Jesus Brings Restoration
Lessons from Ezekiel 34 - 37
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if you're new here Among Us my name is Gene I serve here at C3 Church as your lead pastor and I think a status update is an order correct there are things going on so if you're new here we might go a little bit longer but that shouldn't be a problem because we're going to feed you afterwards we do that after every single service so for those of you who are here who is still without power who is still without power okay so keep your hands up if you don't have power if you do those are the people you need to make friends with and help out right so not a joke literally for all you Christians right we're calling ourselves that if we see people in need that's our job so if you saw those hands go up go to those people and invite them over or something like that right it's really simple so just if you're you are new if you're not new uh you know how we work but if you are new we're not like a program Church we're a real relational church so we do it that way we this is our program guide we don't need anything else right and so it's just about being loving people right and so making friends and then the needs get taken care of so that's how we do it if you're tuning in from somewhere else we stream this if you're here and wondering what I'm doing that thank you for your support if you need anything some people have been in contact with me contact with me like get in contact with me right so also your support there are a lot of people that know how we work and they're supporting us thank you thank you thank you it helps so these needs come by on the Fly talked about the backpack Ministry that a lot of churches do for school we did this for Years Around September comms or August comes here in the South and we fill the backpacks up with all the school supplies well we really weren't in relationship with the school so we just you know dropped them off here you go we got in relationship with the school district and they're like oh thank goodness this don't do that anymore they don't need books and pencils we get that stuff for free what do they need and it wasn't very glamorous we need feminine hygiene products I never would have thought of it that sucks right so things that you wouldn't think about so that's what we do and a lot of stuff is happening on the fly so through the year we know this could happen so we get the things we know we're going to need we get the water we're always stocked up on water so if you need water if you're out we have plenty upstairs a good drinking water bottled water cooking water we have it for you so we stock up on the obvious we notice roof tarps last time a lot of roofs went especially on like the the manual what are the other I'm not allowed to call it a trailer anymore but I noticed that on the news I was like what are they talking about but whatever I'm old school the roofs came off right so we tarp the roofs for them so we got these giant roof tarps but there are other things that sometimes we don't think about and I get asked for so the other day it was diapers I got asked for diapers and so we happen to have some of those here but not a lot so what can you do please don't just guess for the church and buy a bunch of stuff because we could use use that money for something else so every day my needs change and so we just need the funds to be able to go out and get it that's it right so what can you do find your neighbors who don't have the power and invite them over right so be hospitable invite them over help them out right keep supporting the church we need your help especially in this time so that's about it um one other thing it's interesting I just want to share this with you because when I first started out as a pastor my mentor who kind of brought me along trained me for about five years or so one of the things that I thought would be the most difficult about this job became the easiest thing and so I'd see him do these visitations and you're dealing with someone that's it you know sometimes it's a stage four cancer thing and it's it's really bad it would freak me out in the beginning really bad and then he would do funerals well Memorial services I even cry and I'm sitting there like how is he doing I'm bawling I'm behind the soundboard like hiding crying like how am I going to do this job and I almost quit and we'll just gave up I'm like I don't want to be trained for this but then God's like no you will and now I find those things easier so I want to share something Joy Joy first Thessalonians 4 the church in thessalonica they are being heavily persecuted right so Paul is going to remind them and he says because we have this hope in Christ we don't need to grieve like others who have no hope now we mourn weep with those who weep yes I get it I know Romans 12. but we have a joy that surpasses all this stuff so I talked about this in the news context right we're going through all these political things and stuff like that you know I'm looking at people or saying they're lifelong Christians getting all kinds of like fired up about this news and I'm looking at them like do you believe in the same reality that I do because this is nothing it's just a television show really you know come on SO through this that's my encouragement this is a time to really get in deep and bolster your faith and it helps you get through things like this and in fact it can help you to have a sense of humor comic relief is good in times like this it really is and so yeah Tony's nodding his head come oh you know and uh Deputy you're gonna do the announcements right okay so I'll let Deputy Johnson's here and he'll chime in just give you a little update in the announcements about maybe what some of the needs may be and what's going on because he's right there in the thick of it and correct me if I'm wrong but sometimes the best thing to do is stay out of their way right because you get out on the road you get in an accident and now you know instead of helping the people who really needed it before now they have to help you so just but I'll let him affirm that or not and tell you guys what you should be doing because that was like day two for us we knew stay off the road just stay out of the way let them do their thing and then Friday we were feeding people we came in Friday and we're feeding people then so we're going to continue to do so we have the Cafe open so just again I'm mixing announcements in here but it's necessary so here's the thing humor and a lot of people have been in the ministry for a long time they know that it was funny even you know my dad's last week of life I was just joking with him right why because it's a bad situation you kind of relieve it with a little bit of humor so the news right I don't like watching the news at all I just kind of like poke my head up and like look around and turn the TV on for a while and then it's off like it's the same thing over and over again so I'm done with it but the weather right you kind of want to know what to be prepared for you know like what do we have to do we're going to have to hunker down should I gas up the generator and then in Ministry you have all your people freaking out you know so you have to kind of tell them what to do just do it calmly let's you know so it's kind of a thing where I have to be really aware all of a sudden of the news and so as we're watching it you know something occurred to me that occurred to me very early on in my Christianity and when I came here to Florida so you're seeing this thing tick right you know and it's going towards Tampa you know we're watching it and that's where it's going to go and it it goes like this starts coming down like each time they report it like they have what the 11 o'clock spaghetti model thing and the five o'clock and each time it's coming down and I begin to laugh because in the past I didn't realize I was doing something so you start praying like Lord don't let the hurricane hit us right go away go back right go back and I started thinking I'm not just praying that hurricane away I'm praying that hurricane into someone else I thought about it I'm like you're like bad yes I didn't I didn't bother to think of that I'm just like go back up up you know what I mean like back towards Tampa you know you know so that's the thing so just start praying the Hurricanes like back into the Gulfs and then they dissipate right not into like Louisiana there are neighbors who Mexico don't do that I go in the gulf and disappear you know that can happen right read your Bible so it was really funny because now if you don't everyone who knows the Bible well you're going to think this is funny probably but if you've never read the Bible it's going to mean nothing to you so that's you know everybody so anyway so I was doing these accounts and if you were familiar with these biblical accounts it's kind of funny because you have like let's say they're the tampaites right so they're up there and they're like the [ __ ] up there and then we're like the Israelites you know where I'm going Tony we're like the Israelites of the maple lights we're down here right and we're praying in God like God don't let the impending doom so it's like the tornado we'll call it Babylon right so it's coming at us and we're like go away Lord just put your disaster on the Edom I said Tampines go back up there get them they deserve it right now but it keeps coming keeps coming and we know we're going to get it right so instead of doing what God told us or God told me like stay stay and be a pastor to that Community who's really going to need you no no we're going to flee to Miami and that's like Egypt right so and I'm like Jeremiah like no no don't go to Egypt the Lord says we need to stay here you know and they're going over to Egypt then then after it's all over they can't get back out right that's you know that's what happens they fly they flee to some other place and they can't get back and I'm like Jeremiah like told you it wasn't going to be any better there than it is here so the whole thing kind of made me laugh so that was my biblical nerd humor story for you this morning but we're like that right yes and so you needed that right all right but here's the thing like if they're like the [ __ ] we're going to see today right they're laughing they're like haha Fort Myers Naples you got it and like a good Prophet would say don't glue right and that's what we're going to look at today it's still hurricane season so anything can happen all right the word of God we don't shortchange that here at all so I will go a little long um I'm not going to apologize for for God so I had what I had prepared God told me what to say and I'm gonna say it again we'll have food for you afterwards you'll live the extra five minutes so we're in the rest of the story if you don't know about it we're looking at the entire word of God all of it all of it the whole thing and you know there are a lot of people have been Christians their whole lives and they're like I didn't know that was in there you know yes you know so more and more people are like actually opening their Bibles which is a really good thing and they're looking at it check my work right so don't believe anybody believe the word of God that's it so what we're looking at here and I joked about Jeremiah this is literally what's going on well it describes why it's funny because what I described here is what's happening there was this impending doing Babylon they're sent to punish the Israelites for all the absolutely horrible things that they're doing some people are fleeing to Egypt Jeremiah's like no but he gets taken there anyway some people were taken away before that there's like a couple rounds of sieges and so that's where Ezekiel went so what we see here in Second Kings and second chronicles in these historical accounts the prophets are in there and so you have to grab a prophetic book and put like pieces of that book