 Amen. Ezekiel chapter 22. This is just a great chapter in the Bible. I mean, it just I just love reading this chapter But who is Ezekiel? Who's Ezekiel before we even get started this morning? So Ezekiel was a prophet of the lower kingdom of Judah, of course the kingdoms after Solomon Solomon's son Rehoboam lost the kingdom Solomon's son Rehoboam And Jeroboam Jeroboam took ten tribes and Rehoboam then the kingdom split, you know Jeroboam was over the northern kingdom of Israel That was just completely wicked the whole time and then the southern kingdom of Judah That you know Rehoboam and the kings in the line of David Took over it that still had Jerusalem their captain as their capital Of course, they had some good kings, but this is talking about The end of the southern kingdom of Judah. So Ezekiel is a contemporary of Jeremiah So Jeremiah and Ezekiel and some other prophets were prophets that were Rate at the time that Israel or not Israel Judah was taken into captivity by Babylon the difference between what happened to the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah is that the northern kingdom of Israel About a hundred and sixty years prior to this Were taken over by the Assyrian Empire and they were just completely wiped out and scattered There was no a captivity where they returned back. It was just they were done They became the Samaritans in the New Testament But the lower kingdom of Judah was taken into captivity and there was a 70-year period that we're going to talk about Where they were taken into captivity then they returned to To the land to Jerusalem to Israel. That's where we get the stories of Ezra Nehemiah these are the stories about coming back while Jerusalem rebuilding the temple Zerubbabel's temple But that's who Ezekiel is he is this prophet that is you know preaching against the lower kingdom of Judah as They are going to be taken over you can about imagine how Popular somebody would be if there was this threatening Empire outside your nation and this prophet Jeremiah This prophet Ezekiel they're constantly coming to the people like you deserve this you're wicked You're going to be taken over you can about imagine how popular these prophets were at that time. That's why Jeremiah You know his life is his the book of Jeremiah kind of reads a little depressing nobody listens to him everyone's against him constantly So that's who Ezekiel is and this is who he's talking to but I want to look at a very specific analogy that Ezekiel is using here in Ezekiel chapter 22 to talk to Children of Judah and apply that to ourselves. I want to look at the analogy look at what he's talking about What he means how that applies to us and how we can learn from this situation so we don't have to repeat these same mistakes There's a very popular verse In verse number 30 where the Bible says in Ezekiel 22 30 It says I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land That I should not destroy it, but I found none. So this is very similar to the philosophy That Abraham was talking to God about in Genesis 18 Genesis 19 before God went and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah Abraham's like what if there's 50 righteous people there? You know are you going to destroy the 50 righteous people with all of the the Sodomites and disgusting people in the city and God's like there's 50. I won't destroy it and then Abraham of course very famous passages where Abraham's like 45 40 30 20 10 there wasn't even 10 It turned out there was four or five and then it became four but The point is is that this is the same philosophy here where the Bible is saying I sought for I mean God's literally saying I sought for one man. I thought for one man that would stand up and Preach the Word of God and listen to the Word of God in this nation and there wasn't even one in This case and up in verse number 19 the Bible says this it says you're all become dross So they were all dross So the question is and what I want to look at this morning. I want to start out in verse number 17 I want to look at this idea of dross. What is it? What is God talking about when he says you're all become dross? Look down at your Bible at verse number 17 of Ezekiel Chapter 22 the Bible says in the word one of the Lord came unto me saying son of man The house of Israel is to me become dross All they are brass and tin and iron and lead in the midst of the furnace. They are even the dross of silver Therefore thus say it the Lord God because you're all become dross Behold therefore. I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace and blow the fire upon it to melt it So will I gather you in my anger and in my fury and I will leave you there and don't miss this He says and melt you Look at verse number 21 Yay, I will gather you and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath and you should be melted in the midst Thereof as silver is melted in the midst of the furnace so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof and he shall know that I am the Lord I I that I the Lord have poured out my fury So the question is God is saying I'm gonna melt you he's making this great comparison about Melting metals together melting metals and really purifying metals the question becomes first of all What is dross because he says you're all dross like you're you just the whole thing is dross The whole nation at this point is dross and that's what he backs up with you know I sought for one man among them. He couldn't find it. They're all dross. So what is dross? So dross and the comparison that God is using here dross is basically impurities in metal It's impurities in gold impurities and silver tin lead zinc whatever you want to look at it's When you melt the metal it's the dross if you've ever seen