Welcome to the Wilton Baptist Church, where we worship God, walk with others, and win people to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm Pastor Steve, and our congregation is pleased to share this message with you today, and we pray it'll be a blessing and encouragement to you. Blessings as you listen or watch. Our message is from Ezekiel 33, so in your copy of scripture today, Ezekiel 33. Years ago, I had a real opportunity to travel around America as an evangelist. and I was a teen evangelist preaching to teenagers all around America, Nebraska, Colorado, New York, New Jersey rather, Pennsylvania, just all over the place, all over America. Indiana, Ohio. And I did that for two summers during my college years, after my freshman year and after my sophomore year. And we would go around just two by twos, it was me and another college age guy, and we went to different churches and hosted really a revival for teenagers. And it was also kind of like vacation Bible school on steroids for kids. My partner did the Vacation Bible School on steroids for kids while I preached and taught and led games and different things with the teenagers. And we saw just hundreds of kids saved each summer. It was an amazing thing. Young people trusting Christ. One of the summers, the theme was among the teams that we had. So the teams would be divided into two teams and have some competition. So we had the watchmen and the workmen. That was the in one of the years, I don't remember exactly which year it was, but the idea of watchmen and workmen, I think it was from Nehemiah, where the workers there were rebuilding the walls, the city walls, and they had guys that were working on the wall, but other guys that were looking out, and they had their weapons, and other guys had their trowels, and they were working on the masonry and everything, rebuilding the walls. I think it was from that passage, and we preached through that, and some weeks, I was at one church in Rhode Island, there were about 800 kids that showed up, A hundred and seventy-eight of them trusted Christ. It was an amazing experience. What an opportunity for just a young gospel preacher back then. But we had the watchmen and the workmen. The watchmen are offering a warning. They're up high. They're looking out. They're on guard, if you would. They are looking off in the distance to see if there's any danger or any trouble. And sometimes it's possible a watchman could sound a false alarm, but sometimes their warning is true. I'll give you a few modern day examples. The weatherman offers a warning about tornadoes and blizzards. Do they get that 100% of the time? No, sometimes they get it, sometimes they don't. Most of the time it seems like they don't, especially for the kids hoping to get out of school for snow. Then there's the seismologist, and they offer warning for seismic activity, earthquakes, and I typed this up before the earthquake the other day, and I kind of laughed when after, like hours after the earthquake, there was a text that went all over saying, there's an earthquake. Like, okay, everyone's already been talking about the earthquake. Dermatologists warn about skin care and sometimes you know medical things change from time to time. One dermatologist said today's deeply tanned beauties are tomorrow's wrinkled prunes. Maybe, maybe that's true. NORAD officers offer warning about missile attack. And so NORAD's strategically located all around to offer warning for that. Today, a common saying is, we hear this sometimes, see something, say something. Have you heard that before? Sometimes it's associated maybe with terroristic type activity. Maybe also it could be used for the trafficking that you may see. You see something, you say something. So these are words of warning. God's warnings in Scripture always take place, but they don't always take place in our timeline and our time frame. For the 12 years that people were waiting for what Ezekiel was preaching, that destruction was coming, some probably were saying, what you're preaching about hasn't happened yet. because it didn't. It took about 12 years. And then by the time the siege came, it took about three years for the destruction of Jerusalem and for them to topple down the temple. So you can see that some people could say, hey, it's a false alarm. The point is, when God says something, it will happen, but it doesn't always happen in our time frame or what our best estimation is whenever we would think that something could or should perhaps take place. So look here in Ezekiel 33, beginning in verse 1. Again, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people. So to speak, we know what that means. It means to utter. It means to say something. The word speak is found many times in the verses that we're about to read. So speak to the children of thy people and say to them, by the way, the children of thy people, he is talking in generational terms, speak to this generation and the next generation, speak to this set of people. When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts and set him for their watchman. There he is, the lookout. It means lookout or spy, that's what the word watchman is. He's spying out, he's got a spyglass perhaps. He's out here looking, he's doing what he can to make sure everything around the perimeter, everything off in the