In the book of Ezekiel Ezekiel
chapter 46 here as we get into Wednesday and the word a man January the 29th, 20,025, the
29th of Tevet, 5785 of the Hebrew calendar. You know, Ezekiel was
a prophet of God and he had been trained to be a priest, but God
stepped into his life and called him to be a prophet. And so he
was to be a prophet to the captives of the children of Israel who
were in the land of Babylon. in captivity. And so, you know,
there seemed to be a time that when we look at all of the festivities,
tonight we'll be talking about a life of daily devotion. a life of daily devotion, amen. And so here in the Millennial
Temple, here we look at our future type of worship in the coming
days. And so here is a life of daily
devotion in the Millennial itself. As we get into it, We'll be looking
at the temple regulations and worship, the offerings and the
sacrifices, and also all of the daily offerings, the inheritance,
the property regulations. These are things that sound so
boring tonight, but they will be a part of our future endeavors
as we come into the time of the millennial reign and the millennial
temple. And so, when we look at a life of daily devotion in
the Millennial Temple in our Bible study in Ezekiel chapter
46 tonight. I'm glad that we'll be talking
about three things. And I'm glad that here tonight
in those three things, the future worship procedures, the inheritance
of property, and the temple's kitchens. You know, ain't nothing
like a kitchen. Man, when you go into mama's
kitchen or daddy's kitchen, man, you getting into another world
because, man, they can fix some things that are exciting. Well,
in the future, all of the temple's kitchens are a reminder of the
need for a Christ-centered fellowship. And so, tonight, when we look
at the resources of everything, We see the division of land and
resources that prioritizes God's presence and holiness. And so
when we look and realize tonight as the life of that daily devotion,
we look at the book of Ezekiel and remind ourselves the name
of this series and why that we call it that. And that is, this
is the 42nd in our series, New Heart, New Spirit. And so I thank
God as we look tonight at, for those of us that have grown complacent
or cold in our walk with God, a new heart outlines how God
desires to bring us closer to him. And so Ezekiel was the son
of Buzi, a name that means God will strengthen. He was born
in 622 BC, during the reign of Josiah, grew up in Palestine. He was 17 when Daniel and him,
when he was taken to Babylon, and Daniel taken to Babylon,
And so, Ezekiel was about 25 when he was taken to Babylon. Daniel was 17. He was 25. Along
with 10,000 other Jehoiachin, was the king at the time, called
to the prophecy. Ten years later, at 35, God began
to change his profession. And so, when we look and realize
here in Ezekiel chapter 46, I wanna invite everyone over to come
and be with us on behalf of our pastor, Keith Dipsy. We're located
at 450 Island Hill Road, Taylorville, Georgia, amen. Sunday school
at 10 a.m., morning worship at 11. Come and be with us if you
can. We'd love to have you come and
be with us. And if you're not in a church,
come and visit with us, amen. We'd love to have you. Our Kids
for Christ is meeting tonight out in the fellowship hall. And
so, you come and join, bring your kids at 7 o'clock on Wednesday
nights, amen. I thank God as Brother Rusty
Lanier, and I thank God, many that come together to head up
that great ministry of our Kids for Christ, amen. Tonight, reminding
you that we're in the ministry to be able to reach people. And
so I thank God for the great privilege of being able to speak
tonight. I always say, you can preach a better sermon with your
life than with your lips. And so I'm glad here tonight,
we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves,
your servants for Jesus' sake. After I quit pastoring, after
almost 22, Years the Lord called me to this ministry this particular
ministry to work in my local church, and so I'm thankful for
that and I'm just blessed and so tonight Our reason for a new
heart, a new spirit, is the exact scriptures of Ezekiel chapter
11 and Ezekiel chapter 36 verses 26 and 27, Ezekiel chapter 11
verses 19 and 20, that they both say similar, the same thing.
And from this scripture, is what I called new heart, new spirit
as I study in the book of Ezekiel. That's where I got the name of
that from tonight because it's repeated. And so he tells us,
I'll give you one heart and put a new spirit within you. And
I'll take out the stony heart of flesh and give them a heart
of flesh. And that they may walk in my
statues, keep my ordinances, and do them, and they shall be
my people, and I will be their God. In Ezekiel 36, a new heart
also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you,
and I will take away the stony heart, sorry, I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of
flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk
in my statues and you shall keep my judgments and do them. And
so Ezekiel's name means God strengthens. Well, I don't know about you,
but I can't get enough strength. When I look at the measurements
in this entire chapter, I put together a chart. And so when
we see the temple's inner gates, The measurement of that will
be six working days, but on the Sabbath, the gate will open.
