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I don't know whether I will be able to do the whole Chapter or not. I may just, more or less, walk through half of the Chapter. As the Lord showed it to me, the significant verses for our purposes tonight, are Verses 10 through 20, and then 25 through the end, which is 33. We'll see how this comes out. I'm just going to pray; Father, You show me what You want me to do here. I sort of feel in my heart, I'm suppose to get through the whole thing tonight. It's an exhortation on that teaching. So in regard to Verses 1 through 9, I think maybe we will walk through it. What does that mean? I think I'll just read it and not take too much time on it. I think that's what I will do.
Ezekiel Chapter 33:1. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, 2. Son of man, speak to the children of thy people and say unto them, when I bring a sword upon a land - Well, what does that mean? Does anybody know what that means? Judgment. When the Lord brings the sword upon the land, God does execute judgment. He does do things, besides giving cadillacs, and healing your body and casting out demons and getting you a job, and getting you a mortgage for a house. God executes Righteous Judgment, don't hear it preached very much, but He does.
When I bring the sword upon the land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman, 3. If when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people, 4. Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5. He heard the sound of the trumpet - And the trumpet typifies a what, does anybody remember?
COMMENT: A message.
PASTOR VITALE: Yes, if you hear the message preached.
5. He heard the sound of the trumpet and took not warning; his blood shall be upon his own head, but he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. 6. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. 7. So then, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. 8. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand. 9. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way, to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
So, we see that there does come a time when the Lord stops giving gifts and He expects us to grow up into righteousness. And there is a different righteousness, or a different measure of righteousness required for every period in the church. There was a specific righteousness required of Job and specific a righteousness required of Noah. We know that the righteousness of Jesus Christ was not required of Job and Noah. Why? Because it wasn't even available to men in those days. But God is righteous and He makes it clear to us what He expects of a particular hour and He warns us, and He warns us, and He warns us, and He pleads with us and He sends prophets to us. And we kill the prophets, and we stone the prophets and eventually, judgment will fall. God is very long suffering. I believe before judgment falls, He comes in every way He can, to give us every possible chance. But the time must come for judgment. Why? Because He is a righteous God. And also because He is answering our pleas for help. And most of us, if not all of us, are incapable of rising to the level of righteousness, which will deliver our souls without judgment. I don't know if anybody is capable of it, I've never met anyone who is capable of it. I've only met people in two categories, with regard to judgment, to date. The first category, being people, who for whatever reason, if everything we have, is given unto us, for whatever reason, people who have an ability to examine themselves and recognize their own sins, and confess and repent directly to the Lord, this is a very small group of people. If you have this gift, you're likely to be in a position of leadership, because there are a very few who could do it, for whatever reason, that's what God gave you. And then the rest of the people, who have trouble seeing their own sins, so God has to send the prophet to them or the son to them, to help them see their sins. And out of that second group, that second group is broken down into two groups. The people who will receive the correction and confess and repent, and the people who will not receive the correction, but will shake their fist at God, and call the man of God, an evil doer.
So we see that there two forms of judgment that are coming. If you are confessing your sins and repenting, you are already under judgment. The White Throne Judgment of Christ, which is a controlled judgment, which is controlled by the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord gives you more, He promises not to give you more than you could bear, and keeps that promise, whether judgment results in deliverance and you have a continuous growth in Christ. And the second group of people who, no matter how much the Lord pleads with them, no matter how kind or gentle or honest or whatever the son is to them, their reaction is always the same. When they are truly exposed by God, they proclaim their innocence and turn around and accuse the son or the prophet of sins himself. And in this hour, we can expect the majority of the church to proclaim their innocence and declare the guilt of the son that has been sent to save their life.