distance is safe and secure. If, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people, then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and took not warning, his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. There are some people that will listen to an alarm and react or respond to it, and others who will disregard it, and they'll suffer the consequences for that decision. But if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet, He doesn't sound the alarm. He doesn't let others know that danger is on the way. And if people be not warned, if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity. But his blood will I require at the watchman's hand." So he makes the application then. That's the illustration. Now he's going to say, Ezekiel, you're the watchman to warn of the impending destruction and judgment. of Jerusalem. So, O son of man, a common name that is used for Ezekiel, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore, thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, that word here, it's that famous Old Testament word, shema, or shema means to hear with intent to act. I'm hearing it, I'm listening, it's not in one ear, out the other. I am going to use what I hear, so you're gonna hear the word of my mouth, and warned them from me." The word warn, we found it several times. We'll see it a couple more times. It means to be a light or a shining. It means to illuminate. I want you to put a spotlight on it. I want you to point it out. I want you to demonstrate it. Show it to some people that this is what's happening. I want you to warn. Sound the warning. Be a light. Sound that trumpet. Then when I say unto the wicked, verse eight, a wicked man, thou shalt surely die. if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way. That wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn," you know, be that light, shine, put a light on it, If you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul." That's that word a couple weeks ago we talked about repentance, to return to God. It's that word shubah, shubah, turn, turn, return, to turn around. So if you warn them and they turn around, If they repent, if they come back to God, they can be delivered. Now there's always still going to be consequences, even Ezekiel saw for some of the consequences of the collective whole. And so let's continue then. Therefore, O Son of Man, speak unto the house of Israel. Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? That's a great question. How are we supposed to live? As I say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Isn't that a great, merciful statement from our God? I love that statement. If you don't have an underline, that's a good one to underline. Because God doesn't have pleasure when wicked people die and perish, or lost people reject God and spend eternity in hell. That makes no pleasure for God. He would rather them live. He would rather them come to faith in Christ and believe in a resurrected Jesus. What a great statement from our God. He says, say this about their wickedness. I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. And here it is again, that turn, and it's twice. It's the double imperative here. Shob, shob. Turn ye, turn ye. Notice that. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways. Repent. Now, he's not saying do 360s. He's just really making a strong imperative, double imperative statement. You need to turn. You need to turn before it's too late. Turn around and go in a different direction. Turn from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. For as the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall therein in the day that he turneth from his wickedness. Neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live, if he trusts in his own righteousness and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered. But for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die." Have you ever heard somebody say, well, if I do enough good, it'll make up for all my bad. That just says the opposite. He just said the exact opposite of that. He says, you can do all this good, but if you do this bad over here, it negates all the good that you just did. That's what we just read. That's tragically what some people would believe. Again, I say to the wicked, thou shalt surely die if he turn from his sin and do that which is lawful and right." So here the wicked man's repenting. He's turning his actions around. If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity he shall surely live, he shall not die. What a life change. Okay, so he previously must have been stealing from people or taking advantage of others. He says, you repay that, you turn around, you start to do the right thing, and you start walking in righteousness and make right choices and God-honoring things, then you're going to live in that. Repentance is available for anyone who wants it. And God's door is always open for those who say, I'm sorry, please forgive me. I'm repenting and changing away from my sin. None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him. He hath done that which is lawful and right. He shall surely live. Now the people heard this message. And it's somewhat interactive because notice the next few verses. Yet the children of thy people say, the way of the Lord is not equal. What's the