What Is the Role of the Watchman?

We don't normally title split sermons, but this one has a little bit of a title here. What does it mean to be a watchman? I want to begin just by sharing with you a trip that we had just a few weeks ago when Mr. Weber and Mr. Rhodes, myself, did a World Use and Prophecy seminar down in Garden Grove, California for the congregation down there.

We had a chance to spend an extra day or two afterwards. On Sunday, Mr. Weber took us down to San Diego to a spot there that overlooks the great San Diego Harbor called Point Loma. Those of you that have been in the area in Southern California over the years may recognize this lighthouse that stands there. It's a decommissioned lighthouse. It's part of a state park now. This lighthouse went into service over San Diego Harbor and that part of the California coast in the 1850s. For roughly 40 years, it served as a beacon for ships as a lighthouse does. As it sends out its light, the faithful lighthouse keeper lives there and works essentially 24-7 to keep the light going.

In those days, it was all coal fired and the lights shine so that the reflection and all going out for the ships was as bright as it could possibly be. This was the Point Loma's lighthouse. It's more or less a museum today. What happened in the late 1800s and we actually went into commission, I think, in about 1894-95, they had to build a new lighthouse.

The new lighthouse, which again overlooks the San Diego Harbor, which is one of the great harbors of the world here, with ships coming in and going. Of course, in those days, that was the only way that they had to come in. One of the problems that this lighthouse had was that it was really too high there on the coast and the problems that it ran into very often was fog and low clouds. When that would come over and enshroud the lighthouse, the light couldn't be seen by the ships at sea.

So what good is a lighthouse, and it's light, if the ships can't see it? The solution that they came up with to facilitate that was a new lighthouse. This is the existing lighthouse. You can see it just right there, which was built just below on the shore at sea level there on Point Loma. This one still works and is administered here.

You see the very nicely manicured lawns and buildings that are well kept as part of this lighthouse service. So the old lighthouse is a museum, and the new lighthouse is still working and doing its job to help ships come and go and to know where the dangers are along the coast and to guide it along its way. That's what the the job of a lighthouse does. This particular trip gave me a few thoughts and what we saw just looking at a very common side of a lighthouse along the coast of our country and really any country and the role that that a lighthouse plays because it gave me some thoughts about something that is very interesting to us.

I'll just douse the light at this point and we'll kind of shift gear at this point. I'll bring this back up here toward the end of my presentation. But what I want to focus on with you here for a few minutes is what this lighthouse inspired in me and the thoughts that it gave to me because we have within our church culture the idea and the understanding from the revival of the idea that God portrays through his prophets of a watchman, a watcher who is set upon the walls of the city to guide, to watch over, and to give a warning to the inhabitants of the city of danger and of what is taking place.

And this inspired a little bit of a study on my part. I grew up in God's church and the prophecies, especially in Ezekiel chapter 3 and Ezekiel 33, where God set Ezekiel as a watchman over Israel, were scriptures that I've heard very early and repeatedly through the years within the church. And the idea that the work of God, the church of God, the servants of God were to be watchmen. We were doing a work of a watchman. It's something that I cut my eye teeth on within the church of God experience.

And so I wanted to go back through that. And a study into the scriptures was quite revealing to me. I want to share part of that with you here this morning in order that we might hopefully understand our role and understand how God looks at us and the job of a watchman.

And let's dust it off a bit and let's try to shine it up and brighten it up so that we understand how it applies to God's people and to the work of God and what we can learn from it. I think it may be a bit surprising for us when we look at what we are told within the Bible and maybe shatter a few misconceptions that have been ingrained over the years around this concept of the idea of a watchman.

When you look in the scriptures, you find that it is applied in a number of different ways. A watchman was sent up on the walls of the city at various times during the history of Israel.

You can find references where people went up on the walls to watch for and look for people coming into the city. And you get the idea very quickly that a watchman was in a sense a fixture on the city walls, and he was watching for not just armies, but he was watching for individuals coming and going, and he really had a sense and a pulse of the life of the city from his particular perch.

