EZEKIEL 24:15-24 UNDERSTANDING A SERVANT OF GOD2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 24:15-24 Understanding A Servant Of God

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2019. Well, as we continue to work our way through the Bible in three years, we're looking at the life and the ministry of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel was a man who had a really challenging ministry there as one of the captives in Babylon. He was taken captive by the Babylonians as part of God's judgment on the nation of Judah for their rebellion, long-lasting, long-persisting rebellion against God. And there was several waves of captivity that took place. But he was taken captive by the Babylonians as part of God's judgment on the nation of Judah for their rebellion, long-lasting, long-persisting rebellion against God.

The final one was yet to take place. Jerusalem at this time is still standing. The temple is still standing. And the people back in Jerusalem are still rebelling against God, but still hoping that they can be victorious against Babylon. And those who have been taken captive to Babylon are still hoping that somehow,

God's going to do something and they're going to be delivered and Babylon is going to be broken and they're going to be able to return home. And through the prophet Ezekiel, God is ministering to the people over and over again, the call to repentance. And they still have not acknowledged their sin issue. They still haven't come to the place of repentance and turning to God. And so Ezekiel's ministry is a very difficult one.

Calling a people that is in rebellion to repentance. Calling a people that is resisting God to turn and to let God accomplish what he wants to accomplish in them. And so Ezekiel had a remarkable ministry. He becomes a remarkable example for us of a prophet of God and a servant of God. I've titled the message this morning, Understanding a Servant of God.

I think it's important for us to take this time this morning to consider Ezekiel as an example of a servant of God. Sometimes when we think of serving God, we put it into a very refined context. It's, you know, this little pocket of life where you go to church and you serve God, you know, in the children's ministry, where you serve God in ministry.

cleaning the toilets or vacuuming the floors, or you serve God in, you know, some event that's going on. And there's this, you know, very specific location, this very limited selection of activities and behaviors that are included sometimes in our concept of serving God. But here through the prophet Ezekiel, we are reminded and really challenged to consider that

Being a servant of God doesn't just impact a certain time in your schedule or a certain aspect of your life, but it really impacts every corner of your heart, every aspect of your mind, every agenda that you have and every time that you have and every breath that you take.

is part of who you are and your calling as a servant of God. It's much bigger than occasional conversations or practical ways to meet needs. It's, well, it's really a life experience. And being a servant of God is something that we are all called to do. And so here we have the example of Ezekiel. And we're going to work our way through three points this morning, looking at Ezekiel's example. The first one is found in verses 15 through 18.

Here's point number one. Serving God requires extreme submission. Serving God requires extreme submission. Now, realistically, I could eliminate the word extreme. And this point would be serving God requires submission. And it would cover everything that I'm about to share. But the word extreme captures something for us that we need to really allow ourselves to think through.

that we need to allow ourselves to really wrestle with and contemplate. Because what we see in Ezekiel, we would classify as extreme, but really it's normal submission.

It's a model for all servants of God, not just Ezekiel, but we need to be reminded because sometimes there's that distance that we put between extreme submission and other normal areas where I don't have a problem submitting. But really what God calls us to is a full submission to him. Well, let's check out the example of Ezekiel here in verses 15 through 18. I'll read through these again. It says, also the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, behold, I

I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke. Yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh in silence. Make no mourning for the dead. Bind your turban on your head and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lips and do not eat man's bread of sorrow. So I spoke to the people in the morning and at evening my wife died. And the next morning I did nothing.

Here in Ezekiel 24, we have this heavy passage. I mean, it's heavy. I've been reading through this passage over and over this week in preparation for this morning. And still as I read it right now, it's the weight of it. I mean, the weight of this declaration. My wife died, but the next morning I did as I was commanded. This is heavy.

This is serious. This is heavy. This is, well, perhaps you might say it's extreme. God tells Ezekiel, Ezekiel, your wife will die today. And I'm going to tell you to do something crazy. Don't mourn and don't weep. And what is remarkable about this passage is how submitted to God Ezekiel is. Now, as we begin to consider these things, I think it's important. Let's take a moment and just make a few things clear. First of all,

Ezekiel loved his wife. This is not a slam on Ezekiel or his wife or marriage or anything like that. God describes her to Ezekiel in verse 16 as the desire of your eyes. Another way to put that would be the object of your affection. He's talking about his wife and it's someone that he loves dearly.

