On April 10, 1912, the Titanic, commanded by Captain Edward J. Smith, set sail. On April 11, 1912, there were seven warning messages sent about icebergs on the Titanic’s course. These messages were noted but not heeded. The Titanic then hit an iceberg, and by 2:18 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the Titanic submerged into the murky water and sank to her final resting-place.(1)
Many people died that night that shouldn’t have. The ship builders boasted that the Titanic was unsinkable. They said that not even God Himself could sink the ship, so there were not enough lifeboats placed on board, and as a result many lives were lost. The shipbuilders were responsible for the deaths of numerous people. We might say they failed to provide people with a “lifesaver.”
Similar to how the shipbuilders failed to take seriously the possibility of the Titanic sinking, Christians sometimes fail to take seriously the fact that the lost may not live another day, and therefore they neglect to tell people about the “lifesaver” Jesus Christ.
The captain was also responsible for the ship sinking because he failed to heed the warning calls sent out to him. He was not only responsible for the deaths of the passengers, but for his own death as well. Non-Christians, similar to this captain, are responsible for their own death when they fail to heed the warning call sent out by believers.
This evening we are going to learn about responsibility in both receiving and sharing the gospel message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Non-Christians who hear the gospel, but fail to obey will be responsible for their own deaths; and Christians who actually know the gospel and do not share it with the lost will be responsible for causing many people to die a spiritual death.
We Are Responsible for Our Actions (vv. 1-5)
1 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life’.”
In this passage Ezekiel had been taken captive by the Babylonians, and he was reflecting back on how he had warned the inhabitants of Jerusalem that their destruction was eminent if they failed to follow the ways of God.
This passage was based on the strategic defense of that day. The defense system consisted of a large wall, sometimes a double wall, several feet thick. The wall was made with very large stones, and tall towers were built at the corners. Watchmen were stationed high in the towers to watch for the approach of enemy forces. Other watchmen walked on top of the wall or were posted at the gates. If an enemy was approaching they were to blow the trumpet to alert the armed troops and call out a warning to the people. If they somehow failed in their responsibility, the city would be overrun and the people would lose their lives. The watchman would pay for his failure with his life.(2)
Ezekiel was reminiscing on his former attempts of warning the people of Jerusalem, and he did so in order to clear his own conscience. He knew that he had been a faithful watchman, and that he had blown the horn of warning. When the Babylonians ransacked Jerusalem, it was because the people had not heeded Ezekiel’s warnings to turn to the Lord. Their blood was on their own hands.
There are some important lessons that we shouldn’t miss in this passage. The first lesson we learn is that we are accountable for our own actions. For example, if we hear the warning that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), then we had better heed that warning and accept the gift of eternal life found in Jesus Christ. If we do not acknowledge the warning then we are going to die for our sins.
Romans 14:11-12 tells us, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” Each of us will have to answer for the sins we have committed in this life. If we don’t know Jesus Christ as our Savior, who’s going to pay the penalty for our sins? The answer is that we will pay the penalty for sin with our own life. But for those who know Jesus, He paid that penalty for us when He died on the cross, so that we would have eternal life. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, then our blood is no longer on our own hands, but on Jesus’ hands that were nailed to the cross.
There are many people who don’t like the idea of being held accountable to God. The Columnist Bob Green, of the Chicago Tribune, theorized that what’s wrong with the world today is the “Death of The Permanent Record.” If you can recall, once upon a time in grade school, kids did not like to have their names recorded by the teacher whenever they misbehaved.
The thought of having something you did permanently recorded and read by people who could affect your future stopped a lot of kids before they did something wrong. They didn’t stop because they were good, but they stopped for fear of having their actions written down. Green says that today people realize that there is no such thing as a permanent record.
