May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
prophecy of Ezekiel, chapter 33, and we'll read the first
six verses. the prophecy of Ezekiel chapter
33 and reading the first six verses. Again, the word of the
Lord came unto me saying, son of man, speak to the children
of thy people and say unto them, when I bring the sword upon a
land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts and
set him for their watchman, And when he seeth the sword come
upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people. Then whosoever
heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh not warning, if the
sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own
head. He heard the sound of the trumpet
and took not warning. His blood shall be upon him.
But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the
watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and
the people be not warned, if the sword come and take any person
from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his
blood will I require at the watchman's hand. It's a great blessing that we
have the Word of God. A great blessing that we have
the Word of God which explains to us very clearly that which
is before us, every one of us. And what a privilege it is for
us here tonight to have the Word of God to be able to read and
to hear the Word of God preached and proclaimed. Now this is a
very great blessing but it is also a very solemn responsibility
because there are those who hear the Word of God and the Holy
Spirit moves them to receive the Word of God. There are those
who hear the Word of God and do not receive it. There is a
division line right down the middle we might say of this chapel
tonight. Those who hear the word of God
and believe it and follow it and act upon it and those who
hear it and ignore it and carry on in their own way satisfying
the lust of the flesh and turning away from the great truth of
God. Now Ezekiel was called to proclaim
this in times when Israel or Judah had been taken captive.
For the most part, they were down in Babylon. It was a very
sad period. And of course, they had brought
this upon themselves. because they turn their back
upon the Word of God. And it's a very solemn consideration
because today we live in an age when so many people turn their
back upon the truth of God. They will not follow the Word
of God. And they ignore it. Now, it's
significant in these verses The item that he describes to warn
is that a trumpet shall be blown below the trumpet. I think I'm right in saying that
the trumpet is probably the loudest brass instrument. When that's
blown, it's the loudest noise above other brass instruments. And so here we see this is being
selected. to illustrate the importance
that such words should be spoken so that people do hear. It's
not a question of mumbling. It's not a question of not blowing
the trumpet. Today we live in an age when
the trumpet is seldom blown. People are too embarrassed to
blow it. They don't want to blow it. because they know it may
have an effect upon them. What a blessing it is though
when by the grace of God we hear the trumpet that is blown. What a blessing if you and I
hear the trumpet blown even this evening. We have in these verses
the result of those who hear the trumpet and act upon it those
who hear the trumpet and ignore it, and those who do not blow
the trumpet and the position that rebounds upon them. See, this is a life and death
issue. It's not something which is irrelevant. It's something which is very
relevant to every one of us. And we want to hear the trumpet
blown. And we want to be able, by God's
grace, to act upon it and not to ignore it. How many people
ignore it? How many people have sat in chapels
and ignored it and gone to hell when they come to die? And they
thought they were doing all right. They thought they were ticking
the boxes. In actual fact, they were way short. How sad. And how solemn it is, you see.
Chapel going won't get you to heaven. Nothing wrong in chapel
going, it's good. Won't get you to heaven. My friends,
we need to hear God speaking to our souls. And to hear the
gospel proclaimed to our hearts, which produces a wonderful and
a gracious and a glorious effect And that effect will be to make
us fall down before God, confessing our sins, recognizing how sinful
we are when the Holy Spirit works. The Holy Spirit doesn't work
by halves. It doesn't leave people in limbo. It convinces of sin
without any doubt and makes us cry out, what must I do to be
saved? Just like that Philippian jailer. Yes, he was in a great need,
wasn't he? But he cried the right prayer. What a blessing it is
when we cry the right prayer, when we hear the word of God
coming directly to us and warning us of our position. Why is that? My friends, it's
the love of God to unworthy sinners to cause us to hear his great
and glorious voice sounding in our hearts. It's an effectual
call. It's not a proposition. It's
a call and it's an effectual call. The hymn writer says not
to propose but to call by grace. What a mercy when we have a God
and when we know a God who has graciously come and called us
awakened us from the sleep of death, awakened us from our worldly
situation, from our carnal situation. We've gone on serving ourselves,
only worried what people think of us. Our great concern should be what
God thinks of us. If you had to write down tonight
what God thinks of you. What would you put down? What
would you say? How would you respond? Remember
God looks into our heart. It's not the outward appearance.
