Let's open the sacred scriptures together and turn to Ezekiel chapter 33. Ezekiel chapter 33. On the bottom of page 107 of the form, the exhortation, we read this. Be also as watchmen over the house and city of God, faithful to admonish and to caution everyone against his ruin. Take heed that purity of doctrine and godliness of life be maintained in the church of God. That is the calling that we expound here in Ezekiel chapter 33. We're going to read the first 16 verses of the chapter. The text will be verses one through nine. I'm not going to reread that section again. Ezekiel 33, one through 16. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people and say unto them, when I bring the sword upon the land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts and set him for their watchman, if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people, 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. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, If thou does 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. 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 has delivered thy soul. Therefore, O thou Son of Man, speak unto the house of Israel. Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? 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? Therefore thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness, neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live, If he trust to his own righteousness and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered, but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. Again, when I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die, if he turn from his sin and do that which is lawful and right. If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him. He hath done that which is lawful and right. He shall surely live. To that point, we read the holy and inerrant word of Jehovah God. Our text is the first part of that section, verses one through nine. Beloved of God, this text that is before us is a charge to Ezekiel, the prophet, as an office bearer before Jehovah God. The charge is that Ezekiel must function as a watchman on the walls of Zion. Jehovah God often uses this image of a watchman to describe a portion of the responsibility of office bearers in his church. I counted 13 times in the prophets alone where this image of a watchman is used. I'm going to make reference to some of those passages through the course of the sermon. Because the Lord Jesus Christ holds all three offices in himself, he is the great office bearer, the prophet, the priest, the king, and because In his New Testament church, he has divided those offices among ministers, elders, and deacons under himself to function as New Testament prophets, priests, and kings. This charge to be watchmen that comes to Old Testament office bearers also applies to New Testament office bearers. But if the charge of the text comes to office bearers, why am I expounding it here with all of the rest of the people of God present? Wouldn't it be better if perhaps at the next council meeting, I or another minister would come and maybe for a half hour or so before the meeting, I would give this charge to the office bearers there, not in the presence of all of the people of God. Why are we doing this in the public worship service with all of us present? Well, there's four parts to the answer to that question. First of all, it's important that this charge is given to the office bearers in the presence of all the people of God, because that's what God himself is doing in the text. In verses one and two of Ezekiel 33, we read, again, the word of the Lord came unto me, to Ezekiel, saying, son of man, speak to the children of thy people. Ezekiel was to declare the charge of God concerning himself as an office bearer, but to do that before all the people and to the people. God didn't just give this charge to Ezekiel when Ezekiel was in his room in private, but before all the congregation of the people, and so too now. Why did God do it that way? That's the second part of the answer to this question. In giving this charge to Ezekiel publicly before all the people, The responsibility that comes to the office bearers is made known to the people of God so that they see the office that has been set up and the ones who have been put into this office and are therefore charged to give heed to the authority found in this office. It's striking. And that if you go back to Ezekiel chapter 3, at the very beginning of the book of Ezekiel, God does actually give this same charge to Ezekiel privately with all the people not there. Ezekiel 3 and Ezekiel 33 are almost word for word the same with respect to this charge. The only difference between them is that there it's private, here it's public. The reason for that is because the people of Israel were not giving heed to Ezekiel as a prophet of Jehovah God. And so God now gives the charge to Ezekiel publicly before them all so that they see that God has put this responsibility upon Ezekiel and the people of God must give heed to the office. And so too, there's benefit for us as the people of God here today to see that God has put these men into this office and what the responsibility is that we might give heed to it. Third, the reason why this is done with all of us present is so that the office bearers know that you know what God has given to them as their charge. There's an accountability for the office bearers, too, when they know that God's people see the responsibility that has been laid upon them. And then finally, fourth. The reason is because all God's people hold an office in the church of Jesus Christ, the office of believer. And to the extent that that is, All of