Middletown transcript., 1922-07-01

Lord. and He will have mercy upon him;
and to our God, for He will abundantly
pardon.-Isa. 55:6-7.
REFERENCE MATERIAL - II Kings
1913. IA; lisa. 6:l-l3; Jer. lilo; Matt. %:
3'-S9; Acts 20lS-2l. 26. q. 29-31.
PRIMARY TOPIC-Tle Shepherd and
His Sheep.
JUNIOR TOPIC-Ezekiel Watches and
Warns Israel
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
Facing Hard Task.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
The Duty Of Warning Others.
!. Ezekiel's Call w.. 1, y.
!. Commanded to Stand Up ". ~.
Ezekiel was given Il vision of the AL
mighty God on His throne of glory
Zen. ~. The purpose of this vision
was to give him synthetic grasp of
the execution Of The divine VIII
through the powers md forces which
he had created. Before the vision the
prophet fell PROSTATE upon his face.
The essential equipment of minister
for tine discharge lis task is a vi
sion Of the Almighty
2. Filled With the Spirit ". p. BY
him and erabled him to execute the
commission given to him.
u. Ezekiel's Commission wv. 3-S).
/. The Moral Condition of the Peo-
pie wv. 3, ~. (1) 4 rebellious nation
". 81. This Righteousness perhaps re-
ferred to their heather idolatrous prac-
tees. (2) ImpudeEt children ". A..
"Impudent" literally means hard Of
face" 1t means the grossest perver-
sty which caused them to stand up in
the presence of the prophets of God
without sense of guilt or coInpunc
tiOn of conscience.
.. The Charge ". ~. He was to de-
liver the message of God. He was to
declare, "Thus saith the Lord God"
3. The Difficulty of His Task wv. s.
81. He was TO deliver the message of
God whether they would hear or fore
bear. He was thus apprised of the
difficulty Of his task and warned not
to be rebelliOus as the people had been.
Ezekiel was to fearlessly execute his
commission, though the attitude If the
people be as "briers" and "thorns"
and scorpions" The life of man
of God will run counter to the world.
III. Ezekiel's Experimental Qualifi-
cations e :9-3 :16).
Before enc can preach to others he
must have an eXperience-must be in
sympathetic accord with God and His
message.
/. Eating the Book cos :o). This
book contained Gods woes upon the
stiff-necked and rebelllous people ".
1O). In order to speak Gods threaten
ings effectively to others we must in.
wardly digest and appropriate them
ourselves. The eating of the book was
in his mouth as honey for sweetness.
Though his ministry was difficult and
the judgment severe, the prophet was
in entire sympathy with Gods pur-
pose and found delight in His will.
The result of this eating was that
Ezekiel was made "hard of face and
forehead" to go against the people who
were hard of face and i;orehead."
.. Urged on by the Spirit (3:l0-14).
In order to strengthen Ezekiel for his
task, the wonderful symbolism of
Gods providential agencies which had
been before him in chapter l was
brought to his attention, assuring him
that God would accompany him to his
new destination. He went in bitterness
to the captives. By bitterness" Is
meant sadness on account of the cal
antilles of which he was the messen-
ger (3:1D.
3. Entering Into Sympathy ". 15).
In order to minister to a people one
must enter into sympathy with them
must show that the message Is from
the depth Of the heart; that to declare
the message of woe Is great grief.
Ezekiel mingled his tears with theirs.
~. Ezekiel's Grave Responsibility
(3:17-2D.
God made him watchman. Every
minister is a watchman over his flock.
Two things were required Of him:
1. To Hear the Word at Gods
Mouth. The source Of his message
was Gods Word. So today the minis
ter is to get his message from God.
2. Sound the Warning ". ~. After
he heard Gods message he was to
speak it out. The same duty is upon
the minister today. Cases in point for
his guidance wv. 1S-2D:
(1) When God sayr to the wicked
Thou shalt surely die" ". 1S), and
the watchman fails to warn him, the
wicked man shall die in his iniQuity,
but his blood shall be required at the
watchman's hand.
(2) If the watchman warn the wick
ell and the warning Is unheeded w..
19), the wicked man shall perish, but
the watchman has delivered his soul.
(3) When righteous man turns to
do iniquity and God gives him over to
stumbling in his own sin, his past
seeming righteousness will be Of no
avail, but his blood will be required at
the hand of the watchman Ii he fail to
warn him ". 2O).
(4). II the watchman so warns the
righteous man that he fall not into sin,
the man shall be saved and the watch
man hath delivered his soul.
Ministers have most solemn obliga.
tiOns, that of discharging their obliga.
ton whether men will hear or fore
fear.