He looks into our heart. We might pretend to be alright. Hypocrites pretend to be alright. I told you this chapter very
instructive it is you come to the end of this chapter the last
four verses from verse 30 a very striking and very significant
and very important and very solemn also thou son of man the children
of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and
in the doors of the houses and speak one to another Everyone
to his brother saying come I pray you and hear what is the word
that cometh forth from the Lord? Well, it will be a good thing.
I'm sure today if the Church of God responded and acted like
this It doesn't just want to be words it wants to come from
the heart and the prophet here is being directed to test the
reality of such words and he goes on to say in the come unto
thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people,
and they hear thy words, but they will not do them. That's the relevant clause. It's
very important, isn't it? People act as though they're
godly people, but in reality, they are not. They do all the
right things. They even say the right words.
But the solemn thing is, they're not. How tragic, how terrible. And they come unto thee as the
people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear
thy words, but they will not do them. For with their mouth
they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. It's a very striking statement,
isn't it? It's a very relevant statement to the Church of God
today as it was in the day when Ezekiel had to prophesy to those
in captivity. And he says, And lo thou art
unto them as a very lovely song, or one that hath a pleasant voice,
and can play well on an instrument. For they hear thy words, but
they do them not. James says, it's not a question
of being hearers, but doers. We're not only to hear, we are
to do. What a blessing when the Holy
Spirit moves us to do His will. And we're not to make excuses.
We're not to think, well, that doesn't apply to me and I'll
just wait a bit longer. The Word of God is very solemn. Those that honour me, I will
honour. those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.' Tragic,
isn't it? Ponder that. We don't want to
be lightly esteemed of our Godless. I hope we don't want to be lightly
esteemed. What a blessing if the Holy Spirit
then touches our heart so that we hear the word and we are a
true follower of that word as the trumpet sounds. Now, Ezekiel
was really being instructed to blow the trumpet when the sword
was to come upon the land and that really means when there
was danger or when there was the enemy. Well, the day and
age in which we live, there are many dangers. there are many
enemies and we should be very aware of what they are and we
might perhaps just read that list in Galatians where the Apostle
speaks of the works of the flesh and of course it's in the fifth
chapter of the epistle of Paul to the Galatians and the works
of the flesh it's a very full list, and he tells us, he says
this, this I say then, walk in the Spirit. That means walk in
accordance with the will of God. And ye shall not fulfill the
lusts of the flesh. But if we don't, then surely
the word is that we shall be fulfilling the lusts of the flesh,
which are sinful. Let's be quite clear about that.
They're not God glorifying, They're sinful. And what does the Apostle
say? He says this, For the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these
are contrary the one to the other, so that he cannot do the things
that he would. And the true Church of God, the
true child of God, knows the battle, the conflict within. It's not easy. Christian life
never has been, never will be. And he says, now the works of
the flesh are manifest, which are these. And this is a list
he gives. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revelings, And such like, if there's anything missed out,
he fulfills it by saying, and such like, of the which I tell
you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. The Apostle
Paul blew the trumpet very clearly to the church at Galatia. It was a very solemn warning. My friends, it is a very solemn
warning to us. And we should not therefore turn
away from it. No, it's there for our instruction.
Now, the watchman and the sword, which is indeed danger, and it
is the enemy. Now, our great adversary, our
great enemy, is the devil. He is very active. He always
has been, and he is today. And he goes about in two guises. He goes about as a roaring lion,
or he goes about as an angel of light. And he will do all
he can to turn us away from the things of God. He will produce
every excuse that you and I may want to be able to put off following
the Lord, put off doing the will of our God, put off doing those
things which the Word of God speaks to us about. Yes, and
he's all the while at our shoulder. The devil never gives up, don't
forget that. this side of the grave. He's
always there. He's always trying to turn us
away. He's a great adversary. Never
underestimate the devil. But the good news is, he's a
vanquished foe. The good news is, the glorious
Saviour has died to vanquish him. The devil cannot face Calvary. He cannot face the precious blood
of the Saviour. He knows when that comes before
him, he is defeated. And so as the watchman blows
the trumpet to warn us, to direct us, we should be very thankful
that God in his love and mercy has given us this wonderful blessing
and Isaiah who was another faithful prophet again he had not an easy
life but he was willing and able to proclaim the great truths
of the gospel and this is what he says in the third chapter
of Isaiah the third chapter of Isaiah and from the ninth verse
we read the next three verses the show of their countenance
doth witness against them And they declare their sin as Sodom.
