In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of remaining true to God's Word. He uses the example of the watchman's duty to warn the people when danger is approaching. The speaker also highlights the simplicity of God's commands, using the example of Adam and Eve being instructed not to eat from a specific tree. He encourages the audience to study the scriptures, seek help when needed, and apply God's Word in order to be kept as part of the remnant. The speaker also criticizes the tendency of some preachers to please men rather than faithfully preaching God's Word.

I was hoping you'd get that. It is so wonderful to see all of you because we're brothers and sisters in Christ and we're brothers and sisters that have gotten close over the past few years and I'm so blessed to have been able to study with the men that I was able to study with. You know, going through school we had to learn a lot of memory verses and I think that was one of their joys. But it troubles me, the things that I hear today when we look at God's Word. And let's just test my memory because I know some things have faded. In John chapter 12, didn't Jesus say, if I build a gymnasium, I'll draw all men unto Me? Is that what He said? No. And as the brother mentioned earlier, if we have a drama group, we will draw all men unto us, right? Or if we have, as he mentioned, if we have a choir, and look brother, you've got plenty of room. Look at this. And since we're so blessed with this building that's set up in this way, well, let's take advantage of it, right? But that's not what Jesus said. He said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me. You know, just after that, the apostles used the preaching of the cross to draw men to Christ, didn't they? The Word. Now let's turn to Ezekiel 33. 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 a sword upon the land, if the people of the land take a man of their coast 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 hears the sound of the trumpet and take it 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 seeth 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 of My mouth and warn them from Me. This afternoon, I want to look at how important it is. Or how important the job of a watchman is. And how important God's Word is. Because it sends a warning to us. And you know the things I said a while ago, and yeah, that was quite humorous to us, but when we think about it, that's what we're hearing. We're seeing all these things. Let's use this to draw. Number one, let's look at this. Holding to God's instructions. Kept a remnant. And before we become too discouraged, brethren, there is a remnant. There is a group, and I'm looking at some of those. There's a group here trying. Trying our best to hold on to God's Word and do what God expects. Expect that of me. And it's holding to God's instructions. That's what keeps a remnant. You know, there's one. He said, I'm all alone. This is it. There's no one else. And God answered him and said, I've reserved to myself 7,000 who have not bowed to the image of Baal. Even so, at this present time, also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And it was encouraging, even though I know we're in Chicago now. And we looked around. We looked at the congregations that were there. And we were a bit discouraged when we saw all the things that were going on and all that these congregations were using to draw people in. But it was encouraging to find that there are congregations there that are doing their best to hold on to God's Word and to be a part of God's remnant. You know, when I started working on this, I couldn't help but think back there was a time when we needed an entertainment center. So we went to buy one. And I got one of those where you put A1 to section B2 and C3 on the D4. And I am a typical man. You know what I did. All you guys out there, as soon as I said that, you knew what I meant, right? The instruction book laid over here. And we were proud of how well we accomplished this task. And I was so proud of how straight and square and how well it looked. And when Samantha came home, I said, look, look what I've done. And I didn't even need the instruction book. And she said, yes, look what you've done. The board on bottom is backwards. Because I hadn't turned to the instructions, it was the very first board that you have to place. To fix it, I would have had to take the whole thing back apart for that one board. I'm so proud of it. And someone set me in place if I had just looked at the instruction. And brethren, that's what God's Word is. It's our instruction manual. It tells us how to live, how to be, what to do, what not to do. Even down to what my attitude is to be. It's my guidebook. If I need to know how to help someone, I just look. Scripture says, study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2.15 Some translations say be diligent. But we need to take the time to open up God's Word. And when we study and when we be diligent, there's no reason to be ashamed. I can stand before anyone and proclaim God's Word with confidence. I can stand before God and not have to be ashamed when I'm working to rightly divide God's Word. Not only that, He says study to show thyself approved unto God. Several years ago, I worked at a factory. And I guess you might say I was a little bit arrogant in those days. I was a tester. I tested parts before they went out of the factory. Unless they were, you know, we've seen the commercial, tested by or inspected by number 13. Guess what? I was inspected by number one. I wanted to be number one. And there's parts out there today that have my approval stamp on them. So I know what it means to put your approval on something. You're saying this is good. This is safe for people to use. It's acceptable. Study to show thyself approved unto God. Now, when we think about what that means to be approved by God, to have His stamp on us saying this one's acceptable. 