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Pioneer and Bell Church of Christ

PREACHERS AS WATCHMEN

Preachers of the Gospel in the New Testament have much the same responsibility to proclaim God's message to man as did the prophets of the Old Testament.  Modern man (or should we say "post modern man?") has the same needs as man throughout the ages, as Maslow ("Hierarchy of Needs") and others have pointed out.  They are God's watchmen.  

God's watchmen, in the Old Testament, were to warn the wicked man to turn from his wicked way (Ezekiel 33:9).  If the man of God failed to warn the wicked, God would require the watchman's blood. (Ezekiel 33:8).  Although God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11), the wicked would surely perish unless they repented and turned away from their sin.  

Most ministers today would fail the "John the Baptist test."  As John Mark points out, John the Baptist  found himself in jail "for John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife" (Mark 6:18).  Immorality is too often sanctioned or overlooked in our culture as well as in the Lord's church.  After all, does not God want his children to be happy. Of course, He does!  But not in sin!

Preachers today often fail to warn sinners, in and out of the church, of their moral wickedness.  The preacher Paul point out, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

People today, face the same licentious environment as did Christians at Corinth. As Paul pointed out in the next verse, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11). Christians today too, are born of the water and the spirit, set apart by obedience to the Gospel, and justified by His sacrifice for our sins.

Paul's charge to the preacher Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-5 should be imbedded in the heart of every preacher of the gospel in the twenty first century.  First, notice the seriousness, "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:1).  Second, notice the content, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."  Third, observe the rationale, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 4:4). 

Preachers today are God's watchmen.  We too must preach the Word.  God also expects us to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.  In the final Judgment Day, He will say "well done" only if we as gospel preachers have done well!
Dale I. Royal, Elk City, OK


"Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul."


"When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand."


"Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"


"For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife."


"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind," "Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."


"And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."


"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;" "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;" "And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." "But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry."