Taking a stand in last day conditions

I'd like you to turn with me to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 14. Ezekiel 14, and we will read from verse number 12. The word of the Lord came again to me saying, son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out my hand upon it, and will break the staff of bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it.

Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God. If I cause noise and beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts. Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters.

They only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate. Now we know that God will bless the reading of his precious word. I remember many years ago, actually in 1971, preaching with a brother, Edward Doherty, up in Englehart, Ontario, and having gospel meetings.

And one night, to my surprise, he said, we're going to read from the book of Ezekiel. And he read the first chapter. Now, if you remember what that is, it's all about all these wheels that go this way and that way, and very difficult to understand.

And then he read a verse in the book of Romans, and he said, now we're going to forget about all those wheels and those things we don't understand, and we're going to preach on something that is quite simple. And there are simple things in Ezekiel, and I think this is one of them. Unless I complicate it, it should be a very simple thing.

I think you all know the days that Ezekiel lived in. Things were very difficult. God's earthly people had turned away from God, and they had turned to idols.

And God was going to take them, and was taking them into captivity to the land of Babylon. Then he mentions these three men. And these were mighty men in the Old Testament, Noah, and Daniel, and Job.

And he said, in the conditions that existed in the days of Ezekiel, he said, if these three men were present, they couldn't really help God's people. They could only save their own souls through the ruin that had come among God's people. It wasn't always like that.

Noah, 2 Peter 2 and 5 tells us Noah was a preacher of righteousness. And we all love to read and to talk about the story of Noah. It's something we use very much, mostly in the gospel.

And Noah was a man that says that he was warned of God, of things not seen as yet, prepared an ark for the saving of his house. So even though he lived in difficult conditions in his own day, he had such power that at least he could save his own house. And I always like to preach Noah as a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus.

Those are the people that we want to be like. We've heard that just as our brother closed, and we shall be like him. And we're going in for Christ's likeness now.

And in Christ's likeness, we should be able to be a help to others. And not only do we see this man, Noah, a picture of Christ that says, God saw that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That's a beautiful picture of the Lord, isn't it? It would remind you of the time when the Spirit descended upon him like a dove.

And God said, this is my beloved son, and whom I am well pleased. What did he do? He prepared an ark for the saving of his house. Not only was he a tremendous man, but he did a tremendous work.

I don't know if he built the ark all by himself. We know it took 120 years, but I know that the Lord Jesus, he completed the great work all alone in the cross at Calvary so that we could be saved. And here he is, he was a help to others.

And I think that should be what we are. If we're like him, we should be a help to others, especially in difficult times. And I don't know if the world ever was in more difficult times than today.

So we have this man, a preacher of righteousness. I would take it that he preached silently, without word. We read there in 2 Peter 3, where it speaks about a woman, a saved woman married to an unsaved man.

And it says, it can be one without word. I know the article is in the definite article, but you could take it out and you'd get what the meaning really is. Saved without word, by testimony.

But as well as that, it tells us that he was a preacher. He was a herald of righteousness. Now we come to this man, Daniel.

And if Noah was noted for his preaching, Daniel was noted for his prayer. And I'll tell you, Daniel lived in very difficult times. Taken as a young man, away from his natural surroundings, and yet he wouldn't bow to the dictates of the land where he was taken captive.

Took a stand for the things of God, wasn't afraid to pray. He was dependent upon God. And you know, there was a day came along when Nebuchadnezzar demanded that these wise men would be able to not only tell him what his dream meant, but to tell him what his dream was.

And I tell you, that wasn't an easy thing. And all these soothsayers and Chaldeans and these wise men of that day, they were all going to be slain. They had no idea what this man had dreamt.

But Daniel comes into the picture. And what did Daniel do? He was able to tell him all that he dreamt and the meaning of it. But he said, of course, it's not me, it's God.

And he saved all those prophets. Sure, they were very thankful for this man, Daniel. What about Job? Well, of course, you know, if Noah was a preacher and Daniel was a man that prayed, no matter what the results would be, Job was a man of patience.

