In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of proclaiming the word of God boldly and urgently. He uses the analogy of a tsunami approaching to illustrate the need for warning others about the impending judgment of God. The preacher highlights the role of the watchman, who is constantly vigilant and ready to sound the alarm. He references the biblical passage in Ezekiel where God appoints the prophet as a watchman to warn the people of Israel. The sermon emphasizes the responsibility of believers to proclaim the message of God's judgment and salvation to those around them.

1 Samuel chapter 16. We're going to look at verse 21. 1 Samuel 16 verse 21. We are looking at the life of David. And the title of my message this morning is this, Do Watchmen Roar or Meow? Do watchmen roar or meow? Let's read from 1 Samuel 16 verse 21. And David came to Saul and stood before him and he loved him greatly and he became his armour bearer. Last week we looked at how Saul to me speaks of the apostate church or the backslidden church and we can see from the life of Saul his spiritual declension even into madness. Have you ever watched the movie, I don't know if you've heard of it, The Madness of King George? If we look back in history, King George, I'm not sure which monarch, you know, it might have been George the third or the second, but he was mentally unwell and certainly Saul was mentally unwell. But at this particular time we have just read that there was still some good in him according to Wesley and he loved David greatly and he brought David to court and he made David his armour bearer. Saul speaks to me of the apostate church and David, I believe this morning, speaks to me of the remnant within the church called the watchmen. Those men or women that have a clear prophetic voice from God for the church. And David, according to our reading, was made the armour bearer. His job was not only to bear Saul's armour but also to stand by him in the time of danger, to help him, to help him. And that's important this morning. The armour bearer was necessary. He was a help in time of danger and that is the role of the watchman. He is a help in time of danger. He is necessary, friends, to stand by the church in time of danger because of the eyes that the watchman has. Saul embraced his armour bearer David and he loved him greatly, the scripture says. He loved him greatly. Possibly David reminded Saul of himself when he was a youth, when he was a young man, when the Lord was with him, when he wrought great victories. Maybe David reminded him and he was embraced. The anointing of God was embraced through David. But friends, we can look at a few chapters later and things change. There's a different picture. As David goes out into battle, into conflict and overcomes the enemies of Israel, the enemies of God and kills many thousands. When he returns, the people rejoice and the people praise David and they begin to lift up the name of David over the name of Saul. And in 1 Samuel 8, 10 and verse 9 it says this, and Saul eyed David from that day and forward. Which means Saul became jealous. He became jealous and he tried, when we look a few chapters later, to destroy David, to destroy him because of the jealousy, because of the wrath, because of the indignation, the anger in his heart. All the love was now gone and now he despised David. He despised the anointing upon him. David received more recognition than Saul and Saul became displaced. You see, I do believe that David's anointing threatened Saul. It threatened him. It threatened certainly his house and he became uncomfortable. And at times in the church, the watchman's voice, it's welcomed, I believe, at particular times, welcomed and embraced. Bring him in. But once that voice receives any credibility, once that voice receives any recognition, friends, that I believe there is displeasure, there is jealousy, they're driven out. Just like Saul tried to destroy David, so those in the church will try to destroy the prophetic voice, the watchman's voice. And they'll desire to drive it out of the church and they'll desire to pursue it and to cause it to come to nothing. David's anointing threatened Saul. And friends, there are those, as I say, watchmen and their anointing is received for a season, but then a little later it's shunned. It's shunned. They will seek with unholy fervor to chase them and eradicate them, just like the spirit of Saul. And like the stony ground hearer, they receive with gladness and endure for a time, but once affliction or persecution arises, they are immediately offended. Once there is mention of judgment, cross-carrying, self-denying, there is indignation. We'll have part of the message. We'll have a little bit of that. You know, sometimes, friends, I edit the messages that I preach. Sometimes I might slip a word here or there. There might be something there that I need to edit. And you see, there are those that want to take the message and they want to edit it. They want to cut it and they want to paste something else into it that will appeal to masses. And it cannot be done. A magazine, as we all know, is made up of pictures and text. Pictures and text. Now, we all remember when we were six or seven years old and we picked