Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.   He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.   But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. (Ezek 33:4-6)

Through the ages, armies have always kept a watch. From the watchtowers of old to walk watches today. Ask a historian about the watcher on the wall and you will be told that he had the most important job. It was the watchman’s duty look for any sign of the coming enemy. Once something was seen or heard, the watchman would sound the alarm for the rest of the troops. If he failed to do his duty, the fort fell and the men died.

As a watchman for Christ, it is duty to sound the alarm. In Israel, the shofar (ram’s horn) was the sound heard when the enemies of the Israelite nation approached. Today, we Christians (in the sense of bowing to Christ as King and Savior) are to blow the shofar. The enemy has not only approached, but has entered the gates of even the church.

Charles Spurgeon said that Satan is most effective in the pulpit. And when you look at mainline churches, of all denominations, this Satanic enemy is dressed as a pastor. And the pews are full of those that seek not Jesus as our Lord and God, but seek a false and weak Jesus that has nothing to do with the Jesus of Holy Scripture.

Churches have replaced doctrine with a watery feeling of acceptance. They have replaced hymns with songs that have no solid foundation in Christ. Hillsong has a worship song that sounds like a good song for the church. The tag line in it tells a different story. The tag is ‘ your fire fall down on us’. If you read scripture, fire falling from God is judgment.

Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;   And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. (Genesis 19:24-25)

And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.   Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.   And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.   Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. (2 Kings 1:10-14)

And when the Lord Jesus returns upon this earth, His judgment will come the same way as it came in the days of the patriarchs and prophets.

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,   And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.   And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. (Rev 20:7-9)

However, don’t be fooled. Satan, through his earthly representative, will also look to perform this to deceive those who don’t have a solid faith in Christ.

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.   And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.   And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,   And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. (Rev 13:11-14)

As one sees, they have replaced worship with worldly concerts. Churches look like party venues. And the worst, men calling themselves preachers, apostles, prophets, and women who think they have the ability to preach and produce prophecy, lead people to hell not heaven. They preach acceptance of sin in the name of love. We are to bring the sinner to hear the Word of God. When the Holy Spirit convicts them to a point that they have to to turn to Christ, that person is not left living in a sinful state.

We want revival like the days of Wesley and Edwards. But they allow sin, false teaching, false teachers, and worldly songs into the house that belongs to God alone. You can’t pray for revival and sing like the world. You can’t preach revival and accept what God calls sin. You can’t love the person and say living in sin is okay (pre-martial relations, lgtbq, the idea that all paths lead to heaven, that all faiths are acceptable, etc).

You can’t have revival while preaching that you have the power to speak things into being (only one is the creator of all things). You can’t have revival when you preach life will be all wine and roses (Christ and the Apostles tell us that tribulation, trial, and even death is coming for those who truly believe).

Where is true revival? Look at Africa, the Middle East, the Far East. These places see true revival. These places see true conversion. These places see true worship in Christ. What brought that kind of revival? Was it worldly music in the church? Was it acceptance and love of sin? Was it belief in the word of faith movement or life/health/wealth? No. It is tribulation. Its is hardship that is building the muscle of faith. And it is still having faith in Christ when they are called to be martyrs. It is sing praises and evangelizing to a captive audience when they are thrown into prisons.

All of this weak and powerless type of western church is condemned in scripture.

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:   Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.   But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.   As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. (Gal 1:6-9)

Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.   Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. (Luke 6:22-23)

We are watchmen of the wall. It is our duty to sound the alarm. We do that knowing that we will not be liked. We do that knowing that we will be ‘canceled’. And eventually, we will do that as we face the ultimate testament of our faith. The ability to praise God alone while facing death.

One can hate or like me. I quit caring about those opinions. I would rather be judged by man than by God. Yes, I mess up and need to repent. Yes, I fail and need to seek God’s mercy and grace. You can call me a hypocrite. Join me, the church can use you too.

I am blowing the Shofar from the walls. The time of Christ’s coming is at hand. The day and time are not known by any but God alone. The signs of His approach are being seen.

Turn to Christ and from sin as if He is coming today. I’d rather you be upset with me all the way to Heaven (only through the blood of Jesus the Christ) than be happy with me as you enter the gates of hell.