Eat this scroll

Today I will be preaching from Ezekiel 1, 2, and 3. If you are looking for a title, it will

be Eat This Scroll. The idea is from Ezekiel 3. I just want to give you a bit of a context

here. There are major prophets and minor prophets in the Bible. There are 12 minor prophets

and there are 5 major prophets. They are divided as major and minor, not because of the size

of the prophets, but it's the length of the book. The major prophets have a longer content.

They even go for decades and it even deals with other nations. Whereas the minor prophets

are shorter, more concise, but it's not about the effectiveness or the quality of these

prophets but it's the length that the scripture divides into minor and major. Ezekiel falls

under the major prophets. Why I'm giving this context is because it's important and I'll

tell you why. Ezekiel is one of the major prophets in the Bible and it is apocalyptic

in nature. It's not fully apocalyptic like Daniel or Revelation where we see a lot of

the apocalyptic nature. Ezekiel is not fully apocalyptic but it has apocalyptic elements.

The word apocalypse comes from this Greek word, apocalypse, which means unveiling or

revelation. When we say apocalypses or apocalypse, we're talking about someone being exposed

to something transcendent in the reality of God's perspective. It is a confrontation

with the divine so that it transforms the person and his reality. Oftentimes in the

Bible it refers to divine mysteries, especially about what's going to happen in the future.

That's the apocalypse or the apocalyptic nature of Ezekiel. The context was such that the

Israelites were in exile for 13 years and four months. This priest, Ezekiel, was in

Babylon. He was among the exiles and he was sitting by the Kibar River in Babylon. That

is when the hand of the Lord comes upon him and he shows this vision. It was not just

one vision. It has multiple. We all know one of them, which is the Valley of Dry Bones

in Ezekiel 37, which we all know. I'm not going to go there but today I'm going to deal

with the first part of Ezekiel, especially chapter one, two, and three. These are the

first apocalyptic visions that he had received. We're going to deal with that early part.

I have listed five things from these three chapters with five points that I want to share.

The first one is the transformative power of Theophany. The transformative power of

Theophany. Theophany is when the appearance of God or the manifestation of God appears.

God reveals in a way that is perceptible to humans. That is Theophany. Whenever God encounters

or makes his manifestation that is perceptible to humans, it always transforms the person.

Here is Ezekiel, who is a priest, who was a priest, who is a priest, and knows what priestly

duties are. Yet, when this experience happens, God changes him. Why? Because God now invites

him to become a prophet. Back in the day, priests and prophets, their roles are so different.

Ezekiel has been a priest all his life, but with this experience, he saw a throne appearing

on a hill, like a sapphire. There's someone sitting on this throne. It doesn't have a

face, but it was the appearance of a man glowing with fire. A radiant bright light was upon

this man. The appearance was that it was the glory of God. Ezekiel couldn't face it, and

he fell face down to the ground. He hears this voice. It was very similar with what Saul experienced

on the road to Damascus. It was very similar, because Saul also experienced this bright

light from heaven. He couldn't face it. He falls face down to the ground, and he heard

this voice saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who are you, my Lord? Saul

answered, and then Jesus responded, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Saul was

blinded for three days. Saul had this amazing personal encounter, and Ezekiel had a similar

experience. They are very similar. For example, both experienced something extraordinary,

something beyond them, with the divine. Secondly, there was this glory of God that they cannot

face it. It was a blinding light or a supernatural radiant manifestation. Then both of them received

a voice calling out their name. Then they couldn't face this light. Here's an important

point. It changed the trajectory of their lives for both of them. There was a radical

shift. For Saul, he became Paul, and he became an apostle. It was from that moment where

the trajectory of his life shifted. For Ezekiel, it was similar. He was known as a prophet,

but then with this encounter, that radical shift happened in his life. Now he's called

to be a prophet. The difference is in the nature. For Saul, he was a prophet. He was

a prophet. For Saul, it was a personal one-on-one encounter. It was his real life experience.