And so, the gates open for the Sabbath, and the new moons, and
they're closed for the rest of the week. When I give you this,
it is almost like I'm giving you a entire outline of this
entire chapter, just like that. And so, verse one, when we see
the prince's worship area, it's gonna be by the east gate. The
prince is a type of Christ. He's not Christ, but he's a type
of Christ. And so, the prince worships at
the gate's threshold during the offerings. That's his description. It's got to be at the gate's
opening of the threshold. And so, we'll read about this
in verse 2. The sacrificial openings, well,
there's not much difference in the measurements, but the regulations
for the burnt offerings is the morning sacrifices, the Sabbath
sacrifices, and the new moon offerings in verses 4 through
8. Now, when we look at the daily
burnt offering, there's one lamb daily, and flour with oil. The specific measurements for
the lamb, the flour, and the oil offerings will be stated
in verses 13 through 15. The priest's kitchen, no exact
measurement, but it's located in the west end of the priest's
building inner court. And it'll talk about that in
verses 19 and 20. And last but not least, in verses 21 through
24, the people's kitchen. 70 feet long by 52.5 feet wide,
approximately 42 meters by 32 meters. It's the large kitchens
located in each of the four corners of the outer court that you saw
the picture on. If you'll go back and look at
my other studies that I showed you, I have went in the exact
detail of every bit of the temple. and very descriptively, if you'll
go back and look at those. And so this is a kind of a measurement. When we see the temples, now
these are just a variety of them, but it reminds us of a life of
daily devotion in the Millennial Temple because the very first
thing we'll be talking about, the future worship procedures. And so, it's a reminder that
we ourselves must worship exactly as God prescribes in verses one
through 15. Now, as we look at this, We realize
that the Lord began to spell out five very specific worship
procedures that are to be followed in Ezekiel chapter 46. Five of
them. Now, when we look at those in
a minute, we see these are the worship procedures. Now, it's
blew up, and I don't like to move this thing. This thing's
in my way. Amen. Sorry about that. Anyway, 1,
2, 3, 4, 5. In the procedure, the Sabbath
and the new moon worship, there are offerings by the prince,
which is a type of Christ, the lambs, the rams, the bulls, the
grain, and the oil in verses 1 through 6. Number one. The
second worship procedure is the gate that is used by all the
worshipers, the Pacific entry and the exit patterns for the
prince and the people in verses 7 through 10. The third, the
festivals and the feast are similar offerings as Sabbath worship
in verse 11. Now, when you go back into this
worship, there's only one thing that's different when you start
doing preparations. In Leviticus, they did a sacrifice
and it had wine with it, but this one will have no wine. That's the difference. And so,
the fourth thing, the prince's freewill offering, the east gate
opens for freewill offerings and then it closes at verse 12.
And then in verses 13 and 15, the daily sacrifices, that's
the morning lamb, the grain and the oil as a permanent law in
verses 13 through 15. So you can look at that as an
outline before we start reading the wonderful word of God. Again,
in another more chart order, This is what we're fixing to
talk about. The worship procedures that are in Ezekiel chapter 46.
It's very specific. And that's exactly how the Lord
wants the future worship procedures to be. A reminder that we must
worship exactly as God prescribes. You know, I'm glad that when
we look at this, the procedure for worship in verses one through
six is on the Sabbath. and it's on the day of the new
moon that's covered first. When will worship services be
established on the Sabbath instead of observed on Sunday as it is
during the church age day? Well, we've got to keep in mind
that the call and the purposes of God for Israel will be fulfilled
in the Messiah's kingdom. And therefore the relationship
with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for which God
longed will be finally established when Christ returns to earth.
And so when that happens, in the Messiah's kingdom, all the
covenants given by God to Israel will be completely fulfilled
and operating. The Jews will trust Jesus Christ
as the true Messiah, seeking forgiveness of their sins through
the blood of His cross. They will also live righteously
by keeping the commandments of God's Holy Word. And they will
fulfill the former covenants given to them by God, and they
will present their sacrificial offerings in praise of what Christ
has done for them. It sounds strange because here
we are as Christians and as Gentiles, and yet we're seeing what is
going to be the future worship for all of us. One thing about
it, we'll have some glorified bodies, we'll know everything
that we don't know now, and we'll be happy as a lark. So through
these offerings and these obedience to God's commandments, and the
worship on the Sabbath as well as on other special occasions,
they will finally be God's people. But at last, the Lord will be
able to establish the relationship with the Jews that He had originally
intended when He first called Abraham. And so all the covenants
of God that were originally given to Israel will be fulfilled in
the messianic kingdom. And so that will be the reason
for the reestablishment of worship on the Sabbath instead of Sunday
in the future. And so on the Sabbath day, the
prince will bring a burnt offering of six unblemished male lambs
and ram. In addition, he'll make a grain
offering of a half bushel of flour to go with the ram, and
as much grain as he pleases to go with the lambs that we're
going to read in verses four and five that we're still talking
about here. And so one, on the day of the
new moon service, the prince will bring a young bull, a ram,
and six lambs. And so he's to give the grain
offering of a half bushel of flour for each bull and each
ram and as much grain as he wishes for those lambs. He is to give
a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of flour. And so
the Lord says, I'm being very specific. Before we read the
scripture, I'm already explaining it to you. And so just bear with
me. The second thing that we see, the gate that is used by
the worshipers, the procedure for the proper gate used by the
worshipers is also explained in verses 7 through 10. So when Christ returns to earth,
worship services within the temple will naturally be flooded with
people. Traffic control will be necessary to handle the enormous
crowds. Oh my goodness, can you imagine
how many people? It's like walking through New
York City. Man, I mean, you know, I remember
that movie where the guy was from down under and he got up
and walked on some folks' heads because there were so many people
he couldn't even get through. Better they got some traffic
in the future. And so, when Christ returns to earth, the worship
services within the temple will naturally be flooded. And so
the prince is to enter and exit through the portico of the east
gate, according to verse 8. And then in verse 9, The people
who enter by the North Gate must exit by the South Gate. Hey,
have you ever caught my study on the gates of Jerusalem? It's
on Sermon Audio. Catch it sometime. And then,
you'll kind of understand what I'm talking about. And so, the
people who enter the North Gate must exit by the South Gate.
