Recognition of Pastor as Watchman

Introduction: Our Vision for These Days and the Watchman Motif

0:01 The following message was delivered on Monday evening, October 18th, at the 1993 Trinity Pastors Conference. The announced subject for our meditation in the Word of God tonight has been our vision for these days. In October of 1988, this was the subject announced for the Monday evening session of our Pastors Conference on that occasion, and since then there have been three additional installments on this identical theme. And each time I have begun by making several basic assertions, and I will make them again tonight. First of all, a word of explanation. When we think of our vision for these days, I am merely seeking by the use of those words to express our perception of some of the most critical areas of need for the people of God in our day and in our circles, and what we as the servants of God in particular need. What we as the servants of God in particular ought to do in response to that need.

1:27 And therefore, in speaking of our vision for these days, we are merely expressing in human terminology what is said of the sons of Issachar in 1 Chronicles chapter 12 and verse 22, where we read concerning them, verse 32, and of the children of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do. They were marked out by the fact that they had perception of the particular circumstances of the people of God at that period in their history, and were able to give wise direction with reference to a judicious course of action. And so, this title that has been carried on over these past years has reference to those principles. And then secondly, on each occasion, I have not only sought to give that simple word of explanation, but to make a very clear word of disclaimer.

2:41 When we speak of our vision for these days, we are not speaking of any claim to an extraordinary cause. We are speaking of an extraordinary commission from the Lord Jesus Christ. None of us claims to have heard a voice from heaven, to have had an angelic visitation, to have had a personal word of prophecy. And furthermore, we make no claim to an exclusive commission from the Lord with respect to these concerns.

3:16 However, if in the context of this kind of family, intimacy with a shared perspective, committed to shared doctrinal and experimental convictions, if we cannot in this forum seek to hammer out what it is that we ought to perceive as the great needs of God's people, pray tell, in what forum would it be legitimate to do such a thing? Now, in our previous messages, I've sought to address, to address the subject of our vision for these days in terms, first of all, of a recovery of the biblical gospel, secondly, a renewal of biblical holiness, thirdly, a return to biblical churchmanship, and last year, a restoration of biblical preaching. Tonight, this fifth installment in this serial, of messages, on our vision for these days, is this. Our vision for these days, a recognition of the watchman identity and function of the pastoral office.

Overview of the Watchman Motif in Scripture

4:38 A recognition of the watchman identity and function of the pastoral office. And I will seek to open up this material, under two major headings, beginning, first of all, with an overview of the watchman motif in the Word of God. Where do we gain the concept of the servant of God ministering under the New Covenant, as a watchman amongst God's people? Well, when we turn to the Old Testament and seek to discover the beginnings of the biblical concept of a watchman, we find that the watchman was the man assigned the responsibility of standing upon the wall of a city or a military garrison in order to look out for approaching dangers to that city or to that garrison, and with a solemn responsibility, in a context of conscious alertness and wakefulness, when perceiving that danger, to alert the proper authorities, whether it was the general or the military leader within the garrison,

6:03 or whether it was the populace of the city, whoever stood in the place of danger, whoever the watchman was accountable to, to such a one, he was to give a warning. Turn, please, for a specimen example. of these perspectives to 2 Samuel chapter 18. As we seek this brief overview of the watchman motif in the Word of God, 2 Samuel 18 verses 24 to 27 give us a very clear example of the basic concepts of the function of a watchman.

6:48 2 Samuel chapter 18. And verse 24. Now David was sitting between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, a man running alone. And the watchman cried and told the king, and the king said, if he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth.

7:25 And he came apace and drew near, and the watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called unto the porter and said, behold, another man running alone. And the king said, he also bringeth tidings. And the watchman said, I think the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimeaz the son of Zadok.

7:53 And the king said, he is a good man, and cometh with good tidings. Now surely stand upon the face of this simple historical narrative are those dominant concepts of the identity and the function of the watchman. In this case, his primary responsibility was to David and to the porter or gatekeeper of the city. And as he left the city, the watchman said to David, as he looked out and saw someone coming, he was to cry out and to prize his senior officer of the approach of that person.

8:33 And he looked with such keen-eyed concentration that he was able to tell from the very stride and running style of the second runner who that runner might be. Here then the watchman is upon the wall. The watchman looks with concentration and undivided attention right to the horizon. And what the watchman sees of anything unusual approaching the city or the military garrison, he is to report to his superior or to those for whom he has special accountability.

9:16 Now that idea is scattered in several places throughout the historical narratives of the Old Testament. But for the first time the idea of the watchman comes into the realm of the ministry of the word of God in the person and function of Ezekiel. I shouldn't say for the first time. I should say it comes to its fullest and most clear and concentrated expression in conjunction with a minister of the word of God in the person and ministry of Ezekiel the prophet.

9:55 When we turn to Ezekiel chapter 3, we have the account of Ezekiel's commission. And towards the end of that account of the commission of Ezekiel, we read in Ezekiel 3 verses 16 and following these words. And it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Now the concept of a watchman was already clearly embedded in the minds of the ordinary or in the mind of an ordinary Israelite. And now Jehovah says to Ezekiel in the midst of commissioning him to the prophetic office that in the fulfillment of that office I've constituted you a watchman. You will have functions as a mouthpiece of Jehovah that have great and serious parallels with the functions of a watchman upon the city walls or upon the wall of a military garrison. And then he goes on to amplify the significance of that analogy.

