Elder as a Shepherd, Part 3

Introduction and Review of the Elder as Shepherd Series

0:00 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, July 7th, 1985, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us once again seek the face of God in prayer, asking the present and powerful assistance of the Holy Spirit to be our portion, particularly his ministry as the spirit of illumination, the spirit who inclines our hearts both to understand and to receive the word of God written. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you again this morning, not only for the gift of your dear Son to be the friend of sinners, but for the gift of your Holy Spirit through the Son to teach us of yourself. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your word, which says that we have an anointing from the Holy One, and we know, and that that anointing teaches us.

1:07 And we therefore come and plead that each of your children, bowed in your presence in this moment, upon whom and into whose heart this anointing has come, will know his mighty ministry as the one who teaches with power and who not only teaches with power, but who also teaches with power. And we thank you for your word, which says that we have an anointing from the Holy One, and we know, and that that anointing teaches us. And we thank you for your word, which says that we have an anointing from the Holy One, and we know, and that that anointing teaches us. And we thank you for your word, which says that we have an anointing from the Holy One, and we know, and that that anointing teaches us.

1:27 It not only illuminates the mind, but inclines the affections and the will to your truth. For those who are strangers to his ministry, who do not know him as the indwelling Spirit sent from you through the Son, O may the word this day be instrumental to bring them to repentance and faith, that they too in Jesus Christ may receive the gift of the Spirit, Speak, then, our Father, through your holy and infallible word, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, it was two Lord's Days ago that we had the privilege of formally recognizing and receiving Dr. Robert Paul Martin as an elder, a shepherd, a pastor in this assembly. And in conjunction with that act of formal recognition, an act previously ratified or expressed by your unanimous acknowledgement of God's work in giving him to us, I took the opportunity to turn your attention to some of the biblical teaching relative to the elder as a shepherd.

2:52 And in the two messages of two Lord's Days ago, we saw several. Several vital things in the word of God relative to this subject. We saw together that the shepherd imagery is the dominant and most comprehensive imagery relative to the appointed tasks of the spiritual leaders in Christ's church. The imagery of a shepherd most comprehensively and accurately embodies the task of an elder.

3:27 An overseer, a pastor. And then we discovered in the second place that Christ himself is the perfect example and pattern of the shepherd's office and function. Since he is called the chief shepherd and the great shepherd and the good shepherd, we take our clue of what it means to be a shepherd to the sheep from this one, who is the shepherd of the sheep. Who is the perfect, the chief, and the great shepherd of his people.

4:03 Having established those principles from the scriptures, we proceeded then to set before you, first of all, the fundamental bond between a shepherd and his sheep. With reference to Christ and his sheep, it was love and accountability to God. And likewise with the under-shepherds and their relationship to the sheep. And then we had time only to deal with the fundamental tasks which the shepherd is to perform towards his sheep.

4:35 He is to provide for their nourishment, secure the presence of each sheep within the fold, protect the flock from its enemies, and to attend to the wounds, diseases, and distresses of the sheep. And when we drew that meditation to a close, I said that I had hoped to speak on the responsibility, the abilities of the sheep, to their shepherds, but time would not permit it. One or two of you spoke to me and asked if I would complete the message. And as I prayerfully sought the mind of God yesterday, after returning from the Bluffton Conference as to what I ought to do today, I was convinced that I should complete it.

5:16 And in working on the message, I can see why it was, in the kind providence of God, impossible to touch on the subject two weeks ago, because I really was not prepared. I was not prepared to give it anything approaching the treatment that it deserved. And so we complete this brief three-message series by considering together this morning the responsibilities of the sheep to their shepherds. Having seen from Scripture the bond that unites the shepherd to his sheep, the fundamental tasks which the shepherd is to perform towards his sheep, we now turn to the Word of God to consider the responsibilities of the sheep to their shepherds. And as with the two previous messages, we shall look at the relationship between the sheep and the chief shepherd, that is, the relationship between the people of God and the Lord Jesus Christ when set before us under the imagery of the shepherd-sheep-sheep-sheep, and the shepherd-sheep-sheep-sheep. And after seeing the pattern of that relationship between the sheep and the chief shepherd,

The Sheep's Relationship to the Chief Shepherd: Embracing His Person and Functions

6:36 we will then note how that pattern applies in the relationship of the sheep to the under-shepherd. So there are two basic divisions in our study this morning. First of all, then, the biblical teaching regarding the relationship between the sheep, that is, the people of God, and the sheep. and the great shepherd, that is, the Lord Jesus.

7:02 And the biblical teaching regarding this relationship includes at least these four categories. Number one, the sheep embrace his person, his position, and his functions as a shepherd. They embrace his person, his position, and his functions as a shepherd. One of the most beautiful descriptions of true conversion is given to us under the shepherd-sheep imagery.

