EZEKIEL 3:16-21 CALLED TO BE A WATCHMAN2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 3:16-21 Called To Be A Watchman

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. Well, this morning as we look at Ezekiel chapter 3, we're looking at a portion where Ezekiel is being commissioned by God. And so the title of the message this morning is called, To Be a Watchman.

Because here we see this call is given to Ezekiel. Here he is in Babylon. And the context of this call in his life, this commissioning of God, is that he is a captive in Babylon amongst other Jews who were taken captive. And we've been talking about this timeline for several weeks now as we've looked at Jeremiah as well as Lamentations last week. We're looking at this period of

where Judah has come to the end, really, of its kingdom because of their rebellion against God. And God has used Babylon to bring judgment, to conquer Judah, and to lead them away captive. But as I've mentioned in the past, it happened in stages, and Babylon actually conquered Jerusalem three times. And

The first time Babylon conquered, some of the people from Judah were taken captive back to Babylon, but a lot of people were left there in Judah in the land. And then they rebelled again and Babylon came back and conquered a second time.

And again, captives were taken. And that second time, Ezekiel was in that mix. He was taken captive from Jerusalem back to Babylon. And so now he's there in captivity in Babylon with a bunch of other Jews. And the third time,

third time that Babylon comes against Jerusalem is going to be the final time where the city of Jerusalem is conquered, it's leveled, and all of the people will be emptied out of the land as a result of the final destruction.

But here is Ezekiel in between that second conquering and the third conquering. And he is going to be called by God to minister to the Jews around him regarding the things that are to come. And he's going to be announcing that third destruction of Jerusalem.

It was a necessary ministry because the false prophets were there also declaring that Babylon was going to be broken, that they would very soon return to Jerusalem. And the problem with that is there was no need for them to repent then. There was no call to repentance by the false prophets then.

And so Ezekiel was sent by God to correct the bad information, but also to declare there needs to be repentance and a turning back to God. This is all the result of rebellion against God, and that's why God has brought judgment upon the kingdom of Judah. And so Ezekiel is commissioned and called by the Lord in this time, and God specifically calls him a watchman. And so I grabbed this picture. Oops, no, I didn't grab that picture. Okay.

You know how it is on Sunday mornings. Try this again. There we go. So I grabbed this picture of a fire alarm because I think it's a good illustration for us. Now, I seriously considered setting off a fire alarm...

But I thought that might be illegal. Rick might have a hard time with that and kind of, you know, rebuke me afterwards. I thought about, you know, setting off a smoke detector. And I thought, ah, that's just going to scare people. So a picture will have to do. Okay, so just imagine blaring alarms, lights flashing, you know, danger is imminent. That's what a fire alarm is. And really, that's what a watchman is called to do, similar to that kind of alert. And that's Ezekiel's call. And this morning, as we walk through this,

I would also encourage you that that's your call. As a believer in Jesus, we're called to be watchmen. He's called us to be light to this world. He's called us to be the ones who bring the gospel and make disciples. We're called to be watchmen in many ways. And so we can learn a lot from Ezekiel's call here in Ezekiel chapter three. So there's four points we'll

work through as we work our way down. The first one is in verse 17. Here's point number one. Receive your assignment from God. Receive your assignment from God. I think, ladies, you're going to have to control it for me. You good? All right. So receive your assignment from God. Here's what it says in verse 17. Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore, hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me.

Here is God's commissioning of Ezekiel, and he says, I've made you a watchman. Now, Ezekiel would have understood what this entailed. It was something normal for them. They would, in their cities, place watchmen on the walls at different places. And the responsibility of the watchman was to stand on the wall and be looking for any danger approaching.

especially in times where they were under attack. You could understand the watchman would be there 24-7, always on alert, on the wall, ready for whatever may come. And their whole objective was to sound the alarm.

Sometimes they would have a signal fire. So they would have, you know, a pile of stubble there ready to go. And as soon as they would see trouble, they could light it and boom. And then everybody would know there's something going on, you know, over there. Or they would sound a trumpet or sound an alarm, ring a bell, you know, any kind of alert in order to call people's attention to the danger that was coming. And so that was the responsibility of a watchman.

