The 13th chapter of the book of Ezekiel, and that's where our message will be found this morning. Ezekiel chapter 13. If you're brand new this morning, may I just bring you up to date with what we do here at the Santa Rosa Bible Church on a regular basis. And that is I preach through different books of the Bible on a more or less verse by verse basis. We're looking presently at the book of Ezekiel. This is one of the books that is rarely preached on. God has led us to take a series of sermons through the book of Ezekiel at this particular time. We found that Ezekiel is a man that God called to a distinct and unique ministry. He called him to a lonely ministry. Ezekiel is a captive in the land of Babylon. He's an Israelite, and the Babylonians have captured his country and his king. And the chief men of the land have been carried off to Babylon, and there he's been in captivity. The city of Jerusalem is still intact, Zedekiah is on the throne back there, and Jeremiah is prophesying in the city, and Ezekiel is prophesying in the land of Babylon, and Daniel is also prophesying in the land of Babylon. And Ezekiel is finding that most of the people aren't interested in what he has to say. Most of the people, even in captivity, have forgotten God, or they have not understood God. They think that God has changed his ways and they feel that Ezekiel is just a rabble rouser. Someone that's just trying to cause a little trouble and commotion. Someone who should be overlooked and ignored. And so God gives Ezekiel messages to give to the people from time to time. And this morning as we arrive in chapter 13, we have a rather negative message to look at. It is the message of warning the people and naming them for what they are, false pastors, spurious deaconesses, and counterfeit elders. A very negative sermon, but a very needed sermon in Ezekiel's day and one for which we can find application in our day. And so I invite you to look with me at this particular passage of Scripture this morning, and let's see what God's Word has to say here and in other places about false prophets and false teachers, and how serious false prophets and false teachers can be. Did I mention to you that there's a little study sheet in your bulletin? You can use that if you'd like to, to make notes on this morning. Or I think it's good to be able to take something home with you so that you can think about it and ponder it and make sure that what we said is correct. We invite you to study with an open Bible with us. You know, that's why we're called a Bible church, because we encourage people to bring their Bible to church with them so that you can be very sure that what is being preached is in accordance with the Word of God. We live in a day today when many people ask me the question honestly, how can I know that what you say is correct? For when I go down the street to this place, or when I talk to this person over here, or when I listen to this man on this street corner, or when I read the brochure that this individual drops off at my door, I'm confused because all of you are giving to us different roads and different ways to heaven. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ told us very clearly that this would take place. He said, broad is the path and wide is the road that leads to destruction, and many there be that find it. And he said, straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to righteousness, and few there are that will go in at that gate. And then he also said that there are many who would try to come up to heaven in another way, but he said, I want to make one thing crystal clear to you. He said, I am the only door to heaven. Now, I'm not speaking politically there. I don't know why that popped out. I noticed a smile across some of your faces when I said crystal clear. I want to make something crystal clear to you this morning. All right. We got that out of our system. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Or on another occasion, he said, I am the way. Now listen carefully. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come unto God except he comes through me. The Bible says there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Well why is it then that we have so many different people with so many different ways and yet all of them purporting to be speaking from the Word of God? And the answer is plain and the answer is simple when you really stop to think about it and that is this. You can prove anything from the Bible that you want to prove if you're not careful how you handle a text. A week and a half ago I was listening to the news and the commentator said, by the way, you know, the Bible teaches that when men die, that's the end of them. The Bible says that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Now it's coincidental that he was quoting from Ezekiel chapter 18. Now, it's true that if you take that phrase out of its context and just use that phrase alone, the Bible seems to indicate that the soul of man there will die. You see, the soul that sinneth, that soul will die. That's what Ezekiel says. Now, we're going to be in the 18th chapter in a week or two, so I won't preach that sermon this morning. But let me just say this, that when you look at that passage