7:40 If you turn with me, please, to 1 Peter chapter 2, you will see the text to which I am making reference. Referring to the Lord Jesus as the great pastor. The pattern of his people in the midst of unjust suffering. Peter writes in 1 Peter 2 and verse 25, For you were going astray like sheep, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop or overseer of your souls.

8:17 He says to these Gentile Christians that in their unconsciousness, converted state, they fit the description of Isaiah 53, 6. All we like sheep have gone astray. And he says you people, before you were converted, perfectly fit that description. You were going astray like sheep.

8:46 And when the sheep go astray, they obviously leave the side, the government, the influence, the protection, the provision, fellowship with the shepherd himself. But now he says in your conversion, this is what happened. You were going astray like sheep, but are now returned unto the shepherd and overseer of your souls. What does it mean to be converted?

9:19 What does it mean to become a Christian? It means to...

9:24 To be returned unto Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinners, under the imagery of a straying sheep that is returned unto the presence, government, fellowship, influence, provision, and love of a shepherd. That's what it means to be a Christian. To be returned unto the shepherd and bishop of our souls. And this...

9:54 This returning is not in some mystical, undefined way, for he has just described the Lord Jesus in verse 24 of this chapter as the one who his own self bore our sins in his own body upon the tree. So it is a return unto Christ crucified for sinners, Christ buried and raised from the dead for sinners, but it is a returning to him unto...

10:24 ...under the figure and imagery of the shepherd of our souls.

10:30 In their pre-Christian state, they were going astray. No desire for the provision, the protection, the presence and rule of the shepherd. In the language of the hymn we sing, I was a wandering sheep. I did not love the shepherd's voice.

10:50 I would not be controlled. I did not love...

10:54 fold, I was a sheep going astray. But when grace arrested these people, when in the language of chapter 2 and verse 9, God effectually called them out of darkness into his marvelous light, they were returned unto this shepherd and overseer. What happened? Well, Christ as the true shepherd was embraced in his person, his position, and his functions as the great shepherd of the sheep. And that's exactly what Peter calls him in chapter 5 and verse 4, and when the chief shepherd shall be manifested. So you see, a Christian is not someone who simply turned over a new life to live a little better life in order to have a little more peace of conscience. A Christian is not someone who has in some undefined way some kind of relationship to Jesus. No, a Christian is one who has returned unto Christ as the shepherd,

12:07 the good shepherd who laid down his life. There is a commitment to his person. Notice, you're returned not unto the shepherd's salvation in abstraction from the shepherd. Do you see?

12:21 You are returned unto the shepherd. But they are not only returned unto the shepherd as to his person, but with reference to his position and his functions as a shepherd. Therefore, Peter can write unto the shepherd and the overseer, not just the Savior and the Redeemer of your soul, but the overseer, the governor, the leader of your soul. And this embrace of Christ in his person, position, and functions as a shepherd in the heart of every sinner that has been renewed by the Holy Spirit is a voluntary, joyful, and thankful embrace with the result that anyone who has ever been saved can say, not reluctantly, not, with dragging of the inward feet of the soul, but with joy, Jehovah Jesus is my shepherd. I have embraced him in his person, in his position, and in his functions as a shepherd.

The Sheep's Relationship to the Chief Shepherd: Practical Responsiveness

13:42 Now, the second aspect of the relationship of sheep to the great shepherd is this. They not only embrace his person, his position and functions as a shepherd, but, secondly, they manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to his position and functions as a shepherd. They manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to his position and functions as a shepherd. Now again, we turn to Psalm 23 and we see it on the surface.

14:20 and we see it on the surface of the text. Jehovah is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. When it's time to lie down, a time determined by the shepherd, I'm found lying down.

14:38 When it's time to be by the waters of quietness, that's where I am. He leads me besides waters of quietness. He leads me into green pastures. He leads me, and now the imagery is all dropped, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

15:01 He doesn't drive, he leads. Shepherds in the Middle East lead their sheep, they do not drive them. They manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to the position and functions of a shepherd. In John chapter 10, our Lord underscores this two times in the most plain language with reference to his sheep.

15:30 That is, those who have been returned unto him as the shepherd and bishop of their souls. John 10, verses 2 to 4. John 10, verse 2. But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

15:46 To him the porter opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. When he has put forth all his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep are following him, for they know his voice. Here is a description of the true shepherd and his true sheep. He goes, He goes before them, and the sheep are following him.

16:25 Drop down to verse 27 in the same chapter with the same imagery of the shepherd-sheep relationship. And Jesus said, My sheep are hearing my voice, a present tense verb, and I know them. That is, such as hear my voice are the ones that I regard with distinguishing love, and affection, and the knowledge of intimacy, and communion. And they are following me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.