up mummy's magazine or daddy's magazine, mummy's woman's own magazine, daddy's fishing or soccer magazine. And what would we do? We would turn the pages and only look at the pictures. We are not interested in the text. We are not interested in the articles that have been written. We are only interested in the glossy pictures. That's what attracts us. And we turn the page, one page after another, so we can look at the pictures. And the church only wants to look at the pictures and not the text. Certain churches, certain ministries, they only want the glossy pictures, one page after another. Those pictures of those celebrities, motor cars, lovely homes. That's all that they're interested in. Forget about the text. We don't want the text. We want the cut and the paste. All they want is what pleases their eye and butterflies their stomachs. Amen? Pleases their eyes and butterflies their stomachs. In Isaiah 21, verse 6 and verse 8, it says this, For thus has the Lord said unto me, Go set a watchman, let him declare what he sees. And he cried a lion, My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights. Now, you may ask the question this morning, Scott, what actually is a watchman? Well, let me tell you. He is a kind of intelligence gatherer, an intelligence gatherer. In 2 Samuel 18, 24 to 25, it says this, And David was sitting between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof, over the gate, to the wall, lifted his eyes, and looked, and there was a man running alone. Then the watchman cried out and told the king, and the king said, If he is alone, there is news in his mouth. And he came and rapidly drew near. You see, an intelligence officer in the British army provides specialist intelligence and security expertise in support of military operations. The intelligence that they gather, he gathers or she gathers, will be relayed back to HQ. Good intelligence may change the outcome of a war. And God, in many ways, has raised up intelligence officers in the body of Christ. He has. We think of those intelligence officers that were deployed in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles, or those intelligence officers that were deployed, let's say, into Iraq or Afghanistan, and it's their job, friends, to infiltrate. Amen? It's their job to get behind enemy lines and to infiltrate enemy and to gather information, vital information. Their own eyes might see an armored brigade that no one else knows about, and they're able to take this information, and they're able to relay it back to HQ. And the information that they have may be vital, okay, may be vital, so that the allies are able to fortify their position and to be ready for an offense from the enemy. God gives information to certain individuals, information, friends, and those individuals will relay that information, hopefully, to the church. You see, if that intelligence officer from the British Army does not relay that information, there's a possibility that the war is lost, that all will be destroyed. And once he hands the information over, once he hands it over, it's up to those at HQ what they will do with it. It's up to them if they will use it, or if they will take it as a bit of paper and scramble it up and discard it. And God will give information to his church at pinnacle times, friends, and it's up to the church whether they receive it or discard it. The watchman, in essence, an intelligence gatherer, or a lookout, a lookout. We all remember in here when we were kids, and some of us were quite mischievous, and let's say, for instance, we're on the farmer's land, the apple trees are there, an old farmer, Joe, is in his house, and the boys are there and want to steal a few apples. And you usually get one of your wee friends, the wee boy, the wee girl, as a lookout. You know, you be lookout. And if old farmer Joe comes along, make sure you sound the alarm, because we don't want to be caught up the apple tree. Isn't that right? So wee Jimmy's the lookout. Wee Jimmy's the lookout. He'll sound the alarm. You know, if old farmer Joe's coming, if danger's coming, the watchman is the eyes of the church. That's what he is, and he will sound the alarm if danger is coming, if danger is coming. In Isaiah 21 verse 8, we read that the watchman cried like a lion. He cried like a lion. This speaks of the loudness of the cry, the loudness of the cry. If you've ever watched a nature program, let's say, for instance, there's an expert being interviewed by a presenter from a nature program. Possibly all of a sudden you hear a roar, a mighty roar of a lion. That expert would probably turn around to the startled presenter and say, don't worry about it, it's okay, because the lion is very far away. You see, the roar can carry. And friends, there's a roar that God puts in individuals that reverberates through the church. It carries through the church. It's God's desire that many would hear it as it reverberates. The message I preached a month or so ago, we can see that's reverberating through the church. There's a cry in that message. There's a roar in that message, and there are those that are hearing the roar and responding to the alarm. They're responding to it. Praise God. When we think of the watchman's cry, we think