You will find as well, even in the agricultural scene of that day, that people were set out in the fields of wheat and barley as the crops were ripening along toward the harvest.

Men would be stationed in watch towers out in the fields to watch the crops so that they were not stolen. Understanding the very important role of grain and agriculture to a economy of a small village or a small city in that day, it was important that all the work that had been put in by the villagers through the season was not stolen by someone else or ravaged by wild animals. And so they would set a watchman in a tower out in the field as the harvest was coming on, to just to watch over and to guard it and to keep it safe. So you see that as an application as well. And they've actually found even the remnants of those and archaeological digs and sites there within the Middle East to this very day. So you see it as a part of the life of the city. And I can well imagine a watchman sitting or perched on a perhaps on the walls of the city near the gate as people were coming and going and the commerce of the city was being enacted and the actual entrance entryway of the gate of those cities, which was where essentially the courthouse stood. And the city elders did the business of the city right in the gate. You read in the book of Ruth where the, when Boaz wanted to make sure that he had rights to marry Ruth, he went to the elders of the city there in the gate of the city. That's where the business of the city was transacted. So I imagine the watchman perhaps had a perch right there on the walls very close to that. And he could see the life of the city going about its daily business every single day. You can imagine a person in that particular role who was attuned to the people, to their lives, who they were dating, who they were arguing with, who they were cheating. They had a unique observation point in that society. So when God takes that figure of a watchman and he applies it as he does to not just one prophet, but really several of the prophets and even more than the prophets, you can then begin to understand what the role that prophet was. In Jeremiah chapter 6, there are several references in the prophets. Hosea has a reference to being a watchman. Isaiah does.

Jeremiah chapter 6, we could just briefly turn and note what is said to Isaiah or to Jeremiah in the sixth chapter, describing his particular role. My point here in pointing us out is help us understand that it was not just one prophet that was to be a watchman, but really all of the prophets when they enacted their role for God, they were doing this job. Jeremiah 6 in verse 16 says, Thus says the Lord, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it. And essentially he's saying, stand in the crossroads where people in commerce are going back and forth. Right at the busiest interstate interchange, if you will, where people are going and coming. Set up your position to where you can observe and also where you can teach. Stand in the ways and ask and tell the people to look for the old paths where the good way was. Jeremiah is being told, point the people back to the Word of God. Point the people back to the covenant that was made at Sinai. All of that which had been abandoned, the old ways, as people would look at it, the way of God. And he says, Tell them to walk in it.

And if they do, verse 16 goes on, then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk in it. So, again, essentially, this encapsulates the role of all of God's servants. Preach a message, show people their sins, show them the right ways, but they're not going to listen. They won't listen to it. You see this throughout the prophets. Then in verse 17, it says, Also, I said, Watchmen over you, saying, Listen to the sound of the trumpet, but they said, will not listen. Therefore, hear you nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth, and behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people, the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded my words, nor my law, but rejected it. And so the whole message of God through any prophets, whether it was Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or Hosea, or the others, or the work of God through the ages, has always been to point people to the word of God, to His law, as the right way, the old paths, if you will, but the way that will bring peace. This is what Jeremiah was told to do. If people would find their path of life, and their way of life rooted firmly in God's way of life, then they'll have peace, the very thing they're looking for, the very thing that we see ourselves, and our friends, and our neighbors, and our families searching for. Peace. Good families. The ability to raise your family, and to make a good wage, and to have a good quality life. Peace. Peace of mind when you lay down. And peace throughout the generations. That's essentially what is the goal of every people, any time, and in every way. But there is, according to the scriptures, there's one way to that. And God points the direction in that way. So we see Jeremiah encapsulating it here. Now let's turn over to Ezekiel 3. We'll just look at the one section in Ezekiel. This is where Ezekiel is told that he is a watchman. Ezekiel 3 and also chapter 33 are the two prime chapters in Ezekiel where this thought is really brought out in more detail. But we'll just look at chapter 3 of Ezekiel. And what is said here? Beginning in verse 16.

Now it came to pass, at the end of seven days the word of God came to me, saying, Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore, hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me. And so Ezekiel is told that he is set as a watchman.

