Sovereign Appointment, Solemn Pronouncement and Searching Requirement of Ezekiel the Watchman

Introduction: Ezekiel's Call to the Prophetic Office

0:05 was held on May 26, 1991, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:14 Now before we turn to the Word of God, I just want to give a word of explanation for any who may be visiting among us. I generally plant myself at the rear door, whether I've preached or not, in order to greet our own people and to greet visitors. But having been on my feet three times today, and with the knee just beginning to come around from the surgery, there's beginning to be some swelling, and standing on the concrete floor aggravates it, so I will not be going to the door. Please do not interpret that as anything other than a wise expedient in trying to get back the full and hopefully normal use of this knee.

0:59 Now if you will turn. Turn, please, to the portion read in your hearing in the consecutive reading of the Scriptures tonight, Ezekiel chapter 3. Knowing that a number of our people would be away this weekend, I did not believe it would be wise to continue our present series on the manifesto of Trinity Baptist Church, and as I prayerfully reflected on what I ought to preach, having, as it were, this one unusual opportunity. Here in the evening service, my mind was drawn to this very passage, which I knew would be the reading for tonight, and I would ask you to hear again as I read just one section of that which was read in your hearing earlier in the service, chapter 3 and verse 16. And it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of Jehovah, came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die,

2:21 and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered, but his blood will I require at thy hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and thou hast delivered thy soul. Now for those of you who have been here for the consecutive reading of the prophecy of Ezekiel, you will know that the first three chapters, almost in their entirety,

3:49 are given over to a record of Ezekiel's call to the prophetic office. The account, the account of that call begins in chapter 1 and verse 1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. And then for the remainder of chapter 1, there is the record of the various visions of the glory of God, given sovereignly by God to this man called Ezekiel, visions culminating in a vision of what was most likely a pre-incarnate manifestation of the second person of the Godhead, the Son of Man, one who had the appearance of a man, and yet all accoutrements of deity. And when he sees, visions culminating in this vision, of one in the likeness of the appearance of a man, Ezekiel said, when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard of one that spake. And then in chapter 2,

5:17 we have the record of the words that God speaks to Ezekiel as he further marks him out and commissions him to the office, and function of a prophet in Israel. And this entire section is taken up then, not with visions of the glory and majesty of God, but with words delivered with all of the authority of God. And the only thing that is in what we might call a visionary category is when he is asked to eat a scroll at the end of chapter 2, and he eats that scroll, and on into the first few verses of chapter 3. Then as he speaks to him concerning how his mission will be received by the nation, it will be met primarily with hard-heartedness, and stiff-neckedness, and unbending, resolute rebellion against God and His truth. We then see God culminating, as it were, His preparation of His servant by giving him another, at least in many form, undoing vision of His glory. Verse 12, After all of the visions,

6:43 then all of the words, then we read in verse 12, Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of Jehovah from this place, and I heard, and I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures, taking us back to the vision of chapter 1. And this overpowered the prophet, and he says, I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Jehovah was strong upon me, and he came and dwelt with the captives by the river Chebar, and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days, now verse 16, and it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, And in this final utterance of God we have the capstone of the commission of the prophet Ezekiel. Everything from chapter 1 and verse 1 to this paragraph is leading up to this culmination, leading distillation of his task as a prophet of the Lord God of Israel.

God's Sovereign Appointment of the Prophet

8:06 And I want us to meditate tonight upon this paragraph under three headings. First of all, I want you to notice with me God's sovereign appointment of the prophet, God's solemn pronouncement through the prophet, and God's searching requirement and requirement, of the prophet. First of all, then, God's sovereign appointment of the prophet. As Jehovah is summarizing what he has been doing in marking out Ezekiel, giving to him visions of his glory, giving to him verbal communications of his unique function now standing before him as a prophet of God, God is very careful to understand and underscore that he is a prophet by sovereign appointment alone. Look at the language of verse 17. The word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, I have made thee, therefore hear and give them warning. I have made thee, therefore hear and give them warning.

