Acts chapter 20, and we'll begin reading in verse 17. The Bible says, And from Miletus he sent unto Ephesus called the elders of the church. And when they come to him, he said unto them, You know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying and weight of the Jews, And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, and have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide on me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more, wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn every one night and day with tears. I want to draw our attention back to verse 26 and then two words there in verse 28 where the Bible says about halfway down, well, he says in verse 26, wherefore I take you to record this day. He says, I am pure from the blood of all men. And he gives this, these, the first two words in verse 26, a statement, take heed. I want to preach on that thought this evening. Take heed. Father in heaven, we turn now to the preaching hour and God, I ask you for an unction to preach. Would you allow us, God, to remove all distractions of heart and mind and turn our attention toward heaven, and help us, Lord God, to stand strong in a dark and evil day. May you be glorified and have preeminence in this hour, for it's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. You may be seated. Paul, here in Acts chapter 20, He has given some instruction to the elders of Ephesus. He's leaving. He's heading away. He's heading somewhere else, and he's making certain that they understand that he is following God's directive. He's instructing them that he has served the Lord, verse number 19, with all humility of mind, with many tears and temptations, which befell him by the lying in wait of the Jews." In other words, he says, listen, I have served faithfully. I am doing what I'm supposed to do. I am walking the walk that I've been preaching. I am talking the talk, which the Lord would have me to speak of. And he says, I've been doing it with tears and there's been temptations laid in front of me. And he says, my brethren have come against me. And he said, I am dealing with this the best way that should be dealt with, and he says, by the time you get to verse 26, he says, I'm putting this in your hands now. You have to do what I've been doing. You're going to have to stand up, and you're going to have to be bound up by the Spirit, verse 22. You're going to have to stand in the face of evil and be unwilling to be unmoved, staying steadfast in the Word of God. That's the charge by Paul here in Acts 20. He says, listen, these things you're going to have to know if you want to finish with joy, if you want to finish your course and serve God well. And hear those words one day, well done thou good and faithful servant. He said, you better be found walking the line unmoved from where God would have you to stand. Paul, he makes this, that statement there in verse 28, those two words, take heed. Then he says, therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to be the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood. Powerful words from the apostle Paul, the greatest apostle to walk. One who faced many things and counted all his expertise as dungs that he dung that he may pursue the cause of Christ for God's glory. And he says, listen, there's nothing you can do greater than taking heed to make sure that you find yourself being faithful when you find yourself in that darkest hour. The hardest thing for a preacher is to separate himself from the people and lend his ear entirely to the Lord. He is being pulled in all directions by many opinions, and contrary to popular opinion, the preacher does not enjoy confronting sin. Many times he wishes he could find a cave and dwell in it forever without contact with the outside world because of the nature of man to kill the messenger. The task of the under-shepherd is to guard and protect the flock of God. His task must be deeply passionate and without reserve towards the Word of God. He must stay intimate with the Lord continually and ready to fight against the foe at any given moment. That's what Paul's laying out as he gives this instruction to these elders and he says, What's in front of you is undoubtedly going to be a challenging time, and I'm going to step away, and the authority and power that's been placed upon me is going to be moved from the Holy Ghost, moved from me to you, and there's going to be some grievous wolves that come in, and they're going to sneak in and creep in unaware, and their entire purpose and goal is to destroy the flock of God. He said, take heed, be aware, understand that there is an enemy out there that is seeking to destroy you. But Paul gives a charge here, and we see three things that I want to show you tonight that I believe will help you and I as we stand up against the enemy. We live in an evil, wicked day. This week, I have faced some challenges. I've been talking and, matter of fact, talked to some of the police here locally, the local police department concerning laws and the things in New York, and I am ashamed to tell you and disgusted at the thought that those who are pedophiles have more liberty and more rights than a preacher does. You cannot pray in Jesus Christ's name, but as a pedophile, you can go around and be around children after so many years. The wickedness in our land is prevalent. The wickedness in the land is overwhelming if we are not steadfast in the Word of God. Paul says here, first of all, in verse 27, he tells these elders, he says, don't cower. Look at verse 27. He says, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. The very first thing that Paul delivers, the message that he delivers and I deliver to you tonight is don't cower. The word cower means to shrink away, to crouch in fear, to tremble. Too often times, men become afraid of what is against them, and they cower in fear. We could go back in the Old Testament to our beloved story of David and Goliath. And you would find as David arrives on the scene, the mighty armies of God, that's the Bible that says that they call themselves the mighty armies of God. Israel is standing there, not standing there, they're cowering, hiding behind, trembling behind rocks. blaspheming God, Goliath is yelling out, thundering out blasphemies against the God of Israel, and laughing and mocking at