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Are you a Watchman?

Ezekiel 3-6

Perhaps it’s just me.  Perhaps I am the only one among us, reading through the Bible together, who is hearing God’s call to love the lost; to take His message to His people.  Pastor Jim Cross has been giving a series of sermons on the issue of “election”.  Election is a concept scattered throughout Scripture that states that God has “chosen” those that will be saved.  I’ve put that as coarsely as I could for a reason.

We have a hard time accepting a God who doesn’t intend to save everyone.  For some reason we think that is unfair.  Look at what Paul has to say about this issue:

Romans 9:14-24

“What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!  For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”  So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”  But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?  What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?”

Men, since the fall of Adam and Eve, the true desire of every human heart has been to be god.  This means that every one of us deserves destruction.  There is no one who deserves salvation; BUT God, in His mercy, has saved some of the undeserving for Himself.  He made each of us, and He knew before He created us which of us would respond to the light; which of us would be obedient; which of us would be His children.  Jesus is the light of the world and He came to call the children of light home.  The children of darkness will flee before His piercing light; the children of God will be drawn to the light.

Christ has ascended into heaven but having placed His light within the hearts of His followers He has sent them to pass that light to the rest of the elect.  You see, you can be a member of the elect and not know it.  You can be a member of the elect and be angry and hateful toward Christians.  I remind you of Paul himself who was personally responsible for the death of many saints.  You and I cannot know who is a member of the elect and who is not.  We have not been given the luxury of being told beforehand to whom we should take the Gospel; just that we must take it to a lost and dying world.  Whether those that hear the proclamation of the Gospel respond or not is God’s business; ours is to do shine the light.  Listen to this from our reading today:

Ezekiel 3:10-11

“Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.  And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

Brother, have you received the Word of God in your heart?  Will you not go to your people, the “elect”, to speak to them and say “Thus says the Lord God”?  Will you not go whether they hear or refuse to hear?  No?  It would be a mistake to refuse God.

Ezekiel 3:17-21

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.  If 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, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.  But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.  Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand.  But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

Here God is telling Ezekiel to be a watchman, to warn the lost and the back-slider.  He holds the sinner responsible for the sin but Ezekiel for the warning.  Now you may well say to me that God was speaking to a specific person, Ezekiel, about a specific people, Jews, in a specific time and place, about 537 B.C. in Babylon.  All of that is true, of course, but can you really sit there and tell me that this does not apply to you and me today?  If God felt that way about warning the lost and back-slider then, why would He feel differently today?  If you are His child He sent you to be a watchman as well.

Matthew 28:18-20

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He is speaking to you.  Will you go?  Will you warn the lost?  You do not have to go far.  You are surrounded by the lost.  Will you be a watchman?  All you must do is shine the light of Jesus Christ.  Speak the truth of the Gospel and the elect will be drawn to it; the others will be repelled.  So be it.  He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy and compassion on whom He will have compassion.

May the Lord find you faithful!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

God Loves You – Do You Love Him?

Isaiah 41-43

I am just blown away by God’s Word!  How amazing is God?  While we deserve to be crushed for our self-centered, evil hearts, God calls us and loves us and saves us!  As I read today I started copying verses and pasting them in my word processor for the foundations of my comments.  I kept copying and pasting verses; one after another.  Oh what love God expresses to us; the ones He called and saved!  I can say nothing better than what He has already said.  Let me just share the verses that jumped out at me.  I wonder if they are the same ones that jumped out at you.

Isaiah 41:8-11

“But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

You were chosen by God to be saved, to be his servant.  He will strengthen you and help you and uphold you with His righteous right hand!

Isaiah 42:6-7

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

God has called you in righteousness and to righteousness.  He will take you by the hand to the righteousness He intends for you.  He has done this for you to fulfill His purpose; to open the eyes of the lost; to save those who sit in the prison that is their sin; that suffer under the chains of their own making.  He has saved you for a purpose!

Isaiah 43:1-2

“But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.”

Brothers, you are not alone!  He is your strength to be the men He created you to be through every trial and tribulation you face!

Isaiah 43:4-5a

“Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
Fear not, for I am with you;…”

Do you see how much God loves you?  You are precious in His site!  Can you believe you are honored?  Why has He done this?

Isaiah 43:7

“everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

You were created for His glory not your own!

Isaiah 43:10a

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,…”

He has done this for His own sake.  He has done this so you will be His servant; His witness to a lost and dying world.

Isaiah 43:21

“ the people whom I formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.”

You were created and saved for His glory, to be His witness, to declare His praise!  How are you coming on that witnessing and praising thing by the way?  It doesn’t happen by accident.  You have a job to do.  God has just told you how much He loves you, and why He did all that He has done for you.  Do you love Him enough to be about the work He has for you to do?  I hope so!

Have a day filled with praise for your God and King!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Here Am I!  Send Me!

Isaiah 6-9

There is so much on which I would like to comment today but there just isn’t time.  I again found my heart soaring as I read passages about God’s Holiness, about Isaiah’s faithfulness, and about our coming Savior and King.  For example:

Isaiah 6:8

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

That one simple verse, composed of three simple sentences, is devastating to me.  The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are asking “who will go for us?”  Isaiah said “Here am I! Send me.”  You do know that God asks that question every day don’t you?  Do you know He is looking right at you and me when He asks it? Did you notice that Isaiah did not ask “to do what?”  He didn’t ask if he could do it after he finished something else.  He didn’t barter about the particulars.  He simply said “Here am I!  Send me.”

Isaiah reminds me of Abram when God told him to rise and go to a place He would show him.  In other words “get up and get going; I’ll show you where you are going after you show me your faithfulness”.  Ah, the words “trust and obey” come crashing into my brain.  That is at the heart of faith.  This is not to suggest that the brain is turned off, but at the end of the day, when things just don’t make sense, when we don’t have all the answers we would like, we must simply trust and obey.

Isaiah 7:14

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Here it is!  People get ready!  Jesus is coming!  Soon we’ll be going home!!!  Here, 700 years before it came to pass Isaiah tells us that God is coming to earth in human form.  Immanuel means “God with us.”  He was that then and He is still that today.  Christ resides within me.  He is still Immanuel.

Why do we need Him?  Because we walk in the darkness of our own sin.

Isaiah 9:2

“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.”

I remember flipping channels the other day and I paused for a moment on one of the Harry Potter movies that have been playing a lot lately.  It was a scene where Harry and another fellow lay on the ground in a wood next to a small pond.  Dark, ghost like, shadows swirled overhead, coming closer and closer.  As they passed over the bodies they seem to suck the life from both individuals.  Just when it seemed like all was lost, a pinpoint of light from the other side of the pond burst forth.  It was an intense, brilliant light that quickly blossomed to the point of blotting out the screen.  The dark shadowy creatures were shattered in an instant.  Nothing could withstand the light.  That’s like us isn’t it?  Weren’t we being sucked dry of life by our sins?  Were not our sins draining us of life?  It was the light of Christ that broke through the darkness that surrounded us, obliterated our sins, and saved us from death; restoring our souls.

Isaiah 9:6-7

“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

Praise God!  Praise God!! Praise God!!!  May glory, and power, and honor, and praise be forever His!!!  He saved you.  He cleansed you and now He is asking whom shall I send?  I hope he hears you say “Here am I!  Send me!”

May you have an obedient day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!