Beloved congregation, the focus of every worship service is, or at least ought to be, the lively preaching of the Word of God. Sadly, that is not the case in many churches today. The focus of the worship service in many evangelical churches today is not the preaching of the word, but rather music. And that wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that so much of the music that is sung in many churches today is known only by the praise band that performs it. And the average person in the pew can't even sing along, either because the lyrics and the tunes are not suitable for congregational singing or the tunes are simply not familiar, leaving most of the congregation as spectators rather than participants in worship, and that is a problem. On the other extreme, the focus of many liturgical churches, such as the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, is neither the preaching of the Word nor music, but rather the sacraments. Especially, in the case of the Roman Catholic Church, the sacrament of the Mass, which it is believed imparts actual grace to the recipient. Thankfully, neither of these is true of confessional Reformed churches like our own. After over 500 years, the focus of Reformed worship remains, and I hope always will remain, the preaching of the Word of God. For it is primarily through preaching, not music, not the sacraments, but through preaching that God is pleased to work and to strengthen faith in the hearts of sinners. Paul writes in Romans 10 verse 17, these well-known words, faith comes, how? By hearing. and hearing by the Word of God. But the question that confronts us this morning, and it's a question that we need to grapple with today, is how do we hear? There are many in the church today, also in Reformed churches, also in our own church probably, who hear the preaching of the Word of God with physical ears only. They hear what the minister is saying. They can follow the logic as he takes them through the text. They can even appreciate the message and say so as they leave the church building. but it has no discernible impact on their lives. They hear the word of God, but they do not do what it says. And that was a problem also during the days of the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel was the son of a priest, was carried captive to Babylon in 597 BC when he was about 25 years of age. Five years later when he was around 30 the Lord called him as his prophet and he prophesied to the Jews in Babylon as well as to the remnant of the Jewish people who were left behind in Jerusalem, and he preached to them for about 20 years. But as our text indicates, the words that he preached fell largely on deaf ears. Yes, they heard what he said. They even appreciated his message, as we will see. They gladly heard him preach. But they did not do what the Word said. They were hearers, but not doers of the Word. And with this thought in mind, and God's help, we want to consider The words of our text, Ezekiel 33, the verses 30 to the end of the chapter under this theme, hearers, not doers. Hearers, not doers. And we'll consider, first of all, their commendable enthusiasm. Secondly, their stubborn rebellion. and thirdly, their forced admission. The year was 586 BC. Ezekiel, along with thousands of others from the land of Judah, had been living in Babylon for some 10 years. And although they were captives in Babylon, life in Babylon was not so bad. The people owned their own homes, they ran their own businesses, they had their own farms, and some of them even became rather wealthy. But while they were prospering materially, spiritually, things were very, very dark. And that's not what we might have expected. We might have expected that after the captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem, at least in part, that the people of Judah would have learned their lesson. They would have walked in the ways of the Lord. They would have worshipped Him and Him only. They would have given Him their whole heart. But that's not the case. For the people of Judah in Babylon were just as wicked as always. In chapter 12 verse 2 of Ezekiel's prophecy, God describes them as rebellious. He says they have eyes to see and see not. They have ears to hear and hear not. And their leaders were not much better. Although they periodically came to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord, God told Ezekiel that they had idols in their heart. We read that in Ezekiel 14 and verse 3. And while Ezekiel continued to preach to the people, largely to deaf ears, one day a stranger came to call. We read about that in chapter 33 and verse 21, and he had come from Jerusalem. And he came with some shocking news that King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had besieged Jerusalem and had taken it and had torn down its walls, had destroyed the entire city, including the temple of Solomon. Now Ezekiel told the people that this is exactly what was going to happen. But they didn't believe him. They could not believe him. They could not believe that God would allow such a thing to happen. Because after all Jerusalem was the holy city of God. And the temple of Solomon was his dwelling place among his people. Surely God would never allow the city of Jerusalem to be utterly destroyed. But