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"Be on guard! Be alert!" (Mark 13:33). "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock" (Acts 20:28-29). "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong" (1 Corinthians 16:13).

Some 30 years ago I served on a board overseeing ministers. One sadly memorable moment was a disciplinary meeting with a pastor who had fallen into a moral sin. No one sets out to fall into sin but at some point, likely a series of points, a safe guard was lifted in his life and he was now facing the consequences.

Every generation needs men and women who are diligent and faithful over the long haul of life. This will require them to be vitally on their guard. In our age, with the hastening moral decline all around us, strict boundaries must be drawn and adhered to and we must be on our guard.

In his farewell message to the Ephesian elders the Apostle Paul issued this sober challenge, "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock" (Acts 20:28-29).

This message is a great model for all preachers and was my text for the final messages I preached in the churches I have pastored. Let us especially consider the words, "Be on guard". This is vitally important.

"Be on guard":

"For yourselves". It is essential that we stay on guard. Falling for the many forms of deception and yielding to temptation will have a detrimental, possibly disastrous effect on us personally.

"and for all the flock". Our failures will also have a detrimental and potentially disastrous effect on our "flock", our family, and sphere of spiritual influence.

We all need to be on our guard and should see warnings from the Scriptures and our spiritual leaders as evidence of genuine love and concern for the flock. The immediate threat when Paul shared this warning was false teachers whom Paul called "savage wolves" (v. 29). Paul said to these elders: "I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears" (Acts 20:31). Try to picture Paul as he penned these words and consider the deeply felt burden he conveys in his message.

Today, as faithful followers of Christ, let us consider the vital necessity of being on guard as well as our mission of warning others to "be on guard". As the Spirit moves us we might also be moved to tears, like the apostle Paul, as we bear a deep burden for our own family members as well as our brothers and sisters in the faith.

Even as we write this message our hearts are directed toward several people who have served the Lord over the years but have fallen into temptation causing great heartache to those around them. Just as a shepherd protects his sheep or a father his child, an overseer will do all he can to inform and equip his people to discern and withstand the deceptive wiles of the evil one.

Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13

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