Apostle
Paul encourages us to stay alert and hold firmly to
all that we believe. He encourages us to be mighty and full of courage. And to let all that we do be done in love. (Watch
ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity. 1 Corinthians
16:13)
Watchmen are needed:
Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make
the watch strong, set up the watchmen, . . . prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath
both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. Jeremiah 51:12
As I sought God on
what He would have me say, I was led to these 2 scriptures as encouragement to
some and admonishment to others. God
says it is time for us that remain to step it up. We’ve had the honor and privilege to be in
the company of some mighty men and women of God and now they’re gone and it’s
left to us to carry on – not be them – but do the work of God given to us for
this time.
In Luke 5 Jesus asks
the question “Who goes to the doctor for a cure? Those who are well or those
who are sick? I have not come to call
the ‘righteous,’ but to call those who know they are sinners and bring them to
repentance.”
And
Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but
they that are sick. I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:29-32
This word for today
doesn’t matter where you are; rather you’ve started your journey or not. You may not be a watchman yet but it’s my
prayer today that the lost will be found, the gap filled and the watchmen get
on their post. Jesus said He didn’t come
to call the righteous but the sinner to repentance or to wholeness. The cure for this sin-sick world is
repentance. It’s the responsibility -
our obligation to bridge the gap of a sin-sick world to a forgiving
Father. Until Jesus comes again, we must continue the
work left to us by our savior, Jesus Christ.
The work doesn’t stop because of those that were leading the way are no
longer here. Remember, God allowed
Joshua a space of time to mourn Moses but then he told Him to get up, there was
still work that needed to be done; he had to carry on in Moses’ stead. There was the gap from the wilderness to the
promised land that needed to be bridged.
Just as in those days - from the wilderness to the promised land - we have work to continue to bridge that gap
between a sin-sick world and a forgiving father!
There’s a great
spiritual gap – the gap is between the challenge of Jesus to reach the world
with the Gospel and the failure of His people to fulfill that challenge. That’s why we need to step it up. Those
generals, bishops, elders, pastors, mothers, intercessors have gone as far as
they could go and now, we, those of us who remain, must continue the work! It’s time for the body of Christ to arise and
be on our post; whatever that post may be. When we recognize and accept our personal
responsibility to the multitudes of sin-sick people, we become part of a
special network; a network of a group of believers from all over the world who
have joined together spiritually; the body of Christ – we all have a role as
watchmen. My role may not be the same as
yours but we work together as a united front to accomplish the will of
God.
If we are to continue
to fulfill the Great Commission and bridge the gap between sinful man and a
righteous God, we must get out of cultural, theological, and denominational
ruts. We have to arise, go out as Jesus instructed and share the good news of
the mediator between a merciful God and sin-sick man.
But we have become so
acclimated to the standards of the world, trying to blend in that we are
casting shadows rather than shedding light!
We’re trying to blend in when we should be beaming the light of Jesus. God desires us to be oily, not squeaky! What do you mean Pastor Candy? Squeaky implies that something is wrong; not
quite right, not acting or working correctly and it attracts all types of
attention; people trying to fix you in ungodly ways – according to the
standards of man instead of God. But if
you’re oily it attracts those that are seeking something better than what they
have; they want what you have or they don’t want any part of you. So, we need to be unwavering in our belief; we
need to be stable – otherwise you’re squeaky!
There has
to be someone who will intercede on behalf of a sin-sick world, someone who
will usher sinful man to a forgiving God; a God who is rich in mercy and
faithful to forgive us; someone who will cast the light which leads to the path
of eternal salvation. If there are no
watchmen – no one to pray, no one to fast, no one to encourage, no one to
preach and teach the word – then it’s a wrap for the world; it’s lost. Therefore, we must rise up and do the will of
the Father. The bible asks the
question:
. . . how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a
preacher? Romans 10:14
The
answer is . . . faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
Watchmen
have to share God with the world! The
times we are living in demand it!