I think we got to see a pretty good example of that this week. In the news, you probably saw the things going on back east with the hurricane that was hitting Florida. And so the governor there, Rick Scott, he says to people in Florida, this storm will kill you. And he's calling people to evacuate. He says, look, if you stay...

that there's almost certain death. It's going to be, you know, really crazy and we're not going to be able to get to you and so you need to get out. He was a watchman. He was sounding the alarm, getting people's attention, calling them to act and respond to the situation that was at hand. And that's a good example of a watchman. Now, I would also point out that a watchman is different than a guard, right?

If I was going to set a guard at the door, the guard's responsibility is different than the watchman's. The watchman would say, hey, somebody's coming, somebody's coming, everybody pay attention, look, somebody's coming. The

The guard is going to stand there and say, no, you're not getting in. And I'm going to do everything that I can. I'm going to do everything that I must. I will do everything that I need to prevent you from entering in. And so there's a difference between a guard and a watchman. The watchman is the one who sounds the alarm, who calls out the alert. The watchman is not responsible to keep it from happening, but just responsible to warn the

that it is happening and sound the alarm of what is to come. So let me ask you a dumb question. Does a fire alarm keep a fire from starting? Obviously, the answer is no, right? We can't have a sense of security and say, no fire could ever happen in this building because we have a smoke detector. So we're safe. We don't need to worry about fire. It won't happen. No, it doesn't work that way. Does a fire alarm put a fire out? No, it doesn't.

Well, maybe some of the new ones, you know, it starts the sprinklers and helps a little bit. But overall, I think we would say no. Having the fire alarm doesn't prevent a fire from happening and it doesn't put the fire out. Most fire alarms don't actually even call the fire department.

So what is the point then of the fire alarm? Well, the point of the fire alarm is to alert everybody nearby and say, hey, you're in danger. Move right now. That's essentially the point of the fire alarm. In fact, many fire alarms have a sign right next to them. Like if you see this bell ringing or you hear this bell ringing, call the fire department. It's an alarm. It's an alert to get your attention, to get you into action. So what is the point of the fire alarm?

And that is the role and the responsibility of a watchman. That's what Ezekiel is called to do. And so God says, I have made you a watchman. But notice God gives some specific direction for his mission. In verse 17, he says, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. So it's one thing to be a watchman.

There was many nations, you know, there was many peoples that Ezekiel might minister to in that regard, but he was specifically a watchman for the house of Israel. He didn't get to choose who he was going to be a watchman for. He was assigned. He was appointed. God gave him, these are your marching orders. You are to stay here. You're to stand here. You're to sound the alarm here for these nations.

people. And I would suggest Ezekiel probably wouldn't pick them if he had the opportunity. If God would say, hey, you could be a watchman for any people you want, he might have picked someone else because this was going to be a tough job. Because the house of Israel has been very stubborn in the rebellion against God. In fact, God tells him earlier in Ezekiel chapter 3,

He says, I'm not sending you to unfamiliar people or people of unfamiliar speech. In other words, you're not going to be a missionary to a foreign country. I'm sending you to your own people. And God says, if I would have sent you to another people, they would have listened to you. But I'm sending you to your own people and they are not going to listen to you. Ezekiel, this is going to be a tough job, a tough assignment. You're going to be called to be a watchman here and they're not going to listen to the warnings that you sound.

He was assigned to the house of Israel. Do you think Ezekiel also saw wickedness in the houses of the people of Babylon that were in their midst? They were there in Babylon. They had neighbors from Babylon practicing wickedness and engaged in all kinds of sinfulness. Absolutely, Ezekiel saw those things. But you know, Ezekiel was not a watchman for Babylon. He was not a watchman for Babylon.

He wasn't sent to call Babylon to repentance. And so you don't see that in his book. He announces their judgment later on in some of the later chapters. But he wasn't a watchman for Babylon. He was a watchman for Israel.

And the point I'm seeking to make here as we get started in talking about a watchman is you and I have a similar calling. We are called to be watchmen. Now, watchmen, watchwomen, watchpeople, I'm going to say watchmen for simplicity, okay? But you understand I'm talking about all of us. As believers, the Lord has given us the gospel. He's given us the light. He's given us the responsibility to make disciples. It's a responsibility that every believer has, right?

And so to some degree, you are all called to be watchmen. You are entrusted with people by the Lord. There's people in your life that God has entrusted to you and called you, well, to share with.