And if they enter by the South Gate, they must exit by the North
Gate. It's a flip-flop, ain't it? but it's very precise, and
that is exactly the procedure that the Lord is spelling out,
five very specific worship procedures that are to be followed in the
future. Ain't that something? I don't
even know all the things that's gonna happen in the future, but
here I am, because of the Word of God, I'm telling you about
the future. It's an amazing thing, the Word of God. So in verse
10, still, here talking about the gate use by the worshipers,
We see that the prince will enter and leave with the people participating
in worship with them, as he says. And so, the third thing that
we see, the festivals and the feasts, in verse 11, the similar
offerings as Sabbath worship that we look, and we see that
in it, a grain offering amounting to a half a bushel of flour is
to be given with each bull and ram, but the people can give
as much grain as they wish with each lamb that they offer. However,
they must give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of grain
offered. Hey, I know you probably ain't
gonna remember this, but when you get into the millennial kingdom
in the future, you already know what you need to do. You already
know what's expected of you. You say, man, ain't no way I'll
ever, I'm not a Jew. Hey, you gonna be as a Jew, good
a Jew as any Jew when that time comes. Fourthly, again, we see
the prince's free will offering. The Lord spelled out the procedure
for the Prince's freewill offering. When the Prince is ready to make
a freewill offering, the East Gate will be open for him. And
when he presents freewill offerings, whether burnt offerings or fellowship
offerings, he'll follow the same procedures for the Sabbath worship. Don't worry, I'm fixing to go
into a little bit more detail on this. I'm just giving you
an outline. and then we're going to read the word of god and then
i'm going to tell you what each of the word of god of all the
24 verses are talking about so just bear with me just a little
bit and so uh as we look and realize that the procedure because
after the service is over where the prince leaves the east gate
will be shut behind him and that free will offering is the only
exception to the east gate remaining closed during the six working
days of the week and then Sorry, I moved too fast. The daily sacrifices,
the morning lamb, the grain, the oil, and the permanent law
from verses 13 down to verse 15 that we see. Every morning,
as the Lord explains the procedure for offering the daily sacrifices,
a year-old lamb without defect will be sacrificed as a burnt
offering. A grain offering consisting of
two and a half quarts of flour and one-third gallon of olive
oil will also be presented. And the grain offering, which
is the permanent law, that is, it is always to accompany the
offering of the mourning lamb. there is no exception. It will
always. The lamb, the grain, and the
oil must be given as a daily offering in celebration of the
Lord's death on behalf of his people. And so in any organization,
The members must handle their business in an orderly way to
be effective, right? Well, this is as true of the
church as it is any other organization. There must be business, there
must be conference, there must be things, standards that are
followed and done that way. The most highly organized and
ordered person in the universe is the Lord our Savior Jesus
Christ Himself. And therefore, we must handle
the affairs of the church, including worship, exactly as God Himself
prescribes it. Now, as I explained and started
out, let's open up with a time of prayer. And let's ask the
Lord to intervene in our lives and do what no one else can do
for us this morning. I want you to remember our pastor's
wife, sister Amy, that had the symptoms of the flu the last
time I was talking with pastor Sunday morning. And you pray
for her along with all of the other. Continue to pray for my
wife. She'll have to have both her eyes operated on with cataracts.
And so she's got other things that's going on as well that
we don't want to talk about. But also remember all of our
deacons, all of our men and women of God at Bethel Crossroads Baptist
Church. Amen. uh... just like all of the churches
that uh... we are remembering those that
are lost those that are out of god's will that need to repay
it and so uh... we're remembering the new things
that our president is doing their cabinet members and all that
in the white house many of it will not be like to rejected
some of it will be and we'll try to pick and choose and so
the best thing you can do is pray for this smooth transition
of all that is happening and pray for him that he makes the
right choices for all of us as Americans as well. Remember,
we're talking about a life of daily devotion in the millennial
kingdom tonight. Will you pray with me tonight?
Will you pray for that loved one that the death angel has
come into their home? Will you pray with me about that
person, especially our schoolmate, Greg Hightower, that's just passed
away Sunday. Thank you, Jeff Steiber, brother
Jeff, for letting me know about that. And believe it or not,
I get on Facebook and I minister and then I get off. If you see me on there, that's
not me, that's my wife. I always tell people that. And
so tonight, as we get in, to the wonderful Word of God. Will
you pray with me tonight, will you? Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we come before you tonight and we acknowledge our need always
for your forgiveness. Lord, we know that we're nobody.