He was on the journey to Damascus. He had this personal encounter, which was a conversation

with Jesus himself. Whereas for Ezekiel, he saw an apocalyptic vision, where he saw the

cherubim and wheels and fire and throne and all these blinding lights. However it is,

be it direct encounter or be it an apocalyptic vision, one thing that happened was that it

changed who they are. As in, it changed their identity. Then secondly, it changed their

purpose, right? And it changes their calling. So three things happened for them. Saul was

never the same since that day. He was never the same. As we all know, right? He was persecuting

Christians and he became the defender of the faith. The very God that he is trying to destroy

and his people, he went crazy proclaiming the same God that he once tried to bring harm.

So the purpose of Saul changed, the calling of Saul changed, the identity of Saul changed.

Everything about Saul changed, right? And for Ezekiel, it's the same thing. Everything

about Ezekiel changed with this encounter. The transformative power of theophany, that's

what it does. This is why we need revival, guys. An encounter with divine, one encounter

is enough. It just shifts things. It just shifts, you know, forget about individuals.

It shifts communities. It shifts churches. It shifts nations. And this is why we are

praying for this revival to come. This kind of theophany moment is enough to change the

destinies of individuals, families, and nations. And this is why we need these guys. And, you

know, to put it simply, when Jesus invited Peter, James, and John, here's a simple Jesus

who had not really proven himself, and yet we know he's fully God, fully man. He invites.

And then now these are ordinary unschooled guys, joins forces with Jesus. What happens

was that their lives, their destinies, their purpose, everything changed about these guys.

God shapes your identity before he releases your assignment. God changes your identity

God shapes your identity before he releases your assignment, right? So that's the first

one, right? When God encounters men, men cannot stay the same. Can you be that one whom God

can use to bring an experience of like a theophany kind of experience for someone? They might

not necessarily, for some, they might encounter God directly, but for some, they might have

to come through you. So the greater call, sorry, so he decides your identity. Ezekiel

didn't choose that one day he'll be a prophet. No. When the calling of God comes, it is he

who decides who you will be. David didn't say, you know, I want to become a king. God

chose him. And so he chooses your identity. I don't get to choose to be a man or a woman.

God decides who I am. And then that leads to my second point where I would call it the

overriding call of God. The overriding call of God. Why I use this word the overriding

call of God is because the call of God is greater than what I am striving on my own,

right? I may be doing great work. I may be still be doing some fulfilling work, which

can be satisfying to me and to my family. But when the call of God comes, it overrides

what I am doing. Yeah. Peter, James, Andrew and John, they were fishing. They are fishermen.

But after the encounter with Jesus Christ, Jesus said, come, follow me. I will make you

fishers of men. So they are fishermen, but Jesus calls them and the call of Jesus overrides

their calling. Yeah. David was taking care of the sheep and then God sends prophet Samuel

and say, go and anoint David because he will be the next king. The call of God comes and

it overrides David as a shepherd, right? So excuses do not matter. Excuses cannot stand

in the way when the call of God comes upon you and upon me because it overrides everything

that we are, everything that we do. Now Moses cannot say, I am slow to speech or David cannot

say, I am just a shepherd boy or Joshua cannot say, well, the shoes of Moses are too big

to fill in. No. Excuses cannot get in the way because when the call of God comes, he

knows that you are incapable and yet he calls you so that he can qualify you, right? So

the call of God, when it comes, it overrides everything of who we are and everything we

do. So like I said, Ezekiel is so used to being a priest. But when the call of God comes,

but when the call of God comes, God even calls him son of man and we all know son of man

is used later to address Jesus. So there's a huge, huge address, right? He even addresses

him son of man and said, I'm giving you a new task and that is a prophetic message to

deliver. He has been a priest in the temple, now he's to travel, he's to go and deliver.

And from chapter two verse four, and I'll read from here, the people whom I am sending

you are obstinate and stubborn. The people are stubborn. God still sends him there. Isn't

that reflective of our society? If God's going to send us to places where our messages will

be received easily and embrace it fully, the world would have been evangelized by now.

Yeah? And if you notice, from my own experience, the harder places to penetrate the world are

sometimes the closest ones. I find preaching and sharing the gospel with my own family

and my close ones harder than preaching to a stranger. So guys, this is critical for

us to understand because God says, whatever you do, you're going to be a stranger. And

so, guys, this is critical for us to understand because God says, whether they listen to you

or not, or whether they fail to listen, you are supposed to go to them. They are a rebellious

people. God says, right? God warns them and yet he said, so that they will know that a

prophet is among them. Yeah? And this is critical for us to understand because we live in a

similar context, whether it's our annoying neighbor or our colleague or people whom God

sends us to who are not receptive to what we share. And yet they need to know that there

is a messenger that is you among them. So when I say that when the overriding call of

God comes upon your life, for some people it's a change of job, change of profession.