of Scripture in its context, you will see that Ezekiel there was speaking of physical death, not spiritual death at all. It's obvious. Anyone who would take the time to read the context of that chapter would understand exactly what Ezekiel was referring to, and we'll be looking at it. Someone else once said, I read it in the Press Democrat, a man wrote into the Press Democrat and said, you know the Bible teaches reincarnation. For the Lord Jesus Christ said to Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, when you take that phrase out of its context, sure enough, the Bible says you have to have many births. But when you put that verse in its context, you'll find that Nicodemus thought maybe it was reincarnation. And so he said, Lord, what do you mean? Do you mean that we must be born the second time? And the Lord said, of course not. Nicodemus, don't you remember? That the Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die, and after that, judgment. Oh no, he said, Nicodemus, I was talking about spiritual birth. He said, you need a physical birth, and then you need a spiritual birth. Except a man be born again spiritually. He cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, you see, you can teach anything if you just pull a word here and a word there. You can do that with historians. You can do that with political speakers. You can pull a word out of context here, and you can make them say things that they didn't mean to say at all. Have you ever heard of that being done? A quote being made on a politician that you read in the newspaper headline, and then when you see the article, they said exactly the opposite. I've given you this before. Someone could well say, well, the Bible teaches us that suicide is the best policy. For you can take the one verse in the Bible where it says, and Judas said, Judas went out and hung himself. And then tie that up with another phrase that says, go thou and do likewise, and there you have it. Just as plain as you can see, the Bible recommending suicide. Nothing could be further from the truth in all of these cases. And that's why we like to study the Bible in its context. That's why we take a whole passage of scripture. We want to go through these things and see what it means in the surrounding picture. Now Ezekiel is talking to these prophets, and again the Lord taps him on the shoulder and says, Ezekiel, I have another sermon for you to give. Verse 1 of chapter 13, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now, the first thing that God wanted Ezekiel to do was to preach against and to warn against the false prophets and teachers that were filling the land. Now, you know, every time you begin to speak about the fact that there are false teachers in existence, some people get a little upset and concerned and they say, you know, Pastor, I don't think we ought to do anything like that. You know, that really isn't love. We need to love everyone. Well, dear friend, if we really love the souls of men, we're going to warn them against that which is dangerous, aren't we? What would you think of me if I saw someone who was beginning to drink some poison and I didn't say anything? You say, well, why didn't you say anything? I said, well, I didn't want to offend the person who made the poison. I didn't want to, you know, say anything against that company. So I just let him take it. Well, they died, as I know, too bad. Well, aren't you concerned? Well, yes, I was, but I didn't want to offend. My friend, listen. Every time I begin to speak against false doctrine and false teaching, I always have at least one or two people that will come to me after and say, you know, I really don't think I just hate to hear anything like that. And then I always bring up to people the fact that you do know that two thirds of the New Testament alone, as well as a lot of the Old Testament, is given specifically to the subject of dealing with false doctrine and false teaching and identifying false teachers. Did you know that? Take your Bible sometime, open it up, and look through the New Testament and see the number of places that you can find where God specifically identifies false teachers. Two-thirds of the New Testament was written to expose false doctrine and false teaching. The Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 7, perhaps you'd like to turn there and listen to what he had to say about this subject. There isn't anyone who loved people more than Jesus Christ. For Jesus Christ loved with the perfect love of God. And he loved the souls of men to the extent that he wanted to quickly identify false teachers when they appeared. And in verse 15 of the Sermon on the Mount, Now, the Sermon on the Mount is one of the most well-known passages of Scripture because of the wonderful beatitudes that we find there, which encourage and bless our heart. But unfortunately, most people don't know any more about the Sermon on the Mount than that. The Sermon on the Mount is three chapters long, and it has many warnings as well as encouragements. And in the 15th verse of the 7th chapter, he says, Beware of false prophets. Now what does that word beware mean? That's a very strong word in the Greek language, which means watch out, be on your guard, look out. You