9:32 And in these words, God is giving us in a kind of verbal shorthand a fresh reminder of his own sovereign appointment of the prophet. One thing is clear in the appointment of every prophet to his task that no prophet came to his task as the result of career selection. He did not come to his task and to his office by the consensus of the people. But by various ways, God made it very plain that when a man was to be his prophet, he would be so as God exercised sovereign prerogatives in appointing man to that office. So that the presence of a prophet in Israel was a constant reminder of two great realities. God's authority in action and God's grace in manifestation. Whenever a prophet appeared on the scene, a man upon whom God had laid his hand, the very presence of such a man was a reminder to everyone in Israel

10:53 that God was still exercising his rights as God to mark out a man, to commission, to place his spirit upon that man and to take the faculties of that man and to make them the very instrument of conveying his mind and his will and word to the nation of Israel or in some cases to the nations of the earth in general. So the presence of a prophet is a constant reminder of God's authority in action. But because of that, because the prophets came to call the nation of Israel back to covenant faithfulness, to call them away from their sins, to encourage them with pronouncements of God's saving designs for the future and days of restoration and blessing that would come to and through the nation, the presence of a prophet was not only a reflection of God's authority in action, but God's grace in manifestation. You'll remember in several of the prophets again and again when God is trying to humble the sinning nation for its ingratitude. One of the things God underscores is

12:18 I sent unto you my prophets rising early and late and he says again and again this was a manifestation of my grace in action. You had my law. It was an inscripturated law. You had the terms of the covenant before you.

12:42 You were without excuse if you went a-whoring after other gods. If you broke the terms of the covenant, you were without excuse. I could have left you, but I sent my prophets unto you. Why?

12:56 Because God's grace was being exalted and exercised towards his people to call them back from their ways of disobedience back into covenant faithfulness and again and again through the prophets God entreats, God pleads, God even begs his people, takes the posture of one who reads with them concerning the unreasonableness of their sin and of their waywardness. And so God's sovereign approach and appointment of the prophet is underscored and this divine initiative is asserted in the words I have made thee therefore hear and give them warning. But note not only under this head of God's sovereign appointment of the prophets the divine initiative asserted I have made thee but the divinely chosen imagery explained. Notice, he says in making Ezekiel a prophet he has made him a watchman unto the house of Israel. He could have said I have made thee a prophet but what he is saying is in making you a prophet I am making you in a unique sense

14:21 a watchman unto the house of Israel. Now what is involved in that divinely chosen imagery of a watchman? Well we are not left to conjecture or to inference or deduction all we need do is to turn to a parallel passage in the same prophecy chapter 33 where God in detail explains the imagery. It is wonderful when God himself expounds his own images.

14:54 Ezekiel 33 1-7 The word of Jehovah came unto me saying son of man speak unto the children of thy people and say unto them when I bring the sword upon the land and the people of the land take a man from among them and set him for their watchman if when he seeth the sword come upon the land he blow the trumpet and warn the people then whosoever hears the sound of the trumpet and takes 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 whereas if he had taken warning he would have delivered his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet and the people be not warned and 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 so thou son of man I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Now you see words could not be plainer. God says just as men select from their own number one to serve in the function of a watchman so I have set thee a watchman.

16:24 So the parallel is not to be found in the fact that the people of a town or a city take a man and make him a watchman no God says don't stress that aspect of the analogy. God himself intervenes and says no the analogy breaks down at that point I made you a watchman that is in making you a prophet I have given you a function that finds parallels in what men do when they select one of their number to be a watchman over the city and the watchman was to be one who had power and had keen eyes to see impending danger and had a good set of lungs and vocal cords and could warn the city of that impending danger. The whole imagery of the watchman terminates upon the eye and the mouth of the watchman. He is to look out and to see or we should say even his ear he is to look out and he is also to hear he is to see and to hear anything that would indicate impending danger and then he is to blow the trumpet he is to sound the alarm

17:50 that will cause those within the city to make due preparations for the impending danger. And so in God's sovereign appointment of the prophet two things are emphasized the divine power and the divine power the divine initiative is asserted and the divinely chosen imagery is explained for us. Now what do we say with reference to this in terms of where we are in this present age of God's redemptive purposes? We do not believe there are living prophets we believe all claims are either at best misplaced seal at worst downright satanic imitations false prophets who speak by the impulse of demonic spirits and the Bible speaks of that and says they will multiply in this epoch called the last days that there are doctrines of demons Peter says as false prophets were multiplied so false teachers will be multiplied so we do not expect that there will be prophets men who are in these unusual ways marked out sovereignly by God and given the function of a watchman in the sense of Ezekiel

19:17 but it's very interesting that when we turn to the New Testament we find the apostle Paul incorporating the watchman motif and weaving it into the fabric of the responsibility and task of ordinary elders and we see that in Acts chapter 20 here the apostle is addressing the elders the ordinary standing office bearers in the church of Christ those who come to their office not by direct revelation but by a process of deduction and prayerful waiting upon God and congregational scrutiny and the other ways we've been contemplating recently in our series on the Bible and in our series on the Bible and in our series on the Bible and in our series on the Bible and in our series on the manifesto and yet notice how the watchman motifs are found in Paul's dealings with elders after reviewing the nature and substance of his own ministry among them for some three and a half years he then says in verse 28 turning to these men in fact we should go back to verse 26 wherefore I testify unto you this day that I am pure from the blood of all men there's the watchman motif language taken

