“And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe,” Ezekiel 2:6-10.
On the morning of 30th August, I read the second chapter of Ezekiel and I also read from 1 Corinthians, chapter 4, as part of my daily Bible reading.
“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God,” verses 1-5.
Some 650 years separate the writing of these two portions of Holy Scripture but it is immediately seen that the prophet and the apostle were called upon to serve the Lord amidst opposition to their witness by a rebellious people and they were judged to be anything but what they truly were, the servants of God seeking to deliver God’s message to those whose hearts were set on defiance of God.
Both Ezekiel and Paul were sadly deemed to be purveyors of anything other than God’s Word by many believers!
Ezekiel
Ezekiel was required to minister to a rebellious people professing to be the ‘people of God’, but who acted toward the servant of God as enemies.
“And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house,” Ezekiel 2:6.
Paul
Paul was esteemed by the world and sadly, by many amongst the professing people of God, as a deceiver, as he states in verse 13 “Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.”
So it has ever been. Was not the Lord Jesus perceived to be a ‘liar’, devil-possessed’ and a ‘deceiver’? (John 8:55, 10:20, Matthew 27:63).
As it was with the Saviour, so it will be with those who seek to serve Him in this world.
“The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?” Matthew 10:24-25.
Message
The word that Ezekiel was required to deliver was a word to “captives”!
“Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God,” Ezekiel 1:1.
I. THEIR CAPTIVITY WAS THE RESULT OF THEIR REJECTING THE WARNINGS OF GOD, GIVEN OVER MANY YEARS BY JEREMIAH.
1. He had laboured long and faithfully, amidst much despising, abuse and cruel imprisonment. He could not have carried on his witness had not the Lord strengthened him.
“Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth,” Jeremiah 1:4-9.
2. Jeremiah’s message was rejected by almost all. Throughout his ministry, the Lord had to support him against the whole of Judean society.
“Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land,” Jeremiah 1:17-18.
There were those, just like Baruch and Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, (36:4, 38:6) and others not named who would have heeded Jeremiah’s warning, but they were in the minority by far.
In consequence, many of the people of Judah were taken into captivity to Babylon, as the Lord had mercifully and repeatedly warned would happen.
3. And yet the Lord shows mercy to those who offend Him. He ordains Ezekiel to bring yet further warnings to the still defiant captives!
“And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day,” Ezekiel 2:3.
II. SIN AND REBELLION DEMAND THAT THE LORD REBUKE US STERNLY!
Consequently, Ezekiel was given a message that was most severe. Ezekiel says that the “roll of a book” he was required to eat and then proclaim was one containing “lamentations, and mourning, and woe”!
1. Please learn that a true servant of God is one who has totally ingested the Word of God for his day! “Open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee,” verse 8.
The prophet was to take God’s Word as he would take his daily food. He was to receive it into his heart and make it part of him. As food becomes the source of energy and strength, so God’s Word was to enable the prophet to strongly act in obedience to the Lord.
Without making God’s message part of him, Ezekiel could never carry out the labours the Lord required of him.
The weakness all too sadly evident today amongst those who profess to be ministers of God is because THE MESSAGE OF GOD HAS NOT BECOME PART OF THEM! Rather, that message which God called the Free Presbyterian Church into being to proclaim is despised by many today!
Rather, like children not liking the food that is set before them, God’s message is merely toyed with, poked about and ultimately, only nibbled at and then set aside with distaste!
2. Has not the common complaint by many in the pew been that ‘we don’t really hear the Word of God applied to the circumstances of today as once it was!’ Separation from sin and apostasy and a maintaining of the stand to which God called our fathers, is rarely heard in most pulpits! If anything, the criticism of today’s ‘ecumenical’ denominations is very general and non-specific!
There is no real and full proclaiming and application of God’s Word for it would be seen that the sins of ‘Ecumenism’ have ‘spilled over’ into our congregations.
Free Presbyterian minsters feel that they can share in gospel missions with those ‘evangelicals’ who belong to the apostasy, even though they swore an oath which was in response to specific questions:
‘As God helps you will you expose and resist the continued apostasy from Christ manifested within Irish Presbyterianism, Methodism, Episcopalianism and other visible church bodies; exhorting God’s people to obey the teaching and commandment of 1 Timothy 6: 3-5?’
‘Will you maintain with all the strength God shall give you the position on Biblical separation from apostasy as taken by the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster in 1951 at the time of its secession from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland?’
The answer required and given by ministers and elders to these questions at their ordination is an affirmation!
How??