11:20 Therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die and thou givest him not warning nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life. The same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked and he turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul again.

11:59 When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die because thou hast not given him warning. He shall die in his sins and his righteous deeds, which he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood will I require. I require at thy hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man that the righteous sin not and he doth not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning and thou hast delivered thy soul.

12:35 Now, the unique contribution to the concept of a watchman that comes with the transferal of that concept to the ministry of the prophet is this matter of delivering his soul or blood being required at his hand. There is no explicit reference in any of the other Old Testament data concerning the function and ministry of a literal watchman over a garrison or over a city in which the language of delivering thy soul or requiring blood at thy hand is used. Now, secular writers on secular assessments of the function of watchmen may tell us that such a concept was there, but it is not there, having looked up every watchman reference in the Old Testament, the concept of a watchman having blood guiltiness attributed to him or delivering his soul comes to the fore only when the concept of a watchman is incorporated into the identity and function of a prophet of God.

The Watchman Motif in the New Testament Pastoral Office

14:03 And that which was so central to the commission of Ezekiel is again picked up and repeated in Ezekiel 33. It was read in your hearing by Pastor Brevard, and therefore I will not repeat it, but then coming over into the New Testament, as we continue our brief overview of the watchman motif in the Word of God, where do we find this watchman motif coming to its clearest expression? The answer to that question is we find it coming to such an expression in Paul's discourse with the Ephesian elders. Turn, please, to Acts chapter 20.

14:47 Acts chapter 20. You will remember that as Paul gathers the Ephesian elders to himself, he begins by reviewing the pattern of his own life and ministry among them, and then he says towards the conclusion of that review, verse 25 of Acts 20, And now behold, I know that you all, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I testify unto you this day, now of all the terminology he could have used to say, I testify that I have a good conscience, that I have fully delivered my soul of my gospel duties and responsibilities, isn't it interesting that he takes the language of the blood-guiltiness of the watchman motif out at Ezekiel and says, Wherefore, I testify unto you this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. No blood of an unfaithful watchman

16:14 shall be found upon my hands. For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God. All that I saw upon the horizon of the revelatory day committed to me by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as an apostle of Jesus Christ and a shepherd to his people, did not shrink from declaring the whole body of that revelatory data, the whole counsel of God. Here, I say, is the watchman motif coming to the fore in the apostle's own religious consciousness. And then, when he turns to charge these elders with their task, notice how the concept of their function as pastors is interwoven with the watchman motif. Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood. I know, I know that after my departing, grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

17:43 And from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Wherefore, and now he focuses upon the watchman motif again. Watch ye, be continually alert. Stand upon the walls of the sheepfold of Christ and look out with concentrated attention for the gathering of the wolf packs that would prey upon the flock.

18:19 And keenly look closely to the walls where apparent friendly neighbors may indeed be fifth colonists who will rise up from your own ranks in order to draw away disciples after them. Watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish everyone day and night with tears. And so I say there are indeed echoes and overtones of the watchman motif as they come to expression in Paul's own consciousness of moral and ethical responsibility as an apostle of Christ. And he seeks to load the consciences of the Ephesian elders with their responsibilities. Not only under the imagery of those who are to perform the manifold functions of shepherds to a flock of sheep, though that is the dominant imagery and is carried through in the language, but they are to be intensely watchful. They are to be watchmen upon the walls of Zion, caring for the well-being of the people of God.

19:41 And in a very real sense, as I reflected upon this and just ran through my mind many of the epistles of the New Testament, could we not say without straining reality that this watchman motif becomes the undergirding principle of many of the epistles of the New Testament. Paul and Peter and John and James and Jude saw the enemies of the church approaching. And when they saw them approaching, they sounded an alarm. And that alarm comes in the white-hot burning language of the book of Galatians when the apostle sees the enemy of justification by faith alone based upon the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. And he doesn't even pause to be the gracious Christian gentleman he most often was in his letters, but bursts in upon that situation and sounds an alarm and says, you who would be justified by works have fallen from grace. Does he not do the same thing with the Colossian letter as he sees,

21:05 as he stands upon the wall as a keen-eyed watchman, the influence of Gnosticism, both in its theories of many intermediaries and with its practical system of asceticism that would undermine both the freedom and the simplicity of the gospel. Does he not take the posture of a watchman and he cries out through his pen in that epistle to the Colossians, Christ is all, Christ is enough, in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge and ye are complete in him. Was not Jude a watchman upon Zion's walls? He desires to send an epistle to the inhabitants of Zion that will cause them to run through her streets exulting and rejoicing in further unfoldings of the glories of their common salvation. But he says, as I set my mind and heart to write to you concerning our common salvation, I was constrained to do something else. And what was that? To be a watchman upon the wall.