that's exactly what happened. God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to destroy this city and the temple as punishment for their persistent idolatry. Now this news that Jerusalem had been destroyed had come as quite a shock to the Jewish captives in Babylon. For years they held out the hope that one day they might return. They might go back to the promised land and they might pick up where they left off, even though Ezekiel repeatedly warned them that that was impossible, that was not going to happen. And now they hear that the city has been destroyed and now they're all alone and they're stuck there in Babylon. There's no way they can ever go back. And then something amazing and something quite unexpected happened. The Lord opened the mouth of Ezekiel. Up to this point, Ezekiel had remained largely silent, at least for a time, but when this news comes that Jerusalem had been destroyed, the Lord opens his mouth and Ezekiel begins to preach. And the exiles of Judah there in Babylon, they're listening to Ezekiel. Prior to this time, no one took him very seriously. They largely dismissed his prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem. But almost overnight, it seemed, the popularity of Ezekiel skyrocketed. And we read in our text that the people were talking about him beside the walls and in the doors of the houses. Ezekiel, we could say, had become the number one topic of conversation. Everybody was talking about him. When you have people in the street and they were standing in the doors of their houses, hey, have you heard about Ezekiel? Have you heard the latest sermon that Ezekiel preached? Let me tell you about it. It was amazing. They raved about his sermons. And every time Ezekiel was scheduled to preach, they would say to one another, and God quotes them as saying, please come and hear what the Word is that comes from the Lord. How commendable. Would that there was such a hunger for the Word of God also among us. Would that there was also among us this morning this desire at the end of the Lord's Day that we would say to one another, oh, this Lord's Day is over, but I can't wait for the next one. I can't wait to hear the Word of God again. Would that we all made more of an effort attend the second worship service on the Lord's Day. Would that there was such a hunger for the Word of God! Well that was the case during the time of Ezekiel. People enthusiastically came together to hear the preaching of the Word of God at every available opportunity. Now we can look at that and we can say, oh that's wonderful. What an exciting time in the kingdom of God. This was a time of revival. This is a time when the Holy Spirit is at work reviving the hearts of his people, creating within them a hunger for the Word of God. But that's not the case. It all looked very good on the outside. The churches were full. packed the churches, there were chairs in the aisles we would say, but they came to hear the preaching for the wrong reasons. We know that because God himself said so. In verse 32 he tells Ezekiel why the people were flocking to hear him preach and it was not because they had such a hunger for the Word of God. It was, as God himself says, because Ezekiel was to them as a very lovely song. one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument. They came to hear Ezekiel preach because they were spellbound by his preaching. He was a man who was extraordinarily gifted in the art of communication and he could hold the people's attention and they were captivated by his style and by his eloquence and they listened to his sermons, not because He was preaching the Word of God, but they were listening to his sermons as a form of entertainment. And you know, there's still people like that today, many people, I think. Particularly in the Western world, there are people who will go to a church, not because of what it stands for, not because of its confessions, but they'll go to a certain church for no other reason than that the preacher there is interesting to listen to and easy to follow. He's a dynamic speaker who can really get your attention and maintain your attention. That's what we want to hear. Now it's a great blessing to a congregation when its pastor is a gifted speaker and is able to put together a sermon that is logical, that explains the text clearly, and that applies the text powerfully. But that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is not how a man preaches. The most important thing is what a man preaches. And we need to be aware of that perhaps more than we sometimes are. Sometimes we can listen to men on the radio or on sermon audio and they're very interesting to listen to and they have a powerful voice and they can explain things very well and they use memorable illustrations and they pepper their sermons with jokes and funny stories and they're well respected by many people. They've got a large following and they sell lots of books, but what are they saying? Are they preaching the truth? Are we like the Bereans comparing Scripture with Scripture, listening to what he says and then opening up our Bibles to see whether these things are so? Beloved, let us not be so caught up in the minister's style that we forget the substance. And this was the problem with the