That's not always the case. For some, it's important that you stay in your same profession.

For Zacchaeus, when he meets Jesus, Jesus comes into his home, dines with him, and then

you know what? He came to his senses. He knew that he's in the presence of this holy man,

holy God. And what does he do? He repents. He changes. And he says, I'm going to repay

everyone that I have cheated. And in fact, I'm going to pay back four times. Zacchaeus

didn't say, I'm going to change my job and I'm going to leave my text collector profession

and now follow Jesus like Peter and John. No, he didn't say that. He said he is going

to remain in the same profession and yet he's now a transformed man. And so he is going

to be in the same profession and yet a totally different person. His attitude has changed.

His purpose has changed. Right? So for some of us, for some of us, when the call of God

comes upon your life, it'll override what you are presently doing. And some of us might

need to give your job and be something else in order to fulfill what God has called you.

Whereas for some, it's important that you stay where you are. But as a transformed man,

with a different attitude, with a different purpose. For Ezekiel, he was a change of profession.

He was called to go. Yeah? But God said, don't be afraid. They are rebellious people. They're

going to rebel. But don't be afraid. And don't be afraid of their words. And then this then

leads to my third point where he says, eat the scroll. Eat the scroll. Yeah? Before he

sends this man, God says, eat the scroll. Right? Open your mouth and eat what I give

you. He is supposed to eat first before he goes. Right? So he decides what message to

send. You must speak my words. Verse 7 says, God says, you must speak my words. Not whatever

he wants to say. My words. And so how is this word going to come? He's supposed to eat it

first so that he can speak. And that's important. That is important because what's he supposed

to eat? Verse 9, then I look and I saw a hand stretched out to me in a scroll. In it was

a scroll which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament,

words of mourning, words of woe. The blue o-wee. Right? These are not positive words.

Lament, mourning, and woe. He's supposed to eat these words first. And then he says,

these words. This scroll. You know, Ezekiel chapter 3 verse 1. And he said to me, son

Ezekiel 3:1

of man, eat what is before you. Eat the scroll and then go and speak to the people of Israel.

So I opened my mouth and he gave me a scroll to eat. Then he said to me, son of man, eat

the scroll. I am giving you. Fill your stomach with it. So I ate it and it tasted as sweet

as honey in my mouth. Yeah? Remember? He was asked to eat words of lament, words of mourning,

and words of woe. But when he ate it, it tasted like honey. That's the beauty of God's word,

eh? It's not always tasty when you eat it. Why? Because it cuts to your heart. It convicts

you. It exposes your sin. It exposes that something greater has to override how you're

living. That's the word of God, eh? It's not always sweet. It's bitter. But when you taste

it, it's going to be good. Yeah? John had a very similar experience. John, in the book

Revelation, when you read it, very similar. And I think I've put it up as well. John,

in Revelation chapter 10, let's turn to Revelation chapter 10 from verse 8 on words.

Revelation 10 · chapter mention Revelation 10 · chapter mention

Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me once more. Go take the scroll that lies

open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. So I went to the

angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, take it and eat it.

It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey. I took

the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my

mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, you must prophesy

again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings. Very similar, eh? After they ate

the scroll, now the word of God is consumed, and John was asked to prophesy. If you don't

have words, if you don't have words of God in you, you cannot. Yeah? So John said, you

know, same thing with Ezekiel. He was asked to eat the scroll, and after he was eaten,

the assignment comes to go and prophesy. So you know, basing on this, Eugen Peterson,

as we all know, who wrote the message, wrote a book called Eat This Book, right? And I

really love this quote, so I'm going to read it for us here. He writes like this, reading

is an immense gift, but only if words are assimilated, taken into the soul, eaten, chewed,

not received in unhurried delight. I like that word, unhurried delight. Words of man

and women, long dead or separated by miles or years, come off the page and enter our

lives freshly and precisely, conveying truth and beauty and goodness. Words that God's

