Blow the trumpet and warn the people.

              Ezekiel was once asked to speak to the house of Israel .The word of God came to him saying. Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, 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: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. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the 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 thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O 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 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.

We see here that prophet Ezekiel was given the duty of watchman. If he is not fulfilling what is to be done as a watchman his blood shall be upon his own head. Such a difficult task did God gave his prophet because the life of a person was in his hand. We see the duty of a watchman to be as follow. First of all a watchman has to be careful about the danger that is coming.  He has to watch and remain alert. We are also being set as watchman by God. We need to be watchful and to have a prayerful life.

 Luke 21:36

 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man

Luke 12:40

Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Mark 13:33

 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Matthew 24:44

 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
We are living in the end times and we do not know when would Christ come. So we should be very careful about it and live our life according to it.
 Secondly the watchman has to warn the people of the coming danger. When he is aware that a danger is coming he should not keep it as secret .it should not be a thing that is needed to be kept in silence. It should be a thing which is need to be proclaimed.In another word it should be a thing like blowing the trumpet. Thus by blowing the trumpet people would be warned about the coming hour of danger .In the similar way we need to make aware about the second coming of Jesus. We should not be ashamed about speaking about Jesus to our friends, family members, classmates , etc

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Mark 8:38

 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

2 Timothy 1:8

 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

  We have to warn them about the second coming of Jesus Christ and the things that is going to happen in this world the danger that is going to befall the earth. The gospel message has to go to ends of the earth. We need to BLOW THE TRUMPET AND WARN THE PEOPLE about the danger that is coming to the world. The only hope for the people is the gospel which warn the people about the coming danger. Thus we need to blow the trumpet that is proclaim the gospel and warn the people.

A message to the whole world

     Once in facebook on my timeline one of my friends from college posted a message on it. The message was that in my college there was an urgent work that needs to be done. Whether I was available was the question she asked. And at the end of the message she wrote ‘please do replay’. I began to think what I need to replay. I was then searching for an audio or a video along with that message but could not find one. I was worried, since I could not find the audio or video she might have posted. Then my eyes fell on the word ‘replay’. I thought to remove the letter ‘a’ from the word ‘replay’ and it became ‘reply’. Then I realized she did not wanted to write ‘please do replay’ but to write ‘please do reply’. She however added  the single small letter ‘a’ which made me confuse. I realized that how a addition of a small letter ‘a’ can change the whole meaning of the sentence.

  My attention went to Galatians 5:9 “ a little yeast works through a whole batch of dough”. This proverb is famous among the Jews. We many a time thinks that more is needed but this thinking is not true. Many a time small things or little things make lots of differences. That’s why Jesus in Luke 16:10 says "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much”. Thus we need to be careful about little things.

  It should be noted that a message can be converted into a different message with the removal of a single small letter. Consider the sentence “we are proud of our tea” but the actual sentence was “we are proud of our team”. Thus by removing the single small letter ‘m’ the whole meaning of the sentence changes .Thus we need to add those single small letter which needed to be added and remove those single small letter which needed to removed so that the message the sentence does not change.

  We need to know this, we Christians are not only the light of the world or Salt of the world but also a message to the world. When we live in this world our life and action are constantly watched by the world. What kind of message we provide to the world would be observed by the world. Moreover God will observe what message we would provide to the world. We have seen how by adding or removing a single small letter can change the meaning of the whole sentence. Similarly we need to see in our life our actions are not creating a wrong message.

The word of God says in Ephesians 5:3-4 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

1 Corinthians 6:18

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Thus we need to get out of this wicked things in our life even though some of them seem to be a small things. because it would change the whole meaning of the message of our life. We are to be a message of cross to the world. The world should see us crucified  with Jesus. And they should see that we no longer live but Christ live in us. We need to add certain things in our life so has to share the perfect message to the world.

2 Peter 1:5-8

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:12

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Thus we can become a good message of the world by removing things in our life which the word of God say to remove and adding in our life things which the word of God to add.

An army from dry bones

         The people of Israel had lost their land. They were scattered to different part of the world. In order to show them that they would come to their land, prophet Ezekiel was shown a vision. In that vision the hand of the LORD came upon him and brought him out in the spirit of the LORD and set him down in the mist of the valley. The valley was completely filled with bones which were dry. This bones were scattered all over the valley  just as people of Israel were scattered all over the world. The bones were completely dry this means that the situation was for a long time i.e they have been dead for a long time. There was no blood or flesh on the bones. There was no hope that this bones would come to life. ,because this bones completely dry .LORD ask Ezekiel son of man, will this bones live? Though there was no hope that the bones would live instead of saying no he said “ oh LORD God ,you know?”He was sure that God knows whether a thing would come to life or not, In another word he believed in a God Who was omniscient. Not only that ,He believed in a God who can provide life  to the  things which have no life. He believed in a God who turn a stick into a snake .He believed in a God who makes impossible things into possible ,thus he believed in a God Who is omnipotent.