We're nothing. And so tonight, Father, I pray
that, Lord, that the moment that you came into our heart and life
and changed us, And Lord, we were indwelt by the Holy Spirit
of God. I pray for all of our missionaries,
our soldiers, our leaders, our pastors all across this nation. God, I pray that you'll lift
them up and use them mightily, Father. Lord, tonight in this
Bible study, it may not be one of the greatest topics that a
lot of people love to hear, but Lord, it is about all of our
future. Those that are going to be in
the millennial kingdom, and the things that are going to be transpiring
in there. And Lord, there's so much about this that I don't
even know, even come close to understanding to explain. And
so help me tonight, Father, to be able to explain our future
endeavors in the millennial kingdom and what will take place in our
worship, because worship is powerful today. And so Lord, I ask your
help tonight and be with the lost, be with those that are
Christians that are not living a Christian life. And Lord, when
people see them, They judge every other Christian because of that
Christian that is living, trying to straddle the fence and live
in sin and try to live for the Lord. And one of us can do it
tonight, Lord. But I pray for those ones out
there that are just struggling when they don't have to struggle,
when they can just turn it all over to you tonight, Father.
Lord, I pray for that sinner that's lost. And tonight, Lord,
that they need the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. And
they need somebody to care enough about it that they've got a burden
that they pray daily for the loss that's around them and that's
in their families and their loved ones, Father, tonight. Lord,
I pray God that you'll just give us the clarity that we need tonight
to talk about your word and get us out of the way and hide us
behind the cross of Calvary. And all this we do and say in
Jesus's marvelous mighty name we pray, amen. I'm glad that
tonight when we look and realize that I was reading about this
week about a man named John that worked at a local community center.
And one day he noticed this young girl that was sitting alone out
on a park bench, looking sad and lost. And he approached her
and he discovered that she was feeling overwhelmed by life's
challenges and had lost her way. John took a little bit of time
to sit and listen, not talk, but listen to her struggles and
pray with her. That simple act of kindness and
devotion changed her life. leading her to seek help and
to find hope, just like John. we are all called to walk the
paths of worship and devotion, not only for ourselves, but for
the many that are around us. And so, all of us, we see the
routes that are gonna be within the temple. And so tonight, when
we get in here, we see, again, the five worship procedures that
are outlined, worship on the Sabbath and the new moon, in
verses one through six. The Sabbath, the prince offers
six lambs, one ram, and grain. Half bushel per ram, free amount
for the lambs, with one gallon of oil per half bushel. The new
moon, the prince offers one bull, one ram, six lambs, and similar
grain and oil offerings. And so, the reason for the Sabbath
worship, I'm like that old-fashioned preacher, if you ain't catching
on what I'm doing, I'm repetitively on you, so that if you didn't
get it the other two times, Maybe you'll catch it this third time.
And that is the reason for the Sabbath worship that reflects
the fulfillment of God's covenants with Israel during the Messianic
Kingdom. And so, the gate procedures,
verses 7 through 10, the prince enters and exits through the
east gate. Worshippers must exit from a gate opposite to their
entrance, north to south, and vice versa of however each one
is. And so, the prince participates
with the people. He's a type of Christ, and so
he's not the high priest, but he's a type of Christ. And so
the worship during the festivals, in verse 11, sacrifices include
the bulls, rams, lambs, and grain, half bushel per bull and ram,
free amount for the lambs, with one gallon of oil per half bushel.
Free will offerings by the prince, I'll go into a little bit of
that in verse 12, the east gate opens exclusively for the prince's
offerings, which follow the Sabbath procedures, the gate closes afterward.
The daily sacrifices in verses 13 through 15, every morning
there is a year old lamb with grain offering 2.5 quarts in
oil, a third of a gallon. And permanent law is that symbolizes
Christ is atoning sacrifice. What he did on the cross of Calvary
for us. It will happen every, every,
every, every morning. a year old lamb with grain, 2.5
quarts, and oil, a third of a gallon. 2.5 quarts of grain and a third
gallon of oil. Boy, I'm gonna tell you, that's
gonna be the future. And so, what do we see that he tells
us? Thus saith the Lord God, the gate of the inner court that
looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days,
but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the
new moon it shall be opened. I don't know how many of you
was able to look and find the 26th book of the book of Ezekiel
that were in chapter 46. And so, I'm glad that as this
chapter opens, it opens with, Thus says the Lord God. Amen? And so, in that saying,
he opens up and tells us and emphasizes the seriousness of
these commands in such as obeying them, guaranteeing the proper
both spiritual and economic of the entirety of the world, that
this is to be done exactly this way. This is a life of daily
devotion in the Millennial Temple. And so, when we look and we see
this, We notice that as he says this, he's telling us that the
gate of the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the
six working days. The east gate of the inner court
will remain closed on weekdays, but it'll be open on the Sabbath
and the new moon. And so I'm glad that each and
every one of us, as we look, worship must be conducted exactly
as God prescribes. in the order, in the reverence,
in the obedience. And so, when we do that, we go
through verses 1 through 15 that he tells us that. This gate in
verses 1 and verse 9 symbolizes our approach to God. Each entrance
into worship requires preparation and reverence. I wonder, I wonder
how many of us just snatch our Bible up when we go to church,
and we ain't even picked that Bible up, not a one-eyed odor,
no other time. And then when we get there, we're
running late. We ain't even on time. Boy, I'm going to tell
you, you know what? It's all about the entrance and
the exits in the future. And so I'm glad that Charles
Spurgeon said the way to God is through humility, not pride.
