I want to invite you at this time to join me in the book of Ephesians chapter 4 as we begin. I personally find it quite fascinating that the church is called on several occasions the flock of God. A flock is most effectively watched and kept safe when all of the sheep are feeding and resting right beside each other. They live the entirety of their lives literally rubbing shoulder to shoulder. That's what a flock does. And when one member is at a distance from the rest of the flock, it is rarely beneficial for that one member, for that one sheep, or for the rest of the sheep, actually. When they stay together, a shepherd could perhaps sit, you can envision, maybe on a hillside, and all the sheep are down there in a valley, and the shepherd could sit there on a nearby hillside, looking out over the entire flock at once. However, when a single sheep keeps at a distance from the rest of the flock, he is in danger. He's distanced himself from the safety of the flock itself, as well as the caring, watchful eye of his shepherd or shepherds. And should the shepherd decide that he's going to leave his watch post or his lookout point to go after that one isolated, endangered sheep, he actually leaves the rest of the flock unattended. exposing the entire flock to danger. And of course, a good shepherd will do his best to go after the isolated sheep, but the fact remains that the actions of that one sheep have endangered not just that individual sheep, but the entire flock to some extent. And I share all that to highlight a single reality about what often happens within Christ's church. Many Christians remain at arm's length from the body. They just kind of are over there. a little bit, always at a distance. They're isolated and distanced from the safety and strong ties and bonds of their local church. And it may be that no one actually knows how they're doing, or that they could be doing poorly, whether that's physically, spiritually, or some other way for an extended period of time before anybody ever clued in or even knew. And to some degree, this does threaten the entire flock. And the Bible presents something far better for the sheep of God's pasture. And I think that our covenant captures that. Our covenant sets before us this biblical commitment. We're going to be looking at number eight today, which reads as follows. I will hold myself accountable. to my brothers and sisters in Christ and will graciously exercise watchfulness toward them. That commitment, I think we could say, represents two sides of the same coin. Basically, this kind of multi-directional accountability and watchfulness. I need people to be keeping an eye on me and the good sense of that phrase. And on the flip side of that, I have a responsibility to lovingly do that to my brothers and sisters in Christ. God wants you to hold yourself accountable to your brothers and sisters in Christ, graciously exercise watchfulness toward them. We are given all the way back in the Old Testament a general principle that I think begins to speak to this matter. And it's stated in Ecclesiastes 4, 9 and 10, two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. And then verse 10, for if they fall, one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. That would be a terrible thing. And in God's wisdom, he has given us the church where that should really, frankly, never be the case. And so we're gonna work through the same five simple realities about this commitment in our covenant that we have worked through with the other ones we've considered thus far. Here's our first simple reality. This commitment, like all the others, it is a biblical commitment. The Bible teaches it. And I would like to make three arguments in support of that this morning. I think that more arguments could certainly be made, but we're just going to look at three. Let's start very broadly with this first argument, which is just very simply the images of the church and scripture. These images argue for multi-directional accountability and watchfulness. I mean, if you just consider two of the most common images in the New Testament for not just the local church, but the universal church, the body and a building. Think about what those images convey. Those images do not convey isolation and separation of individual parts and members and parts of the body at distance from one another. But instead, those images convey strong interconnectedness. We could start by considering the body. There in Ephesians chapter four, if you turn there, look at verses 15 and 16. And again, this is an image. The image of the body is used at both the local and the universal church, God's people everywhere. And so here it is in Ephesians 4, 15 and 16. It says that we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. This is what Dave was just referencing. from whom the whole body, and then give special attention to this next phrase, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. There are many, many things being taught in those verses there, but one of the things we just catch very quickly by observation is that as God describes the body, he's talking about various parts and members all being interconnected. just like our physical bodies are. The church is a body, and no member of your physical body can function or survive when isolated or severed from the rest of the body. I mean, what happens, and maybe some of you have done this very thing, what happens if I run my fingers through a table saw? Oh no! It's like at first you don't even feel the pain, and then there it is, and where are my fingers? And then I see them laying there on the ground in the dirt. What am I going to do? I better grab those as soon as possible, throw them on ice, and just pray that that doctor can reattach them before it's too late. And that just highlights this very simple idea that severed from the body, those fingers, they will shrivel up and they will die in short order. That's how the human body