Clean Transcript

Theology Does Matter

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

• Chapter 8, Ezekiel chapter 8, and we're going to read verse 12. Ezekiel 8, verse 12. The title of the message is "Theology Does Matter." Theology does matter. Actually, a subtitle—and I think I will mention it now—but the subtitle is actually, "What Think Ye of God?" And you will understand just momentarily. So look in Ezekiel chapter 8 and note, if you would please, verse 12. Ezekiel chapter 8 and verse 12: "Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery?"

  #1 | 0:13 to 1:02 | cleaned

• "For they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth." I trust that you know that theology is the study or the science of God. When you think about theology, theos is the Greek word for God, and theology just simply refers to the study or the science of the subject. We use that ending in many words, like anthropology. Anthropos is the Greek word for man, so anthropology is the study of man. Christology, Christos—Christ, anointed one, Messiah—so the study of Christ the Messiah. So we use that word many, many times. Theology is important. One of the biggest problems is we have not really realized actually how important theology really and truly is. I will say this, that the average Christian and the average pastor are defective in the knowledge of God. When you stop and think about God, we could discuss His person, His power, His position, His attributes. And truly there are indeed many people that are just absolutely, totally ignorant of who God really is. And I understand that no matter how much one studies and how much one prays for wisdom and insight, there's no way in the world that we're going to acquire a perfect knowledge of God in this life.

  #2 | 1:02 to 2:42 | cleaned

• However, just simply because we cannot acquire a perfect knowledge does not mean that that should keep us from seeking to obtain a more accurate, extensive, and fuller knowledge of God. Now, I'm going to come back to the book of Ezekiel chapter 8. I'm going to come back to verse 12 and, in fact, the entire chapter and just share with you. But before I do, I want you to go to the New Testament so I can try to set you up for what I'm going to show you in the book of Ezekiel chapter 8. So first of all, I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22, because I told you the subtitle of "What Think Ye of God?" Because here is a question that our Lord asked the Pharisees: "What think ye of Christ?" So notice in Matthew chapter 22, and let's begin reading there with verse 42. Matthew 22 and verse 42. In fact, let's read verse 41. The Bible says, "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ?"

  #3 | 2:43 to 3:54 | cleaned

• "Whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David."

  #4 | 3:55 to 3:59 | cleaned

• Now interestingly, that is a good answer. Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of David. Matthew chapter 1, verse 1: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham." But the problem is they did not really understand the significance or the implication of the Messiah being the Son of David, although they did answer correctly. So our Lord then asked them further. If you look in verse 43 and 44: "He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?" So our Lord indicates clearly the implication of the fact and reality that the Messiah is indeed the Son of David. He is the Promised One, and David recognized that fact by simply calling Him Lord.

  #5 | 3:59 to 4:57 | cleaned

• And I've pointed out here many times that the word "Lord" in the Greek is kurios, which means boss, owner, master, sovereign. So David is acknowledging Him as sovereign. And I want you to note, if you would, once they say that the Messiah is the Son of David, then He asked further, "How in the world is it that David called him Lord?" And then if you look in verse 45, since they still did not quite get the issue, He asked, "If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" Well, you have to understand that no earthly father is going to call his earthly son "Lord." The reason being the father is the superior. The father is the head. He is the teacher. He is the instructor. So obviously when David then called Christ, his son, the Messiah, "Lord," it indicates that he's recognizing Him as deity. He's recognizing Him as God. And so they were willing to admit that Jesus Christ was the Son of David, but they were not willing to admit the implications that the Son of David meant that He was indeed the true and the living God.

  #6 | 4:57 to 6:16 | cleaned

• Then if you look in verse 46, after our Lord asked this question, "And no man was able to answer him a word"—in other words, they couldn't answer without acknowledging that the Messiah is God in the flesh—"neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions." So, our Lord begins asking in verse 42, "What think ye of Christ?" Does it matter what you think of Christ? And the answer is yes. So many people are willing to say that He's a moral teacher, or He's a good example, or He's a good man. But they have failed to acknowledge and confess that He is far more than that, that He is God incarnate, that He is indeed the Son of God. And then you would have to ask, has He accomplished salvation? Is He really King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and God of Gods? So it is a very legitimate question that our Lord asks these Pharisees: "What think ye of Christ?" Now, stop and think about this. Why did the Pharisees badger Him?