And he goes on, he says, and the prince shall enter by the
way of the porch of that gate. without, and shall stand by the
post of the gate, and the priest shall prepare his burnt offering
and his peace offering, and he shall worship at the threshold
of the gate. Then he shall go forth, but the
gate shall not be shut until the evening." And so, I'm glad
that as he tells us this, that we look and we realize that it's
at the threshold of the gate. that the gate will not be shut
until the evening. And so the prince shall enter
by the vestibule of the gate from outside and shall take his
stand by the post of the gate, right at the threshold. and offer
his burnt offering and his Pete's offerings, and he shall worship
at that threshold of the gate, and then he's going to go out,
but the gate shall not be shut until the evening." And so, as
we look and realize that after worship at the gate, he'll leave
and the gate will remain open in the evening time. And so we
go on. Leaders in the church must exemplify
humility and devotion in their worship. That's the role of the
prince. And you know what? He's almost like, hey, that's
our spiritual leader right there. That's the one that's going to
be leading the worship is the prince, because he's the one
that is a type of Christ, but he's not a high priest. And so,
thank God for our worship leaders, Rufus Cantrell and his wife,
Sister Kathy, that lead us in our worship. And then all the
men and women of God that get up and worship in the choir,
praise God. Boy, this is one of those life
of daily devotions that we gonna get into in the Millennial Temple.
And so, the act of worship is worship is personal, it's communal
act that invites us to bring our sacrifices before God. And
so Charles Stanley, God rest his soul, we must not only pray,
but we must pray with worship. And I'm glad that as each and
every one of them, Simon Sinek, leadership is not about being
in charge, it's about taking care of those in your charge.
And so he says in verse three, likewise, the people of the land
shall worship at the door of this gate before the Lord in
the Sabbath and in the new moons. and the burnt offering that the
prince shall offer unto the lord in the sabbath day shall be six
lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish remember what
i've told you so that you can know what we'll be doing in the
future praise god it will be every morning every morning and
with the grain and with the oil every morning. And so, he says
in verse five, and the meat offering shall be an ephod for a ram and
the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give and
a hen of oil to an ephod. You see all of this, you look
back at my outline, it'll tell you in the measurements that
we understand what it'll be. And so, he goes on in verse six,
and in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without
blemish and six lambs and a ram and they shall be without blemish.
And he shall prepare a meat offering and an ephod for a bullock and
an ephod for a ram and for the lambs according as his hand shall
attain unto other words as much as he wants to and a hen of oil
to an ephod and so and when the prince shall enter he shall go
in by the way of the porch the uh of the columns of that gate
and he shall go forth by the way thereof But when the people
of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feast,
he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship
shall what? Go out by the south. If you go
in the south, you go out by the north. It's right the reverse.
Whichever way you go in, you go out the other way. By the
way of the north gate to the worship shall go out by the way
of the south gate, and that entered by the way of the south gate
shall go forth by the way of the north gate. He shall not
return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall
go forth over against it." Hey, it's almost like when you get
in the temple, hey, there's a one-way road. You don't go back, you
go forward the whole time, and so till you go out. And so I
thank God as we look and continue on. that he says this is teaching
the direction in worship because it teaches us that our worship
must be intentional and guided by God's statutes and so I'm
glad the other Sunday a while back I got up and when I got
up I didn't know what I was going to do until the one in front
of me did what they did and when they did what they did then the
Holy Spirit guided me to tell me what I needed to do when I
got up that's when you let the Lord lead you and so We see the
purpose of that path. And that is our gatherings for
worship are vital in maintaining our spiritual life and unity
as a body of Christ. And so, hey, there's nothing
wrong with planning and outlining and laying out everything. But
when you get up there, if the Lord says otherwise, you better
do otherwise. You better not try to follow
your plan. You better follow God's plan when you're worshiping
the Lord. And so there's a big difference. Worship is the highest
form of human activity, Rick Warren. And so we go on, and
the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in,
and when they go forth, shall go forth. I'm glad John Piper
said true worship is a matter of the heart, not a ritual of
the hands. In verse 11, and in the feast and in the solemnities, the meat offering
shall be an ephod to a bullock. and an ephod to a ram and to
the lambs as he is able to give an hen of the oil to an ephod. He says in verse 12, now when
the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offering
voluntarily unto the Lord, one shall then open him the gate
that looketh toward the east and he shall prepare his burnt