This is not, you know, well, good riddance. I'm glad to be rid of her. No problem. I don't have to worry about crying. I'm going to be happy that she's gone. That is not what God is talking about here. That is not what is taking place. Here is someone who Ezekiel loves, his wife. It's the desire of his eyes. And she is the object of his affection. And she is going to die. And yet God's instruction is, do not mourn or weep.

And so the second thing to make sure is clear as we talk about these things this morning is this is not a general instruction for all of us in handling grief. This is not God saying, okay, when people die, you should not cry. You should not weep. You should not mourn. You should not sorrow. That's not what God is saying. There's sometimes some very imbalanced and unhealthy views of grief that we can hold to and have that are not good for us or for others.

This isn't the common thing that everybody should do. This is a unique, exceptional command that God gave to the man Ezekiel. So it's not God's way of handling grief. It's not a slam against Ezekiel or saying that he didn't love his wife. Also, thirdly, I would say we need to make clear, and hopefully it doesn't need to be made clear, but just in case, God did not tell Ezekiel to harm his wife.

God didn't say, Ezekiel, I know you've been wanting to take her out, so I'm giving you permission. No, no, no. God's instruction to his servants, even with extreme submission in mind, will never violate his own revealed word. So,

That kind of instruction would be inconsistent with God's revealed word of God and the written word that we have. And so that's not what God is saying. And Ezekiel did not have a part to play in this other than the instruction to not grieve at his wife's death. But then fourthly, I think it's important to make clear that we need to understand this is not an injustice that's done to Ezekiel's wife. Or put another way, God did not murder Ezekiel's wife.

And these are things that we wrestle with when we come across passages like this. But let me encourage you that there's a lot that we don't know about this passage and we can wrestle with it in a few different ways. One example is from a pastor, Thomas Constable, who wrote this about Ezekiel's wife. He says, God has allowed Ezekiel's wife to die at this precise time. He used her death, which he predicted to the prophet, to communicate a message to his people.

The text does not say that God put her to death as an object lesson. She could have been ill for some time before she died. It's a different perspective, something to consider. A lot of times we don't have the whole picture that is given or recorded for us in the scriptures. It is possible that she had been ill for some time or for a little bit and her demise was near, it was certain. And all that God is doing in this passage is

identifying the time in which that disease will run its course. That's a possibility. It's not the only possibility, but we can understand that and consider that just to help us be okay with the events that are happening in this passage. God is not being unjust or doing something wrong toward Ezekiel or to his wife, but he does know what's about to happen. And

He knows that it can be a powerful tool in his hands to accomplish some important things. And so here we are considering the example of Ezekiel and God's instruction to him and even more importantly, his following of God's instructions. Again, what's remarkable about this passage is how submitted to God Ezekiel is. Verse 18, so I spoke to the people in the morning and

And at evening, my wife died. And the next morning, I did as I was commanded. God gave me specific instruction. It was challenging. It was hard. It was gut-wrenching. It was heartbreaking. But I did what God commanded me to do. Now, for Ezekiel and for the people around him, in their time and in their culture, mourning the death of someone that you loved was a very public event. For us in our society, in our culture, it's not public.

So much that, you know, that there might be some aspects that are public, but, you know, for the most part, it's in private that we do our mourning. But for them, it was out in the open and there would be this loud wailing, this wailing and sorrow and crying out. And they would even pay people to come just to cry at a gathering, you know, just to be part of it. Not in a manipulative way, but it was a way that they would demonstrate their sorrow, right?

And so there would be paid mourners who would come and weep and wail as the family is suffering the loss of one that they loved. And what God is instructing Ezekiel to do is the opposite of that. He says in verse 17, sigh in silence, sigh in silence. He's not forbidding Ezekiel to sorrow for the loss of his wife. But he's saying, look, that public demonstration that usually takes place,

that you want to do, that would be the natural thing for you. That's what you've always known. That's the way that you demonstrate how much you love someone after you've lost them. Don't do that. Sigh in silence. Don't cry aloud. Don't hire, you know, wailers to come and to make a bunch of noise. You are not to do that. Don't cry in that way. Make no mourning for the dead, he says. You're not to put on the show. Don't have the normal demonstrations that you would have. And

Part of that for Ezekiel, he would have taken off his turban, uncovered his head and put dust on his head to demonstrate his sorrow. But God says, bind your turban on your head and put your sandals on your feet. Now under normal conditions, Ezekiel would take off his sandals. He'd go bareheaded, barefoot as a demonstration of his sorrow, as a demonstration of his grief. But God says, I want you to get dressed like you normally get dressed.