Now, it is true and we understand and should not forget that Ezekiel was in captivity. He was in Babylon when he was given this message. The nation of Israel, the ten tribe nation to the north, had long since gone into captivity. Even his own people, Judah, were beginning to go into captivity after this first wave. Ezekiel was a contemporary of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Nebenad go. He was in Babylon at the same time. But he sort of got separated off. He found himself down by a river key bar. Perhaps that's in what they call today Anbar province. I don't know, but it's in the same region as we know of as Iraq today. So that's where Ezekiel found himself when God began to reveal these visions to him and began to work with him. But he sets him as a watchman. And in verse 18, he says, when I say to the wicked, you shall surely die. You give him the warning or speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life. That same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. So the watchman, Ezekiel, anyone said in this role has the responsibility to warn, to tell people, to explain the truth, the way of God, to warn of an impending time of trouble, if repentance is not generated, to ward that off. And if people don't repent, the blood is on their shoulders. And he goes on in this to show that if the watchman doesn't do his job, then God will require the watchman to give an account for not even delivering the message. But through all of this, and we won't have the time to go through all of it, the idea is very well laid out that the watchman's job is to give the message, to give a warning. More than that, as we'll see, but to do that job, it was the individual's responsibility as to whether they listened to it. And we also understand from what we know of the church and God's calling from what the New Testament teaches us, that it is God who adds to his church, that God's Spirit draws us, grants us repentance, and begins to work with us as well. So God is very much in the process when it comes to the elect and salvation and conversion. But at least through this figure of the prophet, there is this distinction of how you measure the job of the watchman and what is also the responsibility of those who hear the message. There's a responsibility on both ends. We're focusing more, I guess, on what is the responsibility of the watchman and what exactly is his message and what does that mean for you and I as we find ourselves in this particular period of world history as well as even church history. And how does that apply to us?

Because what this figure teaches us is something very personal. And I want to expand it so that we understand it's full ramifications. Perhaps in our church experience, we have felt that just giving a message was all that we had to do. Just giving a warning was enough.

And that is certainly part of it. And in one sense, we measure our success by that. We also want to see people respond. We'd like to see people become a part of the Church of God. We'd like to see their lives changed by what they hear and what they learn, just like it changed your life and the life of your parents, your friends, others who have gone before us. It made a difference to my mother's life when she heard this message 50 years ago and obviously made a difference in my life because I'm here to this day living it, teaching it, because of what my mother responded to back in the early 1960s. So we want other people to have that same experience and to understand the truth of God and to begin that walk toward the Kingdom of God. God has his part, his role in that. We've got to teach people. We've got to help them to understand.

As I said, Ezekiel is not the only one to have this figure applied to him. Let's turn over to the book of Isaiah, very quickly, chapter 52. Isaiah chapter 52.

And verse 7, a familiar section of Scripture, it says, "...how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news." That's the gospel.

"...who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation." That's the gospel, the way of life, the news of how to live forever to answer the question of the rich young ruler that came to Christ. How do I live forever? Christ said, keep the commandments.

The way to salvation. The whole package in the news of the Kingdom of God, peace, good tidings. That's the gospel. How beautiful are those who bring the feet of those who bring them. And say to Zion, your God reigns. Verse 8, your watchmen shall lift up their voices.

With their voices, they shall sing together. This gives us a plurality. This gives us a collective sense of who are the watchmen. It's not just one person, always. Ezekiel was, at least in his particular time and way. But Ezekiel here tells us, and it expands the idea, your watchmen will lift their voices, and with their voices they shall sing together, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. He has made the Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. So the message is not just for a lost 10 tribes of Israel or the tribe of Judah. The message of salvation is for all nations. Don't forget that. Underline that one in your Bible or put it out in your notes. It is for all nations. So the message is not restricted to just one ethnic group. It's to all peoples at all times. Now notice in chapter 62, Isaiah 62.

