All right, it's great to be here this evening. First, I want to thank Pastor Shelley as always
for giving me the opportunity to preach. Definitely is an honor and privilege. And this evening
I'd like to do a Bible study since it's Wednesday through Ezekiel chapter 2. And as we get into
the book of Ezekiel, let's look first at the context of the book of Ezekiel in Ezekiel
chapter 1. Let's read verses 1 through 3. "Now it came to pass in the thirteenth year
in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the
river of Kebar, that the heavens were open and I saw visions of God in the fifth day
of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoiakim's captivity. The word of the
Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans
by the river Kebar, and the hand of the Lord was there upon him." So first we see that
Ezekiel was among the captives, those taken captive by Babylon, who's now living in exile.
He's also a priest and he obviously is a prophet as well and in chapter 1 he receives just
these crazy and mind-boggling visions from the Lord. He sees a tornado of fire, he sees
the visions of cherubims and all these just crazy things and then in chapter 2 he gets
his call as a preacher and that's what I want to focus on tonight. The title of my sermon
is "How to be a preacher like Ezekiel." How to be a preacher like Ezekiel. Now I don't
want you to tune this out because I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Well, I'm not a
preacher. I don't ever want to be a preacher." But the truth is God wants every single person
to be a preacher. Keep your place there and let's turn to Numbers, chapter 11. We get
a story in Numbers 11 of these two men who the Spirit came upon them and they began preaching.
They were not priests. They were not prophets. They were just normal guys, and the Spirit
came upon them. They were preaching the Word of God, and here's what happens. Numbers 11,
verse 27, "Someone sees this," in verse 27, "and there ran a young man and told Moses
and said, 'El dad and me dad do prophesy in the camp.' And Joshua, the son of Nun,
the servant of Moses, one of his young men answered and said, 'My Lord Moses forbid
them.' And Moses said unto him, 'Envious thou for my sake? Would God that all the
Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them.'" So
the truth is God wants every single person, man, woman, boy, and girl to be a
preacher, whether that's as a soul winner and of course for the men there's other
opportunities to preach behind the pulpit, whether that's just as a preacher,
a pastor, evangelist, a deacon, but the truth is God wants every single person
to be a preacher. So I think we can learn some lessons from this chapter, Ezekiel
chapter 2, on how to be a preacher like Ezekiel. Let's look at Ezekiel chapter 2
and let's look at verse 1. "And he said unto me, 'Son of man, stand upon thy
feet and I will speak unto thee.' And the Spirit entered into me when he spake unto
me and he set me upon my feet that I heard him that spake unto me." Now before
we get into the lessons of this chapter, I just want to point out that we can
obviously trust the book of Ezekiel as God's Word because the Bible here says
that the spirit entered into Ezekiel. I'll read for you 2nd Peter's 1, 2nd
Peter 1 21, the Bible says, "For the prophecy came not in old time by the
will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." So
right here the Bible tells us plainly the spirit entered into Ezekiel. That's
how we know what we're about to read is the words of God. We can trust the book
of Ezekiel completely. So let's look at verse number 3, verse number 3, "And he
said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious
nation that hath rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed
against me even unto this very day." So what can we notice so far from this verse
is he's given his mission as a prophet and he's being told his job is to preach
to his own people. There's only one problem with that. His people are a very
rebellious people and if you read the Old Testament or the whole Bible in fact
that's the word that describes the Jews a rebellious people. I'll read for you
Romans 10 but Isaiah's or verse 20 but Isaiah's is very bold and saith I was
found of them that sought me not I was made manifest to them that asked not
after me but to Israel he saith all day long I have stretched forth my hands unto
a disobedient and gain saying people. So Isaiah in the Old Testament described
Israel's the same way that they're disobedient that they're gain saying
people. If you read the Bible that's absolutely what they are like. Let's look
at verse four. For they are impudent children and stiff-hearted I do send thee
unto them and thou shalt say unto them thus saith the Lord. So that word impudent
is not something we hear very commonly used in our modern vernacular but the
dictionary definition of this word is impudent marked by contemptuous or cocky
boldness or disregard of others. So God is describing the children of Israel as
being impudent children as in being disrespectful children. A child that
would be cocky and just arrogant to their parents and backtalk them and have
no respect for them. That's how God said that Israel was like impudent children
and that's Ezekiel's mission is to go preach to them. Sounds fun right? Sounds
like a really fun mission. Let's look at John chapter 1 and keep your place
there throughout the sermon. Let's turn to John chapter 1 because really this is
just a foreshadowing of the ministry that the Lord Jesus Christ would have to
preach to impudent children, to preach to a people that would reject him. John
chapter 1 look at verse 6. "There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The
same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him
might believe. He was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that light.