Therefore, judgment will fall, the Reaping and Sowing Judgment, which is mediated by Satan, which is unto destruction. It is a judgment that comes without explanation. It's a judgment that comes without teaching, it's a judgment that comes suddenly. Jesus calls it sudden destruction, and it's a Wormwood Judgment. Once it falls, even if you repent, it continues to fall. Your only hope out of it, is that it will produce something in you that will cause you to cry out to Jesus, without understanding of your sin, just the torment of the disaster, hopefully, as the last ditch effort, will cause you to cry out; Jesus help me. And then, when Jesus comes to you once again, with the White Throne Judgment, hopefully, you will confess your sins. Let me say it again. The Reaping and Sowing Judgment, which is mediated by Satan, could have two possible effects on you. Either it will be so severe that it will bring you to a point, where you will confess that you need Jesus and you'll do anything for His help in your life, at which point, He will begin to show you, your sins. And as you confess them, you will be drawn into the White Throne Judgment, which failed to produce true confession in you before. This is a second chance, or the Reaping and Sowing Judgment will not produce confession and repentance in you, and you will be destroyed. There will be people on this earth, who will be destroyed. I'm sorry all you ultimate reconciliationists, but you've received a lie. Every human spirit shall return unto the Father. The true spiritual substance of the creation, the whole of the true spiritual substance of the creation shall be saved. Every personality shall not be saved. And as it was at the time of the flood, those whose spiritual being have become completed in wickedness, those whose spiritual being has developed to full maturity on the negative side of this creation, they are the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We are told in the scripture, we are completed in Christ, but there are people in this world who are and shall be completed in the devil. And for those who are completed in the devil, you shall be destroyed, just as it was in the days of Noah, you shall not be wiped out by water, but you shall be wiped out by fire. And the fire shall burn away all of your flesh and only your spirit shall remain, which spirit shall return unto the Father. So, I'm sorry, all you ultimate reconciliationists, either you are going to have to repent, or you shall experience the Reaping and Sowing Judgment unto destruction. I pray for God's mercy on your soul.
Going on with Verse 10, brethren. 10. Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel. Now, I find this very interesting, Ezekiel is not prophesying to Judah. Okay. And who is Israel today? Israel is the church. The ten lost tribes, they're not lost; history knows what happened to them. They assimilated into what we now know as the Christian world. Israel is the church. This message is for today.
10. Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? I did look up those three words. Sin is speaking about the condition of sin, that is, our state of being. It is determined that we are all sinners. Does anybody know why we are all sinners? Right. Yes, we all have the mind which is born of the flesh. And Paul said that, that mind is death. And death because of sin. So, the word sin, is referring to our condition. If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, (transgression means rebellion, and actually means, to go beyond that which is allowed), so, if our condition of sin, which is our carnal mind, - The next sentences were inadvertently over written with music.
Verse 11, Say unto them, As I live, saith the lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel. The Lord doesn't want you to die. He's crying the whole time He's reigning down judgment on you. I knew a young woman once, when I was a teenager. I heard her mocking her mother, saying, that old woman is crazy, she chased me last night, from room to room with a broom and the whole time she was beating me, she was crying hysterically. Now is that a sick woman? I knew the young teenager who said that. You see, the Lord doesn't want you to die. That mother was beating that girl and crying hysterically, because that was the only way she knew, how to keep her from disaster. The Lord doesn't want you to die. But He will beat you, because He loves you.
Verse 12, Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people - I find that interesting - the children of thy people - I'm exhorting tonight, I really didn't look up every word, but somehow that says to me, the next generation, the next generation of natural Israel. To me it's another witness that He's talking to the church. The offspring of your people, the children. The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; This phrase is speaking, although it's not clear, as you read on, you'll find out that it's clear that the Lord is speaking about self righteousness. When I looked up these words in the Hebrew, the Hebrew word translated, righteous, to what I could see; I just looked at it quickly, didn't particularly say, self righteousness. But by the context of this verse, and a future verse, which I will point out to you in a minute, which modifies it, indicates clearly from the whole context of the verse, that the Lord is speaking about self righteousness. So this is what He is saying. He's saying, the self righteousness of the righteous, - And who are the righteous? Those who have a relationship with the Lord. So, in the Old Testament times, He was speaking about Israel in our modern time. He's speaking about the church, those who are reconciled unto God. The self righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. If your righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, you shall not see the Kingdom of Heaven. The righteousness of the law cannot deliver you, when judgment for sin falls.