And while it would seem that Job was all along, and you could say he didn't, maybe couldn't save too many people's lives, his family was taken. It was an awful day in the life of Job. But you know, in the end of Job, you know what happened.

He had his family restored. But as well, those men that thought they knew all about Job and what he had done to suffer what he was suffering, God says, you go, take seven bullocks, take seven rams, and you offer them. And you go to Job.

And he says, Job will pray for you. So Job was able to help these men that had been against him. And of course, we all can learn from that today.

I think that we should be a help to others. But now when we come to what we have read here in the book of Ezekiel, things have changed. You say, have the things in our assemblies come down to this level today? Well, you can be the judge of that.

If they haven't, I'll tell you, it won't be very long until they do. And even though you and I might try to be righteous and live for God, and I'm sure we do. We all should want to live for God.

Even if we can't stem the tide, I'll tell you there's one thing that God wants from each one of us, and that is to take a stand for the things of God. As I say, may refer more to the future, but I remember being with old brother Archie Stewart a few days before he passed away. And I was amazed as a younger man then, of course, and he was so occupied with the condition of the assemblies and the way things were going.

And I thought they're not that bad really. And there's other men like him, older men that were glad that we ever knew. And they could see things that maybe some of us younger ones could not see.

And their whole desire was for the preservation of the assemblies of God. And I'll tell you, when I was first saved, advice that I was given by my own father. He said, Bill, no matter what others are doing, keep yourself right with God.

We don't want to be imitating others unless they're imitating Christ. But things are slipping today. And maybe we're responsible in some measure for the things that are slipping, but you and I can be an example and we can stand for the things of God.

And my father said, you know, Bill, if you stand for the things of God, God will provide suitable companions. And thank God I'm willing to stand with our brethren here that are at this conference and have been ministering to us, like-minded, all with one desire, to keep us on the right pathway and enjoying the right things. We're not trying to take the enjoyment away.

We're trying to bring us back into the enjoyment of the things that we once enjoyed with so many others. But you know, Noah, can you not help us today? A man living as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. We're living right in that awful days, the days of immorality.

And here's a man that's willing to take a stand, no matter what others are doing. A preacher of righteousness. He wasn't just passive and lived his life and built his little ark and said, no, it's up to them to do what they want to do.

Here's a man that rebuked him. Remember how Enoch was also from that general period of time. And what did he preach? He was willing to take a stand with the Lord and for the things of God.

And he preached that judgment is coming. You know, maybe I'm wrong, but I think actually when it tells us in Hebrews, isn't it, that they searched for him. Why did they search for him? Maybe they wanted to do away with him.

Maybe they were tired of his preaching, but he was warning them. Behold, he cometh with 10,000 of his holy ones to execute judgment. He was preaching with love to them, no doubt, as we do when we preach the gospel, so that sinners might be warned, flee from the wrath to come.

And here's a man, and after he's gone, raptured, taken away, and after the church is gone, here's a man that was a preacher of righteousness. Don't need to get into politics to try and set things right. They'll never be right, but that's not our responsibility either.

Our responsibility is to preach by our lives and by our mouths that God must have his rights. We can't live this immoral life down here and expect to be a testimony for God. But here's a man in faith, and he's able and willing to stand up for God in days of immorality.

He was warned by God. Does God warn us today? He walked with God, and he talked with God. Not just Enoch, but here's a man, and he listened to God.

Are we listening to God? That's how we know what's going to take place. He was warned of God. What a person of faith he was.

Would you start building a large ship on the dry land? They would say, this man's crazy. Wonder what they think of us. I don't care if they think I'm crazy.

Maybe I'm a little crazy in some ways, but in the things of God, doesn't matter what people say. He said, I'm going to carry this out. I'm going to be a testimony.

Doesn't matter what others are doing. Even the thoughts and intents of their hearts were evil continually, but not Noah. His thoughts were on higher things.