22:16 Crying out, certain men have crept in privily and have brought with them damnable heresies and as a faithful watchman he stands upon Zion's walls warning her inhabitants of these who would rob them. Of their salvation and would bring them into bondage to error. John's epistles, we have a similar emphasis. And so brethren, in summary, I trust you do not regard it in any way as forced to say in the light of this brief overview of the biblical data that one of the functions of the pastoral office is that of an alert, keen, sighted, morally courageous watchman upon Zion's walls. It is not the primary function of a pastor. It is not to be his continuous and sole occupation. But surely we are warranted to say that in the pastoral office is bound up

23:37 the function, the identity, the responsibility of a watchman upon Zion's walls. Remember in the passage in Ezekiel it says if the people shall take one of their number and appoint him to be a watchman over them. And that's what your people have done when they recognized you as a gift of Christ. And think of the imagery in the Old Testament setting.

24:04 Why would they take one of their number? One of their number from his previously acquired trade or occupation and make him a professional stander upon the wall so the women could be at their kneading troughs and in their kitchens and nursing their babies without fear that invaders would come upon them without warning. That men could go off with their bag lunches to their shops in the morning and know that if some invading army were coming on the horizon they had set one over them to be a watchman to warn them that they might make due preparations to preserve their persons, their wives, their families and their possessions. And dear people of God, in a very real sense this is what our people have done in recognizing us as gifts of the ascended Christ. Christ to be pastors and teachers bound up in that office and in that function is the task of a watchman and they have voluntarily set us over them in the Lord as well as Christ giving us to them that we might by the grace of God

25:29 give them in a very real sense the luxury not of being spiritual imbeciles and spiritual incompetence with no discernment having a superstitious dependence upon professional clerics I do not mean to suggest that at all but where their life is lived out to the glory of God primarily in the legitimate calling to which Providence has assigned them 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 one and the moral courage to cry out and warn the people of God when their safety is in jeopardy. Machen, speaking to the students at Princeton Seminary back in 1926 brought a message on the subject False and True it's a powerful sermon in the little paperback God Transcendent

26:50 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 shepherd is it not Micaiah the son of Imla but Zedekiah the son of Chananiah that has often had the favor of the crowd I'm going to venture however to say a brief word in defense of pessimism there are times when pessimism is a very encouraging thing last summer I took a voyage down the New England coast one foggy afternoon and night it was one of the thickest nights that I've ever seen in those fog bound waters now I'm glad to say that the captain of each of the two boats on which I traveled was a thorough pessimist

28:15 for a time the boat would plow along at full speed but then for no apparent reason she would stop and rock quietly upon the gentle swells and then proceed at a snail's pace presently the mournful sound of a buoy would be heard and then the buoy would be heard and then the buoy would come into sight the buoys were usually exactly where the captain expected them to be but unless he saw them he took a thoroughly pessimistic view as to their whereabouts the result of such pessimism was good the sound of the fog horn was indeed lugubrious and hardly conducive to a sound sleep but at least we got safely into Boston the next morning there are ship captains who are less pessimistic than the captain of that boat such a one for example was the captain of the ill-fated Titanic he hoped that all was well and kept the engines going at full speed I'm certainly not presuming to blame him perhaps every captain not gifted with superhuman vision would have been as optimistic as he but whether excusably or not, optimist he certainly was and his optimism was fatal to many hundreds of human lives the great ship plowed onward through the night

29:41 and now she lies at the bottom of the sea oh that no mere weak mortal but some true prophet of God had been upon the bridge of the ship that fateful night that disaster is a figure of what will come of optimism in the churches of today superficially our ecclesiastical life seems to be progressing as it always did the cabins are full of comfortable passengers the orchestra is playing a lively air the rows of lighted windows shine cheerfully out into the darkness of the night of all the time death is lurking beneath in this time of deadly peril there are leaders who say that all is well there are leaders who decry controversy and urge peace declaring that the church is all perfectly loyal and true God forgive them brethren I say it with all my heart may God forgive them for the evil they are doing to Christ little ones may the Holy Spirit open their eyes while yet there is time meanwhile in the case of many churches the great ship rushes onward to the risk at least of doom

Application: Warning Against Major Dangers from the World

31:01 you see Machen understood speaking to prospective ministers at Princeton in 1926 that an essential function of the pastoral office is to be understood in terms of the watchman motif of the word of God now then having sought to convince your judgment that this watchman motif is indeed a vital element of the identity and function of a pastor let me in the second place seek to make an application of the watchman's function in this present hour an application of the watchman's function in this present hour and under this heading I want to identify some of the major dangers to the people of God dangers concerning which warnings must be given or we shall be held accountable with the blood of the souls of men and as I wrestled with how to organize the identification of these major dangers

32:22 it seemed to me that Paul's twofold perspective of the wolves from without moved into the imagery of the watchman approaching armies from without the walls who would attack from without who would set up their battlements and seek to storm the city and then he speaks of perverse men from among yourselves those who would from where the very presence of the city itself just outside her walls knocking on her door as friends or within the city walls apparently a part of the body politic and yet nonetheless perverse who would do harm to Zion and so under those two headings I want to give a note of alarm and warning and urge you my brethren to warn your people of the major enemies that face them from the world and the major enemies that face them from within the professing church and all I can do is just identify these nail down what I mean by the terminology give a specimen epitomizing text or two and pass on