phrase that you hear kids say today? And maybe you've said it even this last week. It's not fair. It's not fair. This is the way that they would say it's not fair. God's not equal. So sometimes God's not fair. And that's a good thing, really, because that means we can get a lot better than what we really deserve. And it means that we don't get what we should have, which is terrible. So the way of the Lord is not equal, but as for them, their way is not equal. He says, their way is not equal. When a righteous turneth from his righteousness and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn not from his wickedness and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you, every one, after his ways." I'd like to deliver this message about the Watchmen. And consider this as we begin. The goal of Bible prophecy, according to Ezekiel, verses 7 through 9, the reason we have Bible prophecy is so that the people would repent and return to the Lord before the judgment would happen. Repent and turn before. So when we talk about prophecy and Bible prophecy today and things to come, is a good way to look at that, eschatology, it's so that people have an opportunity to know ahead of time, beforehand, here's what's taking place, here's what's going to happen, and here's the space of time. We don't know how long a space it is. You have a chance to repent. You have an opportunity to turn around from it. Now the goal of judgment, according to verse 29, is so that the people would know that God is God. Look at verse 29, "...then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed." So there's two things happening here. There's a prophecy, then there's judgment. And the judgment takes place so that people would know that God is God and that they then can turn to Him. Just as the task of a watchman over a city is guarding against any impending danger, Ezekiel is to warn the people and share with them a warning from the Lord. Now, chapter 33 could be divided into three sections. The warning to heed the watchman, the first nine verses. The exhortation to turn from evil, verses 10 through 20. And then finally, Jerusalem's fall and Israel's failure. to heed it. And we'll kind of cover some of those ideas here in just a moment. This message that he delivers also summarizes principles of the new kingdom. God desired that all people should live, verse 11, and the new kingdom would be populated by those who enter by choice. They choose the Lord instead of their sin. The conditions for entering the kingdom here are repentance and faith. They're turning and believing. And then individuals are free to choose. It's their choice. I can choose Christ or not. I can choose the Lord or not. And so the watchman is to sound the alarm and let others hear and know the impending danger. Warn. To illuminate. To shine. To be a light. about what is going to happen. Christian, God has called us to be a light. God has called us to sound the alarm for other people. Now back in the day they would use a ram's horn. Think about a ram. and one of the bigger horns, and they called it a shofar, or a sofar, and that's how they would blow into that, and it would blast out a sound. Now they would use it for different things, not so much as a musical instrument was the shofar, but it was a thing that they would use to signal the day of Jubilee, It would be used during the celebration of the Ark. Remember where they would move the Ark of the Covenant? A lot of times they'd blast on their horns like that. The advent of a new king. Somebody was just anointed the king or crowned the king, they would blow the horn, to call the military, to get together, to call the military to disband, to call them to charge. I mean, it was used for a lot of things. And here, it's used to give warning. So, on the different places around Jerusalem, there'd be some towers that are higher than the rest of the walls. And even today, like I've been on King David's tower, it's way above all the rest of the walls. And you could look out from that tower a little bit further than all the rest of the other places, and they would have their guards on top. And then they would sound the alarm. Christians, in the same way, we sound the alarm to warn others. Now, from chapters 25 to 32, There's not much happening there. That's during the time of the siege, and we covered some of the things that are taking place in that. Ezekiel's wife dies the same day that the city is sieged, and then three years later. So when chapter 33 opens, this is three years later. Jerusalem has fallen, and for the first 20 verses, he doesn't know it yet. He doesn't know it yet. This is the continental divide of Ezekiel's ministry. Everything changes in chapter 33. He briefly mentions the current kingdom, and we're looking at that right now. He stops talking about all this judgment and all of this impending disaster, and he turns to the future and the future kingdom. So chapter 33 on through the rest of the book, we're going to talk about the kingdom and future things, future things that will happen. But because God said, hey, this is going to happen through the first half of the book, we know the second half of the book will take place. In chapter 33, everything changes because look in verse 21. It came to pass in the 12th year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one