You see, brethren, all you people in the Pentecostal and in the main line churches today, you do have a measure of righteousness, you have received it. It's in the Holy Ghost, it's in faith, you have received a measure of righteousness. You have favor, you have blessings from God, you have access to the throne, you have healing, you have deliverance, comfort, and all kinds of blessings. But in the day that Jesus comes to cleanse you from your sins, that righteousness that you have, will not deliver you. Why? Because it's the Lord, Himself, coming to bring you a deeper measure of righteousness, you see. The self righteousness of the righteous, by faith; we were talking about this in the last message. That there is a righteousness which is of faith, and a righteousness which is experiential. A righteousness which is reality. And the righteousness which is of faith, grants you certain benefits, but you still die. Yet the righteousness which is a reality, the experiential righteousness is real, and therefore you don't die. So we have righteousness by faith and the reality of righteousness. We were talking about this, the other night, when I talked about the One Covenant with man. Some people call it the Old and the New Covenant, but it's really just One Covenant in two stages. First God grants you righteousness by faith and the next stage is the reality of righteousness, which is the actual ripping out or casting out of sin from your very person, which results in everlasting life.
The Lord is saying to the prophet, Ezekiel, the self righteousness of the righteous of those reconciled unto God shall not deliver him in the day of transgression. And this phrase is modified by Verses 14, 15, 16, and 19. Let's jump down there.
Verse 14, Again, when I say unto the wicked - O, am I in the wrong place? Sorry. That was an error. This phrase - of the self righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression, is modified by Verse 13. When I shall say to the righteous, to those who are reconciled unto God, that he shall surely live, if he trust to his own self righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness' shall not be remembered. But for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. The word iniquity, is speaking about the consequence of sin, the violation of the law of God. And iniquity is the carnal mind and the demons. Basically the carnal mind and the demons. The result of man's sin is that the carnal mind has been born in man. So let's go over this again. Let's really understand this.
Jehovah speaking - When I say to the righteous, those who are reconciled to God - (That's the whole church, brethren), that he shall surely live. And how is the Lord saying that we shall surely live? When He gives us the Holy Ghost, when He lets us have a relationship with him? He saying to His people, you shall surely live. Right? But we don't understand in the church today, that the Holy Ghost is just the down payment. It's the earnest of our inheritance. Full life, everlasting life is the fullness of the promise. So you have a ways to go, between getting the down payment and getting the whole thing. I know when you purchase a house, and you put down your down payment, you have to go to a contract signing. Then after the contract signing, your lawyer has to do a Title Search and all kinds of searches, to make sure that the property is really legal, to sell the property. And there is a whole series of procedures that the lawyer has to go through, before you actually purchase the property in reality. And then even then, it's a season until you occupy that property.
So the Lord is saying, when I tell you, who are reconciled to God, that you shall surely live, don't be deceived, because there is a whole process to go through. Now, if you hear that word, and you trust in your own righteousness, (I'm in Verse 13), and you hear that word, - I'm giving you life. If you're picking up this Bible, if you are in Pentecost today, and you're hearing it preached you have received everlasting life. If you interpret that to mean, that the righteousness which you have right now by faith, which is not the reality of righteousness, it's really just the down payment of righteousness, if you're misinterpreting it, and you've think you've got the whole thing, this is what Jehovah says to you. But what you are really doing is trusting in your own self righteousness and therefore when you commit iniquity, all of your self righteousness, all of the good works that you have done, shall not be remembered. But for your iniquity, while you have the promise, for your iniquity that you have committed, you shall die for it. So, all you preachers that are telling these people, whose relatives are dying, that they're in Heaven, walking on streets of gold, you're telling your people a lie. Because they are going to die for their sins. The soul that sins, it shall surely die, brethren. And if your body dies, your soul is going to die, because iniquity was found in that person. Because all they had was the down payment. They had righteousness and life by faith, but they never matured into the reality of everlasting life. It is the hour for the truth. God is about to discredit the false doctrine and He is about to discredit the false teachers that are teaching the false doctrine. Because He wants His people to enter into life. I don't know exactly how it's going to happen. I don't think it will be one swift, swing of the Lord. It will be a Ministry at a time. I think, what do I know, but I know that Jesus is coming and He's going to bring down the false prophets and the false message and the people are going to have to hear the truth.
Listen to me, all you people that have been promised life, after this body dies. You've been lied to. Because if you commit iniquity, even after being reconciled unto God, your down payment won't keep you alive, but your iniquity will kill you. The righteousness which you have received, in the form of the Holy Ghost, is not strong enough to keep you alive, when you commit sin, despite it. The sin will kill you. Did I make that clear? Do you think people will be able to understand that? Did I make that clear? Okay.