33:45 what I am doing brethren is not in any way intended to be exhaustive it is intended to be the discharge of the stewardship of seeking as your brother to ask you prayerfully to consider whether or not it is not part of your responsibility to your people to perform the function of a watchman in these areas the first category then I urge you warn your people of the major enemies that are approaching them from the world and what are they number one the evils of a militant secularism the evils of a militant secularism to secularize according to the dictionary is to deprive of religious character influence and significance anything that is deprived of religious character influence or significance has been secularized and in God's world there is nothing that in reality is secularized the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof

35:06 and from the full sweep of human history with the rise and fall of nations to the rising into the air and the falling and death of a sparrow the scriptures tell us that of him and through him and unto him are all things to whom be the glory forever and ever amen there is no secularism in reality this is God's world made of God's stuff with God's creature and even with devil and evil spirits who are God's devil and God's evil spirits and yet we are witnessing in our day and our dear people are being bombarded with the evil of a militant secularism that would seek to take one category of reality after another and utterly deprive it of religious character influence and significance we are witnessing at least in my lifetime of nearly 60 years an unprecedented aggressive manifestation of Romans 1 and verse 28 and even as they refused to have God in their knowledge

36:36 whatever man in our day desires to know whatever field of endeavor he sets himself to pursue and to investigate he has one fundamental presupposition that goes before him surrounds him presses in upon him whatever I see whatever factors I seek to analyze and synthesize and make pronouncement upon one thing I am determined God is irrelevant in the equation I say that is a militant secularism a militant secularism that is continually bombarding our people and as watchmen we need to see it for the enemy that it is we need to sound the alarm and help them to identify this enemy we need nothing more than a careful practical exposition of Psalm 1 where the blessed man is described in his resolute refusal to become a secularist blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers

37:57 but his delight is in the law of God and upon his law doth he meditate day and night he says there is no facet of reality that does not have its true significance in the light of God for it is in the language of the Psalmist that in thy light that we see light but then secondly brethren we must stand upon the walls and seek to be faithful watchmen not only warning our people of the evils of a militant secularism but the evils of an aggressive feminism the evils of an aggressive feminism

38:42 now why do I single this out because as I have watched the emergence of the so called feminist movement and seen its development into its screeching howling almost militant not almost militant and almost paramilitary form I've asked myself Lord why so aggressive that question is troubled I think I'm beginning to see the answer and could it not be that the answer lies right here when we turn to Genesis chapter 1 we read and God said let us make man in our image and after our likeness and in the image of God created he him male and female created he them according to Genesis 1 26 and 27 there is no such thing as innocuous neutral personhood every one of us here is a male or a female image bearer of God and there is no it

40:00 I you he she each of us bears the image of God in distinctive sexual identity now if the carnal mind is enmity against God himself and murder is said to be an affront upon God in whose image man is made and therefore warrants capital punishment the rationale of Genesis chapter 9 do you see what aggressive feminism is it's an attempt to kill God it's an attempt to go after the God who reflects his image in man in the males and the femaleness of man and as surely as capital punishment is warranted for the wanton taking of the life of another who is made in the image of God do we not see brethren that behind aggressive feminism is an attack upon the tangible expression of God those peculiar God like qualities in femininity and masculinity are an irritant to a hater of God therefore the hater of God will go after

41:26 those dimensions of God's image peculiarly revealed in sanctified masculinity and so feminism castrates men and makes them into wimps make them tentative about leadership tentative about headship tentative about aggressiveness why because God is a leading aggressive God and our people need to recognize that this is not a matter of whether or not women get equal pay for equal jobs whether or not it's right for men to be allowed to pinch the hinds of women in the office my friends this is not the issue the issue of aggressive feminism is the destruction of both man and woman in the image of God an attack upon any of the new humanity in Christ who are determined to demonstrate in the dynamics of grace godly masculinity and godly femininity so glad our brethren will be addressing this at the young people's conference in Grand Rapids this December let's pray that God will own the cry of their watchmen to these young people

42:52 because the pressure comes from every quarter we must warn as faithful watchmen concerning the evils of an aggressive feminism but then thirdly we must stand upon the wall and with keen perception and moral courage warn our people of the evils of a ubiquitous new age-ism ubiquity is the quality of being everywhere at the same time or at least appearing to be and therefore I've used the word ubiquitous because it's the only word that fits with reference to new age-ism this present American religion that is a combination of pantheism in which all is God and God is all and therefore a spotted owl has as much dignity and even more than a baby in a womb in which a certain life form that one can only see under a microscope has more worth and is worthy of more protection than a human being in a mother's womb its self-deification, its worship of the earth combined with its eastern mysticism finding the God within and joined to astrology

