A Man Before His Flock Part 2

Driving home: And when he rises on Sunday. In the pulpit, it is not the man visible there at the moment that they listen to, but this image which stands behind him and determines the precise weight and effect of every sentence which h…

Spurgeon's analogy of explaining an orange by cutting one open rather than showing 50 others is used to justify Martin's method of expounding a few key passages rather than merely listing many.

I trust these will suffice. Spurgeon once says, I don't like the preacher that explains one passage by simply quoting a number of others. He said, if I had a box of oranges and someone held up one, said, you don't want to want to know what an orange is? He said, I don't want him to hold up 50 other oranges.

6:42 - 6:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Earn increasing respect and confidence from your people through your walk and life among them.

A quote from Stalker's 'The Preacher and His Models' explains how a minister's hearers form an 'image' of him that determines the weight and effect of his words, underscoring the importance of character.

And I think Stalker has gone right to the heart of the issue when speaking to this very subject. He says, and I now quote from his book, The Preacher and His Models. We are. So constituted that what we hear depends very much for its effect on how we are disposed toward him who speaks.

7:23 - 7:45 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And the moment your people sense that you have areas of weakness in your character that are not being brought to the purifying influences of the blood of Christ, and to the renovating influences of the spirit of Christ, …

The analogy of a bald man trying to sell a baldness cure illustrates the hypocrisy and ineffectiveness of a pastor preaching truths that are not evident in his own life.

Rightly so. You can imagine a man trying effectively to sell a product that is supposed to cure baldness and his head looks like a cue ball. I mean, it just doesn't do to go around with a cue ball saying, I have a cure-all for baldness. And it doesn't do for a man to stand in the pulpit and to declaim, maybe very loudly and persuasively about the necessity of this aspect of truth and duty and promise and all the rest, while these areas in his own character continue to be manifest before the flock of God.

14:49 - 15:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of failure in the realm of your domestic life; prioritize domestic piety.

The tragic reality of 'PK jokes' and the reputation pastors have for domestic failure and disregard for laws highlights the widespread problem of domestic piety failures.

How shall he be competent to exercise it in the larger sphere? And I think one of the greatest tragedies in evangelical life today is the fact that PKs are the brunt of the coarsest kinds of jokes concerning domestic failure. The reputation pastors have for failure with their families and disregard of speed laws on the highways. This is just enough to make us blush and weep.

16:50 - 17:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of laziness in sermon preparation; labor diligently to produce exegetically sound, theologically balanced, and 'deliciously served' sermons.

The 'careful borrower' analogy describes a lazy minister who snitches sermons and material from others, insulating his people from the sources, but who will eventually be exposed.

If someone has some facility with words, some facility to organize and to synthesize and to bring together a thought. In somewhat of a structured form because of the plethora of printed material and the availability of tapes. A man can be a very careful borrower just so long as he insulates his people from too much literature and too much exposure to the tapes that he may be snitching from. He can get away with it.

23:32 - 24:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of laziness in sermon preparation; labor diligently to produce exegetically sound, theologically balanced, and 'deliciously served' sermons.

The quote 'You can fool all of the people some of the time...' is used to emphasize that ministerial laziness will eventually be discovered by the congregation.

And really he can be living a life of luxury. But sooner or later, sooner or later, it's going to come through. You can fool all of the people. Some of it.

24:00 - 24:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of laziness in sermon preparation; labor diligently to produce exegetically sound, theologically balanced, and 'deliciously served' sermons.

The story of a gifted pianist, Sam, who practices ten hours a day and meticulously prepares new pieces, illustrates that the difference between mediocrity and excellence is labor, even with native talent.

It is labor in the word and in doctrine. And whatever the measure of your native gifts may be, the difference between mediocrity and excellence is labor. We have in our congregation a young man who is greatly gifted as a pianist. He placed fourth in the International Beethoven Festival several years ago in Vienna.

25:13 - 25:32 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Pastors must avoid laziness, especially in sermon preparation and 'diaconate duties,' as they are supported to labor in the Word and doctrine. Laziness erodes respect and…

Martin's personal story of working with his hands for 40-50 hours a week during church renovations illustrates how serving at a practical level can build deep esteem and confidence with the congregation.

