The Watchman

Well, we're five weeks away from the Feast of Tabernacles, closer than that to the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. I'm sure you're all thinking about the Holy Days and as the fall of the... well, that's cool temperatures today, but a few mornings anyway were cool. Our thoughts can turn to what this fall Holy Day season means for us. We have a few times to be together before the Feast of Trumpets, and I wanted to use those times to talk about some significant things in the Bible and significant things that we all need to know that will happen or the identity of which between now and the time that Jesus Christ returns.

A few weeks ago we talked about discerning the times and understanding who Israel was, and we went through that process because knowing who Israel is is key in understanding what's going to happen in the end times so that we're not surprised. And there's a few other things that we need to be aware of that you're not going to find the truth on any internet station that you listen to or turning the TV on on Sunday morning. So we want to know that we're all on the same page, where we all understand from the Bible what some of those things are.

Today I want to talk about one of those things that we need to be aware of because the one we'll talk about today has to do with you and me, a very important part of what is going to happen between now and the time of Jesus Christ's return, prominent in the Bible as well. You know, when Jesus Christ talked about us and when he talked about His people, He used analogies to pretty much paint the picture for us of what our role is.

Being a Christian doesn't mean you just kind of read the Bible and memorize some scriptures and be able to spit it back at people when they ask you a question. Being a Christian doesn't mean you show up every Sabbath at Sabbath services. Being a Christian is a 24-hour a day, 7-day a week job. And it encompasses a lot of different things and Jesus Christ uses a lot of different analogies and comparisons so that we understand fully what we have been called to. We can talk about a few of those things in introducing this.

One of the things that He calls us is disciples, right? A disciple is a student, much more than a student who just learns book knowledge. He's supposed to thoroughly learn the text and you know what text I'm talking about, but he's also supposed to learn the teacher. Jesus Christ said it's not enough just to study. Anyone who is a true disciple becomes like His teacher. So we learn Jesus Christ, we learn how He operated in the world, we learn how He thought, we become like Him. And as God puts His Holy Spirit in us after we repent and after we're baptized, we become more like Him.

If we allow God to do that in our lives, and that's a big if because we can be baptized and receive His Holy Spirit, but if we don't allow it, if we hold dearly onto ourselves rather than letting go of our own ideas, concerns, even personality traits and some instances, we won't become like Him. But God wants us to become like Him.

The true disciple becomes like Him. You know, He also compares us to soldiers. Paul talks about being a soldier. And indeed, we have most of one chapter back in Ephesians 6 that talks about the armor that we put on every day, because we really do go to battle every day. There's not a day that we're not at war. We live in Satan's world, and he would love nothing better to trip any of us up. He'd love nothing better than to have something occur in our lives that would take us away from the truth and take us away from the focus that God has called us to.

And so we have to put on the armor of study and salvation and prayer and all the things that are mentioned back there in Ephesians 6 to war against not only Satan and his devices, but against the world that we lived in, as you heard in the sermonette, the world that we live in that has all sorts of influences, because as we go to schools, we go to work, we work in our neighborhood associations or whatever, we can have a lot of those things rub off on us if we haven't really girded ourselves with the armor of God.

So we have to become soldiers in that regard as well and battle Satan, battle the world, battle our own selves and our own desires as well. On the other hand, he calls us children. We have to become like children. Humble, teachable, young, letting our parent, letting our father mold us into who he wants us to be, because he is a very capable trainer and he will mold us into what he wants because he has in mind what each one of us in this room needs to be.

And he calls us first fruits. First fruits. Now in a society like we live in today, maybe first fruits doesn't mean a lot to anyone on the outside of the world. They might scratch their heads and think, what is first fruits? But we know what first fruits are. The first of those who were called in this time, that God has called opened their minds, made part of His body for a purpose that He has in mind for us. A very special role in Revelation that says, blessed is He who is in the first resurrection.

And the first resurrection is for the first fruits that God calls. So we have all those things about us and we can list a few more if we wanted to, that God says, this is part of what being a Christian is in the 21st century. This is part of what a living Christian is if you're truly going to follow and live the way God wants. And there's a few more that I'll mention here. Those would be more things that we work with ourselves but there's also things that we become, that He wants us to become.