Spirit has used and uses, as in present tense, to breathe life into our souls. Isn't that

so true of God's word, eh? It was written ages ago, but words come alive again. This

is why we say it is the living word of God, because it's the breath of God, right? God

breathes. So it's not just Moses' story or Ezekiel's story that we are reading now. It's

the story of God, and it has the breath of God, and it has power to breathe life into

your situation, into your life, right? And I love how this concept of eating and chewing

and swallowing and digesting in our stomach, to fill our stomach, I really love this, because

the intent is so that it can permeate your body, right? That's the intent. So another

theologian, R.C. Sproul, writes about this, right? When he reads about this, eat the book

or eat the scroll, he was saying that this is not a casual nip in the word, right? Or

nip at the word. It is not a casual nip at the word, but Ezekiel is to consume the word

so that it becomes part of his bloodstream. That's what he uses, yeah? So that it becomes

part of his bloodstream. Why this is important is because we live in a generation where there

is a famine of hearing God's word. You know, I remember watching a video on YouTube, and

then there was this guy, this Christian guy who was holding a microphone and he was walking

on the streets of New York and he was interviewing people. And he would say, are you a Christian?

And then this person would say, no, he's not a Christian. Then he would leave them alone.

But if someone says he's a Christian, then he would say, can you memorize one Bible verse?

And then, to my surprise, many Christians cannot even answer one Bible verse. Yeah,

because he would say, if you memorize one Bible verse, I'll give you a $50 bill. And

many people could not answer one single Bible verse, guys. We live in a world where there

is a famine of God's word. There's no famine of God speaking, but there's a famine of people

hearing God's word, hey? And we read in our Bible for five minutes or ten minutes, and

then we rush to work or we don't have time to swallow. We don't have time to digest.

We don't allow the word to saturate our minds, our hearts, and it doesn't form. You know,

remember the parable of the sower? It has to fall on fertile ground. It has to take

roots. And guys, if you are a farmer, you know it takes time to form roots. You may

put water and let the plant float on the water for a few days. It'll look good, but if there's

no root form, it will die. So here Ezekiel received this word. Now he goes to the Israel,

to the people, and he sat there for seven days, distressed, overwhelmed, angry. Yeah?

He did not rush into action. He waited. He allows the weight of the word to come upon

him, to rest on him, right? Just as Mary pondered when, and treasured in her heart, when she

received the message from Gabriel, Angel Gabriel, right? Psalm 1 verse 2 also talks about to

Psalms 1:2

meditate on God's word day and night. We are to sit and rest on his word, yeah? Because

we all are eating something. We all eat something, whether it's social media. We are all consumers.

We feed ourselves. And we can feed ourselves with junk food or healthy food. And how do

we feed our spirit? It's the word, yeah? Because no other book, no other food can give us that

substance, that substance that shapes you for your mission. The Bible has the power

and the ability to give you substance, a spiritual substance that shapes your mission, right?

So this is why the word of God brings joy, and yet the word of God brings lament. The

word of God cuts you to heart. The word of God brings you discomfort. The word of God

challenges you. The word of God confronts you. And yet the word of God calls you to

a higher living. So after he eats this, he receives a new commission. Divine commission

comes not because of volume, but the internalization of and the digestion of his word, yeah? Divine

commission comes not in the quantity of volumes that we consume, but in the internalization

and in the digestion of his word. When you embody his word, that's where the commission

comes, right? Because you are not just to call and to go and preach, but you are living

it. It's who you are now. Many have not eaten the scroll, guys. They have eaten the scroll,

guys. Many have not eaten the scroll, guys. Many have not eaten the scroll. It's not in

their stomach. And so when they speak, they are found wanting. Think of a medicine. Sometimes

it's bitter, but it's necessary for your healing. And I remember growing up, cough syrup. While

growing up in India, cough syrup, as far as I remember, while growing up, it's bitter.

Nowadays we have different flavors. We have honey flavors. We have sweetened cough syrup.

But back in the day, all I remember, maybe I'm old, but maybe Derek and I are getting

old. No, no, no. But I remember, cough syrup is bitter. And I remember I'm sneezing and

I'm coughing. But I know that it is bitter. But my parents know that even though it's bitter,

they'll chase after me. They'll force me to drink it because it's going to heal my cough,

right? And so think of that. Whatever you feed on forms you. What feeds you forms you.

