"BE TROUBLED, YE CARELESS ONES"
A. "BE TROUBLED, YE CARELESS ONES"
- The context will show that this warning is given to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea:
- Dire predictions concerning the city and the land in general are made by the Lord:
- This passage, however, may be appropriately applied to all who are in a state of indifference about their soul:
B. LET US CONSIDER THE IMPLICATION OF OUR TEXT
- To Whom it Applies:
- "Ye careless ones"
- To be careless signifies inattention, indifference, unconcern, heedlessness.
- Who are the careless?
- Those who live as without God in the world -
EXAMPLES -
- Esau - Gen. 25:30-34. We have no Bible record showing that he believed in God!
- Pharaoh - Ex. 5:2
- Rabshakeh the Assyrian - 2 Ki. 18:29-34
- They who neglect communion or fellowship with the Lord - Jer. 10:25; Hos. 7:7
- All who make an outward profession, yet deny the Lord in their daily life - 2 Tim. 3:1-9
- They who neglect their spiritual nature - Rev. 3:14-17
- Those who live as without God in the world -
EXAMPLES -
- Let us note the indicated symptoms of the careless:
- They are inattentive -
EXAMPLES -
- The relatives of Lot - Gen. 19:14
- The special guests - Luke 14:17-20
- The indifferent - Luke 17:26-29; Matt. 24:36-39
- The unconcerned - Luke 12:16-20; 21:34-38; 1 Thess. 5:1-9
- The heedless ones - Heb. 3:7-9; 4:1-9; Acts 24:25
- They are inattentive -
EXAMPLES -
C. WHY THE HEEDLESS ONES OUGHT TO BE CONCERNED
- God is exceedingly displeased with their carelessness:
- Said He to the antediluvians, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man" - Gen. 6:3
- "For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them" - 1 Thess. 5:3
- God has a time limit for sinners and saints:
- For sinners - 2 Cor. 6:1-3; Heb. 3:7-9
- When their cup of iniquity is full, they will drink
out of it -
EXAMPLES -
- Belshazzar and his lords - Dan. 5:1-18
- Herod - Acts 12:23
- Ananias and his wife Sapphira - Acts 5:1-14
- All the nations - Isa. 51:17; Jer. 25:31
- Professed Christians -- Our Lord's admonition, "Watch and pray" - Matt. 24:42-44
- He is against the careless preachers - Matt. 24:48- 51
- Laodiceans take notice - Rev. 3:14-17
- Why the careless ought to be deeply concerned:
- There is an accounting taking place of all we do, say, or think - 2 Cor. 5:10
- Our Lord warns us against that time - Matt. 12:36, 37
- We are well advised to discontinue to be careless, or take the consequences of our carelessness.