you know the pictures of them melting down gold Or something you get this black stuff floating on the top of the molten metal the dross is The stuff you don't want it's the impure parts of the metal and the way you get the dross out is by melting it So God here is saying I mean there's a couple problems. He's saying I'm gonna melt you But he's saying you're all dross meaning like there's no gold It's just it's all dross I mean if you've looked at I ever seen a video of them, you know purifying metals or purifying Gold or silver or whatever You see them they can almost pour the dross off the top, but you still have the silver You still have you know the gold the reason that they're melting it down like that is because they're trying to make it as Pure as possible. Nobody wants a necklace that has a bunch of dross mixed with the gold You know they want the purest You know gold possible so it's a way of getting the metals out if you've ever heard of stories about like you know Japanese sword making and and things like that you'll hear stories about how they folded the steels times You know like a really good Japanese sword will have the steel, you know folded, you know Dozens of times they'll just keep folding the steel. They're not actually melting the steel They're just getting it hot and a blacksmith is literally folding the steel over on top of itself And then they're pounding it if you've ever seen this and there's sparks flying everywhere That's a way the reason they folded steel like that is because they didn't have furnaces hot enough to actually melt the steel It's better to melt it because then the impurities just come out But what they're doing is there they're making steel hot what you make steel with iron and mixed with carbon And what they what happens is they didn't have furnaces hot enough to get the carbon mixed up properly So they would just keep folding the steel upon itself and they would get the impurities out That's what you're seeing those pockets spark off when they hammer the steel They would they would hammer out the impurities and then they would get that carbon mixed within the steel because the carbon is What gives the iron strength? Okay, we used to use a lot of stainless steel in business that I used to be in and Basically stainless steel you would never want to make a sword out of stainless steel because there's no carbon in it You basically take the carbon down to a very low amount and the steel it doesn't rust it doesn't oxidize But it's also very brittle and it breaks very easily So you never want to go into a fight with a stainless steel sword You might have the nicest looking sword, but it would break right away. All right So these are just ways that that men it, you know purify Metals and that's the analogy that God is giving here when he talks about Dross the dross is the bad stuff the dross is the impurity pockets that you're trying to hammer out of that metal That you're trying to get you know that steel hot enough or that gold or that silver hot enough To where it flows to the top and you can literally separate the dross from the pure metal. He's saying here That You're all dross that there's no draw. There's no there's no gold. There's no silver There's nothing valuable. It's all Impurity that's what Ezekiel chapter 22 is talking about and that's why God is saying you know My fire is going to be hotter now turn to Joshua chapter 2. Let's talk about removing Dross so we see that you know when that metal changes states from a solid To a liquid that is when you know, you're able to get the impurities out That's why God is talking all these he's using these terms like my fiery furnace I'm gonna you know fuel this even in a melt. He literally says I'm going to melt you in Ezekiel chapter 22 But here's what's interesting. Here's what this is such a great analogy in the Bible that God is using here Look at Joshua chapter 2 and look at verse number 11 I mean, there's a lot of examples of this, but let's just look at one example. This is way have this is You know the way I was a was a harlot in the city of Jericho before the children of Israel crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land and She's telling the spies here that they've heard of them that they've heard of their victories and their battles and Mainly what God has done for them and look what she says in verse number 11. She says as soon as we heard these things She's talking about the people of Jericho. She says our hearts did what our hearts did melt Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you For the Lord your God He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath so it's interesting that rate have uses this same analogy says all hearts Melted and what does she mean? She means that there was people in that city that what did mean the heart melted It means the heart melted meaning they accepted the fact that God this was the God of the universe this was the one true God and She's like we had no courage in us because who's gonna fight against God? This is the opposite of you know, burying up against God. We're having a hard heart Against God, so she's talking about the humility that people had when she talks about their heart melting so for in order for hearts to be right in order for Evil to be purged The heart must become soft This is what Rahab is saying look at Ezekiel chapter 43 and Look at verse 26. That is how the heart is Purified a heart that is hard and that is not melted cannot be purified This is what the Bible is trying to tell us here in Ezekiel chapter 22 This is why God puts this strong language and he gave these words to tell to Ezekiel There's not just it's not just an example. It's not just a warning for the children of Judah It's in the Bible so we are