Christian Ministry: What Are The Tasks? Part 3

Recap: What is Christian Ministry and Who Should Be In It?

0:00 We come now again this morning, brethren, to think about this broad subject of the Christian ministry, and I've tried to organize our materials around three questions. Question number one, we took up the first morning, what is the Christian ministry? And we saw in the light of nine key passages that we studied together that the pastoral office is to be understood as the work of an elder, a bishop, an overseer, a pastor, and a teacher. And we must think of the Christian ministry in those categories if we are going to have biblical materials by which to regulate our ministries. Now, I am not saying that the work and office of a pastor or an elder is the only kind of valid ministry recognized in the Word of God. There is a ministry of evangelism, someone sent out by the church to plant a church. Now whether he should be called an evangelist, that is a debated subject.

1:19 But we are gathered here in a pastor's conference, and so we have concentrated our thinking on the subject of evangelism. And the subject of what is the Christian ministry as it is defined for us in the scriptures. And the scriptures are clear that the Christian ministry in terms of pastoral function is to be understood as the ministry of an elder, a bishop, or an overseer. And then we took up the second question in the first morning, who should be in the Christian ministry?

1:55 And we saw from the scriptures that the Christian ministry is to be understood as the work of the church. And we saw from the scriptures that since Christ is the one who gives pastors and teachers to the church, no one should be in the Christian ministry whom Christ has not furnished with the gifts, the graces, and the sanctified motives for the work of the Christian ministry. And then who is recognized by the church, thinking and acting according to the Word, the Word of God, and in that way, Christ gives pastors and teachers to His church. Christ never gives to His church men whose lives are not full of the graces which He says must be present in an elder. Christ never gives to His church men who don't have the gifts to feed and shepherd and guide His church. And Christ does not impose upon His church gifts that the church does not recognize as coming from Him. And then we took up a third question yesterday, what is the Christian ministry?

Introduction to the Third Question: What Are the Basic Tasks of Christian Ministry?

3:11 Who should be in the Christian ministry? And then we began to consider the third basic question, what are the basic tasks of the Christian ministry? And our basic text that formed the framework. The framework of our study yesterday and again today is Acts chapter 20 and verse 28.

3:33 Acts chapter 20 and verse 28. As Paul is about to leave the church where he has labored for over three years, he tells us that in verse 31, remember that by the space of three years, I cease not to admonish every one night and day with tears. He is about to turn over the care of the church to the elders, to the bishops, the overseers at Ephesus. And he says your whole task is summarized in these two things.

4:11 Take heed, pay attention to, be concerned for yourselves and to all the flock. And so the work of the Christian ministry is basically a two-fold work. We are to exercise constant care over ourselves and constant care over the people of God. Yesterday, we just took the first of those basic tasks.

4:48 We are to give constant care to ourselves in terms of the nurture of our own. Spiritual life, the nurture of our own. Intellectual life and the nurture of our physical and emotional life. Now today, we take up the second major task of the Christian ministry, namely constant care of the people of God.

The Identity of God's People and the Imagery of Pastoral Leadership

5:16 For the text says take heed. Pay constant attention to not only yourselves, but to all. All. However.

5:26 you think that you're going to get paid. There is good. 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. Now before we get into the details of what it means to shepherd the flock of God, and we're going to look at four things that it means, I want us first of all to park on this verse for a few minutes and notice two things. When Paul is charging these elders with their task with respect to caring for the people of God, he is careful to underscore first of all the specific identity of the people of God, and then secondly the dominant imagery under which we care for the people of God. So we're going to open up those two lines of thought out of the text before we come to the four basic ways that we are to care for God's people. Notice in the text the specific identity

6:37 of the people of God. As Paul is transferring the spiritual responsibility of the care of God's people to these elders, he is careful to identify God's people. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to these elders. He is careful to identify God's people to Christmas story. Shepherds were in their fields watching over their flocks by night. Matthew, I'm sorry, Luke chapter 2. And so there is a metaphor, a figure of speech in which the people of God are likened to a flock of sheep. And there are good and wise reasons why God's people are likened

7:54 to a flock of sheep. The Lord Jesus, you will remember, used this imagery very powerfully in several passages in the Gospels. He likened himself to the good shepherd who would lay down his life for his sheep. He likened all of his elect to one great flock that he would eventually gather together. John 10, 16, other sheep I have that are not of this fold, them also I must bring. There shall be one fold and one shepherd. So the specific identity of God's people in their relationship to their pastors, their overseers, their elders, those who govern and guide them, is the relationship of a flock of sheep to a shepherd or to shepherds. But then he underscores their identity not only in a metaphor, we would call that

9:07 the metaphorical identity, but then he gives their theological identity. Notice the third thing. The metaphorical identity of chapters of the book of Luke from the Exodus to the second chapter 토 text. Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to feed the church of God or the church of the Lord. There is a problem to know which rendering is the best, and we won't go into that textual variant, that problem in the original manuscripts or not the original, but in the existing manuscripts. But this much is clear. He is no longer describing the church under a figure of speech as a flock, but he is using the technical name ordained of God to set forth what the church is in a theological sense. It is the church, the ecclesia, the called out assembly.