Whether it be the gospel so that they might get saved or whether it be other exhortations that they might continue to walk or calls to repentance, whatever the conditions may be, the Lord will give you the message that's appropriate, but you are called to be a watchman.

And this is an assignment that you don't get to choose. You don't get to decide, well, I want to be a watchman to living water, or I want to be a watchman to Agua Viva, or I want to be a watchman to Okinawa or to Hawaii. You don't get to choose that assignment. This is assigned to you just like Ezekiel was assigned, hey, you're a watchman for the house of Israel.

God calls each of us and gives us responsibility and a realm of authority and influence that he desires for us to use for the kingdom of God. We can also see this reflected in Galatians 2, verse 7, where Paul is talking about his ministry and the difference between his ministry and Peter's ministry that they discovered in Acts 15. There in Acts 15, they were looking at Paul's ministry to the Gentiles,

And Paul's accounting there, recounting there how they recognize, look, God has called Paul to minister to the Gentiles in the same way that he's called Peter to minister to the Jews. Peter wasn't a watchman for the Gentiles. He was a watchman for the Jews. Paul was a watchman for the Gentiles. They each had been given their responsibility from the Lord.

And so they were called to fulfill that ministry and minister and bring forth the message from the Lord to those specific people that God had called them to minister to. That's what it means to be a watchman. You have your assignment. You're not to be on that wall. You're to be on that wall. You know, God assigns us our role, our responsibility. And you have that assignment from the Lord. You don't get to choose that assignment. And let me say it another way. It's not your responsibility to correct every wrong that you see.

It's not your responsibility to correct everybody in the way that you want to. Listen, not even Jesus did that. Think about, I was thinking about Luke chapter 12, when Jesus is teaching the people. And remember, one guy shouts out from the crowd and says, hey, teacher, will you tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me? There's an injustice happening. There's unfairness going on. And Jesus says, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?

And then he goes on to teach about covetousness. He doesn't try to right whatever wrong was going on there. Instead, he ministers to the heart. He doesn't try to fix everything. And sometimes, you know, we distract really from the work that God wants to do by trying to fix things that God hasn't given us authority over those things. He hasn't given us that responsibility. Some things are not part of the job that God has called us to do.

And so I think we need to have a little bit of clarity on our assignment. Here Ezekiel hears from the Lord, I've called you to be a watchman for the house of Israel. Specific scope, specific responsibility, this is your assignment. And so I would encourage you to be seeking the Lord and to get some clarity from God on what your assignment is. And you might be assigned a nation.

like Ezekiel was. You might be assigned a nation like Billy Graham. God could do that. He could assign a nation to you and call you to be a watchman for the nation. Or it might be that you're called to be a watchman for a specific ministry.

children's ministry or worship ministry or youth ministry or women's ministry or men's ministry, you know, something specific here. Or it might be that he's called you to be a watchman to your family and your primary ministry, your primary calling is going to be ministering to your family and calling your family to walk with God and to be right with God. Maybe God's assigned you to your workplace as a watchman.

That your primary reason for being there is not just to make money, but because he has a work for you to do, a message for you to deliver, a witness for you to declare. What is your assignment from God as a watchman? You need to be seeking the Lord about that. And it may change from season to season. And so we need to continue to be seeking the Lord about where he has us and who are the people that he's entrusted to us.

Because while we need to know that so that we can go on to the next part, point number two is hear from God to speak for God. See, if you're a watchman and God's assigned you a position, a role, and given you people that he's entrusted to you, then you're going to have a responsibility to bring forth a message from God for those people. And it's your responsibility to speak to those people that God sends you to.

Which means, first of all, that you're responsible to hear from God so that you can speak for God. As a watchman, that's what you are. That's your role. That's your position. Now, here's what you do. Verse 17 again. Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore, hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me. Notice, therefore. Here's what you are. You're a watchman. Therefore...

"'Hear a word from my mouth.'" Being a watchman is not about you sharing your opinions, your preferences, your desires, your wishes, or your will. Being a watchman is about hearing from God so that you can speak for God. Therefore, because you're a watchman, because you have this calling, because God has entrusted people to you, you have a great responsibility to hear from God. He says, "'Hear a word from my mouth.'"

