Christian Ministry: What Is It?

The Necessity of Basic Biblical Definitions for Christian Ministry

0:01 Well, let me say, brethren, in responding to the gracious introduction of our brother, how thankful I am to be here with you and to be a part of this first conference. And it's my prayer and the prayer of our people back in New Jersey, where I minister some ten miles, a little bit west and north of the city of Newark, that God will bless us in these days together. I spoke to my wife last night, spoke to one or two of my fellow elders yesterday morning, and they assured me that we will be much in their prayers, that God's blessing will so come upon all of us, that there'll be real reason to believe that God has been in this conference and that there is every reason to believe that if he's blessed us on this occasion, perhaps he would be gracious to bless us in the days to come. Now, when you got the advertising, about the conference, you will have noticed that the subject was very general. It was just entitled, The Christian Ministry. And the reason for that was that Pastor Fry and the other leaders of this church thought they should give me liberty to decide precisely what areas of the Christian ministry ought to be addressed in our three days together.

1:25 Well, what I'm going to do this morning is to set out some things that are very, very basic. And before I tell you what they are, I want to explain to you why I've chosen to do this. We have come to such a state in the visible Christian church that there is confusion, there is ignorance, there is distortion, and in some cases, blatant disregard for what the Bible has to say about almost everything that the Bible has anything to say about. The Bible speaks about morals.

2:05 And it says one man, one woman, for life. And men thumb their nose at God, and when they get the hots for another skirt, they feel they've got the right to commit adultery. Even Christian ministers. The Bible tells us that homosexuality is perversion, and yet we've got so-called ordained homosexual ministers.

2:29 The Bible tells us that I suffer not a woman, to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man. And we've got women preachers, women elders. You see, at point after point, in the church of Jesus Christ, people are doing nothing less than thumbing their nose at Christ and telling him to mind his own business while they run the church the way they want to run it. And brethren, that's not overstatement.

2:54 That's the situation as it is. And it's because of that situation that we have got to start with some very basic issues in thinking through this whole subject of the Christian ministry. And what I want us to do this morning, and we're going to break up our session into two sessions, we'll take a break where it's convenient, is to ask two very basic questions and then attempt to answer them from the word of God. Question number one.

Two Foundational Questions for Understanding Christian Ministry

3:26 The Christian ministry, what is it? And that will be our first message. The Christian ministry, what is it? When we come to our Bibles with the question, what exactly is the Christian ministry?

3:43 What is the identity of a minister of Jesus Christ functioning in his church? We want to answer that from the Bible. Then the second question we're going to take up in the second hour is, the Christian ministry, who should be in it? The Christian ministry, who should be in it?

4:08 So two very basic, two very simple issues. But brethren, if we are not clear on those issues, then two tragic results will follow. Number one, if we are not sure of what the Christian ministry is, and who ought to be in it, how in the world can we know who we are if we claim to be ministers, and whether or not we belong where we are? And secondly, how in the world can we guide people?

4:40 You get some man that comes to you and says in the middle of the night he woke up and he heard a voice saying, Preach Christ. And he says, Brother, I'm called to preach. I know I am. I heard the voice of God.

4:52 How are you going to deal with him if you don't know what the Christian ministry is and who belongs in it? So for your own peace and comfort and for good salvation, and solid guidance to others, we must have clear Biblical thinking on those two questions. All right? We're going to take up the first question.

God's Historical Pattern of Leadership and the Apostolic Practice

5:14 The Christian ministry, what is it? Well, when we take up our Bibles, we find that throughout the Old Testament and right on into the New Testament, God called men to lead His people in various kinds of leadership roles. When He was going to bring His people out of Egypt, He laid hold of a man named Moses. And He made Moses the great prophet and the great administrator of Israel, and He led them for decades.

5:48 And then He raised up Joshua to be a great military leader to lead them into the Promised Land. And then He raised up the judges, Samson and Jephthah and others. And then He raised up the kings, David and Solomon. And then in the New Testament, He raised up John the Baptist to be the voice crying in the wilderness.

6:08 Then He raised up the apostles to be the initial leaders of the church. But now we ask the question, what does God do now at this stage in history in raising up leaders among His church? Does He still give to His church prophets? Does He give them new Moseses?