10:14 of the Lord. In other words, the identity of God's people is not only that of a flock of sheep, but it is that of a group of people who have been called out of the world into fellowship with Jesus Christ and who are the unique and special property of God or of the Lord. He says to these elders, no matter how long you are with these people, no matter how much labor you may expend upon these people, never forget they are not your called out people. They are the church, the called out ones of the Lord, and he acquired them. The word used here translated, purchased, is not the standard word for Christ's blood being a ransom, purchasing his people, but it's the word that could be better translated,

11:27 which he acquired to himself by his own blood. How did he make the church his own? He made the church his own by the shedding of his own precious blood. He acquired, offered them at the price of nothing less than pouring out his blood in the violent death of the cross under the anathema and curse of God.

The Church is Not a Religious Club

11:59 Now you see, this was intended to have a profound effect upon those elders. Here, Paul is about to leave, and he's turning over the reins of spiritual guidance and responsibility to them, and he says to them, and he's turning over the reins of spiritual guidance and responsibility to them, and he says to them, and he says to them, and he says to them, and he says to them, and he says to them, and he says to them, I want you to understand the identity of God's people. They are not a religious club at Ephesus. And men, if there's anything that's been burnt in my gut in the past six months, it's this imagery of the religious club.

12:34 I've been praying, Lord, give me some way to try to make clear the fundamental problem of most churches. And I began to think and pray, and pray and think. And this whole concept of a religious club came to my mind. When we were little kids, we'd get together some day and we'd say, hey, let's start us a club.

12:56 And so three or four of us on the block would say, all right, we're going to be the four members in the club. All right, what are going to be the terms? All right, none of the Italian kids can come in, or only the Italians and none of the Polacks, or only the Polacks. And we were in a multi-ethnic area there.

13:11 So we had all kinds of little groupings. And so we'd make up our rules. Nobody under 10, nobody over 13, no girls in the club, no this, no that. It was great.

13:22 I mean, there was a tremendous sense of power. You made your club, you designed the rules, you said where you're going to meet, you built a clubhouse, or you used someone's garage for your clubhouse. I mean, it was great. And when any kid came along and they'd say, can I join your club?

13:38 Nah, you can't join my club. You don't meet the standards, you see. There was a tremendous sense of power. We organized the club.

13:45 We set the standards for who could get in the club. We set the rules for what you did when you were in the club. And do you know that's the concept most people have of the church? A group of people get together and they say, this is our church.

14:00 My mom and my daddy were charter members. And this is the way we're going to run our church. It's our club. This is our rules for who gets in, who stays in, who can't come in, who gets out, why they get out.

14:16 And you let them know, let King Jesus try to get a word in edgewise. And they say, I don't care what the Bible says. This is our club. This is the way we're going to run it.

14:26 But you see what Paul said? He said to those Ephesian elders, I want you to pay close attention to yourself. But now as he comes to tell them what the church is, he doesn't assume. He spells out the identity of the church.

14:43 It is God's flock of sheep, sheep for whom the great shepherd laid down his life. It is God's called out congregation. It is his possession acquired by the purchase of his own precious blood. And we need constantly to remember the identity of the people of God, if we are to discharge our responsibility as we ought.

The Shepherd's Role: Sheep Are Not Competent to Shepherd Themselves

15:16 But then in the text, he not only gives the specific identity of the people of God, but then the dominant imagery of the leadership we are to give to the people of God. And what is the dominant imagery of the leadership? It's bound up in this verb. Notice take heed to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops.

15:42 And most translations render it to feed the church of the Lord, that is a poor translation. It is simply the verb form of the noun shepherd. And it's one of the few cases where it's exactly the same in English as it is in Greek. In Greek, if you wanted to say there were shepherds watching over their flock, shepherding their sheep, you would simply take the noun form poimane, shepherd, and you'd turn it into a verb.

16:18 They were shepherding. Poimeno, poimino. So what we are told here is that the dominant imagery of the care that we give is the imagery of the care that a shepherd gives to a flock of sheep. You have the verb form of the noun shepherd.

16:42 So what the apostle said was this. Take heed to all of the flock to shepherd the church of the Lord. Carry out your ministerial responsibilities in a way that is parallel to the manner in which a shepherd carries out his responsibility to the sheep. Now that tells us one or two very basic things at the outset.

17:15 Number one, the sheep are not competent to shepherd themselves. Isn't that clear? The sheep ain't the shepherd. The shepherd is the recognized and appointed guide of the sheep.

17:35 Now in one sense we know biblically every shepherd in Christ's church is himself a sheep of Christ's flock, and he himself ought to be shepherded by his fellow elders. And if he hadn't, he has no other elders in his assembly. He ought to have accountability to others so he himself is shepherded. I know that.

17:56 I practice that. But the point is clear in the passage. There is in our day some wretched, rotten, unbiblical teaching that because every believer has the Holy Spirit and has the Bible, we do not need any true leadership in the church. All we need is for everyone to sit around a table with his Bible, and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray.

18:17 And we can get all the leadership and all the guidance we need. And we can get all the leadership, and all the guidance we need. And all an elder is is sort of a catalyst to help the people of God know when to turn their Bibles, and when to turn up the next subject. That is sheer nonsense in the light of the Word of God.

18:37 It's nonsense. The head of the church has given shepherds and teachers for the perfecting of the church. And that's all. God knows.