us receive something of this charge to office bearers in the text, especially fathers in their home, mothers in their home. But all of us in our office of believer receive something of this duty, even though it comes specifically to now special office bearers in the church. We bear all of this in mind then as God himself gives the charge to the office bearers. I have set thee a watchman. Let's notice first this morning the calling, second the responsibility that that calling is, and third the encouragement given to those who hold this calling and responsibility. I have set thee a watchman, the calling, the great responsibility, and the encouragement. During World War II, there were people who held the title in both the United States and England of air raid warden. Air raid warden had the task of warning the people of their district when there was a bombing coming in by either the Germans or the Japanese. Darken your home, cover every light in the street or turn it off, get into your basement, a air raid is coming. That air raid warden was a modern version of the watchman. And the air raid warden's responsibility was very similar to the responsibility of the ancient watchmen in Old Testament Israel. The watchmen were key figures in Old Testament Israel. They stood either upon a tower, at the end of the territory or upon the walls of a particular city, all around those walls. And their responsibility was to see an incoming attack and to warn the city of that incoming attack so that the people could prepare for that attack. a great responsibility. The lives of the citizens were, in many ways, in the very hands of these watchmen. If he did not do his duty, the watchmen, the people were not prepared for the incoming attack and their destruction was almost guaranteed. Now that watchman is taken up by the Holy Spirit in the text as an illustration to describe the spiritual watchman, the office bearer in the spiritual city, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we look at that carefully, this morning we can see four things that that illustration of a watchman tells us about the calling of the spiritual watchman in the church. Number one, It is the calling of the office bearer to spend himself, to recognize, to see danger that is incoming upon the people of Jehovah God. Verse three of Ezekiel 33, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, the responsibility of the office bearer is to see even when other people cannot always see the danger, the threat that comes upon the church of God together and upon individual members of that church particularly. There are enemies of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh, the enemy that is within. There are the enemies of false doctrine, We could give a whole list of false doctrines. Doctrines that are false to the left of the truth. Doctrines that are false to the right of the truth. Doctrines of self-salvation. Doctrines of denial, of creation account, and the list goes on. There are enemies of the biblical God-pleasing life that has lived before his face. And we could give a nice list of that too. Of all of the attacks against the proper relationships of God's people in marriage, in family, in brothers and sisters. Attacks upon the antithetical life that we are called to live that break down that antithetical life. attack of materialism in this day and age, and the list goes on. But instead of giving you just a list, beloved, let's boil down this morning the danger, the threat, from the point of view of doctrine and life to two things. The two great dangers that office bearers must see in a thousand different ways and must warn God's people of are first, any undermining of the authority of the word of God. The right of God himself to speak in his word and to rule over his church in doctrine and in life. The elder and the deacon too, but especially the elder, must see the postmodern and relativistic thought that is affecting the church world that says there really is no truth with a capital T and everything in the Bible too is up for negotiation and for interpretation. And while it's true that there are some things that may be interpreted different ways, there is an understanding of the word of God set forth in the creeds, a systematic theology, a system of truth that is contained in that word of God that is clear. It is not the case that everything is up for interpretation. It's not the case that every interpretation is valid simply because it is an interpretation. There is truth in God's word that is discernible, understood, put down, and held to. There's an undermining of that authority of the Word of God, not only in doctrine, but in life. that says that the word of God does not call for this or for that immorality, and the elder must rise up and see any attack upon the order, the God-created moral order that is given to us in the word. This is how life is to be lived in accord with God's rule, and it's not up for interpretation. That first. Second, The elder must be able to see, and this goes hand in hand with any undermining of the authority of God's word, the pride of man that puffs oneself up and says, I am an authority unto myself. I am God over my life. And I do not need to submit to the word of God in this area or in that area. I am in charge here, and whatever you have to say is not what is to be said to me in my life. Whatever I determine is what ought to be said to me in my life. And the reason why I say, beloved, that those, if you boil down all the dangers and threats, that those are the two great threats to the church, in our life is because those are the two great threats that were there at the very beginning. Those are the two errors of the garden. Yea, hath