The times are perilous. We know the condition of the world and we know the
condition of the church (body of Christ) today. In the world, these are critical
times, the moral fabric of our society is just one thread away from becoming
completely unraveled. In the church there is a great falling away, we're
almost spiritually catatonic as the world plummets to its destructive end and
not only that, the love of God has waxed
cold in the hearts of many.
Even as in the days of old,
we’re living in perverse times: At one point,
during his journey, Jesus asked: Can’t
you see how wayward and wrong this generation is? Matthew
17:17
We don’t know how
long God will stay His hand so we must make haste to be about our father’s
business. We must become the watchmen;
the ones who will cry out to a sin-sick dying world and let them know that
there is a way, a path to salvation, a hope that can only be found in and
through Christ Jesus.
God made
it possible to bridge the gap that separates us from Him. He sent His son Jesus and Jesus upon
completion of His assignment on this earth let us know:
. . . I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
There is no other
way. The Bible tells us:
. . . there is one God, and there is one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (I Timothy 2:5)
The need for a
mediator indicates there is a gap or a separation between two parties who
cannot accept each other.
Jesus is the mediator
between sinful man and a righteous God. Neither can accept the other without
the mediator. Jesus made it possible
for man to be redeemed from sin and accepted by a righteous God. So how do sinful men make it to Jesus –
Watchmen!
Multitudes of people still
wait for the message of the mediator who can bridge the gap between them and
God. They may not know exactly what they are waiting on, but we know and I dare
say there are multitudes in the world just waiting to be found. The bible says:
For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Romans
8:22
Groaning and
travailing for the hope that is only found through Jesus! The sin-sick needs someone to lead them to
Christ. Not only that, it’s time to pick
up the mantles left by the generals and mothers and harvest workers that have
gone on before us. So I’ll go back to
my opening scripture: God tells us to
set up the standard, set up the watchmen, be prepared (Jeremiah 51:12)
What is the standard – the word of God; get it in your heart, know it and apply
it to your life so that you can be strong and courageous; prepared for whatever
comes your way.
I was reflecting on a
hospital stay and God begin to show me how the body of Christ should be
operating. In this reflection, God
showed me the sin-sick world in need of spiritual intervention and the hospital
that represented safety, hope and healing.
The world is crying out, lost, confused and without hope; many not even realizing
that there is a place where their spiritual needs can be met, a place where
there is hope and a place where they can be healed and delivered from their
sin-sickened state. Some are spiritually
dying in their sin and don’t even realize it.
But, the bible says that
. . .
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting. John 3:16
In my reflections, as a sinner, I didn’t
realize that I was spiritually dead but God, not desiring that any should
perish, dealt with me. I was a ‘whosoever
will’ that God loved. Watchmen
had been placed strategically in my life; some, I knew of and some I was unaware. So, this brings me to my first point. First and foremost, because of God but
secondly for the sinner’s sake, as watchmen we have to live a life that is a
reflection of our heavenly Father.
Others see us, they observe us and they make note of what we do and what
we say. The bible talks about living
epistles; through our actions as well as our speech; people should see the God
in us. (2 Corinthians 3:1-3) So,
in my reflection, as I lay there, God spoke to me in my unconscious state
through a watchman; someone that I had heard deliver the word of God, someone
that I observed on the pulpit as well as off the pulpit. A watchman!
That person was speaking to me so urgently in my unconscious state that
it caused me to wake up and realize that I was drowning in my sin! Had it not been for the watchman living a
life that caused his words to have an impact on me; I may not have woken
up! For anyone who calls yourself a
saint of God, everybody in our life should know who we are and what we
represent. We can’t be wishy-washy and
lukewarm as watchmen. We have to be
alert on our post. How impactful are we
as the watchmen on the post? We need to
prick the hearts of the sin-sick one way or the other – either they run to
Jesus (like in the case of Peter) or they cut you out like in the case of
Stephan. But either way our impact
should be big.