in there because that's what's happening so Ezekiel he gets taken away with the Babylonians first then we switch to Jeremiah because he's trying to get people to stay in Judah and Jerusalem as it's falling now it's like a movie right flashes to somebody else and there's two different things going on around the same time so that's what's happening here and why we're going to jump around a lot so I made you another chart no more jokes about the cartoon I didn't draw it but I didn't make the chart so it's For Your Entertainment so you can see here this is chronological-ish if you were like don't rip Pages out of your Bible but you know if you were doing that this is where it would all kind of splice in ish we're going to look at Obadiah there's a question mark there because there's no firm like date like this is exactly when it was written we don't know but you'll see thematically like this this is probably where it should be you'll even see a chapter of Daniel right in there right so it's kind of tough but these should be on the app C3 Naples just search it in whatever your app store is mine's Android so and you'll find it in there in our app I had to get the dig in he'll get me back in the announcements you'll see all right so that's where we are we left off with Ezekiel 33 and he was getting news that Jerusalem had fallen so that was what was going on so we're going to pick up in 34. we're going to hop right in I'll explain it to you Ezekiel 34 1 then this message came to me from the Lord son of man prophesy against the Shepherds the leaders of Israel give them this message from The Sovereign Lord what sorrow awaits you Shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks shouldn't Shepherds feed their sheep you drink the milk wear the wool and butcher the best animals but you let your flocks starve you have not taken care of the weak you have not tended the sick or bound up the injured you have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost instead you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty so my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd and their easy prey for any wild animal so this is a pretty common biblical thing you know where the people are like sheep and so here we have a situation where they were kind of self-shepherding you know so you don't have any good shepherd and you're just you know that's it you're lost so now God's going to kind of switch it right so this is happening through Ezekiel he's speaking on behalf of the Lord and he's going to say okay I'm the Good Shepherd right so you guys are all worthless Shepherds you're no good I'm the Good Shepherd right and so he starts making this complaint letting a charge against them the fat sheep you who butted you know these uh skinny scrawny sick ones aside and treated them cruelly you're gonna get it as I Shepherd you so it should be making you think maybe John 10 right Jesus I'm the Good Shepherd so that's what God says well at play here you're going to get punished and so that's really the bulk here of chapter uh 34. and then you're going to see a covenant of Peace so there's this pattern like you're going to get punished but then I'm going to restore you you're going to get punished and then I'm going to restore you and then so there's going to be all these different kinds of illustrations and analogies so you're going to have blessing you know good crops good pasture land you're going to be free and friendly and everything is going to be great so if we turn to 35 Ezekiel 35 this most people will not understand and hopefully I'll get you to understand it today Ezekiel 35 1 again a message came to me from the Lord this is Ezekiel speaking son of man turn and face mount Seer and prophesy against his people give them this message from The Sovereign Lord I am your enemy o Mount Seer and I will raise my fist against you to destroy you completely I will demolish your cities and make you desolate then you will know that I am the Lord your Eternal hatred for the people of Israel LED you to butcher them when they were helpless when I had already punished them for all their sins what is going on here what is Mount Sear I will explain this to you so another common theme God will use certain people to inflict punishment on Israel on his people but then always they go too far they go too hard this is not really what's at play here this is a little bit different Mount Seer is where the [ __ ] are at right so this is Edom now in order to understand the [ __ ] you have to understand Genesis specifically chapters 24 through 27. you got to go there to kind of get the story you might know who Abraham is remember Isaac right so God asks him to sacrifice his own son that guy well later Isaac and Rebecca have Jacob and Esau they're twins Esau comes out first he's red and hairy how he gets his name Jacob comes out grabs his heel so he's like heal it sounds like heel or deceiver in Hebrew why when we get the story about selling the birthright you saw us kind of stupid he's contemptuous for his Birthright he's the firstborn he should be getting it he comes in he's hungry Jacob's making a stew he's like give me the stew Jacob says sell me your Birthright it's like well what good does the birthright do me if I'm starving to death so kind of a dumb guy so he sells the birth right for this mere bowl of Stew not a great thing going on so we continue on we see that Isaac he does some deception there I won't get into the whole story because we'll go too long and then we land into this other Birthright type of thing where now Isaac's really old he can barely see but he wants to give Esau his Blessing Esau and Edom probably forgot to say this they're synonymous right so Esau means like more hairy Eda means red so that's what's going on here so he's the father of those people Jacob Israel he's the father his name becomes Israel so [ __ ] and Israelites this is the father of them right what happens is Rebecca hears that Isaac wants to bless Esau he wants to