Back up to Verse 12, brethren - The second phrase. As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall in the day that he turns away from his wickedness. There's a whole church world out there, that's going to be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Do you hear this? The people who think they have everlasting life, because they have received life by faith and received a false message, they are going to die. But the people who are doing wickedness, who at the very last minute, at the 12th hour, turn away from their wickedness, they are going to live. And we will see further on, that the Lord tells us through the prophet, Ezekiel, that Israel is going to be saying, Jehovah is unfair. That's the carnal mind saying, Jehovah is unfair.
As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness. We see the second witness or the modification of this phrase in Verses, 14, 15, 16 and 19. And I don't know about you, but I find it very significant that out of the three phrases that we are dealing with in Verse 12, - and the third one we didn't get to yet, that the phase which Jehovah has the most to say about, is the salvation of the very wicked.
Let's jump down to Verse 14. Again, when I say unto the wicked, thou shall surely die, if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; - First of all, the word wicked, means moral guilt; those who are guilty of breaking God's moral law; that means that you don't have to be a murderer. Your guilt could be pride or rebellion. That's what it means. This is talking about the hidden sins of the heart, as well as behavioral sin. Again, when I say unto the wicked, thou shall surely die, if he turn from his sin and do that which is lawful and right, (that's his state or condition of sinfulness). And there is only one way you could turn away from your condition of sinfulness, (because we just established that sin is the carnal mind). So, how is the only way you could turn away from the carnal mind? You have to have another mind. You have to turn from your carnal mind into your Christ mind, you see. You have to get Christ. So, when the wicked, no matter how wicked they are, when they turn towards Christ and do that which is lawful and righteous, - (see, you can't do what's lawful and righteous if you don't turn towards Christ), because the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God we are told in another place; he's incapable of righteousness.
To do that which is spiritually lawful, to keep the moral law of God, and to do righteousness, to do the righteousness which is in Christ, you have to be in Christ. So what do we see here? In the first phrase, we see the Lord speaking to a group of people who have been reconciled unto God. They have been permitted a relationship with God, but they still have a heart which is carnal. And the Lord says, your down payment in righteousness will not be powerful enough to save you when your mind is still carnal and you continue to sin. But the wicked, the exceeding wicked, who turn from their wicked ways, and have the mind of Christ formed in them, and start to live out of Christ - Where do I get that from, - live out of Christ? Well, Verse 14 says, if he turn away from his sin - (that means that Christ is formed in him), and do that which is lawful and right, - (that means to live out of Christ). Two stages, You turn away from the sin when Christ is formed in you, and then you have to live out of Christ. And we've had enough teaching here to know that you could have Christ formed in you and not live out of Him. For when you do that which is lawful and right, it means, you're living out of Him. And no matter how wicked you were in this world, you're going to live. The Lord says you are going to live.
Verse 15, Now, this is what is lawful and right. Verse 15 - If the wicked restore the pledge, - that means, if you've borrowed something, pay it back, if you borrow something, pay it back. Do you have any idea how common it is in this church, to borrow things and not give it back? I know people that have been in the church for years, they think nothing of it, they borrow a book, they never return it. They borrow a tape, they never return it, they borrow a dollar, they never return it, they borrow a bicycle, they never return it, they think absolutely nothing of it. It's sin, brethren. If you ask someone to borrow something, you're expected to return it or replace it. If you don't expect to return it, don't ask to borrow it. Ask if the person will give it to you. Let your yea, be yea and your nay, be nay.
If the wicked restore the pledge, if he give again that he had robbed, if you've stolen something, brethren, make it good. If you've stolen something, go and restore it. And this isn't just speaking about money. This is speaking about someone's character. If you've lied about somebody, go make it right. If you've caused any form of damage in somebodies life, because of what you've said, if you've been the cause of their losing a job, you have to, at least, repent and do whatever you can to get them another job. This is talking about much more than money. If you've robbed somebody, you have to give it back. And the law says, four times the original value. Although I don't see this in Ezekiel. The levitical law says, four times the original value. And I know this is carried into the New Testament, because there is a character in the New Testament, although at the moment I can't name him, which says, - I believe speaking to Jesus, - I have restored four times the worth of what I took. It's in the New Testament somewhere.
