Our scripture reading this evening is from the prophet Ezekiel chapter 36 verses 16 through 38. Ezekiel 36 beginning at verse 16. Let us hear the word of God. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land They defiled it by their own ways and by their doings. Their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it. And I scattered them among the heathen. and they were dispersed through the countries. According to their way and according to their doings, I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned My holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of His land. But I had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went, Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy namesake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God. when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries and I will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you. and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues and you shall keep my judgments and do them and you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and you shall be my people and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses and I will call for the corn and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good. and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God, In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded, and the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I, the Lord, build the ruined places and plant that that was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. I will increase them with men like a flock. as the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts. So shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men, and they shall know that I am the Lord." Thus far, the reading of Holy Scripture. Dear congregation, I ask your attention this evening for that portion of God's Word from Ezekiel chapter 36. Verse 37, the first part. Ezekiel 36 and verse 37 where we read God's word as follows, Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. And with the Lord's help we want to consider this evening the theme Divine Instruction. for our prayer life and we want to see first of all who the instructor is and secondly who the instructed are and thirdly what that instruction consists of so divine instruction for our prayer life the instructor the instructed and the instruction we have in this text These words, thus says the Lord God. That's who the instructor is. The Lord God. And that little phrase, that name for the Lord, and that little phrase, thus says the Lord God, appears 162 times in the Old Testament. And what is amazing is that of those 162, 120 times are in Ezekiel. 10 times in chapter 36. Thus saith the Lord God. And that's the best phrase that you and I can hear this evening. Thus saith the Lord God. That's much more important than thus saith the President. Or thus saith the pastor? Or thus saith your favorite author? No. Thus says the Lord God. The Lord God. And the Hebrew name that's used here for the Lord God is Adonai Yahweh. And King James always translates that as the Lord God. The Dutch State Bible has the better translation. They call it the Lord the Lord. Because that's how it ought to be translated. The Lord Jehovah. The Sovereign One. And not only the Sovereign One, but the faithful covenant keeping Jehovah. He is speaking this evening. The Sovereign The unchangeable One. And He is sovereign because of who He is. Because He is God. All other sovereignty in this world is derived from Him. Parents, we are sovereign in our families. A teacher is sovereign in his classroom. An army general in the army. But it's all derived, that sovereignty. But only God is sovereign because He is God. And He is the one who instructs us this evening. The sovereign God. We love that doctrine, don't we? The sovereignty of God. Well, that very sovereign God instructs you and me this evening. Even if maybe we've come to church this evening just out of habit. He's still going to instruct us. He's still going to speak. He still has instruction to give to us. And what He says is always true, and is always relevant, and is always applicable. Jehovah God speaks to us this evening. He is the one who said of Himself, I am Jehovah, I change not. So we better pay attention. when Jehovah God Himself speaks. When He says, thus says the Lord God. And what's so beautiful is that when He comes to give us instruction, He uses words. Did you ever consider that? That that Almighty God, the awesome, majestic Lord of Heaven and Earth, uses words to speak to us, so we may understand. He doesn't speak with big signs in the skies that we can't read. He speaks with words. He uses language. He is the one who comes and gives precious instruction. If you go to the local Christian bookstore, and you go to the self-help section, there's many, many instruction books. But now this evening, we put all other books aside, and we come to listen to the words of the Lord God Almighty. Those words are actually written across every page of the holy word of God. Thus saith the Lord God. And Jesus said of this Lord God, Thy word is truth. And so that means that what the Lord God said in Ezekiel's day was true then, and it's true now, And it will be true, as long as you and I live. His word will stand forever. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And He gives this instruction in every language of the world, the same instruction, thus saith the Lord God. And He can instruct us and He does so through His Son Christ Jesus. Always. Otherwise, the Lord could not speak to us if it were not for Christ Jesus because He can't even look at us. He is so holy and so pure that He can't even look at sin and iniquity. So this evening when He speaks to us and instructs us, He does so by looking at us through His Son. Thus saith the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, He is the Almighty God. When the Lord God speaks to us this evening, then He is going to reveal to us, not only who He is, Yes, the Lord God, the awesome, majestic, great King of Kings, the Holy and Pure One, but also who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Because we can never have a sermon based on this word that doesn't direct us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Because He Himself said, search the Scriptures, they testify of Me. So in this text too, Christ Jesus is being testified. Thus saith the Lord God, the Sovereign One is speaking. He reveals Himself to you and to me and He reveals Himself as the Instructor. The Instructor for our prayer life. The instructor. Thus saith the Lord God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And to whom, to whom does He speak? We know now that the instructor this evening is God Himself. Jehovah God Himself is going to be instructing. And who is it that He is instructing? Well the text says, That, thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel. So the people being instructed are the house of Israel. Now that doesn't mean we go home now, because we are not Israelites. But we wait a moment and see that we also, each one of us, is numbered among the people who is being instructed. Who is the house of Israel? Children, you know this from your Bible stories. In the Old Testament, these are God's chosen people. This is the nation that God set apart, His covenant people. He chose them to serve Him. He gave them a sign that said that these are my people. I have set them apart. They are to serve me and only me. And I will be their God. And they shall be my people. They will glorify me. They will serve me. They will fear me. I have chosen them. And now when we read that God has chosen His people. Then they must have been a great people, don't you think? They must have been a very special kind of people. They must have been very good people. That the Lord would choose them. But do you know what the Bible says? Why they were chosen to be God's special people? Who this house of Israel was and why He chose them? You find it in Deuteronomy 7, verse 6. When God speaks to, Moses speaks to the people, thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all the people that are on the face of the earth. And certainly now they're going to hear, oh he chose us because we are so special. It's not what it says. The Lord thy God chose thee to be a special people. unto himself. Oh the Lord who loves us that must mean we are such lovable people that the Lord could look at us and love us. Well Moses explains that too. The Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people for you were the fewest of all people but listen carefully now As Moses speaks on behalf of God and tells the people why it is that the Lord loved them. He says, the Lord loved you because He loved you. That's why. The Lord did not love you because you were special. He loved you because He loved you. And He chose you because He would keep the oath that He had sworn unto your fathers. And so children, if you ever wonder why it is that the Lord loves His people. And dear believers, if you ever, and I'm sure you do, you wonder why in the world would the Lord love me? What is there in me to love? Here's the reason. He loved you because He loved you. That's God's reason. He chose you He swore an oath that He would do so. That's God's reasoning. Now these people of Israel, they're being instructed tonight. And then when you read in the book of Ezekiel, that prophet, where God's people are so often addressed and described, then there's never in this book of Ezekiel a glorious picture of the Lord's people. I'll give you an example. Ezekiel chapter 2, and he, that is Jehovah said unto me, Ezekiel son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me, they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this day, for they are impudent children and stiff-hearted, I do send thee unto them, that thou may say to them, thus saith the Lord God." So these people of Israel are a rebellious people, transgressors against the Lord God, impudent people, hard people. He calls them stiff-hearted, stubborn, headstrong against the Lord and against His ways and against His word. And now Ezekiel is supposed to go to these people and tell them, thus saith the Lord. And Jehovah knows very well how his people are going to react. He knows very well that many of his people will not hear him, will not listen to Ezekiel and yet he gives instruction. He says to Ezekiel in 3 verse 27, When I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord God, He that heareth, let him hear, and he that forbeareth, let him forbear, for they are a rebellious house. Again and again, The rebellious house. This is the house of Israel. God's covenant people. God came to them in Abraham in Genesis 17 verse 7 and he said, I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee. In