18:47 And that does not contradict the fact that he's also given the Holy Spirit to every believer to guide him in his understanding of the Scriptures. This is not a man-made clericalism. This is simple, honest treatment of the Bible.

19:06 He says not to the whole congregation at Ephesus, shepherd yourselves because you all have the Holy Spirit. He says to these elders, you are to shepherd the flock of God, purchased with the blood. And then the second thing it tells us, brethren, is this. If anything is true of the whole biblical imagery of sheep and shepherd is that God is calling us to a multi-leveled, demanding relationship of self.

19:44 Giving love. God is calling us to a multi-leveled relationship of demanding, self-giving love. And all you need to do is start thinking through the shepherd passages in the Bible. The good shepherd is prepared to give his life for the sheep.

20:09 The good shepherd is the one who when one sheep is missing goes out and... And braves the craggy rocks and the cold night air and the crack of the lightning and anything necessary to find that one lost sheep and bring it back into the fold.

20:30 You start thinking of all of the things the Bible says about the shepherd-sheep relationship and you realize it is a multi-leveled, intimate relationship. Demanding, self-giving love. self-giving love and if you think of the ministry as a pedestal on which to parade yourself if you look at the ministry as a plateau on which to stand as a little king top and order around the little peons then get out of it and get out of it today and don't you come back in until you're ready to spend and be spent and lay down your life for the good of christ's sheep now that's the text by which the apostle lays on these elders their job we've looked at the specific identity of the people of god metaphorically they're like sheep theologically they are god's called out possession and then the dominant imagery of our task it is the imagery of a shepherd in relationship to his sheep now practically speaking what

Task 1: Feeding the Flock by Solid Biblical Preaching and Teaching

21:50 does that involve well we're going to cover four things we'll probably get two of them maybe one of them two of them the remainder of this first hour and then we'll take up the remainder in the second hour shepherding god's people involves at least four constant activities number one it involves feeding the flock by solid biblical preaching and teaching it means feeding the flock by solid biblical preaching and teaching now you remember the 23rd song jehovah is my shepherd i shall not lack anything he makes me to lie down in green pastures the first thing that david underscores when he thinks of jehovah as his shepherd is that as his shepherd the shepherd makes sure that there are green

23:06 pastures in which he can lie down and graze and brethren in our task as shepherds of god's people ahead of the list of the specific responsibilities that that lays upon us, there is the responsibility of feeding the flock by solid biblical preaching and teaching. And this is to have number one priority in our official pastoral duties. Number one priority of our overall duties, as we saw yesterday, is taking heed to ourselves. But number one priority in caring for the flock is seeing to it that week by week, month by month, year by year, by our influence, they are led into green pastures. And the only green pastures for God...

24:15 God's precious sheep are the pastures of his own holy and infallible word. God says in Second Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 and 2, Paul swung song to Timothy, knowing that soon he's to lay down his life, he's writing his last word to this man of God. And notice how serious he is about it. Second Timothy chapter 4.

24:45 Therefore, I charge you, Timothy, I charge you in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word. Be urgent in season, when it's convenient, when you feel like it. Out of season, when it's inconvenient, and when you have no real desire. In season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching, for the time will come when they will not endure the sound or healthy doctrine, but having itching ears, now notice, will heap to themselves teeth, teachers after their own lusts and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside unto fables. But be sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. He said, Timothy, listen, the time is coming when men are going to heap up a great big pile of teachers whose only skill is this,

26:09 he said, they are PhDs in tickling ears. They are skilled in tickling ears. They have no desire to plow a park. They have no desire to instruct minds.

26:24 They have no desire to feed people upon truth. They have no desire to display the glory of Christ and the power of the gospel and the duties and privileges of the Christian life. They have no desire to plow a park. up hearts and heal hearts all they want to do is scratch ears that are itching and people will heap to themselves what an image they'll get a great big pile of ear scratchers but he said that's all right you stick to the job i've given you to do be willing to suffer for it be willing to be called an old bible thumper be willing to be called narrow-minded be willing to be called anything but timothy i charge you in the very sight of almighty god and in the light of the day of judgment preach the word preach the word preach the word preach the word preach the word preach the word it's only by the word which is likened unto milk in first peter 2 2 it's the sincere milk of the word by which men grow it's likened unto meat in other places it is that instrument john 17 17 jesus said father sanctify them in thy truth thy word is truth

27:50 the prophet jeremiah said to the people or god said to the prophet running around saying oh i've got a dream and i've had a vision and the prophet says he that has a dream let him go ahead and babble about his dream and he that has a vision let him babble about his vision but he that hath my word let him speak my words and let him speak my word and let him speak my words and let him speak my word faithfully is not my word like unto a hammer that breaketh a rock in pieces dear men I urge you to face as shepherds that your first and great and constant responsibility to the flock of God is to feed them with the solid truth of the word of the Living God you remember we looked at Jeremiah 3 15 briefly yesterday and I want you to turn back to it today and see it with your own eyes as well as hear it with your ears here is the mark of the Shepherd's God gives to his people in Jeremiah 3 and verse 15 this is what God says and I will give you shepherds according to my heart I am your true Shepherd and my heart is moved That you would be fed and nourished. And so when I give you shepherds who are according to my heart.

29:18 What will they do? Not tickle your ears. Not feed your fancy. Not give you the froth and the foam.