them. They're hiding behind rocks, and the young boy, shepherd boy, has to come to their rescue, trusting in the power of Almighty God. The message that Paul delivers is the same message that David delivered on the day that he stood against Goliath, and that is, don't cower, don't back down in fear, never quit standing up for what is right. We need some Christians with some backbones. We need some Christians who'll stand up and say, I'll never accept this idea, this perverted idea that we can teach our children to define their gender. No, my dear friend, God assigned their gender at birth, and we will not cower to that, and we will not back down from that. Paul says, don't cower. He says, I have not shunned. I have not cowered away. I've not looked in your faces and been fearful to deliver the message that God's given me. I've never one time backed off the whole counsel of God. That's what he's referring to back in verse number 19 when he says, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me. He's saying, I've not backed away even when I did not want to stand before you and declare the Word of God. I tell you this evening that it's not easy to be a preacher. There's the message, even like the message tonight, it has to be delivered in the power and the unction of the Holy Spirit. It has to be delivered in the power of Almighty God. And though those words sometimes strike at my own heart, I must proclaim the Word of God. Can I say, child of God, you too must proclaim the Word of God. You have the instruction of Lord God Almighty to go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in and to never be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, regardless of what the enemy brings against you. You and I must never cower. Don't cower. Don't back away. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock. You see there in verse 26, Paul can only say in verse 20 here because he boldly proclaimed the whole counsel of God. Verse 26 says, I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. You know what Paul's saying right here? He said, I have delivered the entire counsel of God. He said, my hands are clean. He said that some of you have gotten mad at me, some of you, he's talking about that back in verse number 19, the lying in wait of the Jews, his brethren, those people who were his peers, they were seeking to destroy him and even kill him at some points. He says, I've never backed down. He says, my hands are clean because I delivered the message that God wanted delivered. And I say this evening, dear friend, dear church, we must never cower. We must always do all that we can, and then we can find ourselves, as Paul says here, pure from the blood of all men. I wonder tonight, could we make that same statement? Could we boldly say that our hands are pure from all the blood of all men, we have done all that we can to deliver the gospel, and every time the Holy Ghost has prodded us and pushed us to deliver a message, no matter how unpopular it is, are we, have we responded to that nudging and that prodding in the appropriate manner, even if it means we're not popular? Paul says, I can, because I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. He gives the warning, take heed, because of the necessity for you and I to be aware that there's an enemy that's against us. And if you look into the eyes of the devil, my dear friend, you will be terrified. If you look into the eyes of the enemy of the people who are trying to destroy this nation, spend a few minutes even in the same room with them and you'll have the presence, the demonic presence is there. I've been there. I've been to the Capitol. I've been inside the halls. I've stood around these people and many of them are demon possessed. I'm going to tell you, it is an overwhelming sensation, their power that they wield. But greater is he that it is in us than he that is in this world. We must never back down. We must confront sin in a loving manner, with great mercy, long-suffering, patient. We must be willing that all should come to repentance, but knowing also that we have a duty to protect our own. this cry from the world, from the liberal perspective, and from so many that proclaim the name of Christ, yet they don't even know Christ, is that we are to be tolerant, and that we are to tolerate all this, just a whole long list of many different letters, LGBTQ, all these different things. They say we need to be tolerant of, and I say, dear friend, the word of God says contrary. We're not to tolerate that. We're to stand up in that evil and say, thus saith the Lord, and this is unrighteous, and this is unholy, and we will not accept it, and we ought to drive it out of our land as we are able. Secondly, we find not only does he tell us don't be, don't, what was, I forgot, don't cower, that's what I was looking for. Don't cower, he says, don't cower. Secondly, he says in verse 28, be courageous. Don't just cower back, but we've got to be courageous. We've got to stand up. Take heed, the Bible says. The word courageous means not to be deterred from by pain or danger. Don't turn your course because of danger or pain. We need some people that are willing to suffer a little for the cause of Christ, to stand in the face of evil. Paul says, take heed, therefore, unto yourselves. Therefore, what is he talking about? He's referring back to the fact that it's got to be the whole counsel of God, even the things that make you uncomfortable. He says, take heed for yourselves, for all the flock of God, which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Paul was making a pretty powerful statement, and then just there at the end, he just had to go and throw that little tag in there and say that God hath purchased with his own blood. He does that on purpose because we have to be reminded to take heed, to stand up and be courageous, be willing to endure a little pain and a little suffering for the cause of Christ. Can I tell you, my dear friends, our nation has got to where it is today and the church house has got to where it is today because we don't want to judge anybody and we don't want to step on anybody's toes. Nobody wanted to be courageous. And so evil has stood up and evil in all their courage has stepped in and run out and caused people to go and cower away in fear. All we need is a David to stand