In a bulletin article a few weeks ago I mentioned the courage of Jeremiah, who stood before kings (who had the power of life and death over him) and delivered God’s message of doom and defeat. I even indicated that we all (and especially the preacher) should pray that God would give us that kind of courage to witness and speak His Word to others. And then we get to the book of Ezekiel, and we find another man of God with the same or similar courage. We see from our text that God gave this great servant, this prophet of His a very difficult and frightening message to deliver to some who had come to him. Pastoring and preaching involve taking God’s message from His Word to His people - not just filling a pulpit and filling up time each Sunday. I fuss a lot about preachers not taking a stand for the truth or preaching sickeningly sweet “sermonettes.” But it is also very difficult to stand before people you love and delivering a “hard” message. (I never enjoyed chastening my children, and I don’t enjoy preaching such messages.) Preachers have enough of the flesh in them that they like to feel loved and appreciated and popular just like anyone else. But you know another reason a preacher might be tempted to “go soft” on God’s Word. Listen to what God said through Jeremiah in Jermiah 5:30-31: “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; (31) The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” “ . . . and my people love to have it so . . . ” It sort of reminds you what Paul told Timothy in II Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” I Timothy 4:1-2 tells us, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; (2) Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron . . . " Sadly, the attitude of many church goers today is, “Preacher, make it short and sweet, and don't offend anyone.” (If you preach the whole counsel of God, you will probably offend some people.) If I quit feeding you from God’s Word, if I ever get to the point that I am just up here to fill up time, get a salary, and go home, it is time for the church to look for a new pastor (because God may be about to take care of the present one). This message deals with how some people come to church - to hear God’s Word and to worship and praise Him, or to appear to be a faithful servant when in heart we are not. We need to keep a couple of verses of Scripture in mind as we go through this message today -- Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” and Isaiah 29:13: “. . . this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men . . . ” Our text actually presents two different incidents at two different times, but they seem to deal with very similar (or the same) conditions. As these in our text come to Ezekiel we see:

I. THEIR APPEARING - VS. 1.

II. THEIR ACTIONS - VS. 1.

III. THEIR ASKING - VS. 3.

IV. THE ANSWER - VV. 4-5.

There are some things that will cause us to fail to consider the reality of Christ’s return, and Jesus mentioned at least a couple of them in Matthew 24. In Matthew 24:12 He said, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” This is the same condition that He said existed in the church at Ephesus. In Revelation 2 the Lord praised their labor, their endurance, their testing and rejection of “them which say they are apostles, and are not . . . ” But then in vs. 4 He said, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” Ephesus was doing so much good. It’s like they were doing “everything except,” and it is the “except” that the Lord condemned and that endangered their existence as one of the Lord’s churches. Well, what does love for the Lord waxing cold have to do with not considering His return. First of all, a lax love, a lost love will adversely affect our labor. In First Corinthians 9:17 Paul names 2 motives for serving God - willingly and against my will. You can serve the Lord because you love Him and want to, or because you feel like you have to. With one there is a reward, and with the other, at least a dispensation (stewardship) of the Gospel is committed to you. Lax love will affect our walk, our work, our witness, our worship . . . our willingness to serve the Lord, especially in days in which those who “live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (II Timothy 3:12). Secondly, a lax or lost love will affect our longing for Christ’s return. I can tell you, when you are in that condition you are not looking for the Lord’s return, you are not praying for His return, and you are probably not wanting His return. The other thing that the Lord mentions that will cause us not to consider the reality of His coming is that we just are not thinking about it. Matthew 24:44: “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” What did the Lord say about the conditions on earth at His coming? Luke 17:26-27 -- “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. (27) They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:28-30 -- “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; (29) But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. (30) Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” What is He saying? People then were going about “life as usual” and were taken by surprise just like one of these days people will be going through “life as usual,” and Christ will return. When you woke up this morning did you think, “This may be the day Jesus returns?” Why not? One of these day it will be. We like to believe in the Second Coming of the Lord, but we don’t expect it! Jesus warned in Luke 21:34: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares." The point is that our world, and many of God’s people in the world will be caught by surprise. Someone might ask, “If we don’t know exactly when the coming of Christ will take place and exactly how things will take place, what is the importance of preaching about it?” First, in the Model Prayer Jesus taught us to pray for His coming kingdom - “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” So (second), the preaching of the coming of Christ will: 1) Remind us of the “blessed hope” that we have; 2) Be an incentive for faithfulness to service of God and right living; 3) And, encourage believers to witness to lost friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, etc. Also, I pray that God will use this message to stir our hearts and minds so that the glorious coming of Jesus may be uppermost in our thoughts. That we would not be satisfied with merely being “saved,” but that we arise from our state of lethargy. And that by the power of the Spirit our we will be stirred to labor for Him for His coming is near. Here are some Bible reasons why I believe we should watch for the coming of Jesus and why I believe His coming is near.

