Beware of the 21st Century Watchman
A biblical guide to exposing an apostate.
Being a sailor for the first five years of my adult life, I have stood my fair share a watches. When you are on a four and a half square acre floating city with over four thousand men, there has to be watchmen. The watchman has one of the most important duties on board. It is the watchman that is awake when all others are asleep. It is the watchman that stays aboard when all others take liberty. It is the watchman that sound the alarm for "general quarters" when there is a threat. It is the watchman who patrols relentlessly all hours of the day, keeping a keen eye for anything out of the ordinary. A good watchman knows every little detail about his environment. Without a good watchman, the enemy will have an open passage below decks. In battle, the watchman is the first line of defense. The Lord, in Isaiah 56:10-12, outlines an apostate watchman.
I. They have no vision (vs.10) “His watchman are blind:” If the watchman have no vision, the
people are vulnerable. If left in this state for too long, heresy will result. There are generally three
reasons a teacher is blinded:
1 Refuses to be born again.
(1) Blind leading the blind.(Matt.15:14)
3Refuses to study the scriptures.
(1) One must study to be approved.(2 Tim 2:15)
5Refuses to pray.
(1) Without prayer one cannot see.(Ps.119:18)
II. They reject truth (vs.10) “they are all ignorant,” A common trait of an apostate is that
they are not open to truth. This is commonly known as “fundamentalism”. A "fundamentalist" will
generally refuse to accept any doctrine outside of their core set of beliefs. ALL corporate
denominations are fundamentalist and must reject a certain degree of truth in order to remain in that
organization. Some characteristics of these apostates are:
1. "Taking orders from headquarters": All major doctrine taught will come from the head
of that particular organization. The Bible is not their final authority. They will be
"double minded" ( Jas 1:8 )
2. The glorification of the "organization" and it's founders. Statues and monuments to
honor these founders are usually present. Usually the name of the founder will be on
every building, bus, stationary, publication etc. If the organization and founders get
exhaulted above Jesus Christ they become an abomination ( Lu 16:15 ).
3. A strong legalistic slant (usually in the area of appearance). These apostates love
to control people. And one of the ways is to set up a standard of holiness according to
the flesh. That way men will lust after it. You see, these people look good, but inside
they are rotten (2Ti 3:5 ) Usually these congregations are full of scandal.
III. They have no public ministry. (vs.10) “they are all dumb dogs”A dog that won't bark is a worthless dog. It provides no protection to its Master, leaving him vulnerable to attack. We are told all through Scripture to speak up for the Lord Jesus Christ (Mr 16:15; 2Ti 4:2). This was the probably the problem with the church at Laodicea, and sadly, this is the problem with the church in America. Generally, there are three areas that apostates will not touch:
1. Public preaching (commonly known as street preaching). The Lord Jesus Christ
demanded a public ministry( Lu 14:23 ). And old testament and new testament alike,
the Prophets, Disciples and the Apostles preached publicly (Jer. 11:1-10; Acts 20:20;
John 18:20; Rom 10:9-17; 2 Cor. 5:18-21). This one thing will make or break a
church. The punishment for not having a public ministry is apostasy (Rom 1:18-32).
2. Door to door soul winning (not to be confused with invitation). This is not say that,
you shouldn't invite people to church. But, church is not the priority. The soul is. Not
only that but I have noticed in my own experience that, most people that I invite to
church usually don't come or are just plain dead (spiritually). It seems that most people
who are saved are already in a church. It amazes me how many men I have met that
claim to be "saved" and are not in church. Nevertheless it is a good thing to invite
people to church, especially if there is an evangelist scheduled. Soul winning can be
very difficult depending on the demographics of your area. Lower class people seem to
be more open to the gospel than the wealthy. Jack Hyles has an excellent book on
soul winning. The Apostle Paul went house to house (Ac 20:20).
3. Personal work (this would usually be one on one). This is the toughest one out of the
three. Your success in personal work will be a direct result of your own testimony
(life). If you have a good testimony for the Lord, then it will show and personal work
will come easy. If you have a bad testimony, it will also show, and the person you are
working on will see right through you. Without personal work there will be no
disciples.