It happened to four or five of the men when, about seven years ago, when we purchased the building we're presently meeting in, and we had to renovate it, and by the direction of the elders, I was released to work with my hands for 40, 50 hours a week doing carpenter work and construction work as we gutted out that building and reconstructed it. And something happened materially in my relationship to three or four of those men. They had only known me in the relationship, preaching, and those more distinct functions of the eldership. But when they saw me not only willing but delighting in labori...

31:01 - 31:58 Read in full sermon

The point: Make it a primary prayer and goal to have other godly elders around you to shepherd your soul and hold you accountable.

Martin recounts how his elders confronted him about an unchristian reaction, demonstrating the importance of accountability and how confessing sin can increase, not decrease, respect.

And it wasn't too long ago that they said, Pastor, we believe in such and such a situation the way you reacted was less than Christian. I said, well, brethren, present your case. And they did. I said, the case is convincing.

34:24 - 34:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not become a 'fashion hound' or a leader in styles among your people.

The proverb 'If the parson may fiddle, may not the people dance?' is used to illustrate that a pastor's worldliness (e.g., fashion, cars) gives his people license for their own worldliness.

And Paul exhorts Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, 9-11, but thou, O man of God, flee these things. And in the context, he's talking about grasping after material gain. How can we call our people to biblical perspectives if we don't reflect them ourselves? If the parson may fiddle, may not the people dance?

36:31 - 36:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't become an addict to new cars or other status symbols.

The example of preachers addicted to trading in cars as a status symbol illustrates selfishness and grasping after material gain, which erodes respect.

About the only status symbol a preacher can have is his car. Now, thank God the energy crunch has cured some of that because preachers just can't afford to drive those big gas hounds. Well, that's been one of the good things. But I know many a preacher that gets addicted to this business of trading in cars all the time and he's guised it under an economic necessity when he isn't.

37:58 - 38:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Ensure there are no grounds for questioning your moral integrity with those of the opposite sex.

Martin shares a recent experience where two out of three full-time ministers in an evangelical church were exposed for immoral relationships, highlighting the prevalence and tragedy of this sin.

I've just come back from ministering at a church where in one month's time of the three full-time ministers, two of them had the lid blown off that they've been carrying on immoral relationships for months and years. This wasn't a liberal church. This was an evangelical church. Two out of three in one month's time and the senior minister known to be a quote, great soul winner.

39:10 - 39:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Ensure there are no grounds for questioning your moral integrity with those of the opposite sex.

The anecdote of ministers gathering and almost invariably hearing news of another pastor's moral fall underscores the widespread nature of this problem in ministry.

And one of the saddest things when I get together with a group of ministers that I've not seen for some time is that almost invariably in the course of general catching up on the news, someone will say, did you hear? And then you hear the sad, the sickening, news that goes right to there. So-and-so has gone down the tubes with another woman.

39:46 - 40:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain good spiritual health in general through consistent, intimate communion with Christ.

David's fall with Bathsheba is presented as an extended commentary on how a gradual 'softening up' through disobedience and laziness precedes a major moral lapse, emphasizing the need for consistent spiritual health.

of David's fall an extended commentary on that principle? He was softened up years before when in direct disobedience to Deuteronomy 17, 17, where God says, when I give you a king, the king shall not multiply to himself wives. David began, and he had his six wives, children by those various wives. And then he took to himself a wife, and he took to himself a wife, and he took to himself a wife, and he took to himself a wife, and he took to himself concubines. And then, through success, he becomes lazy. And instead of being out when kings go to war, for there was much more land to conquer, he's ...

43:17 - 44:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Wives, make the 'walled garden' of your sexual relationship with your husband so delightful that he would not seek pleasure elsewhere.

Martin shares a personal story of his wife 'preaching' to him when he was in a bad mental state, illustrating the importance of a wife's spiritual support and accountability.

And I thank God for a wife. Oh, did she preach to me yesterday. I was in sad straits before I came down here. It's been a number of factors, and I was in bad shape mentally as far as being disrupted in my own mind.

48:10 - 48:23 Read in full sermon

The point: As a general rule, especially in younger years, keep your hands off other women.

Martin's example of only kissing and embracing 93-year-old Mrs. Blair (apart from his wife) illustrates a practical, common-sense discipline for avoiding indiscretion with other women.

The third area of practical counsel is, as a general rule, especially when you're in your younger years, keep your hands off the other women. Unless, like our senior citizen I've said for years, the only woman in the church that I kiss and embrace, apart from my wife, is dear Mrs. Blair. She's 93.

52:20 - 52:41 Read in full sermon