An Ancient Question Modernized
(No. 2286)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, DECEMBER 11, 1892.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MAY
4, 1890.
"And the people said unto me, Will you not tell us what these things
mean to us, that you behave so?" Ezekiel 24:19.
EZEKIEL'S wife died. His heart was bleeding, but he received orders
from his Divine Master that he should not mourn, nor weep, nor make any
sign of mourning whatever. It was a strange command, but he obeyed it.
The people understood that Ezekiel was a Prophet to them in all that he
did–his actions did not only concern himself. He was a teacher, not
only by his words, but by his actions, so the people gathered round him
and said to him, "What is the meaning of this? It has some bearing upon
our conduct; tell us what it has to do with us." He soon explained to
them that, before long, they, also, would lose by sword, pestilence and
famine, the dearest that they had, and they would not be able to have
any mourning for the dead. They would be in such a state of distress
that the dead would die unlamented, the living having enough to do to
mourn over their own personal sorrows. It was a terrible lesson and it
was terribly taught.
Now, dear Friends, just as Ezekiel, at his Lord's command, did many
strange things entirely with a view to other people, we must remember
that many things that we do have some relation to others. As long as we
are here, we can never so isolate ourselves as to become absolutely
independent of our surroundings. And it is often well, when we note the
behavior of other people, to say to somebody, if not to them, as the
people did to Ezekiel, "Will you not tell us what these things mean to
us?"
I am going to use the text at this time thus. First, this should be
your question to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Divine Prophet. When we see
Him taken forth to die outside the camp, may we not solemnly say to
Him, "Will You not tell us what these things mean to us, that You
behave so?" When I have spoken a little upon that, I shall then say to
the people who will see us gathering at the Table of our Lord, tonight,
this may be your question to the Church, "Will you not tell us what
these things mean to us, that you behave so?" After I have explained
that matter, I shall need to speak to our friends who are not coming to
the Communion Table with us, but are going home, or going to sit in the
upper gallery, and I shall say to them, this is our question to you,
"Will you not tell us what these things mean to us, that you behave
so?"
First, then, THIS SHOULD BE YOUR QUESTION TO THE LORD JESUS. Very
reverently, though, as far as I am concerned, very feebly, let us
approach our Divine Master and, looking at Him in His wondrous passion,
let us earnestly ask Him, "Will You not tell us what these things mean
to us, that you behave so?" Do you see Him? There He is, amid the dark
shadow of the olives, bending low, and pleading with God. He pleads,
and pleads, and pleads again till He is covered with sweat. Sweat, did
I say? 'Tis blood–and it is so plenteous that it falls to the earth,
"great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Man sweats for
bread, which is the staff of life, but it needs a bloody sweat to win
life, itself, and Jesus pours it out! Dear Master, while that bitter
cup is at Your lips, can You stay a minute to tell us what these things
mean to us that You behave so? His answer is, "Sin is an exceedingly
bitter thing and, to remove it, costs Me the agony of My Soul. It is
not easy to bear the wrath of God. I have cried, 'If it is possible,
let this cup pass from Me,' but if I would save you, it is not
possible." Hear that, my Brothers and Sisters, listen, and learn it
well! Never trifle with sin! Never make a spot which will need a bloody
sweat to wash it away! Never laugh at that over which Christ had to
agonize. And never count redemption a trifle when to Him it was a
pouring out of His soul unto death!
But do you see the lanterns twinkling through the trees? Men are
coming, evil men, with rough voices, with torches, and lanterns, and
staves to take the blessed pleading One. He rises to meet them. He
speaks a word and down they fall! He can release Himself, there is no
need for Him to be captured, but He yields Himself up without a
struggle and they take
Him to do unto Him according to their wicked will. Dear Master, while
the traitor's kiss is still wet upon You and You are being led away
bound to Caiaphas, tell us, I pray You, what do You mean by all this?
What has this to do with us? He answers, "I go willingly. I must be
bound, for sin has bound you–sin has bound your hands, sin has
hampered and crippled you and made you prisoners. You are the bond
slaves of Satan and I must be bound to set you free." O Beloved, learn
the lesson well! Sin always enslaves you. Free thought, free love, free
living, in the highest sense, are to be found only in the service of
God! Sin brings no freedom–it binds! As Christ was bound and delivered
up to die, so does sin bind man and lead him forth to the second death.
