As the keepers of the Lord’s watch, we need to count the second hand, the minute hand and the hour hand of the Lord’s great clock and give the trumpet a certain sound to awaken people out of their slumber. As watchmen, it is important to read the watch correctly and understand in which watch of the night we now are—and to give the trumpet a certain sound at the right hour to get the people ready for the great day of the Lord.

First, we should know how many watches exist. During the periods of work and hours of watching, the breath of prayer is vital to spiritual life and energy to walk aright. “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world” (John 11:9). According to the parable in Matthew 20:1–14, Christ rightly divides the twelve hours of working and leaves one final hour of the eleven hours worked to complete the hours of the day. There are also hours of night which the Jews divided into three watches.

Notice this special blessing: “Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through” (Luke 12:37–39).

When the watchman was asked “What of the night?” he gave the certain reply, “The morning cometh and also the night!” Isaiah was prophesying of the fall of ancient Babylon and the deliverance of the Jews from their captivity. In Isaiah’s prophecy, the watchman is asked to declare what he sees. In response he describes an approaching army. Then a voice is heard declaring, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground” (Isaiah 21:9).  The watchman was confident that deliverance was soon coming and there would be a glorious morning for the Jewish captives. At the same time, it would be a terrible night of devastation for those who were rejoicing in the Jews’ calamity. The fact that the watchman was awake to see the signs of the coming destruction enabled him to give the trumpet a certain sound. “The morning cometh and also the night!” This has important lessons for us. 

In order for us to give the trumpet a certain sound, we must be awake to the hour in which we are living. The pioneers of the Advent movement first expected Christ to come in the Spring of 1844. With great anticipation, they gave the trumpet a certain sound. They watched and waited, only to be disappointed when the time they first expected Christ to come had passed. Though disappointed, they renewed their watch. Taking courage from their renewed study of the Word of God, they were convinced that the churches that denied Jesus’ soon coming, and shut down all discussion on the subject, had fallen. The second angel’s message, “Babylon is fallen,” was appropriately applied to these churches. That message was joined by the midnight cry, given in the very words of the parable of the ten virgins, “Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.”

Tens of thousands of believers responded. They left their fallen churches to await the coming of Christ at the second expected time. Sadly, this company of believers though faithful to their watch, were disappointed again. Nevertheless, the company of Advent believers, though greatly decreased in number, took up their watch once more. Their further study of God’s word revealed that on October 22, 1844, Jesus, instead of coming to earth, left the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary and entered the Most Holy Place to commence His final work of atonement prior to His coming to earth. This was the light of the third angel’s message, the last message to be given to the world. Realizing this, they were to continue to give the trumpet a certain sound. They were now living in what may be considered the third and final watch of the night. In case any should doubt the significance of the message and the hour in which they were living, the Lord’s messenger reminded them of Jesus’ instruction. 

“Jesus has left us word: ‘Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.’ We are waiting and watching for the return of the Master, who is to bring the morning, lest coming suddenly He find us sleeping. What time is here referred to? Not to the revelation of Christ in the clouds of heaven to find a people asleep. No; but to His return from His ministration in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, when He lays off His priestly attire and clothes Himself with garments of vengeance, and when the mandate goes forth: ‘He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.’ ”4

In His mercy, God provides light so that we will not be left in darkness but will rather see the signs and know the time in which we are living. “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:5, 6).

As God’s people today, with Jesus’ coming nearer than when we first believed, we may also consider ourselves to be in the third and final watch. So, does that mean we can lessen our watchfulness?

The Lord’s messenger explains: “I saw that watch after watch was in the past. Because of this, should there be a lack of vigilance? Oh, no! There is the greater necessity of unceasing watchfulness, for now the moments are fewer than before the passing of the first watch. Now the period of waiting is necessarily shorter than at first. If we watched with unabated vigilance then, how much more need of double watchfulness in the second watch. The passing of the second watch has brought us to the third, and now it is inexcusable to abate our watchfulness. The third watch calls for threefold earnestness.”5

In this period of trying hour, what character is to be manifested? “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).

“To become impatient now would be to lose all our earnest, persevering watching heretofore. The long night of gloom is trying; but the morning is deferred in mercy, because if the Master should come, so many would be found unready. God’s unwillingness to have His people perish has been the reason for so long delay. But the coming of the morning to the faithful, and of the night to the unfaithful, is right upon us. By waiting and watching, God’s people are to manifest their peculiar character, their separation from the world. By our watching position we are to show that we are truly strangers and pilgrims upon the earth. The difference between those who love the world and those who love Christ is so plain as to be unmistakable. While worldlings are all earnestness and ambition to secure earthly treasure, God’s people are not conformed to the world, but show by their earnest, watching, waiting position that they are transformed; that their home is not in this world, but that they are seeking a better country, even a heavenly.”6

Why is a blessing pronounced on those found watching unto the second and third watch? According to the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, the wake-up cry was made at midnight. That was the call to awaken God’s people out of slumber—and by faith they went with Jesus into the Most Holy Place. Though all were slumbering, the wise had prepared for the emergency. During the tarrying period, they had kept their lamps trimmed and burning and their faith fixed on the Word of God. These believers went on to faithfully endure under the third angel’s message, watching, waiting, and working for the Lord’s coming. John sees those among this company who die in the faith of the third angel’s message. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Revelation 14:13). Why was this special blessing pronounced? The answer is related to their experience under the final watch.

Malachi 3:1, 2, is a prophecy of the time when the third angel’s message would begin: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”

The sudden coming to His temple took place in 1844 when Jesus entered the Most Holy Place of the temple in heaven. Since that time, what has He been doing?