Again, these are some things that I learned in my study, just being inspired by a trip to a lighthouse, and to review a well-known figure in prophecy in the Bible of a watchman. And it should expand our thoughts. In Isaiah 62 and in verse 6, he says, I have set watchmen on your walls, old Jerusalem. Watchmen on your walls.

Watching the daily comings and goings of life. Now, we don't have walls in our city today.

We don't have gates of our cities. But you know, we can have our pulse on what's taking place within our cities, within our communities, within our larger world, with the news that's right at our fingertips. We can sit in our living room today and have all the information available to us on television, cable news, or on the internet, as we sit at our computer desk. And in that sense, we do understand and we see and view our communities, our states, and the world at large, and what's taking place in a very real sense. Sometimes it's too much. Sometimes it's just too much for us. I mean, how do you react and what can you do for a tragedy way off and far off in some ways? We can pray, yes, and we should. Thy kingdom come, and we can certainly feel for them. And there are other tangible things that we can be involved with and do, and even providing a measure of relief and help and comfort to victims of a tsunami, as we did a couple of years ago, or a tragedy that may be closer to home, and we should do that and do, interact, and help people in times of need. But as it goes on here, it says, these watchmen shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord do not keep silence and give him no rest till he establishes until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Now, what is really interesting to note about this, in one of the commentaries, the Expositor's Bible commentary, brings this out about the section of Ezekiel as it talks about the watchmen. This is really like a prayer. This is like a group of people who are praying, never holding their peace day or night, making mention of God until he gives and he establishes peace and praise and Jerusalem and in the earth. The thought is here of a group of people holding, if you will, a prayer vigil. Not that we're praying all night, all the time, by a group or whatever, but it's a prayerful, reflective, concerned, involved thought for a group of people who are, in a sense, like watchmen, who are observing, who understand the times, who understand the knowledge of the truth and are praying that their people, their neighbors, their world will not be torn apart by the ravages of sin and unrighteousness.

People who are praying for people, for a world, and even as one can, even with their hands being involved in trying to make their corner of the world in their sphere of influence just a little bit better by what they do or what they may contribute and what they may provide for people.

This is a description of a group of people who are praying and who are sighing and crying. In Ezekiel 9, we have a wonderful image, if we can quickly turn there, Ezekiel 9, of the prophet in a vision being taken back to Jerusalem, but what he is told to do is instructive in Ezekiel 9. In the beginning of verse 2, it talks of this scene within Jerusalem, one man among them in the middle of verse 2 was clothed with linen and had a rider's inkorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar there in the temple. The glory of the Lord, the God of Israel, had gone up from the carob, where it had been in a threshold of the temple. And he called to the man clothed with linen who had the rider's inkorn at his side. And the Lord said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over the abominations that are done within him. A rider's inkorn is a pin, kind of like my pilot gel pin I pull out of my pocket right here. And he's saying, Put it on and go through the streets of the city and put a mark right up here. Put a check mark, put an X on those that you see who sigh and cry for the abominations within the city. Sighing and crying. And we're not told necessarily how many, not that many, that were sighing and crying. Because Jerusalem, by that time, had pretty much abandoned God.

And God's presence was about to be swept up off of the threshold of the temple and disappeared among His people as this vision goes on. But He says, Put a mark on those. Note those who sigh and cry for the abominations of the land. Those people that are having this mark put on them, in that sense, are like watchmen who see people in their ways and their paths needing to be changed.

And they are saddened by it. And they sigh and they cry. If you will, they pray. They are involved. They are giving a warning where they can. They're trying to help where they can. And they understand their times. In Amos 6, we have a description.

Again, beginning in verse 1, Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and trust in Mount Samaria. Now, we could say if you want, Zion can be a type of the church.

Zion was an actual location within Jerusalem at the time of the prophecy was written here. Mount Samaria is another physical location north of Jerusalem. So speaking to those within Israel, and spiritual Israel can have the application of the church today.

But it says, woe to those who are at ease. You think they've got it made. Who take joy in life too much and physical material comforts and joys. Woe to those who are at ease, notable persons in the chief nation to whom the house of Israel comes.

And he says, go to Calne, go to Haemath, the great. Go down to Gath of the Philistines.

