Watchman
Turn to Ezekiel 1, 2 & 3 (KJV). After the revelation of Jesus Christ to Ezekiel, something happened to him. Turn to Ezekiel 1 (KJV)
28: “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so [was] the appearance of the brightness round about. This [was] the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw [it], I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
2:1: And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
2: And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
3: And he said unto me, son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, [even] unto this very day.
4: For [they are] impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.
5: And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they [are] a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
6: And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns [be] with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they [be] a rebellious house.
7: And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they [are] most rebellious.
8:But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
9:And when I looked, behold, an hand [was] sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book [was] therein;
10: And he spread it before me; and it [was] written within and without: and [there was] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.”
This is the training of Ezekiel to be a prophet of God. It doesn’t give us an easy time; He puts us where the problems are. He commanded him to stand on his feet. He said, “I will speak unto thee” and “…the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me and set me upon my feet that I heard him that he spake unto me.”
I believe that from what we heard this morning he is going to send us to the heathens; whether they are Jewish heathen, Muslim heathen, or Buddha heathen or Hindu heathen or plain stubborn heathen.
We have some stubborn heathen that need to be broken. Before we can go out into another country we have to be trained. He said to Ezekiel, “Don’t you be stubborn and rebellious like they are. You hear what I have to say to you and you do it.” He said, “Don’t be afraid of their words for I set thee among briars and thorns, and thou dwell among scorpions, be not afraid of their look, though they be a rebellious house” (paraphrased).
I want to say this, before the revelation of Jesus Christ, Ezekiel could have done nothing. After Jesus was revealed to him in His glory, He commissioned him to go. Today, we heard a very mighty word straight from God and we know we are commissioned to go. But there’s things God has to do in our lives before He’s going to say “go”. I’m going to tell you He’s not going to tarry with it very long. This is why the Lord had Teresa say what she said tonight. Some of you kids think you are going to play around with your stubbornness. Sorry, the spirit of the Lord is coming and He’s here tonight to set things straight.
One time we were praying for a young man and He brought total deliverance to Him; he had a lot of need for deliverance. He got up off of the floor and said “I don’t believe it.” Everyone that prayed for him knew he had been delivered. It wasn’t 5 minutes after he made this statement that he went into a reprobate mind. He walked out of the house across the desert totally out of his mind. I didn’t think he would ever receive his right mind again. It’s a serious thing when we pray for you that you receive what God has for you. He is talking about a stubborn and rebellious people. He has to get it out of us but He needs our quick obedience to the word of the Lord.
The Lord trained me with this chapter. He set me on this desert and he didn’t give me anyone to help me, I was alone with him. He did the processing with me. We have a lot of people trained by the Lord and they will help you to get rid of your junk if you are willing to let it go. But in the light of what we heard this morning, in the light of what God has given us to walk in, we can’t play around with our stubbornness and rebellion. We have to yield to the spirit of God. God is calling us to the house of Israel; yes and to the Muslims and to everyone on the face of the earth that doesn’t know Jesus. We can only go if the spirit of the Lord is upon us. The only way the spirit of the Lord is going to be upon us is if we have been obedient to him in the training that he has for us.
He revealed himself to Ezekiel. He said, “Now Ezekiel, I’m going to send you among this people.” So Ezekiel went through the testing and the proving of the Lord. He set him there among these people. He told him they aren’t going to hear you.
They don’t hear me. I know exactly how it feels. I sat here 40 years with the same spirits all around, 40 years of rebellion, of stubbornness. He said don’t you be afraid of their words; briars and thorns and rebellious people. They called us everything in the book but a Christian. But we stayed. We let him train us by His spirit. That’s the reason I can teach you by His spirit. Not by what I know, I don’t know anything except I know it is Gods spirit speaking through me tonight to you.