29:28 Of just a lot of verbal nonsense from the pulpit. They will feed you with knowledge and with understanding. Every shepherd given to God's sheep after God's heart. Whatever his particular style of ministry may be.

29:50 He may be very quiet. He may be very loud. He may be very still and restricted. He may be unusually animated.

29:59 Those are only the secondary characteristics. If he has been given by God to the church. This is the. The common denominator.

30:10 He feeds the sheep with knowledge and with understanding.

30:16 When he's done preaching they don't go out and say. Wasn't that a great time man? I got me to tingles 14 and a half times while he was preaching. Yeah but what did he say?

30:27 Oh I don't know what he said. But I sure felt good.

30:35 You know man what I'm talking about don't you? People come not to be instructed. But to get the goosebumps. Yeah.

30:44 Yeah. And preachers. And raising goose bumps. But they don't put one ounce of truth in the heads of their people.

30:54 They just raise mountains of goose bumps on their arms and up and down their back. They're not God's shepherds. White, black, green, yellow don't make no difference. He says I will give them shepherds who will feed them with knowledge and understanding.

31:12 So when our people leave they ought to be able to go home and say. Well I can't remember all the preachers. And so he said. But I know this much.

31:20 Here's a verse he opened up. And I understand it now and I didn't understand it before. My knowledge of the word of God has been increased my understanding of the ways of God have been increased my knowledge and understanding of the way of salvation the privileges of being a child of God the responsibilities of naming the name of Christ the power that is available to me in Christ. By the name of Christ.

Characteristics of Effective Biblical Preaching

31:48 by the Holy Spirit. I have a measure of knowledge and understanding now that I didn't have when I walked into church this morning. So brethren, we must allow nothing to keep us from this task of giving to our people week after week sermons that are marked by these three things. This is all under this first heading now.

32:10 We must feed our people the Word of God. And if we're committed to that, then we will settle for nothing less than sermons marked by these three things every single time we stand to preach. Sermons that are composed of solid chunks of the Word of God. Sermons that are composed of solid chunks of the Word of God.

32:41 God says in Isaiah 57, So shall my word be that goes out of my mouth. It shall not return. None to be void. But it shall accomplish that where unto I have sent it.

32:55 And my friends, it's our job, our task to give up to our people solid chunks of the Word of God. Not just taking a phrase here and a phrase there and tying it together with our own imagination and puffing it up and beating it thin at the edges with stories and illustrations. Our people need to be given solid chunks of the Word of God. For man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

33:28 Matthew 4.4 Secondly, sermons that are constructed in a way that makes what we say clear and convincing. Sermons that are constructed in a way that makes what we say clear and convincing. Now notice, I didn't say you've got to have three points or six points or seventeen or two.

33:55 But brethren, God made the human mind that it can't absorb some formless glob of truth that you just dump on your people. You can't learn that way. The only way we learn according to the laws of the human mind that God has given to us is that what is presented to our understanding must be structured in such a way that we say, ah yes, if that's so, then this is so, and if that's so and this is so, oh yes, I see, you're carrying my judgment. You're leading my understanding.

34:32 That's why it says of Jesus, the common people heard him gladly. He could have dazzled them with his wisdom for he was the wisdom of God incarnate. He could have caused the great doctors of the law to be amazed and when it was necessary he was able to shut their mouths with just a question or two and by quoting one or two texts until they stuck their tail between their legs and they slinked off into the darkness. But the common people heard him gladly.

35:02 Why? Because the Lord Jesus constructed his sermons in such a way that he made them clear and convincing. And brethren, you don't do that by just running to a passage and in 25 minutes or half an hour getting a few ideas and putting down a few little headings and going, and serving that up to your people. It cost, it cost pain, sweat and more sweat and pain and mental and spiritual agony week in and week out, month in and month out, year in and year out to speak in a way that is clear and convincing.

35:42 But that's what you and I are set apart to do. We are set apart to labor in the word and in teaching. Not to play games, but to labor in the word and in teaching. And then the third characteristic of sermons that will feed our people are these.

35:59 Sermons that are characterized by close, warm, practical application. Sermons that are characterized by close, warm, practical application. Why are the scriptures given? 2 Timothy 3.16 All scripture is inspired of God and his profitable work. All scripture is inspired of God and his profitable work. for teaching, but not just teaching, also for reproof, that's pointing out our wrong. Correction, showing us a mid-course correction, the way that we need to go by literally child training.

36:38 That word instruction is the word used for training children for child training in righteousness. What's that mean? It means that the scriptures are given not only to teach, but to teach us the proper doctrine of God and of sin and of grace and of faith and of repentance and of heaven and of hell and the Christian family, the role of a father, the role of a mother, the role of a husband, the role of a wife, the role of employer, the role of employee, honesty, the use of the tongue, how to speak so as to be truthful. Yes, the Bible is given to set forth all that teaching. But you see, we're not simply to parade the teaching before people's eyes like the airplane that drags an advertising sign behind it across the sky and you stand there and look and say, oh, isn't that interesting? And when it's gone, you forget about it. But God says the word of God is to reprove, to rebuke, exhort, Paul says to Timothy, with all long-suffering and teaching and to teach.

