A few comments from Ezekiel 22 this morning.

Sin is an abomination - God calls His people to judge it by His Spirit and Word (v.2; 1 Cor. 2:15).

Sin mocks and defiles the sinner (v.5).

The life of sin despises God's Holy things. The carnal Christian profanes the body of Christ (old Testament - "Sabbath" / new testament - "Gathering of the Saints or Fellowship of Believers")(v.8).

Sin creates a scenario within the church where acts of lewdness are committed by one, only to capture the curiosity and even lead to the profiteering off of sin. What an ugly scenario!! The people of God profiteering from sin! (v.9-12).

Sin causes us to FORGET GOD in our daily walk (v.12).

Sin makes us impure in the sight of God, and is the path that leads to the furnace that burns with the very wrath of God! (v.18-22).

Sin causes the teaching and preaching of God's word, by the ministers of God's word, to literally be as "violence" against the Word of God. (v.26)

Sin causes us not to make any distinction between the Holy and the common. It is sin that causes the man of God to see no difference between the clean and unclean. The result. Although we may still have church, it is as if we have disregarded the "Sabbath" - the Holiness and the Christ-centeredness of it. In fact, instead of the Lord being lifted up among them, He is profaned among them. This does not mean they set out purposefully to profane Him. It does not mean the songs they sang or the scripture they taught had changed. Sin had corrupted everything. There is a fine line between what we do Glorifying God and what we do profaning His name. The difference is the unconfessed sin of the unrepentant Christian. (v.26)

When the church becomes self-seeking instead of Christ-seeking, god searches for one who will build up the wall (between sin and righteousness) and stand in the gap (v.30). The language here is intense. God has never backed down on His expectation of a holy people who are set apart for His name's sake. He has always promised to judge those who turn from Him with wrath. But, He has always demonstrated such mercy in making a way for wayward sinners to cross the great divide between sin and unrighteousness. And, amazingly, he uses His people (sinners saved by Grace) to accomplish this to a great extent.

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How can I apply this to my life?
The destruction of unchecked sin in the nation of Israel was absolutely intense. There is no doubt, just as God warned them, their iniquity had become their ruin (18:30). This is not just "Old Testament" story time. This same affliction unchecked, unrepented sin is very much at work within the church today.

I want to live each day with a hyper awareness of the Holiness of God. What a vision to realize that even as His wrath is turned against my sin as the fires of a furnace, He seeks to purify me. Even in His wrath there is mercy if I will surrender myself completely to Him.

How important it is to take sin serious! We live in a Christian culture that literally makes jokes out of sin. I am afraid our church culture, today, has blurred the lines of distinction between holiness and the common. The clean and the unclean have become as though they are the same.

I pray for a remnant who will take the Word of God to heart and make war against sin in the church and in their very lives! Sin has afflicted us, but God offers the healing balm. Bring forth those from among us, God, who will build up the wall and stand in the Gap for the sake of Your Glory. By your grace make me one of them.