Walk in the statues of life, without committing iniquity. Well, what does that mean? It means walk without sin, brethren. You can't do that unless you are in full stature. The statutes of life, there is no law against a righteous man. You can't walk in the statutes of life - What is to walk in the statutes of life? It means to keep the spiritual law of God. And there is no death penalty against the man who keeps the spiritual law of God. Christ is the only one who could keep it. Ezekiel is talking about full stature right here. So, he's saying, the wicked, no matter how wicked you are, if Christ is formed in you, and you live out of Christ, and you live out of Christ unto full stature, you shall not die. But the Pharisee, who has the down payment only, and thinks he's going to enter into life on the basis of that down payment, he will die. If you're righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, you shall not see the Kingdom of Heaven.
Verse 16, None of his sins, (speaking about the wicked, who turn from their wicked ways and have the mind of Christ formed in them, and start to live out of Christ), none of his sins, that he hath committed, shall be mentioned unto him. He hath done that which is lawful and right and he shall surely live. The true forgiveness of sins occurs when your spirit transfers into Christ and Christ becomes your life. Behold all things are passed away, all things have become new and your sins shall not be remembered. None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him. He hath done that which is lawful and right. He shall surely live.
Verse 19, But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. He shall live, if he is in Christ. Alleluia.
Back to Verse 12 - The third phrase. Neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. Neither shall the righteous or those reconciled unto God will be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. So we see that the self righteousness of those reconciled, will not deliver him of the day of his transgression. And also those reconciled unto God, neither will they find life, even if they don't transgress, simply because of their condition of sin. This is talking about the Pharisee that has no behavioral sin.
Now, the first phrase is speaking about the Pharisee that transgresses. Speaking about the Pharisee that commits adultery, let's make it simple. The third phrase is speaking about the Pharisee that has never done anything wrong in their life. They have never committed any behavioral sin. But because of the sins of the condition of their spiritual nature, neither will they enter into life. So we see two categories of Pharisee here. The Pharisee who actually commits behavioral sin and the Pharisee who has never done anything wrong in their life. Neither one will enter into life. One, because of transgression - that's a behavioral sin, the other because of the hidden sins of their heart. But the wicked, who turns from his ways to such a degree that Christ is formed in him, and then lives out of Christ, he shall enter into life and he shall live. And it's a scriptural principle in the Old Testament, it's in the New Testament, more wicked people are going to enter into everlasting life, than people out of the church. Why? Because the people who are wicked, know they are wicked. The people in the church have a lot of trouble believing that they are wicked. We've been preaching this here for a long time, brethren.
But as for the sons of your people, they think their way is fair. They think they should receive life, because of their righteousness which is by faith. They cannot see the fairness in Jehovah's reasoning. Well, I've had people say that to me here, that's not fair. Well maybe to your carnal mind it's not fair. But to God's mind it's fair. And the fairness is in Christ. It doesn't matter what you do, what you look like, who you are and what your name is, God's fairness says, those in whom Christ is formed and those who live out of Christ, they're the ones who shall live. And everyone else shall die. And it doesn't matter whether you've been reconciled, whether you speak in tongues, whether you cast out demons, whether you heal the sick, doesn't matter, doesn't matter, doesn't matter, you don't think it's fair, that's tough, Jesus says it's fair. He says, my Christ is available to everybody. If you don't get Him, because you can't confess your sins, Jesus says, that's fair.
Down in Verse 20, we see the same message. Yet ye say, the way of the Lord is not just. O, ye house of Israel, I will judge you, every one of you, after your ways. And the one in whom pride is found prevailing, you will be judged either unto righteousness and life or unto death. You know what this sounds like to me? It sounds like Chapter 20 of the book of Revelation. The White Throne Judgment, which comes before Christ. Let's take a look at that. Let me just put the scripture on here.
Revelation Chapter 20 Verse 11. - And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12. And I saw the dead, small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. What works? Brethren, either they developed Christ or they didn't and even those that had Christ, either they lived out of Him or they didn't. That's the only basis for life or death. Have you transferred into Christ or haven't you? 13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every man according to their works. What works? The mind that you produced. Is the mind that you produced, death or is it life? 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. Whosoever's mind was not Christ and living out of it, was swallowed up by the very Christ Himself.