And Ezekiel did that. He heard from the Lord. And you can see that throughout his book as we continue to read through it together. There's a few key components, I think, that are visible in chapters 2 and 3 about why Ezekiel is hearing from the Lord. One component is that he's filled with the Holy Spirit. Back in chapter 2, at the very beginning of this commission, God speaks to him and says, Son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak to you.

And then it tells us in Ezekiel chapter 2 verse 2, then the Spirit entered me when he spoke to me and set me on my feet and I heard him who spoke to me. There's this combination, there's this connection of Ezekiel responding to God, receiving the Holy Spirit and hearing from the Lord. You and I as believers have the opportunity to be filled with the Holy Spirit just like Ezekiel was.

And we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to hear a word from the mouth of God. We need to be filled with the Spirit. You'll see that also a few times in Ezekiel chapter 3. He's filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is part of this work of bringing forth a word from the Lord to Ezekiel.

But I think another key component is found in verse 16 here of Ezekiel chapter 3. Here's what it says once again. It says, Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came to me saying, and he goes on to deliver this word from the Lord. But notice what it says, at the end of seven days. Now in the verses prior to that, Ezekiel goes to hang out with some of the captives that tell Abib,

And he sits there with them for seven days. He's just sitting there. He's waiting on the Lord. He's waiting to hear from the Lord. He's investing time in prayer. He's filled with the Holy Spirit, but it takes time to receive this message from the Lord. These are key components for you. If you want to hear from God, for the people that God has entrusted to you, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and you need to invest some time.

The first thing that comes to your mind to say to people is probably not the word from the Lord. You need to invest some time in prayer and hear from the Lord what he wants to say to those that he's entrusted to you. I think another key component for that we could consider about Ezekiel and hearing from the Lord for those that he is called to minister to is that first Ezekiel hears for himself personally.

In Ezekiel chapter 2 verse 8, God tells him, you son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you. He's talking about the scroll, the words from the Lord that the Lord is giving to him. But notice the instruction here. Ezekiel, don't be like the people I'm sending you to. You hear from me and obey me.

And that is a key component to hearing from the Lord for those that God has entrusted to you. First of all, you need to hear from the Lord for yourself and obey and respond as God speaks to you. And as you obey the Lord, as he fills you with his Holy Spirit and you wait on the Lord, you

Well, then God's going to give you what he wants you to share, what he wants you to speak. Whether it be a warning, whether it be comfort, whether it be encouragement, whether it be rebuke, he's going to give you what needs to be shared as you hear from him. Notice in verse 17 at the end, he says, after you hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me.

A warning from God. That was Ezekiel's mission, to warn the house of Israel. But it was a warning from God. Now, I'm not asking for a show of hands, but I would ask you to consider, have you ever warned people about things that God is not warning them about? It's important for us to consider these things because it can be very hard. Ezekiel was sent to his own people. And oftentimes, you and I are sent to our own people.

You know, you are very passionate about your family, about the people that you care about. And so it's very easy and tempting to warn people about things because you're passionate about them, because you care about them. But the warning that we might want to give is not necessarily the warning that God wants to give. There are issues that you are passionate about. And maybe they've been, you know, kind of brought to the forefront in this election season, right? There's issues that you're passionate about.

But those issues may not be the things that God wants you to bring to the forefront to the people that he's called you to minister to and to be a watchman for. There's a lot of things that we could talk about. There's a lot of warnings that we could give. There's a lot of issues that we could discuss. There's a lot of, you know, things that we could promote. But what does God want you to say to the people that he's entrusted to you?

One scripture that really stands out to me, and I see it from time to time, and it causes me to stop and take note every time. It's Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 22. And here it tells us, here's God speaking. He says, if they, he's talking about the false prophets, if the false prophets had stood in my counsel and caused my people to hear my words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.

Now, Jeremiah is ministering around the same time as Ezekiel. Same context. People in rebellion against God. But here's what God says. All these false prophets that are spewing out nonsense, if they would have stood in my counsel...