17:09 Now the subject of all those wonderful promises is his true sheep. And his true sheep are described as those who manifest, who manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to his position and functions as a shepherd. They listen to his voice, and they are following him. The evidence that they have truly embraced his person, position, and functions is that when he speaks, their ears are open.

17:43 Where he directs, their feet follow. So, this pattern, this pattern of practical responsiveness is not perfect, but it is purposeful and the predominant disposition of his sheep. Do you see it in the text? You don't need to know any Greek, just any English Bible makes it very plain.

The Sheep's Relationship to the Chief Shepherd: Discerning Rejection of Impostors

18:07 But then there is a third characteristic of the relationship of the sheep to the great shepherd. And it is this. They manifest a discerning rejection of impostors of their true shepherd and his position. They manifest a discerning rejection of impostors of their true shepherd and his position.

18:35 You've often heard it said that sheep are dumb and stupid. Well, in some ways they may be. And there may be grounds for that statement. But, this is what our Lord says about his sheep.

18:47 And that's why we must never, never interpret the Bible by our observation of sheep. But let the Bible's use of the shepherd-sheep imagery interpret itself. Because Jesus says in John 10, verses 4 and 5, these words about his own sheep. When he has put forth his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice.

19:13 And, a stranger they will not, follow, but will flee from them for they do not know the voice of strangers. He said, my sheep have a discerning ear and they reject and flee from those who are impostors to the position and function of the true shepherd. They follow him, the true shepherd, because, he says, they recognize his voice, notice how the following has as its cause the recognition, the end of verse 4. The sheep follow him for, this is why, they recognize his voice. Conversely, the stranger they do not follow but rather run from him. Why? For they do not know the voice of strangers.

20:13 When someone appears in the apparent position and role of a shepherd, who, whose voice the sheep do not recognize, not only will they remain put and not follow, they flee. That's an impostor, they say. He has no good in mind playing the role of the shepherd who lives for our well-being. You see that in the text?

20:38 That's what Jesus says about his sheep. There is a loyalty of the sheep that has not only a positive but a negative dimension. Jesus said his sheep instinctively recognize if anyone tries to take the place of himself, tries to imitate him, tries to disguise himself as the Lord Jesus the great shepherd, not hearing the shepherd's voice when his mouth is open, they not only refuse to follow, but they flee, for they know that this imposter has no good at heart. Then there is a fourth characteristic or dimension of the relationship of the sheep to the shepherd. You see what we're doing now? We're just taking the pattern from what Christ says about his true sheep and himself as the true shepherd. And the fourth thing is this.

The Sheep's Relationship to the Chief Shepherd: Reciprocal Knowledge and Loving Fellowship

21:35 They possess. They possess a reciprocal knowledge and loving fellowship with the shepherd. They possess a reciprocal knowledge and loving fellowship with the shepherd. We could go back to Psalm 23.

21:52 I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. David says, as a sheep who looks up to Jehovah as his shepherd, it is in the consciousness of his sheep. It is through his nearness and communion and fellowship that I feel safe. And then the apex of the sheep's privilege is to be brought to the shepherd's fold, never to be taken out again.

22:19 The Psalm closes with the wonderful and well-known words, I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah who is my shepherd forever. But notice how the Lord Jesus picks up this strand in John 10. not only is it there on the surface of psalm 23 but in john 10 14 and 15 this is what our lord says i am the good shepherd and i know mine own and mine own know me now is that bare knowledge i know my own like i know all things and my own know me no for look at verse 15 even as here is the measure of that reciprocal knowledge between shepherd and sheep and sheep and shepherd even as the father knows me and i know the father and i lay down my life for the sheep now what is the knowledge that exists between the shepherd and his father in one place Jesus said no man knows the son saved the father no man knows the father saved the son and he to

23:42 whomsoever the son is willing to reveal him within the mystery of the Godhead only God can comprehend God that's why you must expect mystery at every stage of your investigation of the ways of God as one eminent servant of God said there is no truth in scripture which if it is not traced back far enough does not explode in mystery why because it is rooted in the God whose ways are past tracing out if God were big enough for you to comprehend him he wouldn't be big enough to fill the vision of adoring worship understand God and you can no longer worship him and so the Lord Jesus said as i know the father that is as i have an intimate loving penetrating cognizance of his nature of his being of his ways as i know the father and the father knows me in a way that is not strictly equal to but has some parallels it is analogous it is something like this jesus said

25:03 i know mine own that is mine own sheep i have with respect to them a penetrating insightful loving sensitive knowledge and understanding of them and look mine own know me my sheep have more than a surface acquaintance with me more than that which they could have known me and i know that which they could have known me and i know that which they could have been taught by parroting verses and the catechism and going to Sunday school and church and listening to preachers. They have a knowledge of me that penetrates into the mystery of who I am as the God-man. There is a knowledge that is suffused with love and devotion and the attachment of affection and will. I know mine own, mine own know me. They possess a reciprocal knowledge and loving fellowship with the shepherd. So the relationship is not surface or devoid of the deepest love and mutual appreciation.

