Order in Worship and Service--Part 9

Subsequent to all God had done for Israel (Ezek. 16:6-14), Israel played the harlot, which from her perspective should have never happened. The relation formed between Jehovah and Israel is represented under the image of the marriage union. Everyone who contrasts what God did for Israel with what Israel did to Jehovah God will soon know if he is a true believer in the grace of the sovereign God. God chose Israel, made her live, made her numerous, made her His, bathed her, anointed her, clothed her, adorned her, and made her fame go forth. Her splendor was perfect because of His splendor. However, Israel played the harlot with every willing passer-by, made male images in order to commit mental whoredom, and multiplied her harlotry to make God angry. God delivered her up to those who hated her. Her so-called lovers did not satisfy her. She was different from other harlots because she gave them money. The adulterous wife was unfaithful to her husband, which was the most heinous sin of all the other perversions of sex (Ezek. 16:15-34).

No Christian can read Ezekiel 16 without examining himself to determine if he, since he was Divinely quickened, has acted as badly as Jerusalem. A Puritan once said that one of his sharpest sensations after he was quickened by Divine grace was that he felt such pity for God. He expressed what he meant was that he had such grief that God should be so ill-treated by those for whom He had done so much.

Paul could never escape the question Christ asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? And he said, Who art Thou, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:4, 5 NASB). No wonder the apostle later said to Timothy, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I myself am foremost [protos, which means first, foremost, or prominent] of all” (I Tim. 1:15—translation). In order to better understand the Greek adjective protos, one must not stop with verse 15. He must include verse 16—“But [alla, the strongest Greek conjunction] because of this [demonstrative adjective] I was shown mercy [elethen, aorist passive indicative first person singular of eleeo, to be merciful or show mercy to someone], in order that in me as foremost Jesus Christ might demonstrate all longsuffering for an example to the ones destined [mellonton, present active participle genitive masculine plural of mello, must or be destined] to believe on [epi, accusative of relationship] Him because of [eis, accusative of cause] eternal life” (I Tim. 1:16—translation). Paul considered himself the foremost sinner of all time. Who but God of all grace could choose the foremost sinner knowing beforehand he would be the great persecutor of His only begotten Son?

Paul did not say, “I was the foremost sinner,” but “I myself am the foremost sinner.” Here is a present active indicative verb and a first person pronoun (eimi ego). In order to fully understand the impact of his argument, one is driven back to verses 12-14 in the first chapter of I Timothy where Paul related how he could not dismiss from his mind the way he had persecuted God’s people (Acts 7:58; 14:5; 22:4; Gal. 1:13; Phil. 3:4-6). Although the apostle had by grace become a trustworthy servant, he never minimized his constant battle between the spirit and the flesh (Rom. 7:14-25). Nothing in this passage is contrary to a Christian, but much here cannot apply to an unregenerate person. The constant struggle between the indwelling Spirit and indwelling sin in every believer is revealed.

Neither the old nature nor the new nature of a Christian should be regarded as the man himself any more than Christ’s Divine nature or His human nature should be regarded as Jesus Christ. Nature and person are different terms. The same person who was dead in sin has by the grace of regeneration become dead to sin. The old man who was dead in sin was crucified (aorist passive indicative of sustauroo) with Christ (Rom. 6:6). The result of that death is a new man in Christ. The act of crucifixion is a perfect passive indicative of sustauroo in Galatians 2:20. This act is not a process. There is a difference between judicial and experiential crucifixion.

There is no death for sin except in the death of Jesus Christ. The elect are legally dead in Christ’s death. Their unbelieving ego is identified with the old man. Their believing ego is identified with the new man. The old nature is condemned (Rom. 8:3), but condemnation does not mean destruction: “So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba! Father! The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:12-17 NASB).

The Holy Spirit is not a mere influence. He is a Person. He is not a mere experience. He is a Divine operation. His sanctification is both absolute and progressive. Hebrews 10:14 speaks of the absoluteness of sanctification: “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (NASB). Whereas, I Thessalonians 4:3 speaks of the progressiveness of sanctification: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality” (NASB).

Christians are holy in the Lord; therefore, they pursue holiness—“And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you” (Col. 3:12, 13 NASB).

Christians are positionally sanctified; therefore, they strive to be progressively sanctified: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification” (I Thess. 4:3-7 NASB).

