Watchmen on the Wall

 

Presently there are many ministries that intercede for the United States and for the nations of the world. No informed Christian would deny that evil men have come to power, whose purpose is to overthrow free forms of government and to suppress the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, few Christians seem to be aware that this same anti-Christ network has infiltrated the Church with a hidden agenda of subverting the true faith and converting believers to their false religious system.

This quiet intrusion of false brethren into the life of the Church was foretold in Acts 20 and Jude 4. In Acts 20:29-31. Paul states that for three years he did not cease to warn the Church day and night with tears:  “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

The Lord Jesus Christ must have foreseen this great danger to His church when He told the following parable:  “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.”  Mark 13:34

Just as some are called to positions of authority within the Body of Christ and others to serve in different ministries, there are those who are called to be porters or watchmen. In Israel, the watchman stood on the wall and notified the porter or gatekeeper of the identity of anyone who was approaching the city. Using a similar analogy in John 10:1-3, Jesus says that the porter will only open the door of the sheepfold to the true Shepherd of the sheep. Apparently, it was the duty of the watchman to warn and of the porter to protect the city from foreign invaders. Accordingly, there must be a parallel operation within the Church to protect it from outside enemies. God has called some to be watchmen on the wall to warn those who labor inside and gatekeepers to pray for their protection.

The Lord Jesus also prophesied that the period just before His return would be a time of unprecedented deception. In Matthew 24:24, He says that even the very elect would be deceived ~ if possible. II Thessalonians 2:3 reveals that during this period there would be a great falling away from the faith. It is difficult to comprehend how this could happen, until it is understood that the subtle deception will come from within the Church ~ just as Paul said it would!

Today, the New Age Movement and other components of the New World Order have infiltrated the Bible-believing churches and Christian ministries. According to Constance Cumbey, their expressed goal is to use the evangelical church as the primary instrument to bring the New World Order to birth.*  As a result of this conspiracy, many sincere Christians are presently being led into deception by the abundance of false teachers and prophets on the Christian scene and organizations that have the appearance of doing a good work, but are apostate in their doctrine and practice.  The reader may naively assume that the majority of Evangelical leaders could not possibly be false teachers and false prophets because they are so widely accepted.  For a more Scriptural perspective on this matter, we recommend reading The Preacher As A False Prophet, by Rev. James Stalker, who stated concerning Israel:

“The false prophets were strong, not only in their own numbers, but in their popularity with the people. This told heavily against the true prophets; for the people could not believe that the one man, who was standing alone, was right, and that his opponents, who were many, were wrong. The seats and the trappings of office always affect the multitude, who are slow to come to the conclusion that the teachers under whom they find themselves in providence can be misleading them... If they are going wrong, they will generally get the majority of the people to follow them. So completely may this be the case, that by degrees the popular taste is vitiated and will not endure any other teaching than that to which it has been accustomed, though it be false. There is no sadder verse in all prophecy than the complaint of Jeremiah, ’The prophets prophesy falsely, and My people love to have it so.’ Like prophet, like people; the public mind may be so habituated to what is false, and satisfied with it, that it has no taste or even tolerance for the true. Jeremiah could not gain a hearing for his stern and weighty message from ears accustomed to the light and frivolous views of the false prophets; and to Baruch, his young coadjutor and amanuensis, who was starting on the prophetic career with the high hopes of youth, he had to deliver the chilling message, ’Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not.’  The path to popularity and eminence was not open to anyone who did not speak according to the prevailing fashion.”

Foreseeing the great end-time apostasy, our gracious Lord advised us how to recognize and avoid the spiritual deception that would engulf the Church.  In many passages, such as Luke 21:34-36, He cautions his disciples to watch and pray that they may be accounted worthy to escape the things that shall come to pass and to stand before Him. I Peter 4:7 says, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” The apostle Peter had learned the antidote to temptation, for these were the words that Jesus spoke to him prior to his own falling away and denial of his Lord. (Mark 14:38) Because he had learned to heed these words of Jesus, Peter ultimately glorified the Lord in his death.

Watch Unto Prayer is comprised of those who believe that God has called them to watch and pray for the Church. Over the past five years we have evolved into a loosely-knit group of Christian researchers, primarily women, who live in various parts of the United States. Our work is not pastoral ministry or teaching, but research and investigation of the various New Age trends and change agents which have infiltrated the Christian community with a view to subverting the faith of believers. Our objective is to report our findings to interested Christians so they will become informed, pray and inform others. Many pastors and others in Christian ministry do not have the time for this kind of research and find our material helpful. We are not affiliated with a particular church or denomination, but we do adhere to the following Statement of Faith.

If you also have a burden for the spiritual condition of the Church, you are invited to subscribe to the Watch Unto Prayer ministry. Each “watchman” will receive notification of new reports via e-mail which focus on areas or trends within or without the Body of Christ. Your input will be welcomed as we seek to pray with knowledge and discernment.

The reports are a means of sharing information on the serious issues that warrant prayer for the Body of Christ. Although such knowledge is personally necessary for each believer, it is not an end in itself. Ours is not a ministry of merely exposing heresy in the Church, although we are called to do so. Rather, the Watch Unto Prayer ministry has the ultimate purpose of rescuing God’s people from the present apostasy. Who among us can say we have never been deceived? As we become informed of the deceptions that are presently overtaking the Church, and perhaps even ourselves, may we look to the Word of God with the sense of our own dependence upon God's grace for understanding and for the proper guidelines for prayer.

To be placed on the mailing list for notification of new reports, please send your name and e-mail address to Watch Unto Prayer.  If you request to be placed on the e-mail list and do not receive an acknowledgement, please re-subscribe. On occasion, errors in registering subscriptions are made or computer problems develop, and addresses are lost. Thank you and, should this happen, please accept my sincere apologies.  Barbara Aho


Watch and Pray…

        For spiritual discernment in the Church and a disposition to try the spirits and to prove all things, whether they are from God. (I John 4:1-3; I Thess. 5:21)

        That Christians will look only to the Word of God as the foundation for sound doctrine, rather than trusting in men, experiences, or their own understanding. (Prov. 3:5-7; II Tim. 3:16,17; Jer. 3:15, 23:28; II Pet. 1:20)

        That pastors, teachers and other leaders will not be deceived and follow the ecumenical crowd, but will warn and protect the flocks which are entrusted to their care and for which they will give an account. (I Pet. 5:2; Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:17; see also Jer. 23 and Ezek. 34)

        That those who are false prophets posing as Christian leaders will be exposed, reproved, and their false teachings rejected by the Church. (II John 10; Titus 3:10,11; II Tim. 3:8,9; Eph. 5:11)

        That God will raise up men and women of true spiritual stature to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints in Scripture. (Jude 3; Eph. 5:11)

        That God will enlist men and women of prayer to intercede for the Body of Christ in these perilous times. (Eph. 6:18; I Pet. 5:8; I John 5:16)