A.  We are all called to be watchmen.

1.  Spiritual application of watchman in the Bible:  prophet, intercessor

2.  All believers are called to be watchmen:  "What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ "  (Mark 13:37)

3.  Focus of watching:  guard our own hearts; be our brother’s keeper.

B.  A watchman is one who sees spiritually.

C.  We receive our spiritual sight when we are born of the Spirit.

1.  "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3)

2.  "No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."  (John 3:5)

3.  You must be born from above to see, enter, and function in the realm in which God reigns.

D.  By virtue of our new birth, we can see into a fourth dimension.

1.  We see beyond the physical realm into the spiritual realm of reality.

2.  The realm where God reigns and where demonic forces resist God’s reign.

3.  We see God’s purposes for people and Satan’s devices against people.

E.  A Personal Experience:  Analogy of how to position ourselves as watchmen.

1.  The story of my first encounter with envision graphics.

a.  From curiosity to communication to encounter.

b.  "I see Jesus!" . . . "Yeah man, but you cheatin’! You prayin’!"

2.  Lessons for positioning ourselves as spiritual watchmen.

a.  Acknowledging our nearsightedness.

1)  The Fall affects our spiritual vision.

2)  The natural mind rejects spiritual truths.

3)  We need the Holy Spirit to anoint our eyes with eye salve.

b.  We must draw near to God to see spiritual truths.

1)  True prophets/seers must be in God’s council/confidence.

2)  Spiritual truths hidden from wise and revealed to babes.

c. We must focus beyond the surface of things.

1)  Things aren’t as they seem to be on the surface.

2)  We must see beyond natural fields to the spiritual harvest of souls.

d. We must receive the full picture that God is showing us.

1)  I saw the whole picture at once.

2)  We must see God’s purposes and the Enemy’s devices.

F.  Theme Sentence: "A prayer watchman is anointed to see God’s hand at work and to partner in His handiwork."

G.  Purpose Statement: "To help us develop a spiritual focus by which to perceive God’s plan, participate in His work, and protect His people."

H.  Preview of main points:

1.  The Role of the Watchman

2.  The Ministry of the Spiritual Watchman in the Bible

3.  My Personal Pilgrimage in Spiritual Watchfulness

4.  Contemporary Applications and Illustrations of Spiritual Watchfulness

Body of Teaching

I.  The Role of the Watchman

A.  Dictionary definitions:  Watching is more than casual perception.

1.  We use the word casually:  watching television, watching the sun go down.

2.  Primary definitions denote more than casual observation.

a.  Watch is defined as "to keep vigil as a devotional exercise."  Another definition is "to be awake during the night."

b.  Archaic definition of "watch":  "A watchman or body of watchmen formerly assigned to patrol the streets of a town at night, announce the hours, and act as police."

c.  Watchman:  "A person who keeps watch: GUARD."

3.  NOTE:  Watching in its primary sense implies responsible involvement.

B.  Biblical watchmen:  A secular vocation with spiritual implications

1.  Watchmen in biblical times were caretakers and guardians.

a.  Some were assigned to protect crops from predators and thieves.

b.  Some were assigned to protect cities from military invasion.

2.  Watchmen were to be proactive in their role as guardians.

a.  They were vigilant. There were "watches" around the clock .

b.  They were vocal: They warned of danger with shouts or trumpets.

3.  The words for "watchman" have implications for spiritual watchfulness.

a.  (tsaphah):  "To lean forward, i.e. to peer into the distance" (perception)

b.  (shamar):  "to hedge about" (as with thorns)  (defense)

c.  (Natsar):  "Conceal" (as in besieging a city) (advance)

A.  Adam was assigned to guard or "keep" the Garden of Eden.

"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (Genesis 2:15)

1.  The word translated keep is (shamar) -- "keep the serpent out!"

2.  Because he didn’t, the Cherubim were to "keep" (shamar) him out.

3.  Lesson:  First mention of watching relates to spiritual vigilance.

B.  Ezekiel was called to be God’s watchmen over Israel.

1.  He was anointed to be a seer before He was called to be a watchman.

a.  He sees the windstorm, the cherubim, the expanse, the Lord upon His throne, and the scroll he is commanded to eat. ( 1:4-3:3)

b.  He is called to be a spiritual watchman who warns people of the dangers of sin and unrepentant hearts. "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me."  (Ezekiel 3:16)

2.  He was anointed to see the big picture before embarking on His task.

a.  He received revelation of God’s omniscience.  This is pictured in the Cherubim with four faces and full of eyes.  (1:17-18;10:12)

b.  He received revelation of the people’s idolatry:  idol of jealousy, worship of creeping things and animals; worship of the sun.  (chap. 8)

c.  He received revelation of the people’s spiritual blindness & oppression.