IV. They refuse to work. (vs.10) “sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.” There
is nothing worse than a preacher that refuses to work(2 Thes 3:10 ). A apostate will
refuse to get into the trenches. He won't get his hands dirty. This is prevalent with
evangelists and missionaries. A great deal of men (within America) are capable of
working a job to support their own ministry but, simply refuse. I understand money is
needed to support a ministry, but I believe that if you are not lazy and do the things you are
supposed to be doing, then God will provide for that work. If he doesn't then maybe the
work should not continue. Much can be said of this topic. Pr 10:26 ; Pr 20:4 ; Pr 19:15 ;
Ro 12:11; Heb 6:11,12.
V. They increase quantity not quality (vs.11) “they are greedy dogs” Religion is the biggest
business in the world. A false teacher will be more concerned with building a work more
than building the Kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus did not bother with material things. He
had nothing here on earth (Mt 8:20 ;Mt 6:31 ). Generally speaking a "greedy dog" will be
mostly concerned with the three B's:
1. Buildings: Be suspicious of constant expansion of structures. (Mt 6:19-21)
2. Baptisms: Many are being baptized prematurely by churches in order to boast of
convert numbers.(1Tim 6:5)
3. Budgets: False teachers will often put heavy burdens upon congregations (guilt trips)
in order to cover unbalanced budgets. (1Ti 6:10 )
VII. They refuse to rightly divide the scriptures. (vs.11) “that cannot understand” The key to
unlocking the scripture is found in 2 Tim 2:15. It never ceases to amaze me how messed up
these preachers get when they fail to rightly divide. One can't possibly believe the scriptures
to be infallible unless he rightly divides. If you don't, then you have contradictions all over
that thing! I mean, you have Paul saying to "believe" over there in Acts and then you have
John saying "endure" over in Revelation. You have Peter over in Acts telling them Jews to
"repent" , and then in 1 Peter he tells gentiles to "suffer" You can't tell what is going on
anywhere in that Bible unless you rightly divide it. Man if you don't rightly divide, the next
thing you know, you'll be the Pastor of "FAITH COMMUNITY WORSHIP CENTER" or
the "N.I.C.E." (Northwest Indiana Church of Encouragement) church like we got up here in
Indiana. Every single cult in America came about because they wouldn't rightly divide the
word. Well there are three main doctrines that these apostates can't see:
1. Salvation by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ . (without any further acts of
obedience) You can't miss this one unless you are "dumb on purpose" (willingly
ignorant 2Pe 3:5, You can't even understand this reference unless you rightly
divide). You have 14.5 books in the Bible that all teach beyond the shadow of a
doubt that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. There are too many
references to list, just start in John, then skip over to Acts 15 and read all the way
to Philemon. A man is never told to do anything but "believe" when it comes to
salvation. 'Nough said.!
2. Eternal security of the believer: (Col 3:24; John 10:28; Rom 8:31-36; Eph 4:30;
Php 1:6; 2 Tim 2:12; 1 John 3:19) These verses right here can make all the
difference when dealing with Christian that is hurting from one of these false
teachers. Not teaching eternal security is a good way to make a congregation get
self righteous and enslaved to a system all at the same time. Not only that, but
they are all grouchy! Have you ever noticed how bad of an attitude these people
have towards other Christians. Its funny because these people believe that it is
their faith that saves them (and so do most Baptists). But it's the faith of the Son
of God. All we have to do is believe!
3. The rapture of the Church (this will consist of all born again believers): Now this
is one of the seven mysteries that Paul talks about (1Co 15:51-58) and it not to
be ignored (1Thess 4:13-18). If you don't rightly divide the scriptures, you are
going to miss this and have the CHURCH going through JACOB'S trouble in
danger of taking the mark of the beast. Many a Christian lose sleep over this
subject. I have seen men give up everything, including their wife and kids, just
to prepare for the tribulation. Ignorant to the fact that they to will be caught up
by the Lord Jesus Christ with the rest of us.