He's being told, just go observe. These cities that already passed, their glory, they had been destroyed. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory? And it's a warning to Israel, look, you can suffer the same fate. Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, who caused the seed of violence to come near. How could one put far off the day of doom? Well, by just ignoring it and turning our back on it, and not wanting to even hear bad news, not even wanting to focus on the state of society and the state of the world, and get lost in their own pursuits, causing the seed of violence to come near. I'll let you interpret that particular idea. It says, also those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch out on your couches and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall. He's describing a lifestyle, a very affluent lifestyle, that they did have in Israel at the time of the prophet Amos. They had come under a period of economic, global economic security and material growth. When you understand that the exact history of the time of Amos and his prophecy, and you put it in the context of the whole region at the time, and that area of the Middle Eastern world, there was a period of what we would call today globalization.

Traffic and trade among the nations was quite strong. Israel itself had had a strong leader who had cleaned things up, at least on the physical side and the political side of things, and they were enjoying good times. Interest rates were low, the economy was booming.

Filling all the figures and economic indicators that we look to today, they were having them then. And that's why Amos said, you lay on beds of ivory. Now, I don't know how many of you have a bed of ivory. I don't either, but I do have a select comfort bed. Number 65 is my perfect number. Okay? And I miss it every time I travel and get away from it. I'll be glad to get back into it tomorrow night. And I enjoy it, and I hope you enjoy yours, whatever you have, and to you, it's the world's most comfortable bed. That's not necessarily bad. That's not what he's saying. He's saying, though, if you put your trust in that affluence, and we all have a level of affluence that other generations would salivate over today. The poorest of us in this room have a level of affluence that even in today's world, Mr. Rose goes to God and he can explain the difference. The poorest among us would live like kings compared to some of the people that he walks among in Africa. And Amos is saying, be careful. If you sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David, he's not condemning any of these things.

I've got my iPod. I've got two iPods. Okay? And I listen to my music. I hope that it, to me, it's not idle. I enjoy music, and I use it, I hope, in that sense, to glorify God and to glorify my walk toward the kingdom of God in my life today. But he's talking about idle.

Idleness, emptiness, things that are in vain, that mean nothing, and take us away from God and away from our real purpose. You drink wine from bowls and anoint yourselves with the best ointments, but are not grieved, he says in verse 6, and this is the key phrase, for the affliction of Joseph.

We're not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Now, we have been blessed with an understanding of who Joseph is in our day and time in this modern world. We know who the sons of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh have evolved to in our time and place, but are we grieved for the affliction that is upon our peoples and what is to come? Do we take note of it, and do we want to shout a message? And not just shout a message and warn and walk away, but to shout a message and to give a message that makes a difference. And then we stay on our post and we stay involved.

One of the things you have to understand about even Ezekiel, and especially Jeremiah, Jeremiah gave a message on a warning to Judah in Jerusalem in his day, and he stayed there. He didn't escape any place. He didn't have any point of safety to which he was transported. In fact, when he was offered the opportunity to leave, he didn't take it. He could have gone to the safety of Babylon, if you ever, if you could think, Babylon was safe at that time, and he didn't take it.

You read Jeremiah very carefully, and you see that Jeremiah bought a piece of land before the city fell as a sign of hope of restoration in the future, that the city would even be restored.

He stayed among his people. He gave him a message of warning. He said, look, your sins are bringing disappointments. And then the next day, he was probably in a soup line someplace, helping dish out soup. Or after a Babylonian mortar shell came over some of the walls and destroyed a plot of land, and I imagine Jeremiah being in there, helping to clear away some of the rubble and bandage up a few wounded people. He didn't leave the people.

He wasn't looking to escape for his own physical safety.