I. THE PRESENCE OF LATTER DAY SCOFFERS -- II PETER 3:3-7.

II. THE GREAT APOSTASY -- II THESSALONIANS 2:3.

III. REJECTION OF HOLY SPIRIT LEADERSHIP.

IV. PERILOUS TIMES -- II TIMOTHY 3:1-5.

V. THE IMMORALITY OF OUR DAY -- PROVERBS 14:34.

VI. THE LORD'S CHURCHES IN THIS AGE -- REVELATION 3:14-22.

VII. THE PARABLE OF THE BUDDING FIG TREE -- LUKE 21:29-32.

We all are familiar with the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (or, their Hebrew names, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael). Like them, we will experience pressure on us because of our walk with God. That pressure will come from the world, the flesh, and the devil. Anyone who lives for the Lord will understand that the Christian life is difficult! We have found that we are at odds with this world’s system and how the world lives -- Romans 12:2 ; I John 2:16. We are at odds with Satan (I Peter 5:8), and even our own flesh (Galatians 5:17). This conflict causes a temptation to conform to all the influences around us and to go the way of the world. That is what many so-called “Christians” are doing. We see churches, homes, and whole families that have sold out and are going in the way of the world. That's why this message is needed today. These three men teach us that it is possible to be on fire for God when most of those around us are headed for the fires of hell. Where there is genuine faith in Jesus, there is fire! Our enemy (Satan) will try to extinguish the flame, but we can live for God. We can be on fire for God today, and these verses tell us how. We must:

I. BE DIFFERENT -- VV. 1-7.

II. BE DETERMINED -- VV. 8-18.

III. BE DELIVERED -- VV. 19-30.

Many will look at these verses of our text and consider the actions of Joshua as cruel. After these five kings hid themselves in a cave he imprisoned them and set a guard over them until he got back from battle. Upon his return he brought them out, had his men stand on their necks, and then killed them. But we have to remember that there was a battle going on. There was a war going on. The battle that is going on in the book of Joshua should be typical of the battle in our hearts, in our minds, and in our lives. What are they doing in Joshua? They are conquering the Promise Land. They are possessing their possessions that God has given to them. Our battle as those who are saved, as children of God is a spiritual warfare about daily faithfulness to God and trusting Him to empower us to live for Him. In Ephesians 6:12 Paul said “. . . we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” We battle daily “with all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” and God’s word says such “is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (I John 2:16) What was Israel supposed to do when they entered the Promise Land? They were to get rid of all of the inhabitants of the land – whether by driving them out or by destroying them. So Joshua’s actions in our text verses, as “cruel” as they may seem to us are simply following God’s instructions. This teaches us that sin in our lives must be deal with in a drastic fashion, or we will NEVER overcome it. In Romans 7:13 the Apostle Paul said, "Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” That is how we need to see sin, especially sin in our own lives – “exceeding sinful.” It should bother us, cause us sorrow to sin against our Heavenly Father who loves us and gave Himself for us.