6:32 Does He give them new Joshuas? What is the identity of the leaders that God gives to His church now that the church is established, now that the Scriptures have been given to us? What is the precise identity of those who are called upon to lead God's people? Well, as we attempt to answer that question, the answer lies in the practice of the apostles, and in the writings of the apostles.

7:07 If we want to know what the Christian ministry is, we look to the practice of the apostles. How did they institute leadership in the churches formed under their ministry? And what instructions did they leave to the church in their writings? And when we look at the apostolic practice and the apostolic writings, we come to the conviction that the Christian ministry can be very clearly defined.

Apostolic Practice: Appointing Elders (Acts 14 & 20)

7:42 And what we're going to do now is take up our Bibles and we're going to look at nine passages of Scripture, nine pivotal passages of Scripture, all of them giving us a part of the answer to the question, what exactly is the Christian ministry? First of all, in the 14th chapter of the book of Acts, Acts chapter 14. Now, here at this point in chapter 14, Luke is describing the ministry of the apostle Paul and his companions in what we commonly call his missionary journey. Now, he had gone through a number of cities preaching the gospel, and as the Spirit of God blessed that preaching, people were converted, they returned from their sins, they came to faith in Christ, they were baptized, they were gathered into little groups, sometimes larger groups, of baptized disciples of Jesus Christ. Now, Acts 14.21. And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned, notice they're going back to places they had already visited, they returned to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch, and when they returned to these cities,

9:11 what did they do? It says they confirmed the souls of the disciples. That is, they had a ministry of establishing these disciples more firmly in their Christian faith. They didn't go back to fleece the pockets of the disciples, and God have mercy on so-called ministers that spend all their time emptying the pockets of the disciples, begging for money.

9:41 That isn't what they did. There's no record they even talked about money. They confirmed the souls of the disciples. They went back and they ministered that these people might become established in their faith.

9:54 Second thing they did was they exhorted them to continue in the faith. They didn't tell them, well, you've made your decision, you can live like the devil now, and you're all fixed up, you're going to go to heaven when you die, once saved, always saved. They didn't preach any such doctrine. They established those disciples and they exhorted them to continue in the faith.

10:18 Persevering faith is the only faith that will take a man to heaven. If a man draw back, we read in Hebrews, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Then what did they do? Now notice, then they went on to tell them that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.

10:39 They hadn't heard the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel yet. They didn't say you're going to be carried to heaven on a cloud of ease. They said through many tribulations you will enter the kingdom of God. So there was their message to the disciples.

10:57 But now notice what the next verse tells us was their second major activity. Verse 22 describes their activity. In those three ways in which they helped strengthen and build up those believers. Now verse 23 says, and when they had appointed for them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed.

11:32 After they had established the believers, by appropriate teaching, the second great concern was to give those congregations God-ordained leadership. And that leadership is described in terms of appointing for them elders in every church. Now notice, they did not appoint apostles to succeed them. They did not appoint prophets to speak the word of God for them.

12:15 There was only one kind of spiritual leadership that they instituted in the churches. Do you see that? And they appointed, and the Greek verb used, means appointment in terms of securing the suffrage or the vote of the congregation, John Owen has a masterful treatment of this verse and traces out the use of that word five pages in I think volume 13 or volume 16 on the church of Christ. So it wasn't as though they just came in and appointed their favorites, but it was an appointment that involved assessing the character and the gifts of various men in cooperation with the congregation. They appointed for them elders in every church, now notice, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed. Now you see some people would say if you have a group of believers, all of them indwelt by the Holy Spirit, all of them priests unto God, why do you need leaders? Well the apostles didn't think that way.

13:28 They knew they all had the Holy Ghost. They knew they were all in Christ, yet they appointed leaders, not to rival the Lord, but as the Lord's appointed means to guide and shepherd His flock in all of those cities. So we're asking the question, precisely what is the Christian ministry? What is the identity of the pastoral office?

13:57 This passage answers by saying, pastors, spiritually qualified leaders are in this passage described as elders who were appointed in the church by the apostles. All right? Now we turn to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20, we're looking now at the apostolic practice as we try to answer the question, what is the Christian ministry?