  #7 | 6:16 to 7:20 | cleaned

• Persecute Him? Deny Him, despise Him, and crucify Him? And the answer comes back: because they did not believe that He was God in the flesh. They did not believe that He was the Son of God. In fact, when He said that very plainly, they tried to kill Him. If you'll look in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 10. John chapter 10, and let's begin reading there with verse 30. John 10, verse 30. Our Lord makes this wonderful statement, John 10, verse 30: "I and my Father are one." Now when our Lord made that statement, He was indeed claiming to be God. And of course they recognized that fact. So watch in verse 30 He says, "I and my Father are one."

  #8 | 7:22 to 8:19 | cleaned

• Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of these works do ye stone me?" The Jews answered him, saying, "For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." And so they understood exactly what He meant when He said, "I and my Father are one."

  #9 | 8:19 to 8:44 | cleaned

• And I got tickled when I read this because they got it backwards. They said, "because thou, being a man, makest thyself God." No, Him being God, He made Himself a man. That's what it amounts to. But the truth of the matter is they did not confess and they did not acknowledge that He was God in the flesh. So, let me just try to make a modern day application.

  #10 | 8:44 to 9:06 | cleaned

• This would be a very pertinent question. Why then do our political and religious leaders not trust Him, believe Him, and obey Him? And the answer comes back, exactly for the same reason that the Pharisees did not believe Him and trust Him. Because they did not understand and they did not see, nor did they grasp the fact that He is God in the flesh. They did not see that He was God incarnate.

  #11 | 9:07 to 9:36 | cleaned

• They did not recognize Him as sovereign. And likewise today in the world. Many people are willing to admit that He is a good example, that He is a moral man, and that He was an excellent teacher. But they are not going to go so far to say He is God in the flesh. He is God incarnate. He is the sovereign God of Heaven and Earth. So obviously what you think of Christ determines whether or not you love Him, whether or not you serve Him, whether or not you believe Him, whether or not you trust Him. Now just like your view of Christ matters, so your view of God matters. So I could ask the question like this: "What think ye of God?" Is He the sovereign? Is He omnipotent? Is He omniscient? Is He omnipresent? Is He the eternal, immutable, infinite, and transcendent God?

  #12 | 9:37 to 10:37 | cleaned

• Is He loving, kind, merciful, and gracious? Is He the one true and the living God? In other words, what think ye of God?

  #13 | 10:37 to 10:47 | cleaned

• Now, before we go back to Ezekiel chapter 8, I want you to look, if you would please, at Luke chapter 19. I want to take just a little bit of time and show you the truth that I'm going to be sharing with you from the Old Testament. Look in Luke chapter 19 and let's begin reading there with verse 13. Luke 19 and verse 13, and we'll read through verse 27. Watch carefully. And he called—in fact, let's go back to verse 12.

  #14 | 10:48 to 11:24 | cleaned

• He said, "Therefore a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow."

  #15 | 11:24 to 12:30 | cleaned

• "And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?"

  #16 | 12:30 to 12:53 | cleaned

• "And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."

  #17 | 12:54 to 13:19 | cleaned

• Now, let me point several things out in this passage. First of all, it certainly is a parable. Our Lord is giving a good illustration here. But in this passage, He delineates between His enemies and His servants. His enemies openly expressed their disdain for Him and their hatred of Him. He went to receive a kingdom, and they said, "We will not have this man to reign over us."

  #18 | 13:20 to 13:50 | cleaned

• But I want you to note something, if you would please. Their hatred, their distrust, their wickedness did not hinder Him and did not stop Him from receiving His kingdom. Okay? So when you stop and think about today all the people that are fighting against Jesus Christ—if every demon out of hell and every wicked man that has lived, is living, and shall ever live would join hands together in revolt and rebellion against Jesus Christ, it would occasion Him no uneasiness, because He is in control and He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, God of Gods, and He has the kingdom whether they acknowledge it or not. Okay? So note, if you would, now He calls His servants. The Bible says and He gives them money and He

  #19 | 13:51 to 14:44 | cleaned

• tells them to "occupy till I come." The word "occupy" literally means to do business. It means to carry on a trade or even to do business as a banker or as a trader. Moreover, it's an imperative in the Greek, which means it is a command. So He's given the money and He commands them, "Do business till I come." Now, of course, He did not mention all of the servants, but the first two came: one had gained ten pounds, another gained five pounds, and He commended them. But the Bible says in verse 20, "And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin." So all these other servants obeyed and prospered. They increased the money that they were given. This one did not. He kept the money laid up in a napkin. Interestingly, the Greek word for "napkin" is soudarion. And the word soudarion literally means a handkerchief, a sweat cloth.

