Ezekiel 3:16 At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.
20 “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 21 But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”
22 The hand of the LORD was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.
24 Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people. 27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.
The word of the Lord is used 50 plus times in the book of Ezekiel. It is used in this book more than any other book of the bible.
He is chosen to be the mouthpiece of God and this section highlights two essentials that are true of God's word today as you study the bible.
So we will look at both parts
The word of the Lord is to be spoken to all people
Believer and Non-believer, good and bad, sinner and saint.
2. Is only the word of the Lord is to be spoken.
Ezekiel was not free to say what he wanted, he had to say exactly what God told him to say. God puts restraints on him so severely he is required to only speak when he hears from God.
I will say this he also spent a lot of time in prayer to hear from the Lord, which means he had to listen more than he spoke.
Then God would loosen his tongue and permit him to go out to speak.
So the first is a little longer and it refers to the divine authority given to Ezekiel
The Word Of The Lord!
It is the same authority God has given you and me through The Power of the Holy Spirit.
The word of the Lord is trustworthy and there is nothing in it that is spirituous. It is not twisted or watered down.
The bible is only the word of the Lord, Amen
And just for a side note, this is my problem with bible studies by Like McArthur and C. S. Lewes because they look many times for our feelings and emotion, almost to the point of interjecting or changing the word.
Rev. 22:18-19 makes it clear
18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
So we need to be concerned with only the Word of God...
Paul wrote in 2Timothy 3:16-17 about specifically the old testament, 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Paul spoke of the old covenant because the new one was being written at the time.
The revelation of God is two-fold 1 for all to hear and 2 there will restrictions on it so we will have to believe by faith.
The bibe says Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Case in point most time we get part of the sovereign plan of God in prayer, just one piece of the puzzle. Then we must believe and trust the Lord.
And then we read Jer. 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Now it's a catch-22 because whoever trusts the bible is a Christan.
There is something unique about you at some point The word of the Lord took on a divine nature to it. It became truth and you were set free.
They were trustworthy and true.
Maybe it came after someone prayed for you or you were shared too and it became clear as the scales fell away from your heart. But it is not the same.
We all can atess to this.
So what we see in this half of the chapter is anyone who can heed God's word by the power of the Holy Spirit, that's a hallmark of forgiveness and salvation.
Ezekiel is the Watchmen to warn all citizens of the approaching danger, that is God Himself.
And now it is our job to tell others and intercede for all mankind, standing in the trenches in spiritual warfare with the brothers who are in need.
God came so we might repent from our sins, to turn so God sent Jesus to lay down His life for us that through repentance we will be forgiven and covered by His blood. So God is calling you and me to save others from the danger ahead.
We are saved from God Himself so who can save us from God? Only God, in the person of Jesus Christ.
God saves us from Himself,
God saves us by Himself,
And God saves us for Himself.
Do you know that in Hell people are not in Hell being punished by Lucifer?
Lucifer is being tormented by the wrath of God. Hell is not the absence of God but rather the people in Hell are receiving the same punishment as Lucifer.
Psalm 139, David says this in 7-10
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
So Hell is not the absence of God but the absence of His grace and mercy and the presence of His wrath.
So who is coming?
Who is this city being warned of?
Who are we to warn people of?
The wrath Of God!
That's why I love the Scripture, the gospel is not justice or grace the gospel is Justice and grace.
Justice was conquered on the cross.
We may not get wrath but we get chastised for our sins, amen.
Every sin will be punished.
Those are not my words.
But either they will be punished in Hell or upon the savior, every thought is like words to God so we can't hide and say I did not do it.
That is why the Gospel is so beautiful...
No matter what state you are in you can be set free.
You can look at the extreme and say I am a drunkard and killed 5 people while driving drunk.
I was sentenced to 28 years in the penitentiary.
Or you can say I am not so bad I never used drugs, alcohol, or committed fornication, but I lied once and got caught and lost a friend.
The Lord Jesus Christ's blood has done the work we just need to reach out and take it.
Ephesians 3:17- 20NKJV
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
The NIV puts it like this 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
If you look at Philippians 3:12-13 Paul had to let something go to Grasp or take hold of something else.
The word translated “apprehend” in Philippians 3:12 means “to seize, to catch hold of, to make one’s own.”
Even today, it is commonly used in an expression such as “apprehend a suspect” when a crime has been committed.
The word can mean the same thing as “comprehend” – mentally understanding or grasping a subject or concept.
For instance, the word is used in John 1:5, where the light shined, and the darkness “comprehended it not.” In Philippians 3:12, we have the picture of a passionate personal pursuit:
“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend. . .
”But this becomes even more meaningful when we consider the words, “ if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”
Each believer must take hold of God to discover the unique purpose for which he was designed. You find your passion for life when you find the Lord’s purpose.
