Sound the Alarm!
May 3, 2009 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: God wants us to sound the alarm!
Focus Passage: Ezekiel 33:1-11
Supplemental Passage: Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Introduction: Noah’s message from the steps going up to the ark was not, “something good is going to happen to you!”
Amos did not confront the high priest of Israel proclaiming, “Confession is possession!”
Jeremiah was no put into the pit for preaching, “I’m okay, you’re okay.”
Daniel was not thrown into the lions den for telling people, “positive thinking will move mountains!”
John the Baptist was not forced to preach in the wilderness and eventually beheaded because he preached, “Smile God loves you!” The two prophets of the tribulation will not be killed for preaching, “God is in heaven and all is right with the world!!”
Instead what was the message of all these men of God? Their message can be simply put in one word, Repent!
I. God’s Charge:
a. Matthew 28:19-20
b. Luke 11:23 says… “He who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me, scatters.”
II. God’s Message:
a. From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17)
III. God’s desires:
a. "Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! (Ezekiel 33:11)
b. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
Invitation: If we put off repentance another day, we have a day more to repent of, and a day less to repent in.
It is much easier to repent of sins that we have committed than to repent of those we intend to commit.
The church's problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior." "It is revival without reformation, without repentance."