And Ezekiel gave his message even among his people in captivity. The message of a watchman is not just to walk away after giving it. The message of the watchman is also not only to talk about the way, but to show by their actions and their life, righteousness, and not be so concerned about ignoring people and their plight and their needs. And not living a life that is oblivious to it as well is the point here. Those that sigh and cry, those that are grieved for the affliction of Joseph and know exactly why these things are taking place. The watchman has a primary concern to bring people back to God, to show them the way to salvation and a complete restoration, and then to bring that together in a way of life. Now, we live in a world where we have to ask ourselves as we enjoy our affluence and we enjoy what we have been blessed with, what does it compel us toward? Neglect or further involvement? Do the things that we see happening around us in our society dull our sense of urgency to want to get a message out and to, yes, warn a world, to have a message that does pierce to the hearts of people and gets their attention? Do we want to do that? That is a question that every group of people, God's people, have to ask themselves in every generation and not be distracted by the popular culture of their times. Now, we, just to use one example of what this made our country and popular culture has been absorbed with, unfortunately, the last month, the tragic death of a figure, a blonde, who made herself into nothing more than a celluloid image and died tragically, unexpectedly, at this point, yet known to maybe only one or two people in an unknown way. And then we've been subjected to a nearly a month or more of news of battles over a baby and where the body's going to be buried. And it was a life that was a fabricated life that really didn't add a lot to the human condition, but as a human being. And she died tragically, and yet it becomes a circus.

And what that in itself is a tragedy, the death of that one person and the type of life, in a sense.

But then the obsession of the story as it has been followed is something that is very, should be very instructive to us. And I listened to the analysis of it, and I've had to check myself, and yes, as I would sit and watch my lunch and click on the news to see what's being covered and have to see a courtroom battle over where this person would be buried, I find myself saying, what's going on here? This is interesting. This is fascinating.

And that in itself is a lesson for us of our times. Do we sigh and cry in these days?

Are we grieved for the affliction of our peoples and the spiritual lack and the focus that is not there and the ignorance, spiritual ignorance, that needs to have some light shed upon it? That's the job of a watchman. That's the job of a group of people who are praying and putting those things first. Now, this concept of a watchman is brought over into the New Testament as well.

Now, you're well aware of so many statements that are made to watch. Let's just look at one in Mark chapter 13. The Greek word, as it is translated, to watch, used here in the Gospels and the New Testament, has the same meaning to keep awake, to watch, to take heed. In Christ use it here in Mark 13. In verse 32, we said of that day and hour, no man, no one knows not even the angels in heaven nor the son, not only the father, but only the father, I should say. Take heed, watch, pray, for you do not know when the time is. It's like a man going to a far country who left his house and gave authority to his servants to each his work and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming. In the evening, at midnight, it's crowing to the rooster, or in the morning, it was coming suddenly, he finds you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all, watch. Now this is repeated several times and used in different ways by Jesus.

It's interesting, if you will remember, on his night before he was crucified, Peter fell asleep and the other disciples as he was praying in agony in the garden. And he came up to Peter and he said, what couldn't you even watch with me, he said to him? You couldn't even watch with me through this night. He kind of chastised him there in the garden of Gethsemane. So the idea of watching applies not just to watching world events, world news.

It's far more and is far deeper than that. It's also watching our relationship with Christ, that it does not slip, that we don't let the world's values encroach in our lives at any time and cause us to lose the fire in the belly that I like to say. That zeal for the work of God, that ability to sigh and cry and to be grieved for the sins of a nation and of the world, and a desire for more people to share in the news of the gospel and the way to salvation.

We have to be watching that as well, and we have to be watching it in our own personal walk with God and Jesus Christ. That's what Christ was saying to his disciples. That's how it's used several ways throughout the New Testament. I want to take you to one additional application of it.

It's very interesting. In Revelation 16.

Revelation 16. This is just to jump right into the flow of the seals and the bowls and all that's being unloaded here. In verse 12 of chapter 16, the sixth bowl. And this is the time of a gathering of armies from across east of the Euphrates and being brought together in a place called Armageddon. But notice in verse 12, the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon. And we know who the dragon is. Revelation 12 tells us that this is a symbol for Satan himself who has deceived the whole world.

Three unclean spirits come out of the mouth of the beast as well. This political figure that is described in Revelation 13 that is going to come up.

