Watchmen of Zion C2

THE CHURCH IN THIS CITY

Chapter 2 WATCHMEN OF ZION

Upon your walls, 0 Jerusalem,

I have set watchmen;

all the day and all the night

they shall never be silent.

You who put the Lord in remembrance,

take no rest,

and give him no rest

until he establishes Jerusalem

and makes it a praise in the earth.

-Isaiah 62

A Church Made Ready

The redemptive work that needs to be done on earth at this hour is

not going to be accomplished by individual heroes. It is going to be

done by the Body. The need is not for one or two flaming prophets, but

for a living, burning church. A church that is truly a city set on a

hill, truly a habitation of God. A church where the glory of God is so

bright, the atmosphere so charged with His presence, that it literally

draws into its midst the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind.

We've been praying for all kinds of goodies for our private

ministries, But when it comes to the church, the Body of Christ, we've

been satisfied with far too little, If we have a good crowd, if there's

a warm feeling and the singing goes well, we are content that the

church is in good shape. Yet, time and time again, we leave the assembly

only to be met by lepers we cannot heal and blind and to whom we can give

no sight, troubled souls we cannot seem to quiet with God's peace,

seekers who are unable to find their way through our words to God. This

is not just an individual problem. This is a corporate problem, a sign

that something is missing in the Body. The fact that we come away from

fellowship to become victims of habits and fears and vanities that have

defeated us countless times before is a symptom of disease in the Body

itself.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the

church and gave himself up for her, that he

might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the

washing of water with the word, that he might

present the church to himself in splendor, with-

out spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she

might be holy and without blemish.

How are we going to reconcile this picture of splendor, this sanctified,

clean, holy people with the church as we know it and function in it?

The Spirit is calling for a church at this hour that is not this spotted,

wrinkled, mediocre thing we've been accustomed to being. The Spirit is

calling for a church that is holy and without blemish, that functions

as a healthy Body and really manifests the nature of God. The kind of

church we considered satisfactory in the past just is not satisfactory

now. The club atmosphere, the superficial piety, the unbelief, vanity,

lack of commitment that we considered normal in the past will satisfy

neither our God nor the need of the hour. If we cannot have a church

that manifests Jesus Christ in its behavior, touches heaven in its

worship, literally burns with God's love, let's admit that we are

better off with nothing than with this spiritless mediocrity that has

filled our past years.

The Lord Has To Do It

It is impossible for us to transform ourselves into a church where

God is truly present. If we are to be a church where people stepping

into the assembly know that they've come into the courts of heaven,

Jesus himself has to bring this about. We can have meetings and com-

mittees and retreats and wonderful intentions. But until Jesus himself

comes into our midst and turns our darkness to light, we are still a

wedding feast without wine. "On this rock I will build my church."

Only the Lord himself can build, sanctify, cleanse, or send forth his

Spirit upon the church.

And he will, provided there are some people who really desire

these things. Jesus did not turn the water into wine until Mary came

asking. Nor did he heal until he saw some desire for healing. When

he picked out the man at the pool of Bethesda he did not heal until he

first asked, "Do you want to be healed?" As long as we are satisfied

to bumble on, simply not bothered enough to cry out to God for more

than this, this is exactly what we're going to have and nothing more.

Thank God, however, that voices are starting to be raised to

heaven at this hour, pleading, begging, pounding on the door, demanding,

pestering, holding God to his promise, refusing to be still, until God

establishes Zion and makes her a praise in the earth; until her vindication

goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning torch.

Upon your walls, 0 Jerusalem,

I have set watchmen;

all the day and all the night

they shall never be silent.

You who put the Lord in remembrance,

take no rest,

and give him no rest

until he establishes Jerusalem

and makes it a praise on the earth.

The Call For Watchmen

To those reading these words who are satisfied with things as they

are in the church of Jesus Christ there is very little to say, except,

sleep on! If you really believe that the Body of Christ as you see it and

fit into it is satisfactory to God and sufficient for the work that needs

to be done, good luck to you. But to those who are dissatisfied, who

know that what we now are, what we are now accomplishing, the life we now

offer to men in the name of Christ is not enough, comes the call to be

watchmen. The need is for watchmen, male and female, to put the Lord in

remembrance, to take no rest and give him no rest until he establishes

Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth.

The need is for watchmen with vision. People who see beyond their

own narrow little program to the church that is in the mind and heart

of Jesus himself, the church the Lord will have before the marriage

supper can possibly begin.

We have to have the vision to see a church that shines with the

splendor of God. Not the splendor of magnificent buildings or fine robes

or eloquence or riches or political power, but the splendor of Jesus

Christ reflected in the faces and the voices and daily living of his

followers. The splendor of saints literally being changed from one de-

gree of glory to another by the Spirit of the Lord.

We need the vision to see a church that is pure. Not merely pure

in doctrine. Not pure in what we think to be the New Testament pattern,

but pure in heart. Like a pure wife whose heart undividedly belongs to

her husband. Like a wife who loves her husband more than herself. A

church where the believers never rave about what a wonderful community

they have, but only about Jesus.

We need the vision to see a church that is clothed in righteous

deeds. “It was granted her to be clothed with fine linen bright and

pure. For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” A

church where the lives of the saints truly match their message, where

the conversation, the handling of money, the imagination, the moral

life is Christ-like.

Such a vision is too big to be confined to our own little fellow-

ship or our side of town or even our city or nation or culture. This

church embraces Chinese disciples, Russian disciples, African disciples,

Latino disciples.

The need is for watchmen, who having received the vision, are per—

sistent in praying for its fulfillment. Very little can be accomplished

by those who are excited today and asleep tomorrow. Watchmen, (not

sightseers), who stay awake, take no rest and give God no rest until he

establishes Zion and makes her a praise in the earth. In season and out

of season, summer and winter, good weather and bad.

We are being called to be persistent in our private prayers,

persistent in our daily living, persistent in corporate worship, per-

sistent in corporate ministry. Pounding on heaven’s door now while

the opposition is light so that we may continue to be persistent when

it starts getting heavy.

“Oh, but it’s not my nature to be persistent.” Bless your heart,

neither was it Peter’s nature to be persistent. But he learned. And

so will you.

The need is for watchmen who are always expectant. They’re not

just pounding on heaven’s door to make a racket. They expect that door

to open. They know it will open. "Lord God, we will take no rest nor

will we give you rest until you establish Zion and make her a praise in

the earth, until you bring the vision to pass."

Death in the Body comes from our lack of expectancy, which is often

hidden under marvelous prayers and radiant smiles and wonderful

utterances of praise. But God knows very well that we are not expecting

the beautiful things we’re asking for. When Mary came to Jesus asking

for wine for the wedding feast, she expected results. “Whatever he

tells you to do, do it,” she said to the servants, in spite of a rather

unclear answer from her son. And the Canaanite woman expected healing

for her daughter, in spite of the unfriendly reception she got from

Jesus and the disciples. She knew he would do it!

Nothing pleases our Lord more than people who come to him just

knowing that he will indeed give them life. He loves to be pestered

by people who hang on to him and refuse to let go of him until he blesses.

And there is nothing he waits to hear more eagerly these days than the

prayers of those who plead with him to establish Zion and make her a

praise in the earth.

The call is for the watchmen to take their places on the walls of

Zion and lift up their eyes until they see the vision of the New

Jerusalem coming down out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband,

and who will take no rest and give God no rest until the vision comes to

pass.