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Posts Tagged "Gospel"

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

July 08, 2024
By Rev. Joshua Reinke

Text: Ezekiel 2:1-5
Goal: That the hearers repent of their ignorance.


Outline:
1.    In his grace, mercy, and love, God speaks to a rebellious people.
2.    God, in grace and mercy, changes people through His Word.

 

Sermon


Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today.  Today we hear about the call of Ezekiel. It is a sad call. God calls Ezekiel because the people of Israel have become Insolent. Do you know what that word means? It means to be rude, disrespectful. Are you that way with mom and dad sometimes? Yes, you are. Sometimes, we still are even in old age because of our sinful natures. The people of Israel were rude. They broke God’s commands. They did not respect or honor God. Do we still do that today? How does God act when we are insolent? How does God still speak to an insolent people today? Ponder those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.


By the time of the Prophet Ezekiel, the nation Israel had divided into two kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom and the Southern King­dom (Judah). Both kingdoms were brought to an end by a foreign power at different times. After the fall of the Northern Kingdom, the Southern Kingdom continued for another 136 years. But by Ezekiel’s time, the Babylonians from Mesopotamia dominated the Southern Kingdom and had taken many of its people into exile. One of the captives was Ezekiel himself, who lived among the exiles. Eventually, the Babylonians would end the Southern Kingdom.


Why were Israelites in exile in Babylonia, and why did the Northern and Southern Kingdoms come to an end? This happened because the large majority of people in both kingdoms were wicked. They engaging in false worship of idols and in many other ways going against the will of God. They were unfaithful to the covenant God had established with them through Moses; they rebelled against the Lord.


Our text from Ezekiel is about God and a rebellious people, specifically the Israelites, mainly those from the Southern Kingdom, but not entirely excluding descendants of those from the Northern Kingdom. We’ll focus on how God Deals with Rebellious People,
Amazingly, in His Grace, Mercy, and Love. 


This will lead us to consider God acting in the same way with rebels of all times and places.


    I.    In his grace, mercy, and love, God speaks the Law to a rebellious people.


God spoke to the rebellious Israelites (vv 3–4) in exile in Babylonia through the prophet Ezekiel. God called and prepared Ezekiel to be his prophet—his spokesman or messenger, who would receive messages from the Lord and deliver them to the people (vv 1–3). He warns Ezekiel from the very beginning that the people will not listen to him.


Ezekiel in his prophetic ministry spoke to the people God’s Law, showing them their transgressions. He explained to them that they were in exile because of their violations of God’s commandments. God was chastening them because of their many sins against Him, because they constantly broke His commandments. Because of the continuing wickedness of their countrymen back in the Southern King­dom, that kingdom would be terminated by the Babylonians. Their political authority, wealth, and prosperity would come to an end.


1a. Ezekiel in his prophetic ministry spoke God’s Gospel to the people.


That was not all that Ezekiel said. He reminded them of God’s promises that someday a Savior, the Messiah, would come. This deliverer would be an Israelite and would save his people from their sins. In fact, he would make atonement for the sins of the whole world. Even though the people do not want to hear it, even the rebellious Israelites would have to admit that a true prophet of the Lord had been among them (vv 4–5). 
God speaks to rebellious people of all times and places through his Word, Scripture. God caused Scripture to be written—both the Old and New Testament—through his inspiration of prophets and apostles. They wrote the very words God wanted to be recorded.


Through Scripture, God speaks to a rebellious people his Law. He spoke though Ezekiel to the people of his day and God continues to speak likewise to us today. All people by nature are rebels against the Lord, his enemies, including you and me. Every day, we evidence our original sinful nature with our evil thoughts, bad words, wrong actions, or lack of proper action. The Law shows our sin and that, left to ourselves, we would be damned forever in hell. We could never earn our salvation because God is holy and demands perfection. Through Scripture, God also speaks to all people the Gospel. He announces that his Son became a holy human being and lived a perfect life in the stead of everyone else. This God-man, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, also took on himself all our sins and those of the whole human race and made full payment for those transgressions with his suffering and with his death on a cross. His resurrection from the dead proves that he is truly the Savior of the world who has done all that is necessary for our salvation.


Scripture—Law and Gospel—is presented and proclaimed throughout the world today by the Christian Church, which is used by God as his instrument for the preaching and teaching of his Word and the administration of the Sacraments.


2.    God, in grace and mercy, changes people through His Word.


God changed many of the rebellious Israelites in exile in Babylonia through the Word proclaimed by Ezekiel and through his written Word as it existed at that time (36:22–36; 37:1–28). Through his Law, God caused rebellious Israel­ites to recognize their sins and to feel sorrow over them. Through his Gospel, God changed many Israelites internally. He brought them to faith in the one true God and in the Messiah that he would send, or God restored them to such faith.


Through faith, they had forgiveness for their rebelliousness, for all their violations of God’s will. They were transformed from God’s enemies into his dear children. They became true Israel, a purified remnant from the whole nation of Israel. These believers had fellowship with God and everlasting life. As new people, they in the power of the Lord, lived the life of faith. They were obedient to God’s commands and eager to serve the Lord. God ended their Babylonian exile and brought this purified remnant to Judah, where they settled and lived.


God changes rebellious people of all times and places through his Word. He changed you and me. Through his Law, God caused and causes us to recognize our sins, feel genuinely sorry for them, and sincerely confess them. Through his Gospel, God brought us to saving faith, and he preserves us in this faith through the same Gospel that we read and hear, and through the Lord’s Supper. We believe in the triune God and in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Through faith in Christ, we have forgiveness for all our transgressions, all the ways we go against God’s holy will. God has changed us from being enemies and rebels into those who love him. He is our dear Father, and we are his dear children. We have blessed fellowship with the Lord here on earth, and this will continue forever in heaven and the new creation. God strengthens us to live as his children, willingly obeying and serving him. Our life of faith is characterized by good works, done in gratitude and praise to God, to honor the Lord, and to help other people.


How blessed we are to be living for the Lord!


As God dealt with the Israelites in exile in Babylonia, so he has dealt with us. God spoke to us through his Word and changed us from a rebellious people into his loving children who will live with him forever. We have everlasting life through faith in Christ. Let us, then, keep on living for the Lord, in thanks and praise to him! 


The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

Tags: Ezekiel, Gospel, Law

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