had escaped out of Jerusalem. Somebody made it out alive, came unto me saying, the city is smitten. Three years after the siege, three years to the day that his wife died, we have the city fell, just like God said would happen. And so he's sounding the alarm. And he says, watchman, God says to him, you are a watchman. And now you're going to tell what's going to happen, what's off in the distance, so that people can repent and be ready. because of what will take place now in the future. Christians, let's sound the alarm to warn others. Three summation words of warning. The first one is this, responsibility. Responsibility. Notice in verse 7, the responsibility of the watchman. So thou, O son of man, I have sent thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore, shalt thou hear the word at my mouth and warned them from me." So we're always responsible for what we do. You are always responsible for what you do. Your choices, your decisions, your actions, the consequences that you'll live with because of that, you're always responsible for what you do. Ezekiel, you are responsible. If you warn or do not warn, I will hold you accountable for that. Just a couple days ago in China, there's a They call it a pet cafe at one of their large malls. And I guess it's a really big thing over there. I'm not sure, but pet cafes are a big thing. So people bring their dogs to the mall, and they drop the dog off at a pet daycare, basically, while they go shop and eat, a pet cafe. And so a couple days ago, it might have been yesterday even, the guy whose only job was to keep the gate closed forgot to keep the gate closed. So I guess Huskies, Siberian Huskies are like the dog over there. Hundreds of dogs got out and were running through the mall, eating people's food, jumping up and grabbing whatever they're eating and just running all around. That guy had one job, watch the gate. He's probably being held responsible for not doing that one job. Well, we're always gonna be held responsible for what we do. The people of God knew others were following Jehovah based on how they lived their lives and how they were following the righteousness of the scriptures. Now, there's possible responses that the people were gonna have as the watchman would give warning. In verses 14 to 16, we find that some people will turn. and they'll choose to do what is right. In our vernacular as New Testament Christians, we would say some people would turn to Christ. I'm going to speak to this in our age right now. Some people will turn to Christ, and I'm thankful for the Lord saving people even last week in our service, and we rejoice in that as people come to Christ. But notice here, I say to the wicked, thou shalt surely die if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right. If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity, he shall surely live and shall not die." What was the change? He believed. He trusted. Okay, here's what God said. So his actions then turned. What he was doing then and how he was conducting his life and business changed because of his faith. And his sins then are not going to be remembered anymore. And that's exactly what Christ did for us when you chose Christ, your sins and iniquities. He won't remember those anymore. Thank the Lord for that. That's a possible response. Others will turn away from Christ. In verses 12 through 13, and there's even some that would claim Christ, but they've turned away from the Lord. They don't follow the Bible. They don't follow the scriptures. They don't follow the Lord as a disciple of Christ. And there's others that would just be scoffing at the whole idea that I need salvation. I need to trust the Lord. But some people will turn away from Christ. Others will listen. And they'll hear, but they're not hearing to change. They don't want to change, but they're listening and they're watching for entertainment. Hey, let's laugh at those Christians. Look at that message. I mean, Ezekiel said 12 years ago destruction was coming. Yeah, it hadn't happened yet on year 11. You know, he's just laughing about it. When he's out there playing with his toys, remember that? He's playing with his toys, he's giving us illustrations, laying on his side for over a year, and he's talking to people, and he's preaching, he's talking, and it's just bizarre things. He's eating that Ezekiel bread that we mentioned, and he's just, he's doing all these object lessons and visual illustrations. People would probably just come because that's a sight. Look at that guy. That's why some people thought he was insane. Some scholars even were like, man, he's out of his mind. Some people just look at you and your Christianity as entertainment. Some people will do that. Some people did that for Ezekiel as well. In verse 30 and 32 indicates that the, I need to turn a page here, but check this out. They're just laughing about it. Also they'll sound a man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear the word that cometh forth from the Lord. Let's see what Ezekiel's saying today. And they come unto thee as people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people. They hear thy words, but they will not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song, and as one that hath had a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument. For they hear thy