Are You A Watchman?
Ezekiel 33 NKJV
1Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’
7“So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
10“Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?”’ 11Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
12“Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’ 13When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. 14Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, 15if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
17“Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the LORD is not fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair! 18When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. 19But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it. 20Yet you say, ‘The way of the LORD is not fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.”
We see that judgment is coming
People live as though the world will continue; partying, dancing, drinking etc
Jesus said ‘as in the days of Noah, so shall be the day of the son of man’ Matt 24:37
Most people don’t think sin is an important issue
They claim they have the right to live "any way they choose"
It’s a matter of opinion they say
Israel was like this
God spoke to them about the watchman
Consider the watchman’s task:
He had great responsibility
He sat in a high place, possibly a tower on the city wall
It was presumed they were safe because of the watchman
He would sound a warning if an enemy came in sight
What kind of man would you want on the tower? Alert, dependable, focused
If he sounds the warning and is not heeded, then he is not responsible
Failure to sound warning makes the watchman accountable for defeat or death
We live in a world and a nation where most people do not know the True God
It is estimated that the Church reaches only 25% of the population
What about the other 75%?
People look for life’s meaning in occult religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, Yoga, witchcraft, Satan worship and spiritualism
They are in a pit show video clip; the man in the hole
We have a message the world needs to hear
If the Church does not proclaim it, no one else will
In a survey, 90% said the purpose of the Church is to meet their spiritual needs. Only 10% said it is to win the lost for Christ
Love also involves responsibility. Cain asked God, "Am I my brother’s keeper?’ The answer is "Yes."
What is this message from God?
That there is such a thing as sin that will condemn you to hell
The wages of sin is still death
We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s expectations
The duty of the watchman is to sound the warning but it is the duty of the hearers to hear and prepare themselves for what is coming
No one has to go to hell
The Bible says that he, “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” 1 Timothy 2:4
The heart of God beats for every human being and longs for him or her to be with him in eternity
He created them and came to redeem them
To live without Christ and not experience the presence of his Spirit is the greatest tragedy for people to have
If you do not have Christ you have nothing
If you do not know Jesus Christ in a personal way, you have missed the point of life
Jesus said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36
There are three who bare responsibility:
1. God
2. Christians
3. Mankind
God:
God has made every provision for the salvation of mankind
He sent His Son
God was in the world reconciling the world through Jesus
Without Christ in their life, they are eternally lost
It is often heard, “They were such good people, I’m sure they are in heaven”
Those are nice sentiments, but are they true?
There is a tendency to believe that all good people, whether or not they consider Jesus Christ to be their Savior, will live in heaven after they die.
In 1992 40% of people surveyed agreed with this notion. In 1994 the percentage had grown to 46%. By 1999 53% of the people surveyed said they believed that all good people would go to heaven, regardless of religion or relationship to Jesus
I wonder what the figures would be today?
Yet the Bible says, “Salvation is found in no one else
If God has abandoned us, then why did Jesus come?
And why centuries of prophecies for telling the birth of the messiah?
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6
Christians
Ezekiel is using a parable to explain our responsibility in warning the people of the judgment and so win them to Christ
Men were employed to watch day and night; the walls and at the gates
They are there to guard against the enemy and to warn
Men were employed to watch day and night; the walls and at the gates
There to guard against the enemy and to warn
Tsaw-faw – to peer into the distance, observe, wait and behold
Tsaw-faw – to peer into the distance, observe, wait and behold
Dare he downplay the danger in his mind and tell himself that the army approaching won’t really harm them?
Illustration: In some of the stories surrounding the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 it was said that people started streaming out of the buildings. Some people died in groups, because the people around them convinced them they should stay where they were. Some of the security people on the bottom floor told people fleeing that the fire department had everything under control and that they were to return to their offices. Many of them did, and many of them died. The real heroes were those who understood the danger and went into the building to rescue the people who were in peril
Too many want to speak what they think people want to hear
But we have a responsibility to speak the truth
The gospel is reduced to peace, love and joy; these are in part true, but we cannot forget the reality of the truth in its fullness
We cannot speak what they want, but what they need
We cannot be politically correct and taint God’s word with mans
How can you or I speak what a mortal wants and neglect what God is saying?
Our message is a matter of life or death
We do not have to speak constantly about hell, but about the saving grace of God
But the alarm still needs to be heard
If this building were burgled, we would ignore the alarm?
If we saw a fire and a child at the window, would you stand by and say, ‘God loves you’?
The watchman’s message is not just, "Come to Church, we have a lot of nice people there" but "come to Jesus”
This is the good news that we have to share with the world
Are we concerned whether or not our children have a relationship with Jesus Christ that is real?
Are we concerned about whether they are going to spend eternity with God or without him?
These are serious questions that we must answer for ourselves
Acts 18:6 But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
If we don’t give warning, their blood shall be required at the watchman’s hand; he/she shall be found guilty of their death
But if the watchman warns, and the people do their part, then both he that gives warning and he that takes warning have delivered their souls
When did you last sound the warning?
Not everyone feels confident witnessing Show video clip witnessola
You adulterer! You thief! You drunkard! You murderer, you shall surely die.” You must say this, not in passion, to provoke, but in compassion, to warn the wicked them from the way, warn them to turn from it, that they may live
Acts 2:40 with many other words he (Paul) warned them, and he pleaded with them, ‘save yourselves from this corrupt generation’
Humankind:
“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36
Zec 1:4 Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD
Matt 3:7
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he (John B) was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
There must be a personal application to those whose sins are exposed
You cannot see your sin and expect God to turn a blind eye
You cannot have excuses as to why you rejected the message
· I wasn’t told
· I had to do such and such first, then it was too late
· I wanted to wait till I was older
· I followed this church or religion for years; I didn’t realize I had to do something my self…………………
God gives everyone an opportunity to be saved
Too many want an easy gospel
A social gospel where the cross is no longer relevant
You and I have an invitation
What will you do with it?
11Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live
Conclusion:
We need to take note of the consequences if we fail to tell others
If we have sounded the alarm and the people don’t respond, then you are free from guilt
Their blood will be on their own hands
Have you got blood on your hands?
Illustration: Put my hands in red paint
If so, then repent and go and sound the alarm
It is not an option to witness for Christ, but a command
Give time to respond
Remind them to use the cards to invite people to church
