Category: Romans Commentary

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 when we read the book of Ezekiel we should mind the fact that this is a recording of a personal powerful experience with God. The heavens were opened, and Ezekiel looked into heaven and God revealed these things to him; gave him these visions, these images. And Ezekiel live to tell us about it! This is what happened to Ezekiel in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month. What we are reading is Ezekiel’s personal experience with God and the Spirit of God on that day.

So we look at the book of Ezekiel today, not necessarily to know the interpretations of all the historical details of the prophecies; or to understand which prophecy has come to pass or will come to pass; or to guess about the future and things to come. Not today, at least. We look at the impact of the Spirit of God on the prophet Ezekiel. What can we learn about the Spirit of God through the experiences of Ezekiel? What kind of things happen to Ezekiel when he’s “carried away” in the Spirit? Why do need to know this? Because, they that walk after the Spirit, mind the things of the Spirit.

They that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. So that’s what we’ve covered thus far. What other things are there? What are the other THINGS of the Spirit. I want to look two today: Speaking and Preaching in the Spirit. This is what comes out of our mouths. This topic has great significance in the life of the Christian: The Tongue. Think about this: the everlasting ramifications of what we let out of mouth. Do we consider the eternal consequences of simply opening up our mouth? No wonder Paul admonished the church in Thessalonica, 1 Thes 4:11 “And that ye study to be quiet…” I remember a preacher used to always say, “You’ll find out what inside, when it get’s shaken up. Whatever’s inside will come out!” And I guarantee you, it’ll come out of the mouth. Oh the tongue!

He’s demonstrating a WHATSOEVER lesson. WHAT you sow is WHAT you reap. It’s not IF you sow THEN you reap. The emphasis is on WHAT.

Now, have you ever heard someone say, “That’s his/her thing.” Everybody has their own thing. Everybody has their own interests. Things that are important to them. Things that they are good at. Things that they are interested in. What is important to the Holy Spirit? What things interest the Holy Spirit? What is the Holy Spirit’s thing or things? What are the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” We continue our questions regarding Christian liberty, while remembering to keep the message in the context of Romans 7 and 8; which is serving God in the newness of Spirit. The previous questions gave us information on who is free, and the secure nature of that freedom. But now we delve in to the heart and intent of this liberty that we’ve been placed in. We ask the question, “For what are we made free for?”