give and the blessing but Jacob is Rebecca their mom the favorite so okay Isaac tells tells Esau go get some game make me a stew and then I'll bless you once you make the stew so he goes out hunting and Rebecca's like quick Get Two Goats Jacob bring him in here I'll make the stew he's gonna know it's not Esau because he's blind right but he's going to feel that I'm not Harry like Esau so she just goes no no we'll take the goat skin we'll put it on your arms so you're hairy kind of a weird story right so after back and forth he brings a stew there's a back and forth between Jacob and Isaac he eventually believes him he's very doubtful like the voice is like Jacob's but you are Harry so I guess he's really hairy kind of nasty when you think about it so anyway he gives him the blessing but then just as he's leaving Esau comes in he's like hey I got it dad and he's like what so they freak out they're really really angry but his Blessing must stand he says like don't you have Another Blessing he's like nope that's it in the background we have to remember he already had contempt for his birth right so why should he be very forgiving so anyway that's what's going on here Esau wants to kill Jacob he doesn't but he wants to kill him so that's why he gets sent away right so he gets sent away and I won't go any further there that's all you need to know so there's this rivalry between these two Nations we even see it with Moses wants to pass through the Edom area and they're like nope you cannot so it's like this they're like cousins and it's like this bad bad rivalry all the way it just keeps going and going going even to the time of King Herod you know remember the one who killed all the babies Jesus's time the beginning of Matthew so he's an Edomite izumiya he's from idumia so that's like Edomite so it goes all the way throughout the Bible we see it so because of this rivalry they're gloating that's the thing and the Lord is like ah you're next so that's like the main message that we're seeing here so that's the bulk of chapter 35 just in a quick understanding of it and what's at play here and this is important to understand because when we get to Obadiah that I mention you will never understand Obadiah unless you have an understanding of what I just told you you understand why it's all happening and you go oh okay this makes sense now so Obadiah and just put up the chart for just a second so you see where I stuck it in there that second one over it's just in there this is where it should be most likely because this is what's being talked about right Ezekiel 35 to the [ __ ] don't glow well Obadiah is the same exact thing with the same exact context so if we go to obadai I won't read the whole thing it's just one chapter it's pretty simple this is the vision that The Sovereign Lord revealed to Obadiah concerning the land of Edom so now think in your mind of Esau Jacob minisa Harry we have heard a message from the Lord that an ambassador who sent the Nations to say get ready everyone let's assemble our armies and attack Edom the Lord says to eat them I will cut you down to size among the Nations you will be greatly despised you have been deceived by your own Pride because you live in a rock Fortress and make your home high in the mountains who can ever reach us all the way up here you ask boastfully but even if you soar as high as the Eagles and build your nest Among the Stars I will bring you crashing down says the Lord so he continues because of the violence you did against your relatives all right I'm going to do this to you now point is you should not have gloated you should not have stood idly by that's the whole point here you should not have gloated so you have to title Obadiah something don't gloat that's like the big Point here so and just if you don't understand the Rocks thing I don't know if you guys I mean it's going to sound funny but what was it like Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade was that it or the I can't remember there's an Indiana Jones movie where they go to Petra I think they use Petra as the backdrop Drop The Rock Place okay so I don't know my movies but I know my Bible so but that'll be the cover shot this week but anyway so that's what you're looking at there that was probably done later but that's ish where the [ __ ] lived in the Rocks they lived up high in the Rock so that's why they're making this reference so you can think Petra but they didn't build it so here's the thing don't glow we're all familiar with the phrase I think you'll get yours just wait he who laughs lasts laughs hardest in today's account we see that the Israelites they are suffering a punishment that God is using Babylon to Dole out that's what's going on here and the [ __ ] are watching it right they have this rivalry that you need to keep in mind and they're gloating about it so that's what's going on here but prophets like Ezekiel and Obadiah are saying don't go out she'll get yours now we explained in the book of Lamentations I just want to show you something interesting and we'll get to the application of this uh Lamentations follows Jeremiah why because they're lamenting so it's like these sad psalms about the fall of Jerusalem all these horrible things that are happening to them in it something interesting of note Lamentations 4 21. are you rejoicing in the land of us o people of Edom ah now you understand that but you too must drink from the cup of the Lord's anger you too will be stripped naked in your drunkenness oh beautiful Jerusalem your punishment will end you will CERN return from Exile but Edom your punishment is just beginning soon your many sins will be exposed I want to help you understand another thing the Psalms right so people read the Psalms and sometimes they don't understand them at all but you're going to understand this one now Psalm 137 7. so the backdrop here uh the Babylonian captors uh are asking the Israelites sing us some songs right and they're like how can we sing songs how can we be