That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He
was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not. He
came unto his own and his own received him not. So just like Ezekiel is told to
go preach to this impudent, disrespectful, disobedient house, the Lord Jesus Christ
did the same thing. He came and he preached to the children of Israel and
they rejected him. He came unto his own and his own received him not. Let's look
at Matthew chapter 23. We'll get a glimpse of Jesus Christ preaching to
these people and let's see what he thinks about this house, this impudent
house. Verse 28. Verse 28 the Bible reads, Matthew 23, "Even so ye also outwardly
appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye build the tombs of the
prophets and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, If we had been in
the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the
blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are
the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of
your fathers, ye serpents, ye generation of vipers. How can ye escape the
damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and
scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them ye
scourge in your, ye shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city
to city. So Jesus is letting these people know, you know, you're saying that if you
were around in the days of the prophets, you wouldn't have killed them, but guess
what, you're their kids. And in the future, you're going to be prosecuting God's people.
And what did they do to Jesus? They killed him. They said, let his blood be on us, you
know, let his blood be upon our children, crucify him, crucify him. So in the Old Testament,
they persecuted and killed God's prophets. When Jesus came on the scene, they said, his
blood be on us and on our children. And then in the future, Jesus is saying, you're going
to do the same thing in the future. Why? Because this is an impudent children right here. This
is an unreceptive house. So lesson number one, if you want to be a preacher like Ezekiel,
prepare to preach to an unreceptive audience. Prepare to preach to an unreceptive audience.
Show me the prophet in the Bible that everyone loved. Show me the prophet in the Bible that
everyone wanted to hear their message, that everyone liked their message, that everyone
willingly just received their message. Was it Moses and Aaron? Was Pharaoh a very receptive
person? No, absolutely not. And then the children of Israel themselves were constantly saying,
you know, Moses and Aaron are trying to kill us. So even their own people were disobedient
to them. Was it Elijah when Jezebel was trying to kill him? You know, Ahab calls him him
that troubles Israel. Elisha, the king of Israel made a vow to kill him. Isaiah, he's
the one that said, hey, I preach to a disobedient and gainsaying people. Was it Jeremiah who
was thrown in the dungeon? Was it Ezekiel who's preaching to the impudent and disobedient
children? You know, was it the Lord Jesus Christ? Was it Stephen, the one that was stoned?
Was it John, the one that was put in exile? You know, and if you read these, you know,
secular books like, I believe it's Fox's Book of Martyrs, if you believe that record, that
book basically says that all the apostles were murdered and all the apostles were killed
in a horrific way. So where do we, we don't see a theme in the Bible of people liking
the man of God. We don't see people in the Bible just being very receptive to what the
man of God has to say. No, the man of God is constantly preaching to an unreceptive
audience. Go to 1st Thessalonians chapter 2, 1st Thessalonians chapter 2, 1st Thessalonians
chapter 2, look at verse 14. "For ye brethren became followers of the churches of God, which
in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye have suffered like things of your own countrymen,
even as they have of the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and
have persecuted us. And they please not God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us
to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved to fill up their sins all the way,
for the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. So Paul is writing to the church of Thessalonica
and he's saying these Jews are persecuting you and they're trying to get you to stop
speaking to the Gentiles. And that's what persecution normally is, trying to get us
to stop speaking the word of God, stop preaching the word of God, stop evangelizing. Why? Because
they're an unreceptive people. But notice it was not only the Jews that were persecuting
them. Look back at verse 14. It says, "For you have also suffered like things of your
own countrymen." So persecution is not just limited to the Jews. Obviously, we read the
New Testament. They absolutely are the number one aggressor of persecution against God's
people. But here, even in First Thessalonians, he's telling them, "You've suffered these
things not only of the Jews, but also of your own countrymen." So what does that tell me?
Hey, it doesn't matter where we live. Generally, the people are going to be, as a whole, unreceptive
to our message. And people, as a whole, no matter if we're living in Judea or Thessalonica
or the United States of America, we have to be prepared to preach to an unreceptive audience.
It was the mission of Ezekiel. It was the mission of every prophet in the Bible. It's
no different for us today. You know, if you've never been soul winning before, if you're
new to Christianity or you've never been soul winning, hey, you better be prepared to preach
to the unreceptive because people, as a whole, will reject you. People, as a whole, are not
gonna want to hear what you have to say. They're gonna be against your message, but hey, that's
our job, is to go and preach to the unreceptive. And you know, you're gonna, you're gonna face
opposition as a soul winner. I've had, I'm sure everyone in here has had the cops call
on them, the door slammed on them, had that crazy Karen jump out of her house and scream
and yell at you and follow you around, right? It all happens. Right now though, our persecution's
light, but hey, the truth remains the same. Our job is to preach to an unreceptive people,
and that never ever changes. Here, I'll read for you. This is what our mission is. Matthew
28 verse 19, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." Go ahead and turn to Romans chapter three.
Our job is to preach the Bible and to preach the gospel to the whole world, whether they
want to hear it or not. You know, Isaiah said that he was very bold and he was found of
them that asked not after him. He was found of them that sought not after him and that
asked not after him. Romans chapter 3, the Bible gives us a description of what the world
is like as a whole. And let's see if this sounds like a people that's impudent children
and stiff-hearted, or if there are people that's receptive and want to hear the Word
of God. Romans 3 verse 10, "As it is written, 'There is none righteous, no not one.' There
is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone
out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no not one.
Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison
of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet
are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have
they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." You know, the world likes to
put on this front that the world is just so nice and so loving and so good, and a lot
of liberals believe that people are just generally good as a whole. The Bible says the exact
opposite. And you know, the world has that front, and they're able to keep that front
until the Word of God is confronted to them. Then the fangs come out. Then we see what
they're really like, and they match what Romans chapter 3 says about them. When you actually
start preaching what the Bible says about sin, when you actually breathe them, bring
them the gospel that is very exclusive, that it's not just accept any light that's given
to you and you'll be saved. No, there's one way to heaven. It's believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and now shall be saved. Then you see what the world is really like. And no matter
where you are, the world is going to condemn that message. It doesn't matter if it's Judea,
Thessalonica, or the United States of America, as a whole, this country rejects the gospel.
And it's increasingly becoming that way. More and more and more people are rejecting the
gospel and rejecting Bible doctrine. Like Ezekiel was called to preach to people that
are largely unreceptive. That's our job too. And that is always going to be our job no
matter what generation you're living in. If you want to preach the Bible, prepare to preach
to the unreceptive. And you think about where we live now in the state of Texas. Hey, it's
a relatively receptive place. I've lived in Idaho. I've lived in Washington. I've been
soul winning in California, Arizona. And I believe that this is the most receptive place
that I've ever lived. It's a very receptive place, relatively speaking, but you know what?
America as a whole is not receptive. America as a whole, hey, you know what's receptive
is when we leave America and go to the Bahamas. When we leave America and go to the Philippines.
We leave America and go to Mexico, but America is becoming less and less receptive. America
today is hardening its heart against God, is hardening its heart against God's commandments,
and not only doing that, but also just spreading its filth all over the world. Not only are
we just, you know, we can't just be content rejecting the Bible. You know, America has
to go above and beyond and actually project its filth on other countries. It's sick. You
know, this week I watched a documentary about Russia and it was a very, it was a documentary
made by a very liberal, you know, skew. And it's funny because I don't like Vladimir Putin
because he propagates a false religion, because he propagates the Russian Orthodox Church.
But you know why the liberals don't like Vladimir Putin and why the liberals don't like Russia?
It's because they hate facts in Russia and because they think that the West is just decadent
and full of immortality and has no manners and men have no strength. And they're right
about all these things. You know, this liberal documentary was attacking Russia because Vladimir
Putin instituted this state-run media source and they talked about Jesus. Oh, no. And they
said that homosexuality is a sin. And the Russian government offered any homosexual
in the country of Russia that they will pay their flight ticket to go move to the United
States. That's why the liberals don't like Russia. But see, America today, that's what
we're known as. Russia's like, oh, you fags, go ahead and go to America. They'll love you
there. You know, they have careers and positions in Russia where their full-time job is to
track down sodomites that are in the public school system. And they're basically just
detectives that try to find out the sodomites that are teachers in Russia and they get them
fired from their job. And guess what? This person in this documentary who does this for a living,
obviously they were saying that this person is a horrible person, but he's like, "Oh yeah,
I'm not allowed to go to the United States because of my job." So he actually has a righteous job.
He actually has a great job making sure that there's no fags, that there's no disgusting
pedophiles in the public school system. That's a great job. And he's not even allowed in our
country because of it. So not only are we so wicked, we have to propagate that garbage onto
other nations. They were showing also this young girl, she was in her public school and her public
school didn't allow her to listen to American rock and roll and to all these just wicked American
cultural things. But, you know, I guess they followed her to her house and her room was covered
with LGBT flags and rock and roll stuff in the United States. And she didn't even know what it
meant. But she's like, you know, yeah, I think that we should love gay people just like if someone's
skin color is black, you know, just equating homosexuality to race, right? But it's just like
all this poor Russian girls being brainwashed by her country. America needs to go, you know,
save her and liberate her with our filth. That's what America is doing all over the world. We're
not even just content being as wicked as we are here. No, we have to go drag our name through the
mud throughout all the world and spread our filth all over the world. It's a really sick thing today,
but America is getting less and less receptive. And as time goes on, the people that hear our
message are going to hate us more and more and more and more. And things can change really fast.
Go to Matthew chapter 24. I want to read to you about the events leading up to the great
tribulation. Things can change really fast. You know, the United States of America hasn't really
felt real affliction in this country for a long, long time. And I don't know who the quote is by,
but it's true. Adversity makes men. Prosperity makes monsters. Whoever said that, that is a true
statement. And our country today has become so full of moral decay because we've had it so good
for so long. But things can change fast. This little flowery, flowery, delicate little society
that we live in, you know, the line between that and utter chaos is so thin people have no idea.
