The Spirit met Ezekiel and moved him in the purpose of God. The prophet was made to stand and hear. The prophet ate the Word. The prophet preached and the dry bones came alive. God is calling us beyond sloth to live as this man lived. (Ezekiel 2:1-2; 3:1-2; 37:3-4)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller
Sermon 11844
7:00 PM on 2/26/2020

P. Schaller –

That phrase “the little foxes that spoil the vine.” What did he mean by that, Zane? Song of Solomon, the
vineyard, and the little fox that spoils the vine. What does that mean? I need to talk to Zane
after! Have you read in Matthew. 24 in the end time beginning of sorrows and pestilences,
coronavirus, and other pestilences. What does it do? It troubles the world. These things are
troubling to the world. You hear about it and think is it coming, and will I die. The believer has
something else happening in his life that is higher and beyond a virus. If I die, I go to be with
Jesus.

Are you in that place in your faith where you are not so much fearing death? I’m not
saying I would never fear death. I have a sin nature, mortal body and fear of the unknown. On
the other hand, when you are doctrinal and the Spirit teaches you, you become in the Spirit, in
your worship, you begin to develop in your soul, in what P. Stevens called your soul body, an
increased capacity for truth. I’m sorry for the unbeliever because he is scared half to death, but
the believer has a different mind. This is good in Hebrews 12 for the world to be shaken so those
things that cannot be shaken – that’s the doctrine, the reality of the kingdom – will stay and
remain.

We have a message in a troubled world, not in arrogance but in love, humility, and
grace and the message in the ministry. This is our joy. Next part in the service, I’d like you to do
something a little bit strange. I was reading about the gifts of the Spirit and the understanding
of the gifts of the Spirit are tools. Give me the names of some of the gifts of the Spirit? Fruit of
the Spirit are love, joy, and peace. The gifts of the Spirit are mercy, wisdom, faith, healings,
apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and miracles. The gifts are given to us. Can the gifts
mature the Christian?

No, they are tools to help us in the ministry but there are many times
people that have the gifts are also carnal. They have a gift, but it’s not consistently woven into
their soul in maturity. What is the evidence of maturity? Is it a gift or fruit? It is love. Maturity is
a Christian growing in love. When he grows in love, 1 Corinthians 13, AGAPE love, he matures in love,
but he may have gifts. The Corinthians had all the gifts, but they were carnal. Gifts are not
evidence of maturity but tools in the Body. You have a gift. God gives the gifts as he pleases.
The great linkage is I not only have a gift, but I have maturity.

I not only have a word of knowledge….and I’m not proud about it because I’m mature. In love, there is the humility and maturity. When healing happens, we say glory to God, and you don’t think so highly of
yourself…God did that. God was gracious. If I never said it and fully satisfied by the nature of
God in my heart and spirit. Ephesians 5:18, be filled with the Spirit. In little groups around where you
are seated, share a ministry with your sisters and brothers however that is. Maybe sitting
quietly together and saying a word of love or faith.

Maybe someone has something from the Holy Spirit, a word of faith or prayer. If you don’t want to participate in that, you can sit in the presence of God and enjoy him. Okay. One of the things that we prayed for and P. Ron said he
had two tests for tumors, and both came back negative, benign. Halleluiah! That’s amazing.
We’ll have him around a little longer. Isn’t that amazing. Where is Margie? Another 100 years!
84 years. How old are you? Eighty-five. He’s dodging bullets all the time. We had a prayer for a
fresh -I don’t know about you, but I want to have a fresh ability to win souls. Something fresh
happening. Open my mouth to speak as I ought to. I think you can identify. We all can. I just
want to say thank you so much for the, you know, what? The invisible birthday cake!

Thank you for your love and also it reminds me we are going to have donut Sunday here a week from this
Sunday. We’re going to have a lot of donuts. I think it’s after the 11:00 service. We’re not going
to tell the people at the 9:00! We’re going to cut them up in very little pieces! Are you ready to
hear a short message? A long one? Okay. Ezekiel. Our theme is on worship. That you have
become a worshiper, which is another way of saying you live by faith. You lift up holy hands
without wrath and doubting, 1 Timothy 2:8.

