We thank you Lord for these words we've
heard.
Lord may it indeed be so as your
servant has said that your
fire and salt would work in each and
every one of us.
That everything of this world, all that springs
from our hearts, all that is our own
desire, would be burnt up as fire burns
the dross and burns the brushwood.
Lord, work in a wonderful way in our
midst.
That every life here would be a sweet
-smelling savor to you.
Amen.
We find our text today in Ezekiel, chapter
3.
Ezekiel, the third chapter,
from verse 1.
And he said to me, son of man,
eat what is before you, eat the scroll,
then go and speak to the house of
Israel.
So I opened my mouth and he gave
me the scroll to eat.
Then
he said to
me, son of man, eat the scroll I'm
giving you and fill your stomach with it.
So I ate it and it tasted as
sweet as honey in my mouth.
He then said to me, son of man,
go now to the house of Israel and
speak my words to them.
We'll read thus far.
This is a marvelous matter.
This is something that should be understood by
everyone.
Ezekiel, the prophet, saw God
placing something in front of him, placing a
scroll in front of him.
Now a scroll was a book.
We now have it bound as a book
like this.
But in ancient times, the paper was folded
thus to be a scroll.
And the next page too, like this.
And there would be sticks between the pages.
And when they would read it, they would
read it and then unfold it like this.
Now God has taken the book, his scroll,
and has unfolded it in front of us.
Now that's what he did to Ezekiel saying,
now Ezekiel, eat of it.
Eat this scroll.
I want you to eat of it, to
chew on it, and to fill your stomach
with it.
Eat it with this book.
Open your mouth and eat it for yourself.
And he said, when you've eaten it, I
want you to eat it to the full.
I want you to fill your stomach with
it, all parts of you.
Then you are to chew on it.
Digest it.
Let this become part of you and fill
your being.
Ezekiel tells us, I did that.
I opened my mouth, I filled my stomach
with it, I ate the scroll.
He said, as I ate it and digested
it, it became as sweet as honey.
I swallowed it.
It filled my stomach.
And then the Lord said, now that you
have consumed this, you have digested it, take
now this word which you have eaten to
the house of Israel.
Do you see how God presents the matter?
It is a great mistake if you take
God's word and you pass it on to
the next person and you haven't eaten it
yourself, digested it for yourself.
You are getting things mixed up.
You are spoiling it.
You are not listening to God.
If God presents you with the word, don't
pass the buck, take it for yourself, you
must eat it first.
There are some people who are spiritual freaks,
abnormal, they take the word of God, they
are glad about the word and they quickly
pass it on to the next man.
But it has never worked in them yet.
And through that, your speech and what you
give to the next person is not a
blessing, you are only passing on what is
accursed.
It must first work in you.
Always you are to take God's word which
he gives you for yourself first.
There is no exception, don't just pass it
on to the next person, let it fill
your heart, your mind, your being, that it
would consume you first.
Now we know that Jesus is the word.
And Jesus comes to us with the book,
with the scroll.
Presumably, you understand that it doesn't mean literally
the paper.
You don't take this paper and eat it
like a smoker would put his tobacco into
a piece of paper and consume it.
No, you are to take symbolically his word,
you are to eat it, you are to
consume it with hunger.
Not just a little symbolic nibbling, but you
are to gobble it up, eat your fill.
When Jesus comes to us, whatever he presents
us with, accept it, open your mouth and
receive it.
When Jesus comes to us, whatever he presents
us with, accept it, open your mouth and
receive it.
The prophet Ezekiel didn't go and chat to
others about what God had said.
He didn't go and ask for the opinions
of others.
He tells us, no, I simply open my
mouth and consume the word.
Now it says here that God placed this
in front of me and said, what is
before you, eat.
In other words, there's no choice in the
matter, you can't sniff at it in disdain
and say, I don't eat this sort of
food.
Like I heard of some African children who
were in Europe, where they were taken to
a fancy hotel, offered this food and they
sniffed at it, they said, we don't eat
this type of food.
Well, that man who had invited them said,
well, I have nothing to do with that
family if they are so choosy.
And that person was right.
To this very day, it is clear that
that has been a bad breed.
God simply says, I don't eat this sort
of food.
God simply says, what is before you, you
eat.
You're not to be picky.
Not like a lady who's dieting saying, I
don't like this and I don't eat that.
No, you are only showing what breed you
are if you are choosy when God puts
it before you.
You can't be a lady when you are
before God.
He expects you to do what he puts
before you.
And he wants you to be obedient.
Not stiff-necked, but obedient.
Bow to him and accept his will.
Eat the scroll.
And so he took the scroll and ate
it.
And he tells us that when I ate
of it, a marvelous thing happened.
It was sweet.
As sweet as honey.
That's why I say I rejoice when I'm
with a man of God like Uncle Hans.
because we don't chat about women, or men,
or whatever.
We speak about God's Word.
That is what is of utmost importance.
He has a little book.
It is a daily reading book, and I
ask them these days to read a bit
to me.
It is called The Laws of Men.
Originally from the Brethren, and there was a
reading here from von Zinzendorf.
For Zinzendorf had a place that was quite
similar to this mission.
People
came
from various places and stayed at his center,
and they were trained and prepared to go
out with the gospel.
Zinzendorf had a place that was quite similar
to this mission.