37:52 And so if our people are to be fed upon the word of God, our sermons must not only be composed of solid chunks of the word of God, they must not only be constructed in a way that is clear and convincing, they must be characterized by close, warm, practical application. I tell the men in our academy about application, this simple little principle. When I'm done opening up the passage, I think of the housewife who sits there, who all week long she's heard in her ear, mommy this, mommy that, mommy that, mommy the other thing, and just when she feels she can't stand it anymore, then her husband comes through the door and it's dear this, dear that, dear the other thing. And I think of that woman sitting there Sunday morning and I've opened up the text and I try to think, she sits now and she's listened, she's followed the argument and now she says to me, so what?

38:49 So what? And there's that young single man who chased around, an immoral life before he was saved, laid with anything that would get into bed with him and he's struggling to be pure and holy and godly and he sat there and he's listened to the text and he's followed the argument and it's all been opened up and now he looks up and he says, that's interesting pastor, but now, so what? And then there's that old grandmother who's just lost her husband of some 50 years and she's a widow and she feels the pain and the grief and the emptiness of her widowhood and she's listened and she's followed as I've served up a chunk of God's word and tried to serve it up, structured in such a way that it's clear and convincing and when I'm all done, she looks at me through her broken heart and she says, so what? And you see, you know what application is? Application is answering the question, so what? So what to that young mother?

39:50 Young mother, this truth, this is what it will do for you. This is what it should mean for you. Young man, struggling with your passions that rage within your breast like ten wild bucking broncos seeming to break out and consume you. Young man, this is what the text says to you.

40:10 And dear grieving widow grandma, this is what the text says to you. In other words, in application, we take the truth that has been opened up in its general principles and we tailor make it for the different classes of our people. And we say, this is how the truth fits you. This is how the truth applies to you.

40:33 Brethren, if our people are to thank God that we are their shepherds, we've got to feed them. We've got to feed them. Feed them by solid biblical preaching and teaching. And that solid biblical teaching and preaching must have those three minimum characteristics, solid chunks of the Bible constructed in a way that's clear and convincing and sermons that are characterized by close, warm, practical application.

Task 2: Caring for Individual Needs by Loving, Wise, Assertive Pastoral Input

41:14 All right? That's the first task of being a shepherd. But now let's take up, we've got time for the second. And then we'll leave the third and fourth to the next hour.

41:25 You see, not only is a shepherd concerned to lead the whole flock into green pastures, and that's what we do in our public ministries, but there's a second very vital aspect of the work of a shepherd. And that is this, caring for the individual needs of the sheep by loving, wise, assertive, pastoral, input. Caring for the individual needs of the sheep by loving, wise, assertive, pastoral, input. Now what do I mean by that? I mean simply this. Want me to run it by again, all right?

42:21 Caring for the individual needs of the sheep by loving, wise, assertive, A-S-S-E-R-T-I-V-E, three things, loving, wise, assertive, pastoral, input.

42:43 Now what am I saying? Just this. I don't care how faithful a man may be in his public preaching ministry. I don't care how gifted he may be in his public preaching ministry.

42:59 I don't care how anointed and earnest he may be in his public pulpit ministry no shepherd can do the work of a shepherd simply by public preaching

43:17 even the apostle paul could not and he says in this very chapter i was one who taught publicly and from house to house and i want you to look at two or three passages with me that until someone can show me that these words don't mean what they obviously mean i would be prepared to stake my life by the grace of god on this principle a true shepherd is never done when he's out of the pulpit turn to first thessalonians chapter 2 where here paul gives us a beautiful example of how he was a true shepherd to the thessalonians even though he was there but a relatively brief time he not only preached publicly in the synagogue as we read in acts chapter 17 but he says in chapter 2 and verse 10 you are witnesses in god also how holily and righteously and unburdened unblameably we behaved ourselves toward you that believe you see he was paying close attention to his own life you see that he said i tell you people to recall you are witnesses and god also

44:43 how holily and righteously and unblameably we behaved ourselves toward you that believe and because of that he could have this warm loving wise assertive pastoral insight now notice verse 11

45:01 as you know how we dealt with each one of you as a father with his own children exhorting you and encouraging you and testifying to the end that you should walk worthily of god who calls you to his own kingdom and glory he says now i call you thessalonians to remember two things i call you to remember the pattern of life you saw in me and my companions even when you got to look at us up close some men you can respect so long as you never go in their homes some men you can respect so long as you never take a drive in a car with them some men you can respect as long as all you know is what they say and know a pulpit but get them in a long car trip and you find their language is silly you find that they say things with double innuendo you find that things come out of their mouth that do not bespeak

46:20 the man of god you get into their homes and you find that they are insensitive to their wives they treat their wives like a house slave they are insensitive to their children and once you've seen them close for a few hours in a car in their home or in some personal relationship you can no longer listen to them preach but not paul and his companions he said look you are witnesses in god also how holily and righteously and unblameably we behaved ourselves toward you that believe now listen when they got up close to him and saw he was for real then he could open his mouth and do what he says he did you know how we dealt with each one of you and in the greek there is no other construction that can be put on that language but individual pastoral input one of you we dealt with you faithfully like a father with his children now my three children are grown and married i came from a family of ten Some of you may have come from large families. And I don't care how large or small the family, any parent who's beginning to do his job knows he cannot do his job as a father in ruling his household

47:44 by simply having family powwows where he talks to the whole family as a whole. Now certain things he does with the whole family. He gathers the whole family for family worship. He gathers the whole family to discuss family vacations.

