Eat the Scroll: Proclaiming God’s Truth to Rebels

Jun 07, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Glory Knocks You Down to Lift You Up

Ezekiel fell facedown before God’s overwhelming presence, yet that same glory lifted him to his feet. True encounters with divine holiness don’t paralyze believers—they ignite courage to speak hard truths. Just as fire refines gold, God’s terrifying beauty prepares ordinary people for extraordinary obedience. His radiance strips away self-reliance, replacing it with holy stubbornness to proclaim His words, not ours. What knocks us down becomes the very thing that sends us out. [42:34]

“As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”
(Ezekiel 1:28, ESV)

Reflection: When has God’s holiness both humbled and empowered you? How might your awe of Christ’s glory fuel courage to share difficult truths this week?

Day 2: Swallowing the Scroll of Bitter Truth

The scroll tasted sweet despite its warnings of lament, mourning, and woe. God’s people must fully digest both judgment and grace—the horror of sin’s consequences and the honeyed hope of redemption. Like Ezekiel, believers today internalize the whole counsel of God, not just palatable portions. Only when we’ve chewed on hell’s reality can we savor heaven’s promise with integrity. [01:07:16]

“He said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.’ I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.’ So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.”
(Ezekiel 3:1-3, ESV)

Reflection: What “bitter” aspects of God’s truth do you struggle to share? How might embracing the full gospel deepen your compassion for those facing eternal consequences?

Day 3: Flint-Foreheads for a Hard-Headed World

God didn’t soften Ezekiel’s message—He hardened the messenger. When confronting rebellion, spiritual endurance matters more than eloquence. Like rams locking horns, Christ’s followers must become more relentless than the resistance they face. This isn’t about winning arguments but outlasting opposition through dogged faithfulness to truth. [01:15:52]

“But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.”
(Ezekiel 3:8-9, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you backed down from spiritual confrontation? What would it look like to stand firm without becoming harsh?

Day 4: Success Dies When Faithfulness Rises

Churches chasing attendance numbers often abandon their mission. Ezekiel’s calling reveals God’s metric: obedience, not outcomes. Like a farmer planting in drought, we till soil we may never harvest. The test isn’t whether people listen, but whether we consistently speak Heaven’s words to Earth’s exiles. [56:48]

“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”
(1 Corinthians 4:2, ESV)

Reflection: How have you equated ministry success with human response? What daily choices would shift your focus to faithfulness alone?

Day 5: Hell’s Reality Makes Heaven’s Invitation Urgent

Ezekiel’s warnings about exile pale before eternity’s stakes. Preaching a cross without judgment is like offering medicine without diagnosing the disease. The church’s compassion grows teeth when we declare both destinations—eternal communion with God or unending separation. Only those who grasp hell’s horror can fully cherish salvation’s sweetness. [01:20:06]

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.”
(John 5:24-25, ESV)

Reflection: When did you last weep over someone’s eternal destiny? How might keeping hell’s reality before you transform casual conversations into gospel opportunities?

Sermon Summary

Ezekiel stands in exile, five years into Babylonian displacement, and the living God meets him not to wow him but to ready him. The throne-vision arms him with courage for a hard assignment: “Son of man, stand up,” and the Spirit raises him to his feet so that God’s word can run through him. The text insists that the church reads itself into exile too. Strangers and sojourners are tasked with witness, and only a big vision of Jesus as he is, not as imaginations shrink him, will make that witness steady and brave.

God sends Ezekiel to a stiff-necked people with a stiff word. The commission is narrow and non-negotiable: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says,” whether they listen or fail to listen. The metric is not success but faithfulness, because the audience is obstinate and the product is truth, not preference. Word-of-mouth is still God’s primary strategy, yet the content must be the whole Christ. Not just the “happy Jesus” who heals and calms storms, but the ascended Lord with fire in his eyes, the Judge of the living and the dead. The gospel is not good unless the bad news is told straight.

The imagery sharpens the mandate. Thorns, briars, scorpions surround the messenger. Still, he must open his mouth. The scroll God hands him is written front and back with “lament, mourning, and woe,” and he must eat it. The prophet’s diet becomes the prophet’s doctrine. Only the fully internalized word can be faithfully externalized. Astonishingly, when swallowed, the sour page tastes like honey. The bitter medicine turns sweet in the mouth of the obedient; the vinegar of proclamation becomes honey in those who receive it.