You learn to live without not only reason, – reason is part of life and life is reasonable to a degree, but I cannot by reason alone live my life. We are made in the image of God. We see the 24 elders in the book of Revelation falling down before the throne and worshiping. This is where it is all going. When we see God, we will be
overwhelmed and realize who he is. Worship is what we are made for. It’s recognizing his
nature, knowing his person, responding to him in our life of faith. Many times in life, we limit
God by our circumstances. In Psalm 78, the unbelieving Jewish people in the wilderness mockingly
said can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

If you want to say it in a nasty way. What? Can God prepare a table? Can he raise the dead? What? Can he bring water out of a stone? You think we’re going to get delivered out of this trouble? We learn how careful we have to be with our words and our attitude. When you come into the temple, keep your foot and let your words
be few. You are on earth and God is in heaven. There are times in your spiritual life of faith
when you see God and you realize God can do this. Oh, I believe you. I am sure. I am persuaded.
I realize it. I believe it. Before Thomas met Jesus, he is in unbelief. After he meets him, he bows
down and worships him and calls him Lord and Savior.

In Ezekiel. 2:1, that’s a great verse, isn’t it! Get off the couch and I’ll speak to you! You can speak to me right here. That’s fine with me. God is God, isn’t he? Whatever he says. What he says. This is part of our test of humility,
obedience to him. Trust. Trust in him with all my heart. Stand on your feet. The next thing will
be I will speak to you. Let’s go. We are blessed because not only do you have a new capacity – I
think of your osn as a fish in an aquarium. In your old sin nature, you are a human being, but
your limit is to the wall of the aquarium. A dog on a leash is like a man who is a sinner. He never
finds out what he is. He doesn’t get it. He’s just a man limited.

Many people accept this. I’m a man. I feel like one, reason like one and live like one. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3, why do you walk as men. Woe! Because I am a man. No, you’re like a fish in an aquarium. You’re like a lion in a
cage. You haven’t found what it means to live. Why do you live as a man when you could live
like the Son of God, or the apostle Paul or David or Daniel? When the law was passed, and I
think you are aware of our times today. In England, they are passing hate crime laws or hate
speech. It’s in Europe and here, too. It’s going to come strong. They will pass laws and because
of our convictions about things that are wrong, it may be that we will get in some kind of
trouble.

Daniel couldn’t pray to any god or image for 30 days. He went home and prayed in
front of an open window three times a day. He provoked the authorities in a sense. He didn’t
back down, but he had God that he knew and worshiped. He had that conviction because he
was a worshiper. You cannot take my prayer away from me. You cannot take my convictions
away from me. Stand up and I’ll speak to you. The Spirit entered into me when he spoke to me
and set me upon my feet. I heard him that spake unto me. Vs. 2. God could say, pray. It could
be the Spirit would move in you to pray. God could say give and the Spirit can do it.

The Spirit can fulfill the will and does fulfill the will of God. Repent. I can’t. Yes, you can. Believe God and
God gives me repentance. I repent and start to move in faith. In faith, my life has another
dimension and it is spirit and truth. It’s now moving in us. The second example – and I have
three of them – is chapter 3:1. The roll is the scroll of the Scripture. Eat the Scriptures and I will
speak to the house of Israel. First you have to get the Word in you and eat the Word and then I
will use you to speak to the Israelites. You might say I don’t know. Can I eat the scroll? How
does that happen?

The answer is submitting yourself unto God. If we are submitted unto God
by faith, then this happens. You might say I’m not very smart. You don’t have to be smart. We
are submitted unto God as worshipers. You asked me to eat the roll. I don’t think I can. But I’m
a worshiper of you and I believe you and trust you. It’s your business. Vs. 2. He caused me to
eat that roll. What? He caused me to eat that roll. We are being inundated in our world with all
kinds of excuses why we should stay on the couch, why we are a victim. I’m not motivated. I
don’t have any feeling about it.

We are inundated with excuses all the time. When God says
something, all you have to do is be available to God. You can say if you want to, I can’t do this,
but you say it in a sacred way before a holy God if you say it at all. There is another way you can
say it. It’s the third example. Ezekiel 37:3, what did he see but all the scattered bones in a desert
where all kinds of animals maybe died of dehydration and the sun bleached their bones and the
whole valley is filled with bleached bones. These are Jewish people. They are bones and
disconnected with each other. They are dead and bleached.