       God said to Ezekiel to prophecy to these dry bones and say to them “ O dry bones hear the word of the LORD’” God has made his prophet to prophecy to the dry bones .God was not asking his prophet to prophecy to living human being but to dead human being which cannot hear and have turn to dry bones. But prophecy is the gift of God .Prophecy is done with the help of Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of God which fulfill the thing which are  said in prophecy.

Zechariah 4:6-7

      Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts. What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"'Thus the spirit of God is responsible for the fulfillment of the prophecy.

      He prophesied and said "Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. 'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'"So he prophesied as he was commanded; and as he prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. The noise was because of the bones which were coming together .This bones were scattered but since they were coming together they made noise .The dry bones were filled with sinews and flesh came upon it they were filled with skin. But their was no breath in them.

Then LORD said to him, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life."'" So he prophesied as LORD commanded him, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Thus the prophet was asked to prophecy to the breath and the breath obeyed his command .The breath was asked to breathe on the slain In another word this were once an army who were slain. This army was once exceedingly great army which turn into dry bones in the valley after being slain.

We read in Ezekiel 37:11-14.

Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.' "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. "Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. "I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it," declares the LORD.'"

We see this prophecy is coming to fulfillment as people of Israel is entering their land. Spiritual lesson can be derived from this vision. We are aware of people who once in their life had been a prayer warrior. But later in life they have turn from the truth and were slain and fell into worldly pleasure. They were slain by the wicked one. Their condition is similar to the dry bones. There is no hope that they would become spiritually alive. But Jesus said “what is impossible for man is possible for God”.

We read in Jeremiah 32:17

"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.

Isaiah 59:1
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

Jeremiah 32:27
"I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

Thus there is hope even when the condition is like that of a dry bones. We need to pray for such people who are lost .God is able to listen to our prayer. God is able to sent His spirit and is able to make the dry bones come alive to make an army. Though the army was slain he is able to make them come alive.It does not matter how much time a person is spiritually dead. Though he might have become a dry bone still God is in control. Our God who raised Lazarus from dead is still alive and he is still the God of miracles Who is able to make dead army into live army.

Choosing the foolish things of the world

In this modern world we are well aware of the word called recycle .It is the process by which the waste material are converted into something which is useful .Thus the things we consider as waste does not remain a waste  anymore but turn to something which is useful .Many  things such as plastics ,metals ,papers ,textiles and electronics don’t remain in the garbage but is converted into a new product and thus turn to something which is useful .God who lives on high also use people who are considered by other as a waste. Not only that, God uses People who are weak and are considered as fools by others.

We read in 1 Samuel 17 how a small boy called David is facing a big giant called Goliath. We see here a small boy called David is having a sling in his hand and five smooth stones in his shepherd bag .On the other hand there is this giant And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass .And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders .And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him .Here was a shepherd who was only a youth and on the other hand here is a man of war from his youth .Both of them challenge each other and come to fight each other. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods .And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field .Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied .This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands” David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled .Thus David won the battle which he had with Goliath .
Now suppose David was a huge giant then Goliath and he is wearing the whole armor and fighting with the Philistine and he win over him what would the people say?The people would say that David with his own might had won over the philistine .But because he was a small boy and because he was not wearing the armor people realized that it was not David but God who was with David had allowed him to kill the philistine .Thus this is the reason why God uses a weak person because in doing so people realize that God is using that person without Him it would be impossible for the weak person to do the act .We read in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29.
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.

We see, in the life of Abraham the father of many nations and friend of God .When he was called at that time he was very old. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect .And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying ,As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee .And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee .God made this promise to Abraham when he and his wife Sarah had become old .Sarah had passed the age of bearing children .But God who promised this thing was faithful and he gave him Isaac at his old age .Thus God made Abraham into a father of many nation with the help of a weak womb .Without God this would have been impossible. Now people would say that Abraham had become a father of many nation with the help of God. We read in 1 Corinthians 1:25.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Does God have foolishness ?Does God have weakness ?If we see any big company people get job if they are talented .They would choose people who are more wise and people who are more strong .This is how wiser human being behave .But in case of God ,He chooses the foolish person or a weak person .This is what we can say is the one of the  foolishness of God .But this foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom because by using the foolish person he would shame the wise person .Message of gospel which God have sent look foolishness to the wise people of the world but it is easily accepted by a foolish person of the world .In the end it would be foolish person who would be saved .THE WORLD NEED POWERFUL PERSON TO DISPLAY THEIR POWER BUT GOD NEED WEAKER PERSON TO DISPLAY HIS POWER .If you consider yourselves to be a weak person or person who is less talented then you are the right person God want to show His glory .We read in 1 Corinthians 1:26

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

When Moses was called he said "Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?"

When Isaiah was called he said “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

When Jeremiah the prophet was called he said "Alas, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am too young."

When Solomon was called he said "Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. "Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted”.

When Gideon was called he said "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

Thus we see a great number of bible character who considered themselves weak where used by God .So in order to be used by God you need to submit that you are weak  and humble yourself before God as it is written in James 4:10

 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

And again in 1 peter 5:6

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.