44:19 in which guidance and destiny are determined by the positions and movement of heavenly bodies all the way to so-called holistic medicine which is nothing in many places but glorified shamanism surely Romans 1.18 and following are being lived out before our eyes as they have kept down the knowledge of God and did not want to worship and serve the creator but the creature God gives them over and dear people I'm amazed at how under-cerning some of our people are with respect to this ubiquitous new age-ism because as the scripture tells us no wonder Satan himself Paul says comes as a messenger of righteousness and as an angel of light and into corporate America comes seminars by the dozens apparently calculated to make men more efficient in the corporate structure when in reality it is new age religion being floated in the name of greater efficiency the whole concept of positive imaging finding the little child within you all of this dear people

45:44 we need to be faithful watchmen standing upon Zion's walls it will threaten and undermine the very vitals of true biblical supernaturalism the creator creature distinction which lies at the heart of our very existence and every tenet of theism and of the Christian faith then I say if we are to be faithful watchmen upon Zion's walls we must not only warn our people of the evils of a militant secularism an aggressive feminism a ubiquitous new age-ism but the evils of a materialistic determinism the evils of a materialistic determinism and what do I mean by those words simply this determinism of any kind is the teaching and the belief that things do not just fall out by chance that there is what some might call fate what the child of God calls a wise loving intelligent sovereign God ordering all things in all realms for his glory and the accomplishment of his purposes and a generation that mashes its teeth at the thought that God is upon his throne if there is a God why Hurricane Andrew

47:09 if there is a God why the monsoon rains that swept away tens of thousands in India they hate the thought that there is a sovereign God when things don't go as they would order them were they in control but these very same people have concocted a materialistic determinism that says ultimately no one is accountable for what he is or for what he does what I am and what I do is all the result of my genetic programming

47:46 and hardly a week passes but that some so-called responsible medical spokesman comes out with another area in which human behavior is being tentatively viewed as absolutely predetermined by body chemistry by genetic structuring and programming what a horrible determinism but it won't wash in a man's conscience and it won't wash in the day of judgment for my Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5.10 so then each one of us shall be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ that each of us may give an account of the deeds done in the body and can you imagine a materialistic determinist standing before God and being charged with his sin of drunkenness and saying but whoa God you didn't understand I had such and such a predisposition to drunkenness because of my genetic structure and being charged with the sins of sodomy and the sins of adultery and sexual perversion and he says ah but God did you not know I was genetically predisposed to abnormal sexual obsessions and I was only being true to my internal monitor

49:10 and as the tape of my genetic programming unfolded I became what I was predetermined to be my friend it will not wash in the day of judgment it will not wash in a conscience that is accusing the sinner and we must cry out against this vicious evil or the edge will be taken off the consciences of our people and they will be altogether too willing to go into the blame shifting mode of Eden but instead of saying the woman thou gavest me it will be the genes thou gavest me the genetic predisposition thou gavest me it urged me oh yes and I complied Eden's blame shifting now with fancy terminology aided and abetted by computer technology it's as old as Eden and it is the lie of Eden and we need to sound an alarm to our people and then fifthly we need as faithful watchmen upon the walls of Zion seeking under God to see our people preserved from the dominant anti-Christian thought patterns of our day

50:32 we need to warn them that the evils of total moral relativism the evils of total moral relativism the idea that there is no fixed plan the standard of right or wrong in any realm different strokes for different folks if I enjoy it and harm no one by it then it is all right for me ah but you see here's the catch who determines whether someone is harmed by my own subjective judgment that's all total moral relativism so that without any sense of shame it is one thing for a community of self-confessed perverts who know by nature that their so-called sexual preference is against the very dictates of what they see and observe in their physical constitution it's one thing for them to say they want protection from being browbeaten and being ostracized and not given due basic protection of the law I'm not debating that issue I'm not saying I approve of it I'm not discussing it but that's not what they want

51:59 what they want is for you and for me to place our imprimatur upon the screamings to their own consciences that their lifestyle is perfectly acceptable that's what they want not merely one that we shall tolerate graciously in a so-called free society but one that we will approve unqualifiedly total moral relativism if ever the language of the prophet found a contemporary fulfillment surely it is in this area when the prophet cried out in Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 20 woe unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight having given up the law of God with its moral absolutes having sought to scrub it from their very consciences until I believe God has given millions over to an utterly seared conscience woe to them that are now wise in their own eyes

53:27 to make moral judgments dear people of God my fellow ministers our sheep are subjected in greater or lesser degrees to these vicious enemies of our God and of his truth and of his Christ and of a life of holiness and of a mindset that is consistent with disciplined discipleship to Jesus Christ and according to Romans 12.2 the world system at any given point in time whatever its peculiar aggressive manifestations may be it is always attempting to pressure the believer into its mold be not conformed to this world and dear people how are our people going to dear brethren how are our people going to obey that injunction unless as faithful watchmen standing upon the walls we see with keen perception these enemies to their souls and with moral courage armed with the word of truth and with a life that embodies the power of that truth lift up our voices and warn them lest failing to warn them they make shipwreck their blood be required in our hands

