WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Eat this scroll Publishing Date: 2025-04-06T06:04:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/eat-this-scroll-april-6-2025/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:18.000 Today I will be preaching from Ezekiel 1, 2, and 3. If you are looking for a title, it will 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:29.960 be Eat This Scroll. The idea is from Ezekiel 3. I just want to give you a bit of a context 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:37.920 here. There are major prophets and minor prophets in the Bible. There are 12 minor prophets 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:45.920 and there are 5 major prophets. They are divided as major and minor, not because of the size 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:54.920 of the prophets, but it's the length of the book. The major prophets have a longer content. 00:00:55.880 --> 00:01:00.920 They even go for decades and it even deals with other nations. Whereas the minor prophets 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:06.760 are shorter, more concise, but it's not about the effectiveness or the quality of these 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:14.600 prophets but it's the length that the scripture divides into minor and major. Ezekiel falls 00:01:14.600 --> 00:01:21.600 under the major prophets. Why I'm giving this context is because it's important and I'll 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:29.040 tell you why. Ezekiel is one of the major prophets in the Bible and it is apocalyptic 00:01:29.960 --> 00:01:36.960 in nature. It's not fully apocalyptic like Daniel or Revelation where we see a lot of 00:01:37.080 --> 00:01:44.080 the apocalyptic nature. Ezekiel is not fully apocalyptic but it has apocalyptic elements. 00:01:44.080 --> 00:01:51.080 The word apocalypse comes from this Greek word, apocalypse, which means unveiling or 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:03.280 revelation. When we say apocalypses or apocalypse, we're talking about someone being exposed 00:02:06.080 --> 00:02:13.080 to something transcendent in the reality of God's perspective. It is a confrontation 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:21.080 with the divine so that it transforms the person and his reality. Oftentimes in the 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:28.960 Bible it refers to divine mysteries, especially about what's going to happen in the future. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:37.560 That's the apocalypse or the apocalyptic nature of Ezekiel. The context was such that the 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:45.360 Israelites were in exile for 13 years and four months. This priest, Ezekiel, was in 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:56.800 Babylon. He was among the exiles and he was sitting by the Kibar River in Babylon. That 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:05.520 is when the hand of the Lord comes upon him and he shows this vision. It was not just 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:13.080 one vision. It has multiple. We all know one of them, which is the Valley of Dry Bones 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:19.080 in Ezekiel 37, which we all know. I'm not going to go there but today I'm going to deal 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:23.560 with the first part of Ezekiel, especially chapter one, two, and three. These are the 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:30.560 first apocalyptic visions that he had received. We're going to deal with that early part. 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:38.320 I have listed five things from these three chapters with five points that I want to share. 00:03:38.320 --> 00:03:45.320 The first one is the transformative power of Theophany. The transformative power of 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:52.680 Theophany. Theophany is when the appearance of God or the manifestation of God appears. 00:03:53.680 --> 00:04:00.680 God reveals in a way that is perceptible to humans. That is Theophany. Whenever God encounters 00:04:05.480 --> 00:04:12.480 or makes his manifestation that is perceptible to humans, it always transforms the person. 00:04:13.160 --> 00:04:20.160 Here is Ezekiel, who is a priest, who was a priest, who is a priest, and knows what priestly 00:04:24.200 --> 00:04:31.200 duties are. Yet, when this experience happens, God changes him. Why? Because God now invites 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:41.120 him to become a prophet. Back in the day, priests and prophets, their roles are so different. 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:50.240 Ezekiel has been a priest all his life, but with this experience, he saw a throne appearing 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:56.720 on a hill, like a sapphire. There's someone sitting on this throne. It doesn't have a 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:03.720 face, but it was the appearance of a man glowing with fire. A radiant bright light was upon 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:11.800 this man. The appearance was that it was the glory of God. Ezekiel couldn't face it, and 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:19.360 he fell face down to the ground. He hears this voice. It was very similar with what Saul experienced 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:27.360 on the road to Damascus. It was very similar, because Saul also experienced this bright 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:32.080 light from heaven. He couldn't face it. He falls face down to the ground, and he heard 00:05:32.080 --> 00:05:38.600 this voice saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who are you, my Lord? Saul 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:44.360 answered, and then Jesus responded, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Saul was 00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:50.120 blinded for three days. Saul had this amazing personal encounter, and Ezekiel had a similar 00:05:50.120 --> 00:05:57.120 experience. They are very similar. For example, both experienced