words, but do not do them." Okay, so they're coming for entertainment. When I was young, I remember going to high school, and sometimes I would carry my Bible into the government high school that I went to, and sometimes I would bring cassette tape. Remember cassette tapes? I would bring cassette tape in because some kid was like, what's Christian music sound like? So I brought some Christian music in. So when I bring the music in, or when I bring the Bible in, laughing, laughing, laughing at the music, laughing at the Bible. Why would you have that? Okay, people may laugh at your life. They may laugh at you, they were laughing at him. Entertainment, your life could be entertainment to somebody. But listen, our responsibility is to continue to be a light. To keep warning. of the scripture that is here before us. Scoffers and scorners abound. Now, the Bible can be entertaining. I love the stories of the Bible, you know, David and Goliath and Daniel in the lion's den and Ruth and Esther, Noah, Daniel, Peter. There's tremendous value in film and arts and all these types of things, and we value those because you can see stories of redemption. You can teach the gospel from just about any illustration that you want if you really are studying things and looking at it. in a wholesome way. But the Bible itself is no laughing matter. It's no laughing matter. Hear! Shema! Hear! Hear! The Lord! Christian, this is our job. Hear the Lord, verse 7, and then warn. Be a light. Illuminate. Share the truth of what will happen. And sometimes it's the judgment or the results that are the only thing that will get some people's attention. Have you ever noticed that? Young people, I want you to think about something carefully. It's a lot better to learn from the mistakes of others than to make your own mistakes. Learn from other mistakes of other people. They may be warning you or sharing something with you. Learn from them because we are held responsible. Some people seem to have to suffer and endure pain before they get it and start to choose what is right. And that's the case for the people that Ezekiel is speaking to. And so we warn and leave the decision with the Lord. We leave the decision with them. We put the ball in their court. Hey, this is what the Bible says. Here's what the scripture says. Here's what is coming. We need to trust Christ before the rapture takes place. And some will believe, some will laugh, some will turn away. But it's best, young people, to learn from the mistakes of others. So responsibility number two, liability. liability. Did some of you see this in the news last week? A 79 year old woman from America was really excited to go on her dream wilderness adventure until a raging hormone driven bull elephant toppled her bus, killing her in the process. There it is right there. That happened a week before. No one was injured in that, but look how strong that elephant is. That bus, that truck with chairs in it, is heavy with people in it, but that elephant picked it up like nothing. If you see the video, it's just like a toy for that. The very first question in the interview from the one that happened just a couple days ago where the lady died was, one of the very first questions was, will the guide be held accountable? Is he liable for what happened? Okay, there's some liability in our passage here as well. And that's our next term, liability. Sometimes we are responsible for what happens to other people. Notice in verse eight, when I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die. If thou dost not speak, Ezekiel, if you don't say anything to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand." There is liability on our part. If there is a loved one or a family member or a friend or a coworker that you are around with a lot and your life doesn't point them to Christ and your words do not tell them about Jesus, at the end of everything there is some accountability on our part. that there's some liability for us not offering a warning. And by the way, Church, I'm so excited for every time we have like Easter or some special outreach event, you respond really well to that. And it shouldn't not only be a one-time event like, hey, I'll bring somebody here. It's like, hey, I just met somebody. I'm gonna invite them to come. I wanna share the gospel with them. Some of you, I saw somebody this week take a handful of tracks out here the other day. I thought, man, that's awesome. It was the bridge kind, like that song we sang a minute ago about bridging the gap here and God making the way. They took the bridge track. I forget who it was, but I was really excited to see that happening. But we are responsible. Ezekiel's first commissioning was to a ministry of judgment. That ministry was now completed. Now he is a watchman. now He is offering warning. And His focus is on individual accountability and on two main things, warning, warning, and repentance. That's His message. And so you'll see that a lot over the next several weeks as we go through this book and finish up our study. But a new kingdom is coming, not merely a kingdom on this earth, but a heavenly kingdom. We're looking forward to a heavenly kingdom. And as Christians, we have that anticipation. Israel will be restored one day. He touches on that throughout the rest of our study. Jesus will be king in the millennium. And