14:28 Here in Acts 20, Paul is, on his way to Jerusalem, and he stops off at a place called Miletus, Acts 20 verse 17, and he's sent to Ephesus and called to him, now notice, the elders of the church. So the only spiritual leaders that had been instituted in the church at Ephesus under the labors of Paul were elders, presbyters. The leaders were the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, and we'll not read this passage because I believe at this point what I'm going to do, God willing, tomorrow in the final morning is we're going to expound this passage in which we have Paul as the model of a gospel minister. But what I want you to notice is that after he reviews his own ministry among them in the opening verses, he tells them in verse 25, this is the transition, I know that you all among whom I went about preaching the kingdom shall see my face no more. And he says, I'm pure from the blood of all men. Now he's going to turn to these elders

15:54 and charge them with their responsibility. Verse 28. Take heed unto yourselves, you elders, and to all of the flock, he likens the church to a flock of sheep, now notice carefully, in which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops. Now that word bishop means overseer, a looker over.

16:23 The two words in the original that are put together literally means it's the word skopeo, to look, and then the preposition to look over, epi, to look upon or to look over. So a bishop is a looker over, an inspector, one who watches over. So he says to them, you elders, indicating that elders are bishops and bishops are elders, both the same, remember verse 17, he called the elders, and he says to the elders, the Holy Spirit has made you bishops. Now notice carefully.

17:02 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops or overseers to feed or to shepherd the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departing wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Remember and watch. And he goes on to charge them with their responsibilities.

17:37 Now what's the point of the passage? As we think of the question. What is the Christian ministry? What is its precise identity?

17:46 Well in this passage, the only ministers, the only leaders that Paul recognized in the church at Ephesus were leaders that the Holy Spirit had made leaders. And what were those leaders made such by the Holy Spirit under the guidance of the apostles? Not prophets. No, not apostles.

18:15 But elders or bishops. You see that? Those are the only leaders that he said the Holy Spirit has made in the church at Ephesus. So we take Acts chapter 14.

18:30 They went back in every city and what did they do? They appointed elders to be the leaders of the flock. When he calls the leaders of the church at Ephesus, he calls the elders whom he addresses as the bishops or the overseers of the flock of God. Now then, what we see in the apostolic practice, we see exactly reflected in the apostolic writings.

Apostolic Writings: Defining the Offices of Bishop/Elder and Deacon (1 Timothy & Titus)

18:58 So turn please now to 1 Timothy and chapter 3. Now why did Paul leave Timothy behind at Ephesus while he went on to further labors? Well, he tells us in chapter 3 verses 14 and 15 why he left Timothy at Ephesus. Notice, these things write I unto you hoping to come unto you shortly.

19:29 He said now I'm writing a letter. I hope before long I'll come on the heels of the letter but if I tarry long that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Timothy, I'm sending this letter to you hoping that I personally can come very soon after the letter but I don't have any direct revelation from God as to whether I will come or when I'll come and if I don't come I want you to do what I would do if I were there. And what would Paul do if he were there?

20:11 Well, among the many things he would do he tells us in chapter 3 he would secure godly leadership, more godly leadership for the church at Ephesus. And how does he describe that leadership? Chapter 3 in verse 1. Faithful is the saying if a man seeks the office of a here's our word again bishop and looker over and overseer he desires a good work.

20:43 The bishop therefore must be and then he gives a description of the character traits that must be present and we'll look at those in greater detail in our second message this morning. But you see the point we're making is this. Timothy, the church is not your house. The church is not my house.

21:04 The church is God's house. And in God's house God alone makes the house rules. Now Timothy, the leaders in God's house are to be bishops, elders. And if a man desires that office he desires a good work but here are the requirements that must be present in his life if he is to occupy that office according to the will of God.

21:30 But now the point is this. Paul does not recognize any other office of spiritual leadership and government in the church of Christ. Now he does recognize an office of service and therefore he starts in verse 8 to give the requirement for deacons. There are two offices in the church but the diaconal office is a serving not a ruling office.

21:59 It is an office to be carried out and to function under the direction and the oversight and the spiritual authority of the elders or the bishops. And so we see that what Paul did in his practice he underscores in his writing to Timothy. Turn to the book of Titus and we see exactly the same thing. Titus was another one of these relatively younger men that was one of Paul's assistants and companions.

