Ezekiel 13.1-3
Ezekiel was in a difficult situation. He was the only “Right” guy in the whole captivity. There were plenty of prophets prophesying good things to come. The problem was that they were sucking their messages right out of their own thumbs! They just now hearing from the Sovereign LORD of Israel through Ezekiel.
The same thing happens today on the religious scene. There’s a church on every street corner and each has a corner on the “truth”. What is a poor soul to do. With each “church” hawking their own brand of the gospel how is one to know which is right? It is a “buyer beware” type of scenario. Here is my proposal as we continue the study from yesterday.
So, what do we Twenty-First-Century dwellers learn from Ezekiel's ancient message? If we are like his original audience we learn nothing and will suffer the repercussions. If we are spiritually astute we will avoid coming disaster. Sovereign God shares His sovereignty with no preacher, church or religion. His message is, "Beware of "spiritual" charlatans! They are everywhere and they are fools."
So, how can I know when someone is preaching God's message and when he is preaching his own message? Here are five basic principles to follow when listening to a message or messenger who claims to be from God. You can apply them to this message right now.
1. Pray asking God for understanding before each message.
2. Listen carefully and take notes.
3. Make sure that the Bible is used and that illustrations are biblically supported.
4. Beware of statements like, "I believe", "I think".
5. Never accept statements like, "God told me", "God revealed to me", or "I had a dream (or vision)".
Let me begin to explain each of the above and we’ll complete the study tomorrow.
1. Pray asking God for understanding before each message. Do you believe that God wants you to understand His Word? Do you believe that He wants to talk directly to you? What does He use to do this? His Word and preachers. If I approach each message that I hear in a church service setting with prayer God will use the preacher to share what God has for me. I will go away from each with principles that I can apply to my Christian life. Those principles will have a Biblical basis and will help me go grow in my understanding of who God is and how I can please Him.
2. Listen carefully and take notes. The teens at our church are learning to take notes because of a competition in the youth group. I am sure that their notes are often confusing and may not even make much sense. Many notations during sermons are like that. The point of note taking is to help you to concentrate on the message. When I don't take notes my mind wanders. I think about other things while the preacher is talking and I lose the point of his message. When I take notes it helps me to think with him. I benefit from his study. Preachers often spend hours preparing just one message and they learns much more than they can communicate in just half an hour. If I take notes I am able to glean truths that I can use in my life. If I leave a church service with just one principle that I can apply I have learned and grown.
3. Make sure that the Bible is used and that illustrations/ principles are supported by the Bible. The Bible is God's Word. How many times have you heard that one? I hope that you have heard it many times. It is a foundational truth necessary to understanding God's message. If the Bible is left out of God's message then the message is not from God. This is exactly what was happening in Ezekiel's day. The prophets were expressing their own wicked thoughts and telling the people that they were God's thoughts.
So, what if that happens today? What if the preacher uses the Bible to support his false teaching? How will I know that he is using the Bible in a wrong way? Good question. Let’s look at it tomorrow.
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