I love the passages. You'll love, especially near the end of Ezekiel, where Jesus is the king. It's awesome. It's really awesome. And so we're gonna tell people about this. We're gonna share. Here's the future. Here's what the future looks like. Jesus is king now. You may not see it. You'll see it one day. Repent now. We're responsible to share this message. Warn now. But the wicked man, is he still held accountable? Yes. Men and women, we still die in our sins. If we're without Christ, we still die in our sins. So they would be still held responsible, but Ezekiel was also held responsible because he didn't tell them. He didn't warn them. Would they have consequences? Absolutely. And he has a share in their consequences as well. We have the gospel, and we are responsible to share the gospel with others. Romans 10, 14, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? But ye shall receive power, this is for us even today, after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea. and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. We have our missions conference coming up. We want to help send another missionary to get to where he's going to share the gospel. But we also share the gospel right where we're at in our Jerusalem here in our Judea. We are liable if we do not share the truth. and we want to offer warning to them. So then number three, the third word is reliability, responsibility, liability and reliability. We are delivered when we do what we're supposed to do. Nevertheless, verse nine, if thou warn the wicked to turn from his way, if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. So he will not have any consequences for not doing his job. Can I suggest a few things as we wrap up our message about reliability when it comes to reaching the next generation? I pointed that out. speak to the children of thy people." So he's talking to generations and has that in mind. Each generation deserves the tools, the language, and the faith formation venues that fuel personal and corporate faith. I like that statement somebody said. And so we must reach the next generation. The church is the young people among us right now. not just us old-timers here today, but it's the youngest among us, and we must reach them. And it's a tragedy when young people walk away from the church. And many of you have kids and grandkids and great-grandkids who have done that. And by God's grace, we don't want to see that continued in our church and in our families. We want to see the next generation, at all means, at any cost, reached. They may adapt our faith, but listen, we don't want them to abandon our faith. happens all too often. Generations look at things differently. There's some things we can look at perspective-wise differently that can help us connect with and share Christ with others. The greatest generation born before 1924, not many of those are around. Silent generation are the 80-year-olds among us. from 1925 to 1945, the Baby Boomers from around 1946 to 1964, the 60-year-olds among us. Then the Generation X, around 1965 to 1980, I'm an X-er. Those are the 40-year-olds among us, 40s. Millennial generation, we hear millennials a lot. That's 81 to around 96, basically from there on, it's iGen, iInternet generation. And people have just run with the information era that we live in. So you have 30-year-olds in that generation. Generation Z, this is post-millennial, around 1997 to 2012. So you have some that would be 12 years old and younger. That's their generation, Gen Z. And then they're renaming. They're starting to rename the next group. So they ran out of English alphabets. And now it's going to go to the Greek alphabet. So they're starting over. It's Alpha. So everyone born in the last couple weeks or months here in our church, OK, they're some of the first in the Alpha generation. Generation Alpha from 2012 to 2024 is basically where that's at. And it kind of changes. It depends on what study you look at. I mentioned this last week, and I'm following this up with this, is that At 30-year-olds and younger, and there's several here, and we're so thankful, they will look at things differently than an 80-year-old, a 70-year-old, a 50-year-old, 40-year-old, okay? They look at things a lot differently. Some of the things that maybe you endured that was a tragedy and difficulty, they haven't experienced or they're experiencing something on a different level via the social media and the things, and peer pressure's always been around, but it's a lot different. Some things are just different today because of the overload of information. And remember when news was only one hour a day on TV, now it's constantly, okay, this is just a demonstration, things are different. Our minds are overloaded, kids are overloaded, And there's a lot of problems resulting from that, psychological things like that. I didn't plan any of the last few minutes. I'm just talking to you about this. Things are different. How are we going to reach the next generation that's overloaded in their mind, and a lot of it's with corrupt stuff? just filth and garbage and things that are no good. We could offer them things that are better, things that are wholesome, things that are not against the Lord, and use tools, use technology, use different mediums to share Christ. Nothing ever replaces preaching on