After the revelation of Jesus Christ, He gave Ezekiel a book; not to read, but to eat. I remember when Joshua was 2 years old. This was his favorite scripture how God gave Ezekiel a book. He thought it was a sweet roll that you eat because it says it was sweet in his mouth.
Ezekiel 3: 1: “Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
2: So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
3: And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat [it]; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
4:And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
5: For thou [art] not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, [but] to the house of Israel;
6: Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have
hearkened unto thee.
7: But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel [are] impudent and hardhearted.
8: Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
9: As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they [be] a rebellious house.
This is the way God has to make us so that when we go among the people we aren’t affected by them. He has to bring us to the place where His spirit is totally in control we can’t be affected by their comments or their attitudes. He has to give us a forehead harder than adamant. We’re not to be affected by the enemy or their stubbornness or rebellion.
10: “Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
11: And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
12:Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, [saying], Blessed [be] the glory of the Lord from his place.
13: [I heard] also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.
14: So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.
15: Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
16: And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,”
It’s a serious thing to be trained by God. We don’t speak our own words or do our own thing but we move by the spirit of the Lord.
17: “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.
18: 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] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
19: 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.
20: Again, When a righteous [man] 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.
21: Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous [man], that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
22: And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.
23: Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.
24: Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.
25: But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them:
26: And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they [are] a rebellious house.
27: But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they [are] a rebellious house.”
We have an obligation, we must obey the Lord! He’s training us. We must let Him train us in every detail that he is asking of us. You can’t resist it. I know it’s an easy thing to shove off what you don’t want to do and to let somebody else do it. I don’t think it’s going to pass by the Lord with an ok. You’re going to find out He sees the attitude. He knows why you are doing what you are doing. He says they are going to literally shut him up. They aren’t going to hear you or me. The Lord said, “I’m not going to let you minister to them. I’ll let your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth until you are dumb and you’ll not be a reprover to them.”
I tell you it’s a very serious thing when God brings you to that point. It’s a dangerous thing for the person that God is dealing with; because we have to have the truth and obey it. We have to be honest before God. We have to hear what God is saying and do it. He said, “I will open your mouth when I want you to open it. I will speak through you. He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear:”
It’s a very serious thing tonight in what God has given to us and even in these last few days. It’s serious for us to fight against God and do things our own way. God is speaking to us by His spirit. He wants to train us so that he can send us to this people so that we can speak His words and we can change their lives. I want you to know that God has dealt with you and he wants that stubbornness, anger, bitterness; whatever you have inside of you. It doesn’t matter where it came from but we know where it’s going to go. Let God have it. We’re not playing church here. We’re giving you the truth so every stubborn rebellious spirit of anger or bitterness, it doesn’t matter what you name it, it has to go in order to train you and make you a watchman.
We need to hear what God needs us to hear tonight. He wants to prepare us right now. We need to get rid of all these things. We aren’t going to go to another country and get rid of it. He didn’t send someone else where He sent me right here. He brought you here for the same purpose. I didn’t have any helpers. But the Lord was very exacting in my life and He wants to be exacting in your life. He wants you to be a watchman. He has given of His spirit and with His spirit He will make us to be the watchman He wants us to be.
Somebody said we don’t have near enough watchmen, but I can’t name very many bodyguards here. But if you are doing something wrong, you probably think we are doing something wrong. One thing we do have here that you aren’t aware of. We have a heavenly host. I’ll tell you a story, at the beginning of our ministry a girl came from out of state. She needed deliverance, but she decided she didn’t want it. In the middle of praying for her the Lord took charge. The Lord gave Teresa a song. Maybe I’ll let her sing it for you.
This girl was stubborn and rebellious; determined that she wasn’t going to obey the Lord. She became hysterical and took off down the road; some of our people went after her and she was running very fast. There were some angels down there at the end of driveway because she accused the men of tripping her but they didn’t. They were far behind her. There was someone tall and white that tripped her and brought her back. She decided to go out again and accepted a ride from a man who had been drinking. He takes her to the Acton area. She broke away from him because she became afraid for her life and called us to come pick her up.