something extraordinary, 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:04.580 something beyond them, with the divine. Secondly, there was this glory of God that they cannot 00:06:04.580 --> 00:06:11.580 face it. It was a blinding light or a supernatural radiant manifestation. Then both of them received 00:06:15.380 --> 00:06:22.380 a voice calling out their name. Then they couldn't face this light. Here's an important 00:06:24.700 --> 00:06:29.640 point. It changed the trajectory of their lives for both of them. There was a radical 00:06:29.640 --> 00:06:36.640 shift. For Saul, he became Paul, and he became an apostle. It was from that moment where 00:06:38.900 --> 00:06:45.900 the trajectory of his life shifted. For Ezekiel, it was similar. He was known as a prophet, 00:06:47.520 --> 00:06:52.540 but then with this encounter, that radical shift happened in his life. Now he's called 00:06:52.540 --> 00:06:59.540 to be a prophet. The difference is in the nature. For Saul, he was a prophet. He was 00:07:00.020 --> 00:07:06.320 a prophet. For Saul, it was a personal one-on-one encounter. It was his real life experience. 00:07:06.320 --> 00:07:11.540 He was on the journey to Damascus. He had this personal encounter, which was a conversation 00:07:11.540 --> 00:07:18.540 with Jesus himself. Whereas for Ezekiel, he saw an apocalyptic vision, where he saw the 00:07:20.200 --> 00:07:27.200 cherubim and wheels and fire and throne and all these blinding lights. However it is, 00:07:27.320 --> 00:07:34.320 be it direct encounter or be it an apocalyptic vision, one thing that happened was that it 00:07:34.640 --> 00:07:40.240 changed who they are. As in, it changed their identity. Then secondly, it changed their 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:47.240 purpose, right? And it changes their calling. So three things happened for them. Saul was 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:54.920 never the same since that day. He was never the same. As we all know, right? He was persecuting 00:07:55.040 --> 00:08:02.040 Christians and he became the defender of the faith. The very God that he is trying to destroy 00:08:03.640 --> 00:08:10.640 and his people, he went crazy proclaiming the same God that he once tried to bring harm. 00:08:13.400 --> 00:08:19.860 So the purpose of Saul changed, the calling of Saul changed, the identity of Saul changed. 00:08:19.860 --> 00:08:25.620 Everything about Saul changed, right? And for Ezekiel, it's the same thing. Everything 00:08:25.620 --> 00:08:32.220 about Ezekiel changed with this encounter. The transformative power of theophany, that's 00:08:32.220 --> 00:08:39.220 what it does. This is why we need revival, guys. An encounter with divine, one encounter 00:08:40.740 --> 00:08:46.740 is enough. It just shifts things. It just shifts, you know, forget about individuals. 00:08:46.780 --> 00:08:52.740 It shifts communities. It shifts churches. It shifts nations. And this is why we are 00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:59.580 praying for this revival to come. This kind of theophany moment is enough to change the 00:08:59.580 --> 00:09:06.580 destinies of individuals, families, and nations. And this is why we need these guys. And, you 00:09:08.460 --> 00:09:15.300 know, to put it simply, when Jesus invited Peter, James, and John, here's a simple Jesus 00:09:15.340 --> 00:09:22.340 who had not really proven himself, and yet we know he's fully God, fully man. He invites. 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:28.380 And then now these are ordinary unschooled guys, joins forces with Jesus. What happens 00:09:28.380 --> 00:09:35.380 was that their lives, their destinies, their purpose, everything changed about these guys. 00:09:37.940 --> 00:09:44.940 God shapes your identity before he releases your assignment. God changes your identity 00:09:46.300 --> 00:09:52.820 God shapes your identity before he releases your assignment, right? So that's the first 00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:59.820 one, right? When God encounters men, men cannot stay the same. Can you be that one whom God 00:10:00.900 --> 00:10:06.020 can use to bring an experience of like a theophany kind of experience for someone? They might 00:10:06.020 --> 00:10:12.460 not necessarily, for some, they might encounter God directly, but for some, they might have 00:10:12.460 --> 00:10:19.460 to come through you. So the greater call, sorry, so he decides your identity. Ezekiel 00:10:25.140 --> 00:10:32.140 didn't choose that one day he'll be a prophet. No. When the calling of God comes, it is he 00:10:32.140 --> 00:10:37.860 who decides who you will be. David didn't say, you know, I want to become a king. God 00:10:37.860 --> 00:10:44.860 chose him. And so he chooses your identity. I don't get to choose to be a man or a woman. 00:10:44.900 --> 00:10:51.900 God decides who I am. And then that leads to my second point where I would call it the 00:10:53.540 --> 00:10:58.940 overriding call of God. The overriding call of God. Why I use this word the overriding 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:05.940 call of God is because the call of God is greater than what I am striving on my own, 00:11:05.940 --> 00:11:11.660 right? I may be doing great work. I may be still be doing some fulfilling work, which 00:11:11.660 --> 00:11:16.660 can be satisfying to me and to my family. But when the call of God comes, it overrides 00:11:16.660 --> 00:11:23.660 what I am doing. Yeah. Peter, James, Andrew and John, they were fishing. They are fishermen. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:30.540 But after the encounter with Jesus Christ, Jesus said, come, follow me. I will make you 00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:37.860 fishers of men. So they are fishermen, but Jesus calls them and the call of Jesus overrides 00:11:39.300 --> 00:11:46.300 their calling. Yeah. David was taking care of the sheep and then God sends prophet Samuel 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:55.240 and say, go and anoint David because he will be the next king. The call of God comes and 00:11:55.320 --> 00:12:02.320 it overrides David as a shepherd, right? So excuses do not matter. Excuses cannot stand 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:08.760 in the way when the call of God comes upon you and upon me because it overrides everything 00:12:08.760 --> 00:12:15.760 that we are, everything that we do. Now Moses cannot say, I am slow to speech or David cannot 00:12:15.920 --> 00:12:21.900 say, I am just a shepherd boy or Joshua cannot say, well, the shoes of Moses are too big 00:12:21.940 --> 00:12:28.260 to fill in. No. Excuses cannot get in the way because when the call of God comes, he 00:12:28.260 --> 00:12:34.620 knows that you are incapable and yet he calls you so that he can qualify you, right? So 00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:40.340 the call of God, when it comes, it overrides everything of who we are and everything we 00:12:40.340 --> 00:12:47.340 do. So like I said, Ezekiel is so used to being a priest. But when the call of God comes, 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:55.180 but when the call of God comes, God even calls him son of man and we all know son of man 00:12:55.180 --> 00:13:02.180 is used later to address Jesus. So there's a huge, huge address, right? He even addresses 00:13:04.380 --> 00:13:11.380 him son of man and said, I'm giving you a new task and that is a prophetic message to 00:13:12.380 --> 00:13:19.380 deliver. He has been a priest in the temple, now he's to travel, he's to go and deliver. 00:13:20.780 --> 00:13:26.420 And from chapter two verse four, and I'll read from here, the people whom I am sending 00:13:26.420 --> 00:13:33.420 you are obstinate and stubborn. The people are stubborn. God still sends him there. Isn't 00:13:33.420 --> 00:13:40.420 that reflective of our society? If God's going to send us to places where our messages will 00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:47.700 be received easily and embrace it fully, the world would have been evangelized by now. 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:57.220 Yeah? And if you notice, from my own experience, the harder places to penetrate the world are 00:13:57.220 --> 00:14:04.220 sometimes the closest ones. I find preaching and sharing the gospel with my own family 00:14:04.220 --> 00:14:11.220 and my close ones harder than preaching to a stranger. So guys, this is critical for 00:14:13.460 --> 00:14:20.460 us to understand because God says, whatever you do, you're going to be a stranger. And 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:27.460 so, guys, this is critical for us to understand because God says, whether they listen to you 00:14:28.300 --> 00:14:34.860 or not, or whether they fail to listen, you are supposed to go to them. They are a rebellious 00:14:34.860 --> 00:14:40.300 people. God says, right? God warns them and yet he said, so that they will know that a 00:14:40.300 --> 00:14:46.860 prophet is among them. Yeah? And this is critical for us to understand because we live in a 00:14:46.900 --> 00:14:53.900 similar context, whether it's our annoying neighbor or our colleague or people whom God 00:14:54.340 --> 00:15:00.900 sends us to who are not receptive to what we share. And yet they need to know that there 00:15:00.900 --> 00:15:07.900 is a messenger that is you among them. So when I say that when the overriding call of 00:15:10.460 --> 00:15:16.780 God comes upon your life, for some people it's a change of job, change of profession. 00:15:17.020 --> 00:15:23.060 That's not always the case. For some, it's important that you stay in your same profession. 00:15:23.060 --> 00:15:30.060 For Zacchaeus, when he meets Jesus, Jesus comes into his home, dines with him, and then 00:15:31.740 --> 00:15:38.740 you know what? He came to his senses. He knew that he's in the presence of this holy man, 00:15:39.220 --> 00:15:45.100 holy God. And what does he do? He repents. He changes. And he says, I'm going to repay 00:15:45.100 --> 00:15:50.220 everyone that I have cheated. And in fact, I'm going to pay back four times. Zacchaeus 00:15:50.220 --> 00:15:54.620 didn't say, I'm going to change my job and I'm going to leave my text collector profession 00:15:54.620 --> 00:15:59.660 and now follow Jesus like Peter and John. No, he didn't say that. He said he is going 00:15:59.660 --> 00:16:06.140 to remain in the same profession and yet he's now a transformed man. And so he is going 00:16:06.140 --> 00:16:13.140 to be in the same profession and yet a totally different person. His attitude has changed. 00:16:14.140 --> 00:16:19.500 His purpose has changed. Right? So for some of us, for some of us, when the call of God 00:16:19.500 --> 00:16:26.500 comes upon your life, it'll override what you are presently doing. And some of us might 00:16:26.500 --> 00:16:32.620 need to give your job and be something else in order to fulfill what God has called you. 00:16:32.620 --> 00:16:39.380 Whereas for some, it's important that you stay where you are. But as a transformed man, 00:16:39.380 --> 00:16:46.380 with a different attitude, with a different purpose. For Ezekiel, he was a change of profession. 00:16:49.940 --> 00:16:56.940 He was called to go. Yeah? But God said, don't be afraid. They are rebellious people. They're 00:17:00.340 --> 00:17:07.340 going to rebel. But don't be afraid. And don't be afraid of their words. And then this then 00:17:08.340 --> 00:17:15.340 leads to my third point where he says, eat the scroll. Eat the scroll. Yeah? Before he 00:17:17.900 --> 00:17:24.900 sends this man, God says, eat the scroll. Right? Open your mouth and eat what I give 00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:33.940 you. He is supposed to eat first before he goes. Right? So he decides what message to 00:17:37.340 --> 00:17:44.340 send. You must speak my words. Verse 7 says, God says, you must speak my words. Not whatever 00:17:49.100 --> 00:17:56.100 he wants to say. My words. And so how is this word going to come? He's supposed to eat it 00:17:56.220 --> 00:18:03.220 first so that he can speak. And that's important. That is important because what's he supposed 00:18:03.380 --> 00:18:10.380 to eat? Verse 9, then I look and I saw a hand stretched out to me in a scroll. In it was 00:18:11.540 --> 00:18:17.540 a scroll which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament, 00:18:17.540 --> 00:18:24.540 words of mourning, words of woe. The blue o-wee. Right? These are not positive words. 