Put your turban on, put your sandals on. Don't cover your lips. They would cover their face as a part of the grieving process. Don't cover your lips. And there was meals that they would partake of that were part of their traditions in their sorrowing, in their mourning. And God says, don't eat those normal foods, those comfort foods that I know you're gonna want to eat them. It's a way of expressing your love for the person that you've lost, but you're not to engage in any of that.

So all of this, it's very cultural. It's very specific to how they participated in grief. And what God is saying is, I don't want you to do any of that. Don't do those normal things. It's going to be natural for you to do it. It's a way that you express your love, but you're to sigh in silence. You're not to put on the public demonstration of your sorrow. And so I spoke to the people in the morning and at evening, my wife died. And the next morning I did as I was commanded.

Ezekiel did exactly what God asked him to do. Now think about this for a little bit. Ezekiel, the first half of chapter 24 is Ezekiel receiving a message, an illustration that God gives him to deliver to, again, this rebellious people that has been fighting against God. And it's an illustration of a pot that is, you know, burned until it's burned until it's burned. And it's just completely destroyed by the fire. And God says, that's the message I want you to deliver.

And also, by the way, your wife's going to die today. And then Ezekiel, he gets up in the morning and he speaks to the people. I'm sure on his mind was something completely different. That wasn't what, you know, would be on his agenda. Knowing that his wife is dying today, the first thing he wants to do is to get up and go talk to people who don't want to hear a message about a burning pot. That's not on his agenda, but that's what God instructed him to do. So in submission to God, he gets up.

He gets dressed. He gets ready like normal. He goes. He delivers this message to the people. The first half of Ezekiel 24. And then at evening, my wife died. Then he experiences what God declared would happen. But then the next day, he gets up and he does what God commanded. I think it's easy for us to understand this was extremely hard for Ezekiel. This phrase, I did as I was commanded, is

packed full of so much strength and depth and extreme submission. It's completely contrary to everything Ezekiel wants to do. It's completely contrary to everything that is natural for Ezekiel, for his society. The level of submission that we see here is extreme. And at the same time, I would remind us, this level of submission is required of all God's servants. Are you a servant of God?

This is the level of submission that God asks of you and God expects from you. This is the level of submission that is required to be a servant of God. Now, the circumstances and the details are different. And we don't all go through this same exact identical experience. But the submission...

the obedience to God, the connection to God, the submission to God is the same for Ezekiel as is expected of us. It's a lot for us to wrestle with because a lot of times we're wrestling with the little submissions. Like we're wrestling with, right? You're laying there. It's like, oh, your alarm goes off. It's Sunday morning. Do I have to go to church today? And that can be such a wrestling match, can't it?

Such a little submission compared to what we see played out in Ezekiel. We wrestle with, why can't I watch what I want to watch? Don't I deserve to have a drink and get drunk and enjoy myself? We wrestle with, is tithe really 10%? I mean, let's talk. Can we do 8%? We try to negotiate. We wrestle with much lesser things in the areas of submission many times. Let us be reminded this morning what God requires of servants today.

is extreme submission. And all out, nothing off the table, everything is given over, absolute surrender. I am submitted to God. It wasn't just Ezekiel. Another example that we could consider in this is the example of Aaron. You remember Aaron, Moses's brother? As they were inaugurating the tabernacle and just beginning the services of the tabernacle, two of Aaron's sons,

take fire that was not commanded by God and they go and offer it to the Lord and fire comes out from the Lord to consume these two guys and the two sons of Aaron died right there on the spot in the opening ceremony in front of everybody in the congregation. And Aaron as a father has just lost two of his sons right there in front of everybody. And he as a father wants to mourn. He wants to sorrow. He wants to react and respond and

The Lord gives him instruction. You can find it in Leviticus chapter 10. We're not going to cover that in detail, but just to give one verse as an example, Leviticus chapter 10, verse 3, Moses said to Aaron, this is what the Lord spoke saying, by those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy. And before all the people, I must be glorified. So Aaron held his peace. He wanted to freak out, but he held his peace.