VIII. They refuse to live a holy life. (vs.12) “... and we will fill ourselves with strong drink;” So
much in today's society are we losing more and more brethren to the world. It's hard to
believe that a sanctified church starts with a sanctified preacher. A pastor must set the
standard for the congregation. More and more each day, the church is changing, making it
nearly impossible to discern between it and the world. Alfred P. Gibbs, in his work entitled
"The Preacher And His Preaching" outlines some qualifications of the Preacher, that I feel
apply in this area. Beware of a teacher that:
1. Is not a student of the Bible: I would dare say that it is a "rare bird" to find a so called
preacher that has actually read the Bible from cover to cover. One way to test a
preacher is to ask questions. If you are met with contention, most likely you
are dealing with a false teacher.(2 Tim 2:15)
2. Is not a man of prayer. Prayer is what separates the men from the boys. Prayer brings
peace, and you can tell by looking into a man's eyes whether or not he has a good
prayer life. (Lu 11:34)
3. Is not living a clean life: (This does not mean sinless) Everyone knows a godly man
as soon as he enters the room. Its kind of like when you were a kid in school and the
principle walks by. If you do not feel compelled to clean up your act around a
preacher, than more than likely he is not living a clean life.
IX. They are not looking for the Lord's return. (vs.12) “to morrow shall be as this day” I find
it very sad when I hear a brother in Christ that has no hope that the Lord will return in their
lifetime. I have had men that have been saved for over forty years get mad and annoyed
when I say this year will be the year. In this day an age, every believer should feel as though
the Lord is already on his way! There can be only one reason Christians are not looking for
the Lord's return, and that is because an apostate talked them out of it. There are usually
three things an apostate will glaze over in this area to conceal the doctrine that "the Day
of Christ is at hand"
1. The world system is satanic: Seldom will a man preach against the world system.
Most preachers nowadays sound as if they are on the government payroll. Beware of
the Preacher that teaches blind subjection to government. The Bible makes it clear
what our position should in relation to the world system.( 1Jo 2:15; Jas 4:4; -
2Co 6:17; Re 18:4; Ac 5:29 )
2. The apostasy of the Church: Only apostate teachers preach that the church is not
in a state of apostasy. The lack of a King James Bible and ecumenical ism are
their traits. Love is their message. Growth is their goal. Entertainment is their
vehicle. And hell is their destination. They have an attitude of "I'm okay, your
okay, we're all okay". Paul warns us of these morons, telling us "from such
withdraw thyself" (1Ti 6:5 ). I noticed from dealing with apostate men that there
can only be two reasons why they buy into this contemporary movement, and that
is either they are spiritually blind or they are sworn to secrecy. To deny the
apostasy of the church is to deny the Lord to return, for it is a requirement before
He can. (2 Th 2:3 ) Not only that, think about this: If Adam is a picture of Christ
and Eve a picture of the church, then wouldn't it make sense that the church will
be beguiled by the serpent like Eve? If you doubt the condition of the modern
Church, just take a gander at Laodicea in Rev. 3.
3. The Lord's return is imminent: Far to many times I have heard a preacher speak of
the second coming as some far off event that we will never see. They make it
sound so distant that it robs you of your joy and stops us from watching, praying
and being ready. (Mr 13:37; Mt 24:44; Mr 13:33; 1Pe 4:7) America is spoiled.
We have had the Gospel preached to us since day one in this nation, and people
don't want to hear it anymore. Why is this so? Because apostates are
watering down the word of God so much, that it has nothing to offer. Think
about it. What is exciting about an NIV? You don't even know who Lucifer is,
or who killed Goliath! Not only that but that puny little NIV looks so little
and effeminate. Preachers look so silly when they carry one. If you read an
NIV from cover to cover, you'd still be sixty four thousand words shy of
the word of God. Beware of this watchmen, he'll have you naked in front
of the Lord.
The burden of the watchman is heavy. There is only one who can bare it. There is only one who is relentless enough. There is only one who will not fall asleep. There is only one who will not compromise. There is only one who will not faint. With this watchman you can rest assured he is always on watch. He will always sound the alarm in plenty of time. Jesus Christ said"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Who is your watchman?
