Ezekiel 8:1-18 (Behold, a hole in the wall.)
The way this message came about:
I was the Superintendent for the Rolloff Home for Men in Corpus Christi, Texas. I was sitting at my desk when one of my lead men in the home knocked at my door. He came in with a trash bag full of something, which he dumped onto my desk, and I was amazed at what he had found. This home is all about helping the men with their addictions in life and trying to help them get their families back. What was in the bag were empty beer cans, cigarette butts, cigarette packages, and empty cans of snuff. I asked him where he had found them, and his answer surprised me.
In each dorm, there were prayer closets. He told me that he went in there to pray and noticed a hole in the ceiling. When he looked in the hole, this is what he found. And we wonder why God does not hear our prayers.
Even in my own life, I would go to the Lord to pray while holding on to unconfessed sin in my life. No wonder I had a sorry prayer life for most of my Christian life and for most of my ministry. Thank you, Jesus, for forgiving me for my weak prayer life.
The robe that Aaron wore in the Holy Place included yarn pomegranates and golden bells, which alternated around the hem of the robe. The people could hear the sound, so they knew the high priest was alive. But if the high priest went into the Holy Place with unconfessed sin, he would die. Of course, this was before the cross. But it shows how serious the Lord is with sin. The Lord hates sin so much that He gave his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
When I am reminded of the holiness of God, it makes me feel so ungodly, so sorry, and filthy. As Christians, we need to take sin seriously. Our Heavenly Father does.
Introduction
- What does God think about your unconfessed sins?
All sin is an abomination to God. Abomination means utterly repulsive.
- What do you think about your unconfessed sin?
- 1 Peter 1:16 “Because it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy.”
The character of God. The world would say love. The Bible says Holy. Wow!
1 John 1:10 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What a wonderful verse! Our Heavenly Father is longing for us to get right with him.
As you read this article, follow along with the verses from Ezekiel 8:1-18.
- Verse 1. “And it came to pass.” This life will soon pass for everyone. Are you in love with this world or Jesus? When this life passes by, will you be sad?
- Verse 1. “The hand of the Lord fell upon me.” The power of God or direction. We need the power of God in our everyday walk with him. Our preaching and teaching. We need the power of God in our soul-winning. We need the direction of the Holy Spirit and his power more than ever.
- Verse 2. Have you ever felt the presence of God? When you feel the presence of God, you do not want to leave it. It is so wonderful.
- Verse 3. When are we going to let God take control of our lives? When you get to this place in your life, there is no telling what God will do with you. Will you ever let him be in control of your life? Your life is no longer yours. This is a wonderful place to be in when he is in total control.
- Verse 4. “The glory of the God of Israel was there.” There are churches all over the world that, at one time, the glory of God was there. This is so sad.
- Verse 5. You are bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus. God is a jealous God, and he has the right to be. He gave his only Son, and his Son gave his body for you and me. He is jealous over Israel also.
- Verse 6. “Son of man, seest thou what they do?” (The Lord called Ezekiel son of man). There were great abominations occurring.
- Verse 7 and 8. “Behold a hole in the wall.” “Behold a door.” God is showing Ezekiel the sins in the secret chambers. So much ungodliness. Revealing someone else sins.
- Verse 9. “Behold the wicked abominations that they do here.” Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” To God, night is as if it were day. Nothing is hidden from him.
- Verse 10. “So I went in and saw.” What did Ezekiel see? The list is long, and it is so ungodly. What does God see in your secret chamber? Your mind is your secret chamber.
- Verse 11. “And there stood before them seventy men.” This was the Sanhedrin Court. Each man had his own secret chamber. These were the leaders and religious rulers of Israel. In public, they were religious, but in private, they were ungodly. God had shown Ezekiel what these men had on their wall. God Almighty will reveal your sin also. Have you ever heard the statement, “Pastor, have you been reading my mail?” It does not matter how good a show you put on at church. God knows everything about you.
- Verse 12. What they do in the dark. “For they say, The Lord seeth us not.” Psalm 139:11-12 “If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.” I have to ask this question. Why do we try to hide our sins from God?
- Verse 14. “Women weeping for Tammuz.” This was a Babylonian god. These women in the house of God were weeping to a god that had no ears to hear the women weeping. I just had a thought; how many will go to church this Sunday to the House of the Lord and will be weeping to another god?
- Verse 16. “twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord… and they were worshipping the sun.” How many will be in church this Sunday yet have their backs turned away from the Lord. This is so sad. They could have been worshipping the One who made the sun, and his name is Jesus Christ.
- Verse 17. They provoked God to anger. Is God mad at you or upset with you? To the lost, it is anger; to the Christian, you are a son or daughter. You will get a chastisement from the Lord. How does the Lord feel towards you and the relationship you have with him? How close is your relationship with your Heavenly Father? If you get right with the Lord, every day you are pleasing to him.
- Verse 18. “Yet will I not hear them.” Does the Lord hear you? So many years of my life, I would go to the Lord, and because of unconfessed sins, the Lord did not hear me. If you know that, why keep going to him with unconfessed sin? I had to ask myself the same question.
In closing
1 Thessalonians 5:19 “Quench not the Spirit.”
Ephesians 4:30a “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God.” If you go to the Lord in prayer with unconfessed sin in your life, you are doing both of these; you are quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” When you pray, is the Holy Spirit silent? The number one thing in my prayer life that is important is to get 100% right with my Heavenly Father every day.
The link to this message is below. The Title is Prayer, Part II: God Knows What Is in Your Secret Chamber https://youtu.be/VItPbVN7xPw
I have a ministry Facebook page, 4HIM Online Ministries. I also have a Facebook group page. It is Prayer Warriors 4HIM Online Ministries.
I want to share with you what is on my heart, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and this prayer movement.
For the sake of all the lost souls in Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania, I am asking all prayer warriors from around the world to join with us on February 10, 2022, for a day of praying, fasting, and repentance for Rwanda and over 13,447,410 precious souls; Burundi and over 12,442,809 precious souls; Tanzania and over 62,379,020 precious souls.
Heavenly Father, I pray that you will touch the heart of every person who is a prayer warrior that reads this to join with us for the sake of the lost. I am praying that 100,000 prayer warriors will join in with us for this worldwide praying for nations for a day. Coming together united under the blood of Jesus, believing we will move your heart for the harvest of lost souls. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Keith Watts
Online Missionary to the world