Leaving Changed

This message was preached at New Life Church on Sunday, February 28, 2010.

Have you ever had to leave your car in a vast parking lot at an airport, shopping mall or hospital complex? While the answer for most would be an emphatic “yes” one task that cannot be forgotten is finding a way to remember where we left our vehicle! So, on any scrap paper that I might have handy, I’ve scrawled “Section T9” onto it, placed it for safe keeping so I don’t find myself aimlessly searching for my lost parked car at the later date or time. It’s important to remember our beginning.

While it is vital to pay attention to the trivial details of everyday living, I find it to be entirely important to acknowledge how we enter into the presence of the Lord. We should take notice of this in Ezekiel 45: 10-17, we find the prophet Ezekiel writing this to the people of God:

¹⁰ “You shall have honest scales, an honest ephah, and an honest bath. ¹¹ The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, so that the bath contains one-tenth of a homer, and the ephah one-tenth of a homer; their measure shall be according to the homer. ¹² The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina. ¹³ “This is the offering which you shall offer: you shall give one-sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley. ¹⁴ The ordinance concerning oil, the bath of oil, is one-tenth of a bath from a kor. A kor is a homer or ten baths, for ten baths are a homer. ¹⁵ And one lamb shall be given from a flock of two hundred, from the rich pastures of Israel. These shall be for grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them,” says the Lord GOD. ¹⁶ “All the people of the land shall give this offering for the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ Then it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the New Moons, the Sabbaths, and at all the appointed seasons of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

And again in Ezekiel 46: 8-10:

⁸ When the prince enters, he shall go in by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.⁹ “But when the people of the land come before the LORD on the appointed feast days, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate; and whoever enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate through which he came, but shall go out through the opposite gate. ¹⁰ The prince shall then be in their midst. When they go in, he shall go in; and when they go out, he shall go out.

As mentioned in verse 9 above, Ezekiel outlines specific instructions as to how to enter into the house [of worship].

1. HONESTLY

When we enter into His presence it is so vitally important that we are honest about how we enter in. We must absolute recognize how enter in the house of worship. No better example can be found of how to reverence his presence than in Psalms chapter 24. We must be honest in our worship to God because we must leave changed.

If we enter depressed, disheartened, unloved or lonely; we CAN leave changed. Too casually we walk into and out of the presence of God. We mustn’t forget that He is the God of Glory, the Healer of our Body, and He is still Great, Glorious, Holy and Mighty! Our experience at church should be one of good fellowship, but the MAIN FOCUS is that someone can come into his presence and be completely changed. We can feel His presence and feel good, but we must refuse the tendency to leave the same way we came in.

2. ACKOWLEDGE the PRINCE

As Ezekiel 46: 10 states, the prince shall be on their midst- as long as we enter into and leave His house correctly. The ACTIONS of the Kingdom of God will determine the actions of the prince. How we determine to act in the house of worship will determine if the Prince shall come in or step out. Through this, we cannot get away from the sacrifice! (Isaiah 9:6) We must remember the sacrifice that the Prince made for us.

3. We must access worship CORRECTLY

God will not supersede human nature and force us into his presence- The Prince is waiting on someone to enter into the house of worship with Him! We must not wait for a greater moment- just simply worship Him now!

Scriptures continues to paint examples of how and when to leave the presence of God. A great example is that of Luke 24:47-49:

“⁴⁷ and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ And you are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem^[a] until you are endued (a reference of changed clothing or to array) with power from on high.”

It is safe to say we are to be in HIS presence, until it completely changes us!

4. WE must know ALL of who the Prince IS

John 5:1-9 tells us the story of the man at the Bethesda who had been waiting 38 for his healing. In verse 6, Jesus asks the man, “Do you want to be made well?” We an obviously simple “Yes” would have sufficed, the man explains he had no one to put him in the pool when the waters were troubled, and someone would rush in before he could get there (verse 7). The man had learned to merely “cope” with his condition, for he did not realize who JESUS is!

He is:

· The Most High over all the Earth, (Psalms 83-18)

· my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold (Psalms 18:2)

· The Chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20)

· Our peace (Ephesians 2:14)

· The resurrection and the life. (John 11:25)

· He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36)

· The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus(Acts 3:13)

· He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16)

· I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16)

· The Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 1:8)

· The Savior from our sins (Matthew 1:21)

· The sun of righteousness with healing in his wings (Malachi 4:2)

· Our Salvation (II Peter 2:15)

· I am the light of the world (John 8:12)

And the list can go on, and on! The Prince is here, he is in our midst! He desires to do something immediately in our lives- NOW. Let’s leave his presence CHANGED.