A biblical guide to exposing an apostate.
Being a sailor for the first five years of my adult life, I have stood my fair share a watches. When you are on a four and a half square acre floating city with over four thousand men, there has to be watchmen. The watchman has one of the most important duties on board. It is the watchman that is awake when all others are asleep. It is the watchman that stays aboard when all others take liberty. It is the watchman that sound the alarm for "general quarters" when there is a threat. It is the watchman who patrols relentlessly all hours of the day, keeping a keen eye for anything out of the ordinary. A good watchman knows every little detail about his environment. Without a good watchman, the enemy will have an open passage below decks. In battle, the watchman is the first line of defense. The Lord, in Isaiah 56:10-12, outlines an apostate watchman.
I. They have no vision (vs.10) “His watchman are blind:” If the watchman have no vision, the
people are vulnerable. If left in this state for too long, heresy will result. There are generally three
reasons a teacher is blinded:
1 Refuses to be born again.
(1) Blind leading the blind.(Matt.15:14)
3Refuses to study the scriptures.
(1) One must study to be approved.(2 Tim 2:15)
5Refuses to pray.
(1) Without prayer one cannot see.(Ps.119:18)
II. They reject truth (vs.10) “they are all ignorant,” A common trait of an apostate is that
they are not open to truth. This is commonly known as “fundamentalism”. A "fundamentalist" will
generally refuse to accept any doctrine outside of their core set of beliefs. ALL corporate
denominations are fundamentalist and must reject a certain degree of truth in order to remain in that
organization. Some characteristics of these apostates are:
1. "Taking orders from headquarters": All major doctrine taught will come from the head
of that particular organization. The Bible is not their final authority. They will be
"double minded" ( Jas 1:8 )
2. The glorification of the "organization" and it's founders. Statues and monuments to
honor these founders are usually present. Usually the name of the founder will be on
every building, bus, stationary, publication etc. If the organization and founders get
exhaulted above Jesus Christ they become an abomination ( Lu 16:15 ).
3. A strong legalistic slant (usually in the area of appearance). These apostates love
to control people. And one of the ways is to set up a standard of holiness according to
the flesh. That way men will lust after it. You see, these people look good, but inside
they are rotten (2Ti 3:5 ) Usually these congregations are full of scandal.
III. They have no public ministry. (vs.10) “they are all dumb dogs”A dog that won't bark is a worthless dog. It provides no protection to its Master, leaving him vulnerable to attack. We are told all through Scripture to speak up for the Lord Jesus Christ (Mr 16:15; 2Ti 4:2). This was the probably the problem with the church at Laodicea, and sadly, this is the problem with the church in America. Generally, there are three areas that apostates will not touch:
1. Public preaching (commonly known as street preaching). The Lord Jesus Christ
demanded a public ministry( Lu 14:23 ). And old testament and new testament alike,
the Prophets, Disciples and the Apostles preached publicly (Jer. 11:1-10; Acts 20:20;
John 18:20; Rom 10:9-17; 2 Cor. 5:18-21). This one thing will make or break a
church. The punishment for not having a public ministry is apostasy (Rom 1:18-32).
2. Door to door soul winning (not to be confused with invitation). This is not say that,
you shouldn't invite people to church. But, church is not the priority. The soul is. Not
only that but I have noticed in my own experience that, most people that I invite to
church usually don't come or are just plain dead (spiritually). It seems that most people
who are saved are already in a church. It amazes me how many men I have met that
claim to be "saved" and are not in church. Nevertheless it is a good thing to invite
people to church, especially if there is an evangelist scheduled. Soul winning can be
very difficult depending on the demographics of your area. Lower class people seem to
be more open to the gospel than the wealthy. Jack Hyles has an excellent book on
soul winning. The Apostle Paul went house to house (Ac 20:20).
3. Personal work (this would usually be one on one). This is the toughest one out of the
three. Your success in personal work will be a direct result of your own testimony
(life). If you have a good testimony for the Lord, then it will show and personal work
will come easy. If you have a bad testimony, it will also show, and the person you are
working on will see right through you. Without personal work there will be no
disciples.
