RIP TIDE
2. Life Guard On Duty
As we continue in our message series RIP TIDE,
this evening we are talking about
Life Guard on Duty.
Last week we heard God’s warning to us
about the Rip Tide of sin
and the pull it has in our life.
He tells us very clearly in His Word,
not to be deceived.
This week, we’re looking at the Life Guards
He has put in place to help protect us.
There is one mentioned
in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel.
Although he is called a “watchman”
instead of a life guard,
his duties were the same.
Ezekiel 33 “The word of the LORD came to me:
"Son of man, speak to your countrymen
and say to them:
’When I bring the sword against a land,
and the people of the land
choose one of their men
and make him their watchman (life guard),
and he sees the sword (riptide)
coming against the land
and blows the trumpet (whistle)
to warn the people,
then if anyone hears the trumpet (whistle)
but does not take warning
and the sword (riptide) comes and takes his life,
his blood will be on his own head.
Since he heard the sound of the trumpet (whistle)
but did not take warning,
his blood will be on his own head.
If he had taken warning,
he would have saved himself.
But if the watchman (lifeguard)
sees the sword (riptide) coming
and does not blow the trumpet (whistle)
to warn the people and the sword (riptide)
comes and takes the life of one of them,
that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman (lifeguard)
accountable for his blood.’
Did you get that?
God tells us that He has put lifeguards in place
to warn us of impending danger in the water.
Have you ever had a sin sneak into your life
or had a sin in your life
that you thought was harmless?
Then did God send someone
to warn you about the sin?
Sometimes, being on the outside looking in,
you can see more clearly the adverse effects
sin has on someone’s life.
Take those warnings seriously.
God tells us here in Ezekiel
that He has put people in place to watch over us,
to warn us of impending danger.
And if one of God’s watchmen, or lifeguards
blows the whistle to warn you of danger ahead
on your current path, you better listen.
If you don’t, then whatever happens to you
is on your own hands.
If you hear the warning whistle,
change your ways,
and swim perpendicular to the pull of sin,
then you will save yourself from certain death.
Now what if you are one of the lifeguards
God put here to watch over other people?
I would like to ask Gwen Salerno
to come up here for a minute.
Does everyone here know Gwen?
She’s a great girl.
She’s one of our teens
who’s been coming to New Hope
for how long now Gwen?
She was even saved and I think baptized
right here at New Hope!
We love having her here
as part of our body of Christ.
She serves here at New Hope
by running our spot light for us on Friday nights.
And her family is very gracious
in allowing our youth group
to meet in their basement every week.
They are very hospitable folks
and they even feed us every Tuesday!
We really appreciate Gwen and her family
for all they do for us.
Anyway, if you didn’t already know,
I bet you would be surprised to find out
that Gwen is a lifeguard!
As a matter of fact, she’s a professional life guard.
Gwen, can you tell me a little bit
about your responsibilities as a life guard?
Have you ever had to rescue anyone
while you were on watch?
Now Gwen lifeguards at a public pool
so she probably hasn’t had too many dealings
with rip tides.
Have you Gwen? I didn’t think so!
But Gwen, let me ask you this:
What do you do if you see someone at the pool
who is doing something wrong,
or who’s in danger?
Do you run down your life guard stand
and whisper in their ear to stop?
Most lifeguards I’ve seen,
blow their whistle as loud as they can,
then they do full body sign language
to send the offending person
a very obvious message,
telling them what they need to change.
Now why do you think they make such a scene
to get someone’s attention when they see danger?
Let’s look at I Timothy.
1 Timothy 5:20
Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly,
so that the others may take warning.
Now that’s a pretty good reason isn’t it?
Gwen, when you blow your whistle
and make all those signs,
does only one person look at you?
Usually everyone else
BUT the person you are trying to warn
looks at you don’t they?
Aren’t we like that sometimes too?
When I’m up here preaching,
and you’re sitting there listening thinking,
Wow, I hope so and so is listening to this,
they sure need to hear that.
Boy is he preaching to so and so…
Did you ever stop to think
that maybe God is talking to YOU about YOU?
Maybe YOU are the one
the whistle is being blown at!
And when the whistle is blown,
we should do a serious check on ourselves
and see what the life guard is warning us about.
Remember, God gives public rebukes
so that all of us will be warned of the danger.
Now Gwen,
if in fact there was an emergency situation,
and you were suddenly made aware
that someone was in trouble,
and you had to jump in to save them,
are you putting yourself in any danger?
Are there any precautions you take
to protect yourself?
Let’s look at the spiritual application here.
Galatians 6:1
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin,
you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
Isn’t that the same?
When we try to save someone who is in trouble,
we have to be very careful that we, too,
don’t get caught up in the current.
Remember, a Rip Tide is subtle.
You can get into trouble quickly
without even realizing it.
Now Gwen, if you were on duty,
and you saw
that someone was in trouble in the water,
but you were just too tired to warn them,
if you didn’t blow your whistle,
whose fault would it be if that person drowned?