happy and it's kind of like ah I'll give you a song 1377 oh Lord remember what the [ __ ] did on the day the armies of Babylon capture Jerusalem destroy it they yelled level It To The Ground oh Babylon you will be destroyed happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks let's sing Psalms in church right a new person would be like yeah oh should I I should actually played that trick because they know I'm crazy like all right it seems like there is so much Injustice in the world today so much Injustice but a good student of History even better a good student of the Bible knows that there is nothing new under the sun nothing nothing at all and we see the evidence here and as we've seen and we'll see today in the New Testament they've warned us about it they've warned us about it so what have we learned some of the Israelites they're both justly by God and unjustly punished right that's what we're seeing here from within from their own people like the sheep from their own people and from without right from Babylon eat them but here's the thing they're being mocked sometimes we feel like that or suffering persecution what did we learn if we stay in line with the Lord he'll handle it that's what we should be learning here that's what's going on in every single one of these cases sometimes the Lord will say okay I need you to do this and then go do this but most of the time we're just going and doing this like the supplies without checking with the Lord at all because if you really actually prayed about that he would have told you something like hey you need to talk to so-and-so and he's done that to me he's like okay just go to the church someone's showing up today and the whole thing will be figured out so I just go up and search today someone always comes in it's amazing just do this even though it makes absolutely no sense it's amazing put Ukraine up on the screen it's amazing so I'm crazy I could I'll share with you go upstairs I'll share with you some crazy even from Friday crazy stories you would not believe and it's not like uh I thought about it like I sat there I'm like oh definitely you know some Ukrainian refugees are going to come in and then someone else is going to come in from Ukraine you know I didn't come up with that God just said go sit there and something will happen feed them okay and then everything just happens right so sometimes he uses us but we have to just trust that look the Lord is going to handle it we aren't God just do what we are called to do but then wait we need to be reassured of this this is everything that scriptures tell us everything over and over and over again in fact here's the thing when this stuff is happening to us not only do we get an opportunity to help others that's kind of cool why are you doing this ah Jesus that's why it's an opportunity all right so we have the opportunity to help others but Jesus says something kind of radical and most people you know they just kind of pass over The Sermon on the Mount Read Matthew 5 6 7. it's all one sermon when you just do Matthew 5 you interrupt him and then he you miss the clarification in chapter six it's a problem now I'm going to take a piece out of that but I'm kind of giving you the context and encouraging you to go read it for yourself but he says some radical stuff and I want you to think about if I started my sermon this question check this out Matthew 5 10 it's not the beginning but I want you to focus on blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you lying on account of me rejoice be glad because your reward is great in heaven for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you and we saw that so like modern context you know you guys are really lucky right you're you're blessed you're in a wonderful position you know why because people are insulting you now and persecuting you that's awesome because if you make it we saw Revelation if you make it through that your reward will be great in heaven so this is great Hebrews said I'm going to mention that again later you see when you received it you received it with joy when all your stuff was taken away that's what it says readiver's done can anything here be better than heaven now I think some people are preaching that some people are preaching that somehow we can manufacture some kind of false counterfeit heaven and be happy here forever and ever but that's not true that's not what the Bible says right the word of God does not say that it says did you are you listening that's not that's Jesus did you listen to him last there's no expectation and Jesus is preaching that this will be great not to tell you that right here he's saying it read it for yourself don't believe me just read it but that's the truth so we can't hide from that it's great in heaven read Hebrews 10. read it again the key to Joy is found in Christ the key to joy in all situations is found in Jesus that's it it's as simple as that but it's hard right it's complicated because we have to stop playing God we have to be humble we have to ask for help difficult but it begins with humility and then through that comes Joy Jesus is coming back he's gonna I serve a king think about that okay I respect every Earthly leader it doesn't matter whether I disagree with him or not they have my respect very humble we saw Paul was like that just fine that's not my king my king is Jesus that's it and so whatever you know these things political climates read your history books they change all the time Jesus does not and he will not he's the same yesterday today and forever and that's the only constant that we should ever expect in the world that's it the only Paradise is heaven this is just the manufactured one so we should expect it's going to come and go ebb and flow Jesus does not and if you do not know him today please talk to me please I can tell you my story my wife can share hers change my life hamster wheel of wealth and money and all this stuff exhausting exhausting God off Found Jesus and I can