know, when I see a sign like that, when I see a sign like that on the door or the gate of a house that I'm about to go up to that says beware of the dog, I'm pretty sure what that word beware means. And believe me, I beware. I beware. Because if there's one thing that doesn't, two things that don't get along, it's me and dogs, especially dogs that growl and bark. And you know, We find that the Lord Jesus Christ says, Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. And so the Lord Jesus Christ speaks out very definitely against these false prophets. And he warns people that they will exist. And he said, You shall know them by their fruits. Their fruits will be contrary to the word of God. Their message will be contrary to the word of God. And then in verse 21 he says, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Many who are under the leadership of false teachers will come to me and say, Well, that day we did many wonderful works in your name. We cast out devils in your name. Then will I say to them, Depart from me, you lawless ones. I never knew you. Now those are the words of Jesus Christ warning us against false teachers. and false doctrines. In the book of Acts, the apostle Paul was visiting the church at Ephesus, where he had pastored for three years. And in the 20th chapter, we find his visit with them recorded. And in verse 28, he says, Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, he said, be on your guard, watch, and remember that for the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. The Apostle Paul tells us that he made it one of the chief aims of his ministries to acquaint people with false doctrine and to warn against false teachers. Paul said, I did it night and day for three years. And so he gave a great emphasis in his ministry to warning against false doctrine and false teaching and false teachers. There are many instances in the writings of Paul's epistles where we could give you illustrations of this being carried out. Now, the first thing that we notice about false pastors, as we look back at Ezekiel 13, are their characteristics. What is the characteristic of a false teacher? A false teacher, first of all, is characterized as one who will not recognize the Bible as the authoritative and inspired Word of God. Oh, he might use it when it fits his doctrine. He might refer to it when it suits his purpose. But he does not believe and regard it to be the only answer for man's need and for man's problem. The Lord Jesus Christ had this entire Old Testament in his hands when he was here on earth, and he referred to them as the Word of God. And he said concerning these scriptures that we have today, he said, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but this which is my word will not pass away. And Jesus Christ claimed inspiration for the Old Testament scriptures. And we have them intact today. There are some who would have you to believe that the translations we have are not good. That is wrong. Scholars who are knowledgeable today will tell you that we have very accurate translations of the original writings of both the Old and New Testament. And new archaeological discoveries have made these translations stronger and better as the years go on. Now, Ezekiel said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against." Ezekiel warned against these false prophets. Tell the people that they are the prophets of Satan rather than my prophets. And say to these false prophets that they prophesy out of their own hearts. And he said, tell them that they need to listen to the word of God. And so therefore, the first thing that we should do is to apply the test to anyone who comes to us with a message that's purportedly from God, is to test it with the Word of God. This was the test that they were to give the prophets in the Old Testament times. Did what they say correspond to the Word of God? And these false prophets of Ezekiel's day were prophesying exactly contrary to the Word of God. God was saying judgment is going to come. Doom is going to fall upon you as a nation. Jerusalem is going to fall if you do not repent of your sin, of your idolatry, and of your moral decay and wickedness. If you persist in this thing, doom and judgment will fall. These prophets were saying it won't happen. Don't believe it. God is not going to do this. He's a God of love. He will never bring judgment. These things will not come to pass. Notice in verse 10 what they were saying. God was saying through his prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah, doom and judgment is coming. But these prophets were saying, for they had seduced the people, saying, peace. And the Bible says there is no peace. And so a false prophet is one who gives forth a message whether or not it corresponds to the word of God. I had a man who was involved in false teaching who visited me a few weeks ago. He said in my study, and as he talked, I said, you know, I'd like to ask you a question about your belief. In your church, you have a teaching that goes like this. As God is, as we are, God once was. As God is, We will one day become. He said, yes, certainly. That's in our church. We believe that with all of our heart. I said, well now, how do you correlate that with what it says here