warned so we can see how to purify ourselves. Look at Ezekiel 43. Look at verse number 26 Ezekiel 43 verse number 26. The Bible says seven days shall they purge the altar and Purify it and they shall consecrate themselves. So here there's we're talking about Purifying the altar. This is what we need to do with our hearts. The Bible says they're gonna purify the altar seven times If you remember that the the sermon on seven The seven what does the word seven mean this the word seven means completeness What is seven the first mention of the number seven in the Bible is saying purify the altar turn to second Kings chapter 5 I'll just give you one more example We're talking about purifying the altar here in Ezekiel chapter 43 and he says seven times look at second Kings chapter 5 The first time seven is actually used in the Bible is the six days of creation plus the one day that God rested That's the full week. I mean the the you say seven days You can say seven days of creation because the rest was part of it All right, the rest was part of look at second Kings chapter 5 verse number 10 There's a story about name in the leper where Elisha tells him He says in Eliza sent a message messenger unto him saying go and wash in Jordan Seven times and my flesh shall come again to thee and thou shalt be clean So again, why seven if you've missed the sermon on seven why seven? Well, there's seven days in a week. What the Bible here is saying is that you should purify yourself daily You should keep your heart soft daily Every single day turn to first Corinthians if you just do a word study on daily in the Bible This will just become extremely obvious to you go to Psalm chapter 86. I'll read for you first Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 31 you're gonna go to Psalm chapter 86 If you just open your Bible straight in the middle you more than likely fall in the book of Psalms Psalm 86 first Corinthians chapter 15 Paul says in verse 31 I protest by rejoicing which I have Christ Jesus our Lord I die daily. He was talking about how he's risking himself Daily it was very important for Paul to make sure that he kept himself right. He kept his body under submission You know, he subdued himself daily look at Psalm 83 verse 3 Psalm 83 verse 3 we're talking about that You know that the importance of keeping yourself your heart soft your heart pure Daily Psalm 86 verse number 3 the Bible says be merciful unto me award for I cry unto thee what? Daily, this is a man who is praying daily. He is constantly just going to the Lord in prayer with his troubles every single day Do you have a daily prayer life? You should have a time every day that you block out for the Lord in your life You should I mean this is how you're gonna keep yourself pure daily and keep yourself purified You keep your heart soft towards the Lord Daily Hebrews chapter you go to Luke chapter 11. I'll read for you. You're gonna go to Luke chapter 11 I'll read for you Hebrews chapter 3 in verse 13 the Bible says but exhort one another what daily it says Why would us call today lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin notice that Notice how he says, you know exhort one another Meaning who should you be hanging out with daily? Who should it's not like you should come to church once a week twice a week even three times a week and then go hang out with a bunch of you know Degenerates all week long That's not gonna work out the Bible here is saying exhort one another talking about you know your brethren exhort one another daily Every single day why less any of you be hardened Let's any of your hearts get hardened towards the Lord doesn't say unless any of you lose your salvation or lest any of you You know die physically it says lest any of you get hardened. It's talking about Burying up against the Lord. It's talking about getting what the Bible calls in other places a stony heart Towards the Lord. How do I do that? I pray daily. How do I do that? I mean look? You have so much going on in your life. You have so many things in your life. I mean God forbid you it's an hour of work But you won't put an hour of time away, you know away for God every day to just seek the Lord in prayer daily daily exhort one another Daily meaning the people that you are talking to and Fellowshiping with our brothers and sisters in Christ and you're exhorting each other every single day Luke chapter 11 verse number 3 The Bible says give us day by day our daily bread But you have to eat every day you have to feed yourself physically every single day You also have to feed yourself spiritually Daily every day in order to keep a soft heart towards the Lord go back to Ezekiel chapter 22 Let's go back to the dross. So we see that keeping ourselves Pure keeping our hearts soft keeping that melted heart is a daily Challenge all right look not just for you not just for me for any Christian for any Christian. It's a daily Challenge look at Ezekiel chapter 22 and look at verse Number six what was the dross? What was the actual specific dross that God was talking about with these people? Let's take a look at verse number six it says behold the princes of Israel meaning the rulers Everyone were indeed to their power to shed blood so the kings and the priests look. It's always the violence It's always the violence. So they were violent. They were being violent Let me just tell you something every single Turning away from God it always comes back to that It always comes when you say how in the world did the earth get filled with violence Before God flooded the entire world because when you turn away from God and you and you just you you Reject and get a hard heart against the Bible. It always ends in violence It always ends with the innocent people being killed You