20:45 right out of Ezekiel chapter 3 Ezekiel 18 Ezekiel 33 the watchman who will be chargeable with the blood of those whom he is to warn if he warns them not he says I am pure from the blood of all men for I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God verse 28 take heed pay close attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops literally overseers those who look over the flock closest word to watchmen because it is the pastoral concept of the church as flock they are those who look over and inspect to show the chaperone the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood then he says I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in from among your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them now look at verse 31 wherefore watch ye watch ye do you see those motifs of the watchman coming through in the context of Paul's dealings with these elders the concept

God's Solemn Pronouncement Through the Prophet

22:14 of watching with divine accountability watching in the light of the impending dangers of wolves from without and perverse men from within watching as Paul did with a sense of divine accountability lest in the final day they be charged with the blood of men so much and for that God's sovereign appointment of the prophet and some of its relevance to us but notice secondly God's solemn pronouncement through the prophet hear God distill the essence of what the prophet's message will be in all of the things that He declares to the nation of Israel and words that He will declare even to other nations This is the distilled essence of that which God himself is pronouncing through the prophet. And I've chosen my words carefully. It is God making pronouncements through the prophet.

23:29 That's why God says, when I say unto the wicked, God takes ultimate responsibility for the pronouncements of the prophet. And when we summarize what is set before us in verses 18-21, what do we find? Well, we find these two simple realities. Number one, that the way of wickedness is the certain way of death.

23:57 And that the way of righteousness is the certain way of death. That's the certain way of life. That's it. That's the distilled essence of God's solemn pronouncement through the prophet.

24:08 Listen as I emphasize certain words as I read beginning in verse 18. When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die. And thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life. The same wicked man shall die in his iniquity.

24:35 But his blood will I require at thy hand if thou warn the wicked. And he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way. He shall die in his iniquity. Verse 20.

24:48 Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because thou hast given him warning, he shall die. Because thou hast given him warning, he shall die. He shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered.

25:06 You see what God is saying by putting these words together again and again and again. Wicked, wickedness, wicked way, and God is the certain way of death. That's the essence of the solemn pronouncement of God through the prophet. To be in the way of wickedness.

25:35 To be performing wickedness. To be a wicked man is to be in the way that leads to death.

25:46 Conversely, though it's not repeated as often, to be a righteous man found in the way of righteousness is to be in the certain way of life. Verse 21. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall, surely live, because he took warning, and thou hast delivered thy soul. Righteousness and life are set forth as inseparable realities, as surely as wickedness and death are set forth as inseparable realities.

26:28 Now what do we say to this? That constitutes the very distilled essence of God's solemn, unpronouncement through the prophet. Whatever the prophet was doing when he was preaching to the people, the ultimate end of his ministry was that he might convince the wicked man that to go on in his wicked way was to lead to death and to the judgment of God. To convince men that they would have life, even life which consists in the knowledge and favor of God now, and in the world to come, they could only find that life in the way of righteousness, in the way of an imputed righteousness, in the way of an imparted righteousness, in the way of righteousness, in all of the sweeping breadth of the significance of that word. Now what was true in Ezekiel's day is just as true today. It was the message of God from the garden, from the garden of Eden to this very hour. What did God say to Adam?

27:42 And in turn, Adam imparted the knowledge of it to Eve. Of all the trees of the garden you may freely eat, in the way of obedience is the way of life, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. The way of righteousness is the way of life, and right through, the scriptures, when God enters into covenant within the nation of Israel. And sets up that strange ceremony where the law was to be read, and there was to be this antithonal pronouncement of blessing and cursing. God is underscoring this great principle again. Sin always puts us in the way of death, and it is righteousness which places us in the way of life. Isn't that wonderful?

28:48 And that's what we read this morning. Jesus said, if to be practically righteous and conformed to the law of God, you must deal so radically with a besetting sin as to undergo something inwardly that is as damned in hellfire. Isn't that what Jesus said? What's he saying?

29:22 Oh, righteousness will there be in the way of any wickedness of any kind, impertly and weak in the way of death. He said it again and again. Be not deceived. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall the kingdom of God.

29:45 Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor idolaters, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor railers.

29:59 Kingdom of God.

30:02 They may have a hut and have been baptized, but if they are not in the way of righteousness, they're in the way of death.