IV. They refuse to work. (vs.10) “sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.” There
is nothing worse than a preacher that refuses to work(2 Thes 3:10 ). A apostate will
refuse to get into the trenches. He won't get his hands dirty. This is prevalent with
evangelists and missionaries. A great deal of men (within America) are capable of
working a job to support their own ministry but, simply refuse. I understand money is
needed to support a ministry, but I believe that if you are not lazy and do the things you are
supposed to be doing, then God will provide for that work. If he doesn't then maybe the
work should not continue. Much can be said of this topic. Pr 10:26 ; Pr 20:4 ; Pr 19:15 ;
Ro 12:11; Heb 6:11,12.
V. They increase quantity not quality (vs.11) “they are greedy dogs” Religion is the biggest
business in the world. A false teacher will be more concerned with building a work more
than building the Kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus did not bother with material things. He
had nothing here on earth (Mt 8:20 ;Mt 6:31 ). Generally speaking a "greedy dog" will be
mostly concerned with the three B's:
1. Buildings: Be suspicious of constant expansion of structures. (Mt 6:19-21)
2. Baptisms: Many are being baptized prematurely by churches in order to boast of
convert numbers.(1Tim 6:5)
3. Budgets: False teachers will often put heavy burdens upon congregations (guilt trips)
in order to cover unbalanced budgets. (1Ti 6:10 )
VII. They refuse to rightly divide the scriptures. (vs.11) “that cannot understand” The key to
unlocking the scripture is found in 2 Tim 2:15. It never ceases to amaze me how messed up
these preachers get when they fail to rightly divide. One can't possibly believe the scriptures
to be infallible unless he rightly divides. If you don't, then you have contradictions all over
that thing! I mean, you have Paul saying to "believe" over there in Acts and then you have
John saying "endure" over in Revelation. You have Peter over in Acts telling them Jews to
"repent" , and then in 1 Peter he tells gentiles to "suffer" You can't tell what is going on
anywhere in that Bible unless you rightly divide it. Man if you don't rightly divide, the next
thing you know, you'll be the Pastor of "FAITH COMMUNITY WORSHIP CENTER" or
the "N.I.C.E." (Northwest Indiana Church of Encouragement) church like we got up here in
Indiana. Every single cult in America came about because they wouldn't rightly divide the
word. Well there are three main doctrines that these apostates can't see:
1. Salvation by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ . (without any further acts of
obedience) You can't miss this one unless you are "dumb on purpose" (willingly
ignorant 2Pe 3:5, You can't even understand this reference unless you rightly
divide). You have 14.5 books in the Bible that all teach beyond the shadow of a
doubt that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. There are too many
references to list, just start in John, then skip over to Acts 15 and read all the way
to Philemon. A man is never told to do anything but "believe" when it comes to
salvation. 'Nough said.!
2. Eternal security of the believer: (Col 3:24; John 10:28; Rom 8:31-36; Eph 4:30;
Php 1:6; 2 Tim 2:12; 1 John 3:19) These verses right here can make all the
difference when dealing with Christian that is hurting from one of these false
teachers. Not teaching eternal security is a good way to make a congregation get
self righteous and enslaved to a system all at the same time. Not only that, but
they are all grouchy! Have you ever noticed how bad of an attitude these people
have towards other Christians. Its funny because these people believe that it is
their faith that saves them (and so do most Baptists). But it's the faith of the Son
of God. All we have to do is believe!
3. The rapture of the Church (this will consist of all born again believers): Now this
is one of the seven mysteries that Paul talks about (1Co 15:51-58) and it not to
be ignored (1Thess 4:13-18). If you don't rightly divide the scriptures, you are
going to miss this and have the CHURCH going through JACOB'S trouble in
danger of taking the mark of the beast. Many a Christian lose sleep over this
subject. I have seen men give up everything, including their wife and kids, just
to prepare for the tribulation. Ignorant to the fact that they to will be caught up
by the Lord Jesus Christ with the rest of us.
