FBC Morning Light – September 19, 2022

Well, a good Monday morning to you. I hope you had a wonderful weekend, and we're able to get to God's house yesterday, fellowship with God's people, worship together, encourage one another, even exhort one another, as Hebrews 10 encourages us to do, while it is still today.

And knowing that the time is short, that the day is coming when the Lord will return. Well, anyway, hope you had a wonderful weekend. We're starting off a new week today, and today we're reading in Ezekiel chapter 20, and it's a very sobering verse that begins this this chapter.

God Refuses to Be Inquired of by the Defiant

Ezekiel is told by the Lord in verse 2, says, Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, and this is what the Lord told him, he says, Son of man speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, thus says the Lord God, have you come to inquire of me as I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of you.

Now, that's a little sobering, because we can say, well, I thought the Lord said, ask and you shall receive, you know, seek and you shall find, knock and it'll be open to you. So here the Lord is telling people, I'm not gonna answer you, I'm not gonna open the door, I'm not gonna hear when you call.

When you seek, I'm not, you're not gonna find. So what's going on here? Well, I think the answer to that question is found later in verse 30 and 31, where the Lord says, Are you defiling yourselves in the manner of your fathers and committing harlotry according to their abominations?

Now, here's what they do. For when you offer your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire and defile yourselves with all your idols even to this day, so shall I be inquired of you, O house of Israel?

As I live, says the Lord, I will not be inquired of you. So here's the thing, those who are supposed to be God's people, they're living like anything but God's people. They are idolatrous, they're offering sacrifices to other gods, and even engaging in child sacrifice?

That's appalling, isn't it? This is what they were doing. And then they're in a pickle, they're in a fix, and they want God to tell them how to get out of it. They want God to bless them further. And God says, No, I'm not gonna be inquired of you, you won't listen to what I have said, you won't do what I've told you to do, you won't follow the revelation that I've already given you about myself and what I desire and what I expect, you won't listen to any of that, you won't follow my revelation already given, then why should you expect I'm gonna give you any more?

Why should you expect I'm gonna give you further blessing? Why do you think I'm gonna give you some insight into your problems and into your dilemma that you're facing right now, when you have just categorically refused to listen to what I say?

You've refused to do what I've commanded you to do. You've refused to accept the revelation that I've already given you. The Lord says, I'm not gonna do it. I am NOT going to be inquired of you. So here's the thing for us 21st century Christians and people living in this world today.

I've known too many, I can't say I've known a ton of people like this within the church, but I've known too many that have had the attitude that, you know, they can do what they want to do. They can live the way they want to live.

They know what God's Word says about what they're doing and how they're living, and they know that it's wrong. They know it violates God's revelation. But then they get themselves in a bind, or I should say, the Lord allows them to suffer the consequences of their defiant, sinful behavior.

And they experience the consequences, and it isn't pretty, and it isn't fun, and it isn't pleasant. It's painful. It's grievous. And they don't want to repent of their sin. They don't even want to acknowledge that their pickle is due to their own iniquity.

They don't want to do that. But what they do want is they want God to get them out of it. They want God to show them, oh, what do I do? How can I get out of this now? And the Lord is quiet. The Lord is silent.

Even if they show up at church and they hear a message that would be very applicable to what they're going through and what they need to do, they don't hear it. They don't apply it. Again, I've seen too many people that I know they're a situation.

I know what's going on in their lives. I know the problems that they're dealing with. I also know that the sin that they're engaged in, of which they're not repentant, and they hear the message, but they don't hear.

They hear the revelation, but they don't accept it. And they go out of there angry, upset with God, because God won't bless them. God won't give them any more insight, any further revelation. Well, this passage gives us some good answers as to why.

Shall I be inquired of you? asks the Lord. No, he says. No, I will not be inquired of by you. Well, I'm pretty confident that most of those who listen to these broadcasts are not going to be in that kind of a position, but it is profitable for us to evaluate how we respond when we're convicted of sin.

Do we accept it, repent of it, and turn away from that sin, and seek to be right with God, and go from there? Or do we try to justify it and protect it? Listen, that's a dangerous road to go. We don't want to go down that road.

We don't want to be in a position where the Lord says, hmm, I'm not going to be inquired of by you. All right, well, let's ask God to give us a good day and to live by what we know to be true. So, our Father and our God, we thank you for your revelation, for what you have taught us about yourself, about what you like, and what you are like.

I pray that we would accept every bit of the revelation that you give to us. May we never be guilty of refusing to repent, and to hold on to and try to justify our sin, lest we not be inquired of by you.

We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well, listen, have a good rest of your Monday. Hope your week gets off to a great start. Good day.