We are back in Ezekiel now. Okay I think I'm going to skip down to Verse 25. Wherefore, say unto them; Thus saith the Lord God, Ye eat with the blood and lift up your eyes toward your idols and shed blood and shall ye posses the land? The Lord is saying, all you reconciled unto God, you're in sin. You eat the flesh with the blood, which is forbidden. In the New Testament we are told, refrain from fornication and things strangled and don't partake of blood. So you're eating with the blood - the life of the flesh is in the blood. Why would we be commanded not to eat of the blood? Well, first of all there are many, just for health sake, there are many diseases in the blood. But I suggest to you that the blood symbolizes the life of Christ. And fallen dead men cannot be swallowing up the life of Christ.
But there is a spiritual reality, just as there is a spiritual reality in all of the dietary laws. I believe that symbolically they typify unclean spiritual food, or unclean doctrine. Nevertheless there is a physical reality in forbidden foods. That if you eat them they could be poor for your health. So I think that we are commanded to refrain from eating blood, both because it is a symbol of the carnal mind swallowing up the Christ mind, but also every disease known to man. I don't know about every disease, but many diseases exist in the blood, so it cannot be the healthiest thing to eat. And we see some societies eat blood and blood sausage and blood pudding, but the law of God says, for you who are Holy before the Lord, it's not for you to eat the blood. Because the life of the flesh is in the blood. So the Lord is speaking through Ezekiel saying, you eat blood, which is not allowed, you lift up your eyes towards your idols. And the true idol - does anyone know who the true idol is? Does anyone remember? The true idol is the carnal mind, which is the image of the devil, engraved in the earth of your soul. And you are looking towards your own carnal mind instead of Christ. And you shed blood - and that phrase, you shed blood - it's not talking only about natural murder, it's talking about shedding the blood of Christ every time you sacrifice an innocent person, to make yourself look clean, when you are really the guilty one. It's speaking about shedding the blood of righteous Abel in that person. Every time you are guilty and you put the blame on somebody else, you've shed blood. For all intense and purposes, you've murdered that man. You've murdered the righteousness of Christ in him. And the Lord looks at it as murder. And also Jesus makes it clear in the New Testament, if you've hated your brother, you've killed him.
So we see hatred is shedding blood also. And the Lord says, and you want to possess the land? You want to go into eternal life? You are committing every major sin that the scripture talks about. And you really think that when this body dies, you are going to Heaven? You spare the whole church world that believes that. They hate their brother, they murder him every day, they swallow up the Christ, which is typified by eating blood, and they worship their carnal mind. Yes, they really think, that when this body wastes away, that they go to Heaven. And they are going to meet Aunt Gertie in Heaven. They really believe it. They're completely deceived.
Verse 26, Ye stand upon your sword and ye work abomination and ye defile everyone his neighbor's wife and you think you are going to possess the land? Now that Hebrew word translated, abomination - it means unclean thing - it means mixed marriage. Now, I know there are some preachers that preach against racially mixed marriages. I personally don't think that, that applies to the New Testament. I believe the natural jew was commanded to not mix his natural seed. But I believe in this hour, the Lord is speaking about a spiritual mixed marriage. He's talking about those who are fornicating with their carnal mind. And I believe that if God puts you together with someone of another race, if you've prayed it through, and you think it's of God, and you get your witnesses that it's of God, that it's okay. We are speaking about a spiritual mixed marriage here, the union of your soul with another spirit that is not of God. So, you stand upon your own sword - What does that mean? The sword is the mind of Christ, that's what the sword is, that's the weapon and he says, you stand upon your own sword. That means you have your own weapon, your own defense, that's the carnal mind. You're standing on your own base, you've incarnated as a result of spiritual adultery with Satan, instead of a union with the Father. Spiritual incest. You've brought forth a mind which is death. You stand upon your own sword and you work the abomination of the mixed marriage. You've mixed your seed with a false spirit and you defile everyone his neighbor's wife. And that's speaking with sexual impurity. It's talking about adultery in the church. If you're not physically committing adultery and looking after that woman to lust after her, He says, and you think you are going to possess the land? The church is filled with sin.
