The Things of the Spirit, Part 5

Introduction

We are in the middle of our study of the book of Romans.  We’ve hit Chapter 8, where we’ve been introduced to the Holy Ghost.  We’re studying this matter of walking after the Spirit, and we’ve come to verse 5, that tells us that those that are after the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit.  So we’ve been investigating the things of the Spirit.  We’ve covered beginning, praying, worshipping, waiting, sowing, reaping, speaking, preaching, and last time we met, being carried away in the Spirit.  And this brought us to Ezekiel and the valley of the dry bones.  And there we found an expression “the hand of the LORD was upon me” and went through the book of Ezekiel examining the experiences Ezekiel had associated with the hand of LORD being upon him.  We learned:

1. The Word of the Lord comes expressly
2. The Spirit of the Lord is strong
3. The Glory of the Lord is remembered
4. The Work of the Lord is uncomfortable
5. The Servant of the Lord is vindicated

The Whereabouts of Ezekiel

“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones…”  Ezekiel 37:1

We’re preaching about being carried away in the Spirit.  In Ezekiel, in Chapter 37, I want us to concentrate on this passage “…down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones…”  Do you see how this answers the question of where Ezekiel was carried away.  Where is it that the Spirit of God carries his servant?  Where can you expect to go being carried away in the Spirit?  I don’t know about you, but I want to go places with God.  I mean we have preaching for weeks about walking after the Spirit.  Well if we’re going to walk, where are we going?  Are we on some spiritual tread mill, or does the Holy Ghost take us places?  Did God not say, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33:3)  Did the word of God not say, “…they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)  All I’m asking Ezekiel is, “When you were carried away in the Spirit, when the hand of the LORD was upon you, where did he take you?

So we are going to look at something particular:  Location, location, location.  I wanted to do this like last time and go through the experiences of Ezekiel and glean.  We’re actually going to focus on the his initial experience with God; we won’t have time to get into all of them.  And there were many locations.  He was by the river, in the plain, shut within his house, between heaven and earth, at Jerusalem, the gate of the Lord’s house, the inner court of the Lord’s house, the east gate of the Lord’s house, and in the valley.  He was set upon his feet, taken up, lifted up, taken away, set upon his feet, entered into, fell upon, carried out, and set down.  So Ezekiel and the Holy Ghost were very active.  And I wanted to hit all those, but alas I have to go where I believe I’m led.

The River of Chebar

So we want to go back at the experiences of Ezekiel and inquire as to the whereabouts of Ezekiel; see if we can glean some truth or help from the scriptures.  We want to go back to the beginning of Ezekiel where he had his first experience with God.  While he was among the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and he saw visions from God.  This is a very amazing description of Ezekiel’s experience.  This is where he meets these four living creatures, supposedly cherubims.  They have four sets of wings, four faces, just amazing looking creatures.  And with these creatures are the wheels inside of wheels.  The bible says that they were “high and dreadful” and were “full of eyes”.  We’re going to get into that a little bit, but the first things I want to look at in this experience as far as the whereabouts of Ezekiel, is where he was when he got the vision from God.

The bible says that he was by the river Chebar.  Chebar is a large river that runs north into the Euphrates River.  It lies between the Tigris and the Euphrates in the heart of the modern day country Iraq.  They were in captivity nearly 500 miles from their homeland.  The Tigris and Euphrates were natural barriers to their location.  There was no getting out of that area.  The only way out was north around the wide deep parts of the Euphrates, up through Syria and down back to Israel.  Or straight over the river and through 500 miles of desert.  They were deep in the heart of the Babylonian Empire.  There was really no getting out.  How did they get there?

Ezekiel says that this first vision came in the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity.  Now, I want you to get some perspective on this.  Who is Jehoiachin?  He’s Josiah’s grandchild.  Josiah was the last good king of the southern kingdom, the last good king of all Israel.  Most all, if not all, the kings of the northern kingdom were bad; they did evil in the sight of the Lord.  When Josiah came to power, the northern kingdom had already fallen.  The first wave of captives were taken away.  Josiah was rebuilding the house of God when the book of the Law was found.  Hilkiah the priest had found it, and had Shaphan the scribe bring it to Josiah.  When he read it aloud, Josiah rent his clothes and lamented, because it was now clear to him how far Israel had strayed from God and from everything God had commanded them to do, namely follow the book of the Law.

So Josiah killed the false priests and burned their bones on their own altars.  He broke down the altars to false gods.  He restored the Passover and the worship of the true God.  The bible says that “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might…” The bible says, “…there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept…”  So there was something very special about Josiah and the Passover that he kept.  No doubt it captured the true spirit of worship that God had longed to see from his people.  I believe God gave them this worship.  Josiah had inquired of God, and Huldah, the prophetess, had told Josiah the imminent doom that awaited the kingdom of Judah.  However, because Josiah inquired and humbled himself before God, because he rent his clothes and wept before God, he would be spared and would not live to the see the judgment of God.  After that God let them have that last Passover, that wonderful Passover that no other Passover compared to.  He had that last Passover and after that, he would die.

