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Book: Ezekiel
 Print ( PC Only )
Ezekiel 11:19 A New Heart
Intro. In the first part of the chapter Ezekiel is prophesying of the
coming destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of the people
into all of the world. He then addresses his message to those who
have been scattered abroad.
I. God's promise to His remnant.
A. I will be as a little sanctuary unto them, in the lands where
they had been scattered.
1. He would watch over them in the alien, and hostile
environment.
2. He would be as a shield of protection for them.
3. Oftentimes I feel like a stranger in this world in
which we live.
a. I watch with dismay as a judge orders the Boy
Scouts to admit into the scouting program
two little brothers who object to the word God
being in the scout oath.
b. The scouting program was initiated to instill
strong moral values in the young people. Their
aim has been to teach a loyalty to God and
country.
1. If the atheistic parents don't like
that, then let them start another club
for their children.
2. s are pressing to become
scout leaders, what would be your
reaction to sending your boy to a
summer camp led by a ?
3. If they want to start their own club
for young men let them do so, and if
any parents are so stupid as allow
their children to join, so be it. But
don't tamper with a program that is
already established with higher moral
values.
4. activity is immoral, and
under no circumstances can be
considered natural. God in speaking
of it, speaks of reprobate minds, and
calls it unnatural affections.
c. I wonder how long before the pledge of
allegiance to the flag is ruled
unconstitutional by some Brown appointed judge
because it speaks of one nation under God.
4. These things cause me to feel like I don't belong in my
own country, I like Abraham feel like a stranger and a
pilgrim on this planet, and I am looking for a city
which has a solid foundation whose maker and builder is
God.
5. You who long for the kingdom of God to come, for His
will to be done in this earth, even as it is in heaven,
God has promised to be as a little sanctuary to you. He
will surround you and protect you.
B. He promised to deliver them from their captivity and to give to
them the land of Israel.
C. He promised to give to them one heart, and put a New Spirit
within them.
1. He said that He would remove the heart of stone, and
give to them a heart of flesh.
2. The problem with many people today is that they have
hardened their hearts so long against God and the
things of God that their hearts have become as a stone.
a. They are set in their ways of sin, and have no
intention of changing.
b. All of the pleading, and entreaties from God
are met with a stony resistance.
3. Their is another analogy that is used in the scriptures
concerning the heart. God promised Jeremiah the
prophet, that day would come when God would no longer
write His laws on tables of stone, but upon the fleshly
tablets of a mans heart.
a. God was declaring that He was not seeking some
legal relationship with man, but was looking
for a loving relationship.
b. God is not interested in binding you to some
legal contract written in stone. He desires
that you serve Him with a heart that is
motivated by your love for Him.
c. He does not want to bind you with chains to
force obedience, but wants your love for Him
to exceed your love for anything else, and
your service to Him to rise spontaneously from
a heart of love.
d. The story of Ulysses and Orpheus.
D. This heart of flesh was that they might walk in His statutes
and keep His ordinances to do them. Not by force, but by
desire.
1. God will not force you to love Him or force you to
serve Him.
2. He will give to you a heart of flesh that is after Him.
3. I have observed with keen interest how a person changes
when they have received Jesus Christ as their Savior. I
have watched a person who was so hard and bitter,
become tender and loving.
a. The Air Force captain that lived next door to
us in Tucson.
E. This heart of flesh will be accompanied by a new spirit.
1. New attitudes toward the detestable things of the
world. Many times a person when He has received Jesus
Christ finds, that the things he once loved, he now
hates, and visa versa.
2. Paul tells us that if any man be in Christ, He is a new
creature, the old things have passed away, and behold
all things become new.
F. He promises to them that with this change of heart and spirit,
they will become His people, and He will become their God.
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