offering and his peace offering as he did on the Sabbath day
that he shall go forth and after his going forth one shall shut
the gate. And so, he goes on in verse 13,
we're going down to verse 15 because of the five types of
procedures that the future worship will be, that is a reminder that
we must worship exactly as God prescribes. And so, in verse
13, thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the Lord
of a lamb of the first year without blemish, thou shalt prepare it
every morning. He goes on, the offering in worship,
Our daily devotion requires a commitment to bring our best to God continually. I wonder if we're doing that. I wonder if we are. And so, Timothy
Keller said, offering is a response to God's love, not a transaction. And so in verse 14, And thou
shalt prepare a meat offering for it every morning, the sixth
part of an ephod, and the third part of a hen of oil. to temper
with the fine flour a meat offering continually by our perpetual
ordinance unto the Lord, that it is law, that it is always
that way, that it is never giving that without the flour and the
oil, always, he says. Thus shall they prepare the lamb
and the meat offering and the oil every morning for a continual
burnt offering. And that brings us up to our
second point. Our life of daily devotion in the millennial temple
the first thing we talked about the future worship procedures
It was a reminder that we must worship exactly as god prescribes. Amen You know, that's the way
for us today You need to be worshiping in the house of god the way god's
telling you to worship praise god and so each and every one
of us when we look and realize that it is all about that proper
procedure. But the second thing that we
see is the inheritance of the property. A reminder of the believer's
inheritance. Because all of us have an inheritance,
amen. I'm glad that Many people today
may not be wealthy enough to get an inheritance, but if your
mom and dad's got something, they can leave it behind. They
can leave it behind to somebody, amen, hopefully. So, in verses
16, 17, 18, it is a reminder of the believer's inheritance.
And I'm glad the inheritance of the prince's property and
the prince's treatment of the people's inheritance will be
governed in the messianic kingdom because the prince, which is
a type of Christ, the worship leader, will be able to give
property to a son, but the son must make sure that he passes
it along to his descendants. And so it is to remain in the
family of the prince. Here's the details of the inheritance
of property, because in verses 16, 17, 18, we look and we see
here the inheritance for sons. The prince can give property
to his sons, but it must remain in the family. That's the believer's
inheritance in Christ. It is eternal and secured by
God in 1 Peter 1, verse 4. I'm glad that we're in the family
of God. And because we are, we've got
the greatest inheritance, eternal life. And so, in the future,
our life is going to be about worship. It's going to be about
getting up and giving glory and honor to the one that took all
of our sins upon his life. The inheritance for the servants,
property given to the servants is temporary and returns to the
prince during the year of jubilee. The earthly possessions are temporary,
but our heavenly inheritance is everlasting, according to
Matthew 6, verses 19 and 20. the protection of the people's
inheritance. The prince cannot take land from the people, you
and I. He must use his own estate for the gifts. And so God is
just, and he ensures that his people are never cheated of what
he has promised any of them. Psalms 37, verse 18. And so, Thus saith the Lord God, if the
prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof
shall be his sons, and it shall be their possession by their
inheritance. But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of
his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty."
In other words, the year of jubilee. after it shall return to the
prince, but his inheritance shall be his son's for them. It must
stay in their family. And I'm glad that none of us
will ever be gypped of any of our inheritance. Moreover, the
prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression
to thrust them out of their possession, but he shall give his son's inheritance
out of his own possessions, that my people be not scattered every
man from his possessions. And so I'm glad when we look
and realize here in that third part, because I'm glad a servant
can keep it only until the year of jubilee every 50th year, but
during the year of jubilee, the servant must return the property
to the prince. The prince must not take any
of the people's property. He's not to confiscate or steal
property of other citizens or any other leaders down through
the line. This is all a clear reminder of the believer's inheritance
and the inheritance of God's promises to all that truly trust
Him. Amen. And so it reminds us of
God's promise to believers that we have an eternal inheritance
in Christ, just as the prince is to protect the people's inheritance. God faithfully secures our inheritance
in heaven. And so I'm glad it brings us
to our third part. We talked about a life of daily
devotion in the Millennial Temple, and we talked about the future
worship procedures, a reminder that we must worship exactly
as God prescribes in verses 1 through 15. Secondly, the inheritance
of property, a reminder of the believer's inheritance, verses
16, 17, and 18. Lastly and closing, our last
point, and that is the temple's kitchens, a reminder of the need
for Christ-centered fellowship in verses 19 down to verse 24.
