The NXR Podcast - DAILY TRUTH - All Christians Need a Shepherd

00:00:00.000 Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold it. Big announcement, a scary announcement, a threat,

00:00:06.140 but also a promise. The price of our conference, the post-millennial and theonomy conference,

00:00:11.160 it's going up. It's going up right after Reformation Day. We are going to hold the

00:00:16.060 price at $100, which is super cheap for a three-day conference with Dr. James White, Dr. Joseph Boot,

00:00:21.620 Dr. Gary DeMar, and the guy who's not a doctor, so we'll say Pastor Joel Webin. We've got a great

00:00:27.020 conference, May 5th, 6th, and 7th in Georgetown, Texas, just north of Austin for a hundred bucks,

00:00:33.460 super cheap, but we can't hold that price forever. So if you want to get into that price,

00:00:38.760 you got to get in now, right after Reformation Day, not Halloween, Reformation Day, October 31st.

00:00:44.640 That's the last day that you can get in this conference, register at the price of a hundred

00:00:49.340 bucks. After that, starting November 1st, it's going to be 130. So go to rightresponseconference.com,

00:00:56.300 writeresponseconference.com and register today. Thanks.

00:01:02.340 Jesus said, man cannot live on bread alone, but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of

00:01:07.460 God. You're listening to Daily Truth. Acts chapter 20, verse 28, 1 Peter 5 also works.

00:01:16.140 Pay careful attention. This is pastors and deacons now. Primarily in this context,

00:01:20.040 it's the Ephesian elders, it's pastors. Pay careful attention to yourselves. So pastors,

00:01:24.480 watch your own lives. Be godly. And to all the flock, whoa, if we stop there, I just, I wouldn't

00:01:33.060 even be able to get out of bed in the morning. I'm a pastor. This is a commandment from scripture to

00:01:39.960 me. Pastors, watch yourselves. It's like, that's already a full-time job, okay? Try my best by God's

00:01:46.220 grace to do that and the flock our flock here is universal global flock of god

00:01:54.500 how do you practically obey that command how do you do that how does a pastor keep care and it

00:02:04.580 says careful careful watch over every single member of the flock of christ universally

00:02:11.640 it can't be what he's talking about we know it's not what he's talking about and here it is

00:02:19.040 explicitly it's very helpful which thought the one in which the holy spirit has made you

00:02:23.880 overseers oh okay all right well that's still going to be a tall task but by god's grace that's

00:02:30.340 something that me and the other pastors of this church we can do watch your own lives watch each

00:02:35.440 other hold each other accountable to godliness and repentance to write doctrine and write lives

00:02:41.320 and together as a team of pastors,

00:02:43.720 that's why our church affirms a plurality of elders,

00:02:46.820 meaning more than just one pastor,

00:02:48.880 because we want to carefully oversee, watch the flock.

00:02:54.240 And we can more carefully watch the flock

00:02:56.220 if there are more of us watching.

00:02:57.980 And so we have five elders, five pastors at this church

00:03:00.480 who are going to be watching each other

00:03:02.740 and watching the flock carefully.

00:03:05.760 And the reason we can do it

00:03:06.640 is because we have five pastors, not just one,

00:03:09.340 and because we have one flock,

00:03:11.320 that is visible and definable through church membership

00:03:14.280 and not an ethereal, theoretical, invisible church

00:03:19.340 where there's no way of knowing who's a part of it.

00:03:22.140 So again, submission, you can say,

00:03:24.100 my attendance is enough for me to see that you're my leader

00:03:26.480 and I need to submit to you.

00:03:29.160 Here's the counter with shepherding.

00:03:31.820 Your attendance is not enough for me and the elders to see you

00:03:34.500 and know that we're going to be held accountable

00:03:36.080 for keeping careful watch.

00:03:38.500 See, so by attending, you're able to pinpoint us as your leader.

00:03:42.540 But by your attending, we are not able to pinpoint you as a part of this flock.

00:03:47.800 Look, there are people who have attended this church dozens of times.

00:03:52.120 But I don't even know your name.

00:03:55.560 You show up late, you leave early.

00:03:59.860 Probably intentionally.

00:04:01.940 I say probably because we can't discern motives.

00:04:03.900 It would be hypocritical if I said definitely.

00:04:05.280 I already addressed that, right?

00:04:06.780 So, I don't know, maybe that's not your motive.

00:04:08.200 Maybe every single week, you know, there's a reason.

00:04:12.780 But how can I legitimately, in any way that would be faithful

00:04:17.740 to obeying this command, Acts chapter 20, verse 28, shepherd you?