say I mean so we look at you know you look at just things that are going on in our country today You just like perversion and and and sodomites and all this stuff and you're like yeah, that's all bad But look it's gonna just it's gonna always come back to violence The more we turn against God in every area violence is where it will be just just Murdering the innocent basically. What do we do in this country? We murder millions of innocent unborn children constantly. I Don't even know what the number is now sixty some million at this point But it oh why is it why why the abortion epidemic because we turned our back on God in every Single area and that always ends in violence. That's it Look at verse number seven And this is sad, but this is true as well in the have they set light by father and mother meaning they they're disobeying their parents They're not taking that seriously in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger in thee Have they vexed the what the fatherless and the widow? What it's talking about there is that it's going to be the the weakest in society That suffer when a society turns from the Lord and becomes as dross Yeah, it's gonna be violent, but the violence is never against the strong men The violence is always against the fatherless and the widow It's always against the children. What do we see today? What do we see today? It's who's suffering. It's the children look at verse number eight That was despised mind holy things and that profaned my Sabbath. They've turned on God verse number nine In the in thee are men that carry tails to shed blood more violence And they and in thee they eat upon the mountains in the midst of thee they commit Lude-ness in thee have they discovered their father's nakedness in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution here They've they're committing all kinds of perversion They're they're into fornication and notice like notice here in the last part of verse number ten, you know people say oh the Bible is so You know anti-woman that's like the biggest lie out there today Because the Bible is saying that they've what they've polluted her that was set apart for pollution The Bible is telling you how much it values The the the version of a lady they call fornication here pollution So it doesn't matter how much people accept fornication in society the Bible calls it pollution It's saying somebody that was supposed to be pure, you know has been you know polluted that that's not valued That's not being valued. You know someone that has just been polluted. It's not being valued So you can call, you know accept whatever you want in society, but you know if only fornication today was looked at as pollution Because that's what God sees it at. So this is just more of the same look at verse number 11 It says one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife and another have lulely defiled his daughter-in-law Another indeed have humbled his sister his father's daughter. I mean we're talking about all kinds of sickness here We're talking about Incessual things they're talking about just wicked things look at verse number 12 Indeed they have taken gifts to shed blood Talking about like they're literally taking money to kill people They're taking money. They're taking rock to go in and murder certain people that was taken Usury and increase and now has greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion and has forgotten me Sayeth the Lord God. They're taking bribes for murder unjust gain Usury greed whipping people off Mailing people all just make money. Did you know? Did you know that God cares how we make money? Did you know that you can't just go out and just do whatever you want and and God God cares how the Christian makes money? God cares how a nation makes money There is gain that hurts others and We are to have nothing to do with that type of gain I'm going to get very specific on this next week or in a couple weeks But the point that you need to understand this morning is it matters how we gain? I mean The rules are different for us and you're going to run into this personally all over all throughout your life If you're a man and you're out working in the world you're going to see people doing things that are not Ethical why so they can gain more? You know again, I got to operate by these rules though and These people can just operate by these rules. Yeah, exactly Because that's how God I mean the the world today teaches it's just a means to an end It's just a means to an end You know, it's a means to an end I just got to you know rip off these people over here and then I can do some good things over here That's how people justify it in the world, but to us God cares about the means You're not going to make any money as a Christian You're not going to get any gain as a Christian by ripping people off through Usury or extortion or just unethical practices. You just better be careful, you know what you're doing out there I mean the means matter for us because God cares God cares about unjust gain if only governments operated this way I mean what in the world we wouldn't have a lot of this like well, you know, we want that stuff over there But we just got to kill all those people first and then we'd have that stuff But that's what governments are doing the Bible here saying no, no, no that stuff matters Unjust gain look at verse number 13 the Bible says behold therefore I've smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made look I want God blessing whatever I do God's watching whatever I do. I want God blessing whatever I do I'm not going to go and and try to you know run some scam off on the side or rip some people off of this I because God is going to smite his hand against me I'm not going to get