00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:31.980 Lament, mourning, and woe. He's supposed to eat these words first. And then he says, 00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:40.020 these words. This scroll. You know, Ezekiel chapter 3 verse 1. And he said to me, son 00:18:40.020 --> 00:18:47.020 of man, eat what is before you. Eat the scroll and then go and speak to the people of Israel. 00:18:47.460 --> 00:18:54.460 So I opened my mouth and he gave me a scroll to eat. Then he said to me, son of man, eat 00:18:54.460 --> 00:19:01.460 the scroll. I am giving you. Fill your stomach with it. So I ate it and it tasted as sweet 00:19:01.460 --> 00:19:08.460 as honey in my mouth. Yeah? Remember? He was asked to eat words of lament, words of mourning, 00:19:12.340 --> 00:19:19.340 and words of woe. But when he ate it, it tasted like honey. That's the beauty of God's word, 00:19:19.860 --> 00:19:26.340 eh? It's not always tasty when you eat it. Why? Because it cuts to your heart. It convicts 00:19:26.340 --> 00:19:33.340 you. It exposes your sin. It exposes that something greater has to override how you're 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:43.180 living. That's the word of God, eh? It's not always sweet. It's bitter. But when you taste 00:19:43.180 --> 00:19:50.180 it, it's going to be good. Yeah? John had a very similar experience. John, in the book 00:19:50.180 --> 00:19:57.180 Revelation, when you read it, very similar. And I think I've put it up as well. John, 00:19:58.140 --> 00:20:04.380 in Revelation chapter 10, let's turn to Revelation chapter 10 from verse 8 on words. 00:20:04.380 --> 00:20:10.500 Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me once more. Go take the scroll that lies 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:15.500 open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. So I went to the 00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:21.580 angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, take it and eat it. 00:20:21.580 --> 00:20:27.180 It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey. I took 00:20:27.180 --> 00:20:32.260 the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my 00:20:32.260 --> 00:20:39.260 mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, you must prophesy 00:20:39.660 --> 00:20:46.660 again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings. Very similar, eh? After they ate 00:20:49.060 --> 00:20:56.060 the scroll, now the word of God is consumed, and John was asked to prophesy. If you don't 00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:06.420 have words, if you don't have words of God in you, you cannot. Yeah? So John said, you 00:21:09.260 --> 00:21:16.260 know, same thing with Ezekiel. He was asked to eat the scroll, and after he was eaten, 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:23.180 the assignment comes to go and prophesy. So you know, basing on this, Eugen Peterson, 00:21:23.180 --> 00:21:30.180 as we all know, who wrote the message, wrote a book called Eat This Book, right? And I 00:21:31.180 --> 00:21:38.180 really love this quote, so I'm going to read it for us here. He writes like this, reading 00:21:39.820 --> 00:21:46.820 is an immense gift, but only if words are assimilated, taken into the soul, eaten, chewed, 00:21:52.180 --> 00:21:59.180 not received in unhurried delight. I like that word, unhurried delight. Words of man 00:22:00.220 --> 00:22:07.220 and women, long dead or separated by miles or years, come off the page and enter our 00:22:07.900 --> 00:22:14.900 lives freshly and precisely, conveying truth and beauty and goodness. Words that God's 00:22:16.500 --> 00:22:23.500 Spirit has used and uses, as in present tense, to breathe life into our souls. Isn't that 00:22:23.740 --> 00:22:30.060 so true of God's word, eh? It was written ages ago, but words come alive again. This 00:22:30.060 --> 00:22:35.820 is why we say it is the living word of God, because it's the breath of God, right? God 00:22:35.820 --> 00:22:42.140 breathes. So it's not just Moses' story or Ezekiel's story that we are reading now. It's 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:48.340 the story of God, and it has the breath of God, and it has power to breathe life into 00:22:48.340 --> 00:22:55.340 your situation, into your life, right? And I love how this concept of eating and chewing 00:22:56.340 --> 00:23:03.340 and swallowing and digesting in our stomach, to fill our stomach, I really love this, because 00:23:03.340 --> 00:23:09.340 the intent is so that it can permeate your body, right? That's the intent. So another 00:23:09.340 --> 00:23:14.340 theologian, R.C. Sproul, writes about this, right? When he reads about this, eat the book 00:23:14.340 --> 00:23:20.340 or eat the scroll, he was saying that this is not a casual nip in the word, right? Or 00:23:21.260 --> 00:23:27.780 nip at the word. It is not a casual nip at the word, but Ezekiel is to consume the word 00:23:27.780 --> 00:23:34.780 so that it becomes part of his bloodstream. That's what he uses, yeah? So that it becomes 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:41.800 part of his bloodstream. Why this is important is because we live in a generation where there 00:23:41.800 --> 00:23:48.020 is a famine of hearing God's word. You know, I remember watching a video on YouTube, and 00:23:48.020 --> 00:23:52.060 then there was this guy, this Christian guy who was holding a microphone and he was walking 00:23:52.060 --> 00:23:59.060 on the streets of New York and he was interviewing people. And he would say, are you a Christian? 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:03.420 And then this person would say, no, he's not a Christian. Then he would leave them alone. 00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:10.420 But if someone says he's a Christian, then he would say, can you memorize one Bible verse? 00:24:10.580 --> 00:24:17.580 And then, to my surprise, many Christians cannot even answer one Bible verse. Yeah, 00:24:18.020 --> 00:24:25.020 because he would say, if you memorize one Bible verse, I'll give you a $50 bill. And 00:24:25.380 --> 00:24:31.660 many people could not answer one single Bible verse, guys. We live in a world where there 00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:38.660 is a famine of God's word. There's no famine of God speaking, but there's a famine of people 00:24:40.100 --> 00:24:47.100 hearing God's word, hey? And we read in our Bible for five minutes or ten minutes, and 00:24:48.420 --> 00:24:54.700 then we rush to work or we don't have time to swallow. We don't have time to digest. 