Because God says, I must be regarded as holy. And your two sons, they did not regard me as holy. They came and did what they wanted to do and they suffered the consequences. And now you want to do what you want to do, but no, don't. Follow my instruction. I must be regarded as holy. And you can look further in Leviticus chapter 10 for more to the instruction that God gives there in that situation. But it's just as another example that God,

This extreme submission that Ezekiel has is not unique to him. Let me give you another example. We're going to get there in a few weeks as we continue to work our way through the Bible in three years. The life and the ministry of the prophet Hosea. Hosea is an interesting guy, man. He was ministering to the nation of Judah and God says, I want to use you to deliver a message to my people, but I'm not going to do it so much through you talking. Your life...

is going to be the message. How is that? Well, God tells him. Hosea 1, verse 2. When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, go take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord. For the prophet Hosea, the submission to God meant, listen, you had your eyes on that girl? Throw all those plans away. Go find yourself a prostitute.

and marry her. That's not what he dreamed for himself. That's not the plans that he had. That's not, you know, what he envisioned for his life. God said, I'm going to change your life. You're going to take a whole different course than what you had thought because you're my servant. And in submission to me, you need to not follow those plans. You need to follow my plans. Think about Hosea's parents, right? This is not the life that his parents had planned for him. Son, you're going to do what?

But we had arranged this other thing, right? We had arranged something great for you. This is not what we wanted for you. But Hosea had to be submitted to the Lord because he was a servant of the Lord. We could go through many more examples. We could look at many more instances where the servants of God are required to be submitted to God beyond anything that we might be used to or comfortable with.

And that's why we need that word extreme next to the word submission to help us remember, listen, my life is not about me if I'm a servant of God. And my life is not about what I want or my dreams or my goals or my objectives. And it's not about what my parents want for me or what I want for my children. It's not about what I want to accomplish or the career I want to have. It's not about where I want to live or how I want to retire. It's not about me if I'm a servant of God.

My life needs to be entirely consumed with the will of God. It's hard for us to take this in, but let me reinforce the thought and help us to settle on it a little bit easier by considering the words of Jesus. In Matthew chapter 10, verses 37 through 39, Jesus says this, "'He who loves father or mother more than me "'is not worthy of me. "'And he who loves son or daughter more than me "'is not worthy of me.'"

And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it. And he who loses his life for my sake will find it. This idea of extreme submission is not, you know, well, that was required of some select, you know, Old Testament figures and prophets and, you know, not a surprise. And I'm sure glad I'm not them, right? Like we could have that mindset. And yet what Jesus called us to,

And the instruction of Jesus is that he must be far and above beyond all others in our life. And if you love your father or mother more than God, Jesus says, you're not worthy of me. In a parallel passage in Luke chapter 14, Jesus said, you cannot be my disciple. If you love your father or mother more than me, you cannot be my disciple. It's not an option. It's not available. It's off the table. You must love me more.

before your own parents. You must love me before more than your son or daughter. You could include spouse in there. You could include whatever you want in there. Jesus is saying, I must be first. And if you're not willing to put me first, you're not worthy of me. If you're not willing to put me first, you cannot be my disciple. Serving God requires extreme submission.

He goes on to say, if you do not take up your cross and follow me, you're not worthy of me. And the picture of taking up the cross to follow Jesus is laying down your life. That's what Jesus did. He took up his cross. He gave up his life. And he said, if you're not willing to do what I've done, to sacrifice yourself for the plan of God, for the work of God, for the kingdom of God, he says, you're not worthy of me. You cannot be my disciple if you're not willing to follow the path that I walk.

It's off the table. It's not an option. You cannot be my disciple if you're not willing to die for me. This is pretty extreme, right? It's what's required. It's what Jesus calls us to. He says, look, if you find your life, you will lose it. But if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it. You know, some people say, oh, my children are my life. If that's true, and not just an expression, right? Saying the expression,

Maybe we get what you mean and you don't actually mean what it means. But if your children are your life, you've got things upside down and backwards and wrong. Jesus is your life. Everything else comes after him. My work is my life. My ministry is my life, right? I mean, there's lots of things that we would desire, that we would pursue after and try to attain the life that we want. And Jesus says, look, if you're in pursuit of that, you're trying to find your life in that way, you're going to lose it.