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS:

"He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol?  They say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.'"  (Ezekiel 8:12)

SPIRITUAL OPPRESSION:

"Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?"'"  (Ezekiel 33:10)

3.  He was called to the multifaceted ministry of the watchman.

a.  Seeing what God sees and feeling what God feels.

"The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me."  (3:14)

"Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."  (9:3-4)

b.  Speaking to dissuade from sin and inspire with hope.

"Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.  Turn!  Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’"  (33:11)

"I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone . . . .  I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered . . . .  I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them . . . .  They will be my people, and I will be their God."  (11: 16b, 17b, 19a, 20b)

4.  God still uses the watchman to expose sin and call people to repentance.

-- John Wimber, Power Evangelism (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1986), pp. 32-34.

a.  John Wimber’s flight from Chicago to New York.

b.  Sees middle-aged business man and "adultery" across face.

c.  Woman’s name comes to his mind when the man addressed him.

d.  Revelation of repentance of death on the way to cocktail lounge.

e.  Repentance, confession to wife, and wife’s salvation.

C.  Isaiah was a seer who foresaw the ministry of spiritual watchmen/intercessors.

1.  Isaiah was enabled to foresee future events of Israel’s history:

a.  The exile of the Jews to Babylon

b.  The destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple

c.  The edict of Cyrus allowing the Jews to return to their homeland

d.  The future reconstruction of Jerusalem and the Temple

2.  Isaiah heard God speak of the calling/positioning of watchmen/intercessors:

"I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth."  (62:6-7)

3.  These watchmen/intercessors were seers and participants in the vision:

a.  They saw beyond the exile, the fall of Jerusalem, and the edict to return.

b.  They saw the rebuilding of the city with large walls to fortify it.

c.  They saw themselves on the wall interceding from vision to reality.

4.  This depiction imparts three important lessons about watchmen/intercessors:

a.  They see the vision of God’s purposes.

b.  They own the vision and position themselves in it.

c.  They battle through prayer to the fulfillment of that vision.

5.  God uses watchman today to place themselves in the vision and pray through to the answer.

-- Kenneth E. Hagin, The Art of Prayer: A Handbook on How to Pray (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, 1992), pp. 109-114.

a.  Hagin’s alerted in the night in Mobile Home in California.

b.  Received revelation that some family member’s life was in danger.

c.  Prayed in Spirit for an hour till note of victory. Went to sleep.

d.  Dream of brother Pat in Shreveport, LA hotel, waking up sick, calling hotel operator, passing out, ambulance coming.

e.  Hagin’s in the dream: Against wall of corridor, doctor approaches, conversation, escort to room, blinks eyes and breaching.

f.  Report from brother when returning to Texas after 15 months on road.

A.  It’s a new covenant ministry with a radically new focus.

B.  Gethsemane models new covenant watchfulness.  

1.  Jesus showed us how to watch and pray.

a.  He foresaw His imminent suffering.

b.  He experienced temptation as warfare.

c.  He vigilantly struggled in prayer.

d.  He kept God’s redemptive plan in focus.

e.  He resolved to submit to the Father’s will.

2.  Jesus disciples showed us what happens when we don’t watch and pray.

a.  They didn’t heed Jesus’ exhortation to watch and pray. (Mk 14:34;38)

b.  They didn’t see the purposes of God or the battleground of temptation.

c.  They didn’t submit to God’s will but resorted to fight and flight.

d.  NOTE: The spiritual watchman:

1)  Sees beyond the present crisis into the future glory.

2)  Is motivated to submit to God’s redemptive purpose in the face of hardship.

3)  Sees him- or herself in the vision of God’s purpose as a participant.

4)  Draws upon God’s grace to battle against the enemy.

A.  Two childhood experiences in watchfulness for protection from the evil one.

1.  Awake and alert to enemy’s devices to turn my brother and I away from God.

a.  The call to spiritual wakefulness and alertness. 

b.  The vision of the enemy’s entry: my leaning forward, peering.

c.  The malevolent device of distraction through enchantment.

d.  The changes in the room and their spiritual significance.

e.  LESSONS: Guarding your own heart; being your brother’s keeper.

2.  Alerted to enemy’s device to use a twister to harm me.

a.  Entering the club kitchen for light duty and study for Sunday School lesson.

b.  Noticing the moonwalk and it’s proximity to the kitchen window.

c.  Sudden word of knowledge of moonwalk passing over the kitchen.

d.  Gazing intently at moonwalk and seeing this happen.

e.  Getting explanation of sudden twister from Kay Ivy.

f.  Spiritual significance: God reveals; God protects.

B.  Experiences of watchfulness in relation to ministry of divine healing.

1.  Biblical basis for hearing/seeing from God.

a.  Jesus is our model: He hears, He sees, He goes as directed.

b.  Biblical Instruction in Hearing/Seeing from God: 1 Cor. 2:9-12:

"As it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ -- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand what God has freely given us."

