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The War on Warnings - Pastor Stacey Shiflett

Writer's picture: Pastor ShiflettPastor Shiflett

The War on Warnings

Ezekiel 33:1-9

 

Introduction: In this chapter, God gave Ezekiel a message. This message was about the serious mandate of the watchman on the wall to sound the warning to the people of God.

There are multiple references to this practice:

·        Jeremiah 6:1 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.

 

A. The Aversion that is Unmistakable

There is a tremendous aversion to warnings today.

The word “trumpet” in our text is the Hebrew word “shofar”.

·        It was used for the Jubilee. (Leviticus 25:9)

·        It was used to bring down the walls of Jericho. (Joshua 6:5)

·        It was used by Gideon to defeat the enemy. (Judges 7).

·        It was blown to celebrate the return of the Ark of the Covenant. (2 Sam. 6:15)

·        The shofar (trumpet) was used for worship.

·        Psalms 150:3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

 

The Hastings Bible Dictionary informs us that "The watchman blew the shofar to RAISE AN ALARM or to indicate IMPENDING DANGER.”

I find it strange that today, people want the trumpet sounded for everything EXCEPT for warnings!!

 

Blowing the trumpet and warning God’s people has always been a distasteful task.

For some reason that has never made sense, warnings bother people.

The blowing of the trumpet is annoying; it is nerve-wracking; it is a nuisance to many people.

·        Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?

 

In the text, God said to take a man “…of their coasts.”

This is someone that is familiar with the territory, with the boundaries and the inhabitants.

Someone that can recognize when something is wrong.

I’m starting to develop a strong opinion about this crowd that has a problem with warnings.

I’m starting to believe that they are the crowd that is bringing the sword; not the inhabitants of the city.

I’m afraid that some of the watchmen on the wall do NOT belong up there!

 

When someone shows up that is not supposed to be there, warnings should be sounded!

When the welfare of those within the walls are threatened, warnings should be sounded!

 

The threat that God is referring to is “…when he seeth the sword come upon the land…” vs. 6

This is a simple yet loaded statement.

·        It speaks of an invasion. “…when he seeth the sword come upon the land…”

·        It speaks of impending danger.

·        It speaks of intentional harm. (the sword has one purpose.)

 

B. The Assault that is Unstoppable

Make no mistake – God said in verse 2 “…when I bring the sword upon the land.”

It is not a matter of if, but when the sword will come upon the land.

There must be a constant watching for any threat to the inhabitants of the land.

Those behind the wall should rest at night knowing that there is a watchman that is vigilant and alert.

 

It is unrealistic to assume that people will know what dangers are ahead without warnings.

And it is unrealistic to expect people to prepare for danger that they do not know about.

They must be warned. They must be alerted.

And the warning must come at the first sight of danger.

What they do with it is up to them.

There are those that after hearing the warning refuse to act in a responsible manner.

That is their problem.

But according to verse 4 – they must hear the sound of the trumpet!

How can they “deliver their soul” if the watchmen does not blow the trumpet?

 

C. The Abandonment that is Unforgivable

·        Ezekiel 33:6 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.


There is no margin for error.

“…if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet…”

Why in the world would he NOT blow the trumpet?

 

Many of God’s men do not do it because they are afraid of what others may say.

Many don’t warn simply because they do not see danger.

Many do not warn for fear of being labeled as “critical.”

Many won’t sound the trumpet because they are afraid they will lose people.

NOTICE - what the sword does when it enters the land – IT TAKES PEOPLE AWAY!!

·        Vs. 4 …if the sword come, and take him away…

·        Vs. 6 …if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away…

Quit worrying that you MIGHT lose people because you warn them and realize you WILL lose them if you don’t!!

 

It doesn’t matter why they don’t blow the trumpet.

God said if they don’t, and the sword comes and there are casualties, his blood will required.

 

I tell you one of the main reasons why watchmen won’t blow the trumpet.

There is an all-out WAR ON WARNINGS.

THE WAR ON WARNINGS is being waged on multiple fronts.

Here are just three of them:

 

I. They are REVISING the DUTY of God’s Man

I hear it all the time. “Just preach the Word.”

But the Word of God is filled with warnings.

The Word of God is filled with multiple admonitions to live soberly and cautiously.

How can a man of God do his job without warning?

How can a preacher preach today without ever issuing a warning? About anything? Ever?

NOTICE Ezekiel 33:7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

 

There are entire business models that exist today to warn people about men of God that warn.

They attack any preacher that has the gumption to blow the trumpet.

They label and mock any preacher that has the audacity to call out the unbiblical trends of our day.

And it’s not just the lost; or the heathen; it is other preachers!

People want to hear positive things.

They want to hear smooth things.