You get the priorities out of line. You get the priorities out of sync and you don't put God first. You don't have extreme submission to God. The thing that you're chasing after, you're actually gonna lose it. You don't gain it, even if you think you do. But if you will lose your life for my sake, if you will submit yourself to God entirely and completely, then you will find everything that you need and everything that you're looking for. Serving God requires extreme submission. And so this morning, I wanna encourage you to submit to God.

submit to God without holding back, without negotiation, without, you know, saying, okay, Lord, this area, I'm good. We can do that. But not this. Don't touch that part of my life. Don't touch that part of my plans. Don't touch that part of my heart. No, no, only this part. I'll give this to you. No, no, submit to God in an extreme fashion. We have clear revelation of God's desires for us written in his word.

Submit to God. Know what he wants. Know what he desires. And give yourself to it entirely. But then also we have personal revelation where God has spoken to us individually, personally, independently. Like Ezekiel, that these things that God has spoken to us, they're not necessarily for everybody else. But for me, I need to be submitted to God in that. And maybe others don't have to be following or practicing or doing the same things that I do. But for me, I need to be submitted to God in that.

But I know for me, God has spoken to me. God has revealed this to me. I must be submitted to God even if it's thought of as extreme. Can you imagine what the people of Ezekiel's day thought? What kind of man doesn't mourn the death of his wife? What kind of disgusting, horrible person does that, right? This was not because he didn't care. She was the desire of his eyes, the desire of his heart, the object of his affection. He cared deeply. He mourned greatly, but not publicly.

Because he was submitted to God. Well, continuing to consider these verses a little bit longer, here in verses 15 through 18, we get point number two. And that is serving God is incredibly costly. And if you just look at these two points, you're like, well, there's not much motivation here to serve God, is there? I understand, yes. It's hard. And Jesus was very clear throughout his ministry and he called people to count the cost. Remember, he gave the example of like, who sits down, who goes to build a tower without sitting down first to think,

can I afford to build this tower? Because if he gets halfway through the tower and then realizes I don't have enough money, that's going to be a terrible situation for him. Who goes to battle without first stopping to think, do I have enough in my army to defeat the oncoming army? Like, am I vastly outnumbered? Can we make this happen? Can we be victorious? No, you stop and think about it. You count the cost. Lives are going to be lost. There's going to be expense to pay. In a similar way, we need to understand that serving God is

There's a cost involved and it's incredibly costly. You need to know that so you can count the cost. Now, as we look at these verses again, consider the cost that's involved. In verse 16, again, God says, "'Son of man, behold, I take away from you "'the desire of your eyes with one stroke. "'Yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, "'nor shall your tears run down. "'Sigh in silence.'"

Ezekiel paid a great price to obey God here. The cost was incredible. Pastor Warren Wiersbe points out, during his years of ministry, Ezekiel had paid a price to act out

Some of his sermons. But none was as costly as this one. But then he applies it. He says the life that you live is the greatest sermon you can ever preach. There was a point in Ezekiel's ministry where he had to lay on his side for a whole huge long period of time. And then he had to lay on his other side for a long period of time and eat certain things. And it was costly for him to deliver that message. But this message...

that God was going to deliver through these events, this was the most costly of all his prophecies. Consider the price Ezekiel paid. Again, he loved his wife. She was the desire of his eyes. And God tells him, your wife is going to die. But then notice in verse 18, Ezekiel says, so I spoke to the people in the morning. Just settle on that for a minute. Think about the cost that Ezekiel paid, the price he paid.

If God reveals to you and says, your wife is going to die, your spouse is going to die today, do you still show up at church on Sunday morning? Especially if your spouse isn't here, right? Do you still show up? No. You're like, I need to be with my spouse. I have precious little time left. Ezekiel's saying, I don't know when she's going to go. God told me she's going to die today. I don't know how much time I have left. But I know sometime today she's gone. And I just have whatever time we have together today. That's the only time I have with her.

But at the same time, God had given him the first half of chapter 24 and said, I need you to deliver this message to the people. And so he got up on the day that his wife is going to die and he goes and he speaks to the people in the morning. That's not what he wanted to do. That's not what he would have preferred. If he was arranging a schedule and adjusting his calendar, that's not the way that he would arrange it. He has a little time left with his wife. His desire would have been to be with her. But instead, he sacrificed and he went and

And he was faithful to minister to the people. And then at evening, he says, my wife died. He sacrificed his time. It cost him that precious time with his wife. And then later on that same day, he lost his wife. We don't know exactly all the details behind it. Was he with her? Did he get back in time? Did she die in his arms? However the circumstances played out, in the end of the day, Ezekiel had lost the one that he loved.