This is what Jesus Christ's resignation to His captors means to us.
But now they have taken Him before His judges. He stands before Annas,
and Caiaphas, and Pilate. His enemies accuse Him violently, but He
answers them not a word! Pilate says to Him, "Do You answer me
nothing?" Blessed Sufferer, like a lamb in the midst of wolves, tell
us, if You will speak a word, why this silence? And He whispers into
the hearts of His beloved, "I was silent for there was nothing to say;
willing to be your Advocate, what could I say? You had sinned, though I
had not. I might have pleaded for Myself, but I stood there for you, in
your place. What could I say, what excuse, what apology, what
extenuation could I urge?" All that could be said was, "Guilty, Lord,
guilty." That is all that you may dare to say God, for you have nothing
to plead when you stand upon the ground of your own merits! And so the
silent Christ was eloquent in the condemnation of sin–and we thank Him
that He answered not a word when wicked men clamored against Him.
But now, do you see, they are scourging Him, they are crowning Him with
thorns, they are mocking Him, blindfolding Him and then smiting Him
with the palms of their hands? What scorn, what shame, they poured on
Him. Blessed One, blessed One, will You not tell us what these things
mean to us? I think I hear Him speak from that sacred head, once
wounded, and He says, "I must be put to shame, for sin is a shameful
thing. No scorn is too great for sin. It deserves to be loathed, to be
treated with contempt, to be dashed over the walls of the universe as a
thing unclean, mean, despicable." Christ, in that great shame of His,
teaches us to hate sin, to treat it with contempt, turn away from it
with loathing, for it is a mean thing for a creature to rebel against
His Creator, for a man to be an enemy of His God!
But now, you see, they take Him out through the streets of
Jerusalem–along the Via Dolorosa He pursues His weary walk, drops of
blood falling on the pavement, Himself staggering beneath the load of
the Cross. Why do they not let Him rest? Those weeping women could have
found Him shelter. No, He must not rest, Jerusalem cannot hold Him,
there is not a house that can retain Him, there is not one who can give
Him shelter, for He is going out to die. He must go outside the city
gate. I do not know whether there was, or was not, "a green hill far
away," but I know that it was "outside the city wall." My Master, my
Master, why go You outside the city wall? Tell me, Jesus, why go You
out there, to the place of public execution, the Old Bailey, the Tyburn
of Jerusalem? Why are You here? And He answers, "I suffer outside the
gate because God will not tolerate sin in His City. Sin is an unclean
thing and I, though not Myself unclean, yet standing in the place of
the unclean, must die outside the city gates."
And so I see Him, as they throw Him on His back, and nail His hands and
feet to the Cross, and then lift Him up as a gazing stock for guilty
men! Oh why, oh why, Son of God, are You lifted up like the bronze
serpent of Moses? Why are You lifted up between earth and Heaven? And
He answers, "That I may draw all men unto Me. Earth refuses Me and
Heaven denies me shelter. I hang here, the Just for the unjust, that I
may bring men to God." How I wish that I could speak this explanation
of my crucified Master in more piercing and penetrating, and yet more
tender tones! My Hearers, you must understand this sublime mystery, or
you cannot be saved! Jesus dies that we may not die! He is made a curse
that we may have the blessing! He is treated as a felon that we may be
treated as the children of God! Blessed be His name, thus has He told
us what these things are to us that He behaves so!
They take Him down from the Cross, for He is dead, but before they take
Him down, they pierce His heart, and even after death that heart pours
its tribute for us. Somewhere, among the matter of the globe, is the
very blood and water that flowed from His side! And though, perhaps,
nobody agrees with me, yet I set it over against the fact that
somewhere on the earth are the pieces of the two tablets of stone which
Moses broke beneath the mount. Better still, Christ's wondrous
Atonement is always here, always operating, always reconciling men to
God, always opening a way of access for guilty men to the righteous
Lord. Again I say, blessed be His holy name!
But they have buried Him and He lies alone in His cell through the
long, dark night of death. But the third morning sees Him rise. Before
the sun is up, the Sun of Righteousness has arisen, with healing in His
wings! Jesus has left the tomb
and I invite all sinners to say to the risen Redeemer, "Will You not
tell us what these things mean to us, that you behave so?" This is what
I understand that His Resurrection means to us–He is able to save to
the uttermost them that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to
make intercession for them!