God said. His word is not authoritative. And you shall be as God's, determining good and evil for yourself. Every kind of false doctrine and every compromise of the Christian life flows forth out of those two things. Elder, deacon too, you must see this. You must be aware of this out there. You must be aware of how it affects the church in here. You must be aware of how it affects individual children of God. You must be aware of it in your own self and how it affects you and be on guard against it and in each other and be willing to guard against it in each other. The people of God need you in this. They need you to be able to see this. because we can't always see it. We can't always see it in ourselves. We are sometimes our own worst enemies because of the pride that lives in our own hearts. We cry out concerning ourselves, peace, peace, when in fact there is no peace, and we need office bearers to be able to see when there is undermining of the authority of God's word in our lives, and when there is this pride rising up in our lives that does not want to submit to that word of God. Sometimes even when the consequences of our foolish pride are coming upon us in our life that we still don't see it. We need our office bearers to be able to see what we cannot see. And to carry out the calling in 2 Timothy 2 25 and 26, in meekness, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. Surely this is one of the devil's greatest feats, that he turns us into our own worst enemies. Most often while we are waxing eloquently about what's wrong with everybody else and everything else that we ourselves are being deceived, in meekness instruct us, we are opposing ourselves and pray that God would recover us, be able to see it, to see what we can't see. The watchman has a high calling in that regard, to see that danger. He has a calling to be on guard to not slumber or sleep, to not think that this is really no danger, that the church of Christ is perfectly safe in the midst of this world, but it's calling us to be on guard. You must be able to see how easily he himself can fall subject to such attacks. You must see the deceit of his own heart, and see the motions of sin and pride in his own heart, and be able to confess that, that he sees in himself. That's the only way he's going to be able to see it around him in the church of Jesus Christ, is by seeing it in his own heart, in his own life. Be alert, brothers, when others are unsuspecting. Know the enemy. when they are dulled to the reality of the devil's deception. The office bearer must know how the enemy works, how sly he is, must know where to look for the oncoming danger, and must realize always there is a war going on, there is a war going on. when God's people sometimes hardly seem to think that that war exists at all. The spiritual lives of the people of God and their children and children's children, the very life of the city of God in many ways was in the watchman's hand. So that first, see, that's the calling, to see the danger. Second, the watchman on the walls of Zion was then to warn God's people in love for them. The watchman in Israel, when he saw the danger, was to blow the trumpet, verse three, if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people. He couldn't just go around with his own voice. His voice wasn't loud enough, it wasn't clear enough, it wasn't piercing enough, it wasn't authoritative enough. He had to blow the trumpet and so too the office bearer must blow the trumpet in warning God's people to the danger that he sees in that blowing of the trumpet. Is that he allows the word of God to speak to the danger. So often in scripture, the blowing of the trumpet stands for the proclamation of the word, especially in warning and in confrontation of sin and spiritual dangers. Isaiah 58 verse one is representative. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. Office bearers, blow the trumpet, take the word of God. Your own voice is not loud enough. Your own voice is not clear enough. Your own voice is not authoritative enough. You must blow the trumpet of God's holy word. Remember that Christ himself is the great office bearer. and that he actually is the one warning the people through his word, the sacred scriptures, and you are watchmen under him, and you blow the trumpet when you take his word and warn God's people with that word. When you do that, sometimes it's helpful, office bearers, to first take this word, Ezekiel 33, one through nine, and bring that into your visit. And to remind God's people, God has set up watchmen in his church to blow the trumpet of his word when they see the danger. that helps them to remember your calling, your office, your responsibility, and how much the people of God need it. Take this first, and then take the scriptures that you are to bring regarding their specific need or the warning that you must bring. When you bring the warning of God's word, don't just read the passage and then close the book. but explain what it means and apply it to them. This is the trumpet that you are blowing. This is the word of Jehovah God and the authority of the warning that I give to you here is the authority of God's holy word. Christ himself is speaking here and I'm blowing the trumpet of Christ's word to you. Blow the trumpet, office bearers. In family visitation, when you come into our homes and speak to us, not that it's a Bible study, family visitation, it's not. But bring the word, admonitions, warnings, encouragements of the word in family visitation. Some generally, some specifically to individual families and individual people. Blow the trumpet of the word when you come in your visits for encouragement, for warning, for discipline. Speak to