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Book: Ezekiel
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Ezekiel 16:14 The Beauty of the Lord
Intro. God is tracing His work on the nation of Israel. He took her from
nothing and made of her a beautiful and strong nation. His
complaint is that when she became beautiful, others began to court
her, and she turned from Him, to follow after other lovers. She
began to worship other gods. Tragically we are following the same
pattern. America, America, God shed His grace on thee, and crowned
thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shinning sea. But we have
turned from our relationship with God and we too bow our knee to
Baal, and Molech.
I. The fame of her beauty. "Thy renown went forth among the heathen for
thy beauty."
A. Throughout the world people were watching the emergence of this
nation.
1. Travelers who would pass through the land, would go
home and tell family and friends of this beautiful
place that they had visited.
a. The people were living in prosperity and peace.
b. They would probably tell how on the Sabbath
day, everything would shut down, and the people
would gather with their families to worship
the God who created the heaven and the earth.
c. There was a strong commitment to the marriage
vows, and thus very strong and loving families.
d. The land was very fertile, and produced an over
abundance of food. Beautiful fields of grain;
beautiful forests of trees; beautiful cities
and villages; beautiful vineyards; and
beautiful orchards. It was ideal.
e. The people had such love for their God, and
for each other, that there was no crime, no
one had to lock their door, they could walk
safely anywhere, day or night.
2. All over the world, people had a desire to come and see
this beautiful land of joyful people.
a. The Queen of Sheba upon her visit exclaimed
that she could not really believe the reports
that came to her because they sounded too
good to be true, but she said that they did not
even tell the half of it.
b. Other nations tried to follow the pattern of
government but without success for they left
the worship of God out of the equation. They
did not realize that the key to the beauty and
success of the nation was that God was their
Lord. "Happy is the people whose God is their
Lord."
c. We have the same thing happening here at
Calvary, their are many who come to observe
what God is doing, and then they try to copy
our services, not realizing that this is a
special work of God blessing His word as He
promised above His name.
II. God said, "Thy beauty was perfect through My comeliness, which I had
put upon you."
A. It was God that had blessed them and made them strong, because
of covenant that they had made with Him.
1. They had sworn, "All that God tells us we will do."
2. God had laid out the rules for a happy and prosperous
life.
3. As they followed the rules, they became happy and
successful.
B. The secret of their beauty was their submission to God.
1. Because they were His people, His bride so to speak, He
delighted in making them beautiful.
2. He enjoyed lavishing His love and blessing upon them.
a. He speaks of anointing them with perfumed oils.
b. He clothed them with fancy embroidered work,
and furs, with fine linen and silk.
c. He covered them with jewels.
d. He gave to them the finest of food.
e. They were indeed a beautiful people, but it was
the beauty that the Lord had given to them.
C. As we walk with the Lord and commit ourselves to Him in a
covenant relationship, He begins to work in us to make us
beautiful.
D. God desires a beautiful bride for His Son, and he will work
within our lives to make us beautiful for Him.
E. The most beautiful person to walk the face of this earth was
Jesus Christ.
1. As we study His life, we become entranced by His
beauty.
2. John said, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among
us and we beheld His glory as the only begotten of the
Father full of grace and truth."
a. We see His grace manifested toward the woman
taken in the very act of adultery, when the
self righteous crowd would have stoned her,
He said, "Let him that is without sin among
you cast the first stone."
b. We see with such tenderness He works with the
weaknesses of His disciples. Peter, so prone
to mistakes when he should be praying, he is
sleeping. So sure of himself, yet so weak.
Denying his Lord in the hour of testing. Yet
Jesus said, "O Peter, Satan has desired you
that He may sift you as wheat, but I have been
praying for you." And the Lord made of this
big rough fisherman, a tender and loving
apostle, whose favorite word became precious.
He uses it 7 times in his two letters.
c. We see how the little children are attracted
to Him.
F. As God, the Master Artist is working in your life by His
Spirit, molding and shaping you into an object of great
beauty, the model that He is using is Jesus Christ.
1. The psalmist said, "And I shall be satisfied when I
awake in His likeness."
2. Paul said, "As we behold the glory of the Lord, we are
being changed from glory to glory into the same image,
by the power of His Spirit working in us."
3. Even as God took Israel in her very crude and rough
stage, and began to work in her until He made of her
an object of great beauty, to He desires to take your
life with all of imperfections, and make of you an
object of great beauty.
4. He desires that the world may see His beauty as it is
manifested in and through you, and thus be attracted
to Him.
G. We used to sing: "Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,
All His wonderful passion and purity,
O Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine,
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in Me."
III. The tragedy, "You began to trust in your beauty, and played the
harlot."
A. That is, the nation which was made beautiful by their
relationship to God, turned from God who had made them
beautiful, and began to trust in their beauty instead of God.
1. America that beautiful nation under God, with liberty
and justice for all, is by choice no longer under God.
2. We were known as the leaders of the world in industry,
resources, wealth, glory and freedoms.
3. We still lead the world, but unfortunately it is in
abortion, pornography, drug use, crime, and divorces.
4. King Asa was warned by the prophet of God that the
Lord would be with him as long as he would be with the
Lord, but if he forsook the Lord, the Lord would
forsake him. And it was recorded that as long as he
sought the Lord, the Lord made his ways to prosper.
a. This truth expresses an eternal principle
of God.
b. It is expressed by the psalmist with these
words; Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin
is a reproach to any people.
c. Whether it be an individual or nation, if you
have been joined to God in a covenant
relationship of marriage, God will make you
beautiful with His beauty, but if you turn from
Him, you will revert back to that ugly state in
which He first found you.
d. Your life can be beautiful, you can become an
instrument of His grace and charm, greatly
desired by the world, but if you give your love
to the world, you will be forsaken by Him and
become again what you once were, unattractive,
and unwanted by Him.
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