What feeds you forms you, right? So as you feed on the word. And I know that this teaching

cannot, I cannot over emphasize enough. But one phrase that you can take home from this

teaching is, feed on the word and it will form you. As you feed on the word, it will

form you. You will embody the word. The word will become your flesh. Then this leads to

my fourth point, which is faithfulness over fruitfulness. Faithfulness over fruitfulness.

God said, go to your own people, right? He, you know, you know, Ezekiel did not get a

chance to decide where he wants to go. His identity, God said, you will be a prophet.

He did not get to choose his identity. Secondly, he did not get to choose his calling. The

calling came from God and his message. He did not get to choose his message. God said,

I will put message, I will put words in your mouth. Yeah, he has to eat it. Now, where

is then where is he going to speak? God's going to decide where he's supposed to go.

This is what a life of surrender looks like, guys. You and I don't get to choose anything.

On one hand, it sounds harsh. But on the other hand, even if you are given a choice, you

will pick for second best. God knows what's best. Yeah. So God decides where you serve.

And he says not to a strange or obscure people or an obscure language, but to Israel. Hardest

place to go. And God said, they are a rebellious people. And I was counting and I was, you

know, flipping chapters and reading. And then how many times this word rebellious, rebellious

people? At least there are 14 times. My counting might be wrong, but at least I have found

14 times in the Book of Ezekiel alone that Israelites are a rebellious people. I'm sure

they are really rebellious, you know. Yeah. And yet God deliberately sends him into this

difficult group of people. If God had sent us to places where there are strangers, where

there is a foreign language spoken, it says that they would have listened to you by now,

right? And yet God sends. Even in our own city here in Vancouver, there's so much work

to be done. There's a great need. This is why we're trying to establish God's kingdom

here, right? We're trying to raise men and women, be it in Langley, be it in Richmond,

be it in Burnaby here, or be it in North Van. I really love how God has a lot of humor in

this, especially in verse eight and nine. If you read it, he is saying that I'm going

to send you to people who are very stubborn, and he says, I'll make you like them. You're

going to be so stubborn as well, right? Your forehead is going to be like flint, yeah?

Yeah? God knows what it requires for a person to be that kind of man to be in such a place,

right? If you think, if there are some people whom we send to this place or that place,

God knows what quality it requires for him to get the job done. And so, he'll build

you, he'll shape you, right? The word of God fortifies us, right? It builds you, right?

So, I will make your forehead like the hardest stone. The word of God not only forms us,

but it fortifies us. It always fortifies us. And when you eat the scroll, as in when you

consume God's word, you develop spiritual resilience for the mission. You develop spiritual

resilience for the mission, right? You know, remember when Jesus was tempted in the

wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, one of the go-tos, he would always go back to

the word. For it is written, for it is written. Word was a weapon. Word was his comfort.

Word was his fortress, right? So, the word of God has the power, has the ability to make

you stubborn on one hand, but it develops a spiritual resilience for you to get the job

done. And you know what, the funny part was, now God says, because we often read, right,

these are my people, my people, right? God often boasts about Israelites as his people.

And now, after he has shown himself to Ezekiel and gave him the scroll to eat, now God

saying, you go to your people. He didn't say my people. He said, go to your people.

And the Spirit of God lifts him up and then places him among the people where he is supposed

to be, right? He places him, he positions him exactly where he is supposed to be. And then

he sits there for seven days, distressed, overwhelmed, right? Feeling the weight of

this message. And yet, he obeys. Here we see that obedience for God is more important than

the outcome. God tells Ezekiel that they will not respond. These are rebellious people.

These are rebellious people. They are not going to respond. And yet, he must go. Isn't

that funny, eh? Success isn't measured by results, but it is measured by faithful obedience.

One problem with Saul, King Saul, partial obedience, eh? Partial obedience. What God

tells him, he will do it, but he will not fully obey. He will partially obey, which

becomes disobedience, where we get the phrase, obedience is better than sacrifice. Partial

obedience, not good enough. I don't think Langley is Gillian's favorite place. Yeah?