up and say, no, Goliath, it's time you shut your mouth. We need a Gideon to stand up and say, Lord, whatever it takes, I'll go into the camp of the enemy and slay them in their tents. I'll do whatever it takes to drive these people and all this idolatry out of the land. Paul gives the instruction to the elders. He says, listen, I've been doing this. I've been standing up. I've been preaching it. I've been standing in the gap. He says, it's high time some of you stand up and go on and press forward, because there are some grievous wolves. And I'm going to tell you now, when they get in there and they sink their teeth into you, it's going to become too little too late for you to be able to save yourself. You better shoot them when they make their entry, when they come at you. Be courageous. Take heed is the words of Paul. Jesus, in John chapter 10, you can turn there, John chapter 10, Jesus is speaking and he's talking about being a shepherd. Paul here is instructing the elders of the church, and this is as much a message to myself, being in the position that I've been called to serve in as a pastor. It applies to everyone. We all must take heed. But Jesus addresses being courageous here in John chapter 10, and beginning in verse number 11, the Bible says, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leave the sheep, and fleeth. The wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hiring fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I laid down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This commandment have I received of my Father. demonstrating that the position of those who are in Christ is to be courageous and to stand in the gap and to defend against the wiles of the devil and defend the flock of God, defend the sheep against the enemy that maybe they themselves cannot see. Be courageous. Be willing to stand up and say, no, we're not going to allow a wolf to get near us. You'll know a good pastor, speaking of pastors, you'll know a good pastor when he's not willing to stand up against sin, when he's not willing to take a stand against evil and divide the wolves from the sheep and stand in between to make sure that certain of the sheep are certainly protected while those who would destroy them are pressed away and pushed away. It's not a popular topic anymore, and it's really not even something that's talked about. preached anymore, church discipline has gone out by the wayside, but it is something that proves that a shepherd is of God, that he stands in the gap and protects the sheep of Almighty God. He is to be courageous, unwilling to back down, unwilling to bow in the face of evil and danger. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be David. He was young, of course, full of vigor and excited and ready to challenge Goliath because he spoke against God. But we often forget that he was just a young boy. Having spent much time, he couldn't have been much more than maybe 17 years old, but he spent time out in the fields with the flock. I mean, he was a young man, but he had zeal and passion, trusting Almighty God. And I love what he tells Saul. He says, listen, God's prepared me for this day. I've slew a lion. I've slew a bear. And friend, if you've never stood next to a lion, let me just tell you, a lion is a terrifying creature. They're gigantic, they're big, and I can almost just see one of these boys grabbing hold of his beard and lifting up his neck and he slays that lion. By the way, he didn't just loosen his jaws and take the sheep out, he slew the lion. We must be courageous, willing to stand against evil, willing to stand up and do whatever it takes to protect the flock. There, verse 28, we find our third and final point this evening, and that is Paul is again addressing the elders of the church here, and he says, listen, don't cower, don't back down, don't tremble, don't get afraid, don't hide behind the rocks. He says, be willing to stand up. He said, I'm not shunned. And then he said, be courageous. And then you find these words, the Holy Ghost has made you overseers. He says, be confident in that. You are to not cower, you're to be courageous, and we are to be confident. I think what we need tonight in the churches across America, what we need even in our own church and in every one of our life is some confidence that we are in fact the child of the King, and our God rules and reigns supreme, and nothing that goes on in Washington, D.C. is ever going to change that. We need some Christians who are confident in the fact that God will give them the words to open their mouth and to speak and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ when they're confronted with a lost person who needs to hear the gospel. Have some confidence in faith in God that He will give you the message you need. And Paul says those words there in verse 28, he says, Take heed to yourself, take heed to all the flock. He says, hey, buddy, I hope you know this. I hope you understand that it's the Holy Ghost that made you overseers. Sir, you're an overseer of your home. Ma'am, you're an overseer of your home. Underneath your husband, you are to serve and oversee your home and to protect those who come in and protect the things that come in and make sure everything flows just right. As a pastor, it's my job to oversee That is to look out and to watch and to, not to lord over, but to look out and to ensure that there's nothing that will cause destruction or trouble. A shepherd is, he does many things. He leads. but his primary job is to save the weak sheep. When they're too weak to walk, he'll carry them on his neck. When there's a hole nearby, I love the videos that are available on YouTube now, and there's this one in particular that I've watched many a times, and there was a trench where they put the pipes in, and the sheep was stuck down in there, and the shepherd had to get down in that mud and pull them up, and just as he got them out and set them down, the sheep hops over here and jumps right back into the same ditch. That's what sheep do, but that's what a shepherd does. He protects them and all the while he's observing and he's watching and he's making sure that the wolves don't sneak out and sneak in and take them by surprise. We are to be confident in our ability. Confident. Confident means assured in both feeling and display. There's