Christians are positionally complete; therefore, they are admonished to become conditionally complete: “For in Him all the fulnes of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete…” (Col. 2:9, 10). “Epaphras…sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured [complete KJV] in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12 NASB).

Sanctification begins with a crisis, a condition of instability due to a lack of knowledge and experience (Rom. 6-8). It grows with confidence (Gal. 2:20). It will conclude with a crown (II Tim. 4:7, 8).

Ezekiel 16:15-34 gives instruction concerning admonitions to Israel. This chapter is unparalleled in its allegorical description of Israel’s history. The name “Jerusalem” is representative of the whole nation. Ezekiel labeled Israel’s sin as unfaithfulness to the love of God. Spiritual fornication and adultery were the unholy unions of the Israelites with the world. God spoke of Israel’s “languishing heart” in verse 30. Her weakness brought no opposition from the world. James described Israel’s condition: “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4 NASB).

People of God may use the comforts of the world, but they must avoid the world’s lusts and pleasures. The reason is because the world has been crucified to them, and they have been crucified to the world, which is a double crucifixion (Gal. 6:14). When Christ came in the flesh, the world crucified Him; but when He comes into a person’s heart, He crucifies that person to the world. This is information the Israelites did not have.

Scripture does not deny that believers under the law had a relationship with God, but it shows that their state was similar to a state of servitude (Gal. 4:1-3). “While we were children” is equivalent to when one’s knowledge of Divine things was limited and his faculties were imperfect, he was as a small child under restraint. Worship under the law was not deprived of spirituality. Everything had a meaning, but it had a great deal of corporeality. It was very much a thing of time, place, and circumstance. The faith of believers under the law made them a kind of slave without the complete message of God’s unilateral covenant of grace. It is better to be the Lord’s slave than to be one’s own master or the Devil’s slave.

The word “adoption” in Galatians 4:5 does not denote the state of a person newly introduced into the family of God, but of a person who is already a Christian raised to a higher state in the family—from a child to a son. It does not describe believers as opposed to unbelievers, but the state of Christians under the dispensation of grace in contrast with believers under the Mosaic dispensation. Therefore, “redemption” of Galatians 4:5 includes deliverance from the state of “children” (v. 3) under the law to the position of “son” under the new covenant. Furthermore, as it was not proper for believing Jews who were enjoying the state of sonship to continue under the restraints of children, it was inappropriate for Gentile Christians to be restrained by the legalism of Pharisaism (Gal. 4:6).

The contents of Ezekiel 16:16-29 are summed up in verse 30—“How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious [dominating, overbearing, arrogant, or determined] whorish woman” (KJV). “How languishing [becoming languid in any way; lacking in vigor or vitality; lacking in spirit or interest] is your heart, declares the LORD GOD, while you do all these things, the actions of a bold-faced harlot” (NASB). “How lovesick is your heart? Says the Lord Yaweh, seeing you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot” (John Joseph Owens). There is no doubt that Jerusalem had a heart problem. Alliances, compromises, and disturbances by every wind of doctrine are manifestations of a weak heart. The weak- hearted Christian encounters very little opposition from the world because “…the world lies in the power of the evil one” (I John 5:19 NASB).

Some question the application to Israel of the terms “fornication” (sex in the unmarried state) and “adultery” (sex in the married state by either husband or wife with someone else). This application is easily explained in the light of the two parts of the Jewish marriage contract—the betrothal (engagement) and the marriage itself. The betrothal period was as binding in the Jewish marriage as if the contract had been consummated. This answers such passages as Hosea 1-3 or Jeremiah 3. Israel became God’s in the same sense in which the proper wife of an Israelite is called “wife by covenant” (Mal. 2:14).

Adultery is a heinous crime: “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway, May my wife grind for another. And let others kneel down over her. For that would be a lustful crime; moreover, it would be an iniquity punishable by judges. For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon, And would uproot all my increase” (Job 31:9-12 NASB). Jeremiah called it “villany” (KJV), “acted foolishly” (NASB), and “committed folly” (John J. Owens). The word “villany” means outrageous wickedness. Next to murder, adultery is the greatest of all crimes because it destroys the true nature of marriage. It is not only sin after remedy for immorality (I Cor. 7:2), but it is also stealing what belongs to another. The sin cannot be hidden from God: “…they have acted foolishly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbor’s wives…and I am He who knows, and am a witness, declares the LORD” (Jer. 29:23 NASB).