00:24:54.700 --> 00:25:01.700 We don't allow the word to saturate our minds, our hearts, and it doesn't form. You know, 00:25:02.180 --> 00:25:07.460 remember the parable of the sower? It has to fall on fertile ground. It has to take 00:25:07.460 --> 00:25:14.460 roots. And guys, if you are a farmer, you know it takes time to form roots. You may 00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:21.820 put water and let the plant float on the water for a few days. It'll look good, but if there's 00:25:21.820 --> 00:25:28.820 no root form, it will die. So here Ezekiel received this word. Now he goes to the Israel, 00:25:32.620 --> 00:25:39.620 to the people, and he sat there for seven days, distressed, overwhelmed, angry. Yeah? 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:46.900 He did not rush into action. He waited. He allows the weight of the word to come upon 00:25:46.900 --> 00:25:53.320 him, to rest on him, right? Just as Mary pondered when, and treasured in her heart, when she 00:25:53.320 --> 00:25:59.100 received the message from Gabriel, Angel Gabriel, right? Psalm 1 verse 2 also talks about to 00:25:59.100 --> 00:26:06.100 meditate on God's word day and night. We are to sit and rest on his word, yeah? Because 00:26:06.260 --> 00:26:13.060 we all are eating something. We all eat something, whether it's social media. We are all consumers. 00:26:13.060 --> 00:26:20.060 We feed ourselves. And we can feed ourselves with junk food or healthy food. And how do 00:26:20.900 --> 00:26:27.900 we feed our spirit? It's the word, yeah? Because no other book, no other food can give us that 00:26:27.900 --> 00:26:34.900 substance, that substance that shapes you for your mission. The Bible has the power 00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:41.900 and the ability to give you substance, a spiritual substance that shapes your mission, right? 00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:47.900 So this is why the word of God brings joy, and yet the word of God brings lament. The 00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:52.900 word of God cuts you to heart. The word of God brings you discomfort. The word of God 00:26:52.900 --> 00:26:59.900 challenges you. The word of God confronts you. And yet the word of God calls you to 00:26:59.900 --> 00:27:06.900 a higher living. So after he eats this, he receives a new commission. Divine commission 00:27:09.900 --> 00:27:16.900 comes not because of volume, but the internalization of and the digestion of his word, yeah? Divine 00:27:16.900 --> 00:27:23.900 commission comes not in the quantity of volumes that we consume, but in the internalization 00:27:24.900 --> 00:27:31.900 and in the digestion of his word. When you embody his word, that's where the commission 00:27:31.900 --> 00:27:37.900 comes, right? Because you are not just to call and to go and preach, but you are living 00:27:37.900 --> 00:27:44.900 it. It's who you are now. Many have not eaten the scroll, guys. They have eaten the scroll, 00:27:44.900 --> 00:27:50.900 guys. Many have not eaten the scroll, guys. Many have not eaten the scroll. It's not in 00:27:50.900 --> 00:27:57.900 their stomach. And so when they speak, they are found wanting. Think of a medicine. Sometimes 00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:05.900 it's bitter, but it's necessary for your healing. And I remember growing up, cough syrup. While 00:28:06.900 --> 00:28:12.900 growing up in India, cough syrup, as far as I remember, while growing up, it's bitter. 00:28:12.900 --> 00:28:18.900 Nowadays we have different flavors. We have honey flavors. We have sweetened cough syrup. 00:28:18.900 --> 00:28:25.900 But back in the day, all I remember, maybe I'm old, but maybe Derek and I are getting 00:28:25.900 --> 00:28:36.900 old. No, no, no. But I remember, cough syrup is bitter. And I remember I'm sneezing and 00:28:36.900 --> 00:28:41.900 I'm coughing. But I know that it is bitter. But my parents know that even though it's bitter, 00:28:41.900 --> 00:28:48.900 they'll chase after me. They'll force me to drink it because it's going to heal my cough, 00:28:48.900 --> 00:28:58.900 right? And so think of that. Whatever you feed on forms you. What feeds you forms you. 00:28:58.900 --> 00:29:07.900 What feeds you forms you, right? So as you feed on the word. And I know that this teaching 00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:15.900 cannot, I cannot over emphasize enough. But one phrase that you can take home from this 00:29:15.900 --> 00:29:25.900 teaching is, feed on the word and it will form you. As you feed on the word, it will 00:29:25.900 --> 00:29:35.900 form you. You will embody the word. The word will become your flesh. Then this leads to 00:29:35.900 --> 00:29:48.900 my fourth point, which is faithfulness over fruitfulness. Faithfulness over fruitfulness. 00:29:48.900 --> 00:29:55.900 God said, go to your own people, right? He, you know, you know, Ezekiel did not get a 00:29:55.900 --> 00:30:00.900 chance to decide where he wants to go. His identity, God said, you will be a prophet. 00:30:00.900 --> 00:30:06.900 He did not get to choose his identity. Secondly, he did not get to choose his calling. The 00:30:06.900 --> 00:30:11.900 calling came from God and his message. He did not get to choose his message. God said, 00:30:11.900 --> 00:30:16.900 I will put message, I will put words in your mouth. Yeah, he has to eat it. Now, where 00:30:16.900 --> 00:30:21.900 is then where is he going to speak? God's going to decide where he's supposed to go. 00:30:21.900 --> 00:30:27.900 This is what a life of surrender looks like, guys. You and I don't get to choose anything. 00:30:27.900 --> 00:30:39.900 On one hand, it sounds harsh. But on the other hand, even if you are given a choice, you 00:30:39.900 --> 00:30:51.900 will pick for second best. God knows what's best. Yeah. So God decides where you serve. 