Verse 27, Say thou thus unto them. Thus saith the Lord God, as I live, surely they that are in the wastes, shall fall by the sword. Now, I think the waste places, (that's the spirit that's joined to Satan and that's our human spirit), she is going to fall by the sword or that false lying spirit that's in the fallen dead soul, is going to fall, when the Spirit of Christ comes against her. And the one who is in the open field - I suggest it's the carnal mind, will I give to the beasts to be devoured. And they that be in the forts and in the caves, - that's speaking about the people, the humanity of the people, they shall die of the pestilence - that's disease. So we see death on three levels, spirit, soul and body.
Verse 28, For I will lay the land most desolate and the pomp of her strength, (that's the pride of her strength), shall cease. That's speaking about the bringing down of the carnal mind. And the mountains of Israel shall be desolate. The mountains speaking about the high places, - and the high places is speaking about the human spirit. The high place is the place where we worship from. We worship in spirit and truth. So the high place or the mountain is our spiritual being, and which is the human spirit. And the high place of Israel shall be desolate, and none shall pass through. That means the human spirit won't be joined with Christ anymore.
Verse 29, So that means, the Lord is going to take away what you have, brethren. If you have the Holy Ghost, that which you have, if you don't use it to have Christ formed in you, and then if you're not living out of Christ, you are going to lose what you have. It's a scriptural principle, it's clear in the parable of the talents. If you don't use what you have, you are going to lose it. That's what this verse is saying. You are not given the Holy Ghost to speak in tongues as an end unto itself. You are not given the Holy Ghost to get yourself a husband or a new job or a business, or a healing as an end in and of itself. The Holy Ghost will get you all these blessings, but the specific purpose that you were given the Holy Ghost, is to receive the power for Christ to be formed in you and then to live out of that Christ. There are sign benefits, which are only temporary, but you were given the Holy Ghost, so that you could mature into Christ. He is the seed. Alleluia.
Verse 29, Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate, because of all of their abominations, which they have committed. All of their unclean acts. The Lord is going to let all of their mixed marriages. Why? Because they are married to Satan and the carnal mind. For that reason, the Lord is going to lay the land desolate. I've laid the land most desolate, because of their carnal minds. So, you think this is unfair, brethren? Thus saith the Lord, unto all, with ears to hear, only those who are living out of Christ, shall live and every other human being reconciled unto God or otherwise, shall surely die, for I shall lay the land waste, saith the Lord, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth and many shall feel that they have been betrayed and deceived, and shall accuse the living God of unfairness. But I say unto you, you heard the trumpet, and you heard the warning and you heard from my prophet, and you heeded not, but you turned and you stoned him, and you killed him, and now you are surely reaping the death which you have sown.
Verse 30, Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee. So you see, if you are a son of God, a preacher, a teacher or a prophet, you know the people are going to talk about you. There is nothing you can do about it, you've got to respond in Christ. That's the way it's going to be. The people are still talking against you by the walls and in the doors of the houses. And they speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, come I pray you and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. And they come unto you as the people cometh and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they don't do them. For with their mouth, they show much love, but their heart goeth after covetousness. And that word, covetousness means, unjust gain. And the unjust gain, brethren is the carnal mind. We had something very similar to this, when we studied Zephaniah, and we saw that the increase from the Holy Ghost into Christ Jesus was considered a spiritual gain. So the development of the carnal mind in us is speaking about unjust gain. Gain that the Lord has not ordained.
And they come unto thee, as the people cometh, and they sit before you as my people and they hear your words, but they won't do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their carnal minds.
Verse 32, And lo, thou art unto them, as a very lovely song, of one that has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument, for they hear your words, but they don't do them. And when this comes to pass, lo, it will come. What will come? Judgment. Then shall they know that a prophet has been amongst them. When judgment comes to pass, they'll know that you not only were talking the truth, but that you were speaking to them. Do you know a lot of people sit in the congregation and they hear all these words, but they think it's for the guy next to them. They never think it's for them. So brethren, when judgment comes upon you, then you'll realize and you'll remember the word of the prophet. Remember, Jesus walking down the road to Emmaus, and the disciples were saying, they were remembering what Jesus told them, when He was alive, that He would be crucified and rise from the dead? They didn't understand it or believe it, when He was preaching it to them.
