1) to wait and watch what God will order,
(2) to watch over and superintend the people.
We are called to stand firm, and make others fall in line with God and
stand strong in the narrow way till the end.
"Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel:
therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him
not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to
save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his
blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and
he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die
in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a
righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity,
and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast
not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness
which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I
require at thine hand.
Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin
not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned;
also thou hast delivered thy soul." (Ezekiel 3:17-21).
The Lord told the prophet he had appointed him a watchman to the
house of Israel. If we warn the wicked, we are not chargeable with
their ruin. Though such passages refer to the national covenant made
with Israel, they are equally to be applied to the final state of all
men under every dispensation. We are not only to encourage and comfort
those who appear to be righteous, but they are to be warned, for many
have grown high-minded and secure, have fallen, and even died in their
sins. Surely then the hearers of the gospel should desire warnings,
and even reproofs.
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