00:30:51.900 --> 00:31:00.900 And he says not to a strange or obscure people or an obscure language, but to Israel. Hardest 00:31:00.900 --> 00:31:08.900 place to go. And God said, they are a rebellious people. And I was counting and I was, you 00:31:08.900 --> 00:31:13.900 know, flipping chapters and reading. And then how many times this word rebellious, rebellious 00:31:13.900 --> 00:31:20.900 people? At least there are 14 times. My counting might be wrong, but at least I have found 00:31:20.900 --> 00:31:26.900 14 times in the Book of Ezekiel alone that Israelites are a rebellious people. I'm sure 00:31:26.900 --> 00:31:36.900 they are really rebellious, you know. Yeah. And yet God deliberately sends him into this 00:31:36.900 --> 00:31:51.900 difficult group of people. If God had sent us to places where there are strangers, where 00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:57.900 there is a foreign language spoken, it says that they would have listened to you by now, 00:31:57.900 --> 00:32:03.900 right? And yet God sends. Even in our own city here in Vancouver, there's so much work 00:32:03.900 --> 00:32:08.900 to be done. There's a great need. This is why we're trying to establish God's kingdom 00:32:08.900 --> 00:32:15.900 here, right? We're trying to raise men and women, be it in Langley, be it in Richmond, 00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:24.900 be it in Burnaby here, or be it in North Van. I really love how God has a lot of humor in 00:32:24.900 --> 00:32:29.900 this, especially in verse eight and nine. If you read it, he is saying that I'm going 00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:35.900 to send you to people who are very stubborn, and he says, I'll make you like them. You're 00:32:35.900 --> 00:32:42.900 going to be so stubborn as well, right? Your forehead is going to be like flint, yeah? 00:32:42.900 --> 00:32:51.900 Yeah? God knows what it requires for a person to be that kind of man to be in such a place, 00:32:51.900 --> 00:32:57.900 right? If you think, if there are some people whom we send to this place or that place, 00:32:57.900 --> 00:33:08.900 God knows what quality it requires for him to get the job done. And so, he'll build 00:33:08.900 --> 00:33:14.900 you, he'll shape you, right? The word of God fortifies us, right? It builds you, right? 00:33:14.900 --> 00:33:25.900 So, I will make your forehead like the hardest stone. The word of God not only forms us, 00:33:25.900 --> 00:33:31.900 but it fortifies us. It always fortifies us. And when you eat the scroll, as in when you 00:33:31.900 --> 00:33:39.900 consume God's word, you develop spiritual resilience for the mission. You develop spiritual 00:33:39.900 --> 00:33:45.900 resilience for the mission, right? You know, remember when Jesus was tempted in the 00:33:45.900 --> 00:33:52.900 wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, one of the go-tos, he would always go back to 00:33:52.900 --> 00:34:02.900 the word. For it is written, for it is written. Word was a weapon. Word was his comfort. 00:34:02.900 --> 00:34:10.900 Word was his fortress, right? So, the word of God has the power, has the ability to make 00:34:10.900 --> 00:34:16.900 you stubborn on one hand, but it develops a spiritual resilience for you to get the job 00:34:16.900 --> 00:34:24.900 done. And you know what, the funny part was, now God says, because we often read, right, 00:34:24.900 --> 00:34:31.900 these are my people, my people, right? God often boasts about Israelites as his people. 00:34:31.900 --> 00:34:37.900 And now, after he has shown himself to Ezekiel and gave him the scroll to eat, now God 00:34:37.900 --> 00:34:45.900 saying, you go to your people. He didn't say my people. He said, go to your people. 00:34:51.900 --> 00:34:57.900 And the Spirit of God lifts him up and then places him among the people where he is supposed 00:34:57.900 --> 00:35:03.900 to be, right? He places him, he positions him exactly where he is supposed to be. And then 00:35:03.900 --> 00:35:08.900 he sits there for seven days, distressed, overwhelmed, right? Feeling the weight of 00:35:08.900 --> 00:35:19.900 this message. And yet, he obeys. Here we see that obedience for God is more important than 00:35:19.900 --> 00:35:27.900 the outcome. God tells Ezekiel that they will not respond. These are rebellious people. 00:35:27.900 --> 00:35:33.900 These are rebellious people. They are not going to respond. And yet, he must go. Isn't 00:35:33.900 --> 00:35:42.900 that funny, eh? Success isn't measured by results, but it is measured by faithful obedience. 00:35:46.900 --> 00:35:53.900 One problem with Saul, King Saul, partial obedience, eh? Partial obedience. What God 00:35:53.900 --> 00:35:58.900 tells him, he will do it, but he will not fully obey. He will partially obey, which 00:35:58.900 --> 00:36:06.900 becomes disobedience, where we get the phrase, obedience is better than sacrifice. Partial 00:36:06.900 --> 00:36:17.900 obedience, not good enough. I don't think Langley is Gillian's favorite place. Yeah? 00:36:17.900 --> 00:36:23.900 And God tells him to go and start, revive there. What about Shelton and Jane? Of all 00:36:23.900 --> 00:36:34.900 the places in Richmond? Eh! Yeah. Or what about North Van? Surely it's not our favorite. 00:36:34.900 --> 00:36:50.900 God decides what message, where, when, how. This is very counter-cultural, guys. Very 00:36:50.900 --> 00:36:59.900 counter-cultural. We are used to defining success by results, right? How successful 00:36:59.900 --> 00:37:06.900 you see the results. But God defines success by obedience. For him, he said, I'll take 00:37:06.900 --> 00:37:13.900 care of the results. You go and do what I tell you to do, right? And so this leads to 00:37:13.900 --> 00:37:24.900 my last point, which is shared responsibility to bring heaven on earth. Shared responsibility 00:37:24.900 --> 00:37:30.900 to bring heaven on earth. You know, when Jesus said, or say, when Jesus taught his 00:37:30.900 --> 00:37:38.900 disciples how to pray, said, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, right? The 00:37:38.900 --> 00:37:46.900 will of heaven needs to be done here on earth. Heaven needs to invade here on earth. And 00:37:46.900 --> 00:37:54.900 God is sharing this responsibility with humanity. I find that very fascinating. He shares heaven 00:37:54.900 --> 00:37:59.900 with you so that you can bring heaven here on earth. And I like to share this phrase 00:37:59.900 --> 00:38:09.900 by, this quote by St. Augustine. This