22:34 Now he leaves him not at Ephesus but in the island of Crete. And now he tells us why he left him there. Titus 1 in verse 5. For this cause I left you in Crete that you should set in order the things that were wanting or lacking.

22:58 In other words there were churches there but the churches had a lack. There were things lacking in the churches. And he says I've left you there that you might set in order the things that were lacking now notice and appoint elders in every city as I gave you charge. And then he gives the requirements of character and gift that must be present in an elder.

23:30 If any man is blameless the husband of one wife, etc. Now look at verse 7. For the bishop must be blameless. Now wait a minute Paul.

23:40 Do you want me to ordain elders or bishops? Paul says well don't you get the message Titus? They're one and the same thing. Ordain elders in every city the bishop therefore must be.

23:53 These are simply two words which describe one and the same office. And the whole idea that the bishop is some kind of a super pastor in a given area who has other pastors under him and answerable to his authority doesn't have one ounce of evidence in the word of God. There is no such office to be found in the Bible. No.

24:19 Not at all. It's found in church history very early when men began to depart from the Bible and began to be greedy for spiritual and ecclesiastical authority and leadership. But it's not found in the Bible. Now isn't it interesting that if what we hear today is so important oh if only the church had prophets if only the church had miracle workers if only the church had this well my friends if ever the church needed the best it needed it here in its infant stage but the apostle did not tell Titus I left you there at Crete to set in order the things that are lacking I want you to appoint prophets and miracle workers and tongue speakers in every city he said no such thing all he said was this I want you to appoint elders in every city you see that in your Bibles that's what my Bible says don't believe it because I say it as I tell my people again and again believe it only when you see it with your own eyes in the Bible and then believe it not because I said it but because God said it that's it so that the issue is not what the preacher says no matter how forcefully he says it but the issue is does God say it and if God says it then anything that stands in the way is the enemy of God whether our past practice

The Church's Leadership Structure: Elders and Deacons (Philippians & Hebrews)

25:48 our past thinking current opinion we can say to every single thing that stands before the word of Christ you must bow to the word of God coming to us through his inspired apostle so the practice there at Ephesus was to recognize more elders for leadership the practice at Crete recognize elders in every single city so when Paul writes to one of his favorite churches the church at Philippi or Philippi how does he think of that church Philippians chapter 1 here he sits in a Roman prison and he either picks up his pen or he has someone writing for him and he's about to dictate the letter and he thinks of that church at Philippi that is so precious to him as he thinks of that church how does he conceive of that church in his mind's eye well look at the opening verse there at Philippians Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus he thinks of the church first of all as a company of those who are saints and that word saint simply means set apart unto God

27:14 those who are set apart from the world and the dominion of sin and from the love and practice of sin unto God they are saints in union with Christ do you see that that's how he conceives of the church in its basic identity it is the company it is the communion of those who have been set apart from sin and the world unto God in union with Jesus Christ they have a vital life attachment to Jesus Christ and they are found where at Philippi now notice with the bishops the overseers the looker-overs the elders and deacons now no word about archbishops no word about saints no word about subdeacons no word about priests no word about superintendents no word about nothing but elders and deacons bishops and deacons now if that church was the church that Paul clearly indicates it was a thriving church that had peculiar commitments to him and to the work of the gospel surely if we need prophets and miracle workers and this that and the other

28:42 and bishops and archbishops and archdeacons and subdeacons and all this other garbage surely Paul would have written to them and told them listen you guys got an awful lot of work to do all you've got in your leadership is looker-overs bishops elders and then a class of official servants to carry on those service ministries you guys are really in a mess I mean you're really way down on the ladder you've got to get you some miracle workers you've got to get you some prophets you say that he looks at that church at Philippi that is the darling of his heart and you read through that epistle and pours out his affection to them and he's pleased it is a well-ordered church why because it has God's instituted leadership in that church now when we turn to the letter to the Hebrews this is passage number six I told you we're going to just look at nine passages I want the word of God to speak on this issue of what is the Christian ministry as the writer to Hebrews is coming to the end of his letter and giving some miscellaneous exhortations he says in verse seven to all of the believers to whom he writes remember them