00:04:22.720 I don't know anything about you.

00:04:25.620 So how do you get on my radar?

00:04:27.580 See, that's the very thing, I think, in our hearts,

00:04:29.980 especially in the American church today that's so lackadaisical.

00:04:33.220 And it's not just apathy, it's also fear.

00:04:35.180 You're afraid.

00:04:35.700 I get it.

00:04:36.320 You're afraid. We are afraid of making ourself accountable to someone else because it's giving

00:04:43.940 someone power. I mean, doesn't it feel so much safer to just keep the power for yourself?

00:04:49.580 I'm not going to trust somebody else and give them that position, that authority

00:04:53.640 to discipline me. So your whole sermon today, really, Joel, you thought this sermon was going

00:04:59.000 to be compelling? You thought it was going to be persuasive? Because your whole sermon is,

00:05:03.180 you're saying that I should voluntarily bind myself to this flock

00:05:09.220 so that I could be potentially kicked out?

00:05:12.260 And publicly, everybody would be a part of it?

00:05:16.480 Why would anyone do that?

00:05:19.320 There's so much safety in accountability.

00:05:25.320 Could those leaders, could those people in positions of authority,

00:05:28.900 positions of accountability, abuse it?

00:05:31.200 Yes.

00:05:32.080 And here's the reality.

00:05:33.180 There is no way to definitively ensure that that won't happen.

00:05:40.340 I cannot promise you.

00:05:42.980 I want to.

00:05:43.800 Everything in me wants to, but I would be lying.

00:05:46.280 I would not be being forthright with you.

00:05:48.640 I want to promise you that if you're a member of this church,

00:05:50.920 the elders and the deacons and the other members will never, ever abuse you.

00:05:57.740 I can't make that promise.

00:05:59.880 I am a sinner.

00:06:01.680 I'm going to do my best.

00:06:03.180 you might be abused.

00:06:10.240 But here are your options.

00:06:12.640 You could submit yourself to the people of God

00:06:15.040 who are at least striving to be biblical,

00:06:17.660 who preach expositionally, text by text,

00:06:20.800 every single week,

00:06:22.280 who have a 23-page constitution

00:06:24.220 that most of it is scripture

00:06:25.680 to try to ensure that we do things justly and rightly,

00:06:29.260 that yes, you may still be abused,

00:06:31.240 but it's earnestly striving not to,

00:06:32.800 and at least you have accountability

00:06:34.700 and safety and authority and blessing

00:06:37.100 or you can trust yourself

00:06:39.920 and only yourself. 0.96

00:06:45.140 And you can be the rogue Christian 1.00

00:06:46.880 who shows up at this church 1.00

00:06:48.800 and then shows up at that

00:06:49.900 and maybe even consistently attends one church

00:06:52.840 but you never raise your hand

00:06:54.380 and say, here I am, pastor me.

00:06:58.620 By your attendance, you've put us on your radar

00:07:01.240 but by your refusal to become a member in the church,

00:07:04.060 you've never put yourself on our radar.

00:07:07.420 And when your marriage starts going south,

00:07:10.520 you have intentionally designed your commitment

00:07:13.580 to be just obscure enough to where no one will call

00:07:15.860 because you don't want them to.

00:07:19.460 And when greed is an idol in your heart

00:07:22.140 and you're actually not being generous

00:07:24.000 in giving to the household of faith,

00:07:26.980 no one will know.

00:07:27.680 and no one will be able to correct you on it and it's by design you did it intentionally 0.99

00:07:37.520 you spurned correction the proverb says that the man who spurns correction is a fool don't be a fool 0.99

00:07:48.980 yeah you might be abused but but you know how i i can promise you that you will be abused 0.99

00:07:57.140 if you only give power to yourself.

00:08:01.380 If you become a member of this church

00:08:02.960 and give power to others, authority to others,

00:08:05.640 allow others to hold you accountable,

00:08:07.240 you might be abused.

00:08:09.520 But if you only ever give authority and power to yourself,

00:08:12.500 you will be abused.

00:08:14.000 Thanks so much for listening.

00:08:15.280 But real quick, before you go,

00:08:17.200 do us a small favor, take a moment,

00:08:19.040 and leave us a five-star review if you enjoyed the show.

00:08:22.480 This is undoubtedly the best way

00:08:24.820 that you can help us get this biblically faithful content

00:08:27.720 to as many people as possible.

00:08:29.860 Thanks so much.

The NXR Podcast - October 03, 2022

DAILY TRUTH - All Christians Need a Shepherd

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