#2460 0806 17A

            Watchmen should not remain silent while the unbelieving rush toward destruction and eternal torment.  With the spiritual condition of the world being what it is—morally, politically, and every other way, there is an urgency to sound the trumpet; to warn the world; and to re-commit our own life to God anew every day.  Our brief time on earth, is not a time for play, but for battle—the Christian life is a spiritual battle with the enemy of our soul.

            What matters most to God should matter most to us—accepting His Son into our heart; trusting in His faithfulness; depending every day on His divine power to follow His Word of Truth in a very dark world; and being concerned for those who are lost in sin.  We should sound the trumpet when God gives us the opportunity.

            It is a time to examine our priorities; to ask God to search our heart; and to be ready to hear His voice of Truth when He shows us a wrong course we are on, or unscriptural attitude we have toward someone or something.  When spiritual light is given, then spiritual changes must take place—and God will always help us make them—Hebrews 3:15 “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” 

            We must live our life like we do not belong to this world—we are just in the world until Jesus returns for His followers—we are just passing through.  All too many are lukewarm—which is a choice, but a very poor one indeed.  Every day we make decisions—and decisions always have consequences—both good and bad.  When we fear God; we fear nothing else!

            Those whose trust is on God, will always defend their faith in Christ. Jude 1:3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”  Would our life be a trumpet sound of Truth for others—that is the question.

            God has entrusted us with His eternal Truth, now we must live it, and share it when He gives that opportunity—the world needs to know, because time is running out.  Ezekiel 18:1 “The word of the LORD came unto me again.”  The Word of the Lord comes to us by reading the Bible.  We use the Scriptures as the standard in determining if what we are reading or hearing is God’s Truth.

            The End Times will bring an increase of false prophets, false teachers, and delusions.  False teaching can be the most dangerous, because we do not expect a religious message to be deceptive.  Many assume that all Christian messages are telling the truth, so they let down their spiritual guard.  We should always be testing the teaching with the Word of God.

            Back in the day, there was no satellite communication, no cable news, and no drones to find out what the enemy was doing.  They would choose watchman to stand on the wall that was built around the city to protect the inhabitants inside.  The watchman would look out into the distance to see if an enemy approached.

            Watchmen had to be persons of integrity; someone who is trustworthy; someone who was zealous, alert, attentive, loyal, reliable, and faithful.  He had to be someone who cared about the people; who was honest; was principled and dependable.

            Ezekiel 33:2 “Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. 5 Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved [his soul].’”

            God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked—those who never trusted Him; never gave their life to Christ; and never believed the Bible.  God did not create anyone to end their life in destruction.  Far too many have no time for God; no time for His Truth; and no time to even find out how to receive a one-way ticket to eternal life.  Millions have never given God the opportunity to prepare them for eternal life.

            Leviticus 24:16 “Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.” 

            If the millions that verse speaks of, and who are now in Hell, could come back to earth for five minutes, we can be sure they would repent of their sins, be born again, and would accept the Lord Jesus into their heart from that moment.  But it is too late for so many—did anyone sound the trumpet before those lost souls took their last breath—that is something to ponder. 

            Is our life, our words, our decisions, and our attitudes sounding the trumpet of truth for our circle of friends, or for anyone around us, is the question to ask.  All who know God’s Truth, can be sounding the trumpet of truth by their conduct, and way of talking, treating, and meeting others.  So many need to be warned before they meet the Judge of everyone.

            The cofounder of the second largest cell phone manufacturer in the world, prior to his passing, sold one of his companies for 400 million dollars.  Then he sold another company for eight billion dollars!  Jesus says, however, Mark 8:35 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” 

            That very wealthy man was a Buddhist; but Buddah could not help him on the day he stood before Jesus.  There was a person who had witnessed about Jesus to this wealthy businessman, but he said No!  The man was not willing to seek the Truth; he was not willing to take the warning.  That was his choice, which now has eternal consequences.

            When someone asks about our beliefs, and we tell them about the Lord Jesus, who gave His life on the Cross, so we could rise to a new life of faith and trust on Him for every aspect of everyday living, we are sounding the trumpet.  Explaining our faith is not a presentation but a conversation—like Jesus had with the woman at the well; and with the rich young ruler.

            Everyone has the ability to repent—everyone! That is why we should share God’s Truth when He opens the door to do that. 1 Peter 3:15 “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”

            An agnostic is someone who has not seen enough evidence to convince them that there is a God—even though there is overwhelming evidence in creation.  Nevertheless, we know that it is a faith issue, and a person either is willing to believe, or not willing to believe.  How much evidence would an agnostic need to convince them—we wonder.

            Anyone who is willing to believe is given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and therefore they will be enlightened to see more of the truth of the Bible; and to accept more evidence of God’s existence.  All those who are not willing to believe—do not receive the gift of the Spirit, and therefore remain in spiritual darkness.

            The apostle explained 2 Corinthians 4:3 “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

            In the last ten or twenty years, hundreds of famous people in entertainment; sports; news; business; and the film industry—many very famous and whose name would be recognized almost anywhere in the world, have passed on—they are no longer on earth.  To the world, death means over with; they are gone; and they just don’t exist anymore.  All we have is memories and really nothing more.

            In the Bible, however, death just unlocks the door to the other side!  It is the passing of this life into either Heaven or Hell.  All of the famous people we could name, and who have passed from the world scene, are either alive in Heaven or alive in Hell at this moment—they are either alive and well; or alive in Hell.  It is one of the two.  We ponder if any watchman had the opportunity to sound the trumpet for those who passed into eternity!

            A man who once worked for the CIA, was supposed to be on Flight 93 on September 11, 2001!  He was an agnostic and wasn’t convinced that there was a God.  Flight 93 is the one that went down in Pennsylvania on that fateful day—taking the life of everyone on board!

            The man continued to relate his story—saying that his boss called him on Friday before September 11th, and said he wanted him in California a day earlier; so he switched his flight from Tuesday, September 11th to Monday, September 10th—still called Flight 93!  He later took that ticket for Flight 93 on September 11th and framed it on his wall.

            He was asked: Was that luck; was that chance; or was that God who kept you off that ill-fated flight!  He knew that something, or Somebody kept him off that flight! The person he was telling this story to, said that God kept him off that plane, so he could hear the rest of the story.

            The rest of the story is what Jesus did for him, and for the entire world, when He willingly went to the Cross, and offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice of Atonement for all the sins anyone ever committed.  A watchman was sounding a trumpet and warning the man of trouble ahead for all eternity, if he did not repent, believe in the One God sent John 6:29, and willingly accept the Lord Jesus into his heart to change his life; His attitudes; and his eternity!

            That warning began the ministry of our Savior—it is recorded twice Matthew 3:2 “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And to some others who were not living by faith in God, and were therefore not protected by the Blood of the Lamb, He said Luke 13:3 “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”