And here he is, warned by God, walked with God. Not a wonderful thing. How can two walk together except they be agreed? That's a good thing to apply to marriage too.

Sometimes we apply that one, come out from among them and be separate, but that doesn't mean you're going to leave your partner and come out from among them and be separate. It's really the idol's temple. But how can two walk except they be agreed? And here's a man and he walked with God.

But you know, he also was a man, I've mentioned this already, but he listened to God. But I don't know if maybe you've noted this, but when the floods ceased, if I had been in the floods, matter of fact, I'm getting tired of the rain here and the winds and all that. I'll tell you as soon as the old ark settled down on Mount Ararat, out of and out like a shot.

But not Noah. He waited till he got the word from God. I tell you, it's wonderful, isn't it? We're so quick, like Peter sometimes, and we need to wait.

We don't always get God's mind. I have mentioned many times about Aaron's breastplate and the Urim and the Thummim that were in that pouch behind the breastplate and right on the heart of the priest. And that's where they got their guidance.

They didn't do it and say, well, apologize later if we're wrong. But they had a heart to go according to God's divine will. And we're not told what the Urim and the Thummim were.

A man told me, a man in Hong Kong one time, he told me he thought that there were maybe, I think he said four stones, two white and two black or two one color and two another. And he said they would say, Aaron would say, well, if the two white ones comes out, this is what we'll do. And if the black ones come out, we won't do it.

I said, what happens if a black and a white one comes out? He says, that means wait. I don't know if he was right in his interpretation, but he had the right idea. It's hard for us to wait, isn't it? But here's a man that's waiting.

And while we are individuals, and thank God for the assembly truths that we have been brought to, we love God's assembly. There's no place like it. It's made up of individuals.

And things are slipping in many areas. Are we going to take a stand even if we don't seem to be able to help others? The things of God. What about Daniel? We've heard a lot about Daniel recently, so we don't need to try and go over things again.

But these were days of captivity. And I suppose in some ways we can liken that to many years ago when God's people seemed to be in captivity in religious Babylon. And they're away from God's appointed place, and they can't practice many of the things that they could around the city of Jerusalem.

Away from God, swallowed up, and christened them. But thank God there were good men and women as well in that conglomeration, I would call it, for Babylon, just confusion. And they're in captivity.

But no matter what others were doing, and again we've been reminded of this so much, they refused the food that was in the world. I'll tell you, many Christians today are taken up with things in the world. And you might think now you're talking about those in Babylon.

Well, they're included in it, but even in some so-called assemblies, and some that we were once very happy to call assemblies, we can't do it anymore. What are they feeding on? What are you feeding on? What am I feeding on? I hope we're feeding on the Word of God, and we're meditating upon it. They've always told us that's a last art, but we need to meditate and ruminate on the things of God.

And it's amazing, you know, we may not get very much at first, we're nearly saved, but you keep on reading the Word of God, and you'll find it's amazing, but it shouldn't really be amazing, but you'll be able to fit things together. And you'll read something, and it'll remind you of something else, and then you'll find something else, and you can get a little message, and something you can tell the others to encourage them as we travel through this wilderness world. And not only did he have food, but he had fellowship, and he enjoyed the fellowship of God's people, and we do as well.

Enjoy fellowship with some more maybe than fellowship with others. But even if Daniel had to stand alone, he would have stood alone for God. How about in the den of lions? Wonder how he would behave in a place like that.

I don't know if you could liken a lion in that aspect to Satan, but I've often thought, maybe in my mind, it would remind me at least of the Lord when he was in the place of death. Have you been devoured, Daniel? No, he rose up, took God at his word. No matter what the enemy was going to do against him, we find that he stood for the things of God.

What about Job? Days of ruin, he lost everything. I wonder how we would behave if we lost everything. We have never lost everything.

Lost our house once, but I don't think that was all that important. Have a nicer house now than we had before we lost it in a tornado. But here's a man that lost family.

I always hope that none of my family will ever die before I do. Awful thing to lose a whole family. He still had his wife, but some people don't seem to think that she was much help to him, because it says, of course, in our Bible, curse God and die.

I remember Mr. Paisley and Mr. Crawford asking me about this verse, and I didn't know much about it. I thought it was an awful thing. They said, you know, the accursed thing is a devoted thing.

So she could have been saying, bless God and die. I don't know, but I think Job would have had a better wife and maybe would tell him to curse God and die. Just bless God and then get out of your agony.

I know it's something to think about. I can see you don't agree with me, but that's all right. Maybe you're right, but in ruin.

But in that ruin, he had a resolve. I hope when we leave the conference, we'll have that resolve, and the resolve will be to live for God no matter what happens in our lives. Here's a man, and you couldn't take his salvation away from him, and he said, I know that my Redeemer liveth, that he shall stand on the latter day upon the earth, and though after my flesh worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.

You know, there's other translations give that a little differently, and I think it's Campbell Morgan. He points out that it could be out of my flesh will I see God. I'm not saying he didn't believe that the Redeemer was going to reign on the earth, but even if God takes him now, I'm going to see God.

We'll see him in the person of Christ, and I believe that will take place if we're just taken from this world right now. And then we think of the reward. James is the one that tells us of that reward that was given, because here's a man that was willing to stand for God, and even if he had been all alone, that's what we read together.

Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God. Now, how can we apply this to ourselves today? I've tried in some little measure, but I'll tell you there are many things that you and I can take a stand in, no matter what others do. Things are declining.

We know that. I think we all will agree with that. I know God is working in different places, but I'm talking about our own condition here, generally speaking, in this world.

Things are declining. Used to be there was great reverence among God's people. I've often told you my folks were in an assembly with 300 in fellowship.

I don't know if that was the best number to have in one assembly, but I know this one lady, well, George Patterson's wife, brother George Patterson's wife, used to sit back there when I sat back in the back seat in the gospel hall, and she said, do you know what struck me so much in that large assembly? And I said, no. She said, they tiptoed into their places. They never talked before the meeting.

Maybe you think I'm being extreme, but I'll tell you, God seemed to be with them in those days. We can't doubt that. And there was no dressing down or anything like that.

Everyone dressed properly. They realized that the Lord was in the place. They wore their Sunday best.

We didn't have a lot of clothes in those days, but you had a suit you reserved for Sunday because you were going to where the Lord was. You say, what's wrong with being more casual? Well, I don't know if I could convince you from the word of God, but I know this, that God was very particular about clothing. He clothed Adam and Eve.

They clothed themselves. They thought this clothing is good enough for God, and yet in a way, they doubted it because they hid among the trees. But God says, no, I'm going to give you clothes.

And I would say this reverently, I don't think there were skimpy clothes. I won't say any more. I think there were clothes that covered their nakedness.

You come to the priests, and when they went into the sanctuary, they had to be dressed properly. They couldn't just choose what way they were going to be dressed. Oh, you say, but John the Baptist, he was dressed with a leather and girdle, and well, he was a priest, but I'll tell you, he wouldn't go into the sanctuary like that.

There's typical teaching in that. And then you go back to Genesis to Tamar, who acted as a woman of the night, as a harlot, prostitute. Judah knew what she was by her clothing.

And while in those days, they were ashamed. They had to cover themselves. They didn't want people to know who they were.

Today, it's just the opposite. And I don't need to go into anything like that. So we need to be careful how we dress.

And I'm not just talking about sisters. I have no battle against the sisters or the brethren. I love you all.

But somehow we seem to have forgotten these things and let things just slip. When Peter was on the ship, they're out fishing. John says, it's the Lord.

What did he do? He put his fisherman's coat on. What he had on, apparently, he thought this isn't sufficient. And apart from scriptures, well, maybe I'll put it this way.