He not only rises from the dead, but He ascends to His Father. He has
gone Home now–the cloud received Him out of the sight of His
followers. With the sound of the great trumpets of Glory He has
returned to His Kingdom and to His Throne. Ask Him what He means by
that and He will tell you that He has led captivity captive and,
"received gifts for men, yes, for the rebellious, also." What a word is
that to every heart that is conscious of rebellion! Christ has received
gifts for you! Learn that lesson, I pray you. Believe on Him and live!
Cast yourself at His feet and be forgiven! Yield yourself up to Him and
be His servant henceforth and forever!
This is a wide theme, but my strength will not enable me to say more
upon this part of it, namely, our question to the Lord Jesus.
II. Now, dear Friends, in a few minutes we shall lift the damask
covering from the Communion Table, and you will find upon it a supply
of bread and wine. We are coming to that Table to think of our Lord,
and I think that I hear some of you ask, "Will you not tell us what
these things mean to us, that you behave so?" THIS MAY BE YOUR QUESTION
TO THE CHURCH. That will be our second point.
We are coming here, tonight, to keep Christ's death in remembrance. I
love to see our dear friends come to the Lord's Table as often as they
can. I am very sorry if I cannot be here every week, for, if there is a
time appointed for the breaking of bread, it is the first day of the
week. Every first day of the week, if you can, come to the table as a
part of your Sabbath worship. This service is intended to be a memorial
of Christ's death. The best memorial of an event is not to rear a
column, or erect a statue, or engrave a record on brass. All these
things are frail and pass away. The tooth of time eats up the brass and
the foot of the ages dashes down the statue or the column. The best
memorial of any event is to associate with it the observance of some
rite, or some ceremony frequently repeated. This will cause it to be a
perpetual memorial.
Now, as long as a half-dozen Christians meet together for the breaking
of bread, Christ's death can never be forgotten. However poor you may
be, or however illiterate, when you come to the breaking of bread, you
are helping to record, as in eternal brass, the greatest fact in all
human history, the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures! If this were all, it would be no little thing. It
means to you who do not come, just this–that some of us mean to keep
this memorial before our eyes. You may forget it, but to you our action
is so far significant, that, whatever you may do, we mean to perpetuate
as long as we live–and we trust that our children after us will
perpetuate this which we esteem to be a priceless fact–that the Son of
God died for guilty men, the Sinless One for the sinful, to bring them
to God! That is what this memorial has to do with you.
We are not, however, coming to the Table merely to look at the bread
and the wine. We are coming here to eat and to drink, to show our
personal benefit by Jesus Christ's death. We wish all who see us to
know that we enjoy the result of Christ's death. We have a life that
feeds upon His Sacrifice. We have a hope that makes Christ to be its
very meat and drink. There is a something about Christ who died that
is, indeed, life-giving and that is sustaining and strengthening to our
new-born spirit. If you are up in the gallery as spectators of the
ordinance, you say to us by your actions, "Tell us what these things
mean to us." And we have this to say to you, that if you will not have
these emblems of Jesus Christ's death to be your meat and drink, at any
rate, we will! And we ask you, if you do not feed on Christ, why do you
not feed on Him? Have you any better bread? Have you any firmer faith
than the faith we have in His atoning Sacrifice? Have you a deeper
peace than Jesus gives to us? Have you a surer hope of Heaven than
faith in Christ gives? Have you a brighter hope? We know you have not
and, therefore, while to us His flesh is meat, indeed, and His blood is
drink, indeed, we say that these things are to you a rebuke, a
question, a suggestion concerning something lacking in you!
But, beloved Friends, we not only come to the Table to eat and to
drink, but there is this point about the communion that we come
together to declare our unity in Jesus Christ. If I went home and broke
bread, and drank of the juice of the vine by myself, it would not be
the observance of the Lord's Supper. It is a united participation. It
is a festival. It is a token and display of brotherhood. Those who will
come to the Table, tonight, will practically say, "We are one. We,
being many, are one body of Jesus Christ, and everyone members, one of
another." I think that I hear you say, "Will you not tell us what these
things mean to us, that you behave so?" Well, they mean to you,
this–if you do not believe in Christ, you are not of the brotherhood.
If you do not feed upon Christ, you are not one with Him, you are not
one of His people.
