Sermons 2026

Ezekiel 33:7-9 

“Watchman’s Warning”
 

Outline
 

1.    Role of Watchman
2.    Watchman today
3.    Watchman point us to JC

Sermon
 

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
 

My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation today is the Old Testament Lesson of Ezekiel chapter thirty-three verses seven through nine.

Beloved Lambs, I pray that you are well today. Do you know what I have here? I have a telescope. It is used to see things really far away like other planets, stars, and solar systems. You can even use it here to see far away things up close. A watchman might use it from our text for today. It was their job to see bad guys approaching and sound the warning for the people. How does God warn us today? How can we listen to His voice? Ponder 

those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    Role of Watchman
 

“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman ”The word of the Lord comes to the Prophet Ezekiel. The Lord states that He has made Ezekiel a watchman. Watchman is an occupation that we are not super familiar with today. In Ezekiel’s day, it was required to have a person whose job it was to stand on the walls of the city, day or night. It was their job to watch. If they saw a person approaching, they were to call out to the city and let them know who was coming. If it was the King or Queen, or some other important person, then the city would be ready to greet them in a celebration. If it was an enemy that was coming to kill, maim, rape, and destroy the city, the people would be warned in time to flee to safety and be prepared to defend the city. If the people ignored the warning, their blood was upon their own heads rather than the watchman. Yet, if the watchman kept silent, and did not warn the people, then the people’s blood was on their head.

If we were to put it in modern terms today, we could compare it to red light cameras. It is their job to warn you when you break the law and run a red light. We could also compare it to the driver’s assistance feature of your car. That is a feature that many cars have today. Its job is to warn you when you are going over the line, either about to go into oncoming traffic or the rumble strip on the side of the road or the guardrail. If you ignore the warning, it is your own fault for what happens after.

2.    Watchman today

Do we still have watchman today? Yes. They do not usually stand on a wall to warn about physical enemies but to watch and warn about matters just as serious. The watchman that we have today are those placed in positions of authority over us for our good and wellbeing. Parents over children. Government over its citizens, Teachers over their students, Pastors over their flocks. Why are they put in places of authority? To watch. Because they can see things that those under their charge cannot. They have the responsibility so they can warn of the dangers before they happen. Parents, you know from experience how life works. You educate your children that they might be raised in the faith, learn not only the ways of God but also how to be good citizens. Government’s job is to watch, sometimes using flock cameras perhaps, watch for the common good, that evildoers be kept at bay and good order prevail. Teachers watch over their students so that they learn rightly and absorb the information correctly. Pastors watch over their flocks using the word of God to instruct, warn, admonish, and support, so that faith may increase, strengthen, and the devil be kept at bay.

This last example is the most important because it deals with the salvation of souls. God appoints Ezekiel as a spiritual watchman over Israel, making him responsible to warn the wicked and the righteous alike. Those who hear remain responsible before God to turn from sin and obey His word. “As a watchman, Ezekiel could more easily focus the people’s attention on their relationship with God. Their real enemy was no longer Babylon or Egypt or anyone else. Their real enemy was sin. The inhabitants had only themselves to blame for what had happened to Jerusalem. When Ezekiel here speaks about dying, he’s referring to being separated from God.  “

It is the Pastor’s job to be a watchman. They warn of the sin that so grievously separates us from God. Our sinful nature does not like to hear that we are sinners. We do not want to listen to the guardians that God has placed over us. We want to be the one with authority. We think that we know better, we can be the ones with power, using it for our good. We think that we are not really that bad, that we do not have to change much. We think that we can ignore the warning of the watchman. We do so to our own harm and folly, having no one to blame but ourselves for the destruction that comes upon us. Destruction because our hearts are corrupted, our thoughts impure, our hands stained with shed blood. Just because we do not enjoy hearing that we have done wrong, it does not take away from the fact that we need to hear it. If we do not hear it, then we become blind to our sin, complacent with it, and our blood is upon our own heads. 
 

3.    Watchman point us to JC
 

We need to hear the voice of the watchmen that the Lord sends to us, because it is their job, not to merely proclaim how much of a sinner you are, but also to point to the one who saves from sin. Ezekiel warned the wicked what they were doing, because the Lord desired that they turn from their evil ways and live. 

The Lord desires you to know His grace and mercy for you. There is salvation, there is hope, found outside of your own actions and in the actions of Jesus Christ. Jesus bore your sins in His holy flesh upon this earth. He dies your death. He raises again from the dead so that you, a poor miserable sinner, could live forever with a holy just and righteous God.

Listen to the voice of the watchmen that God still provides for you. Do not ignore their call, but listen so that you may turn from your sinful ways, your faith would be strengthened, and your souls saved.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.