works. I did not walk up here to the pulpit this morning, carrying my head under my arms and set it down here and my toes in my left hand and set my toes right here. That's not just not what happened. And you sit there and you go, Pastor Nate, that's outlandish. That's exactly right. That is outlandish. For any member of Christ's body to try to function like that is absolutely ridiculous. But somehow many members of Christ's body believe that they can do that very thing, that they could thrive and do okay and go through their Christian life severed from the rest of the body. We're always at a distance. Such a thing cannot be done. Consider another image that God uses for both the local and universal church. It's the image of a building, or more specifically of a temple. If you flip back to Ephesians chapter two, you can follow along as I read verses 19 to 22. Ephesians 2, 19 to 22 says this. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. And then notice what verse 21 says, in whom the whole structure being joined together. grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Now again, that image of a building of a temple, it's used of both the local church, local assemblies of Christians, as well as God's people everywhere. But the same image carries throughout both. And what we just read described building blocks that are constructed together to form a building, more specifically a temple. And again, what you have, you just think about how your house is built. Think about how a brick wall is constructed. You have block upon block and they're all tied together. That's God's plan for his people. Our elders right now are reading a book together called Lead. It's written by a man named Paul Tripp. You may be familiar with him or that book. In a recent chapter that we read together, he said this. He says, let me say it again as I've written before. An isolated, independent, separated, and self-hiding Christian life is alien to the Christianity of the New Testament. Biblical Christianity is thoroughly and foundationally relational. No one can live outside the essential ministries of the body of Christ and remain spiritually healthy. No one is so spiritually mature that he is free from a need for the comfort, warnings, encouragement, rebuke, instruction, and insights of others. No one, and in the context of his writing, he's speaking specifically to the leadership communities within a church. There are none of us who can live our Christian lives separated from the rest of the body. God wants you to hold yourself accountable to your brothers and sisters in Christ and graciously exercise watchfulness toward them. Argument number one, we're just very broadly looking at the images of the church. But let's drill down a bit further and look at a second argument, which would be the example of the eldership. I want you to turn with me to Acts chapter 20, verse 28. The example of the eldership in the New Testament argues, again, for multi-directional accountability and watchfulness. If you look at how elderships were set up within local churches in the New Testament era, I think you will find it strongly argues for this. Elders are shepherds who watch and look out for the flock of God, but as we will see in a moment, what elders do is meant to be an example for the entire flock. The example theme runs all throughout the New Testament in terms of a church's leaders. Question, who, not a question of what, but who does an elder or who do the elders keep watch on or watch over as a shepherd watches over sheep? Who? According to the New Testament, elders watch over three people or groups of people. There are three directions that an elder's watchful eye looks. First, God calls elders to keep watch on themselves. Okay, it starts with looking inward, so to speak. Paul said to a young pastor named Timothy, this is 1 Timothy 4, verse 16. Paul says to Timothy, keep watch on yourself. Keep close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing, you will save both yourself and your hearers. So Paul commands Timothy, keep close watch on his life and on his doctrine, and of course, the former there flows from the latter, So we have here the watching of self. What does an elder watch? Who does an elder watch rather? Himself. And second, God calls elders to keep watch on each other. I've asked you to turn to Acts chapter 20, verse 28. This is Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders. He's saying goodbye to these men who he has served alongside for some time and has become very close to spiritually and as companions in gospel ministry. And if you look there at Acts chapter 20, verse 28, Paul says this to these men, plural, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock. in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. Okay, so now what we see is that shepherds don't merely keep watch on themselves individually, but it would seem from just kind of the way that Paul is putting this out there to these men that they now also have a responsibility to keep watch on each other. He's speaking to them collectively as a group. Pay careful attention to yourselves. And third, God calls elders to keep watch on the flock. We saw that explicitly in this verse in Acts 20, verse 28. Hebrews 13, 17 says this. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls. As those who will have to give an account, let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Okay, so in summary, as we look at what elders do, who they watch, they watch themselves, they watch each other, they watch the flock. Their example of accountability and watchfulness should be noted and imitated. Paul said in Philippians 4 verse 9, picking up on the example theme, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace be with you. Paul was an example to be imitated. And he was encouraging basically every minister of the gospel that he spoke to that their life should be an example to be followed. And so if this is the pattern that we see God calling elders to, would it not also be the pattern that he calls the whole flock to? That we would all carefully watch ourselves and that we would lovingly watch out for each other. Watching over the flock is not merely the responsibility of the elders. Elders serve as an example to be followed. Okay, so this is something God wants you to do, to hold yourself accountable to your brothers and sisters in Christ, graciously exercise watchfulness toward them. We have a third argument, and that would be the explicit teaching of scripture. I want you to turn now to the book of Galatians, chapter six, verse one. On the one hand, we have the Bible giving us several general principles in this regard. For example, if Ecclesiastes 4, 9 to 12, I read some of this text, two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil, for if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. There's just a broad general principle. We have verses like Proverbs 27, 17 that talks about how iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. I just took our kitchen knives yesterday and ran them through a knife sharpener. It was metal sharpening metal. But God has given us more than general principles. He has also given us specific examples. The Bible speaks of things like confession of sin to one another and prayer with one another. James 5.16 says, therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another. that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. There is something very powerful and even in a sense of neutralizing when it comes to our battle with sin. When we come to another brother and say, I am struggling in this regard, I am not winning in this space with sin. I need help. And will you pray for me? What a massive step that is, oftentimes. Another specific example is the example of stirring one another up and encouraging one another. Hebrews 10, 24 to 25 says, and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. In other words, we should give thought to how can I come alongside another brother or sister and encourage them to do what the scriptures call them to do. Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. And all the more as you see the day drawing near. Most of us have played around with fire in a fire pit. Maybe you sit around to have a fire and you get your fire going big and strong and it's blazing and you sit around it and you enjoy it. And then sooner or later that fire is shrinking and shrinking and shrinking. And then somebody stands up with a big massive poker stick and just starts poking it. and stirring it up, and getting those flames going again, perhaps adding wood to the fire. And that's the kind of thing that God is calling you and I to do with one another, that we step into each other's lives, and we all need this. No one here is exempt, that we would step into each other's lives, and in a loving, gracious way, add fuel to the fire. that God has created within us and that should be burning within us to stir that fire up. We also see a specific example, the example of restorative confrontation. That there would be times in our lives where in a loving way we would speak into each other's lives lovingly, graciously, but also confrontationally with the goal being restoration. Setting a bone straight, helping a brother or sister get back on the right path. Luke 17 verse three says this, pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him. In other words, you need to go have that conversation. It can be done in a very gracious way, but go have that conversation. And if he repents, forgive him. And there, if you've turned to Galatians chapter six, verse one, it says this, brothers, And I love how it just starts with the imagery of the family, brothers. Brothers, you are part of a family. If anyone is caught in any transgression, do you think that that would ever happen here? I mean, it's just a ridiculous question. Of course that would happen here. How often do you think that would happen here? Once a year? No, I mean, we are still battling the flesh, we sin. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, this is a common occurrence within the body. You who are spiritual, in other words, you who have the spirit of God dwelling within you and that spirit of God is controlling you and you're walking in the spirit, you should restore him. There's a broken bone that needs set straight. It may be painful, but it's good. There's something that needs mended. You should restore him, and how should you do that? In a spirit of gentleness. Like a physician who may need to do something that's difficult and painful to a patient, but he's going to try to minimize that pain as much as possible. And then the last phrase, keep watch on yourself. lest you too be tempted. Often, we try to confront other people in our pride like we have it all together. And the Bible's just like, whoa, you better be careful. I find it interesting that what the scriptures called elders to, the verses that we just looked at, this watchfulness of self and watchfulness of one another, what the scriptures called elders to, this verse just called you to, to keep watch on yourself, and to lovingly keep watch care on your brothers. This is not explicitly the task of the elders. God has called spirit-filled, spirit-led people to graciously watch for each other and to help our straying, fallen brothers get up, knowing that we might be that very person next week. Looking at this verse, one person noted that we are not designed to pull ourselves out of spiritual ruts in our own strength. And obviously, I think there'd be many instances where that is the case, where you and I get in a spiritual rut, and God has so designed it that the way for us to get out of that rut is actually with and alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ. And some of you, you may be here today and you've been in some spiritual rut and you have been in that rut for