in the book of Isaiah? That I am not a man. That I have not been a man. That I am almighty God. That there is no other God beside me. And he said, well, he said, You see, he said, we just don't accept that portion of Isaiah. We don't accept that. And this is what I find over and over again. That false teachers will not accept the word of God. Some women came to me one day and they said, Pastor, our pastor has taught us that once we die, that God is going to give us a second chance. And then if we don't receive him, then we go into a lost eternity. I said, that's very interesting, but the Bible says the opposite. The Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die, and after that, judgment. That's a direct quote from Scripture, taken in context. I opened it up and showed it to them. I said, ask that pastor what he bases that on. And so they went to the pastor, they asked him what he based it on, and he said, I don't have anything to base it on. But he said, I just have a feeling that that's the way it is. And so that's what I teach. He is a false teacher. He is a false prophet. You see, he is fulfilling exactly the thing that God tells Ezekiel to speak out against. Notice what he says. He says a false prophet not only ignores and neglects the word of God, but a false prophet produces doctrines out of his own spirit. Verse 3. They follow the things that are out of their own spirit, and they have seen nothing. I haven't given them these revelations. I haven't told them to say these things. But they have produced these things out of their own mind, their own intellect, their own background, and their own personal view of God and eternity and all that is ahead. And God says, Ezekiel, warn the people, tell them that these who prophesy contrary to the word of God are false prophets, false pastors, and false teachers. Notice what he says about them in verse 6. They have seen lying and vanity, saith the Lord, and I have not sent them. And they have made others to hope that they would confirm the Word. And so they're characterized by the fact that they neglect the Word of God, they preach doctrines and thoughts that are their own, and they harm others because they are leading men and women away from God's true message of salvation, and they are leading them on a path that will lead to destruction. Now what happens to false teachers? What becomes of them? Verse 9 tells us that they one day will face the definite judgment of God. Notice what it says. My hand shall be upon those prophets that see vanity and divine lies, and they shall not be in the assembly of my people. They will not be accepted. with my people and in my eternity," says God. They will not be written in the writings of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter in to the land. And all of these things can be used as speaking of the literal things that they were going to lose then, but they are also symbolic, for the Word of God tells us in other portions of Scripture that men who reject God's way of salvation have only one end in eternity, and that is to be banished from the fellowship and presence of God forever. And then in verses 10 through 16, he tells us that not only will they endure and suffer the wrath and judgment of God against sin and the wickedness of their lives, but others will be drawn along with them in this thing. And then he says that their lives and their work will crumble and fall to dust. Notice he begins in verse 10 and he develops it through verse 16. because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace when there is no peace. And one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar." He said they are like people who are trying to build a wall, and they are building it with cement that has no adhesive. So when the judgment comes, and when the test is there, their lives and all that they have taught and promoted will crumble away. You know, this is where the test really is. The thing that we ought to be very careful of and desirous of is that our lives might be built on truth. Jesus said, I am truth. How could Jesus Christ make such a statement like that? How could any man be truth? Because Jesus was God. He tells us that. He said, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then he says, the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Jesus is God, who became man, and died on the cross for our sins. And therefore is God, He is truth, and is truth. When we accept Him as our Savior, and when we make His life our foundation, then we begin to build on something that will stand any test that comes along, and will especially stand the test of eternity. But when we build our life on the philosophies and ideas and thoughts and hopes of men, when eternity comes, and when the real issues are faced, Those things, the Word of God says, will crumble away, and all who have stood with them will be undermined and will be lost. When I was in school, I had a philosophy professor who loved to ridicule the Word of God and Bible-believing Christians. This was in San Francisco State University. I won't tell you his name, but I had many rounds with that philosophy teacher. An interesting class, to say the least. For I was a Bible-believing Christian at that time. And this man was vehemently