48:01 He gathers the whole family to discuss a family crisis. But one member of that family is a young man entering puberty. And he knows if he's going to meet the need of that son, he needs to take him aside and sit him down and tell him the facts of life. He needs to say, son, hormones and other things are starting to operate in your body.

48:22 You're going to have all kinds of feelings you never had before. He's going to explain to him what wet dreams are so the kid isn't laden with guilt. He's going to tell him how he's going to be tempted to masturbate and get addicted to playing with himself. He's going to tell him how he's going to start to be attracted to women.

48:40 He's going to be fascinated with the sight of a woman's breast. He warns him about pornography. He speaks to him as a father with his son. Now he wouldn't say that at the table with a little seven-year-old girl sitting there.

48:54 It would be indiscreet. As a father with his children, he takes his son, his son aside and gives him the instruction he needs. Then he's got a little seven-year-old daughter and she's very, very timid and shy. And he knows that as a family, they're going into a situation where they're going to meet a lot of strangers.

49:16 So he takes her aside and says, now, honey, daddy knows when we get in that situation, you're going to feel all kinds of funny feelings with all those people. But I want you to know something. It won't bother daddy if all the while we're there, you're right next to my side. And I feel you're next to me.

49:32 I'll keep your arm on my arm on your shoulder, honey. Everything's going to be all right. And she looks up and says, thank you, daddy. A father with his children, all the different needs.

49:45 They can only be met as a loving father assertively and wisely has input to his children according to his knowledge of their need. Now you look at that verse, my brethren. That's the picture. The picture of a true pastor, of a true pastor.

50:07 He doesn't simply dump great globs of truth over the pulpit and go his way. There is individual shepherding of the sheep. Second text. I want to rest my case on the word of God.

50:22 Colossians, chapter one, Colossians, chapter one, verses twenty four to twenty nine, are one of the most wonderful paragraphs on Paul's view of the Christian ministry, and we don't have time to go into the paragraph. But I want to extract one part of it in fulfilling his ministry. Notice what he says in verse twenty eight. Speaking of Christ, whom we proclaim, we preach Christ.

50:51 How? Not just publicly notice admonishing every man and teaching every man in all.

51:07 That we may present every man perfect or complete in Christ. Where unto I lay also striving according to his working, which works in me mightily. You see what he could say? He could say in fulfilling my gospel ministry, I do not merely preach publicly, though I do that all the time.

51:37 But then with love and with wisdom, I admonish and teach every man that I may present every man mature in Christ. And right back in our Acts twenty passage, at least with these Ephesian elders and by implication with the other members of the church, he gives the same emphasis, Acts twenty and verse thirty one. Wherefore? To watch, remembering by the space of three years, I cease not to admonish.

52:13 He could have used a Greek word that would have given the concept of the whole group, admonished you all. But he says, I cease not to admonish everyone night and day with tears. There's the positive teaching in these three key passages, and there are many, many others. But now let's look at the negative.

The Negative Example of Unfaithful Shepherds in Ezekiel 34

52:44 When God chides the shepherds of Israel for failure in their task. Look at Ezekiel, chapter thirty four, Ezekiel, chapter thirty four. The word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, even to the shepherds. Thus saith the Lord God, woe unto the shepherds, the leaders of Israel that feed themselves, should not the shepherds feed the sheep?

53:21 You eat the fat and you clothe yourselves with the wool and you kill the fatlings. But you do not feed the sheep. You fleece the sheep, you kill the sheep, you eat of the sheep, but you don't care for the sheep. Now, notice he gets specific.

53:38 The diseased have you not strengthened? You did not look out among the flock and say, look, there's one of them that looks skinny and sickly, there's one of them that's got a running sore. That's a diseased sheep. I need to go after that sheep.

53:55 I need to take that sheep aside. I need to analyze its disease and apply the appropriate remedy. He said the diseased you have not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick. Neither have you bound up that which was broken.

54:11 There you see a sheep that's limping. It's broken its leg as it fell down a rocky crag and you were to take it aside and set its leg and bind it up and you didn't do it. Neither have you brought back that which was driven away. You see one of the sheep straying away from the flock and you didn't run after it to lay hold of it and bring it back in.

54:35 Neither have you sought that which was lost, but with force and with rigor have you ruled over them. In other words, God says you had no loving heart for the sheep. You just looked at them as a mass of people over whom you could be the top dog and the big shot. What a curse.

54:59 These shepherds thought that the sheep existed for them, for their ego, for their bellies and for their backs. And God says, no, the shepherds exist for the good of the sheep, not the sheep for the good of the shepherd. They were scattered because there was no shepherd and they became food to all the beasts of the field and were scattered. And my sheep wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill.

55:29 My sheep were scattered. There was none that did search or seek after them. My brethren, if we're to be true shepherds of the flock, if we're to take heed to the flock, that flock which has been acquired by the blood of the Lord himself, we must not only be committed to feeding them the word of the living God in our public ministry, but we must be prepared to care for the individual needs of the sheep by loving, wise, assertive, pastoral input. Now, if we do that, what will it mean?

