Ezekiel 16:1,2

Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.

Vile ingratitude

I. Let us consider our iniquities--I mean those committed since conversion, those committed yesterday, and the day before, and today--and let us see their sinfulness in the light of what we were when the Lord first looked upon us.

1. Hath the Lord loved us, though there was nothing in our birth or parentage to invite regard or merit esteem? Then surely every sin that we commit now is aggravated by that sovereign choice, that infinite compassion that doted upon us, though our birth was vile and our origin base.

2. There was everything in our condition that would tend to destruction, but nothing in us that would tend upwards towards God. There we were, dying, nay dead, rotten, corrupted, so abominable that it might well be said, “Bury this dead one out of my sight,” when Jehovah passed by and He said unto us, “Live.” The recollection of our youthful iniquity crushes us to the very earth. Yet though sovereign mercy has put all these sins away; though Jove has covered all these iniquities, and though everlasting kindness has washed away all this filth, we have gone on to sin. If some of us who are rejoicing in covenant love and mercy could have a clear view of all the sins we have committed since conversion, of all the sins we shall commit till we land in heaven, I question whether our senses might not reel under the terrible discovery of what base things we are.

3. One thing else appears designed to represent our sins as blacker still. “Thou wast cast out in the open field to the loathing of thy person in the day that thou wast born.” Great God! how couldst Thou love that which we ourselves hated? Oh! ‘tis grace, ‘tis grace, ‘tis grace indeed! And yet--O ye heavens, be astonished--yet we have sinned against Him since then, we have forgotten Him, we have doubted Him, we have grown cold towards Him; we have loved self at times better than we have loved our Redeemer, and have sacrificed to our own idols and made gods of our own flesh and self-conceit, instead of giving Him all the glory and the honour forever and forever.

II. The time when He began to manifest His love to us personally and individually.

1. He washed us with the water of regeneration, yea, and truly washed away the stain of our natural sanguinity. Oh, that day, that day of days, as the days of heaven upon earth, when our eyes looked to Christ and were lightened, when the burden rolled from off our back! That day we never can forget, for it always rises to our recollection the moment we begin to speak about pardon--the day of our own pardon, of our own forgiveness. The galley slave may forget the time when he escaped from the accursed slave holder’s grasp, and became a freeman. The culprit who lay shivering beneath the headsman’s axe may forget the hour when suddenly his pardon was granted and his life was spared. But if all these should consign to oblivion their surprising joys, the pardoned soul can never, never, never forget. Unless reason should lose her seat, the quickened soul can never cease to remember the time when Jesus said to it, “Live.” Oh! and has Jesus pardoned all our sins and have we sinned still? Has He washed me, and have I defiled myself again?

2. When He had washed us, according to the ninth verse, He anointed us with oil. Yes, and that has been repeated many and many a time. “Thou hast anointed my head with oil.” He gave us the oil of His grace; our faces were like priests, and we went up to His tabernacle rejoicing. Shall the body that is the temple of the Holy Ghost be desecrated? Yet that has been the case with us We have had God within us, and yet we have sinned. O Lord, have mercy upon Thy people !Now we see our abomination in this clear light, we beseech Thee pardon it, for Jesus sake!

3. He not only washed us, He not only anointed us with oil, but He clothed us, and clothed us sumptuously. “Jesus spent His life to work my robe of righteousness.” His sufferings were so many stitches when He made the broidered work of my righteousness. What would you think of a king with a crown on his head going to break the laws of his kingdom? What would you think if a monarch should invest us with all the insignia of nobility, and we should afterwards violate the high orders conferred upon us while adorned with the robes of state? This is just what you and I have done.

4. We have not only received clothing, but ornaments. We cannot be more glorious; Christ has given the Church so much, she could not have more. He could not bestow upon her that which is more beautiful, more precious, or more costly. She has all she can receive. Nevertheless, in the face of all these, we have sinned against Him.

III. What our sins really have been. The germs, the vileness, the essence of our own sin, has lain in this--that we have given to sin and to idols things that belong unto God. When you pray at a prayer meeting, the devil insinuates the thought, and you entertain it, “What a fine fellow I am!” You may detect yourself when you are talking to a friend of some good things God has done, or when you go home and tell your wife lovingly the tale of your labour, there is a little demon of pride at the bottom of your heart. You like to take credit to yourself for the good things you have done. Sometimes a man has another god besides pride. That god may be his sloth. Have you never detected yourself, when inclined to be dilatory in spiritual things, leaning on the oar of the covenant, instead of pulling at it, and saying, “Well, these things are true, but there is no great need for me to stir myself.” Sometimes it is even worse. God gives to His people riches, and they offer them before the shrine of their covetousness. He gives them talent, and they prostitute it to the service of their ambition. He gives them judgment, and they pander to their own advancement, and seek not the interest of His kingdom. He gives them influence; that influence they use for their own aggrandisement, and not for His honour. What is this but parallel to taking His gold and His jewels, and hanging them upon the neck of Ashtaroth? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

A charge to city ministers

I. Ezekiel had a commission to a corrupt city; So have you. Superstition, sensuality, formality, worldliness, were rampant in Jerusalem. But were her sins greater than those of Manchester, Glasgow, London?

II. Ezekiel’s commission was to reveal the corrupt city to itself; this is yours.

1. Because the moral corruptions of a city expose the population to terrible calamities.

(1) Calamities in this life--diseases, pauperism, lunacy, etc.

(2) Calamities in the life to come. A terrible retribution awaits the wicked.

2. Because the city itself is ignorant of its moral corruptions. “They know not what they do.” Poor, miserable, blind, naked, etc. Go and tell them. Take the torch of the Gospel into their midst, and let it flame down upon their consciences.

3. Because a revelation of it to itself may lead it now to moral reformation.

4. Because unless you make this revelation to it no one else can be expected to do it. Who else will or can do it? Not scientists, legislators, merchants, soldiers. The work is given to you. (Homilist.)

Fearless preaching

It is related of John Wesley that, preaching to an audience of courtiers and noblemen, he used the “generation of vipers” text, and flung denunciation right and left. “That sermon should have been preached at Newgate,” said a displeased courtier to Wesley on passing out. “No,” said the fearless apostle; “my text there would have been, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!’”

Uncomfortable sermons

“I remember one of my parishioners at Halesworth telling me,” says Whately, “that he thought a person should not go to church to be made uncomfortable: I replied that I thought so too; but whether it should be the sermon or the man’s life that should be altered so as to avoid the discomfort must depend on whether the doctrine was right or wrong.”

Conviction of sin--the preacher’s aim

It is plain dealing that men need. A toyish, flashy sermon is not the proper medicine for a lethargic, miserable soul, nor fit to break a stony heart. Heaven and hell should not be talked of in a canting, jingling, and pedantic strain. A Seneca can tell you that it is a physician that is skilful, and not one that is eloquent, that we need. If he have also fine and neat expressions, we do not despise them, nor over much value them. It is a cure that we need, and the means are best, be they never so sharp, that will accomplish it. If a hardened heart is to be broken, it is not stroking, but striking that must do it. It is not the sounding brass, the tinkling cymbal, the carnal mind puffed up with superficial knowledge that is the instrument fitted to the renewing of men’s souls. It is the illuminating beams of sacred truth communicated from a mind that by faith hath seen the glory of God, and by experience found that He is good, and living in the love of God; such an one is fitted to assist you first in the knowledge of yourselves, and then in the knowledge of God in Christ. (R. Baxter.)