1)  Our spirit things our thoughts; God’s Spirit thinks God’s thoughts.

2)  Some of our thoughts are ours and some are God’s.

3)  We can learn to discern when God thinks to us.

2.  Personal experiences in discerning God’s thought.

a.  Story of the healing of Gary Swango.

1)  In the Word/in the Spirit that day.

2) My thoughts -- God’s thoughts.

3) Two confirmation: the facts and the Word.

4)  Prayer of Agreement and confirmation of healing.

5)  LESSON: Our thoughts -- His thoughts.

b.  Healing of Louise Baker.

1)  In a blahse mindset.

2)  Repentant and inviting God to use me.

3)  Picture/word of knowledge, deferring/confirmation (Roger Bisson)

4)  Healing and subsequent report (Mike Taylor)

5)  LESSON: Learning to discern/confirmation from another.

c.  Healing of Jenny.

1)  Ministering the Word of God of God building house with us.

2)  Instructing in hearing from God.

3)  Inviting God to confirm the Word.

4)  Modeling word of knowledge for instructional purposes.

5)  Confirmation, prayer, manifestation of gifts.

6)  LESSON: Boldly venturing out in faith.

A.  To Topple Territorial Strongholds and Advance the Kingdom

-- Charisma, 600 Rhinehart Road, Lake Mary Florida, 32746. Copyright April 1990, Strange Communications Company, pp. 47-48.

1.  John Dawson and a YWAM delegation target Cordoba, Argentina in 1978 to evangelize at the world soccer finals.

2.  Dawson and company encounter indifference from the sports enthusiasts.

3.  The YWAM missionaries withdrew for a day to pray and fast for guidance.

4.  The Lord revealed a demonic principality of pride over Cordoba that needed to be countered by Christian humility.

5.  The group advanced on the central shopping mall, scattered, knelt with their faces to the cobblestones, and prayed for a revelation of Jesus to the city.

6.  The stronghold was broken, people gathered to hear, the indifference was ousted, and repentance and tears flowed as many came to Christ.

B.  To Liberate Political Captives.

-- Dick Eastman, Love On Its Knees (Toronto, Carlilse, Grand Rapids, Sydney, Johannesburg: Global Christian Publishers, 1978), pp. 35-37.

1.  Terrorists in Holland were holding Dutch grade school students hostage.

2.  The terrorists declared their intention to execute one per day if their demands were not met.

3.  Eastman prayed daily for their safe release as a matter of discipline in prayer.

4.  The terrorists became more demanding and no change for the better was evident.

5.  Eastman’s intercession was intensified as God have him a supernatural zeal.

a.  Eastman saw a vision of the children in living color.

b.  He saw the faces of his two young daughters among the children.

c.  He experienced intensity of prayer he had never experienced before.

d.  He began demanding the terrorists let the children go.

e.  He found himself pounding his fist to his palm and pointing and shaking his finger at the terrorists in the vision.

f.  His emotions ran the gamut of demanding, crying, shouting, and trembling and then he felt the breakthrough and victory were given. Intercession was complete.

6.  The breakthrough comes.

a.  That night, the news was on during the family dinner time.

b.  Walter Cronkite announced good news of three children released.

c.  Eastman began crying and praying silently: "Jesus, I didn’t ask for three children, I asked for all of them to be released. And that was a prayer born of your Spirit."

d.  With a burst of boldness, he sharply pounded the table and said, "And I claim the miracle now!" (Both he and his family were startled as it just seemed to rise out of him.)

e.  Local CBS affiliate interrupted the broadcast with these words: "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you an update on the hostage crisis in Holland. The report given by Mr. Cronkite was recorded earlier for West Coast viewing and is incomplete. All 153 children were freed early this morning."

C.  To Protect those in Danger

-- Elizabeth Alves, Becoming A Prayer Warrior (Ventura, California: Renew Books, 1998), pp. 29-30.

1.  Elizabeth Alves awakened to get water when she was hit by a burden of intercession for her cousin Mike whom she had not seen in 10 years.

2.  In three successive waves of intercession, she found herself praying for God to hold him still, then again to keep him from moving, and then to help him get up and run.

3.  She found out the next day from his mother that he was in Vietnam at the time.

4.  A letter to his mom a month later revealed a close call with death the very night that Elizabeth interceded for him. His plane was shot down by the Vietcong and he fell into a bush.

5.  Twice he tried to get up and run but was held down by an unseen hand as the Vietcong were right over him but not seeing him. Then, he was released to run to a nearby helicopter where comrades whisked him away to safety.

A.  We are all called to be spiritual watchman over ourselves and others.

B.  We must be discerning of and vigilant against Satan’s wiles and sin’s pitfalls.

C.  We are invited to envision God’s purposes, place ourselves in the vision, and intercede through to the fulfillment of the vision.

D.  We must learn to recognize God’s thoughts to us and venture out in a faith partnership with God.