is really good. He said, God without man will not. Man 00:38:09.900 --> 00:38:20.900 without God cannot. Hear me again. God without man will not. When you read from Genesis, 00:38:20.900 --> 00:38:26.900 right from the beginning, God has great plans. He doesn't do it all by himself. Right from 00:38:26.900 --> 00:38:33.900 Genesis, he starts with the first Adam. And he never ceases, right? He wants to bring 00:38:33.900 --> 00:38:37.900 the promised land to the Israelites. He won't do it alone. He would call Moses, you lead 00:38:37.900 --> 00:38:44.900 my people. God is not interested in doing things by his own. He wants partnership so 00:38:44.900 --> 00:38:49.900 that man can enter a relationship with him. That's always God's original plan. That never 00:38:49.900 --> 00:38:56.900 changed. That will never change. So God, without us, he's never going to do. He's not going 00:38:56.900 --> 00:39:03.900 to bring heaven here on earth on his own. This is why you and I are light of the world. 00:39:03.900 --> 00:39:08.900 That's what it says. You and I are the salt and the light. You and I are the hope of the 00:39:08.900 --> 00:39:14.900 world. Crazy, eh? God's going to bring heaven here on earth through you and through me. 00:39:14.900 --> 00:39:23.900 And yet, man on the other hand, without God, we cannot. No matter how hard you try, you 00:39:23.900 --> 00:39:32.900 think it may work for some time, but it won't last. You'll be tired. You'll burn out. One 00:39:32.900 --> 00:39:40.900 of the reasons why many church leaders, many church pastors burn out is because human 00:39:40.900 --> 00:39:49.900 energy, human passion, it has limits. When there is no spirit of God, something extraordinary, 00:39:49.900 --> 00:39:56.900 something beyond us, empowering and strengthening and working, you and I will get tired. Young 00:39:56.900 --> 00:40:07.900 men grow tired and weary, eh? So the lesson that we can learn from this is that, hear 00:40:07.900 --> 00:40:17.900 me this, guys. You are not responsible for how people respond. You are not responsible 00:40:17.900 --> 00:40:25.900 for how people respond. But you are responsible to be faithful in conveying what heaven wants 00:40:25.900 --> 00:40:32.900 here on earth. That's important, eh? You are not responsible for how people respond. But 00:40:32.900 --> 00:40:43.900 you are responsible to convey what heaven wants here on earth. God may call you to a 00:40:43.900 --> 00:40:58.900 very challenging place, to a very hard-hearted people who are resistant, who are even antagonistic, 00:40:58.900 --> 00:41:06.900 but the message is very clear that you and I are not to measure our worth, our dignity, 00:41:06.900 --> 00:41:16.900 our value by how they react. So my question to you is, who are the difficult people? Who 00:41:16.900 --> 00:41:22.900 are the hard-to-reach people in your life? It can be your neighbor. It can be your colleague 00:41:22.900 --> 00:41:30.900 at work. It can be people that you often bump into. Who are some of the people who are hard-to-reach 00:41:30.900 --> 00:41:36.900 in your life that God is calling you to love and speak the truth anyway? Who are those 00:41:36.900 --> 00:41:44.900 group of people? Yeah? And secondly, are you willing to be faithful even if no one applauds 00:41:44.900 --> 00:41:54.900 you? No one recognizes you? No one even responds to what you're saying? And this brings me 00:41:54.900 --> 00:42:03.900 to my last part. Now, the imagery shift, right? He was called to be a prophet and then to 00:42:03.900 --> 00:42:09.900 deliver this message, but then God says, I appoint you as a watchman. Now I appoint you 00:42:09.900 --> 00:42:16.900 as a watchman. And we all know what a watchman does, right? They are stationed on the city 00:42:16.900 --> 00:42:22.900 walls. They are not responsible for causing the danger, right? They don't cause the danger, 00:42:22.900 --> 00:42:29.900 but they have the responsibility of warning people that danger is coming. They are responsible 00:42:29.900 --> 00:42:35.900 for warning the people. And so God's saying, you are not responsible for causing danger. 00:42:35.900 --> 00:42:42.900 That's not your problem, but you are responsible for warning the people. And as I was reading 00:42:42.900 --> 00:42:51.900 this, it really pierced my heart because in verse 18-19, when I read there, God's saying 00:42:51.900 --> 00:42:58.900 very blunt, very clear with him, right? He tells Ezekiel, saying, if there's a wicked 00:42:58.900 --> 00:43:09.900 person, and if you don't warn him, and if he perishes, you are accountable for his blood. 00:43:09.900 --> 00:43:21.900 Crazy, eh? And as I think of that, wow, this is huge. My heart was heavy when I think of 00:43:21.900 --> 00:43:29.900 this. And I wrote this very question to myself, and it really pierced my heart. And I'm going 00:43:29.900 --> 00:43:44.900 to share this with you. What if you and I are responsible? What if you and I are accountable 00:43:44.900 --> 00:43:51.900 for the people whom we always meet, whom we know they are perishing, but we don't have 00:43:51.900 --> 00:44:00.900 the guts to warn them, to share the gospel with them? What if you and I are held accountable 00:44:00.900 --> 00:44:11.900 for their blood? Crazy, eh? There are people whom we know. I'm sure there are people in 00:44:11.900 --> 00:44:17.900 our lives whom we know that they are not walking in faith, that they don't know God. God has 00:44:17.900 --> 00:44:24.900 not been introduced to them. And you and I bump into them every day, or quite often. 00:44:24.900 --> 00:44:31.900 What if, I'm saying what if, I'm held responsible, that at least I'm not responsible for how 00:44:31.900 --> 00:44:38.900 they respond to the gospel, but what if I fail to warn them? Why? Because for fear of 00:44:38.900 --> 00:44:47.900 offending them, or I never had the guts to say. See guys, there's a moral and spiritual 00:44:47.900 --> 00:44:54.900 responsibility. There's a moral and spiritual responsibility placed on those who have the 00:44:54.900 --> 00:45:01.900 truth, who knows the truth. You and I know the truth. We know that Jesus is the only 00:45:01.900 --> 00:45:06.900 way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through the Son. You and 00:45:06.900 --> 00:45:12.900 I have the truth. You and I know the truth. So if you know the truth, if I know the truth, 00:45:12.900 --> 00:45:25.900 you and I have a moral and spiritual responsibility. Silence, when God has spoken, can cost lives. 