Sunday morning. Nothing can replace that. But there's other ways that we could be creative. And if we have to adjust some things, if there's some things that you could change in your life or perspective that you could adapt that would help you to be a listening ear, to be someone, a young person, a young adult would want to talk to instead of like, you're so wrong, you're so wrong. We can't come across like that. Can't do it. If you want to be an idiot like that, you won't reach the next generation. It's impossible. They'll be like, look at that arrogant fool. A lot of Christians, well-meaning, come across that way. How do we reach millennials? Now remember this, the gospel never has changed, never will, but we can change how we relate and connect and minister and serve. Do what you can. How do we reach millennials? I've recently been reading this book, How to Reach Millennials. Be intentionally intergenerational. One thing I love about our scattered groups is it's like little kids and adults and older folks, everybody's all together in that. And the church for a long time, the American church, and I think of like church from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s and early 2000s sometimes, is segregate everybody. Take the kids away, have all the seniors over here, have everybody over here. And what's happened is, is we don't have the older teaching the younger, and they don't have conversations with people they should be talking to. And that's part of the problem with the American church. That's one reason I like our scattered groups. Number two, he says, tell on yourself. Acting like you have everything put together is a lie anyway. You know, like, hey, I'm perfect, you know? Man, I never have my tie out of whack. I mean, I'm just so good. Some of this is superficial garbage that the first century Christians contended with in the Pharisees, because the Pharisees always looked perfect, and they put on a show. It's okay to admit, hey, I have a problem with this, or I'm not perfect, or I'm having problems with, hey, here's a family issue, or here's, I'm struggling with this disease that I have, and I don't know why God, and I don't know everything. It's okay to be real or authentic. Number three, meet a need. And I think this has been lost a lot because we get in our holy huddles and we don't meet needs in the community. How many of you know anybody outside of church and the school that you go to? If you don't know anybody, that's a major problem with reaching the next generation. It's a major problem. Coach a community team. I can walk into Gavin Park, I'm not bragging, but this is just a result of coaching different teams. I can walk to any of these major parks around here and meet somebody, or somebody knows me from coaching. And it's just from like three years, basketball, a little bit of baseball. This year they had too many coaches, so they didn't need me. I wanted to because of the impact that we can have. And some of them even come to church here today. from that. We need to meet needs in the community, help a neighbor, volunteer. You know, the open door mission, there's other ways that you can help out. We try to teach our teenager service like the roadside cleanup, you know. Some people on our road know who to call when it's dirty. They call us. We want to serve the community. Did you know that basically millennials on down, they don't want to just build a building They don't want to just pave a lot. Those are important things. They want to make a difference in meeting needs of people around them. That speaks a lot to me. It's hard for me because sometimes, and here's where I'm being authentic, it's hard to maintain this property. And a lot of times, I'm doing a lot of maintenance out here, driving a tractor. And I like it. I like it. I'm not complaining. But it's hard to do all the maintenance stuff here and go out and serve people. At the same time, you can't do it. You see what I'm saying? And whenever we say, hey, we need help for lawn mowing coming up, it's so that we can continue ministry in other ways besides just clipping grass. You could probably do some of those things. So what I'm saying is that to reach the next generation, let's find opportunities to connect with them, to meet them. Don't come across critical. Find ways that you could serve together. Become more intergenerational with those that are around you. Most young people want to make a positive difference, not just in building buildings and not just in making money. A lot of them, if you give them an opportunity, would volunteer to help out or to do something. So what does an intergenerational church look like? One person wrote this. It occurred to me that it should look like Thanksgiving dinner at grandma's house. It's everyone's friends, different age groups. And they're not all segregated off at different tables. They're around one big table. They're all together enjoying the meal. They're talking and conversing and living life together. That's the way it should be. So a watchman will warn. He'll be a light. He'll illuminate the truth of what is about to happen. So let the gospel shape your life today. Here's some ways to do it. Change. Some ways that you could change or adapt. Do it. Find one thing this week that I could change that would help me to minister, to serve, to reach the