It's very unusual for God's people to want to hear messages from the book of Ezekiel. As a matter of fact, there may be some who even come tonight, I don't want to hear any more about that book. One of the things that is so puzzling to the flesh is the different symbols that Ezekiel gives in the very first chapter. These are so unspeakably beautiful and difficult, impossible for the flesh to receive. And so if you will listen carefully, I'm going to give you a number of these symbols. that are in the first book of Ezekiel before Ezekiel ever gets down to business in chapter two. Now remember that the second wave of captives have been taken to Babylonian captivity, thousands. And this is a message to them. It's strange. if you look at it from a human point of view, that it took Babylonian captivity to get the people of Israel to give up their false gods and to worship the true and the living God. So listen carefully now because I'm gonna touch on a number of symbols and what they mean, and then we'll go into a little bit of the second chapter of Ezekiel. Ezekiel starts out abruptly. Now, it came to pass. It actually happened. It was not some kind of a dream or some kind of a fiction. These things actually are from God Almighty. The first symbol we'll look at is in verse 1. I was among the captives. Satan has demons. that are constantly seeking to make you a prisoner of some part of his diabolical, evil, hellish plan. And so the word captive symbolically and spiritually means deported slaves, snatched away from that which you love and that which you have taken, actually you've taken for granted. And suddenly Satan captures and takes that person into captivity. The second words we'll look at is actually the term, verse 3, the term W-O-R-D. And this simply means that which comes from the mind of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. These things come not from man, but they come from God Almighty through his son. The Messiah, Jesus. And they come expressly. That simply means that you know it's from God because the Holy Spirit has breathed it into you. Like he breathed life into Adam back in the book of Genesis. Have you had an expressed a counter, encounter with almighty God. He has taken the clay that you are, dust our art into dust, shalt thou return. And he has breathed into your dust the very power of his Holy Spirit. Then we have the word hand used symbolically. It means that God has authority. There's no authority that you have to follow if it is contrary to Almighty God. And then we come down and we come to a number, a symbolic number in verse five. If you have studied the days of creation, you find that the number four deals with that which God brought into being by speaking. And the first thing he spoke into being, let there be light. And there was light. You don't have to live in darkness. You don't have to live in oblivion. God wants to show you that he is still creating. He's not through. When they were talking, the Pharisees, were talking about working on the Sabbath day, Jesus said, my father works and I continue to work. He wants to do a work in this assembly of God. He is not all somewhere, a nobody. He is the somebody of the universe. Then he continues and he uses the word, the likeness of man. The word man here in verse five is Adam. God is working in the Adamic nature. that you have to deal with. And you cannot get away from that. Oh, you can put on a front. And you can say, I'm not going to confess that I have an Adamic nature, but you do. And God only can deal by using the second Adam. The first Adam was the one who fell. The second Adam is the one who picks you up. We continue and we reach a symbol that's very difficult. I probably spent hours on this one little symbol, checking it out, because I saw it was very, very important, but very easy to overlook. The being that Ezekiel saw was like the sole, S-O-L-E, of a calf's foot. What did that mean? That means that when you're in the spirit, have you ever seen those old calves run around in the pasture? Well, that's what God said, let's dance around the pasture. Let's go to the still waters. Let's not be doomed because of the hell that this world is throwing at you. And we come on down now to verse nine, another symbol. There are beings that Ezekiel is looking at. This is before he ever preaches to anybody in Babylon. And we see that God always, this is important, causes you to go straight forward. You are aware that Jesus, in Luke the 17th chapter, verse 32, said these simple words. Remember, this is Luke 17, verse 32. Remember Lot's wife. You see, when they were fleeing from Sodom and Gomorrah, God said, don't you look back. You see, looking back is of the devil. Whatever has happened in the past, you can't do anything about it. but it can do you in if you dwell on it. And Lot's wife paid a big price for disobeying God. God was saving them, the daughters, Lot and his wife, from the destruction of Solomon Gamara. And God said, this one thing you must not do. Whatever's back there and whatever happened back there is not something I want you to dwell on. Stop it. And Lot's wife looked back and