2 Timothy 2.16 It says, but shun. Now let's back up. Verse 15 says study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, but shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And it's been said some already. And I don't wish to go over anyone else's lessons, but I have to draw from those. We've got too much profane and vain babbling. There's too much of it going on from these wooden boxes. And as the brother, since he used the word junk, I feel like maybe I can get away with using that word. My dad always taught me, just say it like it is. We need to get rid of the junk. The profane and vain babblings. We need to get rid of the junk. Those words simply mean to keep away from wicked and fruitless discussion. I have to think about the eunuch in Acts 8. Philip was sent to him and he asked him a question. He said, do you understand what you're reading? He said, how can I except some man guide me? And when we think about what he did, he let go of pride. He got all that out of the way. He wanted to know. He wanted someone to help him work it out, so that he could understand what this meant. What does this mean? I see from that example, a man that didn't want the junk. He didn't want all the filler. He didn't want... He wanted to know how that applied and what it meant. And that's what Philip gave him. The watchman has to understand his duty. He has to understand the instructions that he's been given. He stands up on that tower and when we think of a watchman, there is a line of defense for me inside the city. There, that watchman is watching out. We need to make sure that he understands what he's doing. You know, I saw a segment of a movie once where a king wanted to keep his prince son in this room. So he set two guards. And he said, you keep the prince here until I return. And the guards stood at the door. Right. We won't let him go until we leave. The king says, no, no, no. That's not what I said. You keep him here until I return. Right. We'll stay here until we let the prince out. No, no, that's not what I said. See, they were sad as watchmen over the prince, but they didn't understand what they were to do. They didn't understand the instructions. We need to study. We need to open up the Scriptures. We need to let go of pride and ask for help when I need help. And let's make it personal because that's where we need to get. When I need help, I need to ask someone that can help me with the Scriptures, because I want to get to heaven. And if I don't understand something, am I going to let pride keep me out of heaven? Ask somebody. Ask for help. The remnant will be kept by applying God's Word. Galatians 1.1 says, Do I now persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. What we're hearing today is men-pleasers. Men standing behind the wooden box, pleasing the congregation. And congregations are hearing what they want to hear, because that's all they'll allow from the pulpit. The restoration movement was discussed earlier. What happened during that time? We see men who started rightly dividing God's Word and making the application to me, to themselves. What good is a watchman that is watching out for the enemy, and he understands his duty, but stands up there and he sees the enemy coming, and he looks down at the people and he says, the enemy's coming, but it's okay. Don't worry about it. They're not that close. Don't worry. Who wants a watchman like that? Well, they're getting closer, but it's okay. Don't fear. Yes, they're at the gates, but they can't get in. Isn't that what's happening today? Well, I realize the Bible says that's sin, but that's not as bad as what brother so-and-so has done. Or it's not really that bad. It's okay. I was told once about a conversation. Maybe we've all heard this. The one individual says, did you know that apathy is destroying the church? And the reply was, I didn't know and I don't care. Isn't that where we're at? And is that what I'm talking about? The world doesn't care. They don't know. They don't care. And too often, we get in that same situation and we allow apathy. We've gotten to the point where we just don't care. I'll tell you, Nehemiah 8. When I read this, it just caught me and we've been in Nehemiah already. Rebuilding the walls and we get to the point where Ezra opens the book of the law. You know, this really meant this meant something to me. Verse 5 of Nehemiah 8. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people. It says, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. When he opened the book, all the people stood up. As the remnant, we must remain true to all of God's Word. The watchman, he's on duty. Verse 3. If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people. What's his job? It's a simple task, isn't it? Warn the people. Blow the trumpet. Warn the people. If you see the sword, there's danger coming. You blow the trumpet. Warn the people. That's pretty simple. And that's his duty. So when we look at God's Word, one single command matters, doesn't it? One single little duty is important. Let's look back a little farther to Adam and Eve. How many laws do we have recorded that they were given? It's pretty simple, wasn't it? Don't eat of that tree. Don't eat of that one tree or you'll bring death. You'll die. One simple little command. How important was that one command? That command, when it was broken, brought death. It brought spiritual death to them. It brought physical death upon them. It brought death to me. The breaking of that one command brought the death of the Son of God. Breaking one little command. And when we look at me, when every one of us looks at the me, the watchman's there, the warning has been made, but what good is it if I don't listen? We have to heed the warning. Ezekiel 33, verse 5, 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. We have the instruction book. Brethren, we have God's Word. All the warnings are there. And you've heard warnings already. And there will be more after I sit down. But what good are the warnings if the remnant doesn't listen? O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore, shalt thou hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me. And then I turn to Jeremiah 22.29 and it says, O earth, earth, earth, hear the Word of the Lord. Thank you. The Word is the foundation. Thankful for that.