As usual we went and brought her back and prayed for her. She was frightened enough not to fight it for she realized that God had saved her life. The Lord gave Teresa a song. That song says “Roll back you powers of the enemy.” As she began to sing it and we began to march around this girl, God began to take those powers out of her. Then He gave Teresa the other half of the song which said, “I am free by the blood of the lamb I am free”. This girl was totally delivered out of the hand of the enemy.
His spirit is the same tonight, but I want to warn you, we aren’t as naïve as you think we are. We know more than you think. God wants us to help you. What has to happen now in order for God to train you? You are going to have to be honest before God and get rid of everything that’s contrary to his plan and purpose for you. We aren’t here playing games, neither do we choose to. We have chosen the word of God and in order for God to change your life, truth and honesty have to come. God is going to do it and I’m going to tell you something, you had better expect to come clean before God after this word this morning. He is going to hold you to it. We better quit making all these excuses for what’s inside of us. We better let go of these things. It doesn’t matter what they are but we know where they are going; because God will fill you and train by His spirit. He doesn’t want you to be like the people of the world, He wants you to speak His words. “He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they [are] a rebellious house.”
God has given us this word tonight, now you only have time to be trained; no time for stubbornness or talking back. When you are asked to do something don’t talk back, because you are hindering what God wants to do. You say yes mam or yes sir and do it. The training is going to be intense by the spirit of the Lord. If you don’t want it then you better not hang around, you better fly the coup. God wants to set you free and make you a watchman. You can go to the Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindus and bring them Jesus. Wherever the spirit went Ezekiel’s wheels went. God is training us by His spirit.
It’s up to us, but we better have ears to hear what God wants us to hear. We have been sliding by; there are no sliding places now. We have to arise and flow in His spirit and obey Him. Only God can do it to set you free from all these things and use you to speak His words. His command is, “Go ye into all the world and preach this gospel to every creature.”
That is ours tonight but he’s not going to send us unprepared. He’s going to send us according to His word. He’s going to do it! It’s up to us to let Him train us the way He wants to train us. He’ll make our heads like adamant. I’m glad He did that for me. God makes us the way He wants to make us so that we can go in among them without fear with the anointing and glory of the Lord in us and around about us. He will take us in among the people filled with His compassion and mercy and we will know it is God and it will not be our words but His words that He will speak through us.
He wants us to obey. God is ready. Let’s read the last verse of chapter 2.
10: “And he spread it before me; and it [was] written within and without: and [there was] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.”
Remember Ezekiel was in captivity, he wasn’t rebellious and stubborn he was in captivity with these stubborn and rebellious people. He had to live with them and put up with them. God said, “Don’t you be what they are.” God wants to get rid of that in this place and He’s purposed to do it. We better let Him do it because He is going to shake it good. Eat the roll, it is sweet as honey.
4: “And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. So the spirit of the Lord took me up and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.”
He set Him where He could talk to him and He told him, “…son of man I have called thee to be a watchman.” God has called us to be watchman and we must obey Him. The day will come when we will have to separate ourselves from those who don’t obey the Lord. We can’t play around with God. Ezekiel warned them of their wicked ways. “Warn the righteous man that he sin not,” for if we don’t warn them their blood will be upon our hands. So it’s a serious thing in this place. This is why it is important that I know what is being said, that I might know how to help you to prevent you from doing the thing the enemy wants you to do. Some of you are here and you are new; God wants you to hear His word the same. The Word says, “He that doeth truth cometh to the light that His deeds may be made manifest in God.” We are only the ‘deed that is wrought’ in God in this place. I believe God wants us to believe and move in Him by His spirit and get free of all these things.
You have the commission, but you have to be trained by Him and sent by Him, by His spirit. We have some things to do. Let’s do it! I want people to respond to His word and get what they need to get rid of the things that hinder them. Amen.
January 14, 2012