If they would have stopped to spend time with me and hear from me and not just say what they wanted to happen or say what they hoped would happen, if they would have stood in my counsel and then brought my words to my people, things would have been totally different. Instead of this final destruction of Babylon, instead of all this judgment, he says they would have turned them from their evil way. That there was an opportunity if these false prophets came

had sought the Lord and heard from the Lord and then spoke on behalf of God to his people, it would have made a difference. And there would have been a turnaround. There would have been repentance. But it goes back to this, if they had stood in my counsel. You know, for you and I as believers, as watchmen for God, we have a high calling and a big responsibility to hear from God, to make sure that the things that we believe

deal with as important. The things that we are, you know, hitting home and bringing forth. It's not that we can't talk about things that are less important, but I hope you understand what I'm saying here. That sometimes we make really big deals and we make our mission and our, you know, declarations and the things that we're trying to get accomplished, things that are not what the Lord is saying. And we're trying to accomplish things that we want or we desire what we think is best, but

We need to understand that the best thing for the people around you is first of all for you to learn how to hear from the Lord, how to walk with the Lord so that you can bring forth a message from the Lord. That means we need to be filled with the Spirit. It means we need to have time waiting on the Lord, sitting at His feet, learning to hear from Him.

And it means that we need to respond personally as God speaks to us in obedience to the things that he directs us in and puts upon our heart. Now, there's also a huge relief. Even though this is a big responsibility, there's a huge relief. And that is, listen, as a watchman, you don't have to come up with the message. You don't have to figure out some crazy clever way of convincing people. You don't have to figure out what it is that's going to turn things around. Here's all you got to do. You got to hear from the Lord.

He's got the clever way. He's got the message. And as you read through Ezekiel, I mean, you'll see Ezekiel went through some crazy, dramatic illustrations. But he didn't have to come up with those. God gave him those. Here's what you're going to do, Ezekiel. Here's how to illustrate this. Here's how to drive this point home. That's what we need to do. You're called to be a watchman. So make sure that you hear from God so that you can speak for God. It's a big responsibility to be a watchman.

And you know, we're accountable to God for that. And he really emphasizes that in verse 18 and 19, which gives us point number three. And that is speak for God, even if they won't listen. As God's watchman, we need to bring forth the message from God, no matter what the response is going to be. As we hear from God, we need to speak the message. Verse 18 says, when I say to the wicked, you shall surely die.

and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Here God walks through a scenario. Let's think about this, Ezekiel. God says, if I speak to a wicked person. Now, when God says, when I say to the wicked, he's saying, okay, I'm giving you a message for this wicked person, Ezekiel.

And if you don't deliver that message, well, this wicked guy is still going to die because of his iniquity. Even though you had a message for him, calling him to repentance, even though he didn't get that message, here it's illustrating the personal responsibility. A wicked man has no excuse for dying in iniquity. Nobody could stand there at the day of judgment and say, well, Richard was supposed to come tell me and call me to repentance, but he didn't. So, you know, God, you got to let me off the hook. God's...

Pointing out here, no, no, no. You die because of your sin. That's the result of your sin. It's your choice. But the emphasis that God is putting here, the illustration he's making is Ezekiel, this wicked guy will die for his iniquity either way. But when you don't warn him, when I tell you to warn him, well, now he says at the end of verse 18, his blood I will require at your hand.

Because you did not warn him when I told you to warn him. He's going to die for his sin either way. But I told you to warn him. And because you didn't, now I'm going to require his blood at your hand. God will hold watchmen accountable for their faithfulness to warn. In a similar way, looking at the watchman of the city. If the watchman sees the attack coming, but doesn't sound the alarm, you can understand, hey, you're going to have to give account for that.

That's a serious issue. God says, same way. You saw the damage. You saw the danger. You saw, you heard from me. You had the message from me, but you didn't deliver it. Now you're going to be accountable for that. His blood I will require at your hand. Now, what does it mean that God will require their blood at your hand? What does that really mean? After much prayer and study, I can honestly say, I have no idea, but I don't want to find out.

He's not saying you're going to lose your salvation, but there is some consequences here. Maybe it's like the loss of rewards, like Paul talks about, the things that are burned up. Maybe it's something else. I don't know, but I don't want to find out. It's a serious warning, and God's going to hold us accountable. When God gives you a responsibility, it's a serious thing. The commentator Ironside says he would have to answer to God for leaving people unwarned.

It was a terrible responsibility, but the same responsibility rests on every chosen servant of Christ today. We all have the same responsibility to hear from God, to speak for God when he gives us a word from the Lord. Verse 19, yet if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.