There is another brotherhood and if you do not belong to the
brotherhood of Christ, you belong to the other fraternity. They who are
not with Isaac are with Ishmael. They who are not with Jacob are with
Esau. They who are not the seed of the woman are the seed of the
serpent. Tonight, as with a drawn sword, Christ divides this
congregation into two parts. If you believe in Him, you are His. But if
you believe not in Him, there is a present condemnation resting upon
you. It is well that you should know this fact! When God's people come
together for the Communion, it incidentally means that they leave the
rest of the congregation behind.
Once more, when this Communion is over, if we live, we shall meet again
next Lord's Day, and when that is over, if we are spared, we shall meet
again the following Lord's Day. We meet continually to show our belief
in Jesus Christ's coming again. More than 52 times in the year is this
Table spread in our midst, for, frequently, in different parts of the
Tabernacle, the elders and deacons and other friends meet and commune
with the Lord, doing this often in remembrance of Him. Here is the
point to which I call your attention–we are to do this "until He
comes." Every celebration of the Lord's Supper speaks, not with the
voice of a trumpet, but still, with a clear sound, and it says, "The
Lord is coming. He is on the way back. This is one of the tokens that
He is coming again." As for Himself, before He went away, He took the
great Nazarite vow. He said that He would drink no more of the fruit of
the vine till He should drink it new with His disciples in His Father's
Kingdom. And He remains the great Abstainer, who has sworn never to
drink of the cup till He should pledge them again in the new wine of
His Father's Kingdom. But He bids us go on drinking it until He shall
come again to receive us unto Himself–that where He is, there we may
also be.
Perhaps you still enquire, "Will you not tell us what these things mean
to us, that you behave so?" Well, they are this to you, that, whether
you remember Jesus Christ's coming or not, He is coming! He is coming
quickly. When you read, "Behold, I come quickly," it does not mean, "I
shall be here soon," but it means, "I am coming quickly." A man may be
coming quickly from New York, tonight, and yet he may not be here
tomorrow. He may not be here for another week, but he is coming
quickly, all the same. Christ is coming as quickly as He can–long
leagues of distance lie between Him and us–and He is covering them
with the utmost speed. The glowing wheels of His chariot, whose axles
are hot with the haste of His journey, are hurrying over the weary way.
He is coming quickly. I should not be surprised, certainly I should not
be distressed, if He came before I have finished this sermon! Could you
all say as much as that? Oh, how some of us would stand up and welcome
Him with glad acclaim if He should make His blessed Presence manifest
upon this platform before this evening's service is over! I know no
reason why He should not come tonight.
The times and seasons are all unknown to us. We venture upon no
prophecy, but as often as we come to the Communion Table, we say to
you, "He will come." When He comes, the Day of the Lord will be
darkness, and not light, to every unbeliever. When He comes, woe unto
His adversaries! How will they face their Judge? Now, Judas, come and
kiss Him! Now, Pilate, ask Him "what is truth?" Now, you Jews, come and
spit in His face! Now, impenitent thief, come and cast bitter sayings
in His teeth! Where are they? See how they try to slink away–they have
not a word to say! No, I hear them burst into agonizing shrieks, crying
to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of
Him that sits on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the
great Day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Ah,
you who used to brag and boast, sing another tune, now, that Christ has
come! You who despised Him, you who would have nothing to do with Him,
what would you not give if He were now your Friend? Make Him to be your
Friend, tonight, by putting your trust in Him and then you will be
ready for His coming! Let Him come when He may, His coming will be full
of love and joy to all who have trusted Him.
Thus I have answered two sets of questions, first for my Master, and
then for my Brothers and Sisters in the Church.
III. Now, in closing, THIS IS OUR QUESTION TO YOU, "Will you not tell
us what these things mean to us, that you behave so?"
First, there are some of you who are here, tonight, who do not often go
to a place of worship. I know you. Shall I tell you what you do on
Sunday morning? Well, I do not know that it would do anybody any good
if I did, so I will not. Shall I tell you how you generally spend the
afternoon and evening of the Lord's Day? You know as well as I do,
perhaps better, so I will not tell you. But here you are, now, for once
in a while. By seldom coming to the Lord's House, you teach us your
utter indifference. Your carelessness seems to say to me, "God is
nobody! Put Him in a corner. Get on in business. Mind the main chance.
God and eternity are only for fools. Gospel? Salvation? Oh, they are
trifles, not worth anybody's consideration!"