They hide it not. Woe unto their soul, for they
have rewarded evil unto themselves. Say to the righteous that it
shall be well with him, for they shall eat the fruit of their
doings. Woe unto the wicked. It shall be ill with him, for
the reward of his hands shall be given him. You see, right
through the Word of God, we have the description of those who
are righteous and those who are wicked. We are all born wicked. What a blessing it is if the
grace of God has come into our hearts and blessed us with that
wonderful evidence that we are made righteous. through the sin
atoning death of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. So when we hear the trumpet,
when we hear the warnings from God, may we take the warning
because we're told here, then whosoever heareth the sound of
the trumpet and taketh not warning, if the sword come, and take him
away, his blood shall be upon his own head. Put another way,
we are before God without excuse. That must be a very solemn thought
and consideration. I hope it is, that when that
great day of judgment comes, when all of us must stand before
that great white throne, and there the judge of all the earth,
the blessed savior sits, to find that we are lost, that
we are ruined, that we have turned our back upon the truth of God. We've listened to the devil,
we've followed his path, and we are then eternally lost. Time will be no more. When that
day of judgment comes, It's an eternal state, no more time,
no more salvation, no more room for repentance, no more forgiveness,
no more being cleansed, no more being clothed with the precious
robe of Christ's righteousness. But we are in that eternal state. How terrible to hear that word
from the Lord himself, depart from me, I never knew you. Just imagine spending eternity
in that abject darkness, where the worm dieth not, and there's
gnashing of teeth, with such words ringing in our ears. Yes, the watchman blew the trumpet,
but I ignored it. I followed my own way. I didn't
want to submit myself. to the gracious, blessed, merciful
God. How solemn, how terrible it is. Well, may we indeed be found
amongst those who are not left to ourselves, and we don't find
ourselves building on a sandy foundation. Again, the Lord Jesus,
when he preached that what we call the Sermon on the Mount,
It's a very full description. And as he comes to the end, he
speaks like this, Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings
of mine, and doeth them. Let me repeat that. Therefore,
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them. It will
be no benefit to have heard them, and not be a doer of them. And
he gives us the illustration, I would liken him unto a wise
man which built his house upon a rock and the rain descended
and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house
and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock. And of course, the
good, solid foundation here is none other than the blessed saviour
himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. All friends tonight, may you
and I be found building upon Christ. Other foundation can
no man have than that is laid, that is Christ. Oh, it's a sure
foundation. It will never be moved. You'll
be safe on that rock. And yet, you see, the Lord gives
the comparison. And everyone that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and it beat upon that house,
and it fell. And great was the fall of it. You see, the truth is, It looked
as though it was built OK. Everything was fine when the
sun was shining and everything was rosy. But when the storms
come, when the winds blew and when the rain descended, then
it fell and great was the fall of it. The Lord Jesus concludes,
and it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the
people were astonished. and his doctrine, for he taught
them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." So we
today are wonderfully blessed to have the Bible, the Word of
God to read. But it isn't a book of fiction.
It isn't a book just of historical accounts. It teaches us all that
you and I need for our eternal life. And we need to pray that
God will apply his Word to our very hearts. We are to watch unto all things,
the Apostle told Timothy. We are to watch, we are to wait
upon the Lord. But we are to hear and we are
to do and we are to obey the blessed word of God. And the
Prophet goes on to say, he heard the sound of the trumpet and
took not warning His blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh
warning shall deliver his soul." Really these descriptions are
very simple, aren't they? And they're very clear. But the
devil is very good at blocking up our ears and stopping us listening
to the Word of God. Listening to the Word of God. Many of us perhaps can solemnly
remember times when we sat and heard a sermon and never remembered
anything about it. Never remembered it. And I read
recently in a magazine about Richard Stonelake. And he said
for years he sat and never heard the gospel. He stood up and sang
a hymn. When he sat down, he wouldn't
have remembered a single word he sung. That's tragic, isn't it? Solemn, isn't it? Thankfully
God had mercy upon his soul, and God wonderfully blessed him.
And needful it is, my friends, for us today not to be hearers
only, but doers of the Word. So may the Holy Spirit come and
direct us, because we have, as I said, a great adversary. who
endeavours all our life to turn us away from the great truths
of the Gospel. Now there are many great and
glorious truths of the Gospel which are set before us, right
from Genesis right through to Revelation. But what is the direction
of all the truth of God's Word? It is this, look unto me and
be ye saved. For I am God, and there is none
else. Central word, central theme,
and how vital it is for all of us to be found looking unto the
Saviour. Oh, tonight, my friends, can
we say from our heart that we have looked, and if we have looked,
have we lived. Look and live, which were the
words in Scripture. May we know what it is, therefore,
to look to the Saviour and not turn away. In the 11th verse
of this same 33rd chapter, these are the beautiful words. And
Ezekiel is instructed to say this, As I live, saith the Lord
God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. but that
the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from
your evil ways, for why would he die, O house of Israel? Well, may that be our prayer.