their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And he gave them a sign of circumcision. And when you read the history of that Old Testament people, the Lord took them out of Egypt, led them through the wilderness to the promised land. They had all the privileges of being God's covenant people. And yet we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, but with many of them, God was not well pleased. God was not well pleased with His own chosen people. What happened then? Well, they became very proud. They became so proud that they were Abraham's seed. So proud in fact that when the Lord Jesus came and said, you need to be set free. That they said to the Lord Jesus, what do you mean? We are Abraham's seed. We were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, ye shall be made free? Why is that? Well, because not all Israel are Israel. They were not all true Israelites. Yes, they had all the privileges. All the privileges of being God's covenant people. And that's still so today. Because these very people who are described here as the house of Israel, that's us too. We too. are God's covenant people. We too are Abraham's seed. You read that in Galatians in chapter 3. Galatians 3 and verses 6 through 9, Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed, so then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. So believers and their children today are God's covenant people set aside Set aside by Jehovah Himself. He gave us a sign too. It wasn't just the circumcision for the Jewish people. He gave us the sign of baptism. And that sign we carry with us. It's on us. We can't erase it. It's there. It's God's sign. And it's the sign of that same covenant of grace. that He gave to Abraham's seed. God's covenant people and we have all the special privileges of being a covenant people and also all the responsibilities that goes with it. And we compare ourselves now to the children of Israel back then in Ezekiel's days. Then we are not a hair better Then we are described the same way. Rebellious people. Disobedient. Going our own ways. Stiff-hearted. Stubborn. Against the Lord by nature. We see it in verse 20 of Ezekiel 36. We read it together already. When they entered into the heathen, whither they went, they profaned My Holy Name. And dear congregation, that's what you and I have done. We have profaned God's Holy Name. That Name that He put upon each one of us. Israel refused to walk in Jehovah's ways. They rebelled. They went their own way. They profaned My Holy Name. That word profane means they polluted My Holy Name. They desecrated My Holy Name. They profaned it by defiling God's Name. And never forget when we pollute God's name, we pollute God Himself. As He is never separated from His name. Will you pollute me among my people? We are baptized in the name of the triune God. And do we too, even today, profane that holy name. Remember now, For a moment, what's going on? The Lord God is instructing us now too. He's the instructor. We are the instructed. He is speaking. And He's telling us who we are. First He told us who He is. Now He's telling us who we are. Baptized in His name. He has said to you and me, I will be a God unto you and you shall be my people. And those people of Israel, with God's holy covenant sign upon them, went into the world, they took God's holy name into unholy places. Do we do the same? Parents, are you taking your children into unholy places with God's holy name upon them? Or are you bringing into your home all kinds of unholy things to set before your children who have God's holy name upon them? Are you polluting God's holy name by bringing into your homes unholy television programs? Or unholy computer games? Or by visiting unholy websites on that computer? And parents, are you watching your children when they're using the computer? You should try this once. Like I did. Go watch them once when they are on that MSN instant messenger. Messaging with 4 or 5 people at the same time. And take a look once at the screen names they've given themselves. Or the screen names some of their buddies are using. You may be appalled. You may want to watch very closely what your children, who've been set apart by God, with God's holy name upon them, are doing. How they are profaning God's holy name in your very presence. Watch them. Parents, and I include myself, we stood here When our children are baptized and we vowed, we vowed that to the utmost of our power, we would bring them up in the doctrine that we have been taught. And what happens so often, that we have parents instead of nourishing that seed, instead of nourishing their children with spiritual food, are giving them poison. Poisoning them to death. Imagine a farmer, a farmer in the springtime, he's telling you, yes, I made a vow to do the utmost of my power to raise a good crop this year. And he gets the best seed he can get and plants it. And as soon as the little plants come up out of the soil, he comes with a sprayer and sprays them with poison that he knows will kill them. What would you think of a farmer like that? You'd say he's not worthy of the name of farmer. What do you think of a parent who does that very same thing? God's holy name is profaned. Think of people who stand before God and His church and confess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and then live as if there is no Lord Jesus Christ. Live as if there is no everywhere present God who say, I