Isaiah 30

·        9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:

·        10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

 

READ 1 Kings 22:13-28

A. The Hypocrisy – They pretended to want to know God’s word – vs. 5

B. The Hirelings – There were 400 prophets on hand that spoke smooth things – vs. 6

C. The Hatred – “There is one man…but I hate him…” – vs. 7, 8

D. The Heavy-handedness – vs. 13 “…be like the word of one of them…”

NOTE: You cannot be ONE man by whom God speaks and be ONE OF THEM at the same time!! You’ve got to be ONE or the other!!

 

E. The Harshness – vs. 24 “…went near and smote him on the cheek.”

They put him in prison and fed him with bread and water of affliction.

The 400 false prophets and hirelings were no doubt fed a delicious meal for their lying spirit.

 

We’ve got a generation of fundamentalists today that want to revise the man of God’s duty.

They want to tell him in advance what he can say and not say.

They insist on his words being “like the word of one of them…”

 

II. They are REDEFINING the DECLINE of God’s People

Compromise is now called growth.

Forsaking biblical principles is now being hailed as abandoning harmful IFB traditions.

Conforming to the world is now done under the cloak of a newfound liberty in Christ.

Blurring the lines between masculinity and femininity is walking away from legalism.

Mocking fundamentalism is now called recovering.

Believing men should be the leaders in their homes and churches is called patriarchy.

Being a bold, decisive, strong man is now synonymous with being misogynistic and abuse.

Being a loud, stubborn, foul-mouthed woman is now celebrated as being strong and a survivor.

 

The Bible said that in the last days, the love of many would wax cold.

But we are to believe that this waxing cold is a healthy sign of spiritual discernment.

This waxing cold is evidence of a maturity and spiritual awakening amongst God’s people.

These Laodicean churches are now our pattern for a healthy, spiritual, mature church.

·        Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

 

·        Dropping all of our standards is a good thing.

·        Cutting out church services is a good thing.

·        Carnal pastors and pastor’s wives is a good thing.

·        Worldly pastor’s kids is a good thing.

·        Bible colleges churning out soy boys and tomboys is a good thing.

·        Using modern translations is a good thing.

·        Singing songs with unscriptural lyrics is a good thing.

·        Dropping Baptist from the church name is a good thing.

 

Supposedly, today’s generation of fundamentalists are shrugging off the yoke of holiness and godliness.

But where is the revival?

Where is the resurgence of Holy Ghost empowered church members?

Where is the uptick in strong, Bible-based preaching?

Where is the increase in men being called to preach and families surrendering to the mission field?

Where is the harvest of souls being saved and cities being won to Christ through the outreach of the local church?

 

Supposedly, the church has been “delivered” from the shackles of old-time religion, yet they are dying.

·        The altars are empty.

·        The prayer closets are empty.

·        The baptisteries are empty.

·        The pews are empty.

But we are to believe that the church is better off without the warnings?

The church is better off when the watchman on the wall won’t blow the trumpet??

·        The church is NOT better off!

·        The locusts are swarming!

·        The heavens are sending no rain!

·        The pestilences are here!

·        The land is filled with drought and famine!

·        The sword is upon the land, and nobody is blowing the trumpet!!!

We need to stop putting lipstick on the pig and call it what it is.

 

Preachers stopped warning, and God’s people have fallen prey to the sword!

And God will require the blood of God’s people at the hand of those that failed to warn!

Every preacher that won’t warn the people will be held accountable for:

·        Every church member that gets sucked into apostasy without warnings.

·        Every young person that walks away from the old paths without opposition.

·        Every church that dies because the sword came upon the land and stole the people.

 

III. They are REPURPOSING the DESIGN of God’s House

If the church of the living God, the house of God is to be the pillar and ground of truth, how can we avoid preaching and speaking truth? (1 Timothy 3:15)

If judgment is to begin at the house of God, how is it biblical to not judge? (1 Peter 4:17)

What is to become of the church if truth is forbidden?

What is the role of the church if judgment is no longer permitted?

·        The church is no longer the pillar and ground of the truth – it is now a social club.

·        The church is no longer warning God’s people of the dangers; they are embracing them.

·        The church is not protecting God’s people from wolves; they are partnering with them.

 

If Jesus was here, He would be warning people!

The Lord Jesus Christ was constantly warning the disciples.

In spite of many in our society today, being like Christ means never warning God’s people.

Jesus warned His disciples. And was very specific when He did it.

Was he being critical of them? Of course!! He used them as object lessons of what NOT to do!

  • Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

  • Matthew 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

  • Matthew 16:11 …ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

  • Matthew 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

  • Luke 20:46 Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;

 

The Apostle Paul set an example of warning that is undeniable.

  • Philippians 3:2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

  • Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

 

2 Timothy 4

  • 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:

  • 15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

 

Conclusion: There is an all-out assault on anyone that is issuing warnings.

Warnings are necessary to keep God’s people safe from the sword that comes into the land.

Instead of trying to quiet the warnings, thank God for the warnings!

Instead of telling the Seer to see not, listen to the warnings and be safe.

God said, “He that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.”

We should not be at war with the warnings; we should be at war with the swords invading the land!

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