30:15 The wages of sin is death. Know ye not that to whom ye present yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness. My friends, you listen to me, children. Listen to me, teenagers, young men and women, older men and women.

30:40 The distilled essence. Of God's solemn pronouncement through the prophet lies at the heart of all preaching in every...

30:53 You have a choice to make. The way of death and the way of life are set before you. The way of death is the way of performing wicked deeds and walking in a course, what is called a wicked way. And you must know that you cannot have the way.

31:15 You cannot have the way. You cannot have the way without its end.

31:18 And you must face realistically that to be in the way of wickedness is to be in the way of death. Spiritual death now. Physical death in the hour of God's appointment, for it is appointed on the man once to die. And then the horrors, the horror of eternal death.

31:41 Outer darkness, weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth. The place where the worm dieth. And the fire is never quenched. When there will no longer be what is called in Hebrews 11 the pleasures of sin for a season.

32:00 The one thing that can make sin and wickedness and the way of wickedness attractive now is the little temporary fleeting pleasures to be sucked out of sin. Yes, it says of Moses, he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to...

32:19 ...enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

32:23 I'd be a fool to say there is no momentary pleasure in sin. Yes, there is too sin. But I speak to people who in everything else act like rational people. But oh, in this area you act like madmen, mad boys and mad girls, mad young people.

32:45 Because you will not really face from the depths of your being that in the way of wickedness, in the way of crookedness, in the way of a heart that is alienated from God and from Christ as the object of your trust and the object of your supreme affection apart from a life framed by the law of God in the power of the Spirit out of love to Christ. You're in the way. And the way of wickedness is the way of death. And it is only in the way of righteousness that life is to be found.

33:21 A righteousness imputed after the death of man. The fashion we heard this morning in which Christ our mediator says that if he owes the ought, I will repay it. And Jesus has paid it all. All to him we owe.

33:39 And with that imputed righteousness there comes immediately the renovation of our whole inner man with a heart now committed to walk in righteousness. To walk in the ways of God. To cleave to the Lord himself. And to seek to do the things that are pleasing in his sight.

God's Searching Requirement of the Prophet

34:03 Now we've considered God's sovereign appointment of the prophet. God's solemn pronouncement by the prophet. Now notice thirdly, God's searching requirement of the prophet.

34:18 Two things. The essence of it and then the enforcement of it. What is God's requirement of the prophet? Look at the essence of it in 17b.

34:29 Son of man, I've made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore, hear the word at my mouth.

34:41 Give them warning from me.

34:48 That's the essence of the requirement of the prophet. What he hears, he is to give. No more.

35:01 What he hears, all that he hears, he is to give. Notice how God emphasized this again and again in the midst of commissioning Ezekiel to the office of a prophet. Chapter 2 and verse 7. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are most rebellious.

35:30 In other words, Ezekiel, if you find people stopping their ears and your congregation shrinking, your congregation shrinking, don't go looking for a different message. My words.

35:45 My words alone. My words. Chapter 3 and verse 4. Son of man, go get thee to the house of Israel and speak unto them.

36:01 Verses 10 and 11 of chapter 3. Moreover, he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thy heart. Set thee to them of the captivity unto the children of thy people and speak unto them and tell them thus saith the Lord Jehovah, whether they hear, whether they forbear.

36:32 The searching requirement of the prophet, the essence of it is nothing more or less than to deliver in absolute faithfulness the divinely given message as he had received it. Verse 10. He was not to evaluate what he thought in it was relevant, what he thought in it was palatable, what he thought in it would be acceptable. That's why Paul could say, I take you to record I'm free from the blood of all men, the watchman language, because I've declared unto you the whole counsel of God.

37:17 That's the essence of God's searching requirement of the prophet and then the enforcement, that requirement. God enforced it in a most solemn and searching way. He said failure to do so would result in nothing less than blood guiltiness. Listen to the language.

37:38 18b. But he says if you do not speak to warn the wicked, if you have a constitutional indisposition to talk about death and judgment and hell and the wrath of God and you're a silent, you will not...

37:59 The wicked man will die for his sin and in his sin, but Ezekiel, listen to me, his blood will I require at thy hand. You know where that language comes from? It comes from all the way back in Genesis chapter 9. The institution of capital punishment.

38:16 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. At the hand of the man will I require it. As I have wrestled with that question, I cannot be faithful to the language of Scripture and say anything other than this. God says you be faithful to my words or you'll be damned for the sin of spiritual murder.

38:43 What murder is... Faithfulness is to the human soul.

