One Step Back to God
Speaker: Martin Ward. Church: Life & Truth Missions Ireland. Date: 5 July 2026. Scripture: Ezekiel 11:19
"And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh." — Ezekiel 11:19 (ESV)
What happens when a people who have been given everything turn their backs on the One who gave it? And what does God do in return?
This Sunday's message takes us to Ezekiel 11:19–20, where God makes a stunning promise to a nation in exile:
"And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God." — Ezekiel 11:19–20 (ESV)
These words were spoken to the people of Judah after they had been conquered by Babylon and scattered among the nations. They had been rescued from slavery, given God's perfect law, and settled in the Promised Land—yet they repeatedly abandoned God for idols, wealth, power, and pleasure. Despite warning after warning through the prophets, judgment finally came.
And still, God spoke words of grace.
In the message below, Martin Ward traces Israel's long, downward drift away from God, the mercy He extended even in the midst of judgment, and the deeper transformation He promised: not just changed behavior, but a changed heart. It's a message about how far grace reaches—and how a single step of return can meet a God whose "arms of grace have been open all along."
Take a few minutes to listen, and then join us below for a recap and some thoughts on what this means for us today.
Recap: The Long Road Away—and the Way Back
The sermon walked us through a sobering pattern in Israel's history and then pointed us to hope. Here are the main threads:
Everything God had done for them. God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, destroyed the pursuing army, led them through the wilderness with manna and water, and gave them His perfect law—described by David as reviving the soul, making the simple wise, and being "more desirable than gold." God then gave them the land promised to Abraham and blessed them richly.
How they responded. They turned away. They broke the very first commandment—"You shall have no other gods before me"—and began worshiping idols of wood and stone. Money, power, and pleasure became their gods. They wanted freedom from God's law so they could sin without guilt. As the sermon noted, this same attitude is common today: "If it feels right to you, then it's right."
The downward cycle. Trouble would come, the people would cry out, God would rescue them—and then they would drift again. This repeated for years, but with an important difference: each time the nation fell, it went a little lower, and each recovery never quite reached the previous height. The overall direction was downward.
Warnings ignored. God sent prophets to call the people back, but they beat, imprisoned, and even stoned them. Judgment finally came in stages—Babylon's invasions in 607 BC, 596 BC (when Ezekiel himself was taken captive), and 586 BC, when Jerusalem, the temple, and the walls were destroyed.
Mercy in the middle of judgment. Even in exile, God promised in Ezekiel 11:16 to be "a little sanctuary" for them in the foreign lands where they had gone. Though far from the temple, they could still meet with Him. And in verse 17, God promised to gather them and give back the land—kindness they had done nothing to deserve.
The promise of a new heart. The heart of the message is Ezekiel 11:19–20:
- "One heart" — an undivided heart, fully devoted to God rather than split between God and other loves. As Jesus taught, "No one can serve two masters."
- "A new spirit" — the inward work of God, echoing Jesus' words in John 3:3, "Unless one is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
- "A heart of flesh" instead of "a heart of stone" — replacing coldness and resistance with a heart that is soft, alive, sensitive to God, and able to feel compassion and obey.
- "They shall be my people and I will be their God" — not just forgiveness, but fellowship and belonging.
Application: Taking the One Small Step
The sermon's closing image is worth holding onto: "You may be a million miles from the gates of peace, but you're only one small step today away from God." Like the father running to welcome the prodigal son, God is ready to receive anyone who turns back.
A few questions to reflect on this week:
- Where has my heart become divided? What "other gods"—money, comfort, status, approval—have quietly taken a place that belongs to God alone?
- Am I resisting a warning? Israel's tragedy wasn't a lack of warning but a refusal to listen. Is there something God has been prompting me to turn from?
- Do I need a changed heart, not just changed behavior? The sermon reminded us that what people most need isn't a list of rules to fix themselves first—it's a new heart that only God can give.
- What is my one small step of return today?
An Invitation
If this message stirred something in you, Martin ended with a direct invitation: call upon Jesus, believe the gospel, that He died on the cross, was buried, and rose again; that He shed His blood for our sins so that we might be justified in Him. As Scripture says, do not harden your heart. Turn to Him, and you'll find His arms already open, His grace greater than your failures, and His mercy greater than any sin.
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