“He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him” (Ezekiel 33.5.)
Introduction. In all worldly things men are always awake enough to understand their own interests. In religion, men prefer to believe in ideas than to think that Jesus has spoken personally about them. We need to be self-interested in the matter of salvation. I ask for God’s help to speak personally. Never mind if what I say seems to apply to your neighbor. I am speaking to you.
(1) The Warning was all that could be Desired. If an army ignores the warning of its own guards, and then is attacked, their blood must rest on their own heads. So it is with you. If you die under the sound of the gospel, and have turned a deaf ear to it, your damnation must be an unpitied one. Among many of you, I have seen the tear guttering the cheek, and the soul moved, but you are not an inch closer to heaven. The man who heard the trumpet understood that the enemy was at hand. It is the same with you. I always use the homely phrase if I can. When I step out of the pulpit, I know at least, that I was perfectly understood. My hands are clean of your blood. What is more startling than a trumpet sound? It will even wake the sleepers on the resurrection morning. Yes, and you have had a startling ministry. Some of you have heard preachers preach hell as if they’d actually been there. They spoke the secrets of your heart. And I made you uneasy about your pleasure parties. And what if you have heard the trumpet blast frequently?—not only in sermons, but in deaths and sicknesses, etc. Some of you have heard a hundred sermons in a year! Just one warning neglected, and the guilt will be on your own head. I am warning you in time. Will you not be anxiously concerned now, before the wrath comes?
(2) The Warning is Neglected without Excuse. You will not be excused because you thought there was no need to pay attention to the warning. You have been told to prepare for the judgment, that only through Christ can sinners be saved. Nor will you be excused for not liking the Gospel or certain teachings. That is like wanting a silver trumpet instead of one made of brass. Or maybe you did not like the way the trumpet was blown. If a man calls, “Fire! Fire!,” we do not care what note he takes, or how harsh his voice is. Maybe you did not like the man who blew the trumpet. This is like refusing the rescue rope just because you do not like the sailor that threw it to you. Maybe you think the trumpet sound is for everybody but yourself. But what says the Word to you? Are you too busy, maybe? Does a sick man not make time to see a physician? Maybe you need more time for pleasures, and then you’ll take religion. Would a promise of a Wednesday’s repentance save you from a Tuesday damnation? All excuses are idle.
(3) The Warning Neglected is Inexcusable and Terrible. “His blood shall be on his own head.” He shall perish. The wrath to come is as inexpressible as the glory that shall be revealed. No preacher was ever so loving as Christ, but no man ever spoke so horribly about hell. We have heard of exquisite torments, but we have never dreamt of any like this! Go to the asylums and sick beds and see the suffering a person is capable of enduring. Judgment is not a matter of perhaps or chance. And once lost, always lost. Prepared or not, death’s appointment will not delay.
Selection from Conclusion. “Now Satan and the evil heart together are saying, ‘Reject the message; laugh it off; forget it: take a ticket for the theater to-morrow: do not let this man alarm us: it is his very profession to talk to us like this…let us spend the rest of this day in merriment.’…There are some of you that will this hour decide to damn yourselves.”
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