Necho king of Egypt was coming up through Israel to wage war with Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon.  Necho warned Josiah not to meddle, but to get out of the way.  Josiah refused and engaged Necho there in the valley of Megiddo.  He was shot by Necho’s archers and brought back to Jerusalem where he died.  His son Jehoahaz took over and ruled for only three months.  Necho marched into Israel all the way into Jerusalem and forced the nation to pay tribute of silver and gold.  He captured Jehoahaz, carried him back to Egypt, and made his brother king in his stead.  His name was Eliakim, but his name was changed to Jehoakim.  He reigned 10 to 11 year and during that time, Babylon rose to power over the Assyrians.  Nebuchadnezzar king of Bablyon came up against Judah and bound Jehoakim in fetters and carried him off to Babylon, and left Jehoiachin, Josiah’s grandchild, in charge.  So Josiah did good and was spared, but upon his sons the wrath of God fell.  Jehoahaz was carried off to Egypt.  Joehoiakim was carried off to Babylon.

So when Jehoiachin came to power, things were not looking good.  The northern kingdom was desolate, conquered by Assyria and carried off into captivity.  Necho of Egypt had killed his grandpa and carried away his uncle.  Nebuchadnezzar had came in and conquered the land and carried off the vessels of the house of the Lord and put them in the temple at Babylon, and carried off his dad.  So half the nation is gone, his family is gone, the Passover and worship is gone.  The bible says that Jehoiachin reigned only three months and ten days in Jerusalem.  I wonder what those three months were like?  Everything that was important or meant something was gone.  The days of David were over.  Instead of conquering, they were now the conquered.  The days of Solomon had passed.  There was no riches, no gold, and they paid tribute to other nations.  When Jehoiachin came to power, they were one king away from complete and utter desolation.

Nebuchadnezzar comes a second time against Jerusalem, and Jehoiachin did not fair any better than his father Jehoiakim.  2 Kings 24:10-16

At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

It was this deportation that Ezekiel was part of.  It was a very sad time and a very poor condition the children of Israel were in.  This was the second trail of tears for the children of Israel.  This was the condition that Ezekiel is found in.  It was this condition that Psalm 137 was wrote:

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?

It was there by the river Chebar.  It was there in their captivity, in their defeat, and in their sorrow that God revealed himself to Ezekiel.  We’re talking about being carried away in the Spirit.  Can I say this?  Spiritually, we aren’t going anywhere with pride.  Isaiah 57:14 says, “Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.”  We’ll never get anywhere with God with a proud and haughty spirit.  Pride is the greatest stumbling block before God’s people.  That spirit and the Holy Spirit, don’t walk together.  So before we look at where Ezekiel was carried away to, we get a glimpse of where the Spirit carried him from.

Before Ezekiel was given probably the greatest experience of his life, he had to go through some tough times.  He experienced king after king turning from God, and seeing his nation fall to it’s knees (not in prayer, but in defeat).  He experienced being captured, enslaved, and dragged across 1000 miles to a strange land.  He experienced humility of the most bitter flavor.  Hopeless and defeated, he sat by the river.  Where was God?  This was the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity.  Ezekiel was there in the depths of his despair, in the morbid reality that God had removed his hand from the children of Israel.  But it was there that God in his mercy and care, decided to place his hand upon Ezekiel.  The bible says:

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. (Isaiah 57:15)

Quickly, I want to give you this list.  Remember, walking after the Spirit, chapter 8, is the antidote for chapter 7.  In chapter 7, Paul says, “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”  In my mind, I want to serve the law of God, but in the flesh I just can’t seem to do it.  But then in chapter 8, he says, “Ah…”

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

For what the law could not do.  The law used sacrifice and offering to deal with sin. So I want to give you a quick list of the things that God esteems higher than sacrifice and offerings.

1. The sacrifice of the body of Christ is acceptable to God.  Hebrews, chapter 10, says, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins…  Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared for me…  Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God… we are all sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”.
2. Genuine, sincere love of God is acceptable to God.  Mark 12:33 “And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
3. Obedience to God is acceptable to God.  1 Samuel 15:22 “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”
4. (This is where we’re at today)  Psalm 51:16-17 “For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt-offering. The sacrifice of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”  A broken spirit, and a broken and a contrite heart is acceptable to God.

