Saturday after the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on September 25, 2021 by under
Scripture: Ezekiel 3:17-21 (NKJV)
3:17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”
Devotion
Ezekiel has a great responsibility. When God condemns a wicked man for his sin Ezekiel is to warn him. The purpose of the warning is so that the sinning man can turn from his wicked way and save his life. If Ezekiel fails to warn the sinning man, the man will die in his sin and Ezekiel will also be held responsible for failing to warn him. His duty also extends to those who are righteous by faith. If one who is righteous commits iniquity by deliberately sinning, Ezekiel is to warn the man of his sin. If Ezekiel does not warn him, then the man will die in his sin and the prophet will be held responsible. If the righteous heeds the prophet’s warning, then he will live and the prophet has fulfilled his duty.
Your pastor has this same responsibility. He is to warn the wicked to repent so that they might turn from their wickedness and live. He is also to warn the righteous against committing iniquity so that they don’t cast out faith and the Holy Spirit from their hearts and die in their impenitence. This can be a difficult task because all of us are good at minimizing our sins and making excuses for them. Yet it must be done so that we might all see our sins, turn from them, and be made new by faith in the Gospel, amending our lives. May we always take the watchman’s warning, so that we may continue to live.
Prayer: Lord, we pray Thee, that Thy grace may always go before and follow after us, and make us continually given to all good works; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