What about the Sabbath, which God appoints to be His own? "Well, He has
given us six days out of seven, so we will steal from Him the other
one. We will not give Him even an hour, if we can help it, for who is
the Lord that we should obey His voice?" You seem to say, "What is
Heaven, and what is Hell?" O Sirs, this is the practical teaching of
your lives! If you are living in indifference, you are teaching your
children this, you are teaching your neighbors this, you are teaching
me this, as far as I am willing to learn it–but I am not willing to
learn it, for I cannot believe that Hell is a thing to be trifled with!
You can trifle yourself into it, but you cannot trifle yourself out of
it! There is no opening of the iron gate when once it has closed behind
you. And Heaven is not a thing to be trifled with. How many have I seen
die with the light of Heaven on their faces! How have I heard them talk
of already beginning its endless joys while yet they were here! Have we
not often rejoiced at the deathbeds of Believers who have died with
glory flowing into their souls? I have seen too much of this to think
Heaven a trifle!
I expect to go there, myself, before long, and I mind not how soon it
may be. I read, the other day, that one called on my old grandfather
and said to him, "Mr. Spurgeon, you are getting old." He replied, "Yes,
I am. I am eighty-seven, and I should like to go Home next week, but I
should like better to go Home, today, for I have been here as long as I
want to be, and I am not as equal to preaching as I used to be. I
should like to go Home and do some of the singing up above." Well I
cannot trifle with that Heaven where my grandfather has gone! I have
too many friends there to run any risk of not going there myself!
Perhaps you think in your own mind, "I do not want to be lost." Then, I
pray you, cease your indifference! Give God your Sabbaths! Go and hear
the Gospel preached and when you hear it, think it over, read your
Bibles, begin to pray and talk to your children about God and Jesus
Christ and Heaven. Why do so many of you forget your God? How can you
live without Him? How can you live without a Savior? These things are
grievous to me and they ought to be very grievous to you–and you ought
to have done with this indifference at once. God help you to have done
with it even now!
There are others of you who are not indifferent. You come to the
services, and you are attentive listeners, but just observe what you
are going to do, tonight. We shall need all the ground floor and the
greater part of this first gallery for communicants, but you are going
home, and so telling us that you have no part in the Communion. Yes,
the Lord's Table is spread, Christ is to be remembered, fellowship is
to be had with Him–and you are going home! I know, my Friend over
yonder, that you do not quite like it, because you have to leave your
wife behind you. My dear boy up in the gallery, you do not quite like
it, for your mother will stay behind and you will stop about somewhere,
I dare say, to walk home with her. I do not like your departing from
God's people, for it makes me think of a hymn that I used to hear sung
years
ago–
"Oh, there will be weeping At the judgment seat of Christ!" When the
last parting comes, when mother is caught up to dwell with Christ, and
her boy, whom she loved so well, is driven away into outer darkness,
there will be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth! A dividing
day must come. You may grow with the wheat, but the time will come when
the tares must be separated from it, when the Lord will say to His
reapers, "Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to
burn them: but gather the wheat into My barn." I hope that you will not
go home many Sundays, leaving dear ones at the Communion Table, but
that, having trusted Christ as your Savior, you will remain with them
to show forth His death in His own appointed way.
I hear another say, "I am not going home. I shall remain at the
ordinance as a spectator." I always like to see you look on, I like to
see the birds come where the chickens are being fed! They will always
do so, you know. If you feed your chickens well, there will be sure to
be sparrows in the trees near, waiting while the chickens are feeding,
and afterwards the sparrows will come and have their portion. So I
expect it will be with you–when you have been looking on for a little
while, you will drop down from the gallery and you will get in among
the birds Christ came to feed. You are getting into a place of happy
danger! Get where the shots fly and one of them may make a target of
you! Oh, that it might be so!
But tonight you are going to be only a spectator. Will you tell me what
that means, only a spectator?–
"There is a Fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains,"
but you are only a spectator! There is my Father's House and prodigals
returning are clasped in His arms, the ring is on their finger, and the
shoes are on their feet, but you are only a spectator! In Paris, during
the siege, when it was shut up, there were meals given at certain times
in appointed places, but what would you have thought, if you had been
there, and had been allowed to come to the window and see the feeding,
and yourself remain only a spectator? I pity the poor shoeless urchins,
on a cold winter's night, who stand against a London cook-shop,
flattening their noses against the great plate of glass, and looking
in, and seeing all the steaming food, while they are only spectators!
