Blood on our Hands

Introduction

Ezekiel 33:3 - "Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; ... When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man ... you have delivered your life" Ezekiel 33:7-9, NASB).

The very title of this message contains a terribly frightening prospect for a minister of the gospel: "Blood on Our Hands." It contains the kind of inference from which, if we followed our instinct, we would tuck our tails and run: "Blood on Our Hands." Serious thought of the possibility of such a reality is almost enough to overwhelm even the strongest of us: "Blood on Our Hands."

Out of the imagery of the Old Testament comes the idea for the message. All major cities in the Old Testament world had a watchman stationed atop a tall tower on the wall, where maximum range of visibility would be his. If an enemy army approached the city, the watchman's duty was to warn the city of an impending attack. If the watchman failed in his duty of warning, and the city was overrun and its citizenry massacred, the watchman would be held responsible. The blood of those who had perished would be on his hands. With this symbolism in mind, God said to the prophet Ezekiel: "Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; ... When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man ... you have delivered your life" Ezekiel 33:7-9 (NASB). 

I. The Relevance Of Blood On Our Hands

Because of the location of the text and the seriousness of its inference, the tendency today is to lay the issue of blood on our hands on a man-made shelf of Old Testament irrelevancy. With the attitude of "what happened before Christ came does not pertain to us," much of contemporary Christianity would reject this principle as outmoded-a thing of the past. This may be a legitimate claim except for the fact that the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit contends that the principle of bloodguilt for

negligence is still binding in this Christian age. When he left the city of Ephesus, he boldly stated, "I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:26-27, KJV). The Apostle might have left the city of Ephesus with blood on his hands. But rather, "I am not guilty of blood in Ephesus," he cries. "My hands are clean." According to the New Testament, a failure to discharge a God-given responsibility to speak out means the blood of eternal souls is on our hands. The bloodguilt principle found in the Old Testament is repeated in the New Testament. Its recurrence enforces its ratification in your life and mine.

II. The Reality Of Blood On Our Hands

Relevance suggests reality, and there is no more frightening reality in the life of any Christian than the reality of being held responsible for the souls of others. That we, by our negligence, can be guilty of a kind of spiritual homicide-that our hands can be stained with blood because of indifference toward those who are lost-what an awesome truth! The reality of blood on our hands rebukes anything short of total commitment to the task of sharing the exciting news of Jesus. The reality of bloodguilt is a reproof to anything short of a life controlled by the Holy Spirit, being in the right place at the right time, playing a part in God's redemptive activity. The reality of bloodguilt is a censure on careless living, sin-obstructed testimonies, and Spirit-grieving habits. It is a constant rebuttal to the kind of cowering fear that causes Christians to shut up when they ought to speak up.

But the heart of this message has to do with how the blood may be removed.

III. The Removal Of Blood On Our Hands

A. Cultivation Of Converts Into Witnesses

Blood on our hands is a frightening reality. But the blood can be removed. Every preacher of the gospel should seriously consider how. First, blood can be removed by the cultivation of converts into witnesses. A slighting of any part of the plan of our Lord can involve us in the bloodguilt of others. There is a part of His plan that generally has suffered sad neglect. This neglected part of His plan is the cultivation of converts into personal witnesses for Christ.

In the fourth chapter of Ephesians, the apostle Paul states clearly that the primary task of the pastor is to mature Christians for the work of the ministry, for the building up of Christ's body. Pastors are to train their people in the work of soul-winning. Jesus said we are not only to make disciples, but we are also to train those who become disciples to make disciples (Matthew 28:20). Most of us have regarded the training aspect of the Matthew commission as optional. But the question pastors face is not only, "How many people have I won?" It is also, "How many people have I trained to win others?" It is a indictment against our negligence of the commission of our Lord that only a small percentage of pastors are employing any effective method of training personal witnesses. Thank God if you are actively engaged in winning the lost. But I remind you that if we do not train converts to reach the lost, we are responsible for those who may have been reached through our multiplied ministry.

B. Consistent Concern For Lost People

Second, blood can be removed by consistent concern for lost people. I choose the word "consistent" for a particular reason. Most of us are noticeably inconsistent in our concern. Sometimes we are on fire; other times, we are smoking embers. But one mistake in the area of concern is that many times we let our level of concern determine whether or not we will witness. If we feel concerned, we share with others. If we don't feel a concern, we fail to share. But our efforts in reaching the lost must not be regulated by our feeling of concern. Rather, our efforts are to regulated by our Lord's feeling of concern for the lost. He is always concerned about them. It is the burden of His heart that should drive us to reach lost people. Not our compassion for sinners but His compassion for sinners must be our motivating factor in witnessing for Him. For this reason, not a love for souls but a love for Christ is the basic condition of effective personal evangelism. If we love Him, His interest will be our consuming interest, and His basic interests toward those who are lost is a redemptive interest.

C. Constant Commitment To Our Task

Third, blood can be removed by a constant commitment to our task. Have you ever considered what failure in consistent witnessing can mean? One missed opportunity can mean one more Christless life and one more Christless grave, which could have been otherwise. On the other hand, consistency in remaining available as a witness delivers us from bloodguilt.

I am far from being what I ought to be as a witness for our Lord. Late one evening, I was exhausted from a teaching session of three hours. I had told the Lord earlier in the day that I was available to Him if He wanted to use me to touch someone's life. It was after midnight when, on an elevator, I ran into Tony. My desire was to get to my room as quickly as possible and get to bed. But the Lord reminded me of my commitment to Him to be available. On the elevator, I sensed the Lord saying to me, "My child, did you really mean it when you told me your were at my disposal? Are you available to me for this situation?" I responded, "Lord, I am tired. It's almost one o'clock in the morning, and I want to go to bed. And to be honest, Lord, I couldn't care less. But, grudgingly, I make myself available to you."

Tony was reading a newspaper. Before I stepped off the elevator, I took a Billy Graham tract out of my pocket and said to Tony as I stepped off the elevator, Excuse me, sir, but here is some good news you won't read in today's newspaper." I shoved the pamphlet into his hand. He took it, turned it over and saw the name Billy Graham. I didn't know, but the Holy Spirit knew that Tony Maringo, born in Turkey, fluent in eleven languages, worker in the United Nations with Dag Hammershold, had once attended a Billy Graham crusade. At that crusade, God had spoken to his heart about becoming a Christina. He left that crusade service lost, but hungry to know more. When he saw Mr. Graham's name on that pamphlet, the hunger in his heart was revived, and in the early morning, on the fourth floor of that hotel, Tony invited Christ into his heart. I received a phone call from a pastor on Long Island shortly after that, telling me that Tony had come forward in a revival service in his church, confessing Christ as his Savior.

Being consistent in our availability and witness! This is the way to keep blood off of our hands.