God promises to harden the messenger too. A forehead “harder than flint” meets a culture just as hard-headed, and grace makes him more resilient than resistance. The mission field is usually familiar ground, not a foreign tongue, so the charge lands on the old neighborhood and the first tee as much as the far country. The message itself stays disarmingly simple and painfully clear: there is a God and humanity is not him; he made the rules and they have been broken; judgment is already announced; hell is real and not made for people, yet unbelief chooses it; Christ died so the condemned could live. Believe in the risen Lord, confess him, and be saved. The table then fences the claim: communion for the redeemed only, because the body and blood tasted there are the same body and blood that must be recognized, received, and reverenced.

Key Takeaways

1. Vision of Christ breeds courage A clear sight of the glorified Jesus steadies a trembling mouth. When Christ is seen as Creator, Judge, and Lord, lesser fears lose their voice. Vision becomes backbone, because authority belongs to him and he sends his messengers under that authority. [49:45]
2. Good news needs the bad news Grace only tastes like grace when wrath is real and deserved. Refusing to name judgment hollows out the cross and shrinks salvation to lifestyle tips. Tell the truth about hell and the honey of mercy can finally be tasted. [48:54]
3. Speak Scripture, not private opinions The assignment is simple and sharp: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says.” Opinions wobble under pressure, but God’s word holds under briars, thorns, and scorpions. Faithfulness is measured by saying what God said, not by how many nods it earns. [55:53]
4. Become harder than flint A hardened culture requires a hardened messenger whose resolve outlasts resistance. God forges foreheads, not to make them cruel, but to make them unyielding to lies. Holy stubbornness is love that refuses to quit. [75:52]
5. Eat the whole scroll Only the fully swallowed word can be faithfully spoken. Lament, mourning, and woe belong on the tongue before sweetness fills the mouth. Internalized Scripture makes a steady witness when the crowd refuses to listen. [65:38]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[32:45] - Ezekiel in exile
[42:03] - Babylon’s sieges and deportations
[42:34] - Vision that prepares, not wows
[44:53] - Word-of-mouth and its cost
[47:53] - The courage to bring bad news
[50:46] - Tell the whole Christ
[55:53] - Say what the Sovereign Lord says
[56:48] - Faithful, not successful
[61:55] - Thorns, scorpions, and bold speech
[65:38] - Eat the scroll of lament
[70:04] - Bitter word that tastes sweet
[75:52] - Forehead harder than flint
[79:27] - The plain gospel invitation
[81:29] - Communion for the redeemed

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Ezekiel 2:1-10 (ESV)
And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

Observation Questions

What specific instructions does God give Ezekiel about his mission, and how does He describe the people Ezekiel is sent to?
According to the sermon, why is it essential to present both the "good news" and "bad news" of the gospel? [48:54]
What imagery does God use to describe the challenges Ezekiel will face (e.g., thorns, scorpions), and how does this relate to the sermon’s emphasis on courage? [01:01:55]
How does the sermon connect the act of Ezekiel eating the scroll to the idea of internalizing God’s Word? [01:05:38]

Interpretation Questions

Why does God repeatedly emphasize that Ezekiel’s audience is “rebellious” and “stubborn,” and how might this shape Ezekiel’s mindset as he delivers God’s message?
The sermon states, “Faithfulness is measured by saying what God said, not by how many nods it earns.” How does this principle challenge modern approaches to sharing the gospel? [55:53]
What does it mean for the scroll of “lament, mourning, and woe” to taste “sweet as honey” after Ezekiel eats it, and how does this contrast with human expectations? [01:10:04]
How does the vision of Christ as Judge and Creator (Revelation 1:12-16) equip believers to face resistance when proclaiming truth? [49:45]

Application Questions

When have you avoided sharing a difficult truth about sin or judgment because you feared rejection? What practical step could you take this week to courageously speak God’s Word instead of your opinions? [55:53]
The sermon warns against reducing Jesus to a “happy” figure who avoids hard truths. How can you intentionally share the whole Christ—His grace and His authority as Judge—in conversations with others?
Ezekiel’s mission was to his own people, not a foreign culture. Who in your immediate circle (family, coworkers, neighbors) needs to hear the gospel, and how will you prioritize engaging them? [01:14:00]
The scroll Ezekiel ate symbolized internalizing God’s Word. What habit could you start (or deepen) to “consume” Scripture more fully, even when its message feels challenging?
The sermon says, “Holy stubbornness is love that refuses to quit.” Where in your life do you need to persist in truth-telling despite opposition, and how can you rely on the Spirit’s strength? [01:15:52]
Communion is described as a meal “for the redeemed only.” How does this practice remind you of the urgency to invite others to recognize Christ’s sacrifice before it’s too late? [01:21:29]