Application: Warning Against Major Dangers from Within the Professing Church

54:57 but then I hasten on and I will seek to be more brief to that second category of concern I urge you my brethren not only to fulfill the function of a watchman in your pastoral office by warning your people concerning the major enemies that they face from the world but warn your people concerning the major enemies they face from within the professing church from within the professing church number one warn them of the evils of the self esteem gospel it's everywhere it was interesting after my wife and I read through together Jay Adams little book in the past year self esteem self love I forgot the third couplet of words in the title it was amazing how our consciousness was raised and we saw the self esteem gospel not just in the secular press but oozing out of Christian literature Christian radio broadcasts Christian sermons it's assumed as a given that whatever the gospel of Christ does it elevates enhances and enshrines your self esteem

56:25 and it's been thumped and thundered and whispered so long and so frequently that people imbibe it and never even question whether it's taught in the word of God whereas if I read my bible aright the first call in discipleship is to radical self denial if any man would come after me let him repudiate himself and take up his cross and in loving attachment to me for what I've done upon my cross let him follow me in evangelical obedience out of evangelical motives or as Paul put it in Pauline language second Corinthians 5 15 and that he died for all that they who live should no longer henceforth live unto themselves but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again and that same apostle could say for to me to live is Christ and the great passion of his heart in Philippians 3 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death there isn't a word to suggest

57:52 even thought of himself let alone his self esteem his self worth his self actualization and we need dear brethren to look upon this evil that so often is propounded very close to Zion's walls and even within her walls we have a problem that watchmen in the first century didn't have the false teacher had to get into people's houses remember Paul spoke about those who creep into houses and lead captive silly women all our people need to do is flip a dial on the television on the radio and the false teachers right there in their ear before their eyeballs doesn't even need to come near the door of the house they can expose themselves to the horrible diluting if not damning influence of false teaching at the flick of a dial God help us to be faithful watchmen are you warning your people about the TV evangelists and the radio teachers and preachers and authors that they pick up at their Christian book shops and that alas I've been surprised I've found in certain book shops of reformed baptist churches with self esteem gospel in it we need to warn our people as faithful watchmen

59:18 of the evils of the self esteem gospel secondly we need to warn them of the evils of the church marketing movement we need to identify this great enemy to all that is distinctively supernatural and other worldly and counter culture in the biblical gospel and in the community of the new humanity the evils of the church marketing movement the idea that we must be and we must have and we must promote a user friendly product there must be nothing about us individually or corporately that makes any sinner in any condition from whatever background under any circumstances feel the slightest twinge of discomfort so some are told don't bring your bibles to Sunday services because if a visitor comes in who doesn't have a bible he doesn't feel socially acceptable and he'll feel awkward so don't bring your bibles to church oh yes don't bring your bibles to church and of course since a man standing up here with a bible and quoting texts and identifying sins and crying out against them and talking about hell and judgment and error and moral absolutes why that will just blow someone clean out the back door

60:46 five times faster than he came in that product is a it stinks from a distance before you'll even look at it and handle it and see if it feels good he's going to chuck it excuse me chuck he's going to discard it he's going to discard it and so we're told we must package the gospel in a way that makes it smell good to the foul olfactory nerves of the Adamic man and must make it look good to this distorted view of a blind sinner who sees no beauty in Christ and I'm not caricaturing I've done my homework can any of you question the legitimacy of what I say I'll take you to the sources God have mercy on us if we do not warn our people because our people long to see growth and increase and people interested and excited about the gospel as we were reminded yesterday by pastor Lamar there is no true Christian who doesn't want to be more greatly used in the salvation of sinners in the sanctification of saints but the question is this how are we to market

62:09 the divinely given product is it in the language of 2 Corinthians 1 12 is it to be done with fleshly wisdom Paul says no we did not minister in fleshly wisdom the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh a fleshly adaptation of the gospel and of Christian worship and of the Christian community adapted to the sensibilities of a given market whether it's yuppie dumb or any other kind of dumb the evils of the church marketing movement my brethren we must cry out and warn our people and seek to preserve them from its influence if we don't serious worship will be the first thing that will begin to erode in our congregations serious God-centered worship will begin to give way to a little more relaxed user-friendly climate until you'll end up with the plastic phony grin of a shiller all you lovely people it's so nice to have you here how in God's name can rational people do anything other than pew

63:36 but we'll end up there if we buy in one iota and the pressure will be on your people they'll get bullied or mother evangelicals say hey we've grown 30% last year how about you reformed baptists well thank God we've seen three conversions three conversions your people begin to feel the pressure and the reproach if you guys would just loosen up a bit it's just a bit too high bound serious worship will be the first to go structured intellectually demanding passionate morally searching preaching will be the next thing to go and then you'll have nice laid-back bible talkers who can tie together a few verses make you laugh and just at the point where you might get serious relax you again with something that brings a titter and a smile in God's name my brethren be watchmen on the wall warn your people of the evils of the church marketing movement thirdly warn them of the evils of psychologizing the bible warn them of the evils of psychologizing the bible what the bible describes as sins

65:04 and my parents taught me were sins and I was brought up believing were sins are now syndromes

