23. I have Made Thee a Watchman

I Have Made Thee a Watchman

I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
Ezekiel 3. 17.

“I have made thee a watchman.” These words should grip any Christian. A watchman is an important man. In fact, he is a most important man in times of danger. He can be either a curse or a blessing to the people.

A watchman’s position must be on a high elevation. The higher up he sits the more he can see. His vision becomes greater in proportion to his elevation. The Lord has a place which He expects all His people to occupy. He “has made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved) and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2. 5—6). “The heavenly places” are the heights upon which God’s people are to live. They are the mountain tops of victorious living. It is from here that the enemy can be detected. “I have made thee a watchman,” says our Lord; but how can we be true watchmen, if we live in the valley of defeat?

A watchman must be wide awake. In the army, a guard or watchman suffers a severe penalty if he falls asleep on his post. No excuse is accepted. What good is a sleeping watchman? It is not enough that he is awake most of the time. He must be awake all the time. The first man the lurking enemy looks for is the watchman. If they can get by him, their greatest difficulty is solved. What responsibility to be a Christian — God’s watchman of today! Think of Satan’s gains because of the spiritual drowsiness of Christians! In Israel’s day the Lord said, “I have set watchmen upon thy wall, 0 Jerusalem; and they shall never hold their peace day or night: ye that are Jehovah’s remembrancers, take ye no rest” (Isaiah 62. 6). Paul was just such a watchman, for he could say, “Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish everyone night and day with tears” (Acts 20. 31). Oh, for grace to be such a watchman!

A watchman must speak up. He goes about his work in a quiet way. He is usually by himself in some appointed place. To many, his work seems quite useless. Perhaps he himself is tempted to think this. However, a true watchman sees danger long before others see it. He must not wait for others to see what he sees. The alarm must be given. “Give them warning,” are the clear words of our text. If the warning is not heeded, that is not the fault of the watchman. “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 deliv.ered thy soul” (Ezekiel 3. 19). However, it is as clearly stated, that if the watchman does not speak “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 (the watchman’s) hand” (Ezekiel 3. 18). Truly the watchman has a great responsibility.

Do you claim to be a Christian? Then you are a watchman. You have been commissioned in the words of our text, “I have made thee a watchman.” Great honor and responsibility have been bestowed upon you. What kind of a watchman are you?