a lot of people, especially in America, we're big at sticking our chest out, you know, and being proud. Proud to be an American. But we have the weakest nation on earth, emotionally. Everybody's offended by everything. Everything that is said, everything that is done, everything offends everybody. Nobody can just say, you know what, maybe I did mess up. Maybe I am wrong. Okay, so what if so and so hurt me? I'm tired of being that. I'm going to be confident in the power of Almighty God. Confidence gives us the strength to overcome our feelings and our emotions. God gave us those things, but they're not to control us. The Holy Spirit is. God gives us this statement here from Paul after saying, take heed. He says, the Holy Ghost has made you overseers. God expects us to firmly stand on his word alone with fear, without fear of the rejection of people. Jeremiah chapter 1 verse number 6 the Bible says Jeremiah speaking to the Lord he says all Lord God behold I cannot speak for I'm a child but the Lord said unto me say not I am a child for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak be not afraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver thee saith the Lord God says, do what I tell you to do and you have no reason to fear. He says in the next verse, in verse number nine, then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. Did you know every time you come into the and the preacher stands up and begins to preach the Word of God. Jesus Christ, if you're born again, has taken that Word of God, and he is putting it down in your heart. The Holy Ghost is teaching you and showing you, and as you leave out this door, the Holy Ghost will give you utterance. He'll give you words. He'll bring back to remembrance as you're dealing with the people in this world. He will usher in the words. You can be courageous in knowing that your God will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 6 reminds us that we can boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. God has given a command and an expectation of requirement for the keeper of the flock. 1 Peter chapter 5, the Bible says, Not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock." In samples of what? Being an example to the fact that we're to stand up against evil, that we're to speak boldly, that we're not supposed to back down, that we, in the day of adversity, we're to stand up and sling the stone and let God do the rest. He said, when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. You can be courageous. Trust God. Let God lead you. Let God guide you. Let God let you stand up and let God take you and use you in a mighty way to protect his flock and to move forth the gospel. They said, when it's all said and done, that crown of glory will be worth every moment that they spit in your face, they mocked you, they laughed at you, they stabbed you in the back, they turned against you. It'll be worth every moment because you stood with God. And I want to say this evening, it's worth standing with God. Be confident in the power of God through your life. See, sometimes proper health causes us to have to remove things from our body in order to protect the rest of the body. A genuine doctor will be careful to only remove what is necessary and nothing more. An example, cancer cells, staph infection, gout, all of which lead to the removal of body parts if not cared for properly. However, the whole body is spared the trouble and pain because of its removal. Jesus dealt with this very thing. And you could turn over to Matthew 18. This is where I'll end the message this evening. But Jesus was dealing with that very thing concerning the issue of sin and its presence in our life. We can have this power of confidence in us. We can be courageous and we must not cower away, but it all comes through taking heed to the Word of God. Matthew 18, verse number two, I'll begin reading. The Bible says this, Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them and said, Verily I say unto you, except you be converted and become as a little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same as greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones, which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." Look at verse 8 and 9. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, cast them from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life, halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. see the message that Jesus is preaching. The world that we live in today doesn't believe this, and they cry tolerance. But Jesus demonstrates here that mercy has an end. And we are to stand strong. We are to be long-suffering, kind, loving, patient. We are to be as our God and not be willing that any should die, but that all men should come to repentance. It ought to be our primary goal to see all men be saved. But we gotta be willing to stand up and sometimes it takes plucking out the eye or cutting off the hand or removing the foot to ensure that the rest of the body doesn't die to the disease. It is necessary that God's people are willing to stand against sin and saying, we will not have this sin dwell. You and I both know that you don't go to the doctor and say, doc, oh doc, I got a headache. The doctor says, well, we're gonna have to cut your head off. No, there's a process. A process takes place. He begins to search. He begins to look. He begins to look at all areas and try to find the most merciful way to deal with it for you to try to keep you from pain and the quickest possible way to ensure the infection doesn't spread. He begins to do x-rays and look over the body and begins to inspect things and perhaps takes blood to make sure it's not an infection within. And he begins to search out. And the very last thing he might do is say, OK, listen, we're going to have to remove this thing from you. But that's the final end of it. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 11 and 12, the Bible says, And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. So you and I tonight must be willing to take heed. Don't cower, be courageous, and have confidence that our God is doing something great in our life and willing to do something if we will stand in His power alone. He will not share His glory with you or with I. The question is, what will you do with the Word of God?