65:14 lovely term when he the spirit is come he will reprove the world of syndromes not so reads my bible he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment sins are now syndromes and functional disorders what the bible calls slavery to sin are now addictive sicknesses drunkenness is a sickness a man committed to chronic addiction to pornography is not a slave to the sin of uncleanness he has an addictive sexual disorder isn't that a lovely name for a rotten stinking vile filthy slavery to uncleanness no wonder there is no conviction he can read his bible be not deceived neither fornicators nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with men nor railers and read all of that and say don't speak to me hadn't talked about an addictive disorder don't say anything to me brethren words carry concepts

66:41 and this is why the scripture tells us hold fast second timothy 1 13 the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me hold fast the form of sound words first corinthians 2 12 and 13 paul says that things that were previously hidden and are now revealed he says which things we speak not in words which man's wisdom teacheth but in words which the holy spirit teacheth don't you play light with god's words beware of the evil of psychologizing the bible disobedience to biblical norms where husbands do not love their wives as christ loved the church and wives will not submit in all things to their husbands these are now not homes where the word and the law of god are defied they are dysfunctional families what's a dysfunctional family anything you want to make it was the last time you came under pungent tear-wrenching conviction or a dysfunction what a dysfunction was when i saw the ball in my shoulder went out or something and it was out of joint and i had to go to the doctor and he put it back in i never got a conviction of sin when a limb was not functioning as it ought

68:09 through some mechanical breakdown it hurt and i went to a doctor and if i did it because i did something stupid i might confess to god my stupidity but i didn't confess to god that my arm wasn't functioning right so if there's something in the soul and in interpersonal relation not functioning well how can you feel convicted about that it's just a breakdown in the system

68:30 brethren this is not playing about words this is not a logomachy a war about words this is preserving the vitals of true and biblical christianity warn your people of the evils of psychologizing the bible fourthly warn them of the evils of politicize politicization i got it out better than ethnicity yesterday the evils of politicization of the church's mission and again i use the word not to use a big word but because i want to condense the concept and by it i mean simply this the church being urged to form a power block for moral and ethical issues as church and i'm amazed at how many evangelical and reformed people have fallen prey to this politicized politicization of the church's mission find one directive from one apostle for one rally to attack one evil in the massive mountain of evils in the roman empire i challenge you to find one find one and the evils were great

69:55 from slavery by conquest to abortion infanticide to abortion infanticide polygamy read romans one no apostle in the age when the spirit of god most powerfully worked in bringing some estimates say what one twentieth of the roman empire to faith if ever there was a time to organize into political power blocks it was then when she was in her christian glory and power and had living apostles to tell us how to do it but what they said is pray for your rulers and they knew who the scandals were the very one who wrote that would lose his head at the edge of the sword of one of them he said pray for them peter who had known what it was to be abused by the semi religious civil authorities in jerusalem said honor the king obey governors honor to whom honor is due you see dear people it looks so impressive you can stir up a bunch of people to go and picket an abortion clinic try to get that same group of people to get together for an hour of intense fervent gut wrenching prayer

71:21 with the understanding they couldn't lay hold of god until every issue that could be dealt with and should be dealt with in the way of unconfessed sin was dealt with before they could have dealings with god for if i regard iniquity in my heart the lord will not hear me and that means you see that if i'm to have a conscience void of offense to god and man i've got to get it in the only way god's provided it and that's in the path of repentance and faith faith in the jesus of the bible who died once for all for sinners the just for the unjust so i can't then pray with the roman catholic who fumbles through her rosary and prays to mary and to joseph and who trusts the sacrifice of the mass i remember in this very building some years ago discussing with an elder of a reformed baptist church why he should not be involved in a movement and in activities that come under this category of seeking to form a power block as church in carrying out a given mission and i said how would you feel at your next gathering in front of that abortion clinic if i came up to the two hundred were there roman catholics and mormons and all the rest and i began to preach the gospel and lovingly yet passionately showed from the bible

72:47 that the roman catholic is an idolater if he's a true roman catholic and that the mormon is an idolater and no idolater shall enter the kingdom how would you like it if i busted up your rally with some basic gospel street preaching his mouth was shut another cause had overshadowed the gospel but my bible says god forbid that i should glory save in the cross of our lord jesus christ i want to come to rome paul says not because it was a large and thriving multi-ethnic church at the nerve centers of the roman empire in order to politicize no no he said i want to preach the gospel because the gospel is the dunamis of god unto salvation

The Evils of a Laodicean Spirit

73:39 and the politicization of the church is really a wretchedly eloquent testimony of unbelief in the power of the gospel and finally my brethren i urge you as watchmen upon the walls not only by the grace of god to warn your people of the evils within in terms of what i have called the self-esteem gospel the church marketing movement the psychologizing of the bible the politicization of the church's mission and here i speak tenderly but i speak with constraint the evils of a laodicean spirit we need to warn our people as we warn ourselves of the evils of the laodicean spirit and what do i mean by that just what jesus said in revelation 3 14 and following speaking to the church at laodicea he says this is your discipline this is your disposition and this is my response to it unto the angel of the church in laodicea right these things set the amen the faithful in the true witness the beginning of the creation of god

75:04 i know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot i would thou wert cold or hot so then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot that i am sick in my appearance and dépuce you when's the last time you said i got sick to my stomach and i spewed and you said i've vomited i've cute it's the word used the lord says you make me nauseous if only you were burning hot i would find in you and answer to my own zeal which consumed me in the daze of my flesh Continues to burn upon the altars of my heart at the right hand of my father. Zeal for his house eats me up. If you were cold, I'd be able somehow to get you to see and to face the reality of how desperate your state is. That because you're tepid, there's been a raising of the temperature enough that there is no chilling blast coming out of your life.

