The Official Island Blog of Dan Pennell

December 31, 1969 ~ 0 comments

What is the writer saying?

A very cool 3-part plan from God for His people:

1) Save His people with a mighty hand and outstretched hand, pouring out His wrath upon their captors. (v. 33)

2) Bring His people out into another wilderness experience where He will judge them face to face (v.35), pass them under the rod (a term referring to the selection of livestock for the offering - v.37), and purge the wicked from among them; leaving once again a faithful remnant (v.38).

3) Manifest His holiness among them in the site of the nations.

God saves us for the sake of His own name and for His glory. He has no interest in a people who simply name His name, but go on with their lives of sin. His intention then, and now, is to cleanse His people of unrighteousness and purge the unfaithful from among them. Here, as with previous texts in Ezekiel, he serves a reminder that He will do everything He does "in the site of the nations". What He plans to do for His people is a miracle, and when the nations see it He will receive Glory and Honor.

So, He saves us for His Glory and namesake. But in addition, He saves us that we might be Holy as He is holy.

1 Peter 1:15 states: "...but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'".

In this verse, Peter quotes Leviticus 11:44. The concept was already very well established for God's people, and surely Ezekiel was shaking in his boots since we see a powerful demonstration of God's holiness and glory in the first chapter of Ezekiel. There is no way for God to manifest His holiness among His people without total and absolute life change.

How can I apply this to my life?

Just as Old Testament Israel was set apart by God from the surrounding nations to be holy, the church of today is set apart from sin to the service of God. My standard of and motivation for holiness is the absolute oral perfection of God Himself.

Ephesians 5:1 - Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

God's wrath burned against the captors of His people, and against His people themselves as they chose the falsehoods of their captors over him.

God's wrath burns against the sin and wicked culture of today, and against all who choose the short lived pleasures of this world over Him.

God, with a mighty hand and outstretched arm please pour out your wrath upon the sin of my life and purge me from the inside out. As you did for your people, manifest your holiness in my life and set me apart to serve you as an imitator of your very image. Do it in the full view of all who know me that you might receive Glory. Do it for the sake of you Holy Name. Amen.

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Unchecked Sin in the Life of the Believer

December 31, 1969 ~ 0 comments

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.

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.

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God's Wrath: The Backdrop of Romans

December 31, 1969 ~ 0 comments

Most people would agree Paul's letter to the Romans is largely about Grace and in particular, the transition from the penalty of the law to the freedom of God's grace. It is interesting, then, that the first segment of Paul's letter deals almost exclusively with the topic of God's wrath and judgment. Let me share some excerpts:

1:18 - "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.."

1:21 - "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^"1:26 - "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. . . ."

1:28 - "Furthermore . . .he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."

2:5 - "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed."

2:8 - "But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."

2:16 - "This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares."

My company does a lot of web design. One concept in design is, if you want the bright colors to really pop out you need to use deep, dark colors in the background. If we only use bright colors, the vividness of any one color will be lost.
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Great Article from My Wife

December 31, 1969 ~ 0 comments

My wife, Claudina, forwarded me the following thoughts and I asked her permission to share them with the world. Hope you find it as challenging as I did.

I was reading about Joshua and Caleb; the two men who went to spy out the land God had promised the Israelites. Twelve spies went into the land and only two came back believing in the promise of God. Only two returned ready to conquer the land flowing with milk and honey. Only two believed in the power that was displayed to them so many times before.

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The Permanency of the Kingdom of God

December 31, 1969 ~ 0 comments

Hebrews 12:28

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our "God is a consuming fire."

The PERMANENCY of the Kingdom of God!

God's Kingdom is established BY GOD - the Alpha (beginning) and Omega ((end) Rev. 21:6). It is a kingdom of Peace and Holiness (v. 14a - Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy;). It is a kingdom of Grace (v. 15a See to it that no one misses the grace of God...). It is a kingdom where Jesus himself sits on the throne at the right hand of His Father, and this kingdom is WITHOUT END (Isaiah 9:7).

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Obedience and Sacrifice

December 31, 1969 ~ 0 comments

Deuteronomy 28:12:

Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go
well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do
what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

Be careful. Obedience requires great care. What happens when
Christians aren't careful? They fail in obedience.

Careful toward what? Obedient to what or whom?

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