of vigilance, the vigilance of the lion. One commentator says this, the lion's eyelids are short so that even when asleep he seems to be on the watch awake. Hence, he was painted on the doors of temples as the symbol of watchfulness guarding the place. You see, a lion guards. A lion roars. He doesn't meow. Amen. A lion roars, but he doesn't meow. But there are plenty in the church today, and they're meowing. That's what they're doing. They're praying. They're not roaring. And a meow won't awaken a slumbering people, but a roar will do it. A roar from the might of God will awaken the people. Someone said, don't roar in case you frighten the people. How can one meow when the judgment of God approaches? How can you meow when power and calamity, chaos and catastrophe shall come like a raging tsunami? How can one do it? I remember watching footage. I don't know if I ever told you this, but I remember watching footage of the tsunami years ago there, I think in Thailand, before it struck. And there was a group of people on top of a hill or on top of a mountain, and they had their own video camera, and below friends on the beach was a man on his own. And the camera begins to move, and there we see the tsunami coming, coming. And you could hear these people trying to shout. They were shouting. They were screaming to try and get this man's attention because he was standing with his back to what was coming to engulf and destroy. Friends, they could not cause him to respond to the cry. All of a sudden, it showed you that mighty roaring tsunami engulf him and take him off. And I've never forgot that. I've never forgot that. And I believe, friends, this morning something is coming. Something is coming. And God certainly, when we look at the scriptures, God one day, that great day of the Lord, when judgment will come, and like a mighty tsunami, many will be engulfed in judgment. They will be engulfed. And judgment must first begin in the house of God as there's something that's coming that will engulf many who are not standing and listening to what God is saying through his people, through his watchmen. Well, praise God. Praise God this morning, church. I believe that we're on the hill. I believe that we're on the mountaintop. I believe that we're secure, that we're safe because we're fixed on the rock Christ Jesus. Hallelujah. We're fixed on him. We're stable because we are in Christ. And we can hear. We can hear the voice, the voice of the lion, the voice of the lion of the tribe of Judah. We can hear him. And praise God. Praise God. There's something coming. The watchman. He's on day and night. He's on day and night. Jeremiah was on day and night. These men were on day and night. When I was in the British army, when we were guarding the camp, it was like four hours on and four hours off. That's what it was. You did four hours guarding the camp, and then you got four hours off to sleep or to eat or to recuperate. You know, you didn't stag on 24 hours. That didn't happen. You got a bit of rest. But the watchman is on all the time. Why? Because there's a message in him. Oh, there's a message that burns in his soul. There's a message that burns in his heart and his bones. And he cannot sleep. He cannot stand still. Friends, he needs to watch. He needs to preach. He needs to declare what God is going to do. Oh, friends, something is coming. Something is coming. Let's listen to what God says. 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 a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts and set him for their watchman, if when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people, then whosoever hears the sound of the trumpet and takes 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 takes 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 shall hear the word of my mouth and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die. If thou dost 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 I 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. Old Matthew Henry says, the sword of war, whenever it comes upon a land, is of God's bringing. It is the sword of the Lord, of his justice. How unjustly soever men draw it. The watchman came from the coasts, we say, the coasts. Why? Well, it's quite obvious, really, if any imminent danger is coming, it will come from the sea. So the watchman is from the coasts, and there are those, friend, in the church today, and listen to me, they're on the peripherals of the church, that's where they are, because again, as I said earlier, they're not embraced, and they're not wanted, but they're there, and they're roaring, and like the lion's roar, it carries, even though they're not embraced in the midst of the church, the roar carries through, and there are some that can hear it, friends, and there will be some that will be startled. Believe me, the trumpet is sounding, the trumpet is sounding, prepare yourselves, the coastal criers are sounding the alarm, the wailing friends, watchmen are crying aloud, the protestant prophets are blowing the trumpets, and those that hear and do shall live, those that hear and do shall live, but they, friends, that hear and don't, shall be swept away, they shall be engulfed, friends, engulfed. God says in