30:09 that had the rule over you Hebrews 13 7 men that spoke unto you the word of God remember them that had the rule over you and he identifies them as those men who spoke unto you the word of God and considering the manner of their life imitate their faith now we'll have time to come back to the last part of the verse in the second hour we'll just touch on it briefly notice he could say the men who were giving you spiritual leadership were themselves spiritual men they're worthy of being imitated even though they have now left you by death or they've been taken elsewhere by the providence of God but the point for this morning in the first hour is this those that had the rule were those that spoke the word of God and the men that spoke the word of God were those that had the rule they were one and the same men occupying the office of elders bishops overseers shepherds of the flock and they work out that office and this is where this text is helpful by spiritual rule and by the proclamation of the word of God

31:36 verse 17 of the same chapter obey them that have the rule over you and submit to them why for they watch in behalf of your souls as they that shall give account he is speaking of those who have a particular charge from the head of the church to watch over the flock of God to give direction to the flock and they will one day give an account of that stewardship of spiritual leadership now it's clear that they knew when he wrote obey them that have the rule over you the people were not in doubt they knew who they were it wasn't any Tom Dick and Harry that said well I think I ought to exercise spiritual rule here I come you lucky people they knew who had the rule over them and they knew that they did so officially as those that would give an account to the great head of the church in the last day and then first Peter chapter 5 first Peter chapter 5 as Peter writes to these suffering Christians people that are being persecuted and he says even more is coming a fiery trial is going to come upon you notice what he says to the elders

The Shepherd's Role and the Diversity of Elders (1 Peter & 1 Timothy 5)

33:03 in chapter 5 and verse 1 of first Peter the elders therefore among you I exhort now notice how he styles himself who am a fellow elder though Peter was an apostle he was also an elder he was a leader in Christ's church and he says he was a witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed now here is their job tend the flock of God shepherd the flock of God which is among you who is to shepherd the flock the elders exercising the oversight not of construction but of restraint but willingly according to the will of God nor yet for filthy lucre not in it for your money but of a ready mind neither is lording it over the charge allotted to you and it's a verb that means exercising an authority down upon people an oppressive ungracious unchrist-like authority not lording it over the charge but making yourselves examples to the flock and when the chief shepherd shall be manifested you shall receive the crown of glory that fades not away Christ is called the archipoimane

34:30 the chief shepherd and all pastors are poimane they are just shepherds they are under shepherds of the chief shepherd even the Lord Jesus so when Peter thinks of the churches how does he conceive of their leadership he conceives of the leadership in terms of elders and so he writes to the elders and he charges the elders to take care of the flock of God now we come then to 1st Timothy 5 17 because this passage gives us an added dimension and I think you'll see it all come together now I hope you do 1st Timothy 5 and verse 17 let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially or specifically the translation of that word is debated by the men who give their lives to studying Greek words let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially or specifically those that is those elders who labor and that word labor means to work unto toil and pain who labor in the word and in teaching

35:59 now what does this verse tell us it tells us at least this among the elders in any given church the God ordained spiritual leaders there may be some who give themselves completely to laboring in the task of preaching and teaching the word of God you see that not two different kinds of elders the elders among you one group but within that group a diversity of function some are laboring in the word and in teaching some are not laboring in the word and in teaching but all of them are elders and all of them rule but some in the outworking of their rule according to their gifts experience opportunity the ability of the church to support them they may be set apart from the ordinary means of employment in order to what sit around and play golf three afternoons a week sit around during world series time and do what others can't do when they are at work watch the ball games no they are to labor unto pain and toil

37:25 in doing the work necessary to be able preachers and good teachers of God's people and I put myself through college by the sweat of my brow and the pain of my back doing construction work and I tell you the worst construction work I ever did in August weather up in Connecticut when it was in the 90's with 80% humidity and worked out in the hot sun that's kids play compared to the labor at sitting at my desk bent over my bible trying to prepare to preach and teach God's people as I ought there's many a time I've wished I could have the luxury of going back to being a hod carrier it's kids play compared to truly laboring in the word and doctrine now then we bring all of these passages together and what's the picture that emerges we're asking this one question in this first hour what is the Christian ministry what is the identity of the Christian minister and I answer in terms of the bible a Christian minister is an elder a bishop an overseer one who is duly recognized to function in the church as a shepherd as a teacher as a ruler

Christ, the Giver of Pastors and Teachers (Ephesians 4)