If we are still following the path of Satan, the Lord would give us grace
to turn Turn unto him, turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways. That means following the ways
of the flesh and not following the ways of the spirit. There
is, as we read, as we've spoken, there is that battle between
the flesh and the spirit. It's a very real battle. And
as I said, the devil never gives up. But thankful it is that we
are more than conquerors. through him that loved us. That's a wonderful truth, isn't
it? In and of ourselves, we are unable to conquer. We have no
power, but we have a glorious savior who has conquered sin,
death, hell, and the grave. And he is a glorious victor. Tonight do we rejoice in the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is our hope built upon
that? Our hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Don't settle down. Shoulder that. That is a safe place. That is on the rock. That is
a glorifying position to be found in. And so to be able to praise
and to glorify God. The true believer has reason
to praise and glorify God. And that is surely an evidence
of the life of God in our soul when we truly desire to praise
God from whom all blessings flow. It's not just words, it's not
just a theory. It comes from our heart. We're
moved by the Holy Spirit because of what he's done for us, because
of his great grace which has come upon us. because of that
love which he shed abroad to us, because of the way which
he's opened for us, that way, that path to glory through the
shed blood of the Saviour. Well what a mercy it is then
if we hear such words as this and we are told to fear them
which kill the body and fear not them rather which kill the
body but rather fear them which can kill the soul. We're often
fearful, aren't we, about what people think. Don't worry what
people think. They're just flesh and blood.
They'll perish. Think what God thinks. May be
very concerned continually what the Lord thinks about us. And then the Prophet goes on
to say, but if the watchman See the sword come and blow, not
the trumpet. And the people be not warned if the sword come
and take any person from among them. He is taken away in his
iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. You see what a solemn word that
is to preachers today. We must be faithful in the word
of God. We must warn. We mustn't pretend
everything is plain sounding. We must preach the whole counsel
of God. We must preach heaven. We must
preach hell. We must preach sin. We must preach
salvation. It's not a social gospel. It's
a blessed gospel. It's a glorious gospel. It's
a gospel to rejoice in. It's a gospel which will stand
us in good stead when we come down to the day of our death.
We don't want to come there, do we? and find that we're lacking. We don't want to come there like
ignorance did in the pilgrim's progress. He came to the gates
of heaven and he was asked for a certificate and he fumbled,
he pretended to look for one, he knew he hadn't got it, but
he pretended. Well, of course that doesn't
wear anything, does it, with Almighty God. He didn't have
it and he was cast out. My friends, it's very solemn
to be ignorant, isn't it? ignorant of the truth of God.
And do be honest tonight. If you are ignorant, pray earnestly
to God. He will give you spiritual life
and spiritual light. So you'll be able to observe
what you are before a holy God. A holy God who cannot look upon
sin. What a mercy then to have a saviour. the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll rejoice
tonight in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
came to seek and to save those who are lost. And we were all
lost. What a mercy tonight, if we know by the grace of God,
the trumpet has sounded in our ears. We've heard it. It's had
an effect upon it. By the grace of God, we've turned
unto the Lord, and he's looked upon us, and he said, Live! Oh, bless God. To hear that word,
we must hear it. Otherwise we're eternally lost.
What a blessing then to know the truth of the gracious salvation
set before us in the Word of God. The wonder of it to a fallen
man. It is as John Newton said, amazing
grace. How sweet the sound in a believer's
ear soothes his sorrows, calms his mind. What a mercy it is
to be able to come tonight and to praise God for his amazing
grace. And so as we have these words
before us tonight, this trumpet being blown. Remember, it must
be blown. It's a loud noise so that we
hear the truth of the gospel. What a blessing if we hear it
and it has an effect upon us. So it changes us. It brings us
out of darkness into the glorious light of the everlasting gospel. And we go on and we're rejoicing
because of what God has done for us, because he's redeemed
our soul, because he shed his most precious blood on the cross
at Calvary to achieve that. The price of our sin has been
paid. There is now nothing to pay. Blessed be God. Amen.