opposed to the Word of God. And I often wondered, well, why is it that he's so exercised and upset? Why is he constantly attacking the Word of God? Years after I graduated, I visited Los Angeles Seminary, and there I met a man by the same name. I found out that he was a brother of my philosophy teacher. He was a born-again, Bible-believing Christian. They had come from the same home and background, but the one had accepted the Word of God, and the other had not. Not only had he rejected it, but he had opposed it, you see. And he had been instrumental in causing many young people to turn away from the faith. He pastored a very liberal church in San Francisco, where they ridiculed the thought that the Bible was the Word of God. I said, how's your brother doing? He said, oh, he's dead. I said, I'm sorry to hear that. I said, what happened? He said, you won't believe what happened. I said, why, when I had a class with him, he was vehemently opposed to the Word of God and to Bible-believing Christians. He said, oh yes, but he said he became ill with incurable cancer. And he said he left the college, of course, and he said he spent the last three months of his life going to every Bible-believing place that he could go to in order to find help and strength. And he completely renounced all of the philosophy which he had spouted and breathed out for all of those years. Why? Because when the test came, he had nothing with which he could face eternity, and it crumbled away before the reality of God. And so false teachers have a very serious end. in store for them. Well now, in verse 17, we find that not only were the men involved in this, but some of the women were involved too. And we want to notice that the program of these women, and in verse 17 he said, Likewise, son of man, face against the daughters of thy people, who prophesy out of their own heart, and prophesy thou against them. Now what were these women doing? You know, in the days of old, when God couldn't find faithful men to lead the nation of Israel, He found faithful women. Women like Deborah, Hannah, and some of these other great women of the Word of God, who stood out for God and stood in the gap when no one else could be found. But this time, not only had the men turned away from God, but God couldn't find faithful women either. Here were these people captives in this land. Here were men like Ezekiel and Jeremiah preaching and saying, repent. If you don't repent, the judgment of God is going to come upon you. But these women were saying, no, it's not going to be that way at all. Why it's not going to take place like that? Notice what they have said, what they said in verse 22. With lies he hath made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad, and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way by promising him life." In other words, they were saying, don't listen to Ezekiel. You see, God has changed. This is a new day. I know that our nation has changed. I know that we now are involved in all kinds of things that God used to frown on, but this is a new day and God has changed, and sin isn't sin anymore. This is a new morality, the new day. Say, that sounds similar to the things we hear today, doesn't it? Do you know that all across our land there are ordained men of God who are espousing from their pulpits today open condoning of sin and wickedness, that the Word of God has pointed out as sin all through the ages, and yet men are telling us today, these things are no longer sin. We hear of great denominations that are planning on ordaining to the ministry men and women who are involved in homosexuality. We find dialogue and discourse that premarital sex and experimentation by young people is alright. And all kinds of wickedness that the Word of God reveals to us as sin is openly being condoned. Violent civil disobedience is many times being encouraged by the clergy. And I have documentation, if you're interested in it, to back up all of these statements. These are not things that I'm pulling out of the air. You see, the false preachers and prophets of our day are similar to the false prophets and preachers of Ezekiel's day. They are saying that God doesn't really feel the same about sin that He used to. Well, dear friend, they have lost sight of the fact that one of the attributes of God is that He is immutable. The Bible says, I am God and I change not. And by the way, the new morality of our day is not new at all. It's the old morality of Sodom and Gomorrah. And what happened to the nation that accepted the new morality of Sodom and Gomorrah's day? God snuffed them out. What does it tell us about that new morality in Romans 1? It says any nation or people that give themselves in a wholesale way to this will destroy themselves. History reveals to us that nations who have willfully adopted this kind of waywardness and wantonness have all disintegrated from within. Now why? Because God says that this is what takes place. God tells us that the course of sin will destroy man. And God hasn't changed. I'm so glad that God doesn't change, aren't you? Don't you wish that your wife would always be the same? Wouldn't that be nice? If she was always the same, you could just depend on the same reaction every time? Don't you