Elder as a Shepherd, Part 3

Driving home: What does it mean to become a Christian? It means to... To be returned unto Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinners, under the imagery of a straying sheep that is returned unto the presence, government, fellowship, infl…

Martin quotes a hymn to illustrate the pre-Christian state of a wandering sheep who did not love the shepherd's voice or fold, reinforcing the idea of going astray.

In their pre-Christian state, they were going astray. No desire for the provision, the protection, the presence and rule of the shepherd. In the language of the hymn we sing, I was a wandering sheep. I did not love the shepherd's voice.

10:30 - 10:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Embrace the persons, position, and functions of your under-shepherds as a responsibility given by God, recognizing that rejecting them is a rejection of God.

The example of Israel rejecting Moses' authority is used to demonstrate that rejecting God's appointed under-shepherds is a rejection of God Himself, as God's rod and staff were found in Moses and Aaron.

May I say it reverently? Jehovah's rod and staff and voice were found in the person, position, and function of Moses and Aaron. So you remember what happened when the people got a bit antsy, a bit smart-alecky, and rejecting the authority of Moses? What did God do?

41:38 - 41:56 Read in full sermon

The point: Manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to the position and functions of your under-shepherds by obeying and submitting to them as they lead by Scripture.

The analogy of a loving shepherd working his hands through a sheep's wool to check for ticks illustrates why spiritual shepherds 'probe' the souls of their flock – out of tender love to address hidden spiritual maladies.

Well, they do it for the same reason a loving shepherd may work his hands through the thick wool on the back of one of the sheep to make sure some kind of a tick has not buried itself under its skin and is sapping out its lifeblood. It's the shepherd's tender love that goes down beneath the external appearance of a healthy sheep. It's not because he's got some kind of psychological problem. It's because he's got some kind of psychologically sick bent that needs to be satisfied by pulling back the wool, pulling back the lip to see if there are indications of diseases that register in the color ...

43:59 - 45:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to the position and functions of your under-shepherds by obeying and submitting to them as they lead by Scripture.

The analogy of putting a bit and bridle into a horse's mouth to make it obey is used to clarify that the Greek word 'pytho' in Hebrews 13:17 means actual obedience, not just persuasion.

Well, granted, the word is sometimes translated persuade, but it's also the word used in James 3.3. We put bit and bridle into horse's mouth to make them obey us.

47:01 - 47:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Esteem your under-shepherds exceeding highly in love for their work's sake, recognizing their sacrificial labor for your well-being and conformity to Christ.

Martin describes the sacrifice of pastors who forgo financial security, prestige, and personal advancement to dedicate themselves to lonely study, prayer, and bearing the burdens of the flock, highlighting the love that constrains them and the reason for esteeming them.

There's not a man who's a shepherd in this flock who could not be doing something else and doing it well and doing it for a lot more money. And in some cases for a lot more prestige and fame and personal aggrandizement. What in God's name constrains men to turn their back upon financial security or optimum financial advancement, personal advancement, to give himself to lonely hours of study and prayer and wrestling and taking upon his back the problems and burdens and wounds and sores and at times the putrefying sores of people. What does it, dear people?

56:51 - 57:36 Read in full sermon