What was driving Paul’s passion?
He wanted to clench the Christ who was clenching Him.
Or as David said it in Psalm 63:8, “My soul follows hard after [clings to] Thee: Thy right hand upholds me.”
This will give you a better grip on your grasp; it is not all up to you.
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9);
His “grace is sufficient” to help you hold Him better.
His sufficient grace will give you a strong grip. Because He has you in His gracious grasp, you can get a grip on God!
It is only because of Christ that you have God within your grasp.
We could do nothing to draw near to God if Christ had not drawn near to us. According to the master plan of God the Father, rebel sinners come to Christ. He will not cast them out (John 6:37-38).
You see the Gospel is only Good News to those that know they were supposed to die but Christ took our place.
Paul said I let the past go I am even letting yesterday go I am reaching for tomorrow the prize of my upward calling in Christ. I am taking hold of that. That is my call and Goal.
I am sorry but I am never going to get through this.
I think the fine print on the bottom of an ordination certificate should say. Because the Holy Spirit is involved, most likely you will teach over time.
Who is Ezekiel warning the town about?
The wrath of God!
God is doing and using the Babylonians but it is God allowing it.
So How does a watchman fail?
One way would be not seeing the danger.
Another way would be not crying out clearly so everyone is understanding and informed.
He or she could miss the signs.
I never forget the movie The Titanic, the seen the captain says full speed ahead, and then he goes to bed.
Shortly thereafter an Iceburge pops up. The first mate says, iceberg dead ahead and tells the second mate what to do and in the process, the ship hits the Iceberg.
In the book, it says the signs where things like the temperature got colder and other signs the sailors should have caught on.
The Fog should have been enough.
How about the people who see the danger but are the type to say I don't want to be negative and they rationalize it.
Then there are those that ignore the signs altogether.
So Ezekiel is called a watchman. He was to warn the whole town.
A watchman is someone who stands guard.
The population is made up of two groups of people.
The groups are the wicked and the righteous.
What does the world call wicked and righteous?
The world calls the wicked evil doers murderers and so on.
The righteous would be everyone else, non-lawbreakers.
But in the Bible righteous does not mean without sin and the wicked does not mean we are extra sinful.
It refers to your state after you have heard the word of God, it has nothing to do with the past or your default state.
By default by birth, we are all wicked and born into sin but because of the Gospel we are made righteous through faith, and we have a right to stand with the Lord and be sanctified.
So here the righteous are those who heard the watchmen yell and understood in their hearts.
They got convicted of sin, repented, and turned from their wicked ways.
Ezekiel is also held accountable for what is taught and preached not to who he preaches.
God holds us accountable for our actions not the actions of others. If you share with someone it is not your fault if they choose to not harken to your words.
It is our fault if we don't share God's word in a simplistic way.
We don't nor we can't save people that is God's job.
Because Ezekiel does not know who will repent and respond to God's word, he had to preach to everyone.
CH Spurgeon: says until we have the role-call of God's elect, we are to preach the WHO SO EVER GOSPEL.
We need to be vigilant in sharing the gospel with everyone.
Or we will be a bad watchman and pick and choose who we are going to preach to.
When the Lord called me into the food ministry, I had no problem with it but then God said I want you to go to the homeless and outcast.
I began to have a discussion with the Lord.
I pleaded my case and God said Go.
In my heart and mind, I thought there was a big difference between the homeless and low income, The smell, living on the streets, and eating out of the trashcan was not the idea.
Then God gave me a love for them.
I began to meet professionals who were now homeless, people who because of life situations made them that way and put them in that position.
I had to see through God's eyes and not my flesh.
CH Spurgeon: says it is the whole job of the whole church to preach the whole gospel to the whole world...
So the righteous are they that are in Christ.
Jesus was told one day you brothers are coming and Jesus replied,
who are my mother and my brother?
They that do the will of the Lord.
(Mark 3:33-34)
So now we come to verse 19 and we are going to look at the wicked.
Ezekiel is to preach to the Israelites but he is not to show any partiality or preference.
And so it is with us to do the same.
Verse 19 says
19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.
So the wicked here are they who have been warned and have not turned from their wicked ways.
Whenever someone is exposed to the Gospel and they don't harken to it there is no accountability.
And in Like manner, If we are Believers in the Lord and do not share the gospel something is wrong with that as well.
Perhaps you have not been trained or you are shy pray for boldness.
But we are held accountable as well.
So, what this means is we love the sinner but hate the sin, we stand on gospel truth always.
20 “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.
This brings us to the concept of the stumbling block and in 1 Peter 2:7-8 it says,
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,
“The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
So Jesus is how people stumble and are wicked.
Apart from Jesus Christ and His word there can not nor is any righteousness.
According to Ezekiel, there may be a lot of groups but they become one of two.