away with it anyway The rules are different for me and for you And that blood which had been in the midst of thee can dine heart endure or can nine hands be strong in the days That I shall deal with thee no it can is what he's saying I the Lord have spoken it and will do it turn to Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 there's a verse here that kind of sums up the dross In our lives and then we're gonna look at how we can get rid of our dross So this doesn't happen to us look at Matthew chapter 15. I'm sorry Matthew chapter 15 Look at verse number 19 the Bible says in Matthew chapter 15 and verse number 19 it says for out of that and this is so interesting now now that we've seen all The dross the wickedness the evil the violence the greed the you know just all the the perversion that was the Fornication all the things that was happening in Judah it directly applies to our country today The Bible says in verse 19 of Matthew 15 it says for out of the what out of the heart proceed evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witness Blasphemies all that dross in Ezekiel chapter 22. Where did it start? It started in their heart and that's why God said I I need to melt you I Need to melt you and separate that So how does that apply to us turn back to Ezekiel? Look at Ezekiel chapter 24 Who does Ezekiel chapter 24? I'm gonna be rid of the dross In our lives, I'm just gonna give you two ways to get rid of the dross Two ways that the dross will be taken out of your life as they say believer this morning And let's look at you know what the best way it the first way to get rid of the dross in your life It's for you to get rid of it yourself It's for you to not have God intervene and come in and have to get rid of it for you in Ezekiel 24 Look at verse 13. He says God says because if God has to do it This is what he's gonna do in my filthiness is ludeness because I have purged thee and that was not purged That shall not be purged from my filthiness anymore till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee God is saying now. I'm gonna. I'm gonna purge you harder now Look at Ezekiel chapter 36 Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse number 26 now God is saying you know, he's talking about when they're gonna come back to the land He's talking about when they're gonna, you know be done with their purging Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse number 26 The Bible says a new heart Also, will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you talking about the nation here? And I will take away what he will take away the stony heart from them out of your flesh And I will give you a heart of flesh So the first way that we can get rid of the dross in our lives is to keep our heart soft To not get this stony heart in the first place to where God has to just come in and crush it Melt it and then give us that soft heart. Just keep God is saying God's basically saying we can do this the easy way Or the real easy way This is where that that Western line probably came from the Bible But God is saying keep your heart soft Don't get a hard heart Towards me. So I don't have to do this. So the best way is to do it yourself when daily listen to God's word in Your life listen To the preaching of God's word Read that read the Bible Daily and let it change you Don't bear up against the word of God Let the word of God Change you. It's the easiest way folks. I'm trying to help you here purge yourself Keep your heart soft Look, I mean difference between a church like this and like all other churches in Fresno is Like the word of God preaching real Bible preaching. It's gonna hit you It's it's gonna it's gonna it's gonna hit you hard sometimes Turn to Acts chapter 20 Sometimes I think sometimes I think when I'm thinking about a sermon topic Because look I mean turn to Acts chapter 20 Well, we just act after 20 will kind of sum up the problem that I have look at Acts chapter 20 look at verse number 26 Acts chapter 20 verse number 26 Look what the Bible says look what Paul says here in Acts chapter 20 and verse number 26 Let me give you a couple minutes. I want everybody to get there. Give me a couple more seconds Acts chapter 20 and look at verse number 26 You see sometimes I think when I come across a topic in the Bible because I've told you this once I'll tell you again. I come up with sermons that need to be preached 90% of the time I come up with with sermon ideas through Bible reading that I'm doing I'm not the super interesting person that just can get up and preach a hundred and fifty unique Interesting sermons every single you know every single week. I'm just reading the Bible and I'm just like Okay, I need to I should preach on that. That's just where the ideas come from Look at Acts chapter 20 verse number 26 the Bible Paul says that he says what for I take Take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. Why? Why is he pure from the blood of all men? He's saying I don't have Responsibility for all the garbage that you do from here on out. Why? For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God He's like hey, I told you everything If you don't listen and I told you there's a hole there and if you're like no, I'm jumping in that's not on me And look I truly do I kind of took me a little while maybe a couple years to kind of get to that point myself But I'm there. I'm telling you I'll tell you there's a hole there all preach the Bible to you and then what you do from there That's on you. I'm pure from the blood of all men But you know what would make me not pure from the blood of all men if I didn't say certain things if I got to things in the Bible and You don't think I read the Bible and I come up with you know a topic for a sermon You