I've lived a long time, and when I was a young boy, everyone that went to, they called it church, they all dressed properly. And you know, there was something of God in many of those places in that day. There were clergymen that were saved by the grace of God.

I know that. I remember some that even spoke to me about my soul at funerals and so on. How do they dress today in those places? No head coverings.

Doesn't really matter. These things are optional. It's up to you what you want to do.

And they all go, and what has happened in those places, well, I'll tell you, just go to some of the funerals, and you'll find that there's not very much of God there at all. There's more blasphemy. I was at a funeral recently, and the man that took the service, he seemed like he was a believer, but he started off, we're here to have a good time.

The first three letters in funeral are F-U-N, so we're going to have fun, right in the presence of death. Two rows ahead of where Linda and I were sitting, one man sitting there drinking a can of Coke, another woman's sipping a cup of coffee. I thought, what are we coming to? Is there no reverence? Is there no sign of respect for God? And then most of them were dressed like they were going to play golf or something else.

Maybe that's not a big thing for some of you, but it is for me, anyhow. Just letting things slip. And it's coming in among us too.

And we know of places at once we would have been glad to go to, we couldn't even go now. I've gone so far away. People preaching with casual clothes.

And I don't mean just a sport coat and jacket, I mean open neck shirts and having people on the platform singing, group singing. And the group, not that it would matter much, they're not even an assembly fellowship. And they're singing, oh, we're behind the times, we're going to get things going.

And all these old fogies, and I know you think I'm one of them, but I don't care. As long as I want to try to stand for the truth of God. We're just drifting along.

We need to have a real exercise. And that's what conference meetings I think are for. Do we want to please the Lord? And even in my dress, am I dressed like this to please the Lord or just to please myself? We've gotten maybe into the habit just wondering, will this please God if I do this? Where would I want to be? We've heard of the Lord's coming, where would I want to be when the Lord comes? I tell you, I'd like to be with the Lord's people.

Not at some ball game somewhere, watching people that are luring sinners to their doom. I know a lady and she told me, she said, I'd like to die at the Lord's Supper. I know what she meant, but I said, well, I'd rather go home and eat my roast beef and potatoes and then die.

I'm not going to disrupt the meeting just to die, but I know what she meant. Die in fellowship with the Lord. Where did Isaac die? Hebron.

What does Hebron mean? It means fellowship. And I tell you, that would be a great place to die. Oh, I'd like to be in fellowship with God's people, but first of all, in fellowship with God.

Trying to please him and I'm not professing to be anything, I fail. But at least it bothers me. Ever bother you that you fail and there's times you miss opportunities to represent the Lord in your life? You ever think what people think? They know you're going to meeting.

Your neighbors know far more about you than you realize. Do I understand that I am a testimony? And each one of us saved by the grace of God is a testimony today. But the question is this, am I a good testimony or a poor testimony? So at least we should be exercised about these things and we need to start soon.

Why? Because the Lord could come at any moment. Do we really believe it? There are things that we teach and we preach and I ask myself, has the truth really gripped me? It's so easy to drift along and you know what they say in the world? Go along with the flow. When I lived near the city of Detroit, one time on the radio, they interviewed a man in a bar and it was at Easter time and ask him what he thought about Easter.

Oh, he said, I'm a Christian. And he said, well, what are you doing here drinking in the bar? Well, he says, you have to go with the flow. We don't have to go with the flow.

We need to take a stand. What awful conditions to think that these three great men, even if they were here today or as things are progressing or regressing more and more, he said they could only save their own soul. So anyhow, I hope I want to be an encouragement so that you won't just go and follow others like sheep.

Take a stand for the things that are God. Have we any love for the Lord? Do we want to please him? We want to please him. It doesn't matter what others, they may do it.

I can't because I want to go according to the word of God. So may the Lord stir us up and these difficult days in which we live and there's departure on every hand. May the Lord help us to take a stand, not legally, but to love the Lord Jesus so much that I want to please him in my life day by day.

And I want to be a testimony for him.