us, explain how the word of God applies to our life, to our blindness and hardness of heart, if that is the case. You can even look at it when you come, office bearers, into a room, a hospital room or a room in the home as a visit for encouragement to one who's been struggling with some sickness. You can see that too as this blowing the trumpet of a watchman in warning. Is not the danger of despair also an attack upon the people of God? Then blow the trumpet that delivers from such an attack of despair and discouragement. When you teach catechism, if God calls you to do that, in a whole class, or if a minister is gone and you must fill in for a time, blow the trumpet of the word. Open the scriptures to the children in your conversations with the people of God. Speak the truths of God's word in love for them, in the formal carrying out of the steps of church discipline, blow the trumpet in love for the people of God, warning them of the danger that they are in. Sound the trumpet with regard to sin. Call to repentance before Jehovah God. Turn ye, turn ye, for why will you die, O house of Israel? call them to run to Christ is the only help and hope to let go of their sin. For you can't come to the Lord Jesus holding on in love for your sin. How can you embrace the Christ if your arms are full in love for your sin? Let go of it and embrace him and in faith take hold of him and then go on. and serve him, and when there is such repentance, apply the assurance of forgiveness from the word that God himself says to you, you are forgiven of your sins in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blow that trumpet for our deliverance from the attack of despair. Blow the trumpet in the consistory room, office bearers, when you discuss the dangers to God's people with each other in that room Warn, warn from the word. Deacons, in your work you blow the trumpet, too, of warning. If there is poor stewardship, misuse of the mercies of Jesus Christ, blow the trumpet and warn. If there is despair from the difficulties of life in this situation, God in his providence has his people in. Blow the trumpet to warn of that despair and to send it away and to bring God's people to Christ and to his marvelous promises and mercies. The life of the watchman is not only seeing the danger, but it's blowing the trumpet with wisdom, with care. When the office bearers do this, beloved, they do it on behalf of God himself. Verse seven, therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me, says Jehovah God. When God's word is brought improperly applied to the situation, the origin of that warning is not them. It is God himself, and therefore comes with God's authority as God's own warning to God's people. Of course, if that word is brought wrongfully, It doesn't come with that authority. But when that word is brought faithfully, it comes with the authority of God himself. They're warning you from me, myself, and you must receive it that way. I am warning you as a father who cares for you and cares for his flock. They're coming on my behalf to speak for the preservation of your soul. The calling of the watchman is to see the danger is to blow the trumpet in warning. Third, an aspect of that calling is to do this, specifically for the house of Israel. Verse seven, so you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. For whom is the office bearer responsible? To see this danger and to blow the trumpet, specifically for the house of Israel. For Ezekiel, That meant many of the cities in Israel. And for many of the prophets of God in the Old Testament, the responsibility was for all of Israel. But for many of the watchmen, the local watchmen of the local cities, their responsibility was not so much for all Israel, but for their particular city in Israel. And so too, you men, office bearers in this church. While it's true that some of your responsibility may spill over into responsibility for the denomination, other cities, Israel together, and even for the church universal in some ways. In the main, God has called you specifically to be watchmen on the walls of this city in the house of Israel, of Granville Protestant Reformed Church. And that means then that you must know this church. You must know the flock, the citizens. What is the danger to these citizens in particular, some of which, of course, are going to be the same as dangers to every city in Israel, but some of which might not, might be particular to this flock together or to individual families or individual members of this flock. You must know the dangers that are specific to her, and you must talk about this in the consistory room. It helps sometimes. to have consistory meetings that are not now marching through the agenda of all the particulars. Sometimes even once a year, a meeting where you can step back and take some time and look at the big picture. What are the strengths and weaknesses of our congregation? What are the dangers that we see in our congregation? Big picture. Blow the trumpet. See the warning for this flock. Understand what's happened the last 20, 10, five, two years. Understand how society has changed. Understand how the young people face dangers in different ways, perhaps, than the older people do, and talk about that together. And blow the trumpet, especially for this flock. And then finally, fourthly, the calling of the watchman is to do all of this in utter dependence upon Jehovah God in prayer that God would give grace to them for their work, that God would give them the eyes to see the danger, that God would give them the courage to blow the trumpet when it must be blown, that God would give them to know their flock and to understand the dangers there. You can imagine that