make jokes during things like this so there you go we need to leave it to the Lord to handle it so Jesus is coming back and when he does I want you to see something I'm going to move quick through this to get to the final application here Ezekiel 34 if we go back there we see Ezekiel 34 17. as for you my flock this is what the Sovereign Lord says to his people I will judge between one animal of the flock and another separating them from the sheep or the sheep from the goats so this sounds like what Jesus says in Matthew 25 so if you're really familiar with the word we were in Matthew 24 recently the whole idea there is be alert wake up I attached it to the church in Revelation wake up but again like Matthew five through seven he's still talking when we get to chapter 25. so you got to keep reading because it goes somewhere and so what happens is you get this parable of these uh ten bridesmaids with the oil I'm trying to make the simple and plain language with the oil and the bride's groom is coming and so five of them are dumb five of them were prepared they have the oil they're ready so five of them have to go and leave the bridegroom comes back locks the door the five who are unprepared come back let us in I don't even know you what's the parable about be ready be prepared right so then you have the parable of talents people butcher this one I hate it I'm trying really hard not to say one name Finance guy calls himself a Christian but never talks about Jesus how is that possible can't be so anyway anyway they'll make this about money parable of the talents right so you know there's a master again goes away on a journey three slaves it says in the Greek literally and he gives according to their abilities to think like bags of silver five bags of silvered one two to another another one and one to the other one so the one who just gets the one he buries it the five and two double their Investments Master comes back to those who doubled their Investments well done good and faithful slave good the one who buried it he's like master I knew you're a harsh man he's trying to make these excuses basically you're going to be cast out worthless lazy slave you're going to be cast out in outer Darkness it's about being ready because you got to keep reading it's not about investing money it's no more about investing money than the parable of the Bridesmaids is about investing oil right or getting gas like that Parable is all about making sure you had enough gas before the hurricane came wrong answer preparation that's one thing but it's about being ready for Jesus to come back so when you get these teachers who try to make it about like material stuff stop listening stop listening to them because if you keep reading it's about being ready for the final judgment that's where they stop reading they don't tell you about that Matthew 25 31 but the son of man Jesus is talking about himself comes in all his glory and all the angels with him he will sit upon his glorious Throne all the nations will be gathered in his presence and he will separate the people as a Shepherd separates the sheep from the goats sound familiar now he will place the Sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left moving very quickly the basic point is the Sheep you were good when I was hungry and you fed me when I was thirsty you gave me something to drink when I was naked you gave me clothing right you invited me in you saw me in prison he goes through this thing when did we see you like that when you did it to the least of these you did it to me good job let's remember that whoever put their hands up that may be the least of these today think about it so Jesus is saying yeah your faith if you really love me it will motivate you to do stuff we're saved by faith alone by God's grace our faith in Jesus Christ that's it but when we realize that you should be motivated right because you're like wow it's amazing you know so now I'm going to go help people if you're not Jesus is kind of like where's the response that's your response to what I did for you that's what's going on here he's saying ah when you did something that was good but to the goats goes through the same pattern again you didn't so now you're going into Eternal punishment so read Matthew 25 if you don't believe me that's what it says separates the sheep from the goats we have to remember Jesus brings the justice Jesus will bring the justice so if that's you you're being muck persecuted insulted you're suffering Jesus got it don't you worry it's going to be fine and here's the other thing if you keep reading in Ezekiel there's another beautiful pattern of the prophets you see judgment but then you see restoration so I want to finish on this this morning I'll give you some scriptures on restoration Ezekiel 36 he'll give us Restoration in a new spirit Ezekiel 36 13. this is what the Sovereign Lord says the other nations taunt you saying Israel is a land that devours its own people and robs some of their children but you will never again devour your people or Rob them of their children says The Sovereign Lord I will not let you hear those other nations who insult you and you will no longer be mocked by them you will not be a land that causes this nation to fall says The Sovereign Lord if we keep reading Ezekiel 36 25 then it will sprinkle clean water on you and you'll be clean your filth will be washed away and you'll no longer worship idols and I'll give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you I will take out your Stony stubborn heart and give you a tender responsive heart and it will put my spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations so this goes in with Jeremiah 31 remember the Covenant on the tablets of stone you go all the way back to Moses right they're just written on Stone but your hearts become like that so I'm going to give you a tender responsive heart fill you with my Holy Spirit to motivate you to do good that's what that's all about and restore you second