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Eugene Prewitt

Home Studies

Finding, Knowing and Being Yourself

Come Let Us Reason Regarding Justice and Pain

Deliver My Soul


Let's bow our heads for a prayer. Our Father in heaven, I ask that you would be here. But more than that, that you'd be with those that hear this message wherever they are. That you would use your truth to make a difference. I ask for the gift of your Spirit to work and speak through me in the name of Jesus.

Amen. I'd like you to turn your Bibles to Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 3. The title of this message is Deliver My Soul And I'll get right to the point, this passage will get right to the point. Ezekiel chapter 3, looking at verse 18. I'll begin reading, we'll be here for a while so you can keep turning, you may get there while we read it.

When I say to the wicked, you will surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, that same wicked man will die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you did not give him warning, he will die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done will not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous man that the righteous man should not sin, and he does not sin, He shall surely live because he took warning and you also have delivered your soul." It's clear in this passage that for me to deliver my soul I need to give warnings to people, both righteous and unrighteous, to those that will take heed and to those that will pay no attention.

I must give the warning or I will be held accountable. I know Many of my friends who listen to sermons and audio verse are people who are also in ministry and to you I speak these words as I read them to myself Unless we give people warning We are partially accountable They are accountable for what they've done, but we're accountable for not having warned them against their danger. This year in 2013, I've been speaking a number of times about a precious book, De Sozo, And I've been preaching from the chapter Isaiah 58. Isaiah 58, that chapter full of precious promises, promises of God's continual guidance, of his saving help, of him turning darkness to light, promises the most precious, but in speaking those messages this year, I have usually started somewhere around verse 2 or 3 or 6. But Isaiah 58 begins in verse 1 with that phrase, cry aloud and spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgressions and the house of Israel their iniquities.

In other words, before God calls us to join Him in ministry to those who are poor and needy, He calls us to turn away from our sins. Before He invites us to labor with Him, He invites us to cease being his enemy. Turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 36. 2 Chronicles 36 and verse 15. And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them, that is to the 10 tribes, by his messengers, rising up early and sending them, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

Why did God send messengers? Why did he send the prophets? Why did he warn them about their sins? It was because he had compassion on them. Compassion leads us to give warning.

And when we don't give fair warning, it shows a lack of compassion in us. Verse 16, But they mocked the messengers of God, they despised his words, they scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy." Recently, I've preached against the idea that God has no wrath. And here is a verse that speaks about a wrath that rises until there is no solution. Don't make light of the messengers of God. Don't despise his words.

Do you know his compassion is despised? His testimonies are mocked. And when we mock his warnings, when we make light of his testimonies, what we're despising is his compassion, and when we despise his compassion, what remedy is there for us, since it's his compassion that leads us to repentance? Turn up to Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29 in verse 1.

To save some time I'm going to read it to you now. He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. Did you hear it, brethren, sisters? Did you hear it when we read in Ezekiel that when a righteous man turns from his iniquity, that God may lay a stumbling block in his way and he may die, that a righteous man may die as a wicked man unless he gets fair warning? What we read here is that it's not just any righteous man turned wicked that is suddenly destroyed, but it is that man who being often rebuked hardens his neck.

Frequently though for these men, that often rebuke has come from their own reading and what they need is an appeal from someone else, from a human to give them a warning to turn from the wickedness. Don't think the Spirit hasn't been telling them, but you know like I know that sometimes we need more than the Spirit. We need the Spirit speaking to us through a human that will call us to our knees and show us our need. In Acts chapter 18, you know what happened? It happened that Peter, excuse me, Paul and Silas and Timothy in fact, the 3 of them were compelled by the Spirit and they testified to the Jews there that Jesus is the Christ, that's Acts 18 5.

But let's go on to verse 6 Acts 18 verse 6, But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, Your blood be upon your heads. I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles. I don't want anyone's blood to be on my hands, and I'm willing to go to whoever is willing to listen to the gospel message and to take instruction. And I say to you, those of you who are in God's work, don't hesitate to take the message to those who will listen, but warn those, whoever they are, who need warning.

And if they will not listen, if they will oppose that good work still deliver your soul say like Paul I am clean Hebrews 2 verse 1 I'll give you a brief moment to turn there. Hebrews chapter 2, we're going to read the first few verses. Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how will we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard him." We can't afford to forget that each transgression does receive a due reward. We need to give earnest heed to the things we've heard, lest we let them drift away because they're not moving.

