"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "The Watchman"

"But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand."

(Ezekiel 33:6)

"The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand,

and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of

the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou

sawest are the seven churches."

(Revelation 1:20)

"Is my Pastor an angel?" you ask. You better believe he is! The Holy Bible says that he is; the "angels" of the seven churches are the "Pastors" of the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. He is the most valuable person in your life! He watches for your soul! He stands in the gap between us and God; He hatches us, patches us, and dispatches us! Who do we call when we get that terrible diagnosis; who do we run to when we need help reaching Almighty God in a big way? He is alert, armed in Word and Spirit, and He is ever and continually, faithfully standing upon the wall, guarding our very souls, protecting us from the wolves, praying for us, giving an account for us, battling for us, laying hands on us, covering us, protecting us, going before us, rising in the early morning hours to intercede for us, and he is "The Watchman."

Moses on the mountain

"For the Lord does nothing without revealing his secret

to his servants the prophets."

(Amos 3:7)

Mighty Moses, the prophet, the Watchman of Israel, had quite a flock to watch over. So do our Godly, anointed, called and chosen Pastors, as they watch for our souls. Why do we need a watchman? "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12) What heavenly places? There are three heavens: the clouds and sky we readily see are the first heaven; above that is the second heaven which is satan's domain; and the throne room of God is the third heaven. This is where the term "pray through" comes from. We, in earth, must "pray through" the second heaven or the devil's territory, to get to God.

Praying is WAR; it's not "lay me down to sleep" two- minute, moments of storybook rituals; it is a battle, and sometimes it takes many hours on the knees in prayer, seeking, and searching the Word, for us to have the feeling that we have actually "broken through" that second heaven. Our Watchman, our Pastor, is adept at reaching God, because he spends many hours a day praying for his flock, this fallen world, and the kingdoms of this world. If you do not have a Pastor who does this, FIND ONE ... And find one who preaches exactly what the Apostles Paul and Peter preached in the Book of Acts. Time is short before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, before the Rapture of the Church, before the terrible Tribulation period ... it is essential that we, all of us, have a Watchman!

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the

spirits to see whether they are from God, for

many false prophets have gone out into the world."

(I John 4:1)

You say, "I just don't believe anybody would follow a false prophet." No? What about the hundreds years ago who followed Jim Jones and they all committed suicide, men, women and children, from his false-teaching, lies, beguiling words, and hellish commands so many years ago? How do we "test the spirits?" We first must be filled with the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord, with the evidence of speaking in tongues as His Spirit gives us the utterance. We, then, can have the gift of "discerning of spirits" to determine the source of a spiritual manifestation: ie whether it is of God (Acts 10:30-35); whether it is of the devil (Acts 16: 16-18); of man (Acts 18:18-23); or of the world. This is not reading the mind, some kind of psychic ability, or a form of criticism. This is an anointing in the Spirit of Almighty God. Entire so-called religions have been established based on an "angelic visitation." Demonic angels exist; they were cast out of heaven with satan, and they go about deceiving. Whose voice do you hear? Is that word from the Lord? We must have wisdom to know what is demonic and what is truly of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Testing the Spirit:

What does the person do? In Matthew 7:15-20

Jesus explained that false prophets are known

by their fruit, their actions.

Does the person exalt the Lord Jesus Christ as the

Lord and Savior? I Corinthians 12:3

What does the person say? Do their words line up

with the truth of God's Word? I John 4:1-3

The Spirit, or Holy Ghost gives us the ability to discern other spirits, and the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit when something is, or is not, of God. Sometimes this takes much prayer and fasting; other times, it is immediate. We know that we know. These are things obtained through growth in the Lord, and disciplined searching and seeking. God will never say anything other than what is already in His Word. And, as my very wise Pastor has said many times, "If someone is pulling fire out of heaven (miracles, signs, and wonders); you better find out his doctrine." Doctrine is EVERYT'HING; we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:20)

"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they

are keeping watch over your souls, as those who

will have to give an account. Let them do this

with joy and not with groaning, for that would

be of no advantage to you."

(Hebrews 13:17)

Oh, how thankful we should be for the Watchman of our souls, the Pastor who brings us salvation, lays hands on us to be filled with the Holy Ghost, who buries us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in baptism, who marries us, dedicates our babies, buries us with words of "thou good and faithful servant," who fights the wolves from his flock, who keeps us from drowning in waters too swift and too deep ... but goes upstream and dams it up for "still" waters, who checks us daily for "burrs" in our thick wool, who fills the snake holes with oil and then anoints us with oil so that when the snake smells the oil, it flees ... Ah, our Shepherd in earth, our Pastor, our Watchman ... Night and day, he's on the wall ...

"For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom

knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of

preaching to save them that believe."

(I Corinthians 1:21)

Barnes notes' explains it most perfectly, "By the foolishness of preaching - Not by 'foolish preaching,' but by the preaching of the cross, which was regarded as foolish and absurd by the people of the world. The plan is wise, but it has been esteemed by the mass of people, and was particularly so esteemed by the Greek philosophers, to be egregiously foolish and ridiculous."

Well said, Brother Barnes! That so-called "foolishness" kept "me" from suicide and a torrential burning hell. So, I say, PREACH IT, Watchman, PREACH IT Pastor, PREACH IT!

We are admonished in the Book of Luke 21:36, "But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." Who keeps us awake? Who blows the trumpet in Zion? Who walks the wall in the weary moonlight hours? Who warns, exhorts, corrects, prophesies, and preaches? Who will say, "It is time; He is even at the door?" Who will Awaken the world? Who will keep us alert to the times? Who will speak prophetically at the appropriate season? ... "The Watchman."