And so I'm glad there'll be separate kitchens for the priest and the
people in the Messiah's temple. There'll be kitchens for the
priest that will be located at the west end of the prince's
building in the inner court, and the purpose for these kitchens
will be to provide a place for the cooking, cooking the guilt
and the sin offerings, and for keeping the offerings holy and
undefiled. All contact with the people will
be avoided for the very purpose of emphasizing the distinction
between the holy presence of God and sinful people. The second
part, the kitchens for the people's sacrifices, will be located at
the four corners of the outer court that we'll read in verses
21 down to verse 24. These kitchens will be rather
large. They'll be 70 feet long. by 52 feet wide. And the fireplaces will be built
under a stone hedge, a ledge, that runs along the entire inside
wall of all four kitchens. The purpose of these kitchens
will be to provide a place where the temple assistants, the Levites,
can cook the sacrifices offered by the people. You know, the
very mention of kitchens and meals at the temple reminds us
of our need for a Christ-centered fellowship. because we experience
some of the most joyful and fulfilling fellowship on earth in the company
of other believers. Fellowship meals add to the experience
of the joy and the fulfillment that can be found only in Christ
and His Church, the body of true believers. As we look at the
temple kitchens, 19 down to verse 24. The kitchens for the priest,
19 to 20. The kitchens for the people,
verses 21 down to verse 24. And so, located in the inner
court west end, and used to cook the guilt and the sin offerings.
Purpose, to keep offerings holy and undefiled by avoiding the
contact with sinful people. It emphasizes the holiness of
God and the separation between his presence and his sin. Hey,
when you come into the worship center, hey, do you want somebody
coming into the worship center and they bringing food and getting
crumbs all over the place and drinking coffee and drinking
drinks and Coca-Cola's and all? That's the worship center. That's
the place of holiness, you understand? And so it ain't a place like
you go, Paul got on to him. He said, you get over there and
socialize in the house of God. He says, you gotta have a place
for that. And so I'm glad that the kitchens are located for
the priest, for the holiness of undefiled by avoiding the
contact with sinful people, but the kitchens for the people.
In verses 21 through 24, located at the four corners of the outer
courtyard. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Largest sizes of them,
70 foot by 52 and a half feet. The fireplace is built for cooking
sacrifices offered by the people. The fellowship meal symbolizing
joy and unity in Christ. Or excuse me, I'm jumping down
in the wrong one. And so it highlights God's provision for the people
to worship the fellowship together. Now, this is the spiritual reminder
of this. And that is fellowship meals
symbolize joy and unity in Christ. Christ-centered fellowship brings
fulfillment and joy among believers. And so believers are called to
experience true fellowship in Christ and His church, according
to Acts 2, verse 46. And so, you got the highlight.
after he brought me through the entry, which was at the side
of the gate. Ezekiel is giving us the detail by the detail.
Like, when you come up to buy a car, or you go to buy a house,
and those people are giving you all of the details of the automobile. They're giving you all the details.
Well, it's got three baths in this house, and a master bathroom,
two walk-in closets. And so, after he brought me through
the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers
of the priest, which looked toward the north, And behold, there
was a place on the two sides westward. Remember, we're looking
at the future ahead of time right now. The place of preparation,
our preparation for worship, should involve both physical
and spiritual readiness, amen. Before we even get in the house
of God, we need to pray for the preacher. We need to be praying
for the pastor. We need to be praying for the
worship leader. We need to be praying for the musicians, the
piano players, amen, the choir members, amen. We need to pray
that the convicting power of the Holy Spirit will come down
in that service and begin to knock the socks off of that sinner.
But oh, hang on, let's back up. Nobody's invited any lost people
to church. Nobody's even witnessed to nobody
to come to church. Nobody's even taking no time.
They're just doing their own thing all week long and they're
not thinking about nobody else but themselves. And they run
over and grab their Bible and they run to church and they haven't
done anything for the Lord all week long. Absolutely nothing. But it'll be different because
there's a place of preparation. Man, how would you like the pastor
to walk in and say, whoa, you know what? I ain't got a thing
prepared. I ain't prayed. I ain't done anything. I think
I just shoot at the hip. I saw a lot of shoots at the
hip in my life over the past years. But I'm going to tell
you, when it's with the Spirit of God, I'll take it. And so I thank God when we look,
as Max McConnell says, preparation for worship is as important as
the worship itself. And so he said, then said he
unto me, this is the place where the priest shall boil the trespass
offerings and the sin offering where they shall bake the meat
offering that they bear them not out into the outer court
to sanctify the people for the holiness. And so then he brought
me forth into the outer court and caused me to pass by the
four corners of the court. And behold, in every corner of
the court, there was a court because that is where the people's
kitchen is going to be. David Platt said, the more that
we prepare for worship, the more we will receive from it. Amen. And so I thank God because the
process of preparation The process for preparing our hearts and
our minds is essential for authentic worship. I don't know about you,
but I have to talk for myself. This is my problem. Every time. Because I need to have myself
prepared even before I get to the house of God. Remember, you
can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.
And so, He says, in the four corners of the court, there were
courts joined of 40 cubic slum and 30 broad. These four corners
were of one measure. And there was a row of buildings. Roundabout in them round about
them four and it was made with boiling places under the rose
Roundabout then said he unto me These are the places of them
that bowl where the ministers of the house shall bore the sacrifice
of the people I thank God when we look at this and And we begin
to realize that on the inside around each of those four courts
was a row of masonry with hearths or ovens made at the bottom of
the rows all around. And each small court of the corners
where those people's kitchens are have a masonry and a hearth
for boiling things and cooking. And so I'm glad That when we
look, Matt Chandler said, worship is meant to be community experience. And so I'm glad that each and
every one of us, as we look at our time, I'm glad that there
is the purpose of worship. And that is worship serves not
only to glorify God, but also to uplift and encourage one another. I wonder, have you encouraged
somebody this past week? that's on your job. Maybe you
begin to compliment somebody, not with an intention to do anything
but to compliment, okay? You don't have no other reason
and goal but for that. And that is, is for your fellowship
with someone else, is that you lift them up. that you encourage
them. When was the last time you stopped
the pastor and said, Pastor, that was a fantastic message
today. Thank God that you preached that
to me. Man, when was the last time you took the worship leader
and said, Man, buddy, that was some good singing today. That
was some good songs. That was the power of God coming
down. And I tell you, you know, when
was the last time, man, piano player, Boy, what a beautiful
job you have done. You have played so beautifully,
praise God. I wonder when was the last time
we encouraged one another. And so, as we get ready, and
as we close out, each and every one of us, and we go through
life today, I hope and pray that each of you here in Ezekiel chapter
36, as we look and realize that here
is the glimpse of order and beauty of the Millennial Temple. And
it reminds us of three critical aspects of our life of a daily
devotion in the Millennial Temple. Number one, we worship as God
prescribes. God seeks true worship. who worship
Him in spirit and in truth, not based on personal preferences.
That's exactly what it should be in the house of God right
now. It's no different in the future. That's what should be
happening right now. Not only worship as God prescribes,
but we cherish our inheritance. We are co-heirs with Christ.
We're inheriting eternal life and blessings to go. And so we
need to live with a gratitude for that promise. And thirdly,
pursue Christ-centered fellowship. Our joy is incomplete without
communion. with fellow believers, rooted
in our shared faith in Christ. So as we await the fullness of
God's kingdom to come, let us live daily with a devotion, knowing
that he promises us to be faithful and true. Now, I wonder, as we
reflected on Ezekiel's vision of the Millennial Temple, the
question is, hey, are you living a life of daily devotion? Are
you worshiping God as He desires? Are you cherishing the inheritance
that He's given and seeking a Christ-centered fellowship? Oh, you're going
to a different church every Sunday? You're not committed yourself
to a local assembly of the body of Christ to get to know people,
to be a part of contributing and giving worship? If you've
never trusted Christ as your Savior, tonight is the day to
receive Him. He offers forgiveness of sins
and an eternal inheritance. And if you strayed from that
daily devotion, listen, you can come back to Him right now tonight.
The altar is open right where you're at, listening to me on
Facebook tonight. Surrender your life and commit
to living for Him. And so, I wanna close out with
prayer. And I want to ask you, listen,
if there's something that is missing in your daily devotion,
I want you to pray with me. And when I'm closing out tonight,
I want you to pray with me and say, Lord, I'm missing out on
some things in my daily devotion. Lord, I'm not starting out every
day reading the Word of God. I'm not praying anytime during
the day or the week. And Lord, I've dropped the ball
on a lot of things. Lord, I haven't even done no
devotional time. I haven't even thought about
you all week or every week for some time. I've only thought
about myself, me, myself, and I. And I'm so so into myself
so much that I can't think of nobody else. Help me to get over
myself and think more about others and about you than I do myself.
Will you pray with me tonight? And so, Lord, we are reminded
of what it means to live a life of daily devotion. Help us to
worship you in obedience, to cherish the eternal inheritance
that you have promised and find joy in our fellowship with others. Thank you for the people that
are at the house of God and how precious they are. May your spirit
empower us to live for each day, Father, to draw closer, Lord,
to you in our hearts tonight. And Lord, as we leave, as we
go our separate ways tonight, God is to be lights in this world
that we bring glory to your name. Thank you for Bethel Crossroads.
Thank you for our pastor, Keith Dixie, and for all of our leaders
and our singers and Lord, just every one of the body of Christ
at our church family. And I pray that you'll intervene
tonight where the death angel has come for the Hightower family. And Lord, for my brother in Christ,
Jeff Steiber, thank you for him. And all my other brothers and
sisters of Christ that I went to school with, Father. Lord,
as there's a death that's close to us, just as it was with my
dear friend, Darren Pruitt. That, Lord, that it makes us
think. That, Lord, that it won't be
much longer, Father, that you're coming back for the church. Could
be tonight, could be tomorrow, but we're ready and we're ready
to go. We're ready, Lord, to do what
you want us to do and to say what you want us to say. And
we don't care if we hurt somebody's feelings. We don't care. Lord,
I'd rather that somebody go to hell and say, that preacher never
told me about hell. That preacher never said nothing
about hell. and all of the things that comes
with being lost and on your way to where the worm doth not and
the flames are ever eternal for that lost sinner. Bring that
one that is cold and indifferent, that stony heart, Lord, and give
them a new heart and give them a new spirit tonight. And Lord,
all this we say in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you tonight. God bless
you. May God bless you.