believe and yet live That they don't believe. Who say, I know how to live and I choose not to. Let us be very careful when we consider who's being instructed here. Let's not look too harshly at the children of Israel in Ezekiel's days. Because they are alive and well today in our days and in our churches too. What did the children of Israel do? They profaned My Holy Name. And I know there are families here, many striving, struggling to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And the Lord is blessing it too. But, there is not a single parent here who has done it as God requires. and anything short of God's standard profanes His name, profanes God's name. It must be for us what we read in verse 31. Then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your own inequities and for your abominations. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. God's Word to us, teaching us who we are and how we ought to stand before Him this evening. Loathing ourselves because of our sins. People who should be ashamed of ourselves. Even commanded to be ashamed of ourselves. And humbled before God. If God were human, He would have looked on us this evening, every single one of us. And He would have said, away with you. Away with you. I'm finished with you. I sent you my word. I sent you my son. You refused him. Then have it your own way. I've given you all the instruction I'm ever going to give you. I've given you all the opportunities to come to me. I'm done with you. Away with you. And when you and I are in the right place, spiritually, We have to say to God, Oh Lord, you're right. That's right. That's what I deserve. That's what my family deserves. But now let's remember, who is the instructor? Remember children, who the instructor is now? The Lord God Himself is the instructor. And He says of Himself, In Micah 7 verse 18, Who is a God like unto thee, that pardons iniquity, and passes by transgressions of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delights in mercy. He's the one who's instructing us this evening. The God who delights in mercy. He gives instruction to rebellious people, to undeserving parents, and undeserving office bearers, and undeserving children, and undeserving single people, and undeserving grandparents. He gives precious instruction. The instructor is the Lord God Himself. The instructed, that's you and me. We are being instructed by Jehovah God Himself this evening in the matter of our prayer life. And in order to instruct us properly, that Jehovah God had to show us first who He is. And then who we are. And now he's going to teach us something, giving us that instruction. He says, I will yet for this be inquired of, to do it for them. Thus saith the Lord God, to do it for them. If you read in chapter 36, you notice some of the context. You see in verses 24 through 29, a list of spiritual blessings that each of us needs, oh so desperately. We read there that the Lord says, I will take you from among the heathen. I will sprinkle clean water upon you. I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit in you. I will take away your stony heart. I will put my spirit within you. I will save you from your uncleannesses. And remember now who is saying, I will? Jehovah God Almighty. is saying, I will do these things. The Lord God Almighty who knows everything, who knows you and me much better than we know ourselves. The Lord God Almighty who can look through our black suits and all our proper clothing and can look right inside and who looks inside here and says, I know you are polluted with sin. I know what you have done. I will sprinkle I see your heart, I know that you are stiff-hearted, I will give you a new heart, he says. I know your spirit, that it is corrupt to the core, I will put my spirit within you. I know you are hard-hearted, hard as a rock by nature, I'll take away your stony heart. I know that you are cold-hearted by nature. I will give you a heart of flesh. I know you. I know you have gone astray from me. I know you have profaned my name. I know you have polluted my name. You shall be my people. And I will be your God. I know you are full of uncleannesses. I will save you from all your uncleannesses. Jehovah God Almighty says, I will. I will do this. And to whom does He say this then? To the house of Israel. To His covenant people. Who at this very moment are still rebellious. Still backslidden. He says, I will do all these things. And He says it to you and me too today. You and I receive these gracious promises, this precious instruction from the Lord God. He reveals Himself, He reveals how He works. I will do it. Yes, He is the Almighty Sovereign God and yes, He is merciful. Yes, He saves His people and He tells us how He saved them. I will do all these things. You can't. You don't have to. I will do it. A promise of the Lord God whose word cannot fail. I will do it, then that raises a question. Why is it then, that in the church, in the churches, there are weeds among the wheat? Why is it, that there are unbelievers among God's people? Why does it happen? God promises, doesn't He? I will do it. But He also explains for whom He will do it. He says, I will yet be inquired of for this. Instruction for our prayer life. Because inquiry is prayer. Inquiry is going to God and asking Him for these very things, I will yet be inquired. That little word yet in Hebrew has all different shades of meaning. It can mean