This is where you’ll find God.  This is where we find Ezekiel.  We’re talking about the whereabouts of Ezekiel, location, location, location.  I want to say that Ezekiel was where God was.  God was where Ezekiel was.  The Spirit of God did not just show up with Ezekiel and carry him away through this mountain top experience of the vision, but he was with him and had carried him through the valley.  God was with Ezekiel through the tears and through the pain.  How do you know this?  Because God said,  “I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit..”  A broken heart and a contrite and humble spirit God esteems more highly than all the sacrifices and burnt offerings.  Sacrifices are supposed to atone for sin.  They’re supposed to appease God.  They’re supposed to satisfy God.  But nothing satisfies God, but a broken heart, a contrite and humble spirit.  There were no more sacrifices.  There were no more offerings.  There was no more temple.  There was no more house of God.  But found a dwelling place with Ezekiel.

O, the worth and value to god of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  I want to also add to this that God esteems a broken heart and a humble spirit MORE than heaven and earth.  God spent six days creating heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he sat back and rested and looked at his work and said it was good.  God created heaven and earth, but this is what he has to say about it:

Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.  (Isaiah 66:1,2)

He said, heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool, BUT to this man will I look.  This man is where my attention lies.  This man that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word, this man do I esteem more than heaven and earth.  Ezekiel is this man.  Can I say this?  You can be that man too.  You can be that man too if you humble yourself before the mighty hand of God.  Now Ezekiel was that man and God dwelt with him.  And because he was that man, he got to see the heavens opened and the visions of God.  He got to see the throne of God.

God said, “I dwell with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”  The work of the Holy Spirit is to revive the spirit of the humble and revive the heart of the contrite ones.  Jesus said that he would send a Comforter, a comforter of the soul.  What comfort it must of been for Ezekiel to hear from God in the manner that he did?  Paul said to the Corinthians, “Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us…” (2 Cor 7:6)  God has reserved his most comforting, healing, medicine only to those that are sick, those that are broken.  Jesus said, “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick.”  (Mark 2:17)  David said, “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou has broken may rejoice.”  The Spirit of God comforts.  The Spirit of God heals.  The Spirit of God revives!  What was it that Jesus said of the Spirit?

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.  (Luke 4;18,19)

The River of Chebar, it was place of sadness, yes.  A place of sorrow, brokenness, and humility.  But God was there. God had led them there.  If you truly have asked God to lead you and walk with you, I believe he’ll do it.  It may not always be mountain top experiences and smiles and high-fives, especially if you stray from the Lord.  But I’ll say this, or Paul also said this in chapter 8 of Romans, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

The Four Living Creatures and the Wheels

The Spirit of the Lord was upon Ezekiel by the river Chebar, in sadness and defeat, in sorrow and despair.  That’s where God opened up the heavens and made himself know to Ezekiel.  Utlimately, he sees the throne of God.  But before we go there, I want to look at his journey there.  I want you to see look at the things Ezekiel saw before he saw the throne.   The first thing (or things) that Ezekiel saw were four living creatures.   The bible says:

And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. (Ezekiel 1:4.5)

These four living creatures, many believe that these are actually cherubims, angels.  When we think of an angel, we usually think of someone dressed in a white robe with some white wings on their back.  But I want you see the description of these:

1. (5) Shape:  They had the likeness of man.
2. (6) Four faces: (10) man, lion, ox, and eagle.
3. Wings:
   1. (6) four wings each
   2. (11) two wings stretched upward, two wings covered their body.
   3. (24) the noise of their wings was like the noise of great waters
   4. (9) their wings were joined one to another
4. Feet:
   1. (7) like calf’s feet,
   2. sparkled like the colour of burnished brass
5. Hands:
   1. (8) Hands of man beneath their wings
   2. Four hands?
6. Appearance:
   1. (13) like burning coals of fire
   2. like lamps
   3. it went up and down the living creatures
   4. the fire was bright
   5. out of the fire went forth lightening
7. Motion
   1. (9) they turned not when they went
   2. they went every one straight
   3. (14) ran and returned  as the appearance of a flash of lightening.

And then, along with these living creatures, were wheels.  I’m not even going to attempt to try to interpret what these wheels were or what they represented.  All I can tell you is that there were wheels.  And I want to describe them for you also.  Ezekiel 1:15,16,18

Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.  The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.  When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went…  As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.

Like I said, I don’t know what these wheels are other than they are wheels and apparently they’re very dreadful.  But there is something about them and the four living creatures I want you to see now that we have it in our mind what they look like.  I want you to first look at verse 19.  “And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.”  The latter part of verse 20 says, “for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.”  And then verse 21 says “When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.”  So it looks like to me that wherever those creatures went the wheels went to.  They moved together.  They stood together.  They were lifted up together.  Whatever the creature did, the wheel did too. Amen?  Now look at verse 12.  The wheels are not mentioned until verse 15.  In verse 12, he’s speaking of the creatures:

And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.