Do not be so, I pray you–there is room for you at the Gospel
feast–and a hearty welcome, too!
Do not be merely spectators! But if you mean to be so, then I say this
to you, there will be no spectators in Heaven. They will all partake of
the feast above, or they will not be there. And, I grieve to add, there
will be no spectators in Hell. You will have to participate in the
award of vengeance, or else in the gift of mercy! Therefore have done
with being spectators–
"Come guilty souls, and flee away, Like doves, to Jesus' wounds."
Come and put your trust in Him who died for the ungodly! He that
believes in Him is not condemned! Would to God that you would believe
in Him tonight! I feel that God has helped me to speak to you. It has
been no small task to me in my weakness–and now I want the Lord to
give me some souls. I expect to be paid for this service. When one
preaches with joy and comfort, and is full of health and strength,
there is a great delight in the work. But now, tonight, when it is
heavy work to get a thought and to utter it, I expect my wages in
another form and I shall go home to my Master, and say, "Lord, give me
my wages!" If He asks me what I want, I shall say to Him, "Lord, I
should like the soul of that young man who sits in the aisle, there,
and of that old man in the top gallery who has been so interested while
he has been listening. And I should like half a dozen of those young
women over there."
I believe that, when I once began to plead with my Lord, I should ask
for every one of you! At any rate, why should I leave anyone out? Which
one should I leave out? When I was preaching, once, in the great
plow-shed of Mr. Howard, of Bedford, (they had cleared out all the
plows to make room for a large congregation), His dear old father was
sitting on the platform with me, and in the afternoon I prayed that the
Lord would give us some souls. I asked that a few might be converted.
After the service, the good old saint said, "I enjoyed your preaching,
but I did not enjoy your praying. I did not say, 'Amen,' when you asked
the Lord to give us a few souls. My dear Brother," he said, "I would
not be content unless He gave us hundreds! Go in for it tonight," he
added, "pray for hundreds to be converted." I thought, what a good
thing it was to have a Brother with larger faith than one's own! Now
may the Lord make some of you, who have great faith, like good old Mr.
Howard, to pray the Lord to save the whole ship's company here tonight!
Why should they not all be brought in to the praise of the glory of His
Grace? God grant it, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON EZEKIEL 33:1-20;30-33.
Verses 1-4. Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of
man, speak to the children of your 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: if when he sees the sword
come upon the land, he blows the trumpet, and warns the people; then
whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and takes not warning; if the
sword comes, and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
In that case the watchman is quite clear. He has done his duty, he has
sounded an alarm, and a fitting alarm, upon the trumpet. He has sounded
it immediately, without loitering or delaying. He has not been afraid
of giving uneasiness to men–he has done his duty, fearless of remark,
and he is clear. Happy also is he in knowing that, by heeding the
trumpet's warning blast, many have escaped the threatened danger.
Still, even then it seems that there are some who hear the trumpet and
will not take the warning. That is the sad part of our service–it
makes the most successful ministry to be fringed with black. It cannot
be all joy for him who wins the most souls for God, for at times he can
sympathize with his Brothers, the Prophets, in their sorrowful enquiry,
"Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed?" Listen to this, you who hear the Gospel and yet do not
repent! If you heed not the warning, your blood will be on your own
head!
5, 6. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his
blood shall be upon him. But he that takes warning shall deliver his
soul. But if the watchman sees the sword come, and blows not the
trumpet, and the people are not warned; if the sword comes, and takes
any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his
blood will I require at the watchman's hands. This is a very solemn
Truth of God. It not only concerns me, and the many ministers of Christ
who are here, but it is for all of you who know the Lord, for you,
also, are set as watchmen to your families, to your neighbors, to the
class which you teach, or which you should teach, in the Sunday school.
May God grant that we may, each one of us, be delivered from other
men's sins, for we may become partakers with them in their iniquity
unless we bear our testimony against them and give them warning of the
consequences of their evil-doing!
7. So you, O son of man, I have set you a watchman unto the house of
Israel. It is not merely the people who took a man of their coasts, and
set him for their watchman, but, "I have set you." Oh, the solemn
ordination of a true servant of Christ! It is not by laying on of hands
of man, nor by a pretended descent from the Apostles–it is a call from
God!