Sermon Clips

39s

#TellTheHardTruth

“We think it's all vinegar. No, man. You give them the vinegar and it's gonna taste like honey. Because remember that had woe, lament and horror on it. But when he swallowed it, it was sweet. We're so afraid to tell people the bad news. But if we tell them the bad news and they swallow it, it's gonna taste sweet as honey. You gotta trust that. You gotta trust it. But again, I'll give you the balance. Yeah. It can't be all hellfire and brimstone. It can't be your bad people who do bad things. You need to be better people who do good things. What do we believe? Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people alive.”

35s

#SubmitToGod

“Because on the front end of the product, we gotta say, now listen, there is a God and you're not him. He's made the rules and you need to obey, but the bad news is you haven't. So the punishment for you not obeying is eternal death, separation from God Almighty forever. That you will live forever, absolutely, but you're gonna live forever in hell. You're gonna be fully separated from God and there's one reason, because you think you're God. Because you continue to think that you get to decide how things go in this world and they you don't get to decide that at all. The only thing you do get to decide is whether or not you're going to or not going to submit to an almighty God.”

35s

#PreachTheWord

“Surely, we can temporize it a little bit, but at the end of the day, you're here to preach the word, preach the word, preach the word, preach the word. That's what God wants us to do is to tell people the truth of the living word and the written word. Now, this is so relieving, whether they listen or fail to listen, that ain't on you. For they are rebellious people and know this, they're gonna know that a prophet has been among them. So the good news is, is the church of Jesus Christ has never been called to be successful. She's been called to be faithful. Faithful to the word. That's it.”

43s

#SalvationByFaith

“You're gonna live forever in hell in the full presence of the torture and the torment that was created by God, the Bible says, for the devil and his angels. And you're gonna be there. And you're gonna be fully aware that you don't belong there. You're gonna be fully aware that you had a shot not to be there. But you stand condemned, Jesus said, because you refuse to believe God, not because you misbehaved. Behavior has been taken care of. Don't let anybody lie to you. If anybody tells you that your behavior is dooming you to hell, they've lied to you. Because behavior was conquered at the cross. He paid for the sins of the world. You don't go to hell because you misbehaved. You go to hell because you don't believe. That's the message of the Bible.”

42s

#ChosenByGod

“It's easy to look at a person and say you're a wretched, rotten human being. That's not the message of the Bible. The message of the Bible is you were made in the image of an almighty God and his eternal plan for you was he chose you before the creation of the world. He's been calling you since your first breath to lead you, to save you, to claim you, to redeem you, to glorify you, justify you, sanctify you, and to keep you with him forever. But if you don't believe what Christ did, you're bound for hell already. The judge has already determined your destiny. Quit waiting for your last breath. God ain't gonna judge you on your last day. You've already been judged with your first sin.”

38s

#ChooseHeaven

“That's about all I've got to tell you. I don't have a moral code. I don't have an ethical book. I don't have any of that. What I have to tell you is there's a heaven and there's a hell. There's life and there is death. And you've got to decide which one of those do you wanna experience forever. Because right now, the way you're going, the way you're living with that hard headed, stiff necked, obstinate, personal will choice is gonna lead you somewhere. And it's a place you never wanted to be because you weren't created to be there. Hell was made for the devil and his angels, not for you. Not for you. You don't end up there by design, you end up there by default.”

39s

#GoToTheRebellious

“We preach the gospel to a rebellious people, a rebellious world, stiff necked, hard headed, they're not going to cooperate, they're not easy customers. Okay? And this is who I'm sending you to. The people to whom I'm sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Man, you talk about a hard sales job. Say to them, this is very important. This is what the sovereign Lord says. Not what you say, not what I say. I'm not I'm not here to give you my opinion. I'm not here to give you my advice. And the last thing I wanna do is share with you my ideas.”