Whither the spirit was to go, they went.  You realize that this is actually the first time that “the spirit” is mentioned in Ezekiel.  This is not the spirit of the living creatures as in verse 20 and 21.  This is another Spirit.  Let’s read all of verse 20 now:

Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

This is what I’m getting out of this:  Wherever the spirit was to go, the living creatures went.  Thither was their spirit to go. That means “toward that place” was their spirit to go.  “Their” is the living creatures.  So wherever the sprit went, the living creatures went, and wherever the living creatures went, the wheels went.  So this is the picture I’m getting.  The spirit is the Holy Spirit, and wherever the Holy Spirit goes, the creatures go and the wheels go.  So what does that mean for you and me?  If we are going to walk after God, if we are going to walk after the Spirit, guess who’s going to be there too.  The creatures and the wheels!  You say, “Preacher, I’ve never heard that before in my life!”  Well neither have I.

But keep in mind:

1. It was an angel that gave Hagar hope in the wilderness
2. It was angels rescued Lot from Sodom
3. It was angels accompanied Jacob on his way to meet Esau
4. It was the angel of God that went before the camp of Israel in the wilderness
5. It was an angel that drove out the Caananites, Amorites, Hittites, and Perizzites our of Caanan
6. It was an angel that stood before Balaam
7. It was an angel that spoke to Gideon
8. It was an angel that touched Elijah under the Juniper tree
9. It was an angel that smote the Assyrians and sent Sennacherib away
10. It was an angel that shut the mouth of the lion and rescued Daniel
11. It was an angel that spoke to Mary
12. It was an angel that appeared before Joseph
13. It was an angel that appeared before Zechariah
14. Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit, was driven into the wilderness, and after his encounter with the devil, it was angels that ministered unto him.
15. It was an angel that rolled the stone back from Jesus tomb
16. It was an angel that opened the prison door and set the apostles free
17. It was an angel that spoke to Phillip and led him to the Ethiopian
18. It was an angel that spoke to Cornelius
19. It was an angel that stood by Paul on the boat to Rome and comforted him

So is it so odd to know that where the Holy Spirit goes, the cherubims and the wheels also go?  David said, “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”  (Psalm 91:11,12) “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Listen, we’re not walking alone.  The bible says, (Psalm 68:17) “The chariots of God are twenty thousand , even thousands of angels…”  When the king of Syria came up against Israel,  God kept telling Elisha where he was going, and Elisha would warn king of Israel, and at least three times, Israel was saved.  So the king of Syria got mad and said who keeps giving me away and his servants told him “It’s Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel.  He’s telling the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bed chamber.”    So the king said, “Well, where’s Elisha?  Let’s go get him!”  They found him in the city of Dothan, and they surrounded him with horses, and chariots, a great host, and compassed the city about, surrounded the city.  And Elisha’s servant woke up early that morning and saw that they were surrounded, and said “Alas, my master! how shall we do?”  Elijah said:

Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.  Elijah prayed and said, Lord, I pray the, open his eyes, that he may see.  And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.  (2 Kings 6:16,17)

Wherever the Holy Ghost goes, the cherubims go, and wherever the cherubims go, the wheels go.  To walk after the Holy Ghost is not to walk alone.  “Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them…”

The Throne of God

Well, where did they go?   Where did the spirit go and the four living creatures and the wheels.  Let’s read vs 26-28

And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

The throne of God and the glory of God.  Paul said in the letter to the Hebrews (4:16), “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”  If you put this verse together with Romans chapter 8 and the experience of Ezekiel, and I don’t know how to put it together.  I don’t know how to present this to you, but let me tell you what I see.  When we walk after the Spirit of God, when we are filled with the Holy Ghost, this is where he leads us:  the throne of grace.  And this tells us and demonstrates to us the intentions and motives of the Holy Ghost.  This is what the sweet Holy Spirit wants us to have: mercy and grace to help in time of need.  This is where the Holy Spirit leads us.

Mercy and grace.  Ah that’s why Ezekiel fell upon his face: because he needed mercy and grace.  That’s why Isaiah, when he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple, and he saw the seraphims that cried “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of host,” when he saw this, he said, “Who is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips… for mine eyes have see the King, the Lord of hosts”  That’s why Peter fell down at Jesus kness’ and said, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord”  They needed mercy and grace.

Remember the other days when I read that excerpt from that sermon, The Knowledge of God, by Edward D. Griffin fomr 1836?  What did he say?

Why should you not aim at the eminence of Enoch and Moses and David and Elijah?  (And to this I add Ezekiel) The same God that raised them so high still reigns, and is accessible to you.  You may go to that exhaustless store-house and take as much as you please.  Why denumb every effort by the miserable calculation that it is not for you to attain such eminence?  Who told you so but your own sluggish heart?

The reason why we can be raised as high at Enoch and Moses and David and Elijah and Ezekiel, is because we can be as low as they have been.  Humble yourselves before the mighty hand of God and we lift you up.  Ezekiel said, “I fell upon my face…”