Ezekiel 3:12 KJV
Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
Ezekiel 3:14 KJV
So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
Ezekiel 3:24 KJV
Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.
Ezekiel's example is a picturesque one to the preacher of God's Word. He begins with images that will not be fully understood until we get to heaven. From there God gives Him the Word of God. He is to eat it and preach it to his own people; a people God says will not hear. God tells him that if he had been sent to preach to a people of a strange language they would have heard.
But what caught me this morning is that three times in this chapter the Bible associates his ministry with the Spirit of God.
The Spirit caused him to know the glory of God
The Spirit caused him to sense the horror of the sin of God's people and
The Spirit caused him to withhold his message for a time
Notice that
The Spirit took him
The Spirit lifted him and
The Spirit entered him
The lesson here is that the ministry is supposed to be one of submission to the Spirit of God. It is not that we are in any way able, educated or even gifted enough to do the ministry. It is strictly this, that God's Spirit uses us.
Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
Ezekiel 3:14 KJV
So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
Ezekiel 3:24 KJV
Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.
Ezekiel's example is a picturesque one to the preacher of God's Word. He begins with images that will not be fully understood until we get to heaven. From there God gives Him the Word of God. He is to eat it and preach it to his own people; a people God says will not hear. God tells him that if he had been sent to preach to a people of a strange language they would have heard.
But what caught me this morning is that three times in this chapter the Bible associates his ministry with the Spirit of God.
The Spirit caused him to know the glory of God
The Spirit caused him to sense the horror of the sin of God's people and
The Spirit caused him to withhold his message for a time
Notice that
The Spirit took him
The Spirit lifted him and
The Spirit entered him
The lesson here is that the ministry is supposed to be one of submission to the Spirit of God. It is not that we are in any way able, educated or even gifted enough to do the ministry. It is strictly this, that God's Spirit uses us.
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