The high price, a great cost. But then the next morning, he says, I did as I was commanded. Think about the cost. Think about the hurt. Think about the price that was paid.

It's not some, you know, random custom that wasn't familiar to Ezekiel anyways. And so I was like, well, I'm glad you released me from, you know, following through those mourning processes because I didn't really want to do those anyways. No, no. This is all Ezekiel's known. This is his culture. It's part of who he is. This is how you mourn the person that you love. But he had to pay the price and not do what was natural to him, not do what he wanted to do, not grieve the way that he was accustomed to grieving.

The next morning I did as I was commanded. It's an incredible cost to serving God. But as you think about the price that Ezekiel paid, I would also stop and consider, sometimes we forget to do this. It's like we think about Job and his sufferings, right? All that he lost, the houses, the flocks, the herds, and then his children died. Oh, poor Job, right? He lost so much. And true, he did. But maybe stop and just reflect on that reality that

Job lost his kids. His kids lost their lives. What they lost was more than what he lost. Here's Ezekiel and his wife. He lost a lot. The price was high. But for Ezekiel's wife, the price was higher. She lost her life. She died. And again, go back to verse 18, the first part. So I spoke to the people in the morning. What price did she pay? She paid the price of

of Ezekiel not being with her there in the morning on the day that she would die. She lost out on that time with her husband, the one that she loved, in those last little bit of moments that she had left. She lost that time with her husband. She lost that time with her beloved. It was a price that had to be paid in order for the service of God to be fulfilled. And then at the evening, my wife died. She died. She lost her life. Whatever plan she had,

Whatever hopes and dreams she had, whatever she wanted to accomplish, whatever time she wanted to spend with Ezekiel and the family, that was all cut off. She did not get to experience any of it. And then the next morning, Ezekiel did as he was commanded. Hooray for Ezekiel. You don't even cry at my funeral, right? Like she doesn't even get the privilege and honor of a decent burial in that sense. It costs Ezekiel's wife for the service of the Lord to be fulfilled.

It cost Ezekiel. It cost his wife. Now listen, I would suggest if Ezekiel and his wife were unsubmitted to God, it wouldn't have changed the course of events that day. She would have still died. Again, I would suggest it's not that God struck her down in that sense. We live in a fallen world and every one of us can wake up in the morning and it's our last day, whether or not we know it.

Every one of us can be overcome by some disease or some ailment or some issue and it's our last day. That's gonna happen. That is, I would suggest, the case for Ezekiel's wife. She was gonna die today regardless of whether or not they submitted to God. But if she died on this day without them being submitted to God, it would not have had the meaning and value and purpose that it had. Submitting to God didn't cut her life short.

Submitting to God gave her life much more value and purpose and meaning. It was a high cost, a great price, but it was a good exchange rate. It was worth it, but you have to pay the price to serve God. Pastor John Corson says this, too many of us have a tendency to want to serve the Lord for the benefits, but true servants are willing to forego healing and

That is what it means to be a servant of God.

It's very easy for us to want all the benefits. We want all the rewards and the blessings of being a servant of God, but we want to get those without paying the price of what it's required in being a servant of God. And let the example of Ezekiel and his wife remind us, there is great benefit to serving the Lord. We'll get to that in just a moment, but it comes in submission to God. It comes with a willingness to pay the

the price? Have you given God permission? The apostle Paul gives us another example of this in Acts chapter 20, when he's on his way to Jerusalem and there is the warnings that are being provided. As he gets to Jerusalem, there is going to be beatings. There is going to be imprisonment. The Lord is telling him in advance the hardship that will come. And Paul tells us in Ezekiel chapter 20, verse 24, none of these things move me.

nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Paul says, I understand my life is going to be threatened and I may lose my life going to Jerusalem, but that doesn't change anything. It doesn't move me because my life is not as important as me finishing what God called me to, the testimony of the gospel of grace. It doesn't matter what comes my way. What's most important is that I do my best to finish the task that God has given to me.