And if they're drifting away, we're the ones that are drifting. Ezekiel 14, turning back to that very book we began with, or maybe you can just listen to what is there, I'm going to quote to you from verses 14 and 20. Ezekiel 14, verse 14 and 20, even if these 3 men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, that is the land, even if these 3 men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in the land, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness, says the Lord God. Even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness." When I say, deliver my soul, I see that the way Noah delivered his soul was by giving a warning.

The way that Daniel delivered his soul was by being steadfast under the most terrible pressure. The way that Job delivered his soul was by maintaining his integrity when everyone he knew encouraged him to go the wrong way. I want to deliver my soul, and I want you to deliver yours, and there's no way we can deliver the soul of anyone else. Ezekiel 33, If you turn to Ezekiel, you're close there. Ezekiel 33 in verse 5.

Speaking of a man, it says, "'He heard the sound of the trumpet, "'but he did not take warning. "'His blood will be upon himself. "'But he who takes warning will save his life. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, He will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. That was verse 5 and verse 9.

You can deliver your soul by warning the man who needs to hear it. Isaiah 49, verse 4. "'Then I said, I have labored in vain.'" This was the prophet Isaiah, feeling like his labor had been useless. He says, "'I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain, yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with my God." In other words, Isaiah realized that whether people listen or not, it is the right thing to give them the warning they need to hear, and God will reward those who faithfully give his warning message. If I would speak to you honestly from my heart, I feel like I've wasted so much time, And I want to make that time right.

I confess and in my closet I repent, but here I confess to you so you can repent. It is wrong to waste our time, wrong to waste our thoughts. If every moment were valued and rightly employed, there would be time for everything that needs to be done for ourselves and for the world. I'm going to read you 1 more verse, 1 more passage, and then we're going to talk about some specific things, specific sins that we should turn away from. Acts 13, verse 45.

"'But when the Jews saw the multitudes, "'they were filled with envy and contradicting "'and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. But then, when Paul and Barnabas grew bold, they said, it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold we turn to the Gentiles." When you give a man a warning, when you give a church a warning, when you tell them the truth, They should humble themselves and listen and consider whether it is true. They should study. They don't need to respond to you at the moment, but they need to consider and find out what is right.

But if they oppose that truth, if they speak evil, if they contradict what is right, They may not like it that you judge them, but according to Acts 13, they have judged themselves, and they judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life. Now, in the last few weeks, I've spoken about the holiness of the Sabbath. I find it a continual struggle to keep that day holy as it is. But it's a sin to disregard the Sabbath. It's a sin to be a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God.

I've written an article 1 time about the danger of board games and I limit myself now to only a few a year because I found myself addicted to them. I found myself not only being a lover of pleasure, but a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God, and that is wrong. Wrong to be a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God, and there are in fact board games that heaven condemns because they create a love of pleasure, they increase a love of pleasure, and they often lead to gaming and gambling. Repent if you're a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God if that is shown by what you look forward to, what you enjoy, how you spend your time, it is a sin to serve your belly more than you serve your Savior. When the Bible speaks about those whose belly is their God, It's speaking about a class.

Do you fit into that class? Does your life show that you enjoy more what you eat, that you think more about what you're going after? Does it show by the way that you live that you care more about your food than you do about your God. Repent if you buy candy and sweets when you know you should be buying nourishing food, or if you would be embarrassed to have Jesus inspect your grocery cart. Repent if you eat snacks or drink sodas or otherwise show little respect for your body temple.

If you know those things to be wrong, repent if you do them. It is idolatry to seek more familiarity with the news than with inspired truth. My wife and I have been reading the fifth volume of the Testimonies in our family devotions. We've read there about the things that take the nature of an idol. Maybe you know the things that have taken the place in your life of Bible study.

Repent if you find yourself peeved at the testimonies, if you are irritated or if you dislike reading them on account of their rebukes, if you're despising, as we read earlier, if you're despising the compassion of God. Repent if you read novels or even true-to-life love stories that you think have good morals. Get rid of them and ask forgiveness for how you have treated God's counsels with disrespect. Fill your mind with the best things. Repent if you show more love and concern for your pets than you do for your neighbors.

