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Guarding the church against wolves

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is not fun.

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It's very hard.

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But we are to follow the 
example of Jesus Christ

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to lay down our lives,

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to lay down our comfort,

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to lay down our reputations,

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and defend the church from wolves.

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I was sharing with Mack 
and Tim earlier today,

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when I was thinking of the Lord's calling

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in pastoral ministry,

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I thought about the responsibility

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to protect the church,

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but I always had in my mind

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that this protecting 
of the church would be

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from outside coming in.

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I thought, yes, we'll protect against

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heresy from coming in.

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We'll protect against the 
cults from trying to break in.

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We'll be protecting the church

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from all that's trying to 
get into the church,

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but if you paid attention 
to what Paul said here,

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he said "fierce wolves will 
come in among you,

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not sparing the flock,

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and from your own selves will arise

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men speaking twisted things

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to draw disciples away after them.

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Therefore, be alert."

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Yes, pastors, we must equip our people

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and protect them from outside assaults

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of the enemy in untruth and heresy.

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But I would say even more pointedly,

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you must protect the church

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from wolves within

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infiltrating the assembly,

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teaching twisted things -

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sometimes outright heresy

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and sometimes by magnifying 
something else

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above Jesus Christ and the Gospel

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as the centrality of the church.

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Again, I think I could bring every 
pastor in this room up

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and they could give example

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after example after example

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of having to deal with 
this in the local church.

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I'll tell you that these wolves typically

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come into the church

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very passionate people,

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speaking a lot openly with seeming joy

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about the Word of God.

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They're often very vocal.

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And another characteristic of them

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is they're often very likeable.

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And the reason why is they 
draw people unto themselves.

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But it's not too long before they begin

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to teach twisted things to the sheep.

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And I want to exhort myself

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and all the pastors here:

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be on the alert.

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You guard the flock from within.