DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.”

“So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.”

Acts 20:27-31

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Lord never stops working in the lives of His people. That is truth.

Here’s another truth.

Satan never rests in his efforts to try and ruin every good and perfect thing the Lord tries to establish. Peter had this to say regarding this fact:

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Peter’s message here is clear.

With Satan always looking for trouble, all Christian believers have to keep their guard up at all time.

As we continue to look at Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian elders who had traveled to meet him at Miletus, we find him echoing the message of Peter. He knew he would never return to Ephesus and he definitely held concern that the great work and progress there for the cause of Jesus and the Gospel would stop and actually regress. Look again at his words here:

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.”

“So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” Acts 20:27-31

Paul knew that Satan would try and move into the space he occupied in the lives of the people of Ephesus over the three years he was there. And so his command was clear to the elders:

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood.

Note the call is to vigilance. Paul was essentially telling the elders, “Don’t let your guard down!” He commanded them to watch over the flock of Christian believers and be “shepherds of the church of God.”

Why?

Because Paul knew that trouble would come, trouble that would work to reverse the progress he had made for the cause of Christ. Savage spiritual wolves would come in and target the flock of Christian believers, and when wolves came after sheep, it wasn’t to share pleasantries.

Paul even warned about internal dangers within the elder ranks in Ephesus, warning that some would distort the truth to try and drag people away from Jesus, seeking to convince His disciples to follow them instead.  

And so the elders were once again told to be on guard and warned about what to watch out for, and today the message still applies to us. For Satan is just as active and proactive today as he was back in Paul’s day. He still seeks out Christian believers to deceive and mislead, to bring them to a place of spiritual ruin. None of us can afford to let our guard down and as long as we continue to stay grounded in Jesus, we'll remain safe, strengthened, and protected.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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