next generation. Grow, pray, move, do, become, be spirit-led. Share the unchanging gospel. Recruit, and here's something for all the deacons, and if you teach something, or if you wanna come and do some maintenance on the building, or do some kind of outreach or something, take a young adult with you to do it. hey, here's what deacons do, here's what we're doing when it comes to this outreach, or here's how we fix this stuff on the playground. Take some of these young people with you to assist in the ministries that you're helping with or leading, and talk to others about the future. Ephesians 5, 8 says, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light, and the Lord walk as children of light. And this is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world, and men love darkness rather than light. because their deeds were evil. Some will believe, some will reject, but we do what God has called us to do, to be that light, to illuminate the way, to share the truth. with those around us. Now, a few cautions. Don't be an alarmist. Just because something's different than what you're used to doesn't mean it's wrong. There's a lot of alarmists out there, especially in what's considered fundamental Christianity. A lot of alarms, false alarms. We need to focus on the main truths, the big picture, heaven and hell stuff. A lot of this other stuff is a distraction from people coming to faith in Christ. A lot of it's originated in man-made religion or an adaption of Christianity into a man-made religion. Christians are called to be different. We want to have a first century church mindset in this modern culture that we're living in. And we can! We can have it! And I think that we're finding ourselves in that in many ways. Don't cry wolf for things you don't like or don't understand because people will stop listening if you do that too many times. Let's be an externally focused church, and I'll wrap up with four ideas. Externally focused churches are convinced that good deeds and good news cannot and should not be separated. Externally focused churches see themselves as vital to the health and well-being of their communities. Externally focused churches believe that ministering and serving are the normal expressions of Christian living. Externally focused churches are evangelistically effective. When we connect good works to good news, people are more likely to listen. Ezekiel, you're a watchman. Christian, we are watchmen as well. So let's be giving and gracious and forgiving and consistent. History records incredible accounts of the destruction of an old ancient town. The watchmen on the walls would call out whenever they thought they saw a foe approaching, sensing that the people had begun to resent them for giving false alarms They decided to remain quiet. Regrettably, not long afterward, the enemy eventually did come. The city that could have been saved was assaulted and devastated and leveled. Nothing was left but smoking ruins. And later, someone erected a small memorial inscribed with the following epitaph. Here stood a town that was destroyed by silence. Christians, don't be silent about your faith. Let's share Christ with somebody this week. Let's take a moment to pray and visit with the Lord. Thank you for your good attention and participation today. I have three questions as we conclude. May God give me boldness to sound the alarm so those around me hear the truth. There are others that need Christ, and may God give me boldness to sound the alarm and share him with them. Is that your prayer today? Anybody, just raise your hand, lots of hands. Yes, God help us. Number two, I understand I am to be faithful to the Lord no matter what circumstances arise. Ezekiel just kept doing the right thing. It was hard at times, but I want to keep doing the right thing. And by God's grace, I'll continue. That's my prayer. Anybody like that? God help us. Yes, yes, God help you with that. And finally, I will find one thing to change in my approach to reach the next generation. If there's something that you could adapt or change or rethink, what is it? What is it? Lord, show that to me. Help me to see that change in my life so that I can reach the next generation. Anybody like that, just raise your hand. God, help us, a lot of us to raise our hands for this. Take just a moment, then we'll conclude with our prayer. Heavenly Father, you are an amazing God. You know things that happen way before you orchestrate and design and have just an incredible plan for our lives. You told Ezekiel what would take place, and it happened. You told him things that would happen even beyond in our time frame, and things may be past us. Whenever the future happens, we want to be ready. Help us to share your love, your grace, your truth, and your message of repentance and turning in faith in Jesus so that others would heed the warning. Let us be bold lights and witnesses. Let us speak boldly and carefully and kindly the gospel to others. And let us find ways to adapt, to change, to meet the needs of the young people around us, that they too would choose Christ and follow you. Just give us great wisdom and boldness in these areas. Lord, thank you for salvation. Thank you for Christ. And as we go, we pray that you'll bless this week as we find ways to serve. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.