Recognition of Pastor as Watchman

Ezekiel 3:16-21 Our Vision for These Days

In this fifth installment of his 'Vision for These Days' series, Pastor Albert N. Martin expounds on the watchman motif in Scripture, particularly from Ezekiel 3 and Acts 20, arguing that a vital function of the pastoral office is to serve as an alert, keen-sighted, and morally courageous watchman upon Zion's walls. He first provides an overview of the watchman's role in the Old and New Testaments, emphasizing the unique responsibility of prophets and pastors to warn God's people of approaching dangers, lest their blood be required at the watchman's hand. Martin then applies this function to the present hour, identifying ten major dangers—five from the world and five from within the professing church—against which pastors must faithfully warn their congregations, concluding with a plea for pastors not to be blind, dumb, or slumbering watchmen.

2 illustrations in this sermon

The Watchman Motif in the New Testament Pastoral Office

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Machen on Pessimism and the Titanic

Driving home: We are set apart from that ordinary means of providing for our families and our persons that we might be alert, keen-eyed, concentrating watchmen upon Zion's walls with the moral discernment to know an enemy when we see …

Martin quotes J. Gresham Machen's sermon 'False and True,' where Machen defends 'pessimism' in ministry using the analogy of a cautious ship captain navigating fog and contrasting him with the optimistic, ill-fated captain of the Titanic. This illustrates the necessity of a watchman's vigilance and willingness to warn of danger, even if unpopular.

listen to Machen as I complete this brief overview of the biblical concept of a watchman what will be the kind of message God has given you men to proclaim in the first place it will unquestionably be a message of warning you will be called upon to tell men of evil that is to come that will no doubt make you unpopular men like encouragement they like to be told with regard to the Ramoth Gilead of their pet projects to go up and prosper for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king they do not like to see gloomy visions of all Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep that have not a sh...

26:50 - 28:15 Read in full sermon

Conclusion: A Plea for Faithful Watchmen

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Dumb German Shepherd

The point: May we at least be able to say I'm a dog that can bark in the presence of a burglar.

Martin uses the example of a $500 purebred German shepherd that fails to bark when a burglar approaches to illustrate the shame and failure of a watchman who is a 'dumb dog' and cannot warn.

They can't tell an enemy from a friend. And then God descends to insulting imagery. They are all dumb dogs. They are all dumb dogs that cannot bark.

81:30 - 81:40 Read in full sermon

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