Quotes from Watchfulness

All quotes are from Watchfulness: Recovering a Lost Spiritual Discipline by Brian G Hedges:

All believers regardless of their station and season in life, need to be watchful.

The Christian life is a journey, a race, and a battle.

Believers are citizens of heaven but pilgrims on earth, strangers in a strange land beset by dangers, toils, and snares.

We cannot pay attention to the gospel without at the same time paying attention to ourselves. Watchfulness involves considering our hearts and our ways.

It is never sufficient to keep a close watch only on ourselves. Our eyes must be Christward. Only Christ can keep us from temptation (Rev. 3:10).

Sin's dominion over us is broken, but its seditious influence remains. The heart must be watchful...Sin still dwells within.

The believer's fear is the reverent, loving fear of a child for his father, not the servile terror of a tyrant's slave.

It is not a sin to be tempted, but when we do not flee temptation, sin will follow in its wake. If we grasp this, we will not take it lightly. Instead, we will resist the devil (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9) and flee from sin (1 Cor. 6:18; 10:14; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22).

Watchfulness is necessary for assurance because it is an essential part of the obedience and perseverance in faith and holiness.

The more we understand our weakness, the more we come to rely on the strength of God's grace.

The Holy Spirit is the author of regeneration, the agent of our sanctification, the illuminator of biblical truth, and the Helper who leads us into the things of Christ.

As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "There is no such things as a holiday in the spiritual realm."

The basis for pastoral watchfulness is the Holy Spirit appointment of elders as overseers of God's precious flock, obtained by Christ's blood-shedding death. The church is God's dearly beloved people, whose redemption He has purchased at great cost to Himself.

The church does not belong to the Pastor, it belongs to Christ. He loved the church enough to die for it. Pastors watch over the souls of Christ's people on His behalf and will give an account to Him.

But watchfulness is not only the responsibility of elders and overseers; it is also the mutual responsibility of church members to one another.

Until Christ returns or takes you home, you will still have battles to fight. Only when your body is laid to rest and your soul awakes in glory will your watch be over.