a very long time and you've stayed in it. And maybe we should ask, well, why has that been the case? And I would ask this question, one possibility. Could it be that you've actually more or less been a lone ranger in your Christian life, that you have been that sheep that has kind of been over there, distanced from the flock, whether it be even just your attendance here on a Sunday morning, or much more than that, though, like your interconnectedness with the body and relationships throughout the week? God calls us into each other's brokenness, and that is a very humbling. Relatively uncomfortable thing on many levels. But God has called us to it. That's God's regular intent to use other members in the body to help reset our spiritually broken bones. But you have to give them the opportunity to do that, and each of us has to be willing to receive that. I have to give people opportunities to see into my life and see the mess that's there and speak into it. And when the opportunity comes to even help reset bones in my life, and I have to be willing to receive And the book of Proverbs surely commends that to us, the person that will hear and receive rebuke or correction. Such a good thing. Another specific example would be the example of church discipline. Matthew 18, 15 to 17, you're welcome to turn there. I'll read it here. I think you're probably relatively familiar with this passage. But it says, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. So there's this one-to-one conversation, hoping that things can be made right. If he listens to you, you've gained your brother, praise God. And then verse 16, but if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. The conversation is growing, but it's also still being limited to keep everyone else out of it. only bringing in those necessary at the time. And verse 17, if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. You know, at the end of that passage, what amazes me, and I think that so many times people have a very negative view on this, but if you think about it from God's perspective, At the end of that text, the entire church is being mobilized for the good and restoration of a single straying sheep. This is remarkable. And that's how the body functions, that all of the all of the resources of the body would go towards a single sheep and that sheep's well-being and good. I mean, we hear about these hostage rescue sorts of situations where a country is like, that's our citizen, and we will mobilize all of our best troops. We will spend millions of dollars to go retrieve that citizen because that one's ours. And sometimes in the Christian life, it's as if one of ours has been taken, so to speak, taken captive. by the desires of their flesh, by the world, by the devil, so to speak, and needs rescued. And God would call us to leverage all of our resources, ourselves, to go and do that. This is remarkable. God wants you to hold yourself accountable to your brothers and sisters in Christ and graciously exercise watchfulness toward them. It is a biblical commitment. And our second simple reality, it is a threatened commitment. There are so many things that would keep us from living this way. We see this threatened in our lives. What do we see it threatened by? Well, why is it that we don't live or we struggle to live lives of accountability and watchfulness? What keeps us from that? Oh, man, it's like, what doesn't? I mean, truthfully. We're often too proud for it. We have a lot of pride. We have a lot of dignity and honor to maintain. Our reputations feel at stake. We're often dishonest and deceptive. Being a Christian means being honest about our own faults. It's being honest about our sins and our flaws. And one part of that transparency is saying forthrightly that we are capable of self-deception. of blind spots and of the temptation to hide rather to confess. Think about the drastic difference between what often happens when a person shows a home versus when a person goes to the doctor and they actually like really want help. I mean, you go to show your home, you know all the problems, right? I mean, you know, there's this massive hole in the drywall in the living room where your sons were fighting and then one threw the other through the, you know, it's like, there's still the hole from his head. Like, we're gonna put a chair in front of that and hope that that's not seen during the showing, right? Like, in the basement, it smells really bad. We had water damage down there, and there was a little bit of mold, and so it's like you're spraying Febreze everywhere before the showing. You're trying to hide it all, because somebody's going to walk in your house, and you want them to see, they're like, this is perfect. Can't you imagine you living in this wonderful, perfect home that could be yours? And then you go to a doctor, and you're sick. And maybe you've made your list ahead of time of every symptom you could think of. You don't know if they're connected or not, but here it all is. And you go to the doctor, and you say, well, I've got this, and I've got this, and this, and that. And I don't know what's going on, but I'm just going to give you everything so that maybe you can help me. Often in our relationships with one another and the body, we often show ourselves among the body like we would show a house. When maybe what we should be doing, it should be much more like going to the doctor. These people love me and they care about me. Also, I think we're often too afraid for it. There's something to lose. What will they think of me if I confess or I express concern about the way that they're living? I'd rather let somebody else have that hard conversation. I just want to be friends. I want everybody to like me. We idolize self-preservation. We don't want to get in other people's business or be disliked. Conversations can be awkward and uncomfortable, and so it's often just easier to not say anything. I'm like the no waves