Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you." Sermons
I. THE REASONABLENESS OF THIS DOCTRINE. We attribute to the Deity infinite perfection; and this is not consistent with the limitation of his knowledge. It is absurd to suppose that he who has made the mind of man has lost the power of recognizing the thoughts and intents of the heart which he fashioned by his power and wisdom. There is no part of his universe in which God is not present. Much more evidence is it that the Father of the spirits of all flesh is in possession of every secret of the intellectual and spiritual nature of man. II. THE FORGETFULNESS OF THIS DOCTRINE. It is evident that the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and especially the false teachers and evil counsellors in the city, lost sight of this great truth. God was not in all their thoughts. It may net have occurred to them, as they pursued their selfish plans and lived their irreligious life, that every purpose and hope was known to the Divine Lord and Judge. "All things are naked and opened to the eyes of him with whom we haw to do." III. THE TERROR WHICH THIS DOCTRINE SHOULD HAVE FOR EVIL DOERS WHO ARE REMINDED OF IT. God knows the wicked things that come into men's minds and are encouraged to abide there - the injustice, the covetousness, the falsehood, the impurity, the cruelty, the hatred, the malevolence, which are distinctive of those who depart from God. Such qualities, even before they find expression in word and act, are repugnant to the nature of the just and holy God. And he is not simply an observer; he is a Judge. He disapproves and condemns thoughts, sentiments, and purposes which are in opposition to his own laws, to his own character. He has revealed his intention to bring men into judgment for all their conduct, and forevery secret thing, good or bad. From this reckoning with the Judge of all there is no escape. The prospect may well strike the impenitent sinner with dismay. IV. THE DISSUASIVE POWER WHICH THIS DOCTRINE SHOULD EXERCISE OVER THOSE WHO ARE HESITATING WHETHER OR NOT TO YIELD TO TEMPTATION. In order to resist temptation to sin, it is not enough to guard our actions, to order aright our circumstances and associations. It is in the mind that the real battle must be fought. And upon this battlefield, what auxiliary is so potent and effectual as the remembrance of the Lord's omniscience? He is with us to assist us in the regulation of our thoughts and desires; for he knows alike the force of temptation, and the sincerity of our endeavour to check and to overcome it. V. THE WELCOME GIVEN BY GOD'S PEOPLE TO THIS DOCTRINE. The same truth is a joy and consolation to the Christian, which the ungodly man finds an occasion of distress and dread. Why is this? It is because God has in Christ made himself known to his heart as his Friend and Father. Thus openness and confidence and holy intimacy prevail between the Christian and his God. The faithful servant of God knows his infirmities and his faults, and he is grateful to be assured that those are known to his Father in heaven, who will deal leniently and compassionately with them, and will assist him in overcoming them. God knows the aspirations and endeavours of his own children, is interested in every effort to attain to a fuller knowledge of himself, and a more constant and practical subjection to his will. In Psalm 139, the feelings of the good man, conscious of the Divine omniscience, find a full and most poetical and fervent expression, There is nothing which such a man would wish to hide from such a Friend. - T.
But have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you. Surely there is nothing walks the earth more contemptible, as well as more certainly evil, than a man who lets himself be made by whatever force may happen to be strongest near him, and fastening up his helm, and unshipping his oars, is content to be blown about by every vagrant wind, and rolled in the trough of each curling wave.(A. Maclaren.) (A. Maclaren.) People Azur, Azzur, Benaiah, Ezekiel, Jaazaniah, PelatiahPlaces Chaldea, Chebar, JerusalemTopics Acted, Conformed, Decrees, Effect, Executed, Guided, Heathen, Judgments, Kept, Laws, Manners, Nations, Orders, Ordinances, Round, Rules, Standards, Statutes, Thus, WalkedOutline 1. The presumption of the princes4. Their sin and judgment 13. Ezekiel complaining, God shows him his purpose in saving a remnant 22. The glory of God leaves the city 24. Ezekiel is returned to the captivity Dictionary of Bible Themes Ezekiel 11:12Library A Little SanctuaryThe Lord hears the unkind speeches of the prosperous when they speak bitterly of those who are plunged in adversity. Read the context--"Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the Lord: unto us is this land given in possession." This unbrotherly language moved the Lord to send the prophet Ezekiel with good and profitable words to the children of the captivity. … Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 34: 1888 A Mystery! Saints Sorrowing and Jesus Glad! The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals. An Appendix to the Beatitudes Blasphemous Accusations of the Jews. Ezekiel Links Ezekiel 11:12 NIVEzekiel 11:12 NLT Ezekiel 11:12 ESV Ezekiel 11:12 NASB Ezekiel 11:12 KJV Ezekiel 11:12 Bible Apps Ezekiel 11:12 Parallel Ezekiel 11:12 Biblia Paralela Ezekiel 11:12 Chinese Bible Ezekiel 11:12 French Bible Ezekiel 11:12 German Bible Ezekiel 11:12 Commentaries Bible Hub |