong>for<\/strong>&nbsp;the Lord.&nbsp; That\u2019s why it\u2019s important for you to make sure that you are listening to someone who is faithfully proclaiming God\u2019s holy Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s too young, too old, too boring, too rigid, too old-fashioned, too repetitive, too whatever.\u201d&nbsp; \u201cIs he speaking God\u2019s Truth?\u201d&nbsp; Debates over individual pastors will probably continue for as long as this world is allowed to stand.&nbsp; While someone might say that everyone is entitled to their own opinion in this debate, God Himself puts an end to the debate when He tells us His command concerning His prophets.&nbsp; God\u2019s command concerning God\u2019s prophets is that a prophet needs to be someone who&nbsp;<strong>listens to<\/strong>&nbsp;God as He speaks to us here in His holy Word.&nbsp; God\u2019s command concerning God\u2019s prophets is that a prophet needs to be someone who&nbsp;<strong>speaks for<\/strong>&nbsp;the Lord by proclaiming His Word faithfully.&nbsp; May God grant that both you and I will always take to heart His command concerning His prophets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To God be the glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ezekiel 2:1-5 God\u2019s Command Concerning God\u2019s Prophets He said to me, \u201cSon of man, stand upon your feet and I will speak to you.\u201d&nbsp; As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.&nbsp; He said:&nbsp; \u201cSon of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-service-podcast"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1535"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1538,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions\/1538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}