38:52 It's murder of the souls of men and I'll require their blood. Souls have no blood. It's obviously a graphic figure of speech. You'll be guilty of spiritual murder.

39:05 Murder, if you do not warn them. You talk about enforcing a prophet's commission. Failure will result in blood guiltiness. He didn't say it once, he said it again.

39:18 Verse 20. But his blood I require at thy hand. And he repeats it in Ezekiel 18 and Ezekiel 33. God underscored again and again in his searching requirement.

39:35 The S requirement was speed.

39:40 The enforcement was if you do not, you don't need to deny my... Just be silent and refuse to pronounce them.

39:49 I'll require their blood at your hand. But then there's the flip side. Faithfulness will result in the deliverance of his own soul. 19b.

40:00 If thou warn the wicked and he turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity. Yes, but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, God says the same thing. The end of verse 21.

40:15 Look, warning, and thou hast delivered thy soul. What a way to enforce the requirement of the prophet that he be faithful to speak only the words of God. Nothing but the words of God. The words of God.

40:32 God enforces it with the threat that failure would result in blood guiltiness. Faithfulness will result in the deliverance of his own soul. Now, believing we have warrant from Paul, Paul's usages of the watchman motifs in application to elders. What do we say in the light of this very surface exposition of the passage?

Application 1: The Preacher's Essential Prerequisite

40:59 There are three very pointed concluding words of application that I wish to make. Believing that 2 Timothy 3.16 is true that all scripture is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness. And the first thing I want to say is this.

41:17 And I say it for the academy students among us, for my fellow elders in the ministry, for any who aspire to the ministry, and for those of you who pray for ministers, and for those of you who wonder what a true ministry is. In other words, this has no limited application. Here's the first observation I make. The most essential prerequisite for a preacher is that he have a large,

41:46 over-religious experience, of the majesty and the greatness of God. The most essential prerequisite for a preacher is that he have a large, and then I wrestle with what words to use. I was going to use theology of the majesty and greatness of God, but because theology can simply be a head and an intellectual exercise, I said, no, that's not the word I want. I was going to use the word experiential or experimental, but I knew that wouldn't convey anything to some of you, and so I'm going to use the word experiential.

42:21 So, with the problem of words, I chose this word. We must have, as the most essential prerequisite for the ministry, a large, overpowering, religious experience of the majesty and the greatness of God.

42:41 Ezekiel, for such an awesome task, with such awesome issues at stake, life and death, with such awesome... ...for delivering his soul.

42:57 How did he prepare him? He didn't send him...

42:59 He didn't send him to a finishing school to learn how to crock up and prop up his self-esteem.

43:07 He didn't send him to a delt to learn how to be a slick, smooth operator. He gave him visions of his glory that shattered him. He gave him vision and over...

43:29 and left a man whose life was going to be involved in words, left him speechless, dumbstruck. No man stood to speak in the name of Christ, until his mouth has been shut by a vision of the majesty of Christ.

43:46 Look at the account and how it's repeated. Verse 28 of chapter 1. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain was the appearance of the brightness round about, this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah. And when I saw it...

44:05 He didn't say, I got up and danced to Jake and spoke in tongues and bellowed hallelujah. He said, I...

44:11 fell upon my face and I heard a voice of one that spake. I was on my face with my mouth shut. I was ready for God to do the talking. Look at the same emphasis in chapter 3, verse 15b.

44:34 After God then speaks and then gives him, as it were, a reflection of that same manifestation of his glory, he comes down by the river Chebar and what happened to him? He said, I sat there owned among them seven days. And he tries to describe his internal psychological frame of mind and heart. He said, I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit and the hand strong upon me.

45:15 Only poor thing is human language to convey these realities. What he's saying is the greatness of my God. And he hardly knew how to discuss his 22 and 23. Of the same chapter, the hand of the Lord was there.

45:44 And he said, arise, go forth to the... There I talk with you.

45:49 Then I went forth and behold, the day of Jehovah stood there as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar. He's down on his face again. And I fell upon my face. In the time of his commissioning, he was spending more time on his face than he was anywhere else.

46:10 Now am I saying that we must have an experience? No.

46:15 No, I'm not talking about ants that can be located at a specific place in the towel. When I say we must have overpowering religious experience, I'm speaking of it as a state and frame of the soul. The presence of God. And as the way is the wind, men into a state of grace.

46:46 They are utterly sovereign in preparing men to be the servants of Christ. And I am not in any way resting upon some second work of grace. Or some special baptism of the spirit that someone can identify. I distance myself from all in the mind of...