women wish that that husband of yours was the same? Don't you wish that you could be sure that every day when he walked in the door after work that there'd be a smile and a nice greeting instead of coming in one day like this and the next day like this? Wouldn't it be wonderful, oh how marvelous, that God never changes. I am the Lord, I change not. And we know that God loves us today and he'll love us tomorrow. And we know that he loved us yesterday, and we know that his love is constant. Isn't that wonderful? His righteousness is constant. His holiness is constant. Everything about God is constant. And I find this delightfully refreshing in a changing world. But that also means that God's attitude towards sin is the same today as it was in the days of Ezekiel and as it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. And Ezekiel said, if you don't repent, judgment will fall. And the false prophet said, don't worry about it. This is a new age, a new time. Things are different. God isn't mad about sin anymore. And in two years, Ezekiel's prophecy came true. History tells us this. By the way, I hope you'll stay with us in the book of Ezekiel and really study this because we're going to come along across some of the most fantastic fulfilled prophecies in the book of Ezekiel that you ever saw. This is a fantastic book, folks. And we know that Ezekiel was correct, because the city was totally destroyed, as he predicted. The false prophets were wrong, and the false prophets today are wrong. And one of the things that burdens me and grieves me is to hear so-called men of God openly condoning sin today, and saying that sin isn't sin anymore. Dear friends, what America needs today is sound Bible preaching that says that sin is sin. You know, even the psychiatrists are teaching us today that sin is sin. Dr. Menninger, one of the famous psychiatrists, wrote a book recently on whatever happened to sin. You see, when you say there's no such thing as sin, You just let society be unleashed to take any kind of wicked course that it wants, and the results are frightening, to say the least. Now these false prophets, false teachers, they not only were saying that sin isn't sin anymore, but they were all involved in fortune-telling and in astrology. and things like that. Notice what it says there. Why? He said, look at you, women, you're sewing all these amulets for the wrist, making all of these charms. And they were telling people's fortune. And some of the people were getting upset and concerned. They said, well, I don't know. What about the future? They said, come on in. We'll tell you the future for a few handfuls of barley. And so they bring the barley in and they sit down and said, oh, here it is. And they'd come out with it. Everything's going to be all right. You're going to meet a handsome young man and he's going to have a million dollars and everything's going to be just great for your life. And so they were telling the future, and the future that they were seeing was rosy. It was wonderful. And they made these kerchiefs and all of these things that go along with them. You know, it's frightening to me today to see how the resurgence of witchcraft and sorcery and astrology is making Is growing with such leaps and bounds in our society. Did you know that the bible speaks to us specifically against that? Did you know that god hasn't changed his view since he first gave us his his opinions on it? Let me read to you what god said in isaiah chapter 47 verse 13 about these things Thou art wearied let the multitude of thy counsels let now the astrologers and the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators, stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, God says, I'll tell you what's going to happen to them. They're going to be like fire that shall burn them, and they shall not deliver themselves from it. The power of the flame, and it shall be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. In Leviticus chapter 23, when God gave his instructions to his chosen people, he said that astrologers, and wizards, and witchcraft, and all of these things were of Satan. And he said, you are to have nothing to do with it. It is sin. It is incorrect information and it will lead you astray. Hardly a week goes by that somebody doesn't ask me what my sign is today. Years ago, nobody ever asked me. I didn't even know what my sign was until the recent years when astrology has become so important and so interesting to so many people. And you know, people said to me, why, pastor, I know wonderful people in the church that are just into this hook, line, and sinker. Well, it's against God. That's what it is. It's false doctrine. It's false teaching. You don't need astrology. You need the Word of God. Really. That stuff is baloney. But it's worse than that. It's false doctrine that can harm and hinder and hurt your life. And God says it's sin. In fact, if we had turned to Leviticus, God said that it was such wickedness and such sin that He said that they were to take those who persisted in it and take them out of the camp and stone them. It was considered a capital crime. under Israelite law. In Galatians chapter 5, when God writes to the church, He says, Let all witchcraft and sorcery and all of