people of Ezekiel's day. They were captivated by the style rather than the substance. Now what effect did this have on them? That brings us to our second point. Things were really looking up for Ezekiel. For several years he had preached. Hardly anyone took him seriously. And now they were coming to him in droves, even if it was for the wrong reason. They were coming to him in droves. Sadly, for all their enthusiasm, Ezekiel's preaching did not have the desired effect, and we know that because of what we read in verses 31 and 32. The Lord there says to Ezekiel, he observes the fact that the Jews are coming to listen to him preach, and he says, they come to you as people do. They sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but here's the kicker. they do not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain." Now here the Lord who knows the hearts of all men, he uncovers what is in the hearts of Ezekiel's hearers. Outwardly, they all appear to be hungering for the Word of God. And they talk about Ezekiel, and they talk about the sermons. Whenever they have the opportunity, they come to him in droves, and they encourage others to come along with them, and they speak kind words to him, words of love. On the way out of the church, they shake his hand, And they say, well done, pastor. Thank you for the wonderful sermon, pastor. What a blessed message, pastor. I was really blessed this morning, pastor. They spoke words of love, words of appreciation. But it was all a sham. It wasn't genuine. Why not? The Lord here gives two reasons. First of all, he says their hearts pursue their own gain. Now that can also be translated as their own covetousness. To covet means to desire something that God hasn't given you. To lust after something that is not your own. It could be anything. It could be something material. car, a house, a piece of jewelry, an item of clothing. It could be a person. You can covet after another man's wife or another man's husband. You can covet a woman walking down the street scantily clad. It could be a certain natural gift. You see in another person, you say, I wish I could do what that person can do. Or physical attractiveness. I wish I was as good looking as that person. I wish I had the figure of that person. I wish I had the body of that person. And this is what the people of Judah were doing. They were coveting while they were listening to Ezekiel's sermons. They sat there. they listen to Ezekiel preach his heart out and all the while they're sitting there and they're thinking about their houses that they want to build, their businesses that they want to pursue, the cow or the sheep that they wanted to buy. That's what they were thinking about. Now you'd never know that by looking at them. By looking at them you would say, wow here's a congregation, there's a church full of people and they're hanging on every word that the minister is preaching. They're listening intently, they're drinking it in, but inside what are they thinking about? They're thinking about all kinds of things that have nothing to do with the Word of God. Their hearts are full of covetousness. Does that happen still today? Oh yes it does. How often does it not happen in congregation that you're listening to a sermon or you're joining in congregational prayer, your mind begins to wander. You're a million miles away from where the minister is and where the Word of God is. And instead of thinking about what's being said, we're thinking about that item we want to buy. improvement we want to make in our business, the sale of a certain item that's going to bring in some much-needed cash. And when we do that we're no better than the people of Ezekiel's day. We could be sitting in church listening to the sermon, outwardly everything may be looking really good, we may be drinking it in outwardly, but our hearts are pursuing their own gain. And that kind of worship is an abomination to the Lord. We either give him everything or we give him nothing at all. But this could also mean something else. It could also mean that they were listening to Ezekiel's sermons only in order, as we say, to get something out of it. For personal gain. People do that all the time. They come to church, not so much to worship God, not so much to hear what God will say to us, whatever that may be, but they come to benefit themselves. They're only interested in what they can get out of it. And people who come to church like that often leave church very disappointed. And when they're asked about the sermon, they're often critical and negative. They say things like, well, I got nothing out of that sermon. And what they mean by that is the sermon didn't make them feel a certain way. It didn't make them feel hopeful or happy or comforting. encouraged. It didn't captivate them. It didn't tickle their intellect the way that they were hoping. People like that are really missing the point because what makes a good sermon congregation is not whether you or I get something out of it. What makes a good sermon is whether the Word of God is faithfully explained and applied. And if that's not how we are evaluating sermons, there's something wrong with how we are evaluating sermons. We're thinking about preaching in the wrong way. We're guilty of the same sin as the people in