And if the price that I pay is my life, it's worth it. It's worth it. If the price that I pay is my health, it's worth it. For the gospel of grace to be revealed and testified and manifested. For the work of God to be advanced, it's worth it. It doesn't move me. The threats, the dangers, the possibilities. What moves me is the work of God that he's entrusted to me. Serving God.

is incredibly costly. We're all called to serve God, but you need to count the cost. You need to understand what you're getting into when you desire to serve God. You need to understand, for real, there is a full and absolute submission that is required, and there's a price to be paid. And, you know, we have the saying, I gave my life to Christ, right? And we say that so easily, and sometimes we forget what we're actually saying. I gave my life to Christ, right?

That's not just talking about, you know, a little prayer that I prayed back a long time ago. That's talking about me. I've handed myself over to God and said, I'm yours. My life is yours to do with what you please and what is best for your purposes. Now, I want to take my career in this direction. But if that doesn't meet your needs and serve your purposes, then, well, my life is submitted to you. And I will sacrifice what I think is best, what I want, what I've always desired for what you want. I'll pay that price.

And what I want, here's my plans. You know, I'm going to do this and live this way. And I'm going to move in this area. And I'm going to accomplish this. And I'm going to have this many, you know, kids or family or whatever. Like, I have these plans. I have these goals. I have these hopes and dreams. But no, no, I gave my life to you, Lord. So I'm really laying all those things down. I still want them. Still hope for them. Still long for them. Still pray for them. But Lord, I'm submitting it all to you. What works best for your purposes and your plans and your kingdom?

This is what God calls every one of us to. It's a full surrender of our hearts and our lives to him. Now, Jesus, throughout his ministry, he gave these kinds of calls. Again, if you're not gonna love me above all else, you're not worthy of me. You cannot be my disciple. On one occasion, many of Jesus' disciples turned away from him as they understood the cost. It's found in John chapter six. It tells us there that from that time, many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more.

They said, you know what? I'm out. This price is too high. This cost is too much. I can't do this. I'm walking away from Jesus. And then Jesus looked at the 12. He said, do you also want to go away? And Simon Peter said, yes. But Lord, where would we go? We recognize it's a high price. We recognize there's a cost involved, but where would we go? You have the words of eternal life. You see, there is a high price. There is a great cost, but the exchange rate is really good.

You have the words of eternal life. And that brings us to the third point for this morning. And that is that serving God is definitely worth it. Yes, it requires extreme submission and an incredible cost, but it's definitely worth it to submit to God, to surrender to God, to pay the price, to do what God calls you to. It's guaranteed to be worth it.

Now we're not going to work our way through all of these verses here, verses 19 through 24, but just hitting the 19th and the 24th verse, here's what it says. And the people said to me, will you not tell us what these things signify to us that you behave so? Verse 24, thus Ezekiel is a sign to you. According to all that he has done, you shall do. And when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord God. Here in these verses, we find out that God's message through Ezekiel

It landed. Different than the rest of the messages that Ezekiel gave. Ezekiel was preaching many times to people who refused to listen, who shunned Ezekiel, who didn't want to hear what Ezekiel had to say, who wouldn't pay any attention to Ezekiel. But this time, they invite Ezekiel to speak. The extreme submission, the incredible cost is worth it because it's effective.

In verse 19, again, the people said, will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so? Ezekiel, you're so strange. You're behaving so differently. You're not mourning the way that we would expect you, the way that you should mourn, right? You're not doing what you should do. And they recognize there's some significance to it. We know you don't hate your wife. We know you're not happy that she's gone. So what is the meaning of

And this occurrence of events brought the people to Ezekiel in a way that they were open and inviting and asking, please tell us what this means. The message that Ezekiel has for them is really no different than all the rest of the messages that have come before this. But here they are, inviting, asking, open, receptive. Ezekiel has a really interesting ministry because what you would think, here they are, God's people in captivity,

Because of their rebellion against God, right? You would think in captivity, the people would be very aware of the fact that they're experiencing the discipline of God, but they're clueless. They still are in denial. They still do not understand that they're experiencing the discipline of God because they are rebelling against God and refusing to walk with God. And that's a reality that, well, sometimes people experience. Are you experiencing God's discipline and completely oblivious to it?

It's possible. That's where the people of Judah were at that time. And they needed an event that extreme. They needed some behavior that was so strange. They needed that level of an event to get their attention, to capture their attention, and to bring them to the place where they would say, I want to hear. Please tell me. Please tell me. What's going on? What is the meaning of this?