38:51 as a ruler among God's people now if we don't think of the Christian ministry in those biblical terms then we get into all kinds of trouble because when we ask who should be a minister if we don't think of a minister in terms of his identity as an elder or a bishop in the church then we've got no biblical materials to guide us because the biblical materials guide us how to recognize an elder how can a man know if he's equipped to be an elder to equip to be a bishop but the bible doesn't give us any materials to guide us if we think of the ministry in some other category that's why it's so vital to start with thinking biblically about the identity of the Christian ministry now the ninth passage is the one that sets the field and then after we've looked at this and said a word of application we'll take our break and that'll lead us very naturally into the next session the great question is this behind this matter of the Christian ministry who is it that ultimately makes Christian ministers who is it that makes men fit the standard of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 who is it that makes men

40:19 willing to take on the burden of guiding and teaching and shepherding the flock of God knowing that we're going to give an account in the last day turn to Ephesians chapter 4 for the answer Ephesians chapter 4 after Paul is exhorting or exhorts the Ephesian Christians to seek a life of congregational unity meekness forbearing with one another he then shows the basis of that unity verse 4 one body one spirit but then in the midst of that unity there is diversity of gifts verse 7 but unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ wherefore he saith when he ascended on high he led captivity and gave gifts unto men quoting from the Psalms now then pointing to the ascended Christ who now fills all things verse 11 and he that is the ascended Christ he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers shepherds and teachers and the construction is such

41:47 that these are not two separate offices or gifts of Christ but two different descriptions of one in the same he gave shepherds and teachers shepherds to govern and guide and rule by means of teaching and instruction in the word of God and why did he give them verse 12 for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of service unto the building up of the body of Christ etc. now what's this passage tell us and why is it so crucial it's so crucial because it tells us this if ever there is any church that has a true shepherd of Christ a true teacher and preacher of the word or in the language of the other passages if there is ever a church that has a true elder or true elders a true bishop or a group of bishops if you ever find such a person in any church you know why you find it because Jesus Christ the head of the church has molded and fashioned that man and given him as his personal gift to that church that that church might be perfected and built up

43:14 to the end that his own body the church might increase both in size and in conformity to himself growing up into Christ in all things unto a full grown man so when we ask the question what is the identity of the Christian minister we must ultimately trace it back to the fact that he is one whom Christ has fashioned and Christ has given as a gift to his church now I close with this very simple fundamental question does Jesus Christ give to his church men who have no ability to shepherd his people no ability to feed his people no ability to guide them by consistent example of godly life does Jesus Christ hate his church so much that he would give as the official leaders of his church men who can't lead men who can't teach men who can't govern men who can't set an example of godliness I ask you does Jesus Christ hate his people that much no he loved his church and gave his life for the church

44:38 and if Jesus Christ loves his church the only kind of men he gives as pastors and teachers are those who can truly shepherd his people who can teach his people who can govern his people who can guide his people and every so called pastor or shepherd who isn't doing that Jesus didn't give him he's put himself in that office or the devil has pushed him into that office in order to curse the body of Christ instead of build up the body of Christ you feel the weight of that you feel the weight of that on your own spirit Jesus Christ the head of the church he gives pastors and shepherds well if he loved the church enough to give his life for it what kind of pastors and shepherds will he give to his church what kind of teachers will he give not those who confuse the church not those who lead the church into embarrassment and shame by their stupid programs and cockamamie schemes and large indebtedness and by men whose lives are shoddy and bring shame upon the name of Christ and make God's people hang their heads in shame whenever their church name is mentioned because the pastor's name has been emblazoned in the headlines as being immoral being an embezzler

46:06 a womanizer money hungry my friend Christ doesn't give shepherds like that Christ gives shepherds who in a little way to some degree reflect his own heart they're willing to give their very life for the sake of the sheep now we come all the way around full circle where we started what is the Christian ministry what exactly is a pastor according to the New Testament a pastor a Christian minister is an elder a bishop an overseer he is a shepherd and a teacher given by Christ to the church to govern and to teach to guide and to instruct to perform those two great functions for the well-being of the church of Jesus Christ all right we'll take a break at this point and then when we come back we'll take up the second question and then we'll still have some time I hope for discussion at the end