The passage I am going to draw your attention to is without question one of the most terrible warnings in the Bible. I am convinced every time I dare face it in a serious way. It forces upon me a picture of myself standing before the judgment seat of Christ with the blood of multitudes dripping from my hands. It charges home upon me the awful sin of omission, and I cannot escape. Let us examine it now.
“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul” (Ezekiel3: 17-21).
It is the fearful sin of omission, the sin of withholding the glad tidings. So important does God consider it that twice He gives the same warning, for it is found again in the thirty-third chapter of the same book. It lays upon me the obligation of telling others. And to fail in my duty is to put my own life in peril.
Naturally we think first of the heathen lands where darkness reigns, and where Christ has never been preached. And well we may. Has not God commanded us? Did He not bid us go and take the Gospel to all the world? And have we any excuse? And yet nineteen hundred years have passed and still the larger portion of the world has never yetheard the message.
There are the closed lands and the far away lands where no Christian has ever set foot. Such great cities as Mecca and Medina in Arabia; Herat, Cubul, and Khandahar in Afghanistan; Thassa in Tibet and Bokhara have never yet seen the face of a preacher of the Gospel, for these cities are officially closed. They still wait untouched, unreached.
But let us come closer home. What about the souls in our own land? How tragically many there are who, in spite of all our religious work, have never yet heard the Gospel!
But let us come still nearer home. There is the city, town, or village in which we live. Can we point to any tangible effort that we have put forth for its evangelization? Dare we stand before God and say we have done what we could to warn the people? For if not, mark you, their blood is upon us.
Oh, yes, you say, we have prayed, and wherever we have gone men and women have felt the influence of our silent Christian testimony. Very frequently we have spoken to them of Christ. Yes, and is that all?
No, we have built a great church, a large tabernacle, into which we have invited them to come and hear the Gospel. And many, very many, have accepted the invitation. Well, and is that all? Is that all? Why, what do you mean? What more do you expect?
My friend, what about the multitudes that have never come? And what about the foreigners, the Jews and Chinese, the Fin landers and Poles, the strangers within our gates? And what about the Roman Catholics and all those who believe in salvation by works? Yes, and what of the rich who would never deign to darken our door, and the poor who feel we do not want them? What of the prostitutes who walk our streets, and the frequenters of questionable houses? Yes, and the inmates of our jails and prisons, our reformatories and hospitals? In a word – what about the multitudes who will never come to us, whom we can never hope to meet, but who are perishing because they have never heard the warning?
Did God ever tell us to build churches and then expect sinners to come to them? Never! His Word is not “Come,” but “Go.” Again and again He emphasizes it. “Go out” is His order; “Go ye,” His command. And if we don’t, if we fail, if we disobey- ” … his blood will I require at thine hand” (Ezekiel 13:18).
Responsible we surely are.”… this day is a day of good tidings …”, cried the lepers of Samaria, “… and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell …” (2 Kings 7:9). Could they keep it to themselves? Of course not, and neither can we if we are to be clear of the blood of all men.
Think of such cities as Chicago and New York. How many, do you suppose, in spite of all the missions and churches, in spite of the thousands of Christian people, preachers, and evangelists, have ever heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ? ” .. Go ye … and preach the gospel…” (Mark 16:15).