It would be your fault
because you were placed
in that position of authority,
to warn people of any danger you see.
But would you agree that there are some people
who just really don’t want to hear it?
In fact, we have admitted offenders
right here in this room tonight.
While we were at the beach with the teens,
some of them told me
how they purposefully disregard
the lifeguard’s warnings
and either pretend not to hear the whistle,
or they turn the other way
as if they’re looking for who the offending party is.
Now if you warned someone like this,
and they chose not to listen to your warning,
(as these teens admitted they do),
whose fault would it be if they drowned?
It would be their own.
You are put there to warn people,
and to help them if they will let you.
But if they refuse your help,
it’s no longer your problem, right?
Thank you Gwen you can be seated.
Let’s give Gwen a hand.
Now back in Ezekiel 33 God tells us
this very same thing.
“Son of man,
I have made you a watchman (lifeguard)
for the house of Israel;
so hear the word I speak and give them warning. Then I say to the wicked, ’O wicked man, you will surely die,’
and you do not speak out
to dissuade him from his ways,
that wicked man will die for his sin,
and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man
to turn from his ways and he does not do so,
he will die for his sin,
but you will have saved yourself.”
If God puts you into a position
where you catch someone in sin
(which has happened many times in my own life)
then He has also placed the burden of responsibility
on your shoulders to warn that person
of the danger they are in
if they don’t change their ways.
If you choose not to warn them,
then you are guilty of their blood when they die.
If you warn them,
but they refuse to change their ways,
then you’re released from the guilt
and they’re responsible for themselves.
I believe God warns every one of His children
when they’re in danger,
if not by someone else,
then by their own conscience.
Sandra shared with us in her testimony
that God wouldn’t leave her alone.
She was purposefully trying to swim
into the RIP TIDE.
She wanted to die.
But God simply wouldn’t allow it.
And I’ve heard other people
say the same thing as well.
God warns us and warns us and warns us.
Is He warning you tonight?
Are you heeding His warnings?
Again in Ezekiel 33,
“Son of man, say to the house of Israel,
’This is what you are saying:
"Our offenses and sins weigh us down,
and we are wasting away because of them.
How then can we live?"
’Say to them, ’As surely as I live,
declares the Sovereign LORD,
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked,
but rather that they turn from their ways
and live.
Turn! Turn from your evil ways!
Why will you die, O house of Israel?’”
God pleads with the wicked,
just like He pleaded with Sandra.
God says He’s not pleased
to see even wicked people die.
He would rather they turn from their evil ways
(swim perpendicular to the current)
and live the life He designed for them to live.
Then here’s another twist I really found interesting.
“Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, ’The righteousness of the righteous man
will not save him when he disobeys,
and the wickedness of the wicked man
will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins,
will not be allowed to live
because of his former righteousness.’
If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live,
but then he trusts in his righteousness
and does evil,
none of the righteous things he has done
will be remembered;
he will die for the evil he has done.
And if I say to the wicked man,
’You will surely die,’
but he then turns away from his sin
and does what is just and right-
if he gives back what he took
in pledge for a loan,
returns what he has stolen,
follows the decrees that give life,
and does no evil,
he will surely live; he will not die.
None of the sins he has committed
will be remembered against him.
He has done what is just and right;
he will surely live.”
Here’s the message for those of you
who have been in church all your life.
Or for those who think they would never get caught
in the current of a spiritual rip tide.
What does the Bible say happens
if a righteous man gets caught in a rip tide?
The Bible says that his righteousness,
or his previous good works won’t save him from it.
Righteousness is not a life preserver.
You are in just as much danger as the wicked
when it comes to the pull of sin.
Your past good deeds
will not save you from present or future sins.
In fact, it says that All the good deeds he has done
will be forgotten and he will die.
Whoa.
That takes a little bit of air out of your tires
now doesn’t it?
That’s why we ALL have to be on guard
at all times.
We are all in danger anytime we’re in the water,
and Life is the water.
Sin is the RIP TIDE
that wants to carry us out to sea.
The Bible says to “Take heed, lest you fall.”
Don’t waste all the good you have ever done
by giving in to the pleasure of sin
even for a moment—It’s not worth it.
If you think it is, then you really don’t have a clue
as to what kind of rewards await you in heaven.
What happens if a wicked man
escapes from a Rip Tide?
On the other side of the coin,
God says if the wicked
will turn away from their sinful past,
and turn to God to save them,
and begin to do good works,
then None of the sins they have committed
will be held against them and they will live!
Now that’s a promise to hold on to!
There’s the salvation you have been looking for.
Those of you who have been in the pull
of the Rip Tide so long
and you’re exhausted and want to let go,
you feel like you are giving in
to the pull of the Rip Tide,
but it’s not your desire to do so,
then start swimming with all your might,
perpendicular to the current.
Know that God will not hold any of your past sins
against you.
Swim!
Like it or not, that’s God’s system.
God is our only salvation from the Rip Tide.
And it pays all of us to
Stay out of the RIP TIDE of SIN.