52s

#BelieveOrBeCondemned

“But here's the truth, the verdict's already in. Jesus said, you stand condemned because you don't believe God. You already are condemned. You've already been tried in heaven. The judge found you guilty. He has sentenced you to death. God willingly crushed his one and only son for your iniquities. He killed Jesus so he didn't have to kill you. And you can either accept that or not accept that. That's not my responsibility. That's yours. I know. It's like nobody wants to hear that at work. Who cares if they wanna hear it? We still gotta say it. We gotta live it. We gotta be it in order for people to know that there is hope. If you're serving communion, please come to your station today.”

34s

#OwnYourChoices

“That God is not interested in the self pity of oh my gosh, I can't believe I found myself here because God's got one word for you. The only reason you're there is because of you, because of your poor choices, because of your refusal to submit yourself to me. I've been telling you and telling you and telling you, you know right from wrong, you are where you are because of who you are and what you did. Who wants to deliver that message? Right? Who wants to go do a prison visit to a person that's in prison and say, let me tell you something, you are where you are because of what you did. Have a great day.”

51s

#TellTheWholeStory

“Often, if we're not careful, all we really wanna present is one side of the scroll. Right? God's like, no, flip it over. Oh my God. Oh my God. Right? This scroll has nothing written on it, but words of lament, mourning and woe. This is the first scroll, we'll get later in the book. In other words, it's the message is not the message until we can clearly explain to people the misery of the alternative. If you wanna know what the why every organization, every human being ought to have a why. Why do you get out of bed? Why do you do what drives you? What you do is not nearly as important as why you do it. The why at Crossland is because the alternative to Jesus Christ is eternally devastating.”

39s

#FearTheLord

“And that's why we needed a vision of his glory last week because you know what that ought to do? That ought to scare you to death. You ought to realize who you're messing with when you mess with that word. It ain't some crying Messiah on a cross. You are messing with an almighty God who is full of wrath. And what we see in Revelation is, you mess with the word, he removes his lampstand. Because if you are not gonna shine the light of his glory, you don't need his lamp. And he just walks away. not pleasant. This is not always fun. Do I enjoy every Sunday? Absolutely not.”

34s

#SentAmongWolves

“But God did not necessarily come knock him down or knock him out, it was to build them up. Not to blow them away, but to send them on his way. That what Ezekiel was called to is what the disciples were called to. The honesty of Christ with the disciples cannot be denied. I'm sending you amongst wolves, They're gonna beat you, kill you and imprison you because of me and they're gonna enjoy doing it. They're gonna love when they kill you. They're gonna love when they slaughter you. They're gonna slander you and they're gonna kill you, but you need to go anyway. Why? Because all authority under heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go,”

44s

#WholeGospel

“It is hard to deliver a bad word. But at the end of the day, the gospel is not good news unless we're very, very clear about the bad news. It cannot be good if it's not compared with what that which God did through Christ to overcome. And we as the people of God, it's easier, far easier, right, to tell the world about a happy Jesus, a loving Jesus, a miracle performing Jesus, a walk on water Jesus, very easy, like we said last week. But when it comes down to fire in his eyes, sword out of his mouth, destroying everybody when he comes back through the power of his word,”

33s

#DeliverHardTruth

“So sometimes the message is not that good. And ask yourself, are you better at delivering good news or bad news? Would you rather be the person to say, hey, man, it was great, but you or if you had a bad experience at a restaurant, you just keep your mouth shut, you're like, I'm just not gonna say anything. You know, I'm not gonna tell anybody. It's just not for me. I'm not gonna do it, but I'm not gonna go out there and tell everybody it was a bad if somebody asks, I'll I'll let them know I didn't enjoy it. Right? Because we're not big fans, most of us of bad reviews. Now, some”

Ask a question about this sermon

Crossland Community Church This sermon · AI assistant

Why must the gospel include judgment and wrath

What does it mean to eat the scroll

How should churches measure faithful gospel ministry

Eat the Scroll: Proclaiming God’s Truth to Rebels

Devotional

Day 1: When Glory Knocks You Down to Lift You Up

Day 2: Swallowing the Scroll of Bitter Truth

Day 3: Flint-Foreheads for a Hard-Headed World

Day 4: Success Dies When Faithfulness Rises

Day 5: Hell’s Reality Makes Heaven’s Invitation Urgent

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Eat the Scroll: Proclaiming God’s Truth to Rebels

Share