yet, it can mean still, it can mean again. Think of that then, I will yet be inquired. That implies it's still possible today, today you and I may still inquire of the Lord for these things. I will still be inquired. Yes, yesterday you could inquire, today you may still inquire, but the day is coming there will be no more inquiries. That day is coming too. And I will again be inquired of. That means we can come again and again and again and God never tires of our inquiring of Him for these very things. These things. I will be inquired of. That's God's will. You want to know what God's will is for you? Here it is. Inquire of the Lord for these things, the things that He says, I will do it. You know, 10 chapters or so ago, in chapter 20, the Lord had said this, As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. But now in verse 36, He comes back and He says, I will. I will yet be inquired of by you to do it for you. I will do this for you. On what basis then? Why would He do this for anyone? For our sakes? Never. No, you read it in verses 21 and 22. Verse 21. But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake. Yes, that very name that you have profaned among the heathen, for that name's sake, I will do this. God fulfills His promises never because we deserve anything. Never because He finds anything in us worthy of receiving His graces. But for His holy name sake. He does it for His own sake. Then look at verse 32. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you. So God's promises are founded on His care for His Holy Name. And that shows what great care He has. And He proved that in sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because in Him, God can and is merciful to sinners who inquire of Him, remember now, who the instructor is, Jehovah God Himself, and He is instructing us, and He's telling us, I will be inquired of by you for this, to do it for you. And that means, that God invites us, encourages us, urges us, to come to Him with Ezekiel 36 openly for us and bring it back to the Lord and tell the Lord, Lord hear, hear you said it and yes I am one of these rebellious ones who has profaned thy name but Lord thou has said I will be inquired of I want you to inquire of me bring it back to the Lord The Lord God Himself has said it, I will do these things. Lord, I don't deserve the least of it. I deserve exactly the opposite. But Thou has promised, I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. So where ought we to be this evening? All of us, on our knees before Jehovah God, bringing His word back to Him. Pleading on His promises. We have nothing to plead on in ourselves. Nothing whatsoever. We can't say, Oh God, remember the covenant. Remember Thy name on me. No, God says, You profaned My name. Nothing in you, for my name's sake, because I care for my name. That's why I will do this. So we need to be on our knees before Almighty God, with His Word open before us, showing Him His Word back, bringing it back to Him. That's what we need as congregations, as denomination, as church nationwide. and worldwide to bring God's promises back to him. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, he said, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take God's promises then. All the promises in the Bible, he says of them, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. We know that He keeps His promise and it says all the promises of God in Christ Jesus are yes and amen unto the glory of God for us. So we receive instruction from the Lord God Almighty Himself to return to Him, to inquire of Him, to bring it all back to Him. and that glorifies the Lord God when we in obedience call upon His name when we obey this now and take Him at His word and believe what He says and bring it back to Him it shows Him that we believe His promises it shows Him that we expect nothing from ourselves but everything from Him because He is the faithful covenant keeping God tell Him Lord, it's written in black and white. Thus saith the Lord God. Those words signed and sealed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how sure this promise is that Christ signs it. As He did the whole Bible with His blood. Take it back. Take it back to Him. Are you not thankful? for God's Holy Word. If we didn't have the Bible, we would never have this instruction from the Lord God Himself, but He gave us the book. And in that book, He shows us, He tells us who He is, who we are, and what He will do for people who have profaned His name, who will inquire of Him for these things in the word of God we have God's promises the word of God we have all the instruction we need for faith and for life. And all of those promises are connected and fulfilled through Christ Jesus the Lord. All is supplied by His blood. All the conditions there are are met by Him. By His perfect sacrifice. You and I, we are all the same. People who pollute God's Name not a single one of us deserves any of these blessings from Him. It will always be, I will do it. I will do it. I will do it. And I will do it. And I will be inquired of for this by the house of God. We are all sinners who need the blood of Christ Jesus the Lord day by day. Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. And then if you read the words that come just before that, the last words of verse 36. And I will close with that. Let the instructor speak. I the Lord have spoken it. And I will do it. Amen.