And there was something here that I wanted to talk to you about, and I must have gone right passed it. I must have gone right passed it where He speaks about doing righteousness and justice. I guess it was Verse 29. Let me see. I guess this must be it in Verse 16, where it talks about those who are going to live, they have to do what's lawful and what's right. I wanted to talk to you about those two words. The difference between that which is lawful and that which is right. The Hebrew word translated right, is speaking about righteousness. That means to follow the instruction of your Christ mind, as opposed to your carnal mind. But to do that which is lawful, is speaking about the legal system which is in Christ. It's speaking about what we teach here. It's speaking about judging righteous judgment and determining the righteousness of a situation. Determining by the mind of Christ, not with your emotions, not with what your eyes see, or your ears hear, but by the Spirit, determining whose heart was right, who had the true motive in their heart and then executing the judgment, based on that righteous decision. It's talking about the court of law, which is in Christ Jesus. Now, first of all, you have to have Christ Jesus in you, and then you have to be taught, and then you have to practice, it's one of the things that we teach here. So there is a very real difference, between righteousness and justice. Justice is difficult, it takes a lot of training to execute justice. First, you have to get your spiritual senses working, you have to be able to discern the intents of people's hearts, you have to understand, spiritually, what's going on, and what, if any crime has been committed, and what the Lord's judgment is, for that crime. And that is an education, in itself, which is given unto the sons. And it's a glorious Ministry, but there's a lot of responsibility associated with it.
Are there any questions or comments on this message? Anybody have anything to say?
COMMENT: I can't tell you how many times I've read this Chapter in the past. Boy, I never knew it like this.
PASTOR VITALE: Really?
COMMENT: Yes.
PASTOR VITALE: Praise God.
COMMENT: It's really scary.
PASTOR VITALE: Yes, well, we can't let fear control us now. We can't do any more than say, Lord we hear you and we really desire to confess our sins and repent, please help us. I believe that, if, that is truly coming from our heart, that He's got to meet us. He has to.
COMMENT: And that was a powerful prophecy that came out, as you were preaching.
PASTOR VITALE: We are in a very serious time. This word came down yesterday from me and I really believe one person already, came under judgment today. I had no idea who it was for yesterday. I had gone out for breakfast, actually I was sitting in the bagel store and the Lord led me to this Chapter. Now the truth is, I don't read my Bible very often, unless I'm studying it. I study my Bible, I go in and look up every word. For me to be just reading through is very unusual. When I do it, it is usually the Lord that brings me into it. So I wound up with Ezekiel, Chapter 33. I spent an hour, actually I read several Chapters of Ezekiel. I spent at least an hour in it and I started to get slain in the Spirit in the bagel store. Fell, I came home and I haven't listened to my scripture tapes in a long time, and I took the tapes on Ezekiel, popped them into my tape recorder, as I was passing out, and I laid down on the couch and I woke up three hours later. Three hours later, the two tapes had played through, and I was slain for three or three and a half hours. When I woke up, I really knew it before, but I knew for sure, when I woke up, that judgment was falling. I have experienced very similar things with the Lord. If I knew that judgment was coming down, I just didn't know on who. You see, you don't really know until time passes, but I think I know one person, but I believe it's going to be more than one person. And it's coming on the whole country. It's coming everywhere. The judgment is basically coming on the church and the elders thereof and more specifically the people who have been exposed to mature teaching in the church.
COMMENT: I've got Isaiah Chapter 44, and I felt that it was judgment also.
PASTOR VITALE: What did that say?
COMMENT: Well, it's talking about those who don't serve the Lord, will serve outside the court, and the others will be as Zadok Priesthood.
PASTOR VITALE: What that says to me, and I heard a preacher, who was the first one that preached that, and he was severely persecuted, for it, is that the realm of Pentecost is passing away and either you are going on to be a member of the Zadok Priesthood, or you're slipping back to some form of carnal Christianity. Either you are going in or you are going out. I believe the scripture supports it. It says the gifts are passing away. Times are passing away. Prophecy is passing away. Well, what is that talking about? It's talking about Pentecost. Either you are moving on into Christ, or you're going to slip backwards. It's happening now, on various levels, all over the church world. Now I don't want anybody to get into any religious bondage here. It's a very serious hour, but your fear can't do anything except paralyze you. So, I exhort all of you, to not let your carnal mind bind you up. Just cry out to Jesus. He's got to honor you. You, especially don't get caught in that. Okay.