Corinthians 3 Paul's dealing second Corinth there's always a context he's dealing with these super Apostles so they're these fake teachers preaching all kinds of bad things and so he's trying to fight that and he's trying to do things to prove he's not taking money on purpose to prove that he's not like that challenging these other false teachers all in the New Testament like crazy about false teachers so he says to them something interesting that you can call to mine in second Corinthians he says you know what these guys like I talked about it last week they're like those paper black belts right or paper pastors they're like that they're no good they need letters of recommendation we don't because you are letters of recommendation you are so that's how you can tell you can see what a leader is like by the people that follow that leader and that's what he's saying there he says something important he says look this letter isn't written it was like pen and ink but with the spirit of the Living God and it's not carved on tablets of stone it's carved on your hearts written on your hearts so he restores us at baptism he restores us he makes us a new creation in Christ Jesus and here's just a very interesting thing I'll go through this quick Ezekiel 37 now you understand the Valley of the dry bones Ezekiel 37 1 the Lord took hold of me and I was carried away by the spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones he led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor they were scattered everywhere across the ground were completely dried out then he asked me son of man can these bones become living again people again o Sovereign Lord I replied you alone know the answer to that so just in short what happens is he tells him to speak a prophetic word to the bones tells them you're going to come to life again you're going to get like skin it gets like kind of detailed muscles you're going to get flesh they're gonna they're gonna come up and sure enough he hears the rattling of the bones and they do but they're not breathing so the Lord says again speak a message tell the winds to fill them up and they'll be filled and have life again goes through the muscles the skin the Flesh and they were like an army not a fighting but just a multitude of these people what's it about restoration you will be restored and says again he talks about the spirit it's going to put his spirit in them now just to mark it in your Bibles because we have people that do that here the chart really quick I just want to show you something if you go towards the end you see we come back all this is happening in Second Kings also Jeremiah is talking about it this is important we see a picture of restoration there too that lines up perfectly Second Kings 25 27 and 37th year of the Exile of king jehoiachin of Judah evil meridoc ascended to the Babylonian Throne he was kind to jehoia chin and released him from prison on April 2nd of that year he spoke kindly to jehoiah and gave him a higher place than all the other Exile Kings in Babylon he supplied jehojin with new clothes to replace his prison guard and allowed him to dine in the king's presence for the rest of his life so the king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived Jeremiah adds this continues until the day of his death so what's going on here that was the king that Ezekiel went away with and what happens he's restored right so that is the legitimate king that's why ezekiel's counting down the time to him likewise today if we are in Christ we have that promise of restoration in him and through him that's the point if we place our hope in Jesus that's where it is I just want to close with two more scriptures for you and then we'll worship and fellowship again first Peter those Christians are suffering suffering horrible persecution that we see this in First Peter right so he's giving them encourage encouragement we're going to see two things come together first Peter 5 starting at verse 8 stay alert this can be to you Church stay alert watch out for the great enemy you're great on me the devil he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour stand firm against him and be strong in your faith remember that your family of Believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are and his kindness God call you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus so after you have suffered for a little while he will restore support and strengthen you you'll be placed on a firm foundation I'm just going to note here that if we go back to Second Corinthians 6 you can put it up really quick we're the Temple of the Living God and what's very interesting here is Paul talks about that I can give you more context in Bible study I will be their God and they will be my people interesting that's a quote of Ezekiel 37 27. the Valley of the dry bones the restoration of the dry bones so here's the thing guys we may suffer for a little while we may be mocked for a little while we may be insulted for a little while we may go through suffering for a little while we may go through hardships for a little while storms for a little while but Jesus says this Matthew 7 24. anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise like a person who builds a house on Solid Rock though the rain comes in Torrance and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house it won't collapse because it's built on bedrock the Bedrock of Jesus Christ we may lose our property we may lose our lives but if we've built our foundation on Christ we have the promise of restoration which surpasses all of these worldly things let me pray for you and because we have these promises dear friends let us cleanse ourselves from everything from everything that will defile our body and spirit work towards complete Holiness in the Lord May the god of Hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with the hope and Assurance by the power of the Holy Spirit I ask these things in Jesus name amen thank you foreign