There might have been at one time, but not today - schools and even the legal system are told they have no right to keep track. Green says that with today’s emphasis on our rights to privacy, if a school child were ever threatened with something being placed on his permanent record, he would probably file suit under the Freedom of Information Act and gain possession of his files before recess.(3)
We may not like it, but the truth of the matter is that there is a permanent record being kept on each of us this very moment. Revelation 20:12 says, “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” Each of us is going to have to answer for our actions before God. If we haven’t heeded the warning call and accepted Jesus Christ, then our blood is on our own hands, and there is no one to blame but ourselves.
We Are Responsible for Others (vv. 6-9)
6 “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.” 7 So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul’.”
The second lesson we learn from Ezekiel is that we are responsible for others. Christians have the responsibility of telling people about salvation in Jesus Christ. We are not held accountable for those whom we never meet; but we are for those people who enter our lives on a regular basis. If we know that a person does not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and that person ends up dying and going to hell, then we are responsible for that person’s fate. Ezekiel says that their blood will be on our hands. But praise be to God that He forgives our mistakes!
Why in the world would we hold back the cure for the worst disease that has ever plagued mankind? The disease I am referring to is sin. If we had the cure for cancer, for example, wouldn’t we want to share it with the world? Why is it that some Christians hold back the cure for sin; and hold back the gift of eternal life?
Have you ever seen the movie Medicine Man starring Sean Connery? Connery was working on experiments with tropical flowers in a South American rainforest, when he accidentally stumbled across the cure for cancer. He was confused about which flower the cure had come from, so he had to begin searching again. The dilemma was that developers were clearing and burning the rainforest in which he was doing his research. He was on a race against time. He tried to stop the burning, but the developers were more interested in the profit they would make from selling the cleared land, then they were in curing one of the worst diseases in the history of humankind.
The people in the movie Medicine Man were more concerned about making a profit than saving lives. That is the problem with many Christians. They are more concerned about their own welfare then they are about those who are dying and going to hell. The main problem is selfishness. Many Christians care more about having their own leisure time than giving up that time to direct people to eternal life. Where are our priorities when we act like this?
Ezekiel said that if we don’t warn people about impending death, then their blood is on our hands. Thankfully we live in an age of grace; but in that day and time the watchman suffered for his failure. For the watchman, the penalty for not warning people was death. Even in nature we observe how those who fail to warn others about danger are held accountable. Take crows for instance:
When a flock of crows invades a field of corn, the birds customarily station two sentries or guards in a nearby tree to keep watch and warn the rest of any danger. In his book entitled Character Sketches, Bill Gothard tells the story of two people who succeeded in sneaking up on the flock of crows and scaring them before the sentries had given warning. The birds burst into flight, immediately attacked and killed the two guards, and only then flew off.(4)
Intentional failure to tell a lost person about Christ is a sin, and sin must be met with judgment. Thankfully for believers, Jesus took sin upon Himself when He died on the cross; but have you ever considered that with every failure it’s as though you are driving the nails deeper into His hands and feet? Hebrews speaks about those who sin, how they “crucify again for themselves the Son of God” (Hebrews 6:6). The sin of failing to blow the trumpet of warning is a serious offense; but thankfully, it is one that Jesus bore for each of us on the cross. However, grace does not excuse us from responsibility.
Time of Reflection
What Ezekiel wants us to take from his message is that we are held responsible for our actions. If you have experienced the joy of salvation and eternal life in Christ, it is your responsibility to share that joy with others, and give them the same opportunity that you had to be healed and forgiven of sin.
If you realize that you have failed to tell a lost person about salvation in Jesus Christ, then I wish to encourage you to confess your sin to God, and ask the Lord for His forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
If there is someone here tonight who doesn’t know Christ as Lord and Savior, and you have been told about Him, then you have no excuse for refusing to accept Him. If you don’t heed the warning that you need Jesus in your life, then one day your life will be taken from you for all eternity.
NOTES
(1) Taken from the Internet February 2000 at http://www.fireflyproductions.com/titanic/breif.htm.
(2) Rodney Buchanan, “The Watchman,” a sermon taken from the Internet February 2001 at http://www.sermoncentral.com.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997), p. 302.