One of the great problems in the Lord’s churches today is that we have developed a “professional ministry.” Too many preachers are more concerned with pleasing the congregation than they are with pleasing God. And too many congregations are happy to let them do it. Elijah didn’t mince words. He was plain spoken. He had not learned the art of saying something without saying anything -- of almost saying something. You didn’t have to wonder where he stood. Too many preachers almost bring a message from the Lord. They are an uncertain trumpet in an uncertain day (I Corinthians 14:8). There is only one place I want to get the message I share -- the Word of God. If there ever was a time that God’s preachers and God’s people need to stand up and stand out in this nation, it is NOW! With some preaching and  preachers today you almost have to wonder if they’re speaking FOR God or against Him. You didn’t have the problem with Elijah. We need Elijahs today – in the pulpit, yes, but in the pew as well. So, we are going to look at Elijah this morning, and the first thing we’re going to see is that:

   I.  HE WAS A COMMON MAN.

 II.  ELIJAH WAS A COURAGEOUS MAN.

III.  ELIJAH WAS A COMMITTED MAN.

IV.  ELIJAH WAS A CONFIDENT MAN.

At the outset of this message I want to share two verses of Scripture and two certainties that have to do with the thoughts I am about to present. Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord . . . ” and Psalm 9:17 says, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” There was a time when we were happy and blessed as a nation. God was at least in our thoughts if not in our hearts. There was room for Him in most homes, in the classroom, in the courtroom, and in the state house. Sadly, today, we seem to have turned 180 degrees and are going in the completely opposite direction. Our condition resembles that of ancient Babylon as it is recorded here in Daniel 5. And, some of the events at Belshazzar’s feast may give us some insight into what is going on in America today. First of all, I want us to notice:

I. THEIR CORRUPT CONDITION.

II. OUR CURRENT CONDITION.

III. THE COMING CALAMITY -- VV. 5-9.

The attitude of so many in the world and so many worldly believers today is: Size equals success. (“If it’s bigger it must be better.”) Some believe that size and wealth equate to God’s blessings. That is not always the case. The devil will give the world what it wants in order to draw it to him. Remember what the Lord said to the church at Smyrna in Revelation 2:9: “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) . . . ” And to the church that said it was “rich, and increased with goods,” and in need of nothing (Laodicea -- Revelation 3:17) He said thou “knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked . . . ” And, many feel that if you are small you can’t do much for the Lord. Some would look at Bethel and say, “You’re not very big. You don’t have a lot of people. What can you do in this world?” Even some who are members of our sister churches, when they move to this town, will not even consider visiting here, preferring, rather, to visit a larger church because the “larger church” “has more to offer me and my family.” (They don’t know what they are missing.) Sadly, this seems to be the attitude of so many “church attenders” today. Well, for the record let me just state, you DO NOT attend a church for “what it can do for you.” You join and attend a church for what YOU can do FOR THE LORD in and through it. A New Testament church is a place of service, not a place to be served! Why should size matter (unless you’re just trying to “get lost” in a large group of people) if the church is: One of the Lord’s true churches, and if it is, preaching and teaching the Word in Spirit and in truth? The “bigger is better” attitude is what has hurt so many small churches, especially in our fellowship. I have known of people who would drive miles from home to attend a “larger church” and pass smaller ones which were just as much the Lord’s and just as spiritual as the one they were headed to along the way. And then those same people will ultimately wonder why the smaller church finally had to close her doors. I will tell you why. They couldn’t get workers. They couldn’t get families with young people (because the other church provided entertainment for their children). (What's wrong with growing and building your own youth group?) They couldn’t get people who weren’t on “fixed incomes” who could support the church financially. (Usually it's the older members, whose income may be limited to retirement or Social Security, who will stay with the church even as she grows smaller and finally non-existent.) See, what most “believers” in America want today is a work that is already built instead of being used of the Lord to build up a work that is faltering or to build a new work. Neither will I let preachers off the hook. I have known men who would not consider pastoring a small church. Maybe they felt they were too big, too important, or too good of a speaker to “waste” their time with a small church. It’s possible that is why some churches have trouble getting a pastor or getting a pastor who will stay. And therein, I believe, lies part of the problem for us -- not for believers in general, but for Bethel. If we are not careful we will consider ourselves small and insignificant. I remember Bro. Mike Pournoy saying that we tend to have a “small church” attitude and that we need to get rid of that. He didn’t mean for us to lose the closeness we have as a church or our love for one another but to get rid of the attitude that says, “We’re not much, and we can’t do much.” Just consider this: God populated the earth with just eight souls (Noah and his family). Israel went into Egypt as a family of 75 but came out a nation of about 2 million. Goliath didn’t consider David to be much, but who won that fight?  What about Gideon’s army? Reduced from 32,000 to 300! Jesus started with just a few – Peter, Andrew, James, and John . . . and others were added so that some estimate that the church at Jerusalem grew to as many as 10,000 members (or larger). We need to be reminded of I Corinthians 1:26-29: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.” Our text names 4 things that are small and yet mighty at the same time (WISE = intelligent, skilful, artful.) They are:

