Watchmen on the walls of cities were to blow the trumpet to alert the people of an approaching enemy.

The Lord instructed the prophet Ezekiel to speak to his people, ". ..When I bring the sword upon a 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" (Ezekiel 33:2-7).

From this scripture, we see how important it is that ", the watchman be someone that is trustworthy, that is loyal, that is faithful. We also see how important it is, once the watchman has blown the trumpet, that the people give heed to the warning. To fail to give heed is to lose your soul. For the watchman to fail to blow the trumpet, souls will still be lost, even though their blood, be on the watchman's hands.

In verse seven, we see where the Lord said to Ezekiel, "I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel." Not all "watchmen" today are called of God!

Most are not. How can we say that? Notice the rest of , this verse, "Therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me."

An Old Testament prophet (if he was a true prophet of God) was one who received a message from the Lord, and then delivered it to the people. That is still true of , God's ministers today. That is why I say most watchmen today are not called, not sent, by God for they are not delivering God's message. This is not new, for Ezekiel faced the same condition: "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord,. Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 0 Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for I the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken? There fore thus saith the . Lord God,. Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God" (Ezekiel 13:2-8).

From this scripture we see how God instructed Ezekiel to, "prophesy against the prophets of Israel!"

Israel was supposed to be God's people, and the prophets of Israel should have been prophets of God, but they were not.

Just because a man claims to be a minister of Jesus Christ, does not make him one. Just because a man claims to be a "called of God" minister, does not make him one.

Not only was Ezekiel to prophesy against the prophets of Israel, but we see, from verse eight, that God said He was against them.

These false prophets followed "their own spirit," and had seen nothing from the Lord. They said the Lord had shown them thus and thus, but the Lord said, "Albeit I have not spoken" (verse 7). Further, the Lord said He had not sent them. But the sad part is, besides the fate of the false prophets, they caused others to "hope" in their false message.

It is the work of every God-called minister to blow the trumpet in Zion, to lift up the standard of God's Word to the people: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1).

It is the responsibility of every saint of God to stand with, to support, and to live what the man of God preaches, There are some professed "family of God" people today trying to pressure the ministers to lower the standard, to change the message, to omit certain teachings of the Word, This should not be! Our souls are involved, We should encourage the ministers of God to preach the truth. In fact, a congregation should not accept anything less. The Apostle Paul said, "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" (I Corinthians 14:8).

To live the Christian life is a battle! To stand for the truth is a battle! The forces of evil are arrayed against the saints of God, and unless we are willing to put on the whole armor, and fight the good fight of faith, we will lose the battle and our own souls. All around us we see compromised, worldly, pleasure loving churches----church members. The saints of God must be (and are) different. If not, we are not saints, and we are not of God's family.

May God bless and help each one of His watchmen, to blow the trumpet in Zion, and to blow it loud and clear.