People have no idea how quick things can change in a nation. Look at Matthew 24 verse 6. "And
you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled, for all these things
must come to pass. But the end is not yet, for nations shall rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted,
and shall kill you, and you shall be hated of all nations, for my name's sake." You know, Ezekiel's
job was to preach to an impudent children, to a disrespectful house, to a disobedient house. But
someday, our job is going to be to preach to a whole world that is like that. And we're already
almost there. The whole world almost already is just extremely wicked, rejecting the principles of
God. And you know what? They're going to deliver us up to be afflicted, and kill us, and we'll be
hated of all nations, for Christ's sake. Sounds like our job is to preach to the unreceptive.
That's not a receptive group of people right there. Verse 10, "Then shall many be offended,
and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another, and many false prophets shall rise,
and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold,
but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come."
See, the gospel is still going out. Before the great tribulation, the gospel is still
going out. So the job of every single Christian will be this exact same job of Ezekiel to preach
to an unreceptive audience. So prepare your heart for that right now. Just get used to the fact that
people are going to hate you. People aren't going to accept your message. People aren't going to like
you. We have to preach to an unreceptive audience. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 3. Even if we don't, you
know, go through the great tribulation, we can still live in a very wicked time, which we are right now.
2 Timothy chapter 3 describes that. Verse 1, "This know also that in the last days, perilous times
shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truth-breakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fears, despisers of those that are good." You see, just like in
Romans chapter 3, the Bible gives us what they're really like. Same thing in 2 Timothy 3. This is
what the world is really like. They put on that show, but when you preach the word of God, when
you show up like Ezekiel and say, "Thus saith the Lord," and show what the Bible actually says,
then the thanks come out. Then you realize that this is what the world is really like.
So don't let these so sweet and soft-looking liberals deceive you into thinking that they're
so loving and, you know, these people just want the best for our country. They don't want a
communist revolution or anything like that. No, not at all. No, they do. They're wicked as hell.
This is what the Bible says that they're actually like. Don't be fooled by them. Hey, the world hates
us today. And it'll come out and it will be more evident as time goes on. Go back to Ezekiel chapter
two. Ezekiel chapter two. Let's look at verse five. "And they, whether they will hear or whether they
will forbear, for they are rebellious house, yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among
them. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briars and
thorns be with thee. And thou, thou dost dwell among scorpions, be not afraid of their words,
nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words
unto them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are most rebellious. So what
can we observe from this? In verse five, the Bible just says, hey, Ezekiel, don't worry about the
results of your preaching. Whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are rebellious
house, yet shall know that a prophet hath been among him. He tells him, don't necessarily worry
about the results of your preaching. Just preach what I tell you to do. Don't be afraid of their
looks. Don't be afraid of their faces. Don't be afraid of them. Just say what I tell you to say.
And then once again in verse seven, he reminds him again not to worry about the results of his
preaching, but just to preach God's word. So number one, to be a preacher like Ezekiel,
prepare to preach to the unreceptive. Number two, purpose not to change the message. Purpose not to
change the message. If you're a real Christian, if you're actually standing on what the Bible says,
there's going to be constant pressure for you to change. You don't see that really with the
newly evangelical churches today. Everyone's just okay with them existing. They're not saying
anything controversial. They're not bringing any heat on themselves. No one really cares that they
exist. You know what? If you're a real preacher like Ezekiel, you're going to have the faces,
right? And we'll get into that in a second here. But you know, this point was lost a long time ago
in churches to purpose not to change the message because churches are not even close to what they
used to look like 50, 60, 70 years ago. If you go back in our nation in that time, you'd be hard
pressed to find a church that said homosexuality was okay and that it should be accepted. You'd be
hard pressed to find a church that would not say that they should be put to death, right? So why is
it now that it seems like there's such a few number of churches that are standing on everything that
the Bible says? Why does it seem like there's so few of them? It's because churches have lost this
point. They have changed the message. They were afraid of people's faces. You know, they thought
that they can go and preach to the unreceptive, but once the pressure actually came to them,
they just caved and they just completely changed who they are. You know, when it says be not afraid
of their faces, if you're a soul winner, you know exactly what that's talking about because
you open the door and you see Karen's ugly mug getting pissed that you're there. But you know
what? You cannot be afraid of that face. You have to give Karen the opportunity to accept or reject
the gospel. You have to give you know the feminists and all the people that are liberals the opportunity
to at least accept or reject the gospel. And if you preach behind the pulpit you know what this is
talking about too. I've only been preaching for three years but I know exactly what this says when
it says be not afraid of their faces because I remember very specific times that I've been
preaching a sermon and have seen just the just the contorting of the face because you say something
from the word of God. I remember one time we had these visitors in Vancouver and I believe they were
from a Russian church. Vancouver, Washington has I believe the second highest Russian population in
the U.S. so you know I ran into them a lot and one of the things about them is they really like
alcohol and even in their churches when they take communion they take literal alcohol. I remember
one time I was preaching a sermon about alcohol and I mentioned that there's even churches that
take communion with alcohol and I was preaching about how wicked that is and I see these Russians
just the face contorts and that and that's what this is saying. It's saying don't be afraid of