And out of the mouth of the false prophet, the second beast of Revelation 13 that does miracles and bands together with the beast in that period of time. We'll talk more about that this afternoon.

But there's the spirit of deception and they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. These armies are being gathered. There is a great time of spiritual deception that is religious in nature and it's also very much political as well in a way that sometimes I think is far even beyond us to figure out how that is going to happen. But understand that it is a deception engineered by the archdeceiver himself, Satan. And it takes place. And what does God, what does Christ tell us? Look at verse 15 because this is directly from Jesus and it's one of the blessings of the book of Revelation. There are seven blessings that go through the book of Revelation upon those who listen to its message. This is one of them. Verse 15, it says, Behold, I am coming as a thief. Familiar language? Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame. Our garments are our righteousness, our way of life, based on God's way of life. And we keep our life very closely tucked in garden.

We watch for our relationship with God, with Jesus Christ. We make sure that it is not painted, it's not watered down, that it's not compromised by our world around us. By the things that we watch and we see. And he says, Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame. Those who are deceived at this time, and notice the context of where this particular blessing and admonition to watch is placed, it is at the peak of the most powerful point of the deception that is going to grip the world and the end of the age before Christ's return. And he says to those who are heeding the message of this book, watch. And you have a blessing if you watch and if you keep your life. How will you keep your life? Well, we've walked through a little bit of that. We will keep our life by being a watchman. We will keep our life by sighing and crying for the abominations done within our city, by being grieved for the afflictions of Joseph. By wanting to see the news of salvation that will bring peace to people taken as far and as wide and as diversely as it possibly can. We want to see that shared to people. In other words, we want to do the work of God. And as that work goes out, we are behind it and it's continuing to feed, direct, and influence our life and to keep us strong in a relationship with God. That's one of the roles that prophecy plays within our walk, within the Bible. It's not to get caught up with speculative ideas and new ideas. You're not going to hear today, folks, anything new. For those of you that have been around for a hundred years in the Church, you're not going to hear anything new, speculative, way out, far out. If you came for that, I'm sorry. There's other places you can go for that. You're not going to hear that. You're going to hear, we hope, biblically-based teaching upon prophecy, world news, and how it all ties together where we are, but most importantly, in a package that helps you understand your role and helps to challenge you and your walk with God and keeps you close so that when these times come, if it comes in our lifetime, we're not caught in that deception. We'll be able, just as we have walked through the other deceptions that have gripped the people of God thus far in our lifetime, and we've been able to swerve and miss it by the grace of God, we'll be able to continue to do that if it comes even greater in the time ahead. And we'll only do it because of God's blessing and God's grace, because the deceiver is far smarter than you and I. But Christ gives us a measure and a glimmer of hope right here.

And it comes down and it comes back to me, at least, in that idea of the watchman.

And it takes me back to that scene on Point Loma of a lighthouse, giving out light to the ships at sea as a figure of a people and a work that's giving out light to the times and to its people and to its nations. One of the things that this lighthouse has at Point Loma, if I can just bring you to a little plaque that I saw in a museum that was there, was a quote that was up on the on the wall describing the role of a lighthouse. And I'll bring that up just a little closer here from George Bernard Shaw, British playwright, who wrote, I can think of no other edifice constructed by man as altruistic as a lighthouse. They were built only to serve. They weren't built for any other purpose. A lighthouse served, and it served the travelers to guide them along their way to safe harbor, to safe haven, to keep them off the shoals and shipwreck. A lighthouse is like a watchman, and that figure has direct application to the Church of God to you and I as watchmen today, and it's to serve. So I guess what I'm saying is that we're all watchmen. We're all part of a collective effort, and our job is to serve, to serve mankind in humanity with the message of the gospel of peace that is going to be brought by Jesus Christ to this earth. That's what it's all about. That's at the heart and core of our message in world news and prophecy, and as we take it from the pages of the Bible and translate it into our culture and our church world today, and for those that others that read and hear, and we're all a part of that. So let's keep that in mind as we go through the day and all the topics and discussions that we will have that we are working and serving in this particular role as servants as collective watchmen from the work of God.