she was turned to a pillar of salt. Now salt had good about it. It can be good. For example, there was the covenant of salt that's spoken of in the Old Testament. It's a preservative. I'm sure some of you who are my age used to, at least we used to anyway, eat salt pork. Why do they salt the pork? To keep it from putrefying and rotting. Salt can be good. but then it can also be a symbol of evil. When you look back and you begin to dwell on things that you can't do anything about, they're over. And so remember Lot's wife. And then in verse 10, we have four symbols. First of all, we have the face of a man. That is symbolic of the book of Luke. And Revelation verifies that. That God became man and dwelt among us. And then we have the face of a lion. That's the gospel of Matthew. We have the symbol of the ox. the gospel of Mark. We have the eagle, the gospel of John. You see, all of these we're going to see as you read this chapter, they're all in harmony. One of the classes that I took in the seminary was the harmony of the gospels. They were written by different men. and yet they harmonize, and all together they give a picture of the good news of Jesus Christ. And then we come down to the most difficult symbol of all, and that's in the 16th verse. There was a wheel in the middle of a wheel. He saw a wheel, and somewhere there in the middle of it, there was the middle of a wheel. And as I researched carefully and over a long time till I was satisfied I could speak to you and the truth is it's impossible as far as man is concerned to put a wheel in the middle of a wheel. But what is the meaning then of this symbolically? It's a great mystery. God has some things that he is not going to let you understand until you are in his presence. And you're going to have to say, God, I don't understand. This is something I can't find the answer to, no matter what kind of math I use. And no matter what kind of thought process I use, I'll never understand this particular thing. And that's what we call faith. Trusting God to handle what you can't understand. And here's the basic thing of a wheel within a wheel. It is impossible mechanically. to bring that into being. And it's impossible for you to understand the great mysteries of God. And that calls for faith. Surely there's in every one of our lives, there's some things that we cannot find the answer to. And therefore we have to kneel at the cross. and say, Father, I'm satisfied to wait, and you'll reveal that to me. I remember very vividly the night my little sister, Margaret Ann, had had her tonsils removed in a hospital in Fort Smith, Arkansas. And about 11 o'clock, she began to hemorrhage, And the nurses did not know she was hemorrhaging, and she choked to death. I was supposed to, most of you know I'm hard-headed, so we won't get into that. I was not supposed to stay home that night. I was supposed to go stay with someone. I just stayed home. I remember my dad's feet hitting the front porch, and here were his words, why? Why? Why? I kind of understood why he didn't, because about two weeks before that, a man from the church that we attended, that is me and my sisters, my mother and dad didn't attend church, but we attended Zion Baptist Church. And a man came from the church about two weeks before Margaret Ann died, asking my mother and father to start coming to church. And after he left, my father said these words, why doesn't he mind his own business? Why is he fooling around our business? None of his business whether I go to church or not. When Margaret Ann died, this was back when a community was a community. You remember that? It's not that way anymore. But the whole community came to the poor Matthew family. And my mother and dad started going to church. We had Margaret Ann's funeral at Zion Baptist Church. And my mother came down first. And then one night my father got out of his seat and he wept and cried like a baby as he made his way. And he, and I was able, Brother Phil, you remember to say at his funeral, I know my dad's in heaven because I was in the service. When he went down and repented, and got right with God, he found out about God's business. I want everybody that will, that has God's business to mess with me every time you can, if you have God's business. The wheel in the middle of a wheel, it's a mystery that you have to trust God because you're never going to know the answer in this life. And then we continue and we come in verse 18, I'm giving you the meaning of symbols. And it's the very first chapter of the book of Ezekiel. And their rings, R-I-N-G-S, were so high that they were dreadful. And the Hebrew word for rings here is a hollow place, a place that is empty. And all of us have an empty place. Even though we're saved and going to heaven, there's a spot in you that's still waiting to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. And after he gave those and other symbols, but that's enough of them, he now begins to teach and to preach by the river Chebar in Babylon, where thousands of Israelis have been made captive and they are the slaves of the Babylonians. And so in verse two, chapter two, and he