their faces and you know what that made me do it made me want to rip even harder like I want to
okay I see that face well guess what we're just going to stick on this point now for a little bit
so you know if you're ever getting offended by something pastor Shelley says I would just advise
you not to make a sour face because he might just stay on that for as long as possible make you feel
uncomfortable because he's a preacher like Ezekiel is Bible says be not afraid of their faces don't
be dismayed at their looks people are going to reject you whether you're a preacher behind the
pulpit whether you're a preacher out there uh let's go to Ezekiel chapter 3 look at verse 17
Ezekiel chapter 3 verse 17 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 and thou give us 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 thine 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 has delivered thy soul so you
know i could i like to apply this verse to soul winning because god has called us to be watchmen
and to go warn people of the coming judgment and to warn people about hell and our job is to tell
people the truth and whether they will hear or whether they will forbear yet shall know that a
prophet hath been among them that's our job and the bible says that if you warn them and they reject
you then their blood is not on your hands but if you fail to warn them then you are guilty of that
blood and so as soul winners we got to go out and just tell everyone whether they want to hear it or
not we can't allow being afraid of people's faces being afraid of rejection or opposition
hinder us from doing our job as watchmen i'll read for you colossians 127 the bible says to whom god
would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles which is christ in
you the hope of glory whom we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we
may present you every man perfect in christ jesus the bible says that our job is to warn every man
you know we call what we go and do and when we preach the gospel soul winning we call that soul
winning and you know what praise god we do win souls almost every time we go out we do win souls
but you know what we're really doing we're soul warning that's actually what god has called us to
do you know if you go out and preach the gospel and every single person rejects you you've done
your job and god is pleased with you if every single person you know rejects the preaching of
this church if america as a whole just wants to reject bible doctrine but someone is here
preaching the truth then we have done our job it doesn't matter if they receive it or if they don't
it matters is if the watchman is actually warning if the watchman is actually preaching the truth
that is what matters if every single person rejects us so be it we still need to do our
job we still need to warn people go to acts chapter 20 and we'll see the testimony of the
apostle paul that he had in this area acts 20 verse 26 wherefore i take you to record this day
that i am pure from the blood of all men for i have not shunned to declare unto you all the council
of god my question is does that describe you this evening does that describe you as a christian are
you free from the blood of all your family members that you've had the opportunity to preach the
gospel to are you free from the blood of all your neighbors of all your co-workers of all the people
in this community obviously we have a big job to do to do we're nowhere near completing knocking
every door in this area but hey that is our job and we need to be like the apostle paul we need
to be able to say hey i have not shunned to declare all the council of god unto you i am free from the
blood of all men that should be the goal of every church in america and notice he's not just shunned
to preach the gospel he hasn't shunned to preach all the council of god so you know the watchman's
job is not just to preach the gospel there's plenty of old ifb churches in america that'll
preach the gospel every single service from the pulpit problem is they don't go out there and do
it so hey the watchman is free from blood in one area just him not the rest of his congregation
maybe he's clear from blood in that area but you know what you're not clear from blood if you don't
also preach all the counsel of god that's also the job that ezekiel was called to do he wasn't just
there to tell him about heaven and hell no whatever god said he was supposed to say whatever god is
put in this bible that is what we should preach whether people hear or whether they forbear let's
look at second timothy chapter four second timothy chapter four and we get this instructional passage
to a pastor timothy from the apostle paul let's see what the bible says first one second timothy
four i charge thee therefore before god and the lord jesus christ who shall judge the quick and
the dead that is appearing in his kingdom preach the word be instant in season out of season
reprove rebuke exhort with all long suffering for the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears
and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables you know i believe
that that perfectly describes our nation today that's why people like joel osteen has his church
packed and there's only you know 120 people that come here regularly on a sunday morning what's the
difference the difference is because today people want their ears tickled people don't want to hear
the full counsel of god but what does the bible say is the job of the pastor is to preach the word
to be instant what does that mean to be instant means to be ready in season out of season so
whether the pastor thinks something needs to be touched on or whether the people want to hear
something or whether it's popular or not the bible says that you need to preach everything whether
it's in season or out of season then he goes on and he says reprove to tell someone that they're
wrong rebuke so tell someone they're wrong very strongly and exhort with all long suffering and
doctrine so notice two-thirds of this is negative and if you read the bible a grand majority of the
bible is negative negative prophecy negative preaching and that's what the pastor and the
preacher is supposed to do reprove rebuke exhort and another side note i don't have this in my
notes but in the gospels when john the baptist is preaching and he's preaching about hell he's
preaching a face-ripping sermon the holy ghost the narrator of the bible says and many other
things spake he unto them in his exhortation so people think that exhortation is always positive
not always so sometimes it's reprove rebuke and exhort like john the baptist does it's not always
a positive message and that's why people reject it today they just want their ears tickled but our
job is to preach the full counsel of god whether they will hear or whether they will forbear go to
galatians chapter one i want to show you a good example of someone that did this relations chapter
one relations one look at verse six i marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called you
into the grace of christ unto another gospel which is not another but there be some that trouble you