don't think that there's topics from like I'm like, oh man Probably not gonna That's probably not gonna go over well. Sometimes I think like is there an easy way to say this Is there an easy way to preach this topic? But here's the thing at the end of the day it has to be said at the end of the day You say well pastor could have put that a little lighter. I Mean I have those thoughts and maybe sometimes I don't put them as light as you would but at the end of the day The worst thing for me is to not say it right is your job To daily keep a soft heart so you can receive it No one's up here writing sermons for you only And that's the feeling people will get that's the feeling people will get they'll be like, oh man Who's he talking about me? Yeah, I'm not writing sermons for individual people. I Hate to break it to you, but that's what a Hard heart will start Making you feel like as a matter of fact the vast majority of the time the vast majority of the time People will come up and I can tell people have a soft heart because the vast majority of the time I'll preach some topic that maybe I You know, I know it's kind of a tough topic Maybe maybe the popular culture of the day which many of you may be in or maybe not I don't know what you do at home. I don't really want to know But I preach some hard topic. There's people don't come up to me after the sun be like Man, I needed to hear that and I'm just like praise God. I had no I mean I didn't know though That happens on a regular basis, especially with hard topics of the day But the problem for me the responsibility for me. That's not on you is that I don't say something is That I say, you know, but this is this is how you get Preachers that stand up and just like everything's great. You brother are awesome. I mean you are but Everything about you all is great no matter what so I know you have dross you have Dross and the word of God needs to be preached so you can purify your own dross because that's the best way The minute you start getting a stony heart against the Bible or against Bible preaching. You really need to check yourself Because I can't tell you how many people that are no longer here anymore Have come to me like it seems like the preaching is getting pretty sharp. I'm like the preaching hasn't changed But but hearts change Hearts change you need to protect your heart how every single day Because at the end of the day you can receive it Or you can harden up against it. I mean turn to 2nd Chronicles chapter 36 Turn to 2nd Chronicles chapter 36. Look, it's not just you it happens This is a common thing to harden up against the preaching of the word of God That's why you see this is a common thing in the Bible look at 2nd Chronicles chapter 36 and verse number 14 We're talking about Zedekiah, you know a king rated that he's one of the last kings during the captivity of Judah Look at verse number 14 of 2nd Chronicles chapter 36 It says more over all the chief priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen and Polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem and the Lord God their fathers sent to them by his Messengers, this is the Ezekiel's. This is the Jeremiah's Rising up be times again and again and sending because he had compassion on his people the reason that he sent Jeremiah and the reason That he sent Ezekiel is to try to show mercy to try to tell them here's what's coming Do it yourself? Get it right yourself So often your heart yourself because when I come and do it It's gonna be bad look at verse number 16, but what did they do they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and Misused his prophets until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people till there was no remedy That's what we're reading about in Ezekiel chapter 22. What did they do? They shot the messenger They rose up against the prophet and they shot the messenger So what here's the only question you have to ask yourself if the preaching starts to Sharp for you. Is it in the Bible? Is it what the Bible says or is this guy standing there just making up a bunch of stuff? That's why we're turning to all these Bible verses again and again and again Because it's just to search these things out Daily you're supposed to look at things acts chapter 7 they search the scriptures daily They looked at the Bible daily Just soften your heart to it and keep your heart soft to it. It's a daily struggle save your look save yourself The fire I mean Bible preaching will hit you That's the point That's what it's supposed to do. So if it hits you nobody's writing sermons for you individually if it hits you just take it Verify it's in the Bible That's why we turn together and Soften your heart to it Turn to Ezekiel chapter 24 because the second way is this The second way is that God has to do it The second way is that God has to soften your heart Look at Ezekiel chapter 24 look at verse number 9 Therefore let's say it for Lord God Woe to the bloody city I will even make the pile for fire great now God's stepping in with these people in Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse number 20 or your chapter number 24 Heep on wood kindle the fire consume the flesh spice it well and let the bones be burned and Set it empty upon the coals thereof and the brass of it may be hot and may burn That the filthy of it filthiness of it may be molten in it and that the scum of it may be consumed She had weirded herself with lies Her great scum went not forth out of her her scum shall be set in the fire God saying I will do it if you won't Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. We're talking about God putting you through a fire. We're talking about extreme Chastisement here. You're like this is the Old Testament though. That's