“And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness” (Malachi 3:3).

In Old Testament times, the sons of Levi were the ones dedicated to serving the Lord in His temple. Today, all members of the church are called to serve the Lord. As spiritual Israel, God’s people are to carry to all the world the light of the three angels’ messages. This light reveals the truth of Jesus’ final work in the heavenly sanctuary. There Jesus is sitting “as a refiner and purifier of silver” to purge the dross from among His people that together they may offer to Him an offering in righteousness. That righteousness will be the character of Christ perfectly reproduced in His people. Zechariah speaks of those in Israel who endure the refining process:

“And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God” (Zechariah 13:8, 9).

Where do you find the sons of Levi? And what is their work? “When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it” (Joshua 3:3). The sons of Levi were those bearing the ark of the covenant in which lay the Ten Commandments.

Where do you find the ark of the covenant? “And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant” (Hebrews 9:3, 4). The ark of the covenant was found in the second apartment of the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

Today, the sons of Levi are all those who, through the surrender of their sinful hearts to Jesus, and the converting power of the Holy Spirit, have had God’s law written on their hearts and minds and are carrying it out in their lives. This is what it means to offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.

Those who have died in the faith of the third angel’s message have boldly entered by faith with Jesus into the Most Holy Place. They have kept the Sabbath faithfully in a time when the world has made God’s law void by trampling the Sabbath underfoot. Consequently, they will be especially blessed because just before Jesus comes, “all who have died in the faith of the third angel’s message come forth from the tomb glorified, to hear God’s covenant of peace with those who have kept His law.”7

Though dying prior to His coming, and not having to endure the peril that the rest of the living saints must endure, they will still be raised to join in the last moments of the final watch to receive the covenant blessing and see Jesus come. Before His return, graves are opened, and “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth . . . awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2).

“The watchmen upon the walls of Zion should have been the first to catch the tidings of the Saviour’s advent, the first to lift their voices to proclaim Him near, the first to warn the people to prepare for His coming. But they were at ease, dreaming of peace and safety, while the people were asleep in their sins. Jesus saw His church, like the barren fig tree, covered with pretentious leaves, yet destitute of precious fruit. There was a boastful observance of the forms of religion, while the spirit of true humility, penitence, and faith—which alone could render the service acceptable to God—was lacking. Instead of the graces of the Spirit there were manifested pride, formalism, vainglory, selfishness, oppression. A backsliding church closed their eyes to the signs of the times. God did not forsake them, or suffer His faithfulness to fail; but they departed from Him, and separated themselves from His love. As they refused to comply with the conditions, His promises were not fulfilled to them.”8

To whom can the promises be fulfilled? The Lord says, “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence” (Isaiah 62:6). As the four angels of Revelation 7 begin to loose the winds of strife to blow in full strength upon this earth, calamity after calamity befalls us. Yet the great men of earth are saying, “Peace; and there was no peace” (Ezekiel 13:10).

While our Great Watchman is pleading at His Father’s throne in behalf of the remnant who were not sealed, with a voice of deep pity He cries, “My blood, Father, my blood, my blood, my blood.” As the watchmen set over the walls of Zion, shall we not “lift up the voice” (Isaiah 52:8)? Or will we be among these: “His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark” (Isaiah 56:10).

As we see the sword of the Lord upon the land, what shall we as the appointed watchman do? “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” (Ezekiel 3:17). See also Ezekiel 33:2–6.

What is the warning to us if we do not give the trumpet a certain sound? Especially do the guardians of the church have a solemn responsibility.

“Souls are in danger of falling under temptation, and they will perish unless God’s ministers are faithful to their trust. If for any reason their spiritual senses become so benumbed that they are unable to discern danger, and through their failure to give warning the people perish, God will require at their hands the blood of those who are lost.”9

“ ‘Son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at 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.’ Ezekiel 33:7, 8.

“Never did this message apply with greater force than it applies today. More and more the world is setting at nought the claims of God. Men have become bold in transgression. The wickedness of the inhabitants of the world has almost filled up the measure of their iniquity.”10

Brothers and sisters, it is a serious matter to consider that the salvation of others depends upon the warning given to the wicked to turn from their ways. Why not let the word of the Lord given to us by the prophet Isaiah unify our voices and eyes together in the warning or cheer to be sounded? “Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion” (Isaiah 52:8).

“Church members, awake to the importance of the circulation of our literature, and devote more time to this work. Place in the homes of the people papers, tracts, and books that will preach the gospel in its several lines. There is no time to be lost. Let many give themselves willingly and unselfishly to the canvassing work, and thus help to sound a warning that is greatly needed.”11

As the keepers of the “watch of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 23:6), are we sleeping or awake? “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:11–14).

“The work is fast closing up, and on every side wickedness is increasing. We have but a short time in which to work. Let us awake from spiritual slumber, and consecrate all that we have and are to the Lord. His Spirit will abide with true missionaries, furnishing them with power for service.”12

My fellow brethren and sisters, our time is limited, the work is fast closing up and on every side wickedness is increasing. What are we doing? Are we still asleep?

“Whoever has received the Holy Spirit, will make it manifest; for all his powers will be employed in the most active service. All who actually receive Christ by faith, work. They feel the burden of souls. God now calls upon every one who has a knowledge of the truth, who is a depositary of sacred truth, to arise and impart the light of heaven to others.

“Wake up, brethren; for your own soul’s sake, wake up. Without the grace of Christ you can do nothing. Work while you can.”13

When the inquiry is made today, “Watchman, what of the night?” our response should be, “enquire ye, return, come” and keep the Lord’s watch; the night is almost over!