God gave Ezekiel a vision of the bones and he said, can these bones live? We would say by reason, no. By feelings, never. But Ezekiel was walking with God like you are. You are able to say God you wanted me to stand up.
I couldn’t stand up, but you caused me to stand up. You told me to read the Bible and eat the
Bible and I couldn’t, and you caused me to eat the Bible. Now you are asking me can these
bones live? Now my answer to you because I know who you are and what it means to live by
faith in you. All things are possible. Ezekiel was a priest of God, set apart for God. This is his
answer in vs. 3. You know. Can you live a holy life?

You’re a young man in a world inundated with suggestions and iPhones filled with anything you want visually. When you are living in a rich country and many of us may not live that way. We are the richest people that ever lived.
We are so educated and have feelings and fed a lot of stuff. Can I be a man of God, a woman of
God, a different kind of person who is able to say before God I want to see you before my face.
I want to stand on holy ground and when God says take your shoes off, we’ll say I’ll take my
shoes off. I’ll be different. You are God and you are able.

What did God say to Ezekiel in vs. 4? How can I prophesy if I don’t have the Word in me? If you got the Word in you, you could say something. If you have some experience in your life, and you take up your cross and be a
servant. I said to the high school today which I love teaching the high school. I told them a head
of time I’m going to teach you something and you are maybe going to feel bad about yourself
because of the subject. But I don’t intend it for you to feel bad about yourself. I want you to be
encouraged. It’s this word “slothfulness.” I asked them what it means.

They said laziness and on it goes. Other words for it. I said there are at least 14 Proverbs – sorry, I don’t have an accurate count. I think there is more even. What is it to be slothful, lazy, have no interest in something?
What is it to not be motivated as a person? I said this can grow. We drew a little picture about it. The vacuum. It’s all about me. I need. I want. Give to me. Give to me. But there is another
person who is a worshiper and God fills him and he has God in his life. It’s Luke 11:11. It says
ask and it shall be given unto you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be open.
What if God is with you and you knock and it’s open.

You ask and its’ given to you. Now you are able to say, can I help you? Can I give to you? What do you need? Can I serve you? Can I wash your feet? Can I help you. God is saying to Ezekiel can these bones live. The slothful person is saying, don’t bother me. I have my own problems. I’m not interested. I’m not involved. You got
your problems and I got mine. When you are filled with the Spirit Ezekiel stood up by God and
ate the Bible by God. You know, Lord. Then he said prophesy. Now Ezekiel can prophesy, and
the bones started to move. That bone was joined to that bone. The hip bone, the elbow bone,
the negro spiritual song about the bones coming together.

The prophesying and the flesh came on the bones. The nation of Israel was again. That nation of Israel became the center again of all human government in the Millennial reign. That day is coming. That’s it. I’m going to close
now. Don’t underestimate what God can do with you as a person in your life. Don’t be slothful.
Be available. Just be available. God will move you. You start to move. I’ll close with this little
story that just came to my mind. Watchmen Nee had tuberculosis in China. This was some time
ago. He was sick and in a house in bed. It looked like he might be dying. He’s upstairs and the
Spirit spoke to him. He said – I forget the verses.

There were three verses. He said we walk by faith. Watchmen Nee decided to take that word. He got up and when he started to go, when he was going toward the doorway, he felt maybe God was in it. God gave him another verse. When he got down, he realized God was healing him. He gave him the third verse and then he was
healed. What I’m saying tonight is worship is a very valuable part of our life. We have to put our
reason and feelings aside many times. God, you know. You know what you are doing. You know
how you can make me a servant. Instead of crying about what I don’t have, I worship God and
he shows me something that I do have, and I get involved in what God is doing.

I realize I have more to give away. I can serve you. I can minister to you. I can help you. We can get
discouraged and walk around in reason and feeling and talk about it. The Lord would say get
before me. Set your eyes. Realize who I am. I am God. I am not like people complaining and
crying about everything and reasoning things out. I can’t go somewhere because of a sickness
or disease or money or health. We are reasonable people, but we are careful to be
worshippers. How can I stand up? The Spirit caused me. How can I read the Bible? The Spirit
caused me…how can you have a new group in a pizza shop somewhere in New Jersey? The
Spirit does it. How can I help out? The Spirit does it. How can I be part of a team? The Spirit
does it.

Amen. That’s all.

 

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