VIII. They refuse to live a holy life. (vs.12) “... and we will fill ourselves with strong drink;” So
much in today's society are we losing more and more brethren to the world. It's hard to
believe that a sanctified church starts with a sanctified preacher. A pastor must set the
standard for the congregation. More and more each day, the church is changing, making it
nearly impossible to discern between it and the world. Alfred P. Gibbs, in his work entitled
"The Preacher And His Preaching" outlines some qualifications of the Preacher, that I feel
apply in this area. Beware of a teacher that:
1. Is not a student of the Bible: I would dare say that it is a "rare bird" to find a so called
preacher that has actually read the Bible from cover to cover. One way to test a
preacher is to ask questions. If you are met with contention, most likely you
are dealing with a false teacher.(2 Tim 2:15)
2. Is not a man of prayer. Prayer is what separates the men from the boys. Prayer brings
peace, and you can tell by looking into a man's eyes whether or not he has a good
prayer life. (Lu 11:34)
3. Is not living a clean life: (This does not mean sinless) Everyone knows a godly man
as soon as he enters the room. Its kind of like when you were a kid in school and the
principle walks by. If you do not feel compelled to clean up your act around a
preacher, than more than likely he is not living a clean life.
IX. They are not looking for the Lord's return. (vs.12) “to morrow shall be as this day” I find
it very sad when I hear a brother in Christ that has no hope that the Lord will return in their
lifetime. I have had men that have been saved for over forty years get mad and annoyed
when I say this year will be the year. In this day an age, every believer should feel as though
the Lord is already on his way! There can be only one reason Christians are not looking for
the Lord's return, and that is because an apostate talked them out of it. There are usually
three things an apostate will glaze over in this area to conceal the doctrine that "the Day
of Christ is at hand"
1. The world system is satanic: Seldom will a man preach against the world system.
Most preachers nowadays sound as if they are on the government payroll. Beware of
the Preacher that teaches blind subjection to government. The Bible makes it clear
what our position should in relation to the world system.( 1Jo 2:15; Jas 4:4; -
2Co 6:17; Re 18:4; Ac 5:29 )
2. The apostasy of the Church: Only apostate teachers preach that the church is not
in a state of apostasy. The lack of a King James Bible and ecumenical ism are
their traits. Love is their message. Growth is their goal. Entertainment is their
vehicle. And hell is their destination. They have an attitude of "I'm okay, your
okay, we're all okay". Paul warns us of these morons, telling us "from such
withdraw thyself" (1Ti 6:5 ). I noticed from dealing with apostate men that there
can only be two reasons why they buy into this contemporary movement, and that
is either they are spiritually blind or they are sworn to secrecy. To deny the
apostasy of the church is to deny the Lord to return, for it is a requirement before
He can. (2 Th 2:3 ) Not only that, think about this: If Adam is a picture of Christ
and Eve a picture of the church, then wouldn't it make sense that the church will
be beguiled by the serpent like Eve? If you doubt the condition of the modern
Church, just take a gander at Laodicea in Rev. 3.
3. The Lord's return is imminent: Far to many times I have heard a preacher speak of
the second coming as some far off event that we will never see. They make it
sound so distant that it robs you of your joy and stops us from watching, praying
and being ready. (Mr 13:37; Mt 24:44; Mr 13:33; 1Pe 4:7) America is spoiled.
We have had the Gospel preached to us since day one in this nation, and people
don't want to hear it anymore. Why is this so? Because apostates are
watering down the word of God so much, that it has nothing to offer. Think
about it. What is exciting about an NIV? You don't even know who Lucifer is,
or who killed Goliath! Not only that but that puny little NIV looks so little
and effeminate. Preachers look so silly when they carry one. If you read an
NIV from cover to cover, you'd still be sixty four thousand words shy of
the word of God. Beware of this watchmen, he'll have you naked in front
of the Lord.
The burden of the watchman is heavy. There is only one who can bare it. There is only one who is relentless enough. There is only one who will not fall asleep. There is only one who will not compromise. There is only one who will not faint. With this watchman you can rest assured he is always on watch. He will always sound the alarm in plenty of time. Jesus Christ said"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Who is your watchman?