Ezekiel's day. They're listening but only pursuing their own gain. But there's another reason why the religion of Ezekiel's here was a sham. It was because, and this is the main reason, it was because although they heard what Ezekiel said, they did not do what Ezekiel said. Or not so much what Ezekiel said, but what the Word of God said. This is what God says to Ezekiel, they hear your words, But they do not do them. Now, what exactly was Ezekiel telling the people to do? Well, we don't read about that in our text, but we read about it in our text chapter. If you go If you have your Bibles open and you look at verses 10 to 16 of Ezekiel 33, there in verse 10 we have a record of the response of the people to Ezekiel's preaching. So the Lord had opened Ezekiel's mouth after he had heard that Jerusalem had been destroyed and then Ezekiel starts to preach. And the response of the people, because in verse 10, they said to Ezekiel, if our transgressions and our sins lie upon us and we pine away in them, how can we then live? Now this gives us an insight into what exactly Ezekiel preached to the people. He didn't say, you know people of Judah, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. He preached them about their sins. We don't like that kind of preaching today. We say, oh, here goes the minister again preaching about our sins. Always so negative. That's biblical preaching. Biblical preaching is preaching about sin, not just about sin. Of course not. There needs to be the solution to sin. There needs to be preaching about Christ. There needs to be grace offered in the preaching, absolutely. But it is in the first place, it is preaching about sin. And this is what Ezekiel preached to the people. He told them about their sins. He told them about the wickedness of their hearts. He told them about that they were coming to hear his word for the wrong reasons. They had idols in their heart. They didn't love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. And this is why God was punishing them. This is why they were taken away into captivity in Babylon. This is why he caused the temple in Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem, to be destroyed. It was because of the sins of the people. And he made no bones about it. And maybe they didn't like to hear about their sins, but it didn't matter. Ezekiel says, this is what you need to hear. They preached their sins and he preached about the impending judgment of God for their sins. And the people hearing this, they said, well how shall we then live? It's like they were saying, well what else does God want from us? How does God want us to live then before him? What are the changes that we need to make? How must we please him? What does God expect of us? And this is what Ezekiel was to tell them. This is what God put in the mouth of Ezekiel to tell them. Verse 11, God says to Ezekiel, say to them, as I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Oh, what wonderful words those are. Those are words of comfort. God, the Almighty God against whom we have sinned and rebelled. He says, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He doesn't desire to cast us into hell, congregation, despite that's what we deserve. That's not what brings him pleasure. That's not what brings him joy. What brings him joy? Tells us, but that the wicked turn from his way. live, that the wicked repent of their sins, that they turn their back on their sins and live a new and holy life. This is what God wants. This is what God brings. This is what brings God joy and pleasure. It is seeing sinners repent and believe, and He comes with those words. spoke, and so plaintively, turn, turn from your evil ways. God is speaking to his covenant people directly now. Ezekiel now must take a back seat, and God now becomes the preacher, and he preaches to his people, turn, turn from your evil ways, for why should you die, O house of Israel? This is the message that Ezekiel preached. It was a message of sin and grace. It was a message that said you're miserable sinners, you deserve eternal condemnation in hell, every one of you. But at the same time it was a message that says, oh but the Lord is ever merciful and gracious. slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and he invites you even now to come to him with repentance and faith and he will forgive you and he will restore you and you will live. What a message. How do the people respond to that message? Well according to verse 17, this was their response. They said, the way of the Lord is not fair. The way of the Lord is not fair. After he comes to them and says, it is not my desire, it gives me no pleasure to see the wicked die. Turn, turn from your evil ways and live. They respond by saying, the way of the Lord is not fair. What do they mean by that? They meant that the Lord was asking too much. What they meant was, we're not as bad as Ezekiel makes us out to be. Just look at us. We're coming together, aren't we? We're listening to the preaching of the Word of God, aren't we? Surely we deserve some credit for that. And when it comes to our sin, sure, yeah, we're sinners. So is everybody else. Why should God single us out? We're doing our best. And now we hear from Ezekiel that the Lord is not pleased with us, that we're wicked, that we need to turn from our evil way, else we die, and that's not fair, God. Shouldn't you commend us for what we're doing, God? Are we good people? And as for this prophet of yours, Ezekiel, shouldn't he lay off for a bit? Shouldn't he change the emphasis, the focus of his preaching? Shouldn't he focus less on sin and more on the comfort of the gospel? You hear that all the time. The point is that people listened with enthusiasm. to Ezekiel's preaching, but that did not have the desired effect. They heard the word, but they didn't do what it said. They didn't repent. They didn't turn from their evil ways. They didn't come before the Lord confessing their sins and their need of him and pleading for his grace. And I wonder, does that describe you this morning? A solemn message. Maybe you thought, well, after the pastor returns from vacation, he's going to preach something a little more uplifting. Well, this is what the Lord has laid in my heart this morning. Is there anyone like this this morning? How many sermons have you not heard in your lifetime? What's been the effect? You heard them. You heard them with physical ears. Did you hear them also with spiritual ears? Have you done what the Word of God says? And when the Word of God says you need to get rid of this or that sin in your life, have you done it? Or do you make excuses? You say, well, nobody's perfect. I'm certainly no worse than the next guy. Greatest disappointment. that any pastor can experience in the ministry is when despite his best efforts and despite the many hours he devotes in preparing and preaching and praying over his sermons, there is no discernible fruit on his preaching. And I'm not saying that that's true here. But is it true to the extent that it ought to be? Is there no room for improvement? Is there evidence of repentance among us? Is there evidence of growth and grace and holiness and love for God and for his people and for his word among us? There's nothing more discouraging for a pastor when he has to say, I'm sorry, there's very little fruit. And that's true for the pastor. What must God himself think? Who has been so good to us and has given us his word, the faithful preaching of his word. Listen to what the Apostle James says in James 1 verses 21 to 25. He says this, therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word. which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. For he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." Do you want to be blessed by God? Don't just come to church. Don't just hear the preaching of the Word of God. Don't shake the minister's hand and say, wonderful sermon pastor, thank you very much. Do what the Word says. Put it into practice. Let it change you. Let it transform you. Let it conform you to the image of Jesus Christ. Is that true for you? If not, then be forewarned because there will come a day when the words that the preacher preaches, also this sermon, will come back to haunt you. That's my third point. The people of Judah, as we've seen, did not take Ezekiel very seriously. They came to him to be entertained and nothing more than that. And the Lord knew this. And so he assures Ezekiel at the end of our text chapter that one day, the day is coming, that they will come to the realization that everything that Ezekiel said was true. Look at verse 33. The Lord says to Ezekiel, and when this comes to pass, Surely it will come. Then they will know that a prophet has been among them." What is the Lord talking about? What is the this when this comes to pass? What's he referring to? Well, I think we need to go back in the chapter to verses 25 to 29 to answer that question. After Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and took the rest of the people captive, he left the poorest of the people in the land in order to cultivate it. And after a while, these people began to believe that the land was theirs. And they're quoted as saying in verse 24, Abraham was only one and he inherited the land, but we are many. The land has been given to us as a possession. They thought that they had all this free real estate. That the land of promise, the land given to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, that it was now theirs to do with what they pleased. And God said no. And this is what he commanded Ezekiel to say to them, verses 25 to 29. He says, therefore say to them, thus says the Lord God, you eat meat with blood, you lift up your eyes toward your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land? In other words, God is saying to these people, you're just miserable sinners. You're committing these terrible iniquities, things that I commanded you not to do. You're eating blood. You're shedding blood. Told you not to do those things, you're doing them anyway. And now you think that you can inherit the land? You think the land is yours? And he goes on. You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile one another's wives. What wickedness! And God says, should you then possess the land? Say thus to them, thus says the Lord God. Now God speaks. As I live, surely those who are in the ruins, that's Jerusalem, shall fall by the sword. And the one who is in the open field, I will give to the beast to be devoured. And those who are in the strongholds, in