and would pervert the gospel of christ but though we are an angel from heaven preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed as we said before so say i now
again if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which he have received let him be
accursed here's the key of this scripture verse 10 for do i now persuade men or god or do i seek to
please men for if i yet pleased men i should not be the servant of christ and this is how you can
tell the difference between a preacher a watchman that wants to please christ and a watchman that
wants to please men is are they willing to say the hard truths are they willing to preach things
that people do not want to hear because what he preaches here is a very hard truth saying if
anybody preaches any other gospel to you let him be accursed what is he saying let him go to hell
let him be eternally damned let him suffer in hell for all of eternity that's what he's saying about
people that would preach a false gospel that's a hard truth but why does he do it because he
seeks to please god that's why why is it that so many churches have changed the message today
they've not purpose in their heart to not change the message it's because they please man that's
why because they're more worried about the money coming in in the tithes they're more worried about
having the fancy building than they are about pleasing god and that's how you can tell who is
the prophet that pleases man who is the prophet that pleases god judged by what he preaches is
he preaching the unpopular truths or is he not that's how we can tell go to matthew 21
and then let's look at an example of our lord jesus christ doing this i love this scripture
matthew 21 verse 41 they say unto him he will miserably destroy those wicked men so he's getting
done preaching a parable unto them against the jews and he will let out his vineyard unto other
husband men which shall render him the fruits in their seasons jesus saith unto them did you never
read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected the same has become the head of the corner
this is the lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes therefore say i unto you the kingdom of
god shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof and whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall be broken but on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder
watch this and when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables they perceived that he spake
of them but when they sought to lay hands on him they feared the multitude because they took him
for a prophet so what happens jesus preaches this face-ripping parable saying that the kingdom of
god is going to be taken from the jews given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof the jews
perceive wow jesus is preaching against us right now and they're like they want to lay hands on him
they want to kill him sounds like he's preaching to an unreceptive audience but he purposes not
to change the message why because look matthew 22 verse 1 and jesus answered and spake unto them
again by parables and said so right after they just realized they're being preached against they want
to kill him you know what jesus does preaches again preaches adam again why because our lord
jesus christ is going to not change the message the lord jesus christ does not change our message
does not change what changes is weak men that's what changes weak leadership weak churches that
have given into the world that have given into love of money that have given into fear of the
enemy that's what changes ezekiel's instruction was not to change the preacher's instruction is
not to change and jesus christ left us the example when people were literally wanting to kill him
and he just kept preaching anyways what a great example from our lord jesus christ go back to
ezekiel number one prepare to preach to an unreceptive audience number two purpose not to
change the message number three practice a separated christian life let's look at verse
i'm sorry i skipped a little bit there let's look at verse number seven verse number seven and thou
shall speak my words unto them whether they will hear or whether they will forbear for they are
most rebellious but thou son of man hear what i say unto thee be not thou rebellious like that
rebellious house open thy mouth and eat that i give thee so he says hey i want you to go preach
all my words whether they will hear or whether they will forbear i want you to just preach it
anyways don't worry so much about the results just preach what i told you to preach but then he tells
him hey son of man hear what i say unto thee be not thou like that rebellious house and eat that
i give thee so he's saying hey i i don't want you to be an impudent child i don't want you to be
stiff-hearted i don't want you to be rebellious like them why is that because us as god's people
need to be different than the people that we're preaching to we need to not be like them go to
second corinthians chapter 5 second corinthians chapter 5 verse 18 the bible says and all things
are of god who hath reconciled us to himself by jesus christ and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation to wit that god was in christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing
their trespasses unto them and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation now then
we are ambassadors for christ as though god did beseech you by us we pray you in christ's stead
be reconciled to god so the bible calls us ambassadors for christ so just like ezekiel
we have a mission and we have a position he was a prophet he was a priest we're prophets we're
spiritual priests hey and we're ambassadors we have the same mission that he did now what is
an ambassador it's someone that represents a nation usually now how would an ambassador of a
nation act hopefully they would be clean cut hopefully you know they would they would not
be like the american ambassadors russia would probably spit on them or something but hopefully
they'd be clean cut hopefully they'd be moral people hopefully they'd be people of integrity
that they would be you know good living people that could give a good firm handshake and look
people in the eye someone that would represent their nation well right someone that would represent
the strength of the nation well how much more should ambassadors of the most high god act if
ambassadors of nations act in a certain way where they carry themselves professionally where they
live hopefully a straight-laced life obviously they don't but they should but how much more
should we as christians as ambassadors of the most high god be different than the people that
we're representing than the people that we're going to be ambassadors to go to roman's chapter
number two you know it'd be very unseemly if we're out preaching the gospel to people
and we look talk act believe just like they do be very unseemly as god's people if god's men stood
behind the pulpit preaching against adultery while they themselves are committing adultery