Again, to my
reflection, God has my attention now and I realize that if there’s to be any
hope, I must find that place of safety, hope and healing. The hospital represented the church and the Watchmen
were on their post. Thinking in terms of
the sinner, I was laden with sin. That
means I was so weighted down that even though I was close to the entrance, I could
barely make it to the door yet I was determined to make it. I’m being drawn by God to His sanctuary – to
a place of safety, healing and hope. God
sees the sinners’ tears and the sincere efforts and as His representatives, we
should be there on our post ready to usher people into the presence of
God. The watchman was on his post, saw
my struggle and immediately offered assistance.
What do we do when we see someone struggling – do we offer what we have;
what all of us should have – it may be a smile, it may be a hug, it could be a
prayer, a word of comfort, spiritual warfare, an offer to know Jesus in a
better way. The bible says:
“Therefore
to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17
Goodness is a part of
the fruit of the spirit; it doesn’t matter what the nature of sin may be, it is
our obligation to help in the healing process of the sin-sick. What good thing are we neglecting to do? Because of our lack of action, how many
sin-sick are so close yet languishing outside the sanctuary? On our watch!
Point 2 – We have to do our
part and work as a united force. There
were people working in all positions in the hospital; all working in unison;
all staying in their own lane because they knew their assignment. No one was trying to outdo the other or do a
job that wasn’t theirs. Do you
know your assignment and are you sticking to it?
One thing I noted was
the care and attention they showed to me.
It wasn’t fake or phony; nobody rushed through procedures; they asked
questions and listened to what I had to say.
There were no games, gimmicks or tricks as they worked on me. Their only goal was to make me better. Sadly, that is not true today; people can’t
be totally delivered and set free because some of the staff are not focused on
the goal; they’re not seeing things and doing things from a godly perspective. They’re looking for a raise, a position, a
title, promotion. Some just want to be a
show horse – that look at me mentality!
Some are trying to do things they are not yet qualified for; they
haven’t learned to stay in their lane.
We wonder why we see so much confusion and corruption in the body
of Christ; those who will speak of God for personal gain
The bible tells us:
if anyone spreads false teaching that does not agree with the instruction
of Jesus, teaching others that the holy awe of God is not important, they
prove they know nothing at all! It’s obvious they don’t value or hold dear the wholesome
words of Jesus. They’re covered with the clouds of conceit. They’re
loaded with controversy, and they love to argue their opinions and split
hairs. The fruit of their ministry is contention, competition, and evil
suspicions. They add misery to other’s lives
by corrupting their minds and cheating them of the truth. They equate the
worship of God with making great sums of money.
(1
Timothy 6:3-5)
And then
we wonder how the infected crept in unaware.
We didn’t shut some stuff down; we didn’t set proper boundaries, we
didn’t hold the standard up as a defense.
We see
the word of God being fulfilled:
And because iniquity
shall abound , the love of many shall wax cold. Matthew
24:12
We have this misconception of entitlement in the church today. We act like God owes us a favor. We
feel like just because we've given our life to God, God owes us
everything our heart desires. And when we don't get it, we have our pity
parties and sometimes we walk away from God or turn our back on Him. Is
there any wonder why we are in such a perilous state? This is what
we need to understand, no matter what state we’re in; rather we are
out of God’s will or in His will, He still loves us. No, He does not like
or approve; nor is He accepting of the sin we may be in but He loves us.
His word tells us that He sent His only begotten son not
because we are so good, but because He loves us! (John 3:16)
It
should be our desire to point people
to Jesus. Despite the times we know that we serve a God that is omnipotent and that
when we open our hearts to Him and obey his will, His glory will be manifest. So let’s step it up, get on our post, fill in
the gaps left by those who have gone on before us.
Take the words of encouragement given by Apostle Paul to his spiritual son,
Timothy that lets us know that just like Timothy, we too must rise up:
Apostle
Paul gave him 3 directives:
√ stir up the gift of God, (fan the flame and rekindle the fire of
the spiritual gift God imparted to you
√ Never doubt God hath not given us
the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
√ Be not ashamed of the testimony
of our Lord, don’t shrink back from the afflictions of the gospel
according to the power of God; 1 Timothy 1:5-8
Sermonette