the watchman on the walls of a particular city, were fervent in prayer to God. God gives them the strength to watch, to be aware, to not be distracted, to live in the sense of the danger that the city is in, and to blow the trumpet faithfully, so you, because you know Now what Psalm 127 verse one says is true, except the Lord build the church, the house. They labor in vain that build it, except the Lord keep the city. The watchman waketh, but in vain. God must supply what we need, and therefore, office bearers. Listen to Isaiah 62 verses six and seven. I have set Watchman upon thy walls, O Jerusalem. Keep not silence, Watchman, and give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Give who no rest? Give God no rest, Watchman, That is, be constant in prayer and your petitions for the church, to him and for yourselves, that you be faithful in your office, that you have grace in time of need. See the danger. Blow the trumpet. Do that especially for this city, in utter dependence upon Jehovah God. This is a grave responsibility. A heavy responsibility. And every office bearer knows it. Knows it before he gets to this day, when he's put into the office. Feels it. And feels it as he goes through the process of answering the questions, of signing the formula. And the Lord God only adds to the weight of that responsibility here this morning in his word when he says this. Verse six. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, That person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. Wow. What a weight. And God says, I will hold the watchman accountable to some degree. for any destruction of souls under their charge if they fail to blow the trumpet in warning when it must be blown and the enemy comes and they are destroyed. A heavy, heavy weight, brothers. And rightly, every office bearer trembles at this responsibility. If an office bearer does not, he ought not be an office bearer. Something is seriously, seriously wrong. His blood will I require at your hand, I confess. Beloved, that after studying this a number of times, reading many commentaries, meditating upon this, I can't tell you exactly how God will do this. How he will require their blood at the office bearer's hand. For the actual physical watchman in Israel, I know what that is. The watchman who failed in his duty was executed. The death penalty for failing to blow the trumpet. For the office bearer, I don't know exactly how he requires it. It's not that he sends the office bearer to hell. No. Whatever it is. It's dead serious. So that there is a burden here that is almost so great that a man would say, I can't do this. And of course he can't in his own strength And he must remember that God knows too that he is dust, that he is a man, and that he will give strength to him in this office. But what a responsibility. You wonder sometimes why anybody who's not called to the office thinks at times how great it would be to have the office. I had an older woman in the church one time say to me, you know, I don't understand why women who are not called to the offices want to be some women. The weight of this, the responsibility of this, If anyone, man or woman, could avoid this, there's some truth to that. It's heavy. But God supplies the needs. God gives grace. And whom he calls, he strengthens for the work. but there is a responsibility that is great and no one ought to take it lightly. It's greater than the responsibility of the President of the United States. He's only caring for temporal things. It's greater than the responsibility of a doctor. He's only caring for physical bodies. The office bearer is taking care of the souls of men and of the city of the grand kingdom of Jehovah God. Be faithful, brothers, in your offices. Don't fail to do this work. Do not fall into the ditch of blowing the trumpet in anger and not in love for the people of God. And don't fall into the ditch of not blowing the trumpet because you think that's love for the people of God. Blow the trumpet in warning. We need you to do so. Hear the word of God concerning The failure to blow that trumpet. Isaiah 56 verses 9 and 10. All ye beasts of the field, come to devour. Yea, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind. They are all ignorant. They are all dumb dogs. They cannot bark. They are sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. God preserved the church. from this kind of watchman. It doesn't bark. It doesn't blow the trumpet. The threat comes in and overwhelms the church of Jesus Christ. Bark, blow, sometimes with tears and pleadings in your heart and soul, sometimes with zealous, righteous anger, controlled, lest the beasts come in and devour. Or their blood be required, it's your head. And yet, beloved, when that trumpet is blown, not sinlessly, but is blown faithfully, Remember also what God says in verse nine of Ezekiel 33. 