76:17 But neither is there that fire that is a dangerous, uncontrollable, and contagious element of religious passion.

76:31 And how is it manifested? He describes it, verse 17, Because thou sayest, he takes them to task for their language, for remember the mouth is the echo of the heart. I'm rich, and gotten riches, have need of nothing. I've become the form.

76:49 Our theology is straight. I've become set in my ecclesiology. I've got our eldership in place, and our deacons are functioning. And we have benevolence.

77:01 Brethren, in the light of this afternoon's discussion, I demean none of those things. We better be able to say those things. But oh, if we say them in this spirit, in the light of all of this, there's nowhere to go.

77:15 We've arrived. And there's no longer the plaintive cry about our leanness. No longer. No longer the earnest, passionate pleading with God.

77:26 The holy wrestlings that marked some of us in the days when we didn't know our left hand from our right, theologically. We knew what it was to lie on our faces half a night in hunger for God. Crying, oh God, fill me with your spirit. Use me to do something for the glory of the Christ who's captured my heart.

77:55 And we weren't satisfied with any present level of attainment in grace. We weren't satisfied with any level of knowledge and understanding. We were an irritant to every smug Christian that got around us. Some of you can remember when that was true of you.

78:10 Remember? When you were an irritant to every smug Christian that got close to you? How long has it been since you've been an irritant, Danny?

78:21 Lukewarm things, neither shocked with their coldness nor with their heat.

78:26 They create no reaction.

78:30 Brethren, brethren, I beg of you.

78:35 I beg of you. Ask God for an eye to perceive this horrible enemy within the walls of Zion. This Laodicean spirit that manifests itself in a smug self-contentedness and an ignorance of one's true state. And knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

79:01 Some says, could that be said of a true believer? I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by the fire. Verse 19, as many as I love, I reprove and chasten. This is Jesus speaking to his own people.

79:19 And I plead with you, my brethren, that with passion and earnestness, and at whatever cost to your own personal reviving and quickening, be a true watchman. Crying out, Cry out to your people with respect to the evils of a Laodicean spirit. Now in conclusion, let me say, I am not pontificating in saying you must, if you're going to be a faithful pastor functioning in due proportion as a watchman, bring a series of messages on all ten things that I've addressed. I'm not saying that.

Conclusion: A Plea for Faithful Watchmen

79:59 I have no right to say it. I have no desire to say it. I haven't said it. Whatever your method may be, in whatever way you and your fellow overseers judge to be in the best interest of the well-being of your flock and all of its peculiar needs, surely, brethren, over the course of the coming months and several years, unless God is pleased to do something unusual in mercy or in judgment, these evils will continue to threaten Zion's well, their well-being as they come from the world and threaten her health and usefulness as they come from within her own ranks. And may it not be said of us, and this is my final text, Isaiah chapter 56, may it not be said of us, O my fellow watchmen, Isaiah 56 and verse 10, His watchmen are blind. Think of it. A man up on the wall, placed there by his fellow citizens for their safety and security, and he peers out to the horizon with sightless eyes.

81:23 What imagery. His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They have no discernment.

81:30 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.

81:42 You plunked out $500 for a purebred German shepherd whose roar ought to make the rafters shake when a burglar comes near the house. And all he does is sit there and lick the back of his hand. Doesn't even bark. And he says this of the watchmen.

82:01 His watchmen are blind. They are without knowledge. Dumb dogs that cannot bark. Dreaming.

82:10 Lying down. Loving to suffer.

82:15 May God grant that not one of those characteristics will be true of us. But may we be his watchmen who see with spirit wrought 2015 vision. Who have discernment and knowledge hammered out upon the anvil of the word of God and close dealings with God in the theater of our own hearts. That whatever else is true of us in all the rough edges and all of the things about our preaching and pastoral work that cause us shame.

82:52 May we at least be able to say I'm a dog that can bark in the presence of a burglar.

83:01 And whatever else we can say. We say oh God at least I don't daydream sitting on the wall taking siestas every other hour on the hour. Loving to slumber. Oh God I'm seeking to keep my spiritual eyes free of the grit and the dust of this world.

83:24 And I'm seeking oh God to keep my mind honed by my Bible. Daily feeding on the book that my moral discernment might be kept keen in an age of abounding wickedness. And oh Lord I wait upon you for moral courage. And oh Lord I wait upon you for moral courage.

83:44 And oh Lord I wait upon you for moral courage. And oh Lord I wait upon you for moral courage. That when I see an enemy I'll bark. My bark may be unrefined and rough.

83:50 But the person delivered by my bark will never fault me for the quality of the bark.

83:57 They'll bless me for the deliverance that it wrought. My dear brethren in the name of our blessed Lord Jesus may we be faithful watchmen to the house of Israel to the glory of God and to the good of our people.