Practical Demands of Individual Pastoral Care: Establishing Relationships

56:13 What will it demand of us? At least four things. Number one, number one, I want to be practical. I'm not talking as a theorist.

56:23 I'm talking as one who's been a pastor with one flock for twenty five years. Dear brethren, number one, we must be aggressive in establishing warm, open faced relationships with our people. We must be aggressive in establishing warm, open faced relationships with our people. You remember what Jesus said?

56:54 The shepherd knows his sheep by name. He knows them by name. And then he said, my sheep know me and they follow me. And that's why the Bible says in First Thessalonians five, verse twelve to the Thessalonian believers, know them that are over you in the Lord and admonish you and esteem them highly in love for their work's sake.

57:26 Well, if the sheep are to know the shepherds, the shepherds must be aggressive in seeking to establish warm, open faced relationships with their people. Do you see that? How can the people get to know you if you aren't moving toward them with the heart to get to know them? I think the most cursed thing in all the world is the distance of most ministers from their people.

58:01 It's it's almost as though they're afraid if they get up too close, they'll find out who they really are and it ought to be just the opposite. What have we got? We've got to hide. Paul could say we've renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor handling with the word of God deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God, he didn't preach himself, but he commended himself.

58:34 He said, all Corinthians, our hearts are not constricted to you, but yours are constricted to me, all Corinthians. Our hearts. Open to you. Sure, you're going to be vulnerable as you seek to be aggressive in establishing warm, open faced relationships with your people.

58:52 Some of your people elect you get close enough to stick a knife in your gut. So what? I'd rather have knife wounds than be a distant shepherd who doesn't know my sheep. And you and I have to take the time to do that.

59:10 That means we must in every opportunity. As we see them on the Lord's Day, not allow ourselves to get distracted with that young man that wants to come and discuss theology at the door when our people go through the door. Every Lord's Day, someone wants a little mini counseling session. I say, sir, ma'am, I'll be glad to talk to you when the rest of my sheep come through, but I'm doing important business.

59:34 You'll have to wait. And it's there that I'm picking up their little ones and checking to see if the tooth has come down through yet with the ones that got the two spaces there. You know, I need teeth yet, honey. No, yet.

59:46 Well, we'll be glad you should be sure to tell pastor you're building relationships. And that wife and that mother that shared with you on the week over the phone, that particular problem, you say, how are things going? Going well, good, fine. Glad to hear it. What are you doing?

60:03 You're establishing warm, open face, transparent relationships with your people, the shepherd loving and caring for the sheep. The sheep knowing and feeling comfortable with the shepherd. I've had visitors tell us on more than one occasion who've never heard authoritative and at times just downright loud pulpit thumping preaching. That's the way God made me.

60:33 And I just have to accept that I'm neither proud of it nor ashamed of it. That's just the way God made me. But they've never heard it before, and they think surely when someone's up there with his face all screwed up. And thundering out the word, people will tremble in his presence.

60:49 And they've told me they've come and they've sat and seen people hanging on the word and then afterward seeing the little kids jump up in my arms and hug me and kiss me and the young people coming and expressing affection. They said it blew their minds. They couldn't put this together. There was that authoritative, almost frightening look on the man's face at times and thundering out the word and digging into the conscience.

61:15 And yet there was obviously such intimacy, such love, such openness. My friends, that doesn't just happen, has been cultivated over 25 years as a matter of conviction. I wouldn't say that in ordinary preaching, it sounds self serving, but I'm saying it in this context because some of you men don't know me. And I want to tell you, this ain't just empty theory.

Practical Demands: Alertness, Gracious Probing, and Annual Check-ups

61:43 We must be aggressive in establishing a warm, open faced relationship. Secondly, we must be alert. We must be alert for the signals that our sheep have special needs. We must be alert for the signals that our sheep have special needs.

62:10 You've got that person who has a naturally happy disposition, usually full of the joy of the Lord. And on the given Sunday, they come to the door and they look like they just came out of their own grave. Well, you notice that and you say, look, dear sister, it's obvious something's troubling you. Can I give you a call tomorrow and talk about it?

62:31 And the tear begins to trickle down her eye. And she says, yes, Pastor, please. What's happened? The shepherd's got his eye out for the sheep alert for a signal that there's a need.

62:44 Young couple comes and the girl says, look, look at this. I'm a ring ring finger. Last night, eight o'clock. He proposed to me, give her a hug and rejoice with her.

62:56 And you say now they're engaged. Great period of temptation. You put that in the back of your mind. You see them and you say, hey, we're going to have a little talk about the special dangers of engagement.

63:08 When can we see you? And you sit down and tell them because they're Christians, it doesn't neutralize their hormones. And now that they're committed, they're going to be tempted in the area of the physical and you give them some positive guidelines so they can come on to the marriage altar with a clear conscience. You don't wait until they come and say, Pastor, we blew it.

63:30 It just started with some kissing. And before we we were having intercourse, a good shepherd doesn't wait till a sheep has been scarred. He's aggressive in looking for the signals that they need some special input. You say you actually do that.

63:47 You bet your boots I do. I did it with my own daughters.

63:53 I said, you girls are virgins. You don't have a clue how horny we men. Are that this is you don't have a clue how easily a man is turned on. You can be sitting there feeling nice and warm with just holding hands.