  #20 | 14:44 to 15:54 | cleaned

• It is for a rag used to wipe the sweat from your brow as you're working. And so this servant did not use his sweat cloth. He put the pound in it and buried it and hid it. He should have been using that sweat cloth wiping his brow as he was working, but he did not.

  #21 | 15:55 to 16:15 | cleaned

• Now, the question is, why did he not do this? Why did he not work? Why was he not faithful like the others? Well, here's why. I want you to look very carefully, beginning at verse 20, and look at his view, his attitude concerning his master. Watch verse 20: "And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?" Why did this man lay the money up in a napkin and hide it? And the answer is this: the servant did not work, the servant did not obey, he did not increase because of his perception, his view, his theology, if you want to say it, concerning his master.

  #22 | 16:15 to 17:33 | cleaned

• The word "austere" is the Greek word austeros, which means hard. It means rough, it means severe, rigid in manner. In other words, he said, "Look, I knew you were a rough man. I knew you were a tough man, and I knew that you'd pick up that you laid not down and you reap that which you had not sown, and I was afraid of you. So I just buried it in this sweat cloth and

  #23 | 17:34 to 17:56 | cleaned

• here this is what you gave me. I'm giving it back." Wow. Now I want to give you a couple of quotes because this story can raise some questions. In the eclectic notes, here's this first quote: "For I feared thee is the word of a naughty and unfaithful heart and of a bad conscience. The Lord judges on the conduct due on the estimate formed by the heart itself. Its own showing the responsibility existed, the talent was there, where was the consequent conduct?

  #24 | 17:56 to 18:41 | cleaned

• All the acquisition of spiritual competency remains and even is added to those who have been faithful. In the unfaithful the boon or the blessing bestowed is taken away." So the whole point is this wicked servant had a wicked or a wrong view concerning his master. And consequently his conduct and his life and his service was fashioned based upon his view or his theology. So it should be obvious then that bad theology is going to produce a wicked life, a wicked conduct, and a wicked rule.

  #25 | 18:41 to 19:26 | cleaned

• Now Calvin said it like this, and I want you to listen carefully. He said, "I knew thee that thou art a harsh man. This harshness has nothing to do with the substance of the parable, and it is an idle speculation in which those indulge who reason from this passage how severely and rigorously God deals with His own people."

  #26 | 19:27 to 19:47 | cleaned

• Now listen to this next statement, it will explain a lot. "For Christ did not intend to describe such rigor any more than to applaud or to praise usury, when he represents the master of the house as saying that the money ought to have been deposited with a banker that it might at least gain interest. Christ only means—listen carefully—Christ only means that there will be no excuse for the indolence of those who both conceal the gifts of God and waste their time in idleness. Hence also we infer that no manner of life is more praiseworthy in the sight of God than that which yields some advantage to human society." So it was his view of his master then that determined his life, his conduct, his service.

  #27 | 19:48 to 20:41 | cleaned

• So let me put it to you very plainly. Theology does matter. Your view of God does indeed matter. It does determine how you live. So someone says, "Well, I'm not a theologian." Well, you may not be a theologian, but the truth is you have a view of God. You understand something about God. You may not understand much and you may not understand hardly any correctly, but you still have a view about God. And that view determines basically how you are going to live.

  #28 | 20:43 to 21:17 | cleaned

• This is why I said I could also ask this question: "What think ye of Christ?" or "What think ye of God?" I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 8. Ezekiel chapter 8. So I'm going to ask you this question. When we look at Ezekiel chapter 8, we're going to see the wickedness of Judah and Jerusalem. You have to remember that Judah and Jerusalem were supposedly a covenant people.

  #29 | 21:17 to 21:56 | cleaned

• And yet they fell into the grossest idolatry. So you are going to have to ask yourself this question: why did they do that? They not only fell into the grossest idolatry, they fell into the grossest of sins. Why did they do that? Why do others forsake God? You remember the Apostle Paul said, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world." And I realize, and you should realize as well, that not everybody who makes a profession of faith is indeed a Christian.

  #30 | 21:58 to 22:34 | cleaned

• Because John said in 1 John 2 and verse 19, "They went out from us, that it might be made manifest that they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us." In other words, the proof that one is really a saved individual is that he continues in the faith. Okay. But you have to ask yourself this question: why did a covenant people as a whole forsake God?