these things be put away from you. This is what they were preaching. This is what they were teaching. This is what they were giving for. You know, as I said a few moments ago, people from time to time, they ask me what my sign is. Can you imagine anything more ridiculous? I was born in August. My sign is Leo. Can you imagine anybody that's less like a Leo than I am? Why, a Leo is somebody who is, you know, just really rushes in, somebody who makes a big noise, who roars like a lion, somebody who's bold. And that's certainly not me, is it? No, you see, the irony of it is that I'm just like a Leo. You couldn't make a better Leo than me. But I know three people that were born on the same day that I was born, and they're as much opposite as I am as night and day. I know some people born on the same... Why, there's a young lady here in the church this morning, born on the exact day that I am, and she is exact opposite of me all down the line. Dear friends, listen to me. This is something that God, Satan, has used to take drive and keep the hearts and minds of people out of the Word of God. There are people that will spend hours reading horoscopes and astrology charts that don't spend 10 minutes reading the Word of God. Did you know that? Christians, let's not be led astray. Let's not be led aside by false teachers and false doctrines. In chapter 14, the elders came to see him, and God said, Ezekiel, don't even talk to the elders. I don't have anything to say to them because they're hypocrites. They're idolaters. He said, I have one message for you to give to all of them. It's this. He said, tell them that my mind has been set, that Jerusalem is going to be destroyed. Tell them that all is lost, and even if Daniel and Job and Noah were in the city of Jerusalem, I wouldn't save it even for them. God says, you've gone too far. And so they have. And as you read the history, you will see that these people paid a horrible price for their sin and for their wickedness. The destruction of this city was horrible beyond degree. It's a tragedy that it had to happen. And why did it happen? Because they listened to false prophets rather than listen to the word of God. And as we close our service this morning, I admonish you here to listen to what God's Word has to say in reference to your eternal soul. Dear friends, I have a wonderful message for you this morning, and it is this, that God's wrath is going to be executed against sin and against unrighteousness, but everyone in this room this morning can escape the wrath of God because the love of God is extended to you today. The wrath of God is out there in the future, but today the love of God is offered to us. Yes, the Bible says that God became a man and that he died on the cross and that he paid for your sins. That's how much God loved you. God loved you so much that he was willing to be one of you, one of us, and then die on the cross. to pay personally for our sin. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should never perish, but have everlasting life. Now that's how much God loves you, and everything necessary for your salvation is an accomplished and finished fact this morning. And all that you need to do to be a Christian is to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior. You say, Pastor, why are there so many false teachers? Why do they go off in so many directions? There's only one answer, and that's the pride of the human heart. Men hate to admit that they're sinners and that they can't save themselves and that they need a Savior. You say, how do you know that? Because I was in that boat one day. It wasn't easy for me to come to that place where I would admit that I needed a Savior. I wanted to believe that I could save myself. But in order to be saved by God, I had to come to that place where I was willing to admit and confess before God that I was a sinner, where I was willing to believe that God loved me even as a sinner, that He died for me as a sinner. And I was willing and ready to do what He required of me in order to have my sins forgiven. Now, what does a man have to do to have his sins forgiven? And here's what God says. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved. Salvation is a gift, for by grace are you saved through faith. It's not of yourselves, it's a gift that God will give you, not of works as any man should boast. How do you receive that gift? You receive that gift by confessing Jesus Christ as your Savior. Listen to what it says in Romans 10. If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. Now listen, here's God's promise to you. If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, God will save your soul. For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now that's how you become a Christian. By confessing Jesus Christ as your Savior. I want to ask you this question. Have you ever done that? Have you ever confessed Jesus Christ as your Savior? This message has been brought to you by the Santa Rosa Bible Church. Our mission is to see the lost reached and believers transformed by Jesus. You can find out more information about us at our website at srbible.org. Or you can visit us in person at 4575 Badger Road in Santa Rosa, California. You can also reach us by phone at 707-538-2385.