64:09 It can be starting fires in your husband to be that are almost unbearable. Well, how can I know that? I said, just glance over this crotch. And if you see a lump, you know, it's too much back off.

64:25 You think my daughters think I'm dirty? They love their dad for that. Like as a father with his children. That's the way I deal with our engaged couples.

64:36 Well, that's just your personality. No, it isn't. My dad never talked to me about sex except warning me about queers at age 14. Before I went off for a summer camp, that's the only thing he ever formally told me.

64:51 I'm thankful for that. He told me what to do if any guy ever put a hand on my thigh. And I'm thankful for that. No, this isn't something I got by example from my own family or by temperament.

65:03 It's grown out of the conviction. I'm a shepherd to the sheep. And if I see the sheep may be in danger far better to warn them before they tumble down the hill and break a leg, be alert to look for the signals of their need. Thirdly, thirdly, be graciously aggressive, be graciously aggressive in probing to see if there are needs.

65:38 You see, some people send out the signals when there are needs, others, they are clever at completely masking any sign of need. And we need to be graciously aggressive in seeking to discover if there is need. What do I mean by graciously aggressive? Well, what I mean is you don't stand at the door of the church with ten people all around, put your two shoulders on the arms, your hands on the shoulder of one of your sheep, look them in the eye and say, is it well with you?

66:11 Is your soul sister? I mean, that's intimidating. But you look for a good opportunity to say, look, we haven't had a chat for several months. How are things at home? Oh, fine.

66:24 Are they really fine? Well, pretty good. Well, what's not so good? And after a little gracious probing in five minutes, you find the marriage is in a mess, a little gracious probing, little gracious probing.

66:40 Why? Not because you're nosy, but because you're a shepherd and you know some diseases don't show in the lamb's wool or in the sheep's coat, for the diseases don't show to the naked eye. You got to feel around the sheep and find a lump and say, hey, it's got an internal disease that needs attention. Be graciously aggressive in seeking to know how it is with them.

67:14 And then, forth, and brethren, I would urge this upon you, have a plan to meet regularly with every one of your sheep at least once a year for a general spiritual checkup. Have a plan to meet regularly with every one of the sheep at least once a year for a general spiritual checkup. Instruct your people, say, look, I and my fellow elders, we are shepherds and we're concerned to get all the sheep safely to heaven. And we know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And so we're going to be coming into your home at least once a year. We're going to make an appointment by mutual agreement Thursday night at seven thirty and I'm coming to the home, we're not coming to talk about the weather, talk about sports. We're coming for an annual spiritual checkup.

68:20 We want to come and talk to you. How is your personal devotional life? How is your family devotional life? How is the husband wife relationship, the parent child relationship?

68:31 Are there any areas where you're struggling with remaining sin, any besetting sins? Are you having financial problems? Is there need for help in budgeting your money? You're doing a general checkup of their overall spiritual health.

68:46 And then you're asking them, are you finding the ministry of the word profitable? What particular series was especially profitable? What needs do you feel are not being met in the life of the church? What areas of truth do you feel need to be preached?

69:01 Areas where you feel a need and you've been waiting to hear something and it's not been there. What are you doing? You see, as a shepherd who wants to feed them with knowledge and understanding, you're letting them tell you the areas where they feel they need more. Knowledge and understanding.

69:17 Now, let me ask you something. If that's a true sheep and not a stinking rotten goat, do you think they'll resent such a visit in the home that you love them enough to give them an annual spiritual checkup? Do you think they'll resent that? That's a passive, that's tyrannical, that's heavy handed.

69:40 You think that's the way true sheep respond? No, no. It's only goats that act that way because close dealings may pull back their horns and show they're only goats with a sign around their neck. I'm a sheep.

69:52 Let me ask you something. Any one of these brethren here that you know well enough to know that he loves you, would you resent it if he came in a spirit of gentleness and love and said, brother, how is it with your soul? How's your devotional life? How's your marriage? How's your family life?

70:12 Would you resent that? You might feel a little uncomfortable. You might wince. Yes, remaining sin doesn't like to be exposed.

70:19 But would you resent that? Of course not. Say that's love in action. Brethren, I urge you, I urge you set up a plan where at least once a year you are in the home of every one of your sheep, at least one of your elders.

70:36 As a congregation grows and God gives more shepherds in our own situation, each of us has 30 families we're responsible for to get to once a year and get into the home. And they know why. They know why we're coming and they don't resent it. They don't regard that as heavy handed and oppressive because there's been a relationship established of open faced love and trust and mutual commitment.

Richard Baxter's Counsel and Conclusion

71:09 I would urge you to read Richard Baxter's book, The Reformed Pastor. That doesn't have anything to do with reformed theology. He's talking about pastors getting reformed in their pastoral duties. And he has some good material on this very thing.

71:22 And Richard Baxter said this, sometimes more good is done in one hour in the home of a family than is done by a whole year of preaching. That was Richard Baxter's experience. And he was urging his ministerial brethren, don't merely preach from the pulpit. Go into the homes of your people and be a true shepherd.

71:47 Well, we need to take a break, brethren. We've looked at the first two ways in which we, as the men of God, shepherds are to shepherd the flock. And then the last two we'll deal with much more briefly. And then we'll be done for the morning.