And God tells him to go and start, revive there. What about Shelton and Jane? Of all

the places in Richmond? Eh! Yeah. Or what about North Van? Surely it's not our favorite.

God decides what message, where, when, how. This is very counter-cultural, guys. Very

counter-cultural. We are used to defining success by results, right? How successful

you see the results. But God defines success by obedience. For him, he said, I'll take

care of the results. You go and do what I tell you to do, right? And so this leads to

my last point, which is shared responsibility to bring heaven on earth. Shared responsibility

to bring heaven on earth. You know, when Jesus said, or say, when Jesus taught his

disciples how to pray, said, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, right? The

will of heaven needs to be done here on earth. Heaven needs to invade here on earth. And

God is sharing this responsibility with humanity. I find that very fascinating. He shares heaven

with you so that you can bring heaven here on earth. And I like to share this phrase

by, this quote by St. Augustine. This is really good. He said, God without man will not. Man

without God cannot. Hear me again. God without man will not. When you read from Genesis,

right from the beginning, God has great plans. He doesn't do it all by himself. Right from

Genesis, he starts with the first Adam. And he never ceases, right? He wants to bring

the promised land to the Israelites. He won't do it alone. He would call Moses, you lead

my people. God is not interested in doing things by his own. He wants partnership so

that man can enter a relationship with him. That's always God's original plan. That never

changed. That will never change. So God, without us, he's never going to do. He's not going

to bring heaven here on earth on his own. This is why you and I are light of the world.

That's what it says. You and I are the salt and the light. You and I are the hope of the

world. Crazy, eh? God's going to bring heaven here on earth through you and through me.

And yet, man on the other hand, without God, we cannot. No matter how hard you try, you

think it may work for some time, but it won't last. You'll be tired. You'll burn out. One

of the reasons why many church leaders, many church pastors burn out is because human

energy, human passion, it has limits. When there is no spirit of God, something extraordinary,

something beyond us, empowering and strengthening and working, you and I will get tired. Young

men grow tired and weary, eh? So the lesson that we can learn from this is that, hear

me this, guys. You are not responsible for how people respond. You are not responsible

for how people respond. But you are responsible to be faithful in conveying what heaven wants

here on earth. That's important, eh? You are not responsible for how people respond. But

you are responsible to convey what heaven wants here on earth. God may call you to a

very challenging place, to a very hard-hearted people who are resistant, who are even antagonistic,

but the message is very clear that you and I are not to measure our worth, our dignity,

our value by how they react. So my question to you is, who are the difficult people? Who

are the hard-to-reach people in your life? It can be your neighbor. It can be your colleague

at work. It can be people that you often bump into. Who are some of the people who are hard-to-reach

in your life that God is calling you to love and speak the truth anyway? Who are those

group of people? Yeah? And secondly, are you willing to be faithful even if no one applauds

you? No one recognizes you? No one even responds to what you're saying? And this brings me

to my last part. Now, the imagery shift, right? He was called to be a prophet and then to

deliver this message, but then God says, I appoint you as a watchman. Now I appoint you

as a watchman. And we all know what a watchman does, right? They are stationed on the city

walls. They are not responsible for causing the danger, right? They don't cause the danger,

but they have the responsibility of warning people that danger is coming. They are responsible

for warning the people. And so God's saying, you are not responsible for causing danger.

That's not your problem, but you are responsible for warning the people. And as I was reading

this, it really pierced my heart because in verse 18-19, when I read there, God's saying

very blunt, very clear with him, right? He tells Ezekiel, saying, if there's a wicked

person, and if you don't warn him, and if he perishes, you are accountable for his blood.

Crazy, eh? And as I think of that, wow, this is huge. My heart was heavy when I think of

this. And I wrote this very question to myself, and it really pierced my heart. And I'm going

to share this with you. What if you and I are responsible? What if you and I are accountable

for the people whom we always meet, whom we know they are perishing, but we don't have

the guts to warn them, to share the gospel with them? What if you and I are held accountable

for their blood? Crazy, eh? There are people whom we know. I'm sure there are people in

our lives whom we know that they are not walking in faith, that they don't know God. God has

not been introduced to them. And you and I bump into them every day, or quite often.