I'm going to read to you from the book Adventist Home on page 168 a bit of inspired common sense. I'm quoting, some who have not children of their own should educate themselves to love and care for the children of others. They may not be called to go to a foreign field of labor, but they may be called to work in the very locality in which they live, in place of giving so much attention to pets, lavishing affection upon animals that don't speak. Let them exercise their talent upon human beings who have a heaven to win and a hell to shun. Let them give their attention to little children whose characters they may mold and fashion after the divine similitude.

The work of saving the homeless and the fatherless is everyone's business. Repent if you avoid serious Bible study on account of an excuse, such as that you have too little time or too much to do, or you don't get anything out of your Bible study. Repent if you harbor grudges against family members or church members for things they have said or done. Repent if you have let your prayer life slide and have become irregular in the way that you speak to God, I mean that your devotion is slipping. Repent if you occasionally use pornography or visit adult websites or if you masturbate.

Repent if you are cherishing forbidden love, that is love for someone of your own gender. We're talking about romantic or sexual love. Repent if you have forbidden love, that is for a married person or for an unbeliever or for a person that is too young. I'm saying repent of things that I know are wrong, but if you don't know they're wrong, consider studying the testimonies yourselves. Discover what God has said, read his opinion, study your Bible.

Repent if you watch entertainment that uses bad language or includes violence or features romantic relationships that are implied to be sexual but outside of marriage. Repent if you watch anything you know would displease your angel. And I've come across families now that watch what they call the oldies. Old television, old movies that aren't so violent, don't use such language. But yet even there, the good guys kill the bad guys.

And even in those, the good guys get the ladies without marrying them. Do you realize that the devil has softened the morality of this nation in a wicked way? He started with things that should have shocked us, and now we find them harmless because they're not as shocking as what others listen to? If you haven't written a will, you have something to do. And if you have written a will, you should repent if in that will you are giving God's wealth to those who are His enemies merely because they are your children.

Repent if you indulge an indolent child, allowing him to waste his life and yours while avoiding useful work. Repent for that kind of indulgence. I told you I'm repenting of wasting precious time. I'm trying to use every moment now. Repent if you do the same, if you waste precious time so that a perfectly good day sees only a few hours worth of productivity.

What I'm saying is turn away from the sins and indulgences with which you have become comfortable. Take time in your closet or in the forest behind your home. Find a private place and make a change. What I'm trying to do is deliver my soul. I know people who need to hear these warnings, and I suppose there are many like them.

I want you to deliver yours. Let me review the things we've said today. There aren't many. We started out by reading verses, and those verses were clear. They said that the wicked man may change if he receives a fair warning.

It's not right that I assume that he will just continue on going their own way. He deserves a warning. He should get 1. And if I don't give it, not only will he continue on in his sin and be lost, but I'm held accountable. And that's a fearful idea.

I want to deliver my soul. I can deliver my soul by taking warning. I can deliver my soul by giving the kind of compassion that God gives. And if we find ourselves mocking that compassion because it irritates us, we should take warning that way. I know a man right now who has left our local church plant in Arkadelphia because he was irritated by the things that he found in the testimonies, concluding that those are not inspired.

Is there any gospel or good news in this message? There is. It wouldn't be compassion to give warnings if there wasn't hope in the warnings. It's God's mercies that fail not that are new enough every morning to warn us of our danger. And if God did not love us he would not interfere with the sins in our life.

So turn away from these things and if you know someone who has sin in their life Have the compassion of God and give them the warning they need. Find the way to do it. Galatians 6 verse 1 gives you ideas about how to go about it. It isn't so that just confronting them in their face and saying to them angrily that they're in danger of hell is getting yourself off the hook. No, if you and I want to get ourselves off the hook, we're going to have to find a way to do it right.

But let's do it. Let's cry aloud, let's spare not. Let it not be said of us that we let people go to ruin because we did not care to try to make it plain to them where they were in danger. Again, I'm trying to deliver my soul and I want you to deliver yours. Amen.

Let's bow our heads for a prayer. No, let's kneel. Our Father in heaven, I ask for those who are hearing this, those who maybe cannot kneel because they're driving or doing something else, that you would accept humility in our heart, that you would forgive us for how we've ignored your counsel or despised it, and teach us how to deliver our souls and how to speak plainly enough that people will see their danger. I thank you for your spirit, and I ask that that spirit would drive every reasonable warning home to those who need to hear it. I ask for these gifts in the name of Jesus.

Amen. If you would like to know more about Audioverse, or if you

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Finding, Knowing and Being Yourself

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Come Let Us Reason Regarding Justice and Pain

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Deliver My Soul

25m

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