said to me, After he had shown all these symbolic meanings, he said to me, son of man, and the word son of man means representative of man. Jesus used that term concerning himself. He was representing me on this filthy, ungodly, sinful earth. And he won the battle. The battle is won. And if you accept Jesus, you're going to spend eternity in the presence of Almighty God. And he said to me, son of man, stand on your feet. It's time to get off to the place where you've got your face on the ground praying and stand up and get to work. All prayer and no do. will not do. There is a time to stand up and shut up and go to work for God and be used of God. And the Spirit, verse two, and the Spirit, the Holy Spirit entered into me, Ezekiel said. The Holy Spirit wants to fill that empty spot. that we have locked up and we have hidden away. We don't think God wants to be in that part of our life. Could I tell you with joy, there's not any part of your life that God doesn't want to get into. No matter what it is, let him in. He said to the church of Laodicea, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone in the church will hear my voice, I'll come in and I'll sup with him. The spirit entered into me when he spake to me and set me up on my feet. I want the spirit to get me on my feet. because I can't make it without his spirit being there. And he said to me, son of man, I have sent thee to the children of Israel, but I want to warn you about them, Ezekiel. They are a rebellious nation. You see, Satan goes after Israel more than any other, even the church. Because if the promises that he made to Abraham and his descendants, if they do not come to pass 100%, then God is not God. So Satan wants to stop the blessings of God. and he wants to stop blessing you in this church. And we're not gonna let it happen, are we? You're here, thank God, hallelujah. And he said to me, son of man, I send you to Israel, a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me. even to this very day, even in captivity. For they are an impudent, they are impudent children. The word impudent means that you look God in the eye. You're gonna look him in the eye. He's not going to let you not do it. But instead of praising him, and thanking him and giving him total control of all of your life, you're impudent. And the impudency is a cardinal sin. You're gonna preach to that kind of people, Ezekiel, even in captivity. I send you unto them. and thou shalt say to them, thus saith the Lord. And that's what I pray until I preach my last sermon, until I speak the last word of God, that I will be able to say, thus saith the Lord. And I love preaching verse by verse, word by word, because that keeps me out of it, and it puts God into it. And they, whether they will hear or they will forbear, for they are a rebellious house, yet shall yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. After you get through one thing, they may not obey the words that you speak that I give you, but they have to admit with grudging, there has been a prophet in their midst. And thou son of man, be not afraid of them, What? Many preachers are afraid of the congregation because they don't want the congregation to get rid of them. Now, when it's time for me to leave here, let God get rid of you. He knows how. I don't even mind you praying, God, when Matthew's is through, get rid of him. That's a good prayer. God will honor it. Thou son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words. Through briars and thorns, though they be with thee, that thou dost dwell among scorpions. Did you know that we as believers live in the midst of a thing like a scorpion? I remember, and I mentioned this in a previous sermon, I remember my father building a fire in the auditorium in the schoolhouse in our community, and we burned coal. And you can't strike a match and make coal start burning. You have to get some real tender things that will burn quickly. And they'll burn, and then they'll set the coal on fire. So he was reaching in, getting that kindling, we called it. And he pulled his hand out, and there was a scorpion hanging onto his hand. You see, there's danger all around. But you know what? He shook that thing off and he didn't have time to get that venom in his blood. Shake that thing off! Get rid of it! Don't let it get your, it's venom into you and hurt you. I pray this has been a little bit of a blessing to you. It was a blessing to study it and may we continue as we study the book of Ezekiel. None of it will be as symbolic as the first chapter that I shared with you today. Let's stand and sing and let God have his way. Dear to the heart of God, let's offer up this just. I think my wife will remember that when I preached her mother's funeral in Del Rio, Texas, that she wanted that song sung at her memorial service. and I had the privilege of doing it. God is so good and he is so much God, total God. I'm about to have a fall in the spirit here. I'm telling you, the name God should be powerful. Glory to God. We're going to be dismissed. I'm going to ask Brother Stone to come because Phil and I are going to go out and try to see Matt.