  #31 | 22:35 to 23:02 | cleaned

• Let me make it a little more pertinent. Why in our country have we generally forsaken God? And the foundation upon which our country was built, and the foundation upon which you and I know to have been biblical, why has it been forsaken? Well, let me just tell you this before we look in Ezekiel chapter 8. Ezekiel was a priest in Babylon. God called him to be a prophet. And he was actually prophesying to the people that were already in Babylon, that Nebuchadnezzar had already taken over there. But God was bringing him back in a vision to see what was actually happening in Judah and Jerusalem so that He could tell the people in Babylon what was going to happen as well. So, I want you to look, if you would please, in Ezekiel chapter 8, look at verse 3, and he tells you how he comes to see these things. Ezekiel 8, verse 3, and he is talking about God.

  #32 | 23:05 to 24:10 | cleaned

• "And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy." So the very first thing that he sees near this gate is an image of jealousy.

  #33 | 24:10 to 24:37 | cleaned

• In other words, it was an idol. An idol is sitting or standing right there. This gate leading from the outer court to the inner court, called the court of the priest, or the gate of the altar, there stood this idol. I mean, in broad daylight, in everybody's eyesight. And it's called the image of jealousy, which provoked God to jealousy.

  #34 | 24:37 to 25:03 | cleaned

• Now, that's bad enough in itself. Now, the Scripture does not tell us what kind of idol it was. So it would just be guessing. It could be an Asherah, it could be an image of Baal, it could be anything. But it's just simply an idol. But it was an idol that provoked God to jealousy.

  #35 | 25:03 to 25:21 | cleaned

• Now, look, if you would please, at verses 5 and 6. Watch carefully. "Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations."

  #36 | 25:21 to 25:57 | cleaned

• Now here is what God is saying. God is saying the idol that they have set there is sufficient for Him to leave His house. It's sufficient for Him to leave His temple. It's sufficient for Him to leave these people. They've turned their backs upon God. But God said, "I'll tell you what, you hang with me and I'm going to show you greater abomination." So look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 9, because it gets even worse. In fact, let's go back to verse 7.

  #37 | 25:57 to 26:28 | cleaned

• Watch, if you would: "And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up."

  #38 | 26:29 to 27:14 | cleaned

• So now he sees something more than just an image. Now something more than just an idol.

  #39 | 27:14 to 27:23 | cleaned

• Now he's in and he sees all these abominable creatures and creeping things on the wall. And here are the seventy men who are offering incense and worshiping. Here is what Matthew Henry said about these seventy men. Listen carefully. "They were seventy men, the number of the great Sanhedrin, or chief council of the nation, and we have reason to fear the same men. For they were the ancients of the house of Israel, not only in age, but in office, who were bound by the duty of their place to restrain and punish idolatry, and to destroy and abolish all superstitious images, wherever they were found.

  #40 | 27:24 to 28:08 | cleaned

• Yet these were those that did themselves worship them in private, so undermining that religion which in public they professed to own and promote only because they had their preferments or they had their livelihood." In other words, here were the men who were supposed to be protecting the people of God and protecting the Temple of God, and yet they were the ones that were engaged in all of this idolatry, wicked ungodly idolatry.

  #41 | 28:09 to 28:37 | cleaned

• Now, the interesting thing is, look in verse 13. That's bad enough. Verse 13: "He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do." Well, it just continues to get worse and worse. Here's the next one, look in verse 14. "Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz." Now, Tammuz is known by different names throughout history.

  #42 | 28:38 to 29:15 | cleaned

• He's also called Adonis, Osiris. In fact, you're going to find that a lot of these false gods were worshipped by several different countries or nations, and they all had different names but referred to exactly the same god. So, here were these women that were weeping for Tammuz. Let me give you just a quote from Albert Barnes in light of this. He says, "This solemnity was of a two-fold character. First that of mourning in which the death of Adonis was bewailed with extravagant sorrow.

  #43 | 29:15 to 29:56 | cleaned

• And then after a few days, the mourning gave place to wild rejoicings for His restoration to life. This was a revival of nature worship under another form. The death of Adonis symbolized the suspension of the productive powers of nature, which were in due time revived. Accordingly, the time of this festival was the summer solstice, when in the east nature seems to wither and die under the scorching heat of the sun, to burst forth again into life in due season. At the same time there was a connection between this and the sun worship which you will see, in that the decline of the sun and the decline of nature might be alike represented by the death of Adonis.