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 you are faithful, not sinless, but faithful, and they do not heed, their blood is not required on your head. And therefore, don't overburden yourself and constantly run through your mind, but what if I would have said it this way, or what if I would have done this, or said this? If you're not faithful, then you should overburden yourself. But if you're faithful, They bear individual responsibility, too, and have heard the warning, and their blood is not on your head. Of course, there is always self-examination. There must be for an office bearer. You must always grow in his understanding and his carrying out of the work. But if there's faithfulness, then you may let it go, too. And this person is responsible before the face of God. And that word of God must be preached to all of us this morning too, mustn't it? Our second point is the grave responsibility, but that responsibility is not only upon the office bearers in the text, there's a responsibility upon all of us as the people of God. We're held individually accountable for our response to the blowing of the trumpet, to the warnings, And God himself says, if they bring that warning and it is not heeded by us, our blood is upon our own head, we may not shift the blame and say it's everybody else's fault. We have been warned and we are responsible before the face of God if they are faithful. In Jeremiah six. 17 through 19, God says, I have set watchmen over you, saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, we will not hearken. Therefore, hear and know, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their own thoughts, the consequences of their own thoughts. They're thoughts that we're not willing to submit to the warning. Those consequences that you lament and that you try to place the blame for upon everybody else are actually the consequences of your own purposes and you are warned, says God in the text. It's the effects of your hardness of heart because you wouldn't heed the word of Jehovah God. Heed the warnings, beloved. Young people, young adults, heed the warnings brought from office bearers. Heed the warnings brought from your own parents. When they blow the trumpet of God's word before your hearing, don't dismiss that word that they bring. Don't trust your life to your own desires and your own purposes and dismiss the word of God. Don't puff yourself up in pride, but heed the blowing of the trumpet. A high calling. for the office bearers and a high calling for God's people too. A high calling for Ezekiel, the prophet. And yet there is encouragement for Ezekiel in his office as there is encouragement for the office bearer in his work. First, the encouragement. is found in Ezekiel 33 verse seven, where God says to Ezekiel, before all Israel, so you son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. I have made a watchman. God says the same thing. Office bearers here today. You did not campaign for this like a politician. You do not bear your office of your own devices. I have placed you in this office. I have called you to this. I have set you up in this place in the church. That's encouragement to you. Secondly, the encouragement is that God has put the office bearer in this office, also in part, or rather, through the means of the will of God's people in this city. Verse two, son of man, speak to your people and say to them, if I bring the sword upon a land and the people of the land, take a man from among them and make him their watchman. Already back here, the people themselves had a hand in choosing the watchmen that were over them. And then when they were in that office, God said, I have set them up in that office, so too today in accord with biblical and reformed church government. God puts the office bearer in this office, but also through the means of the will of the people of the city. That's an encouragement to you brothers. They have seen the gifts that God has given to you. They have seen the wisdom God has given to you. And they have said by the casting of their vote, we desire that you be set up in this position in the church as watchmen over us. That's an encouragement to you. Third, the encouragement is that in accord with New Testament and biblical polity, You don't hold this office alone. There are watchmen in the offices of the church. Isaiah 62 verse six, I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem. Jeremiah six verse 17, also I set watchmen over you, saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet. God sets up not one or two, but watchmen, a body. You do this work together, not alone, men, you may and must use each other, learn from each other. gain from the wisdom of one another and work together and blow the trumpet as a body. There is encouragement for the office bearer in this. And then finally, beloved, the encouragement is that in and through this means God accomplishes his sovereign and good purpose. He sets up the watchman. He gives the word that they are to bring in the blowing of the trumpet. And then notice that it's also ultimately he who stands behind the very danger of the trumpet. that the office bearer must warn against. Verse two, son of man, speak to the children of thy people and say unto them, when I bring the sword upon a land, blow the trumpet. When I bring the sword upon a land. That doesn't take away the responsibility of the office bearer, it establishes it. But it does show that God is in control of the entire thing. He's sovereign over all of it and will accomplish his good and perfect purpose. So when you come to the end of that situation or of that particular case and your heart is absolutely broken, tears are streaming down at your face because there is hardness of heart in this one. or the opposite, you come to the end of a case and there is such joy and exaltation in your heart and soul as you join the angels in rejoicing before God over the sinner who repents. At the end of the day, you know God will be glorified and he will use the means of the watchman he has set up. For his glory, and the preservation of his church. God go with you then, you brothers, and all who are in the office, and all of us who are called in some way to be watchmen. And you in the special offices, may you be assured of God's mercy, his grace, his strengthening of you in this work. and his use of you for his glory and the good of his flock. Amen. Father, bless thy word to our hearing. Give us grace and strength in our work for thy glory and thy honor. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.