47:06 Can I make it any plainer than that? That I'm saying by the ordinary means of grace, prayer, and the ministry of the word, and the disciplines of God's promise. No man...

47:23 Until his mouth has been... By an awesome, overpowering religious experience of the majesty and the glory of God.

47:35 Revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

47:45 This will cut a man down to size. And no matter how God may use him, he'll never get the ministerial struts.

47:56 It's an ugly thing. To see any creature who has all that he has by divine donation. What hast thou that thou did not...

48:07 It's an ugly thing to see a beautiful woman with a haughty look as she parades her beauty. Proud of her face.

48:17 A shape... Ugly woman or man.

48:19 Proud of his or her body. Proud of possessions. Proud...

48:27 Because it's robbing God of his glory. But nowhere is pride more ugly than in one who takes upon himself the role of a spokesman for God. Ministerial is the ugliest kind of pride in the universe.

48:51 And I'm convinced the vast majority of men who've gone into the ministry are all the time telling me to have to fight pride. I wonder, I wonder if they've ever been cut down to size by their own river-keeper.

49:11 John was in the Isle of Patmos. And when he had a vision of the exalted Christ, he didn't snuggle up to him and say, Oh, sweet Jesus.

49:21 He said, I fell at his feet. And he laid his right hand upon me and said, Fear not.

49:33 He knew the consolations of Christ, but in a state of... Being shattered by a vision of the glory of Christ.

49:41 It is this that will cut us down to size and keep us down to size. It is this that will rip out of a man's heart the fear of his fellow mortals. Some of you will find this hard to believe. But God put me together a very constitutionally fearful man.

49:59 The boy that is but the germ of the man was the most fearful boy. If you don't believe it, ask my parents sometime when they're visiting. Ask my siblings.

50:09 What is it that has given me baldness to preach? A majestic breath could blow me into a billion atoms.

50:25 Make me rise into nothing.

50:30 I fear that God. What's your face? What are your thoughts? What are your opinions?

50:37 Before the majesty of God.

50:41 I don't know who the hymn writer was. I've been desperately trying to find where I found this hymn. You're really getting old when you find a gem and can't remember where you found it. But I have the gem.

50:52 Shall I? Shall I? For fear of feeble man, the spit's course in me restrained. Or undismayed in deed and word, be a trueness for my Lord.

51:07 Awed by a mortal's crown, shall I kill the word of God? Before thee shall I dare to stand in anger bears. And smooth my tongue to gain earth's gilded toys. Or flee the cross endured.

51:35 My God. By thee. What then is he?

51:42 Hate makes me afraid. A man.

51:48 Save the sin. A bubble on the wave. Yea. Yea.

51:53 Let men ray.

51:58 Shadowing wings around my head. Since all. In all. In thy tender love.

52:05 Will still my. Your refreshment prove. Savior of men. Thy searching eye.

52:13 Doth all my. Most thoughts describe. Doth all on earth my wishes. Or the world's pleasures.

52:21 Or it's praise. The love of Christ doth me constrain. Seek the wandering souls of men with cry. Ask them from the gaping grave.

52:43 All earth's Lord. My life I hear proof. If for thy tea may be spent. Fulfill thy sovereign counsel Lord.

53:03 Thy will be done. Thy name adored. Give me thy strength. Oh God.

53:11 Then let winds roar. Thy faithful witness. Witness will I be. His things I can do all.

53:21 Through thee. That says it all doesn't it. That's what made Ezekiel the prophet he was. God didn't start by saying.

53:32 You're my. Chapter one begins. With visions of the glory of God. That overwhelmed him.

53:45 Overpowered him. Saluted him. And shattered him. The most essential prerequisite for a preacher.

53:54 Is that he have a long life. A large overpowering religious experience. Of the majesty and greatness of God. And that will cut him down to size.

54:07 Keep him down to size. And it will keep him from the fear of men. Which brings a snare. The greatest snare in us.

54:18 Is the fear of men. It snares men's tongues from being faithful. To men's souls. But I hasten to a second observation.

Application 2: The Preacher's Powerful Incentives

54:28 The most powerful incentives. To faithfulness in a preacher. Are drawn from a firm belief. In the great issues.

54:36 Of life and death. The most powerful incentives. Are drawn from a firm belief. In the great issues.

54:49 Of life and death. When God is giving a distillation. Of the heart of his ministry. He does not tell him all.

54:58 In summary form. To his prophet. To be in the way of wickedness. Is to be in the way of death.

55:10 To be in the way of righteousness. Is to be in the way of life. And it's when preachers. Keep those fundamental issues.