And Ezekiel goes on in verses 20 through 23 to explain to them the parallel, explain to them the symbolism, which again, I'm not getting into that right now. We don't have time for that. But to understand that it was effective, it brought these people, it gave them an openness, it gave Ezekiel an opportunity to speak and to share in a way that was not there previously and would not have been there any other way. This was effective. It accomplished something.

An opening of the eyes and an opening of the hearts. In verse 24, God says, Ezekiel is assigned to you. According to all that he has done, you shall do. And when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord. This event stood out so much in the lives of the people that Ezekiel is ministering to. That years later, when the temple falls and the final destruction and all the things that Ezekiel prophesied about when they're fulfilled, and they get news of it back in Babylon, they

Then the people will know that I am the Lord. Then it wasn't effective immediately in the sense that people just turned and repented right there on the spot while Ezekiel was sharing with them. No, it was effective in that it stood out. It gave Ezekiel an opportunity to deliver the message. And then years later, when they heard the devastating news that Jerusalem had fallen, when they contemplated and wrestled with those thoughts,

It recalled in their mind this event that stood out because it was so extreme. It was so unusual. It was so strange what God had said in advance. It was effective. It accomplished the purposes that were necessary. It's worth it to be submitted to God and to pay that incredible cost because it's effective. I guarantee you Ezekiel and Ezekiel's wife in eternity right now, they have no regrets.

They don't look back and go, man, I wish we hadn't obeyed God whenever he told us to do those things. No, they look back rejoicing that they were willing to pay the price and be submitted. Not only is it effective, but it's worth it because it's rewarded. And we don't get to see the reward in this passage. But Jesus promises in Mark chapter 10.

Jesus says, look, anybody who leaves father and mother, even anybody who serves me and puts me first and it costs them family, it costs them things, it costs them houses and homes and lands, it costs them. He says, they will receive a hundredfold reward. They'll receive a reward in this life and then in the life to come, eternal life. There's a reward. There's a reward.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4, our light affliction is but for a moment, but it's working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And so we don't look at the things which are seen, but the things which are unseen. We look past the things that are seen. And the things that we are seeing are so distracting to us, and we chase after them, we pursue them, we want them, but we need to be willing to lay them down, to set them aside, to submit ourselves to God. It's worth it. Serving God is definitely necessary.

worth it. So this morning, I would encourage you, submit to God. You have his clear revealed scriptures, his revealed word. Submit to the clear revelation of God's word. You have his word spoken to you directly. Submit. It may feel extreme. It may seem extreme. Nobody around you may understand it, but you do what God has called you to do regardless. Give God permission. Be willing to pay the price.

Put yourself in the place where you say, Lord, whatever you want, whatever you need, I'm yours. Give your life to Christ for real. Not just, I want the benefits. But Lord, I'm willing to pay the price to give my life to you, to serve you in whatever capacity, whatever you see fit. Personally, I'd rather be Ezekiel than Ezekiel's wife, but Lord, you choose. That's up to you. It's your life now, not mine. It's worth it because it's effective.

And it will be rewarded for all eternity. Let's pray. God, I pray for each of us as we wrestle with these things and grapple with these things in our hearts. Lord, what are you calling us to? What does serving you look like in our lives? Lord, we recognize it's not just signing up for some event or some regular experience at a church service. But Lord, what you require from us is absolutely every aspect of

of our lives and of our hearts, our families, our careers, our goals and dreams. Lord, I pray that you would help us to submit to you on that level. Lord, that there would be nothing held back. Lord, there would be nothing that is something that we're trying to negotiate, trying to work out and get what we want. Lord, would you bring us to that place of full surrender where we would trust you enough to say, Lord, whatever you want.

Help us, Lord, to be submitted to you to that degree. Lord, recognizing and help us, Lord, to count the cost, recognizing it. It will be costly. There will be price to pay. But Lord, you've promised great reward. And Lord, the reality is the people that we love so dearly, the people that sometimes we put in your place and chase after them instead of you, Lord, those people are served best when we are submitted to you to an extreme degree. What's best for them

It's for us to love you and serve you with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength. Help us not to lose sight of the realities of eternity and the truths of your word. Help us not to be distracted by the things that are unseen, but to fix our eyes on the things that you have declared. Help us, God, to trust you at your word and to give ourselves to you completely. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.