King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Friday, August 30, 2019
Chapters: Ezekiel 13-15
Message: Saved By Grace, Live By Christ
Hello My Friend,
It does not matter what era you came from, salvation has always been through one person, and only one way, “The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” – Psalm 98:2-3. Jew or Gentile, the same gift of salvation is only granted by God to those who put their faith and trust in Him for their salvation, period. “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.” – Romans 2:9-11.
“For there is no respect of persons with God.” God does call Israel His people, but His people are not limited to the Jews, who are the children of Jacob (Israel), they are people from all families. And while some are of the same family, most are not, most of us are a compilation of families that go all the way back to Adam. You do not need a Bible to know that God exists, you do not need a Bible to know that heaven and hell exists, and you do not need a Bible to know that good means heaven, and bad means hell. What do you think the people did before the Bible was written? They had to live by the same faith we do. God gave His Word to His believers as a way for them to understand Him and communicate with Him. Since the Bible was written, man has been twisting and turning it to suit their own need, and God feels the same way about the liars of His Word then as He does today. Through Ezekiel, God tells the fate of all the false prophets, and it does not matter what era you came from.
“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD. Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life: Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” – Ezekiel 13:2-3,8,17-18,22-23.
“that prophesy out of their own hearts,” The Joel Osteen’s and Joyce Meyer’s of today are no different than the false prophets of yesterday. Oh,. they have great messages of how much God loves you and sent Jesus to save you, they tell some truth, but not the whole truth, and nothing, but the truth. They are false prophets, prophesying out of their own hearts, promising things that God has never said, and never fully teaching, “Thus saith the Lord.” Half truths do nothing, but create a version of God that allows people to live as they feel in their own heart. I heard a man praising a church for allowing gay marriage, saying he can finally get married and sit in a church service without being judged. Let me tell you, if God said that something is an abomination when the Law was written four thousand years ago, it is still an abomination today, He did not change His Law, He just made salvation by grace alone. “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:” – Galatians 3:10-13.
“The man that doeth them shall live in them.” Man, woman, child, all who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ to save them from eternal death and hell are saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. We do not follow the Law because it is required for our salvation, we do so because of our faith. If we honestly and truly want God in our lives then we will not diminish His Word, water down His Word, or pick and choose what parts of it we want to believe, we must believe all of it, we must live by all of it. We cannot have God and the world, period, or there will be consequences. Those who choose to ignore God’s Word, yet want Him in their lives and continue to live in sin have idols in their heart, and if they want the blessings of God, they need to remove them.
“Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself: And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;” – Ezekiel 14:3,6-10.
“should I be enquired of at all by them?” Do you think God is going to listen to someone who constantly distorts His Word and uses it for their own profit. God is warning all, Jew and Gentile, repent, turn away from your idols, and your abominations. False prophets, false teachers, false preachers, false Christians, none of these have a place in the Kingdom of God. And those who listen to and follow them will receive the same fate, eternal death and hell. Each and every one of us is responsible for our own actions. If you need more proof, even though we may been deceived by a false prophet, there is plenty in God’s Word. Through Ezekiel, God shows us that we are each individually responsible for our own soul, even if we believe the lies.
“Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD. If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts: Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it: Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast: Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.” – Ezekiel 14:13-15.
“they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness,” Was Noah, Daniel, and Job sinless? No. We all come short of the glory of God. What they all had in common was that they followed God with all their heart, by faith, and that was their righteous. Job did not have a Bible, yet He feared God. Noah did not have a Bible either, yet He heard God speak and obeyed Him. Their faith was counted for their righteousness. “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” – Romans 4:1-3.
Since we are all a creation of God, He makes salvation as easy as knowing your A, B, C’s, A: Admit that you are a sinner, B: Believe in Christ, and C: Confess that you need Jesus as your Saviour. So what happens to those who do not know their A, B, C’s? Through Ezekiel, God explains by the example of a dried up vine tree what happens to them. “Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work? And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.” – Ezekiel 15:2-4,7-8.
“when I set my face against them.” Until we are saved, God does not hear us, we can pray until we are blue in the face, but He will not hear one word because we must be sinless to stand before Him. Before Christ came here in the flesh to fulfill the Law that required a blood sacrifice for redemption and atonement, believers still had to admit, and confess their sin, bringing their sacrifices. Jesus made that easy, and permanent, by giving His own life to give redemption and atonement for all who believe. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” – Romans 5:8-11. Amen!
Jesus Christ Magnified: “That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.” – Ezekiel 1:11.
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, There is no doubt that there are many false prophets out there, and You warned us that even we can be deceived by them. Lord, let us not get caught up with anyone who teaches a doctrine other than Yours. Lead us and guide us, give us the wisdom we need to know Your truths and how to handle those that try to deceive us. Give us Your power to be a witness, Your strength to stand up to the truth, and let us be bold and willing vessels to teach it to those who so desperately need it. In Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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