guy, you know? We have a faulty understanding of the church and who's responsible for this. We tell ourselves things like this, you know, like that's the pastor's responsibility. That's the elders responsibility. I'm sure that they know about it or if they don't. I mean it's just a matter of time and they will. Like that that's that's a faulty way of thinking about the truth that God has given us. We're often too busy for it and don't prioritize it. We've got this and we've got that and how can we possibly have time for this. We're often too self-absorbed for it. We're often so busy looking out after our own interests that we never consider the spiritual interests of others. We're often too lazy because it takes work. We're often quick. I think this is a big one. We're often quick to look elsewhere for what God wants us to find right here within the local church. Prayer. Counsel. Help. Whatever is needed. It's often much easier, I think, to speak to someone that's just totally anonymous than to seek help in our own body. Or maybe thoughts like this. I have my people elsewhere. From my previous church or from my previous ministry, old friends, I've got what I need and it's somewhere else other than here. We fear a gospel-less response, I think. You know, so let's say that I do this. How is that going to be met? Here's another quote from that book I mentioned that our elders are reading. We hesitate and delay not just because we are self-protective and like our sin, but also because we are not sure that our ministry leadership community will love us with gospel love in those moments we need it most. A spiritually healthy leadership community is spiritually healthy when it is a safe place for struggling leaders to speak with candor and hope. What's said about an eldership or a leadership community there is true about the rest of the body. Okay, if I admit to somebody that I'm struggling and I go seek help, am I gonna get the hammer? Well, bam! How dare you? You're a terrible person. None of us have any of those struggles. Let me ask you a question. Do you find yourself thinking more or less of transparent and honest people who want help? I mean, let's say your friend comes to you and they put it out there with you and they say, hey, listen, I am really struggling and I need help. I'm having a really hard time in my marriage. And I just, I get angry. I mean, I'm just, I'm an angry person. And that shows up all the time and it's wrecking my marriage. Will you help me? Will you pray for me? Are you like, you're an angry person? Wow, that's horrible. I can't be your friend anymore. Like that's, you're probably like, oh my, like this is my friend. And I love him, or I love her, and I want their marriage to thrive, and I want them to do well, and how can I help? I don't think that most of us tend to think less of people like that. We find it refreshing because we know that these are the realities of the lives that we live. I rarely think less of people when they tell me that they're struggling. I'm often, thank you for your honesty and transparency. After all, who are we kidding? Growing up, I had a bit of a romanticized view, I think, of my pastors and that I never really connected them with sin. You know, I just didn't. And praise God, I think that much of that had to do with their truly wonderful example of godliness. They walked with God. but I perceived them more or less as having spiritually arrived. And then one summer in university, I did a church internship at my home church. It was a large church and I spent hours interacting with all the pastors that were on staff. And I remember one day being hit with, it was actually like a really uncomfortable reality for me, but being hit with this idea that these guys sin. I had no idea. but I literally just witnessed it. Wait, this is normal. These are fallen human beings. None of us have arrived. And these men struggle just like the rest of us. You know, whether you are a newborn baby Christian, whether you've been saved for decades, whether you're an office holder in our church, an elder or a deacon, we all struggle with sin and life. And who are we kidding when we try to give other people the impression that we don't? Or, man, I've just pretty much always got it together. We all need accountability, watchfulness, and the help of the body, and the people right next to you need that from you. That's God's gracious plan for His church, and we see it neglected to our own peril. What happens when we don't do this? It's dangerous because often what happens is our sin ends up staying in the dark and maybe descending into further and further darkness rather than being brought out into the light. We get deeply entangled in the cords of our sin. The cords just keep getting wrapped around us. And oftentimes, it's like our sin doesn't actually finally come out until we've been exposed or something's happened. And by that point, it's almost like a stage four cancer. I mean, it's really, really, really bad. What if another brother or sister was brought in way, way sooner to help? We struggle in spiritual battles at times that could be won if our brothers and sisters were there to help us. God wants you to hold yourself accountable to your brothers and sisters in Christ and graciously exercise watchfulness toward them. That is a threatened commitment. And number three, it's also a very practical commitment. Just a few ways that you can live this out. I would say one, just kind of big obvious one, is to join a church and commit to it. Join us in membership here at Beaumont Baptist Church. Or if you don't feel like this is the place, we're not sitting here telling everyone, this is the place. You've got to be here. Beaumont or anywhere else is terrible. No, that's not what we're doing. There are several good churches in the area. We're not saying that you've got to be here. But if you don't feel like this is the place, go join another good church. When you