Radical Change

Ezekiel 36:26

A. Humanity needs a radical spiritual transformation. God proposes to accomplish this transformation by giving each of us a new heart and a new spirit. He will do this for anyone who submits to His will.

this promise to the people.

I. THE PROMISE OF A NEW HEART

A. Read Ezekiel 11:19. God promised the people that they would live a transformative experience through the actions of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Ellen G. White wrote: “The dark years of destruction and death marking the end of the kingdom of Judah would have brought despair to the stoutest heart had it not been for the encouragements in the prophetic utterances of God’s messengers. Through Jeremiah in Jerusalem, through Daniel in the court of Babylon, through Ezekiel on the banks of the Chebar, the Lord in mercy made clear His eternal purpose and gave assurance of His willingness to fulfill to His chosen people the promises recorded in the writings of Moses. That which He had said He would do for those who should prove true to Him, He would surely bring to pass.”¹

B. Israel’s tragic Babylonian exile was a consequence of having broken the covenant with God (see Jer. 21:10; 22:7-9).

1. Samuel Schultz wrote: “Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C. The temple was reduced to ashes, and the Jews were taken into captivity. The territory known as the kingdom of Judah was invaded by the Edomites, on the south, and by the Babylonian province of Samaria, on the north. Demolished and desolate, Jerusalem became a proverb among the nations.”²

2. In the midst of Israel’s suffering in exile, God promised that, through His grace and power, He would act in changing the hearts of the people. “The heart, in its moral significance in the Old Testament, includes the emotions, the reason, and the will.”³

II. THE PROCESS OF CHANGE

A. The suffering of the people during captivity aroused the need for repentance in sincere hearts. John B. Taylor said: “The preparation for God’s work in man was to be man’s willingness to repent and to take practical steps to demonstrate his repentance. This does not mean that human beings have to clean up their lives in readiness for God to enter them, but it does mean that God can do nothing for the man who will not recognize his sins and turn from them.”⁴

B. In 600 B.C., the prophet Jeremiah foresaw the Babylonian invasion in Jerusalem and urged Israel to repent and reform (see Jer. 3:14, 15).

C. The most important feature of this national restoration was spiritual revival (see Ezek. 36:26, 27).

D. The process of restoring the nation of Israel to its former condition involved the restoration of its land (see Ezek. 11:17).

III. THE CHANGE IN OUR LIVES

A. Human nature is sinful and powerless to seek a changed life on its own (see Ps. 51:5).

Ellen G. White declares: “It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them. ‘Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.’ ‘The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.’ Education, culture, the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere, but here they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness of behavior, but they cannot change the heart; they cannot purify the springs of life. There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.”⁵

B. God’s promise to Israel and to us is that every repentant sinner has the presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts to enable him or her to walk within the Lord’s teachings (see Ezek. 36:27).

Ellen G. White made the following comment: “A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work. There must be earnest effort to obtain the blessing of the Lord, not because God is not willing to bestow His blessing upon us, but because we are unprepared to receive it. Our heavenly Father is more willing to give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, than are earthly parents to give good gifts to their children. But it is our work, by confession, humiliation, repentance, and earnest prayer, to fulfill the conditions upon which God has promised to grant us His blessing.”⁶

CONCLUSION

A. God’s promise of a new heart for Israel— and also for us—is the dawn of a new period in our lives.

B. May this be our prayer: “Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unChristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul.”⁷

¹ Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, 464.

² Samuel Schultz, The History of Israel, 219.

³ Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, 509.

⁴ John B. Taylor, Ezekiel, 113.

⁵ White, Steps to Christ, 18.

⁶ ———, True Revival, 9.

⁷ ———, Christ’s Object Lessons, 159.

Nerivan Silva is an editor at the Brazil Publishing House headquartered in Tatui, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

ADDITIONAL QUOTE FROM ELLEN G. WHITE

“Man, who has defaced the image of God in his soul by a corrupt life, cannot, by mere human effort, effect a radical change in himself. He must accept the provisions of the gospel; he must be reconciled to God through obedience to His law and faith in Jesus Christ. His life from thenceforth must be governed by a new principle.... He must face the mirror, God's law, discern the defects in his moral character, and put away his sins, washing his robe of character in the blood of the Lamb....The influence of a gospel hope will not lead the sinner to look upon the salvation of Christ as a matter of free grace, while he continues to live in transgression of the law of God. When the light of truth dawns upon his mind and he fully understands the requirements of God and realizes the extent of his transgressions, he will reform his ways, become loyal to God through the strength obtained from His Saviour, and lead a new and purer life” (God’s Amazing Grace, page 144).