right and the jews actually were like this go to roman's chapter two let me get there myself real
quick roman's chapter two bible actually describes that this is how the jews were like look at verse
17 behold thou art called a jew and rest in the law and makest thy boast of god and knowest his will
and approves the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law and are confident
that thou thyself art a guide of the blind a light of them which are in darkness an instructor of the
foolish a teacher of babes which has the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law thou
therefore which teaches another teaches thou not thyself thou that preaches a man should not steal
dost thou steal thou that sayeth a man should not commit adultery dost thou commit adultery thou
that abhorrest idols dost thou commit sacrilege thou that makest thy boast of the law through
breaking the law dishonorous thou god for the name of god is blasphemed among the gentiles through
you as it is written so what happens when a preacher is a hypocrite when a soul winner is a
hypocrite it blasphemes god's name in the in the mouths of the heathen because they see you
preaching one thing and doing something totally different paul saying you know you guys think
you're a guide of the blind that you're an instructor of the foolish you boast yourself
of the law you preach the law yet you break all these things don't you know that people are
blaspheming god because of you our testimony as christians is important especially as preachers
because it's what gives us credibility you completely lose your credibility when you
go out and just live a wicked life it's gone that's why there's qualifications for a pastor by the way
because if you don't meet those qualifications how are you going to lead other people if you
can't lead your house how are you going to lead other people's homes how are you going to lead
the church of god if you yourself can't even get your own body under subjection you know we
ought to apply that to ourselves as soul winners too that the world will blaspheme god if they
catch you drinking a beer and preaching the gospel they catch you out at the club doing who knows
what it blasphemes the name of god first corinthians or i'll read go to first corinthians i'll read for
you ecclesiastes 10 one dead flies caused the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking
saver so doth a little folly him that is in reputation of wisdom and honor what is this
saying it's just saying if you're known as a person that's wise and that's an honorable person
but you know you get into just a little bit of folly a little bit of foolishness a little bit of
sin you know it's going to send forth a stinking saver and if our church if we're calling ourselves
independent fundamental baptists that believe every word of god hey and we're old-fashioned
we're traditional we believe in high standards of morality if we go out and preach that and then it
turns out that everyone in this room is not actually that way it's going to bring a stink
to the name of steadfast baptist church it's going to be a bring a stink to our ministry and to our
job as watchmen as preachers first corinthians chapter 9 paul was not this way look at verse 22
to the weak became i as weak that i might gain the week i am made all things to all men that i might
by all means save some and this i do for the gospel's sake that i might be partaker with you
know you not that they which run in a race run all but one receive at the prize so run that she may
obtain and every man that strived for mastery is tempered in all things now they do it to obtain
a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible i therefore so run not as uncertainly so fight i
not as one that beat at the air but i keep under my body and bring it into subjection less by any
means when i have preached to others i myself should be a cast way you know he's describing
people that run a race physically someone that would participate in you know a sporting event
or something like that and he says that hey they're temperate in all things someone who's an extreme
athlete they're not going to just eat whatever they see they're not going to just sleep whenever
they want they're not going to just work out whenever they feel like it no they're temperate
in all things and they bring their body under subjection they do that to obtain an incorruptible
crown paul did it to obtain or i'm sorry a corruptible crown paul did it to obtain an
incorruptible crown he brought his body under subjection obviously the apostle paul here is not
saying that he was sinless in other places he says that he's carnal sold under sin right but as a
whole the apostle paul was not going around boozing and fornicating and just living a completely
life of debauchery that's not what the apostle paul was doing no he kept his body under subjection
why because it's what gives him credibility as a man of god that's why god told ezekiel don't be
rebellious like them because what weight would ezekiel's words carry to this already disobedient
house to this already unreceptive house if he was just like them right he had a tough enough job as
it is he needs to have some authority behind his words go to hebrews chapter 12 hebrews chapter 12
verse number one wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses
let us lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us patience that implies a long race and the christian life
is a long race it's going soul winning for decades hopefully that's the goal is to serve god for the
rest of our life it's not a sprint and the bible says that we need to take the cast those weights
off now i've gone on runs before where i've wear worn a weighted vest but guess what they weren't
long runs they weren't marathons you wear the weighted vest to go on a short sprint or something
like that you don't exactly want to be wearing the weighted vest on a three mile five mile ten mile
run and guess what in the christian life if you want to go out and be an effective preacher
whether as a soul winner or a preacher of god's word hey you got to set aside those weights that
besets you you know paul said that otherwise he's going to be a castaway if he did that he's going
to be a castaway and you see constantly churches where men of god become castaways because the
pastor gets involved in some sort of some kind of crap some kind of scandal and he becomes a
castaway because he did not keep his body under subjection that applies to every single one of
us though as soul winners go to galatians chapter five or go to james four i'll read for you
galatians five this i say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh
for the lust for the flesh lusted against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these
are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would so bible says
that the flesh and the spirit are contrary to one each other and you're not going to be able to do
the things you want to do so here's the thing if you want to live a godly life and you want to be
a preacher and you want to serve god all your life but you're walking in the flesh you can't do it