What if, I'm saying what if, I'm held responsible, that at least I'm not responsible for how

they respond to the gospel, but what if I fail to warn them? Why? Because for fear of

offending them, or I never had the guts to say. See guys, there's a moral and spiritual

responsibility. There's a moral and spiritual responsibility placed on those who have the

truth, who knows the truth. You and I know the truth. We know that Jesus is the only

way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through the Son. You and

I have the truth. You and I know the truth. So if you know the truth, if I know the truth,

you and I have a moral and spiritual responsibility. Silence, when God has spoken, can cost lives.

Silence, when God has spoken, can cost lives. When God gives me a word and I am silent about

it, it can cost lives. Speaking up is not always the most popular thing to do, but it

can make a difference for them, not just in this life, but for eternity. Yeah? What fascinates

me is this. What I do matters in heaven. What I do here on earth matters in heaven. What

you do here on earth matters in heaven. We are not of this world. We are in the world,

but we are not off the world. So what you do here on earth is you have been assigned

to do something. And what you do here matters in heaven. Everything that I do with God here

on earth has eternal consequences. Crazy, eh? So let me leave you with these two questions.

Where are you being called to speak up? Where? Where are you being called to speak up? As

a friend, as a parent, as a mentor, as a colleague, where are you being called to speak up? And

secondly, have you stayed silent when God has called you to be a watchman? And so can

we go to the last slide? So I want us to just a quick recap. The world needs this transformative

power of this theophany. The world needs to encounter who this divine God is, the God

we serve, the God we know. And they can, yes, God can meet them directly, but oftentimes

God likes to encounter them through you. Yeah? And secondly, he decides who you are, who they are.

And secondly, the overriding call of God. He decides your call. You don't get to choose.

You can choose your job, but he decides your call. Yeah? I can choose my job based on some of my

natural talents, but calling is greater. So he chooses your call. He decides your call.

He said, I will make you fishes of men. They choose to be fishermen, but God calls them to be

fishes of men. Yeah? And third one, he has his message, not your message, not my message. Yeah?

And how? How are we supposed? You know, I remember Jacob telling me while going to one of the mission trips,

I said, how do I prepare? And he said, you cannot prepare, Tuni. You cannot prepare for a mission trip.

Your lifestyle has to be a preparation, and then you are ready to go. Yeah? So the word, we have to eat the word,

chew the word, swallow the word, digest the word so that we embody the word. Right? So it's because why?

Because we're going to speak his message. Right? And then where? He'll tell you.

And then the last one. You and I share the privilege. On one hand, it's a privilege.

You and I are called to bring heaven and earth. Isn't that a privilege? Yeah? If you are to bring heaven

here on earth, what a privilege it is. And yet you have the responsibility of bringing here on earth.

It's a privilege. It's a responsibility. And he shares with you, with me. Crazy guys.

This is the God of the universe. I pray that may we be people who learn how to eat the scroll, digest the scroll. Right?

Or if we are to put it literally, can we be the ones who eat our Bibles? Yeah?

And it can be lament. It can be mourning. It can be woe. Right? It'll taste sweet. It may be sour in our stomach.

But as you speak it, it'll give life. And even though our city may be asleep, may you and I be watchmen of this city,

of this neighborhood. Right? And may we be the voice crying out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord.

Bless you guys. Over to you, Jillian.

Thanks, Jenny. I don't know if, I didn't introduce guests earlier. Did we have any guests?

Putting up their hands. So, we'll just close. Father, we thank you for

the story you've wrote in our lives today.

We want to take what Tunis said, Father.

Give us a hunger, a desire.

To know your word.

And that your people become our people.

Give us a desire to know your word like we haven't before.

As we begin to know you in new ways, that your people become our people, Father.

It's a privilege, Father. May we carry it. May we own it.

We thank you, Father, that you call us together and now you send us back out. You send us back out into our weeks ahead.

Each one with different spheres of influence, different places they need to go this week.

But may we go carrying what you've said today. Carrying encounters that we've had with you today. Carrying, discovering new aspects about you.

Enjoying you, Father.

May we take it with us as we go back out into the world, Father.

So we thank you, we give you praise. We delight in you, our Father, who always brings us onto your lap.

Because that's what you love for us to abide, Father.

So we thank you. Amen.

If anyone needs prayer, there will be people up here to pray for you.

And have a wonderful week.

Amen.