Christ said in Matthew 5, verse 14, we should eat light to the world. We live in a dark world. A world that's becoming darker and darker. Again, you heard in this sermon that some of the things that go on, you watch TV as you watch what's happening in the news, as you watch what's happening in political races, as you see what's going on around the world, the world is getting darker and darker, farther and farther away from God.

You can watch what is happening and you can see people pushing God farther and farther away. It's a world that is becoming devoid of morality. A world that's becoming devoid of honesty. The message loud and clear is if you lie, if you cheat, if you're corrupt, that's the way you get ahead. None of us want our children to learn that way. The world is screaming for light. If you work in places and those of you, our young people who are in school, God says, Be light to the world.

Show the world what it's like to stand for something, to believe in something and be willing to stand up for it. Show the world what it's like to be totally honest and committed to the truth. Show the world what it's like to be all the good traits that God wants us to have because they are disappearing fast from the world. One of the things that He wants us to be are bastions of light in the world, those specs out there that make the world a worthwhile place. When Paul records in Galatians 5, after he lists all the fruits of the Holy Spirit, when he says against us, there is no law.

There is no law against it. In fact, people embrace it. When they see people who are truly motivated by agape love, when they see people who are joyful and peaceful, people who are honest, people who love integrity, they're very impressed. And you are alike to them. Be that way in Jesus Christ.

Let your light shine show by your works that you do that your Father may be glorified. One more I want to talk about today. Another analogy that he gives to what it's like to be a Christian and what our calling is. And this one applies to us individually and collectively as the Church of God, those that He has called out, those who live by His Word, led by His Holy Spirit.

Let's turn over to Ezekiel. Ezekiel 3. Talk about one more analogy that he makes of the people that he calls and what he would like us to do. As you're turning over to Ezekiel, let me just remind you who Ezekiel was. And as we pick up the story in Ezekiel 3, what he has been through, Ezekiel was a captive at this time.

Judah was being conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom of Babylon. And he was one of the captives that was carried away, and neither the first or second siege of Babylon, I'm not sure which. But as we move into chapter 3 and as the book of Ezekiel opens, you'll remember that Ezekiel was envisioned.

He's in the throne of God. And he sees all that detail. He records it there for us in Ezekiel 1, talking about the angels, talking about what the throne of God was like, all these things that are in chapter 1. And you can imagine if you were him, and if you had that vision in such detail, and you knew that it was of God, he was kind of awed and overwhelmed by what he saw.

He knew that it was of God, and he was feeling that pressure, if you will, or that awesome feeling of knowing what God had been revealing to him. You know, as we began to understand God's truth. And even if you grew up in the church, there came a time where you heard all these things all these years, but there was a time you just knew what it was.

It was like God opens your mind and when you read the Bible, you understood what was in it. You understood the plan of God. You understood what he was doing. You understood the things that you didn't learn in the time in another church.

Or maybe that you learned and had book knowledge when you were younger, but then all crystallized and you knew, this is the truth. This is the truth, but no one around me understands it. And you can be overwhelmed by what you learn. And you can't understand why other people can't see it as clearly as you, but it's because God is working with you and you know that. And Ezekiel feels that here in Ezekiel 1 and in chapter 2, God begins training him and teaching him what he was like this going to be. And in chapter 3 and verse 15, we find Ezekiel in kind of a dazed state where he's just absorbing everything that he's been through.

Chapter 3 and verse 15 it says, Then I came to the captives of Tel Aviv, who dwelt by the river of Kavar, and I sat where they sat, and I remained there astonished among them for seven days. You kind of know what Ezekiel was going through. There was so much that went on in his life. He just had to have some time to absorb it and to realize what God had done. And God gave him that time. And after seven days, it says in verse 16, the word of the eternal, Ezekiel writes, came to me saying, Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel.

I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Now Ezekiel was a man of light.

He was living God's way of life. Daniel, who was one of his contemporaries, was a man of light as well. We talked about Daniel. You read and you know about Daniel. He came into the kingdom of Babylon. He stood up for what he believed. He wasn't going to become like the Babylonians. He believed in God.

Verse 4, For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you'll say to them, Thus says the Lord God. Now, I'm going to speak your words, Ezekiel. You're going to speak the words that come from God's mouth. The word of God that you have on your lap there. The truth of God. That's what you're going to preach. Ezekiel, as you go to this rebellious nation and people who don't really want to learn the way of God. And he says, As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are a rebellious house, yet they will know that a prophet has been among them. They'll know.