bible says you cannot do the things that you would because they're contrary to each other hey and if
you want to live a life of just pleasing the flesh and just giving your flesh everything that it
desires well guess what you also cannot do you cannot serve god then you cannot be an effective
preacher i'm not saying you can't be saved obviously everyone can be saved by believing
on lord jesus christ you don't have to repent of any of your sins to be saved praise god for that
but if you want to be an effective preacher you do have to lay aside those weights and you do have to
be a separated vessel james chapter 4 verse 7 submit yourselves therefore to god resist the
devil and he will flee from you draw nigh to god and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands
you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded cleansing your hands is a picture of cleaning up
your life of getting the sin out of your life now it's very simple but that doesn't make it easy
it's very simple we know what we got to do okay hey as preachers we got to be separated we got to
not live like the world it's very simple but that does not make it easy we have to every day
crucify the flesh walk in the spirit singing to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
putting on the new man that's the only way you're going to make it 10 20 30 40 50 years in the
christian life it's not going to be by accident you have to purposely be a separated vessel for
christ let's go back to ezekiel chapter 2 ezekiel chapter 2 verse 8 put thou son of man hear what i
say unto thee be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house open thy mouth and eat that i
give thee and when i looked behold and hand was sent unto me and lo a roll of a book was therein
and he spread it before me and it was written within and without and there was written there
in lamentations and mourning and woe so notice not only does he say don't be rebellious like them
don't be you know sinful like they are but eat that i give thee and he gives them this role and
within this role is written lamentations and mourning and row and this is an obvious picture
of the word of god and us as preachers whether as soul winners or preaching from the high in the
pulpit you must be reading the word of god you must be eating the role in order to be an effective
preacher i'll read for you psalms 119 verse 9 wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way
by taking heed thereto according to thy word how is it that you're going to live a separated life
the bible says you're going to clean up your life by taking heed according to the bible
so guess what if you're not eating the role you're not going to be an effective preacher
you're not going to be a preacher like ezekiel if you're not eating that which god gave you
the king james bible you've got to be spending time in your bible if you're relying on the flesh
to do the work of the ministry you will fail as a soul winner or just as a preacher in any
other capacity you know i like how how the role that he was given what's it full of lamentations
mourning whoa where's the positive message god how come you're giving ezekiel such a negative
message hey we need the hard truths in our lives to clean us up we don't need to be constantly
patted on the back telling us how great we are no we need the role to convict us we need the
role to smite us and you know who's a perfect example of someone who failed to do this donnie
romero donnie romero is the end of going down this road what happens when you do not eat the role you
see donnie romero he was ready to give out the lamentations all day long he was willing to preach
the hard truths all day long he was willing to give all of you guys the lamentations the mourning
and the woe but you know what he wouldn't do he wouldn't eat of that role himself and that's why
he failed and every single person in here that does not eat of the role themselves will fail period
you think that you could be a three to thrive soul winner in an independent fundamental baptist
church going so many every single week for 10 20 30 years not reading your bible living a secret
separate life of the worst sins imaginable you're out of your mind if you think you're going to be
able to do that the bible says be sure your sin will find you out don't think that you can get
away with living this kind of life and call yourself a baptist preacher you know you can call yourself
an independent fundamental baptist all day long but if you're not eating the roll if you're not
separate then you're not an independent fundamental baptist you're a fake and a fraud is what you are
you know what this country has had too many frauds there's too many churches where the everything's a
fraud the preacher is a fraud the man of god is living in sin the man of god is sending pictures
to the people in the congregation and getting found out for all this sin there's churches like
that everywhere every the catholic church full of people that are just pedophiles we need to be
people that actually eat the role ourselves not just say that we're independent from malbaptist
but actually take the lamentation take the woe take all of the hard truths in the bible
and actually let the bible rebuke us for a change preachers love to rebuke other people and hey that
is part of ezekiel's mission part of ezekiel's mission is to preach the bible preach to the
unreceptive audience hey purpose not to change the message but also he had to live a separated life
and he had to to eat that roll himself we don't eat the roll we will fail as christians this church
will fail you cannot succeed in the christian life by doing it in the flesh it must be real your
christian walk must be real you must have a real walk with god and actually let the bible rebuke
thee so in conclusion here number one prepare to preach to an unreceptive audience number two
purpose not to change the message number three practice a separated christian life you got to
realize if you want to be in this thing for the long run if you want to be a preacher like ezekiel
it's not going to be easy it does take hard work getting saved praise god is easy praise god that
every single drunk and fornicator and adulterer can just be saved by believing on the lord jesus
christ you know what we don't need those people in the ministry we don't need those people becoming
pastors we don't need those people preaching from behind the pulpit praise god salvation is easy
but you know what if you want to be a preacher like ezekiel it's going to take a little more
than just believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shall be saved let's have a word of prayer
lord thanks so much for this day thank you for this great chapter in your word i just pray that
we would be a people uh that would just be in fear of you and of your commandments i pray that we
would read your word every day that it would let us convict us of the issues that we have in our
lives none of us are perfect we all stand every single day lord and we need you to help us we need
your spirit to help us to make it through the ministry in jesus name we pray amen