mean. That's mean Old Testament God And that's not you know Long-haired Jesus that carries the sheep around and just loves everybody no matter what well Let's just look at what the New Testament says look at Hebrews chapter 10 look at verse number 26 same God folks Same God same attitude Same everything look at Hebrews chapter 10 and look at verse number 26 The Bible says if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth You know what that means if you blow up against the Bible No It doesn't have to be preaching from the Bible if you read the Bible and you're like I don't like that page You just well We'll just skip this whole chapter And you blow up against the word of God. You know what's true But you just don't accept it as truth and and you just go out and you just keep the dross Like I'm gonna hang on to this dross right here and you keep going. This is what this is what is in store for you It says there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins what the Bible here is saying and what the whole theme of Hebrews is is that Jesus died once for you if you are here today, and you have Trusted that you are a sinner that you deserve to go to hell And you believe that Jesus the Son of God came died for those sins rose again on the third day And you are only trusting in that the Bible says that you are saved You are sealed by the Holy Spirit. There's nothing you could ever do to not be saved There's no sins you could go commit where you would not be saved where God would take away that eternal life from you But the Bible is saying in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 26 is like there's no more sacrifice for sins Jesus isn't gonna go and die for you The Bible says people that sin willfully they're trampling on Christ. They're trampling on that is saved It says they're trampling on the sacrifice of Christ They're taking advantage of it. They're they're taking advantage of grace Roman 6 Roman 7 Should we continue in sin God forbid? But the Bible says here's what's in store for you in verse 27 It says there will be a certain fearful looking for a judgment and fiery indignation Which shall devour the adversaries look God is going to melt you What's that mean? He's going to he's going to melt you do what he needs to do We're talking about extreme chastisement here God chastise you on this earth to get rid of the dross that you will not get rid of yourself Turn to Jeremiah chapter 24 Fiery indignation that doesn't mean God's gonna send you to hell. It means God He's angry with you just because you're saved doesn't mean your heavenly father is always going to be happy with you Especially if you're just sinning willfully, you know, what's true? That's another you know, that's another thing you need to realize about coming to a church with a whole council Preach is like you're gonna know what the truth is You're not gonna have that excuse like well, I just didn't know about that Everybody else is in I just didn't know wrong Fornication is preached constantly here Because it's constantly in the Bible It's like you just turned turn to chapter after chapter fornication lewdness. Just willful sin It's all there Look at Jeremiah chapter 24 This is a great analogy of the the figs comparing the figs and it may have love how Jeremiah tell me that the Holy Spirit didn't write the Bible because Jeremiah's you know Analogy and his assessment of the nation of Judah is exactly the same as Ezekiel's look at verse number one. It says the Lord showed me this is Jeremiah now and Behold two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the Lord After that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon Babylon had carried away captive Jechaniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the princes of Judah and the carpenters and smiths from Jerusalem It had brought them to Babylon One basket had very good figs Even like the figs that are the first ripe and the other basket had very naughty figs Which could not be eaten. They were so bad. So we see good figs Bad figs then the Lord said unto me what seeest thou Jeremiah and I said figs the good figs very good And the evil very evil that cannot be eaten. They are so evil Again the word of the Lord came unto me saying thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel like these good figs So I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of a Judah who might have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good For I will set mine eyes upon them for good and I will bring them again to this land And I will build them up and not pull them down and I will plant them and not pluck them up And I will give them and heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be my people And I will be their God and they shall return unto me with what with their whole So here we had a case where there was some good people that were taken off to Babylon for their protection It's kind of like the dross was separated here using figs as an example and God says you know what the good figs I'm going to bring back and plant them back after the captivity was over though after 70 years 70 years That was a painful fiery indignation if you were part of the nation of Judah So look this is what you need to recognize about your dross and God getting rid of your dross If God has to come in and soften your heart and get rid of the dross It is going to be very painful and this is what people always miss They always miscalculate the cost of hanging on to their sin If you would know the cost just please trust me on this if you would know the cost you would never make the deal But people think oh, I can just hang on to this one and and it's gonna be it's gonna be okay You know just like the 70 years, you know, I think it was 70 years