And so verse 18 and 19, it's the situation of a wicked person who's doing iniquity all the way to the end, never repents. He dies in iniquity. He's judged. Verse 18 and 19, both. Same wicked man, same continuation, same refusal to repent. The difference between verse 18 and 19 is, 18, he says, look, if you don't warn him, you're going to be accountable for his blood. In verse 19, he says, if you do warn him, even if he doesn't repent...

He says,

But you see, the thing that God is dealing with here with Ezekiel is, you've delivered your own soul. He's not really dealing with the wicked man in this verse. He's dealing with Ezekiel and saying, look, you need to understand the seriousness of your responsibility. If you don't bring forth my word, you're going to be accountable. You're going to be guilty of the consequences that they experience. But if you will be faithful to deliver this message from me, then you will deliver your own soul.

Now, here's the thing to know about Ezekiel's ministry. God has been really telling him from the get-go in chapter 2 and 3, I'm sending you to this people and they will not listen to you. And he tells them why in verse 7 of Ezekiel chapter 3. He says, Notice, Notice why they won't listen.

Ezekiel, I'm sending you to them. They're not going to listen to you because they won't listen to me. You know, sometimes we get so frustrated because people won't listen to us. But it should not be surprising when people don't listen to us who won't listen to God. If they're not submitted to God, there's no way in the world that we can expect them to be submitted to us. If they won't hear his message, they're not going to hear our message. But if

that doesn't change the fact that the message needs to be delivered. And see, that's the problem that happens many times. We talk ourselves out of sharing the message because we figure we already know how they're going to respond. I already know they're going to say no to the gospel, so I'm not going to share it with them because they're already going to say no.

I already know how they're going to respond to this rebuke or encouragement or whatever. I already know how they're going to respond to it. And so we talk ourselves out of why bother experiencing the rejection? Why bother having the difficult conversation? Why bother going through that if I already know what the answer is going to be? But the problem is we look too much at the response or what we think the response is going to be. And that's not what God is looking at. And that's not what God is holding us accountable for.

Notice in verse 18 and 19, the wicked man is still wicked and still dies in his iniquity, whether Ezekiel shares the warning or not. God's not holding Ezekiel responsible and accountable for the response. He's holding Ezekiel accountable for his faithfulness to deliver the message. And that's what he holds us accountable to as well. God is looking for us to be faithful and obedient. And that's what we're accountable to. When you speak for God and people refuse to listen...

That's just as much a work of God as when they receive it. Of course, we much prefer them to receive it. But you need to understand, when you speak a word from God and people refuse it, that is just as much a work of God as if they received it. When you wear the prayer shirt and people cuss at you, that's just as important of a response as when you wear the prayer shirt and someone comes up to you and asks for prayer.

Both are equally important. Of course, we prefer one over the other, right? Our responsibility is not the response, and we're not accountable for the response. We're accountable to be faithful to do what God has called us to do, and that's what he's looking for. So speak for God, even if they won't listen, and Ezekiel, you'll have delivered your soul. Don't get distracted by the results or what you think the results might be. Be faithful to speak for God, even if

If you know they won't listen. There's an accountability that we have. And so we need to hear from God to speak for him. Paul the Apostle probably had this concept and maybe even this passage in mind in Acts chapter 20 when he's talking to the Ephesian elders. He thinks it's his last time with them. He's pretty certain he's on his way to his death. And so he calls them after spending three years of ministry there in Ephesus. He calls the elders and says, hey guys,

I am innocent of the blood of all men because I've not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. I have sought counsel from the Lord. I have heard from God and I have brought to you the whole message. So I am innocent of all blood because I've been faithful to deliver the message that God gave to me. That's what God is looking for in us. That's what God calls us as watchmen to do.

to hear from God, and then be faithful to deliver the whole counsel of God to those that he has entrusted to us. And again, this might be, you know, for your workplace, for your family, for the church, for a nation. God can assign you whatever he wants, and your responsibility, no matter how they respond, is to hear from God and to deliver the message.

Well, finishing up in verse 20 and 21, we have point number four, and that is speak for God, even if they don't need it. Now, the reality is we always need the word from the Lord, but from our perspective, our perception oftentimes is that, well, they probably don't need to hear that.

Here's what the Lord says in verse 20. Again, And then verse 21.

Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning. Also, you will have delivered your soul. So as God gives Ezekiel a couple of different examples of what this looks like in real life, he first gives him the example of the wicked person who stays wicked and dies in his wickedness with or without a warning from Ezekiel. Now you have a righteous man.