  I. THE PREPARATION OF ANTS -- VS. 25.

 II. THE PROTECTION OF THE CONIES – VS. 26.

III. THE PRECISION OF THE LOCUSTS – VS. 27.

IV. THE PRESENCE OF “SPIDERS” – VS. 28.

Proverbs 24 deals with the problem of neglect of and satisfaction with one’s spiritual condition. It sounds an alarm to any who suffer from this problem. Solomon says he went by a field, noticed a vineyard, and realized something was wrong. The field was overgrown with thorns and thistles. The wall that had once protected it was broken down. In those days farmers and vineyard husbandmen were respected, but the owner of this land gained no respect from Solomon. He says this owner was “slothful, and . . . void of understanding . . . ” (or lacking sense). SLOTHFUL = lazy; indolent. Laziness can come for a variety of reasons. Sommetimes it comes when we just say, “I’ve done enough. It’s sufficient. I’m satisfied. I’m happy with where I am and what I am doing, and I am just not going to do anything else.” Notice again what Solomon says of the condition of this field. It was overgrown with thorns and nettles and thistles and all sorts of weeds had taken it over. I enjoy gardening. I have had big gardens, and they are a lot of work - especially in late summer. About late July or so, I’d reach the point that it sure got hard to get behind that tiller . . . and the hoe wasn’t that easy to use, either. And it was easy to become satisfied with what I had already gotten out of the garden. Productivity in any situation, whether it’s in a business or even in a church is the result of constant labor and a refusal to become satisfied with the status quo. Someone said “status quo” is Latin for “the mess we’re in.” But we don’t ever need to become satisfied with the way things are. When have we done enough as God’s people? When have we reached the point that we can come into the house, sit around the table and not worry about working out in the field? We probably all know or have known people who were once “spiritual giants.” Once upon a time they were soul winners, prayer warriors, faithful servants, and even leaders in the church. They were load bearers, burden sharers, faithful to the Lord and to the His work. But somewhere along the way they began to neglect the things of God in their lives, and now they are a mere shell of what they once were. Possibly, there is someone here today who might have to admit “I am not where I once was spiritually speaking." Maybe your passion and zeal have been replaced with complacency and apathy. Maybe you suffer from a common problem in the Lord’s churches called spiritual neglect. Solomon draws our attention to the problem of neglect and proclaims it as the result of slothfulness. And he says poverty is imminent for anyone who abandons their duty in that manner. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are headed toward that condition - spiritual poverty - and, even worse, some are already there. In II Peter 1:9 we see what God says about those who neglect spiritual growth in their lives: “But he that lacketh these things (listed in vv. 5-7) is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” So let’s look at these verses in Proverbs and see:

I. THE CRISES OF SPIRITUAL NEGLECT - VV. 30-31.

II. THE CAUSE OF SPIRITUAL NEGLECT.

III. The Consequences Of Spiritual Neglect.

IV. THE CURE FOR SPIRITUAL NEGLECT.

This present world is Satan’s realm. In Revelation 2:13, to the church at Pergamos Jesus said, “I know . . . where Satan’s seat is . . . ” (SEAT = throne, by implication, power.) Satan’s circuit is throughout the world, but it seems that his throne is in some places that are infamous for sin, wickedness, error, and cruelty -- Ancient Rome, Hollywood, Washington D.C. And the seat of persecution of believers is Satan’s seat. II Corinthians 4:4 tells us that Satan is “the god of this world.” “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: (4) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” Truly, we are living in the midst of the enemy’s camp today, in the midst of a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. In our text John names 3 traps that the world, the flesh, and the devil use against us to keep us from worshipping and serving God the way we should, the way He desires. Remember, John is writing, “that ye may know that ye have eternal life . . . ” Thus, he is writing to the saved. He is writing to people like us. It is not unusual that Satan would use our flesh against us. That has been his method from the beginning. Look at how he tempted Eve in Genesis 3 -- 1) “Good for food” speaks of the lust of the flesh; 2) “Pleasant to the eyes” presents us with the lust of the eyes; 3) “A tree to be desired to make one wise” talks about the pride of life. In Matthew 4 we see that Satan even tried to tempt Jesus in this way. -- 1) Vs. 3 - The lust of the flesh (Jesus was hungry, vs. 2); 2) Vv. 8-9 - The lust of the eyes; 3) Vv. 5-6 -- The pride of life. And the enemy’s attacks seem to be getting more frequent and stronger the closer we get to the coming of the Lord . . . but this does not surprise us. Revelation 12:10 says, “ . . . for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” Revelation 12:12 tells us, “. . . for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” This is why we need to follow the instruction of the Scriptures in Ephesians 6:11 and “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” We need: 1) The “breastplate of righteousness” to protect our hearts; the “helmet of salvation” to protect our minds (The battle is for the mind.); our “loins girt about with truth,” our “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” “the shield of faith,” and “the sword of the Spirit,” and we need to pray “always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit . . . with all perseverance and supplication for all saints . . . ” In this message we are going to examine these three areas of temptation and testing.

I. TRAP #1 -- THE LUST OF THE FLESH.

II. TRAP #2 -- THE LUST OF THE EYES.

III. TRAP #3 -- THE PRIDE OF LIFE.

Why does God allow trials in our lives? Chastisement? Sometimes He allows the consequences of our actions to be the chastisement for sin in our lives. To show us how strong we are in Him? “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” (James 1:3.) To teach us? “ . . . we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; (4) And patience, experience; and experience, hope: (5) And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:3-5).I want suggest one other reason – to create worshippers. Have you ever noticed how ready we are to praise and talk about God when He has brought us through some trial or difficulty? In John 4 Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman about worship. In vs. 23 Jesus said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” “True worshippers” indicates that there can be false worshippers – those who only “go through the motions” of worship. Then Jesus said that God wants true worshippers to worship Him (vs. 24) “in spirit and in truth.” Peter 1:6-7 presents to us the relationship of trials and worship. Because of the assurance of vs. 5 we can and should rejoice and worship God in the security of our salvation, even in trials. I Thessalonians 5:18 tells us, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Is that possible? Can we give thanks and worship God even in trials? Not only can we, we are instructed to do so. In this message we will see how God moved in the lives of His people – in the Old Testament and in the New – to produce worshippers and to bring glory unto Himself. We will see:

I. RED SEA WORSHIPPERS – EXODUS 14.

II. MT. CARMEL WORSHIPPERS – I KINGS 18.

III. WORSHIPPERS IN PERSECUTION – ACTS 5.