A Watchman For Israel And The Apostle Of Grace -
By Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
“…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” (Ezek.33:7).
The
Prophet Ezekiel was appointed by God as a “watchman” over the house of
Israel. He was held responsible to warn the wicked from their way, for
while God must deal justly with sin, He had declared: “I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his
way and live” (Verse 11).
If
Ezekiel failed to warn the wicked they would die in their sins, but
their blood would be required at his hand. If he faithfully warned them,
however, and they refused to heed the warning, they would die in their
sins, but he would be absolved of all responsibility (See Verses 8 and
9).
Would
some Christian reader remind us that we are living under another
dispensation and that our message is one of grace? True enough, but this
does not diminish, it increases our responsibility toward the lost.
“For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (ICor.14:8).
If
we believers carelessly allow the lost to go to Christless graves, are
we not morally responsible for their doom? Will we not be held
accountable at the Judgment Seat of Christ? (See II Corinthians
5:10,11). This is why we find Paul reminding the Ephesian elders that he
had not ceased to “warn” men “night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31).
As
the apostle looked back over his ministry among the Ephesians he could
say: “I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all
men” (Verse 26). And this had been so of his ministry in general.
Indeed, it was now his desire that whatever the cost, he “might finish
his course with joy, and the ministry which he had received of the Lord
Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Verse 24).
May
Ezekiel, and the Apostle Paul, that great warrior for the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, be memorials to us — of our great responsibility
toward the lost!
King James Bible
The Preserved and Living Word of God
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