So, Ezekiel, your job isn't to convert every single one of the people you talk to.

Your job is to simply preach the truth of God.

And when Jesus Christ gave his church a commission, what did he say?

He said, Go to every nation. Teach them to observe all things I have commanded you. He said, Preach the gospel to all nations. In Matthew 24, 14, he said, Before the time of the end, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the worlds of witness to all nations, and then the end will come. There will be a watchman that is preaching this gospel, warning the world that they'd better turn back to God, that there's danger ahead if they continue on the course they're in, just like Jeremiah did. But you'd ignored him for 40 years. They didn't want to hear what he had to say, just like Isaiah did, but they didn't want to hear him, just like Amos did, but they didn't want to hear him, just like the world today will do, because they don't want to hear the truth of God. The same history, the same things.

But Christ said, This is your commission to His church. You go out and you teach the truth, and you preach the gospel. Verse 6, And you, son of man, don't be afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briars and thorns are with you, and you dwell among scorpions. Don't be afraid of their words, or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

Now, He's preparing Ezekiel. You're going to go out and you're going to give my message, but don't think that these people are going to be warm and fuzzy, Ezekiel. They're not going to welcome you with open arms. They're not going to say, Hey, that is a great message. That's exactly what we should do. I remember Jonah kind of got a surprise, right? When he went out and he told Nineveh to repent, they did. And it kind of shocked him. It's one of the few prophets who went out and did have that experience. Ezekiel wasn't going to have it. The Church of God, preaching the truth of God today, isn't going to have that reception from the world. Today, we live in a time when people don't really care, I guess I'll say. You know, I get asked questions, and when I worked, I got asked questions. Why do you keep the Sabbath day? Why don't you keep Christmas? Why do you go away to the piece of tabernacles? And I would answer and explain, and some people were more interested in others, and it's like, oh, great, you know, okay, whatever, it's a free country. You know, it's what people don't care today.

There's a time coming that they're going to care what you believe. There's a time coming they're going to care what you believe. And that's what he's telling Ezekiel. You're going to go out and speak my words, Ezekiel. Be prepared. They're not going to welcome you with open arms. They're going to try to terrify you. They're going to try to upset you. They're going to try to interrupt your message. They're going to threaten your life, even. But don't you be dismayed by them, Ezekiel. You keep doing what God said to do. You keep your eyes on Him, and don't be threatened by what's going on. You keep an eye on Him, and you keep an eye on Him. You keep an eye on Him, and you keep an eye on Him. You keep an eye on Him, and don't be threatened by what's going on.

Action to these people. And he would add, and don't you dare change your message to make the people happy. You preach the message exactly the way that God has said it for to be preached. Verse 7, You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. Your job is to go out there and win them over. Your job is to go out there and teach them the truth, whether they like it or not.

Whether they like it or not. But you, Son of Man, verse 8, hear what I say to you. Don't be rebellious like that rebellious house.

Open your mouth, and eat what I give you. Don't you become one of them, Ezekiel. Don't you listen to their arguments and say, Oh yeah, there is a better way in 2016 than there was back at the time the Bible was written. Oh, this is the 21st century way of looking at things. The Bible was written back before the bulk of it, before the time of Jesus Christ. Don't you alter your message, Ezekiel. Don't you be rebellious like them. You open your mouth, and you eat what I give you.

It isn't that interesting way that God puts it. You eat what I give you.

And what did Jesus Christ tell us? Eat of the unleavened bread of life. Eat the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Eat the words of God. Let this be your spiritual diet.

Don't go looking on the Internet. You're not going to find a clean, healthy diet on the Internet, unless you're on a few websites only. Don't go looking and surfing the Sunday morning TV shows. You're not going to find the diet that you're looking for there that's going to make you healthy and strong and able to do the job that God has given you to do. Don't go asking your boss and your friends and your family members unless they are of the same belief of you. You go and you eat what I've given you, God said. And you know what He's given us to eat, right? Eat the Word of God. Eat the truth of God. This is His Word. Every single word in it. Jesus Christ said, by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God, we live. Eat this. Eat this, Ezekiel.

You speak and let come out of your mouth what I've given you.