The hearers and they that have not heard the word.
We know from the parable of the sower and the seed the word falls on all kinds of ground, it is our job to just sow it.
So at the end of the day what is the difference between a seemingly righteous person and one living in sin?
Nothing!
In fact, the bible says it would have been better if they had not known the truth.
2 Peter 2:21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
Now look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1:18 and 23-24
1Co 1:18 ¶For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
1Co 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 1Co 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
So 1 Peter says Jesus makes them stumble and 1 Corinthians it says it is the message of the cross.
John 1:14 says the word became flesh and dwelled among us.
The cutting line between the wicked and the righteous including the seemingly righteous and truly righteous is the message of the cross.
The combination of God's wrath and natural demand for Justice and His provision for the lamb to be slaughtered causes people to stumble. Who.
1. Don't believe in sin.
2. Don't believe sin is that bad.
3. Have confidence they can live before a holy God in their current state.
Know anyone like that?
The preaching of the cross is a stumbling block to self-righteousness.
What this means is those who stumble in this way will perish but live but their good deeds will count for nothing.
You know, the me, myself, and I, group.
Not only do we need to be called away from sin but also our false righteousness.
Our confidence in self.
That is just as important as teaching somebody to quit stealing and telling somebody else to file for bankruptcy because you think you're a good person and live in Crist alone.
It is why Jesus was Hated by the Pharmacies.
The people who know their bad give up and give in.
The people who think they're already good reject Him.
It is the difference between repenting now and rationalization of your sin.
But it is the same outcome.
All groups are judged, one to righteousness, one to pride, and the other to despair.
If God has emptied you of His despair and pride and you are learning and growing, what happens is the church becomes the most a sherd humble people because it is all Christ.
It is imputed righteousness.
Martin Luther says God does not look on the earth and find what he is looking for, He places it there...
Matthew 5 says Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
That means you don't have it but if you are thirsty it means you want it, you need it.
Preaching Accountability
I thought this was interesting in verse 20B
Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.
It is an interesting thought because the man was going along, he left his righteous path, God put the cross in front of him, he rejected the cross and died.
What does that have to do with Ezekiel?
This is my interpretation based on my study
Just as the church will be held accountable for whether or not we preach to all people still we will be accountable to God if we don't make it clear to the righteous people, the kind, the churched, and the trusted.
That they must repent of all their self-righteousness and receive the cross instead of stumbling over it in the end.
If your boast is in anything except Christ I would say you might need some preaching too
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom[fn] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Eph 2:8-9 makes it clear our salvation is the work of the cross not of works of the flesh less anyone should boast.
Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord!
21 But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”
So, the righteous ars righteous because they are capable of hearing the warning, taking it seriously, and repenting.
For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
In Revelations, the litters to the seven churches it tells us at the end of them he that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
I tell children all the time if you're talking you're not listening.
It is vital when God is talking we are silent.
I truly believe one of the greatest pieces of evidence of the righteous is they wage war on their sin, the knowledge there is nowhere to go but God's word and the let the holy spirit change them.
They will say no to the flesh as God works in them His love and grace with all wisdom and knowledge.
Our message is not based on who will receive it our call is to preach the good news and trust it.
It is God's job to do the rest.
You can not be a Christan without excepting the witness of scripture.
I am way over so I am going to give a few takeaways to wrap up.
We are personally responsible for hearing, heeding, and responding to God's voice.
The bible is not a bomb to defuse but it is food to eat.
In other words, we need to digest it not just treat it like literature to study.
2. We are commissioned that the whole world would know the truth.
The body of Christ is the church and the great commission was given t all of us, not some.
3. Clearaty in the church and of the church is essential to the production of saints.
The word of God is first simple, so even a child can understand it, and then it is sharp.
The bible says sharper than any two-edged sword.
But if I don't understand you then your testimony will be ineffective.
So we are all watchmen, we all have a responsibility.
AMEN!
Lets Pray
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If Ezekiel gave a warning and people ignored it, those people would bear the responsibility for their own death. But if Ezekiel failed to give the warning, Ezekiel would be held responsible for their death, and would himself suffer the death penalty (18-21)
If Ezekiel failed to warn of approaching danger, God would hold him accountable for the blood of the people. The principle of blood accountability is expressed in Genesis 9:5-6. If Ezekiel did not warn the people, he would be held as responsible for their murder as if he had killed them himself. However, if Ezekiel fulfilled his responsibility, then he would have saved himself (Ezek. 3:19, 21). The word “saved” (na„s£al, “to deliver, snatch away, rescue”) should be translated here “delivered,” as it does not refer to eternal salvation. Rather, by giving warning, Ezekiel would have delivered himself from any responsibility for the coming calamity. People who refused to heed his warning had only themselves to blame.
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