join a church, you're essentially saying, hey, I'm now your responsibility, and you are mine, and I want you all to know it. You know, in our church, our size, people come, they go, they're here for a couple months, they're gone. And sometimes you're not really sure who's in, who's out, and membership is just one way where people are like, I'm in. And I wanna do what the Bible calls me to do with you in this space. Participate in more than just the worship service. If you can participate in some of the smaller group settings of our church, whether it be things like table time or midweek Bible studies or our Bible reading groups that happen on Sunday nights, all those things, a lot of it's time around God's word with people of the body that are just steps towards helping you get more integrated with other people here. If you can get connected with a prayer partner, as many people here are, those things are only going to help you. I think as well, put it out there with people and your pastors. Don't make people fish all the time. Hey, here's where I'm at. Here's where I'm struggling. Here's where I need help. Here's where I need accountability. Here's just what's weighing on my heart right now. It's not even a sin thing. It's just my life right now. Our church currently has two elders. and approximately 170 regular attenders. That ratio, if you just think about it, is one to 85. If you're a parent and you think about your parent to child ratio, whatever that may be, maybe it's one to two, maybe it's two to four, two to eight, whatever it is in your household, I would imagine that you probably find it challenging to keep close spiritual tabs on the few children that God has entrusted to your watch. And human shepherds, of course, face those same kind of limitations and challenges because all of us are finite. The watch of God's children is something that must be done by many, many, many eyes and hands. And that's how God has designed it. God has called us all, not just the elders, but our entire body to the task. And the higher degree of involvement in this by every member of the body, the healthier our church will be. This is a practical commitment. It's also a grace-required commitment, number four. You've got to work hard at this. I do too. God calls us to actually do something here. But we all need His help and grace. And we need His help and grace to place ourselves in and live within a culture of honesty, transparency, and accountability. You will not do that in your own strength. Your pride will get in the way. Your selfishness will get in the way. And you need God's help and grace to graciously exercise watchfulness towards the other members of this body. And finally, number five, fifth, simple reality. It's a gospel driven commitment, just like all the other things in our covenant. What would cause you to live like this? What would cause you to put yourself in that type of vulnerable space, what would cause you to love it, care about your brother or sister in Christ that much? The gospel. The gospel must drive and motivate this commitment. Like with all of these, nothing else is going to fuel it. Just think about it regarding living in accountability yourself. There is nothing that you could share. There is nothing that you could confess. There is no battle you could admit to that God doesn't already know. And that the gospel is not sufficient to cover. Think about how liberating and freeing that is, that whatever it is I might share with a brother or sister in Christ, God already knows it, and the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cover it. And his grace is enough to help me win. Think about this regarding being watchful for your brother. A farmer might literally have his fortune, his life savings, his retirement, wrapped up in his flock or his herd. Maybe he decides it's time to retire, and he's just gonna sell off the herd, and that's his retirement. I mean, literally, that's where his finances are. That's where his wealth is. With that in mind, consider the language of Acts 20, verse 28, in this verse that we already looked at. Pay careful attention to yourselves, Paul says to the Ephesian elders, and all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, and notice this final phrase, which he obtained, with his own blood. Paul reminds the Ephesian elders, these people that we're talking about, these are blood bought people. And if you value the poured out blood of Jesus Christ, then it's really simple, you will value. the well-being of those people, that flock that was purchased by it, plain and simple. And there are no other counter-arguments. It's not like I love Jesus and I love the cross, but I don't really like his people. That does not work. I love Jesus and I love the cross, but I don't need to be tied to these people. I don't need to be invested in them. I don't need to care about them. I don't need to watch for them. No, that's not how it works, period. If you love Jesus Christ and you love his death and what he did for you, you will love his people. And 1 John points that out as an evidence of salvation. If you don't have a love for these people, you've never had Jesus. Because the gospel produces that in us. There are no counter arguments to it. And so God calls us all to hold ourselves accountable to our brothers and sisters and graciously do that for them. It is a gospel driven pursuit. So same three applications we've made every week. God wants us to live it. And can we pray it together? God, would you help me to do this? And God, would you help us to do this? and try to make it contagious, and often one of the best things you can do for that is just model it. I'm gonna be this type of person myself in my own Christian walk. So may God help us to do that, to hold ourselves accountable to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to lovingly, graciously exercise watchfulness towards them. Would you bow your head with me at this time?