And the idea here is not that this guy is perfect and flawless, but the lifestyle that he lives is generally righteous. He generally walks with God, but there is this occasion where he's turned from God. And there's maybe some issue in his life where he's ignoring what God says or pursuing his own path. And so there is this sin issue, even though generally speaking, this is a righteous person. The whole idea is the same. The righteous person who is involved in sin is

Well, he's going to die in his sin whether or not you warn him. The real responsibility is on you, Ezekiel, to give the warning. If you don't give the warning and he dies in his sin, well, he's still accountable for that and he can't blame you for that, but I'll blame you for that, Ezekiel. That's what God says. His blood I will require at your hand because you didn't warn him. But if you warn him, if you bring forth the message that I give you for him, if he doesn't listen to it,

well, he still will die, but you've delivered your soul. And if he responds and repents and turns from his sin, well, then the warning was received and you've delivered your soul. But the point is, the core, the heart of what God's saying here is, your responsibility, Ezekiel, is to deliver the message. And as we think about hearing from God and speaking for God, sometimes we talk ourselves out of saying something that God has put upon our heart.

Because we think, well, they already know that. They've already heard that. They don't need to hear that. Surely they're not struggling with that. We reason in our minds and we talk ourselves out of being faithful to what God has called us to. The commentator John Taylor says, the saint needs the watchman's warning as much as the sinner does. And so I want to encourage you this morning to

To be a watchman for God in the way that God has called you to. And that's not just calling sinners to repentance. For us to also exhort one another. The book of Hebrews talks about this several times. The need for us to exhort one another. And daily and so much the more as we see the day approaching. So that we don't get hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. So that we continue and press on and receive the fullness of what God has for us.

And so don't talk yourself out of bringing forth a word from the Lord because, you know, they probably already know that. They've heard that. They don't need that. I can't imagine them ever struggling with that. No, there's always much more happening behind the scenes than what you can see. So don't base your decisions on your own perceptions. Base your decisions on what you've heard from the Lord. You know, people walking with God,

are easy to minister to. Sometimes we think, oh, I can't minister to them. I mean, he's been reading the Bible for like 100 times longer than I have. Listen, people who are walking with God are the easiest people in the world to minister to. You can, any passage, any tone, I could come up here and teach any message with any tone, just kind of like just barely make it through. The people who are walking with God, they're going to receive from the Lord. They're going to be blessed. They're

But it's not going to hinder them from receiving the message. So don't let that discourage you. That's the easiest. In fact, I would say it's good practice. I would encourage you on Wednesday nights, you know, we're starting up again and having that closing time of ministry to one another. And I've always shared, that's practice time. This is the easy time to minister. We can pray for one another and we're not going to get beaten up or spit on or, well, maybe just because they pray, kind of, you know. But there's not going to be attacks. It's easy. It's a good time. It's good practice.

And so don't talk yourself out of ministering to people because you think, ah, they don't need that. They're righteous already. No, speak for God. Be faithful to deliver the message. God holds you accountable to that. You're called to be a watchman like Ezekiel. And so we need to hear from the Lord. First of all, to receive our assignment. Who is it that God's placed into your trust, into your care? Who is it that he's called you to speak to on his behalf?

Make sure you hear from God. Don't share your message, your opinions, your thoughts, your pet peeves. You hear from God and speak on behalf of God into those people's lives. Even if they're not going to listen, and even if it doesn't appear to you that they need to hear it, you be faithful. Hear from God and deliver the message. Let's pray. God, I pray for each one of us. Lord, as followers of you, as those who have heard your voice and have responded and received your

the forgiveness that you offer to us. We know we're unworthy, Lord, to be part of your kingdom work, and yet you call us to make disciples. You call us to shine your light, to be your witnesses. Lord, you call us to be your watchmen. And so, God, I pray that you would help us to not take this calling lightly, but to be serious about seeking you and hearing from you the assignment that you've given to us, the people that you've entrusted to us.

And God, I pray that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit, that we might hear from you your message to those people that you've placed around us. Help us, God, to be faithful, not to be fearful, but to be faithful to deliver that message, even if we think it's not going to be a pleasant conversation. But even if we think they don't need to hear it, help us, God, to be faithful, to hear from you and to speak on your behalf. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.