  #44 | 29:57 to 30:38 | cleaned

• The excitement attended these extravagances of alternate wailing and exaltation were in complete accordance with the character of nature worship, which for this reason was so popular in the East, especially with women, and led by inevitable consequence to unbridled license, excess, and lust." So, this worship of Tammuz then is indeed a type of nature worship. It is a type of environmentalism, which we have today. For instance, "save the whales, kill the babies." When you stop and think about it, when you hear your meteorologist talk about "mother nature," or you hear someone talk about "mother earth," the earth is not our mother, and nature is not our mother. And when you stop and think about the green people—and of course I believe in preserving nature, obviously. The Bible teaches that. But you do not place these things before God, nor do you place them before people.

  #45 | 30:39 to 31:57 | cleaned

• Out in the Northwest where a lot of these people are against logging, they will go and drive spikes into the trees. So when the loggers cut them down with a chainsaw, it bounces back and cuts or kills them. I mean, I love trees, but this is insane when you look at this. It is a type of sun worship, and I'll show you. Look, if you would, in verse 16. It even gets worse. Watch carefully. Oh, look in verse 15: "Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these."

  #46 | 32:01 to 32:50 | cleaned

• So we go from the idol, we go to the seventy men, we go then to these women weeping for Tammuz. And now verse 16: "And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east." Wow! Now, when you stop and think about it, their backs were to the temple, their face was toward the sun, which was just symbolical of the fact that they had turned their back upon God and His covenant.

  #47 | 32:50 to 33:36 | cleaned

• So, here is my question. What pushed these people into this wicked idolatry? And what pushed these people into the actions, the conduct that accompanied this idolatry? Why? Well, look in verse 12. Watch carefully. "Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery?" Now watch: "for they say"—here's what they say—"The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth." Here is a wicked theology, a faulty theology, a bad theology. They were denying God's omniscience, His all-knowing. They were denying His omnipresence. They were denying His providence. They were denying His justice. They were denying His judgment. In other words, "God doesn't see us, and God has forsaken the earth. So it really doesn't matter who we worship, what we worship, how we live, or what we do, because God is not here." Let me say this again—I'm going to say it again before I finish—your theology determines how you live. Your theology determines how you serve. Your theology determines how you worship

  #48 | 33:37 to 35:26 | cleaned

• or whether or not you worship. Let me go ahead and show you. Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 10 very quickly. Hold Ezekiel chapter 8. We're coming back to Ezekiel. But look in Psalm 10. Look in Psalm 10. And notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 3. We're talking about the wicked. We're talking about the wicked. Psalm 10 and verse 3: "For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth." So why does the wicked boast of his heart's desire? Why does he bless the covetous whom the Lord hates? Watch verse 4: "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts."

  #49 | 35:26 to 36:29 | cleaned

• In other words, he has no theology, or if he does, it's certainly faulty. So, if you have a faulty theology, what is going to be the result? Look in verse 5: "His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily

  #50 | 36:30 to 37:13 | cleaned

• set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it." Your theology determines how you live. The reason these people were so wicked and so vile is because they had a faulty theology. They did not know God.

  #51 | 37:13 to 37:56 | cleaned

• They did not understand His person or His character. Now, if you would go back in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel, I want you to look at verse 12 again and then we are going to chapter 9. Look at Ezekiel 8 and verse 12. I'm going to say this again: "Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth." Now look in chapter 9, if you would please, and verse 9: "Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is

  #52 | 37:57 to 38:48 | cleaned

• full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not." Now, if God is not omniscient, if God is not omnipresent, and if God has forsaken the earth, does it really matter how you live or what you do? The answer is no. Wrong views of God always lead to idolatry. Wrong views of God not only lead to idolatry, they also lead to every form of violence and perverseness imaginable. Abortion on demand today may be legal in our land, but the only reason it is legal is because we've lost our fear of God. We've lost our theology and we do not honor and we do not worship Him. You look at all the perversions that are legal in this land today, and it's all because we've lost our theology. We do not know who God is. We do not know His character. We do not know His person, and we do not believe that He's going to judge us. Matthew Henry said this: "Atheism was at the bottom of their idolatry.

  #53 | 38:48 to 40:22 | cleaned

• They worship images in the dark, the images of the gods of other nations, and they say, 'Jehovah, the God of Israel, whom we should serve, seeth us not. Jehovah hath forsaken the earth, and we may worship what god we will. He regards us not.'" Wow.