is just my opinion. I Think it was 70 years because that means it was a generational cost Generation what's a generation 30 years 35 years if we stretch it The cost of them turning against the Lord was generational and this is ultimately the cost that people will pay That they're not willing to pay They don't realize that hanging on to things in their life hanging on to sins in their life not softening their own heart Not getting rid of that dross themselves by not purifying themselves daily not keeping themselves in the Bible They are risking generations That's the cost and that's the cost that nobody would want to pay Doesn't matter how bad people are that you talk to how low of character people have you always ask people will But what do you want for your children people always want the best for their children? People would never want their children being dragged off by the perversion of this world people want the Worst Christian wants the best for his children Turn to John chapter 15 if God has to do it If God has to do it the cost will be more Then you ever would have made a deal to pay Look at John chapter 15 will end here John chapter 15 So why is God so serious about it? Why is God so serious about this why do we see this these words like I will burn you I will melt you New Testament my fiery indignation will be against you Is it just a punish? No, see there's something that's on the line There's something that's on the line that God cares Mary very much about look at John chapter 15 verse number one Jesus says I am this is not a salvation passage here Jesus says I am the true vine and my father is the husband man Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he takeeth away and every branch that beareth fruit He purgeeth that it may bring forth more fruit. We're gonna come back to that one That one should be circled in your Bible now you're clean throughout the word which I have spoken unto you Abide in me and I in you abide in me. Who is Jesus? We just learned this on Wednesday. Abide How do we in Jesus? Jesus is the word we abide in the Bible we abide in church We abide in the preaching of God's word look at verse number five. I'm the vine you're the branches He did abide if in me and I in him the same bringeth forth here It is again much fruit for without me you can do nothing This is not a salvation analogy people will read the last part of verse six and say they're castle cast them into the fire And they are burned the unfruitful branches. They're like see God's gonna throw you in hell What in the world you can't make any part of the Bible makes sense if that's the way you interpret this This is not a salvation analogy, but what what is the goal here? What is the goal? This is such a great set of verses such a great analogy in the Bible because God's literally giving you the goal of the Christian life right here And just a few verses the goal of the Christian life is not money the goal of the Christian life is not success I don't see it here. The goal of the Christian life is not how many people you can please The goal of the Christian life is in verse number two the goal of the Christian life is fruit That is the goal of this Christian life I try to tell people all the time, you know the Bible here is saying that there's a there's a branch look at verse two There's a branch that brings forth fruit. You're like, hey, that's pretty good That's pretty good. You know what the Bible says God's gonna purge that branch I try to tell people all the time the minute you start getting things right things are gonna change for you The minute you start, you know coming to church the minute you get baptized the minute you start taking these steps in your Christian life You are going to notice things changing for you The minute you become a soul in her you're really gonna notice things changing for you then Look, there's gonna be changes in several different ways. First of all, you're gonna be attacked a lot When you start making those changes you can be attacked because you got a target on your back Because why you're bearing fruit Satan can't take away your your salvation He can't make you go to hell, but he can make you become what he can make you become worthless He can become unfruitful So you got Satan is gonna start attacking you if you're being you're you're becoming a fruitful Christian Satan's gonna attack you you better be ready for that and he knows exactly what buttons to push He knows exactly where your weaknesses are and he's gonna push those buttons But on top of that verse number two God's gonna purge you Say what does what does that mean God's gonna purge you why because he wants you to become even more fruitful? You're like man, that's that's rough. Hey, man. If it was easy everybody would do it This is the life of a Christian right here I try to tell people that you know things are going to change God's gonna remove the dross from you to make you more pure to make you more fruitful so you can stay in the Christian life and keep bearing fruit that's the whole point of the Christian life The whole point of the Christian life is fruit is growing the kingdom of heaven It's not giving diapers to someone in a third world country That is not the point of the Christian life It's not building a garage for somebody in a small village somewhere in Mexico or Africa or whatever It is bearing fruit. It is getting people saved It's about adding to the kingdom of heaven and spreading the gospel It's very simple and in order for you to be fruitful and doing that the dross must be removed. It's better to do it yourself It's better to do it yourself But at the end of the day God will do it for you Like I said we can do this easy or we can do it real easy What's power heads and have a word