7. Therefore you shall hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from
Me. That is the way to preach, to get the sermon from the mouth of God
and then to speak it as the mouth of God! Dear teachers, wait upon God
for that which you are to teach–take it warm with love out of the very
mouth of God–and then speak it for God out of your own mouth. Good
will surely come of such teaching as that!
8. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die; if
you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall
die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hands. Even
as God required Abel's blood at the hands of Cain and pronounced him
cursed because he was guilty of that blood, so will He require the
blood of perishing men at the hands of those set over them, and a curse
shall come upon them if they are found negligent.
9. 10. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it;
if he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you
have delivered your soul. Therefore, O you son of man, speak unto the
house of Israel; Thus speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins
are upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? This is
as much as to say, "We cannot get away from our sins; there is no hope
of our living." When men get into the iron cage called, "Despair,"
there really seems to be no hope that they will turn from their sin.
There is no hope in themselves–their only hope is in the Lord.
11. 12. Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his ways and
live: turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, O
house of Israel? Therefore, you son of man. Notice how often God calls
Ezekiel the "son of man." He had many wonderful visions, but he was to
be kept humble by being constantly reminded that he was nothing more
than a son of man. He was to be kept sympathetic with the people–they
were men, and he was one of them–a "son of man." It seems hard that
any mother's son of ours should die and perish. The thought that he
will perish forever is terrible, indeed, to one who recognizes his
union with the race as a "son of man."
12. Say unto the children of your people, The righteousness of the
righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for
the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that
he turns from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to
live for his righteousness in the day that he sins. It is not merely
what we have been, but what we are, and what we shall be, that will
have to be taken into account. If we have been righteous in our own
esteem, what of that if we turn from it? If we have been sinful, yet
if, by God's Grace, we turn from it, the past shall be blotted out!
13. When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live; if he
trusts to his own righteousness, and commits iniquity, all his
righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he
has committed, he shall die for it. There is no salvation for any man
without final perseverance, and if that final perseverance were not
secured to us in the Covenant of Grace, there would be no salvation,
even, for the brightest Believer, or the most sparkling professor! What
are our lights in themselves? Will they not soon burn dim unless the
secret oil of God's Grace shall keep them bright? Whatever point any of
you have reached, do not begin to put your confidence in that. If you
have seemed to be righteous through a lifetime of 70 years, yet, unless
the Grace of God keeps you, even to the end, you will perish! The mercy
is that we have many precious promises concerning the eternal safety of
all who are in Christ, and God will not fail to fulfill every one of
them.
14-17. Again, when I say unto the wicked, You shall surely die; if he
turns from his sin, and does that which is lawful and right; if the
wicked restores the pledge, gives again what he robbed, walks in the
statutes of life, without committing iniq-
uity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he
has committed shall be mentioned unto him: he has done that which is
lawful and right; he shall surely live. Yet the children of your people
say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is
not equal. Sinners are very fast in judging God! Oh, that they would
judge themselves! It is not the Lord who is unjust–it is the balances
and weights of men that are unjust. Oh, that they did but know it!
18-20. When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits
iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn from his
wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live
thereby. Now let us read at the 30th verse.
30, 31. Also, you son of man, the children of your people still are
talking against you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and
speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray
you, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the LORD. And they
come unto you as the people comes, and they sit before you as My
people, and they hear your words, but they will not do them: for with
their month they show much love, but their heart goes after their
covetousness. This is another of the great sorrows of the prophetic
calling, that however accurately we report the Lord's message, however
earnestly we try to drive it home to the consciences of our hearers, it
must often be said, "They sit before you as My people, and they hear
your words, but they will not do them; for with their mouth they show
much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness."
32. And, lo, you are unto them as a very lovely song of one that has a
pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear your
words, but they do them not. Preaching seems to such people to be only
a song, or a piece of acting for their amusement–but it is not so.
They that can find sport in the things of God will find it dull sport
in Hell when they shall be forever driven away from the Presence of
God, and from the glory of His power!
33. And when this comes to pass, (lo, it will come), then shall they
know that a Prophet has been among them. But then it will be too late
for them to know it, for they will have missed their opportunity of
profiting by the message that the Prophet delivered to them! God grant
that it may not be so with any one of us, for His abounding mercy's
sake! Amen.