55:18 Alive in their souls. Earnest prayer. Frequent meditation. Upon the word of God.

55:32 Bringing near of their accountability. Bringing near the day. When the graves of the archangels. And the trump of God shall sound.

55:47 Before the faith. Coming before the great white throne. From which earth and heaven. Flee away.

56:00 Seeing by faith the books opened. My friends. Sitting here tonight. You may not believe it.

56:17 But I believe it. Hell stands yawning. To take you. Or heaven stands open to welcome you.

56:27 And there's no middle place. It's mouth is opened. And what keeps you from dropping in. Not.

56:41 That your sins have been pardoned. Through the blood of Christ. Not that you've been declared righteous. In the court of heaven.

56:49 On the basis of the doing. And the dying of Christ. Been renovated and given a nature. That is the dawn witness for heaven.

57:01 That will come at your glorification. No. There's one thing that keeps you out of the pit of hell. And that's the sovereign will of God.

57:09 That keeps your ticker going. That's all. That keeps blessing you down into hell. God's creatures that look up.

57:30 This rebellion. And only sovereign mercy resists the prayer. And keeps you out. Oh my friend.

57:50 How can you sit there. Go out of another service. Back to business as usual. And roast your hot dogs.

57:58 And belt down your soda pop tomorrow. Into death. One of the men said. Pastor explain what you mean when you say stack. It's a rebellion.

59:07 Your own is about what's right and wrong and good. Your own life and your own emotions. About how to get right with God. Have mercy on a hell deserving rebel sinner.

59:32 And save me for your name's sake. The most powerful incentives. To faithfulness in a preacher. Are drawn from a firm belief.

59:41 In the great issues of life and death. As you pray for those of us who preach. We'll never get so fastidious. That we.

59:51 Of being old fashioned hellfire. And damnation preachers. I don't care what. This pseudo intellectual.

60:01 Comes into a meeting. And says. I heard that there was someone that was preaching. With some degree of respect.

60:09 I hate just an old backwoods tech needing preacher. I glory in the shame. I pray that none will ever stand in this pulpit. Who have any other perspective.

Application 3: The Preacher's Effective Influence (Passion)

60:22 Then thirdly and finally. The most effective influence. To create passion in a preacher. And hear me carefully.

60:33 The most effective influence. To create passion in a preacher. Is to realize. That in delivering the word of God.

60:42 He is to reflect the heart of God. We saw those many passages. Where God says what I say. Now does that involve.

60:54 Just the substance of God's. Or the manner in which God himself. Would speak them. Were he to speak them.

61:03 Well we know. Because God did speak words. In the person of his son. And we read.

61:12 That in that great day of the feast. Jesus stood in the temple. And he cried and drank. And said come unto me all you labor.

61:31 I feel I profane the words. When I quote them. How to reproduce what he said. But one day I know.

61:42 To stand in the temple and say. Come unto me all you that labor and heavy labor. And give you rest. You see it's blasphemous.

61:51 Even to think that way. And look here in the prophet Ezekiel. In one of those parallel passages. It will be the last one that we look at.

61:59 As we close. Chapter 18. Verses 30 to 32. Listen as God speaks.

62:08 To the prophet in the first person. And I ask judge. How you believe the prophet would have spoken. In the first person.

62:17 On behalf of Jehovah. These very words. God is pleading. Saying he has no pleasure.

62:25 In the life of the wicked. But that he should return from his way. That is his wicked way. And live you see.

62:33 Life and righteousness. Wickedness and death. Are still the recurring motifs. Now verse 30.

62:41 Therefore I will judge you. O house of Israel. Every one of you. According to his way.

62:51 Sayeth the Lord Jehovah. Return yourselves from all your transgressions. So iniquity shall not be your ruin. Wherein you have transgressed.

62:59 And make you a new heart. And a new spirit. For why will ye die. O house of Israel.

63:09 For I have no pleasure in the death of him. That dieth saith the Lord Jehovah. Wherefore. Why will you die.

63:29 O house of Israel. Turn and live. This is not right. Why.

63:39 Because we are made in the image of God. O Jerusalem. Jerusalem. How oft would I have tethered.

63:47 And ye would not. Is it the word of God. Is it the word of God. To say O Jerusalem.

64:06 No. It is not the word of God. To influence. To create.

64:49 To realize. The heart of God. With his own personality. You know passion.

64:59 When you hear it. I know passion. When I'm sitting in a ball game. Somebody next to me.

65:08 He's got his arm looking all over the place. Last of the night. Home team's behind one run. Base is loaded.

65:17 Two outs. Three and two. And he's yawning. He ain't involved.