  #54 | 40:23 to 40:45 | cleaned

• Now, let me mention something to you. If you have a biblical theology, it will indeed determine how you live. It will make you live right. It will make you do what is right. It's interesting, out on the farm, when you're a boy, and you wanted to do something wrong, you'd always go out behind the barn. Why? Well, mom and dad can't see out behind the barn. And you don't ever think about God seeing behind the barn. But the truth is, if you understood that God was omniscient, that He's all-knowing, and God is omnipresent, you cannot escape His presence. It would mean something totally different.

  #55 | 40:46 to 41:44 | cleaned

• I thought about this this morning. I hadn't thought about it in a long time. But just to show you the significance of theology. Mel Trotter was a drunk. And he was such a horrible drunk, he stole the shoes off his sleeping baby and was taking them to the pawn shop so he could pawn them and get another mouthful of whiskey. And on the way to the pawn shop, he passed a building where Christians were in there singing and holding a worship service. It was cold in Chicago. So he went in to warm up just for a moment and listen to the singing and listen to the preaching, and God saved him. Mel Trotter then began the rescue mission there, where he reached drunks and prostitutes and whatever.

  #56 | 41:45 to 42:56 | cleaned

• He had a tremendous testimony. But he got concerned about an area in the city known as Lover's Lane. And so when the cars would go there to park, Mel Trotter would go there to preach. He'd walk up and down preaching. Some would get upset and leave, some would just laugh at him and pay no attention. And he kept doing that and it was making no progress. And so finally Mel Trotter came up with an idea. He got some property there and he had made a neon flashing sign, and all it was was a giant eyeball. And right in the middle it had this verse: "Thou God seest me." "Thou God seest me." Within a week, Lover's Lane was desolate. Would you just stop and think?

  #57 | 42:58 to 44:05 | cleaned

• Your theology does matter. It matters how you live, and it makes you either live right or it makes you live wrong. It's just that simple. Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one: you remember this—they turned their back to the temple and worshipped the sun. Idolatry is turning your back upon God, is rejecting Him, is rejecting His law and His governance. One may deny and disbelieve His judgment and justice, but that is not going to deter it or alter it; it will come.

  #58 | 44:07 to 44:45 | cleaned

• So let me show you. If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 18. Jeremiah 18, look, if you would please, beginning there verse 13. Remember now, these people turned their backs upon God. Let me show you what He's going to do in justice. Jeremiah chapter 18, verse 13: "Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field?

  #59 | 44:45 to 45:23 | cleaned

• Or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity"—that is, they forgot God, they turned into idolaters—"and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head." Look what God says: "I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy;

  #60 | 45:24 to 45:55 | cleaned

• I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity." God said, "You turn your back on me, I'll turn my back on you, and you can scream and cry and plead and beg, but I'll not hear you." And of course that's exactly what He did to Judah and Jerusalem in 586 when Nebuchadnezzar literally tore it to the ground. The second application is this: our ignorance, our idolatry, our sins, our rebellion, our wickedness, everything all stems from a faulty theology.

  #61 | 45:56 to 46:38 | cleaned

• If we believe right, we will live right. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." If we believe wrongly, we will live wrongly. It's just that simple. So here's the whole point of Ezekiel chapter 8: your theology does matter. Your theology determines how you live, how you serve, and how you worship. When you stop and think, these people refuse to worship the one true and living God. And they refuse to give Him the worship that was His due.

  #62 | 46:42 to 47:29 | cleaned

• Because they said, "He doesn't see us. He's forsaken the earth. We can do as we please." Everything stems from a faulty theology. Your theology does matter. You may not ever be a theologian. I may not ever be a theologian, but one thing for sure, we can read the Scripture and find out who God is and His attributes and govern our lives accordingly. What we believe should be biblical and should be right, and it will affect our lives. Your theology determines how you live.

  #63 | 47:31 to 48:22 | cleaned

• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to you this day. We thank you for your love, your grace, your mercy, your truth. Help us, Lord, to honor thee, to love thee, to live for thee, to glorify thy name. Help us to have a correct theology. May we grasp, in some degree, your person, your power, your position, and your attributes. May we glorify Thee through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

  #64 | 48:23 to 48:53 | cleaned

• so

  #65 | 49:22 to 49:22 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T19:02:56Z