In verse 90 it says, And when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me, and behold the scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me, and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.

I read the book. It had some hard things to read in it. There were some difficult things to absorb.

What that book said, I didn't really want to happen to me or to the people I know. I didn't really relish the idea of going through all of those things. Persecution isn't anything anyone looks forward to or desires. Tribulation isn't anything that anyone desires to go through. People hating you isn't anything that people desire. We all want to be liked, right?

And yet Jesus Christ, who was a very good watchman, went through all those things.

And he tells us that the road between now and the time of his return has some pretty tough things in it for true Christians who fill all those roles that we talked about, including the role of watchman. And so when Ezekiel saw this book, he thought, wow, it's kind of bitter. It's kind of hard to swallow. It's kind of hard to taste this.

This should remind you of what the Apostle John wrote back in Revelation as well, because he had the same experience with the little book that he was told to eat. Going on in chapter 3, it says, Moreover, he said to me, Son of Man, eat what you find, eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel. You don't go speak first. You eat. You learn. You let that word and what you eat become part of you. You let it permeate your mind. You let it permeate your being. You let every cell begin to absorb what is being taught you through the Word of God. You learn it, but not just so that you can spit it back to someone. You learn it. You apply it. You see it work in your life. You let it become you, because we become what we eat, right?

Doctors used to say that once in a while to people, you become what you eat.

They say that about computers. You feed them junk. You're going to get junked out, right?

Same thing with us. We eat junk. If entertainment of the world is our primary food, junk is going to come right back out of us. Feed on what God has given you.

Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll and go. Speak to the house of Israel. So Ezekiel says, I opened my mouth and he caused me to eat that scroll.

Made me eat that scroll and he said to me, son of man, feed your belly. Fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.

Fill yourself up with it. Keep eating it until you are full.

So I ate and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.

When I looked at the writings of the scroll back a few verses ago, they were kind of hard to digest.

Kind of hard to read those things and imagine myself in those situations.

But when I read the whole thing and absorbed the whole plan of God, when I saw what he was really going to do, it was like honey. It was the sweetest thing I ever heard. God's plan of salvation, God's plan for mankind, is the most awesome thing that people will hear.

You know, one time I was writing with someone and they wanted to get more in depth to what we really believed. And I laid out for them from the time of Adam and Eve, and even before that, up to the time of Jesus Christ's return, explained to them that the salvation of God is open for all of mankind, not just those who have heard the name of Jesus Christ and their slight time, not just those who were called themselves Christians in this life, so-called Christians, but for everyone.

When we were done, they made the comment, that's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Because the plan of God is the most beautiful thing. When we eat it, when we understand it, when we absorb it. Yeah, there's some not-so-pleasant times in there, but it's the sweetest thing we've ever heard of when Ezekiel saw the plan of God, because it was like honey in my mouth. It's worth going through all that, because what it means.

And when we understand the kingdom of God, and what it will be like, when we understand that all the problems in this world that we've just become callous to, all the suffering, all the conflict, all of the upset, all of the disease, all of the ... you name it, we can probably go on from now until midnight, listing all the things that are negative in this world.

They will all disappear. When Jesus Christ returns, He will heal the earth. People will begin living His way of life. It'll be a time that we can't even fully imagine, because if we even see a spot of it in the world today, we're happy to see it. But if we really understand it, if we really believe it, if we begin to put that into effect in our lives, we know it can happen.

Just like King David, when he would meditate on God's law, you know, he sat there and he laid there in his bed and he thought about what it would be like if every single person on earth was living God's way of life.

And he couldn't imagine how wonderful it would be. And that's the same thing that Ezekiel was saying. It's like hunting in my mouth. The same thing you and I should experience when we understand and we eat the Word of God. So he goes on in verse 4. After Ezekiel has this experience and he knows what he's going to do and he understands what is happening, he said to me, Son of Man, go to the house of Israel.

Speak with my words to them. Not your words, Ezekiel. My words. Speak my words to this people. For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel. You know them. They speak the same language as you. They come from the same background as you. This is where I want you to go.

Not people who aren't going to understand you because you're some foreign person. Don't speak to them. Not many people. Well, going on in verse 6. Not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, he says. Am I sending you? Whose words you can't understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. If I had sent you to somebody... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

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