That being so, how can there be a yoking up and a making of common cause by Free Presbyterian ministers with ministers in disobedience to God’s Word and whose advice to any attending such gatherings would be that it is proper for them to attend and support churches within the apostasy!
That can only be a violation of their ordination oaths, irrespective of whether the Free Presbyterian Presbytery rules otherwise!
Silence
Separation from worldly practices is not widely preached and the very opposite is tolerated in many places. It is all too common to witness the abandonment of a head covering by womenfolk without the issue being dealt with by the minister or session.
That is hardly surprising when Rev John Wagner is praised for preaching that wine drinking and the use of what Dr Paisley used to call ‘perversions’ of the Scripture, is deemed by him as a matter of indifference, a mere minor topic, in a sermon recently preached in Greenville Free Presbyterian Church in the USA!
Head Covering
He didn’t mention the ladies’ head covering, I understand, but he might as well have for it is another of many matters some would call ‘minor issues’ about which they feel they can make up their own mind, despite what the Lord plainly sets down in 1 Corinthians 11:13, as His mind and rule on the issue.
“Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?”
The setting aside by females of the ‘head covering’ was one of the heresies that the Lord permitted to break out amongst them in order to test the faithfulness of His people to His Word.
“For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you,” 1 Corinthians 11:18-19.
If God calls them ‘heresies’ (sects – that which has captured the mind), it is surely an indication that such differences are not unimportant views to be tolerated and treated with indifference!
‘No King . . .’
It would appear that it is suggested that since there are differences of opinions among us on certain matters, we should simply tolerate such opinions.
Is it not a case of: “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes,” Judges 17:6.
The Kingship of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, is absent in the lives of many today!
Differences of opinions there may be, BUT the Lord was only expressing one opinion on matters on which men place differing opinions.
There are many views embraced by Christians on the return of Christ, but there is only ONE view that is accordance with Holy Scripture and therefore contrary views are wrong and are to be rejected!
Such toleration is contrary to Holy Scripture and the practice of the Free Presbyterian Church in past times!
A profitable message to be heeded
The Saviour’s call for worship – John 4:23-24 – Rev Samuel Fitton
(31st August 2025, 11.30 am)
As already mentioned, such differences arise amongst God’s people in the providence of God as a test for true believers.
“For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved (tried and tested) may be made manifest among you,” 1 Corinthians 11:19.
Misleading
I believe that such teaching as set forth by Rev John Wagner, is leading the Free Presbyterian Church into paths from which the Lord in His mercy led our fathers out! The blessing that followed their obedience of the Lord is, not surprisingly, largely absent from our churches today. If we are ever to experience that blessing again, then I am of the opinion we must reject the erroneous counsel of the likes of John Wagner!
3. If the Free Presbyterian Church continues to tolerate error and worldliness, then a bitter harvest awaits us. The warnings of Holy Scripture are plain and repeated for emphasis. Added to those we have the lesson of recent history. Have not we, who are of the older generation, seen the Presbyterian and Methodist churches here in Ireland sliding from a position of being largely evangelical to one in which sodomy, transgenderism and other utterly unscriptural practices are tolerated or ignored or even welcomed within their ranks? There can be little doubt that there are office-bearers in both denominations and in the long apostate Church of Ireland, who embrace such wickedness and deem it acceptable for ‘Christians’ to act so!
They have arrived at such an ‘anti-Bible’ state of affairs by taking the same small steps that some Free Presbyterians are prepared to take!
As it was with Ezekiel’s message, so it must be preached today: a most terrible harvest will be reaped by the Free Presbyterian Church if this backsliding is not rejected and put away! “Lamentations, and mourning, and woe” lie before us, or at least with those who will remain with the ranks of the Free Presbyterian Church, if it determines to continue on in this wickedness!
As with the Corinthian church, there is yet time to repent of our backsliding and tolerating of worldliness and modern music and mixing with those who deny and defy God’s Word regarding the apostasy within the mainline denominations.
Paul, in his second epistle to Corinth, said of the man whose wickedness was one of the issues that Paul challenged the church about: “Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices,” 2 Corinthians 2:6-11.
This man’s sin illustrates just how far a professing Christian may depart from the Lord and whose wickedness may be tolerated by his fellow believers, and yet may repent and return unto the Lord.
Paul had challenged and strongly rebuked their sin in his first epistle. “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you,” 1 Corinthians 5:1-2.
The rebuke of the apostle was heeded and obeyed and the church was recovered from its most dreadful backsliding!
This is recorded “for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope,” Romans 15:4.
May the Lord work amongst us as He did in Corinth long ago!
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
4th September 2025