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Pastor Don Carpenter \/ General<\/p>\n
2017 Bible Reading Challenge \/ Evangelism; Discipleship; Admonish; Judgment; Accountability \/ Ezekiel 3:15\u201321; Ezekiel 33:1\u20139; Acts 20:26\u201327; Hebrews 13:17<\/p>\n
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“Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness<\/strong>. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold<\/strong>, the light that brings the dawn<\/strong>, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.”<\/p>\n This was an oath taken in the fictional land of Winterfell, the home of a giant wall that protected the realm of man from the unspeakable horrors that lie beyond the wall.\u00a0 The Brothers of the Night\u2019s Watch were given one job, watch and protect the seven kingdoms from any danger that awaits beyond the wall.\u00a0 Their oath was life long, and to break that oath, even for a moment, would mean their life.<\/p>\n In the days of old, before radars and satellites,\u00a0 the role of the\u00a0 watchman was one of the most solemn responsibilities that a soldier could have.\u00a0\u00a0 He needed to stay alert and battle ready while the rest of the city slept.\u00a0 He needed to peer into the darkness, looking and listening for trouble.\u00a0 He needed to be able to discern the difference between wildlife, a wild imagination, and a true threat, an attacking enemy.\u00a0 Once he discerned a threat, he needed to be willing to blare a trumpet in the middle of the night, sounding a clear piercing warning of the imminent threat.<\/p>\n In 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar launched the second wave of an invasion of Judah that started in 605 BC when young Daniel was taken captive.\u00a0 This time the prophet Ezekiel was one of the 10,000 people taken in the second wave of the invasion.\u00a0 Our passage this morning\u00a0 takes place a few years later, July 593 BC, to be exact.\u00a0 Ezekiel had met with some taken captive that second time in a land we now know as Tel-Aviv .\u00a0 It was by the riverside that God met with the prophet.\u00a0 God commissioned him with a a solemn charge\u2026 Ezekiel was now a Spiritual watchman over Israel.\u00a0 He would bear the sacred task of identifying coming judgement and warning the people so in time for them to take action and avoid it.<\/p>\n As we study this passage, we will find that believers share the same solemn task and burden that Ezekiel did.\u00a0 Unlike the prophet, we do not get personal partial revelation of pending judgment, we are given the whole truth of a completed Bible. \u00a0Born again believers, like Ezekiel, are the watchmen commissioned to see the danger of impending judgment, and warn those who are unaware so that they can escape.<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the burden shared by all the Brothers of the Night\u2019s Watch.<\/p>\n Ezekiel 3:17 KJV 1900<\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.<\/em>\u201d (2 Timothy 2:3\u20134, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n \u201cHerein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.<\/em>\u201d (John 15:8, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n \u201cYe have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.<\/em>\u201d (John 15:16, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n 1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV 1900<\/strong><\/p>\n Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this<\/em> to your shame.<\/p>\n \u201cSon of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;<\/em>\u201d (Ezekiel 33:2\u20133, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n Ezekiel 33:7 KJV 1900<\/strong><\/p>\n So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIf when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;<\/em>\u201d (Ezekiel 33:3, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n \u201cBut if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman\u2019s hand.<\/em>\u201d (Ezekiel 33:6, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n (The Hell-bound sinner)<\/p>\n Ezekiel 3:18\u201319 KJV 1900<\/strong><\/p>\n 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<\/em> 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 hast delivered thy soul.<\/p>\n \u201cAs it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:<\/em>\u201d (Romans 3:10, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n \u201cFor all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;<\/em>\u201d (Romans 3:23, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n \u201cAnd he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.<\/em>\u201d (Mark 16:15, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Connecticut man was so busy listening to music on his iPod that he did not notice his house was on fire. Andrew Riley told fire officials he didn\u2019t smell smoke or hear the smoke alarm going off. He was so engrossed in the music that he was unaware of the fire on the upper floor of his home until the alarm company called to tell him about the danger. A fire marshal determined an electrical malfunction caused the fire. He said the situation could have been much worse if, after receiving the warning, Riley hadn\u2019t run upstairs and closed a door to contain the fire.<\/p>\n It is so easy to get distracted and miss the alarms going off around us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2014Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2 Corinthians 5:11 KJV 1900<\/strong><\/p>\n Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.<\/em>\u201d (Ezekiel 33:9, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n \u201cHe heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.<\/em>\u201d (Ezekiel 33:5, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n Ezekiel 3:19\u201320 KJV 1900<\/strong><\/p>\n 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<\/em> doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.<\/p>\n \u201cBut every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.<\/em>\u201d (James 1:14\u201315, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.<\/em>\u201d (2 Timothy 2:24\u201326, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n Acts 20:26\u201327 KJV 1900<\/strong><\/p>\n Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am<\/em> pure from the blood of all men<\/em>. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.<\/p>\n The watchman could restore a fallen brother.<\/p>\n \u201cBrethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.<\/em>\u201d (James 5:19\u201320, KJV 1900)<\/p>\n Lord prepare me to answer Your call, <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Believers are the watchmen commissioned to see the danger of impending judgment, and warn those who are unaware so that they can escape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-morning-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/forum.ebcct.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/forum.ebcct.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/forum.ebcct.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forum.ebcct.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forum.ebcct.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/forum.ebcct.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":488,"href":"http:\/\/forum.ebcct.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions\/488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/forum.ebcct.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forum.ebcct.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forum.ebcct.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Watchman Has a Responsibility Toward God.<\/h1>\n
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The Watchman Has A Responsibility Toward The Wicked<\/h1>\n
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The Watchman Has A Responsibility Toward The Backsliding Believer<\/h1>\n
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\nFaithfully let me stand on the wall,
\nA \u201cwatchman\u201d I would be,
\nSeeking now to find victory;
\nHelp me boldly to call on Your name,
\nMay the Gospel I boldly proclaim,
\nFor others I would intercede,
\nFor this glorious land plead,
\nHelp me in Your name bind Satan\u2019s power,
\nAnd live in victory hour by hour.<\/p>\n\n