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I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. -Isaiah 62:6-7

Introduction

Eve of Revolution

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower, as a signal light, –
One, if by land, and two, if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country-folk to be up and to arm.

You may recognize the words of the poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was the eve of the Revolutionary War. Tensions had grown to the point where the British were about to take military action against the rebellious colonies. It was a professionally trained army going up against a ragtag militia known as minutemen. They were to be ready at a minute’s notice to fight, but they needed someone to give that notice and that is why Paul Revere and many others watched and waited for the signal to warn the militia.

What would have happened if no one was watching for that signal? If Paul Revere and the others simply went to bed and choose to ignore what has happening around them? We wouldn’t be here right now. Or we would but we would all have British accents. Instead, Paul Revere was watching and waiting, ready to ride. Here is how it is described in the poem:

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse’s side,
Now gazed on the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and somber and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns!

He was watchful and ready and was able to bring the message that “the British [were] coming”.

Another Revolution

Things happened much differently on the eve of another Revolution. Listen how it happened another night:

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” -Mark 14:32-42

Here were the disciples on the eve of the greatest revolution in the world and they couldn’t keep watch for an hour. Jesus said they were to watch and pray so that they wouldn’t fall into temptation.

What temptation were they facing at that time?

• Prayerlessness
• Faithlessness
• Test of Faith in who Jesus was
• Test of Faith in their ability to follow
• Despair vs. Hope

Because of all this, Jesus told them to watch and pray.

Our passage in Isaiah talks about watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem. In ancient times, watchmen were posted on the walls of a city or in a tower to basically watch for two important things:

Approach of the Enemy

If the watchmen saw the enemy approaching they would sound the alarm and the soldiers would prepare for battle. They would clothe themselves in their armor and take their post, ready to fight. The rest of the people would prepare for a siege. Not everyone lived inside the city walls. The watchmen’s warning would give people time to gather their families and needed supplies and belongings and find a place of safety within the walls.

Return of the King

If the watchmen saw the banner of the king far in the distance they would have the privilege of announcing the king’s return. It would be a time of celebration as the people gathered to welcome him back to the city.

The watchmen had an important task. They were to be ever vigilant and alert. Sleep was not an option.

The watchmen in Isaiah are never silent day and night. Why? What are they announcing? Is it the approach of an enemy or the return of the king? In this passage it is the return of the king. The Savior is returning to restore Zion, the city of the Lord.

The LORD has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’ ” They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted. -Isaiah 62:11-12

Our King, Jesus is returning. Are you watching for him? Are you eagerly awaiting his arrival. The Revolution is almost over. The end of the war against evil is at hand. The hour has come. However, we must still be vigilant, on guard, on watch for the enemy. Because as the end approaches his strategy becomes more desperate and daring.

So what are we supposed to do?

As we look at these watchmen in Isaiah they are praying, calling out to the Lord. Look how they pray. They are:

• Never Silent
• Give Themselves No Rest
• Give God No Rest

They are praying continually. 24-7. Never silent, never resting, continually calling out to God. They know urgency; the Savior is returning. Throughout history there have been many who have taken up this call to pray continually, to be watchmen for their land.

24-7 Prayer

• Roughly a thousand years before the birth of Jesus, King David set the Ark of the Covenant in a tent that became known as the Tabernacle of David, a place of continual prayer and worship for 30 years. David appointed 288 skilled prophetic singers and 4,000 skilled musicians to minister before the Lord. Periodically over the next several hundred years of Israel’s history, leaders re-established this davidic order of worship in the temple.
• The early church “joined together constantly in prayer.” (Acts 1-14)
• Pentecost came when the disciples were meeting regularly for prayer. It began the spread of Christianity around the world in a miraculous way.
• Paul urged the Thessalonians to “pray constantly.”

But those were Bible times…

• In 522 A.D., The St. Maurice Abbey, located in present-day Switzerland, instituted Laus Perennis or perpetual prayer. Choirs of monks sang continually day and night, with one choir relieving the previous one. This practice went on until approximately 900 A.D., impacting monasteries all over France and Switzerland.
• Forty years after the St. Maurice Abbey began its effort, a monk by the name of Comgall instituted a rigid monastic rule of continual prayer and worship in Bangor, Ireland. The Bangor Abbey attracted thousands of monks who either joined there or joined other abbeys associated with Bangor. At the time of Comgall’s death in 602 A.D., it is said that 3,000 monks looked to him for guidance. The continual prayer and worship lasted at Bangor for two and a half centuries.
• In the 15th century, the pope decreed continual prayer in certain locations.
• In 1722, a perpetual prayer meeting began in Germany. Count Nicholas Ludwig Von Zinzendorf allowed a group of persecuted Protestants – Moravians – to find shelter on his estate. They named their settlement Herrnhut, which means “The Watch of the Lord.” It soon became a thriving community, growing to more than 300 residents. In 1727, they experienced a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Soon afterward they established 24-hour-a-day prayer. Many of the community left to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth, some even selling themselves into slavery in order to fulfill the Great Commission. By 1776, some 226 missionaries had been sent out from the community at Herrnhut. This prayer meeting went non-stop for the next 100 years and is seen by many as the spiritual power behind the impact that the Moravians had on the world.

But that was a long time ago…

• 24-7prayer started by accident in September 1999, with a bunch of young people in England who got the crazy idea of trying to pray non-stop for a month. God turned up and they couldn’t stop ’til Christmas! From there the prayer meeting has spread into many nations, denominations and age-groups. Hundreds of non-stop prayer meetings now link up here on the web to form a unique chain of prayer.

There is a movement of prayer spreading throughout the world. The passion of youth and young adults are leading it. It is changing lives and communities with the gospel.

I would like to close this message with a challenge. I would like to challenge us as Faith Baptist church to pray 24-7 this next week. Honestly I’ve struggled on whether to ask this of the church. It would be exciting to see the church pray like this, but I wonder how deep the apathy that affects American Christianity runs. Surveys show that the average Christian prays only 15-30 minutes per week. However, I know it is possible for us to do it. It would involve sacrifices as some would have to give themselves no rest to pray during the night watches. Although that may be the only time in your week that isn’t scheduled. Logistically, there are 168 hours in a week. When you start dividing that up you would only have 2-3 shifts to cover. I realize that this would be a stretch for many of you, but take on the challenge as a sacrifice to the Lord. I’ve put a sheet back on the secretary’s desk. Sign up there and give yourself some accountability. I think it would be great if you could make it to the church to pray. It would be like going to David’s tabernacle.

Even if we can’t cover the whole week, at least sign up for an hour. Jesus was disappointed that his disciples couldn’t keep watch for an hour.

Let’s be watchmen this next week. We need to watch out for the approach of the enemy. And maybe we might have the opportunity to announce the return of our King.

I’d like to leave you with a few verses:

Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. - Habakkuk 1:5

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. -Matthew 24:42

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. -Colossians 4:2

Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. -Luke 21:36