65:26 Ain't no passion. What's the score of. The code. Of how to express itself.

65:41 Let a woman stand outside a building. In which two of her infant children. Are still trapped while it's burning. And she stands there with arms folded.

65:49 And you say what are you doing lady. Oh I'm just watching. To get my kids out. You say the woman's a fool.

66:00 She's out of touch with reality. Now given her temperament. And nationality and upbringing. She might be wringing her hands.

66:08 And wailing. And you know it. The reality of what I'm saying. And grace does not war with nature.

66:25 And when God chose. To make human instruments. The vehicle of his word. He does not want them to be a vehicle of his word.

66:33 In the manner in which a computer could be. Feed the thing in. Push the button. It could speak the words correctly.

66:48 But it must be evident. In terms of. Because somebody's going to go out and say. But I'm unashamed to say.

67:06 With Professor Murray. I have no. The death of the wicked. He says reverently.

67:33 This is a holy inward frustration. Before the madness of sin. He says why will you die. You're determined to die.

67:50 Why. God have mercy on Trinity Church. The day you want to be so fashionable. That abandoned passionate.

68:06 Is out of place around here. Sir you notice. As long as I have breath. And my prayer has been.

68:14 When I can no longer preach with passion. Lord take me home. And I believe there are spiritual leaders in this place. Committed to the same perspectives.

68:26 That are determined under God. Not the place where there is. In symmetrical. There's nothing inconsistent with the most keen.

68:45 Well thought out. Logical expression of thought. So fused with the hottest. Because the two exist in God.

68:54 To the extent we are conformed. To the image of Christ. They will exist in us. They will exist in you.

69:03 Parents when you talk with your kids. You don't dispassionately warn them of heaven and hell. As though you're talking about. Nintendo games.

69:12 You're talking about a real hell. With real torment. And real outer darkness. Would we could make it plain enough.

69:22 That you tremble. Were you sick. Well. We're talking about.

Conclusion: A Call to Seek the Lord and Pray for Preachers

69:33 The prophet. He came to the prophet. Made it plain that. It was his sovereign appointment.

69:41 That was marking him out. He gave a solemn pronouncement. Through the prophet. The way of wickedness is the way of death.

69:49 The way of righteousness is the way of life. And then he gave a searching requirement. To the prophet. The essence of which was speak only my words.

69:57 But all my words. The enforcement was. Be guilty of the blood of souls. If you're not faithful.

70:05 Faithfulness will result. In the deliverance of your own soul. And then these three. Simple observations.

70:13 Based upon that commission. May God grant. That some of you who came here. Careless and indifferent.

70:21 If nothing else. Said maybe maybe. I've been all wrong and all wet. In the way I've trifled about my soul.

70:29 To seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he's near. Forsake your way. Return unto the Lord.

70:37 For he will have mercy unto our God. For he will abundantly pardon. As you pray. For those of us who preach.

70:46 Pray that heaven and hell. The way of life and death will ever be. Before our eyeballs and in our hearts. And pray.

70:56 That we may preach as men. Who are in touch with God's heart. I don't care. I don't want to go to judgment.

71:04 Someone says I was offended by your bellowing. I was offended by your intensity. I was offended by your earnestness. But I tell you.

71:13 I don't want to go to judgment. And have someone say I was lulled to sleep. And slipped into hell. Because you were just a heartless.

71:21 Talking machine. God kill me. Before that day happens. I said you never spoke.

71:34 You never spoke of heaven. Like a man who by the eye of faith. Would go worthwhile. To leave anything to gain.

71:43 I care not what other. Epithets are written over my grave. But I hope one. That is written is.

71:51 This man preached. As one. Who appeared to believe. I'm not here doing my thing.

72:04 Earning a salary. I'm trying to keep you out of hell. And get you to heaven. May God grant.

72:14 That I shall not have labored in vain. Let us pray. Oh God our heavenly father. We confess.

72:29 That in our most sober moments. In meditation upon your word. And under the present influence. Of the Holy Spirit.

72:37 At best we see through a glass. Darkly. But we thank you that we see. Once we were blind.

72:46 But now we see. Hallelujah. We thank you Lord. And we pray for those who sit here.

72:54 And dead. Oh Lord. Will you not speak the word of life. Will you not put forth the scepter of your grace.

73:02 And raise them from the death of their sin. And bring them to life. In Christ. We thank you for the prophet Ezekiel.

73:10 And how you dealt with him. And we thank you for the lessons. So relevant to us. Write them upon our hearts.

73:18 Dismiss us with your blessing resting upon us. We plead these mercies. Through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.