caves, shall die of the pestilence. For I will make the land most desolate. Her arrogant strength shall cease. And the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through. Then they shall know. I am the Lord when I have made the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed." So God makes it abundantly clear to these misguided people, you guys are smoking something. That's what God is saying. You're smoking something. You think that the land is yours and meanwhile you commit all this sin, you think that you can just take possession of the land while you're defiling my land? With your sin and your iniquity, I tell you no. No one will inherit the land. There's a lot of spiritual application here. No one will inherit the land who continues to live in sin. That's the point. Rather than inherit the land, they will be severely punished. They will be killed, he says, by the sword, by wild animals and pestilence. Their land will be made desolate. And when all this transpires, God says, then they will know, that's the last verse of our text, that a prophet has been among them. In other words, what God is saying is, when these things come to pass, just as I have said, then they will know that Ezekiel was my prophet, and that he spoke the truth. that they should have listened to him when they had the opportunity. Oh what a warning there is here. To all those who do not take the Word of God and the servants of God seriously, one day On the day of judgment when the Lord Jesus comes again on his throne of glory, all the prophecies of the Word of God that the servants of God have preached their whole life will come to pass. And it will be clear to every single person on the planet that the servants of God were right, that they spoke the truth, Only then it will be too late, for those who refuse to hear Him, those who refuse to do what the Word of God said that they should do, they will be utterly destroyed. What a warning. And yet even in the midst of this unsettling and disturbing warning, there is grace. Because God doesn't tell the people these things just to frighten them. He tells them these things so that they may turn from their wicked ways and live. It's significant that a few chapters after this, four chapters later in Ezekiel 37, we have that well-known passage of the valley of dry bones. You remember that vision that Ezekiel saw? He was standing in this valley and the whole valley was covered with dry bones, bones everywhere. The bones of human beings, skeletons everywhere. Thousands, tens of thousands of them. And God says to Ezekiel, Ezekiel, I want you to preach to those bones. And Ezekiel's scratching his head. He's like, Lord, what's the point of preaching to these dry bones? He says, no, you listen to me, Ezekiel. You just preach to those bones. And Ezekiel begins to preach. The Spirit of God comes. And flesh comes upon those bones. And these bones, these skeletons, become an exceedingly great army. You see what God was saying by this. He was assuring the people of Israel in Judah that although they had sinned against Him, although they were nothing but dead dry bones, He took notice of them. He cared about them. He had not forgotten them and He would not abandon them. Instead He would cause His Holy Spirit to come upon them and they would come alive. They'd be raised to newness of life. in Jesus Christ by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit of God. This is God's design. This is his intention. This is his purpose for his backsliding wicked people and it's still his purpose today. Do we not see this manifested so beautifully in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ a few hours before he was crucified? After pronouncing a whole series of woes on the scribes and on the Pharisees for their wickedness, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. And this is what he said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones, those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Jesus had ministered among these people for three long years. He was about to die. He saw so little fruit upon his ministry. So few people actually repent and believe on the Savior. And he knew that they were going to die and he weeps over them. As he weeps over you. if you remain unrepentant and hard of heart. But even at this late hour, he's willing to gather them, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. So gracious, so long-suffering is our beloved Savior. And when you think of that, you think of what lives in the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, will you not come to him? confessing your sins, confessing your unbelief, confessing your hardness of heart, and the many times that you have rejected the Word of God and you've not followed through on the Word of God, you've failed to do what the Word of God says. My friend, He is so willing, so gracious, so willing to receive you and restore you to favor to himself for this is why he came this is why he suffered and died and rose again this is why he sends out his servants to this day this is why he caused me to preach the sermon to you today that you might turn and live oh believe on him then and your bones though brittle and dry and lifeless the power of the Holy Spirit shall live for Jesus' sake. Amen.