00:45:25.900 --> 00:45:33.900 Silence, when God has spoken, can cost lives. When God gives me a word and I am silent about 00:45:33.900 --> 00:45:42.900 it, it can cost lives. Speaking up is not always the most popular thing to do, but it 00:45:42.900 --> 00:45:52.900 can make a difference for them, not just in this life, but for eternity. Yeah? What fascinates 00:45:52.900 --> 00:46:03.900 me is this. What I do matters in heaven. What I do here on earth matters in heaven. What 00:46:03.900 --> 00:46:12.900 you do here on earth matters in heaven. We are not of this world. We are in the world, 00:46:12.900 --> 00:46:18.900 but we are not off the world. So what you do here on earth is you have been assigned 00:46:18.900 --> 00:46:24.900 to do something. And what you do here matters in heaven. Everything that I do with God here 00:46:24.900 --> 00:46:35.900 on earth has eternal consequences. Crazy, eh? So let me leave you with these two questions. 00:46:35.900 --> 00:46:42.900 Where are you being called to speak up? Where? Where are you being called to speak up? As 00:46:42.900 --> 00:46:50.900 a friend, as a parent, as a mentor, as a colleague, where are you being called to speak up? And 00:46:50.900 --> 00:47:03.900 secondly, have you stayed silent when God has called you to be a watchman? And so can 00:47:03.900 --> 00:47:16.900 we go to the last slide? So I want us to just a quick recap. The world needs this transformative 00:47:16.900 --> 00:47:21.900 power of this theophany. The world needs to encounter who this divine God is, the God 00:47:21.900 --> 00:47:27.900 we serve, the God we know. And they can, yes, God can meet them directly, but oftentimes 00:47:27.900 --> 00:47:36.900 God likes to encounter them through you. Yeah? And secondly, he decides who you are, who they are. 00:47:36.900 --> 00:47:43.900 And secondly, the overriding call of God. He decides your call. You don't get to choose. 00:47:43.900 --> 00:47:53.900 You can choose your job, but he decides your call. Yeah? I can choose my job based on some of my 00:47:53.900 --> 00:48:02.900 natural talents, but calling is greater. So he chooses your call. He decides your call. 00:48:02.900 --> 00:48:09.900 He said, I will make you fishes of men. They choose to be fishermen, but God calls them to be 00:48:09.900 --> 00:48:19.900 fishes of men. Yeah? And third one, he has his message, not your message, not my message. Yeah? 00:48:19.900 --> 00:48:28.900 And how? How are we supposed? You know, I remember Jacob telling me while going to one of the mission trips, 00:48:28.900 --> 00:48:38.900 I said, how do I prepare? And he said, you cannot prepare, Tuni. You cannot prepare for a mission trip. 00:48:38.900 --> 00:48:45.900 Your lifestyle has to be a preparation, and then you are ready to go. Yeah? So the word, we have to eat the word, 00:48:45.900 --> 00:48:51.900 chew the word, swallow the word, digest the word so that we embody the word. Right? So it's because why? 00:48:51.900 --> 00:49:00.900 Because we're going to speak his message. Right? And then where? He'll tell you. 00:49:00.900 --> 00:49:08.900 And then the last one. You and I share the privilege. On one hand, it's a privilege. 00:49:08.900 --> 00:49:14.900 You and I are called to bring heaven and earth. Isn't that a privilege? Yeah? If you are to bring heaven 00:49:14.900 --> 00:49:21.900 here on earth, what a privilege it is. And yet you have the responsibility of bringing here on earth. 00:49:21.900 --> 00:49:28.900 It's a privilege. It's a responsibility. And he shares with you, with me. Crazy guys. 00:49:28.900 --> 00:49:38.900 This is the God of the universe. I pray that may we be people who learn how to eat the scroll, digest the scroll. Right? 00:49:38.900 --> 00:49:45.900 Or if we are to put it literally, can we be the ones who eat our Bibles? Yeah? 00:49:45.900 --> 00:49:53.900 And it can be lament. It can be mourning. It can be woe. Right? It'll taste sweet. It may be sour in our stomach. 00:49:53.900 --> 00:50:04.900 But as you speak it, it'll give life. And even though our city may be asleep, may you and I be watchmen of this city, 00:50:04.900 --> 00:50:14.900 of this neighborhood. Right? And may we be the voice crying out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord. 00:50:14.900 --> 00:50:23.900 Bless you guys. Over to you, Jillian. 00:50:23.900 --> 00:50:34.900 Thanks, Jenny. I don't know if, I didn't introduce guests earlier. Did we have any guests? 00:50:34.900 --> 00:50:46.900 Putting up their hands. So, we'll just close. Father, we thank you for 00:50:46.900 --> 00:50:54.900 the story you've wrote in our lives today. 00:50:54.900 --> 00:51:02.900 We want to take what Tunis said, Father. 00:51:02.900 --> 00:51:07.900 Give us a hunger, a desire. 00:51:07.900 --> 00:51:11.900 To know your word. 00:51:11.900 --> 00:51:16.900 And that your people become our people. 00:51:16.900 --> 00:51:20.900 Give us a desire to know your word like we haven't before. 00:51:20.900 --> 00:51:30.900 As we begin to know you in new ways, that your people become our people, Father. 00:51:30.900 --> 00:51:45.900 It's a privilege, Father. May we carry it. May we own it. 00:51:45.900 --> 00:51:52.900 We thank you, Father, that you call us together and now you send us back out. You send us back out into our weeks ahead. 00:51:52.900 --> 00:51:59.900 Each one with different spheres of influence, different places they need to go this week. 00:51:59.900 --> 00:52:11.900 But may we go carrying what you've said today. Carrying encounters that we've had with you today. Carrying, discovering new aspects about you. 00:52:11.900 --> 00:52:14.900 Enjoying you, Father. 00:52:14.900 --> 00:52:19.900 May we take it with us as we go back out into the world, Father. 00:52:19.900 --> 00:52:28.900 So we thank you, we give you praise. We delight in you, our Father, who always brings us onto your lap. 00:52:28.900 --> 00:52:32.900 Because that's what you love for us to abide, Father. 00:52:32.900 --> 00:52:35.900 So we thank you. Amen. 00:52:35.900 --> 00:52:39.900 If anyone needs prayer, there will be people up here to pray for you. 00:52:39.900 --> 00:52:43.900 And have a wonderful week. 00:52:58.900 --> 00:53:00.900 Amen.