this portion to warn his people from the wickedness of their ways, to warn them from their, from the wickedness of their ways, so we can see, friends, the wickedness, not only in the world today, but the wickedness that calls itself church. If there's a fire in a house, as I walk by, should I do nothing? Should I stay silent and not sound the alarm? Should I walk on indifferent and leave those inside to be consumed by flames and smoke? God help me, if my roar becomes a meow, God help me if my trumpet becomes a tiny triangle, God help me if my cry becomes a girly giggle, God help me if I don't preach the word of God, that God puts in my heart, that God puts in Noel's heart, that God puts on this pulpit, those that stand behind this pulpit, friends, God help us. It's time for the sirens to scream, it's time for the horns to holler, for the sword of the Lord is coming to slice the church, to separate the goats from the sheep, and the towers from the weight, but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to me, saith the Lord. Thou hast played the harlot. That's what the prophet said to the people of God, thou hast played the harlot, and I believe that's the voice of God today, to the body, thou hast played the harlot, return to me, saith the Lord. Jesus said, they that are of the truth hear my voice. Can we hear his voice? Can you hear his voice this morning? Revelation 2.5 says, remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come on to thee quickly, and I will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. Friends, we have heard of the expression, he never saw it coming. He never saw it coming. That man on the beach never saw it coming. That boxer in the ring never saw the uppercut coming. The enemy in a bunker in Afghanistan or Iraq never saw the cruise missile coming, and they were destroyed. They were destroyed. They never saw it coming, and something is coming. Judgment is coming. God is coming, and the charge is to awaken out of your slumber. Drink no more from the springs of Babylon. Peddle no more the pearl of great price, because that's what's happening. There are those that are drinking, drinking. Oh, how they drink much from the springs of Babylon. They return, friends, with their buckets, and they draw from the well of Babylon. There are those that are peddling the pearl of great price. All night and day they make merchandise of Jesus in the temple of God, and they sell their merchandise, and they sell, friends, all that they have with their face imprinted on their CDs and their books and so forth and so on, but God will come, and he will overturn the tables. He will do it. Samuel said to Saul, so God says to some in the body of Christ, has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry, because you have rejected the word of the Lord. He also has rejected you from being king, and just like the kingdom was rent from the house of Saul, and just like the kingdom was rent from the chief priests and the elders, the master will remove men from their ministries, and will remove men from their pulpits, and will remove men, friends, from their empires, from their empires, and like Nebuchadnezzar who stood or sat on his empire. Oh, how that man was filled with pride and arrogance, and oh, how one day he was eating the grass like an animal, and all those that stand puffed up, but God will have his day, friends. God will have his day, for Christ alone shall get the glory, for judgment must first begin in the house of the Lord. Friends, we were part of that meeting on Wednesday night, and I have no doubt that God moved in our midst on Wednesday night, that God moved in that little meeting, and we received from God, and we heard the voice of God. The Lord rebuked us. The Lord chastened us. Whom he loves, he chastens, and he chastened us, friends, and that rebuke was received, and we began to weep. We began to confess our sin, and ask God for mercy. Oh, hallelujah. May God continue to do that in our church, and in churches in Portadown, and churches in Northern Ireland, and around the world, that God's people would hear the lions roar, and respond to the alarm, and repent, and prostrate themselves, and cry out to God, Oh, Son of David, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me, a foul and poor sinner. Oh, God, forgive me for my complacency. Forgive me, oh God, for being lukewarm. Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy, have mercy, oh God, have mercy, oh God, have mercy, oh God. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh, God, Jeremiah 13, 17, but if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places, for your pride in mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord's flock is carried away captive. The Lord's flock is carried away captive. The Lord's flock is carried away to Babylon. Oh, could I say that the Lord's flock is carried away to Babylon today? Carried away with the elements of the world? Carried away with another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit? Carried away, carried away captive, and oh, how the prophet here weeps. Oh, how he weeps in the secret place, and there are those godly men, and godly women in the church, friends, and they're weeping, and no one knows that they're weeping. They're weeping in the secret place. They're weeping at the idolatry. They're weeping at the pride, and the spiritual arrogance in the church. They're weeping. Oh, they're weeping at what has happened to God's temper. God is coming. God is coming. Oh, friends, I've shared this before about the dog whistle, haven't I? When you blow that whistle, Drew is walking his dog up the street. Oh, friends, Drew will not turn his head, but the wee dog on the lead will turn its head, and God is speaking. God is speaking, and there are those that will hear the voice of the lion. There are those that will turn from their wicked ways. There are those that will turn, friends, from what they believe to be contemporary church, and now church which is an abomination. There are those that will return, friends, but there are those like that man on the beach that will not hear the alarm, that will not hear the cry, and they will be engulfed. They will be carried away, for even if the elect friends could be deceived according to Jesus, according to the spirit of Jesus through his band, then they would. Then they would. I declare even on our own hearts, even in this church, even friends in this land, examine yourselves that you're in the faith, because a day is coming. Oh, we thank God for his mercy this morning. We thank God that he is speaking to us, and we might be small in number, friends, but I believe, listen to me, I believe we're on the hill, don't you? I believe, friends, that God is certainly with us. There's no doubt about that. He is with us, hallelujah, because we have kept his name, and we have kept his word. We have kept his gospel, God's gospel, hallelujah, and may God's gospel tonight, friends, may it invade the hearts of those that will come to this place. May God shake their very, friends, theologies. May God shake their very philosophies. May God shake, friends, their very lives and cause them to see, oh, that God is the judge of the living and the dead, that God is the one that shall come again. We believe it. We believe it. Saul, Saul's DNA is still around. Saul's spirit is still around. It's still there, and friends, it will continue to reject. It will continue, friends, to chase the true voice of God, hallelujah, hallelujah. We bless the Lord. We bless God. Amen. We bless God for what he's doing with us. We bless God for what he's saying in this church. I thank God for what he's doing, because, friends, listen to me, we will carry on in these scriptures, and we will carry on, and hopefully God will give us other messages, messages to encourage, messages to edify, yes, but listen to me, I thank God for the challenge. I thank God for the shaking. I thank God that he's saying to us, listen to me, listen to me, take off those besetting sins and come near to me. Draw near to me. Come on now. Come on now. Draw near to me. Come upwards and onwards, onwards and upwards. Friends, I thank God that he's changing us inside out. I thank God that he's changing us from glory to glory. I thank God that by the Holy Ghost we're being sanctified. Hallelujah. Vessels fit for the master's use. I don't want to be a vessel of earth. I want to be a vessel of gold, filled with the Holy Ghost, filled with a spirit of power, filled with a spirit of regeneration. We can quicken the dead, friends. I want us to be a people that will house in the sick, and they shall recover, to pray for the dead, and they shall be resurrected, friends, to preach the gospel, and to see sinners, sinners saved, sinners set free, drugged friends set free. Hallelujah. Drug addicts set free. Prostitutes set free by the power of the gospel of Christ. The power of the gospel of Christ. The gospel, the gospel, the gospel of Jesus, the power of Jesus, the words of Jesus. Friends, they have power. They have life. The words of Christ. Christ, Christ, Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Praise God. Praise God. Hallelujah. Do watch men roar or do they meow? You know, just lastly and closing, and obviously Alberta and Noel, even Grace, can testify to this at times. When a cat comes to approach you and rubs against your leg, doesn't it? Puts his tail up and rubs against your leg. I know how some of those in ministry, how they love to rub against the leg. They love to power and love to seduce. But friends, we won't. We will roar. And if I don't like the roar, well, I don't care. We'll roar anyway. Amen. We'll roar and we'll roar and we'll roar. And we'll shout and we'll shout and we'll shout. And we'll declare and declare and hurled and hurled and trumpet and trumpet. We'll do it. We'll do it. And even if there's 10 people in this place, we'll still do it. We'll do it next year, 10 years and 30 years if the Lord tarries. Amen. Because friends, as he says, as the scripture says, all I want to hear is well done my good and faithful servant. Well done. Amen. Listen to me. That's what we'll do. Amen. Charged by God to keep his word, to keep his commandments and to do right in the eyes of the Lord. Relay what he gives us. Amen. If God would raise this church up to be an intelligence church, an intelligence gathering church, a watch, you know, a tower in this land. Amen. God would give us eyes to see in these days. Let's pray.