26:17 Well, those are the four main categories that I discovered in my study. There may be more, but I trust you can see from the scriptures we've looked at there's nothing hidden, nothing sneaky. There's no clumsiness. Whatever way to come to these conclusions, they stand right on the surface of the text.

26:35 That in these four ways, the sheep of Christ are found related to Christ as the shepherd. What a beautiful description of what it is to be a Christian.

Evangelistic Application: Are You a True Christian?

26:50 And if I were to stop at this point and apply, I have enough to drive home to your conscience the question, do you have any relationship to Jesus Christ? Yes. That in any way fits the description I've just given. If not, you're not a Christian.

27:06 I will say it in passing. If not, you're not a Christian. If you have not embraced the great shepherd in his person, position, and functions as the shepherd who dies for the sheep, as the shepherd who rules and governs in grace and kindness his sheep, who leads them, who directs them, if you have not embraced the great shepherd, my friend, you're a lost sinner and under the wrath of God. If you do not manifest a pattern of practical response to his position and functions as a shepherd, if what Jesus says and what Jesus is as the pattern for his people does not cut any mustard in your life, doesn't impinge upon you as you live day by day in the home, in the school, in the shop, in the marketplace, behind the TV, with husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister, if the words of Jesus don't mold you really, practically, vitally, powerfully, day by day, you're not a Christian.

28:16 My sheep hear. My sheep follow.

28:21 And if you do not manifest a discerning rejection of imposters who would substitute the role of the true shepherd, you're not a Christian. Maybe that's why some of you dabble in all kinds...

28:35 of religions. That's why you dabble in church hopping. You can dabble in this and dabble in that and dabble in the other thing. Why?

28:44 You don't know the voice of the shepherd.

28:49 If you ever went to a place where his word was faithfully expounded and applied, you'd hear his voice, and that's where you'd want to be.

28:59 The reason you're so gullible in things religious is you're devoid of the Holy Spirit who is given to all who embrace the Lord Jesus. Jesus as shepherd, that they might know his voice, that they might distinguish it from the voice of imposters and not follow but run from them.

29:19 And if there is no reciprocal knowledge between you and Christ, a knowledge suffused with love and a penetrating insight into the glory and the beauty and the loveliness of Jesus, my friend, you're not a Christian. Now, I don't find it delightful to say that, but that's...

The Sheep's Relationship to Under-Shepherds: Embracing Their Person and Functions

29:39 That's reality. Jesus is describing a Christian under the imagery of a shepherd and sheep, and he says those four things are true of the sheep in their relationship to the shepherd. Now then, our second category, having, as it were, applied it evangelistically, now we come to consider the biblical teaching regarding the relationship between the sheep, that is, the members of a congregation, and their under-shepherds, that is, their pastors, their elders, their bishops, their leaders. And what we're going to do is just go back and take those four categories and demonstrate from the Word of God that they form not a complete index of all the responsibilities of church members to their elders, but they present at least the dominant elements of that responsibility that fit under the sheep-shepherd imagery. So you hear me? You hear me what I'm doing now? I'll be saying nothing about your responsibility to provide for the shepherd's well-being, because that imagery isn't found in the shepherd-sheep analogy.

30:49 The people of God are to provide for their elders, those that labor in the Word and in doctrine, and others as well. The laborers' worth is higher. There are other dimensions, but what I'm doing is limiting myself to those aspects of your relationship to your under-shepherds that find their parallel in your relationship to the chief shepherd. And here they are.

31:14 Number one, you are to embrace their person's position and functions as your under-shepherds. Just as you embrace Christ's person, position, and functions as the chief shepherd, you are to embrace their person's position and functions as your under-shepherds. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Is the Lord Jesus at all jealous that having embraced him in his person, position, and functions as the chief shepherd, that we should embrace mere fellow redeemed sinners in some way that is not equal to, but finds a parallel with the way we receive him? Well, he cannot. He cannot be jealous because it is he who made this very arrangement. In Ephesians chapter 4 we read that it is the ascended Lord, verse 8, wherefore when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.

32:33 And what are the gifts that he, the chief shepherd, has given to men? Well, the last gift listed in verse 11 is this, and some, pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the building up of the body of Christ. You see it is the chief shepherd who in love for his flock, the same love that caused him to do that which no under shepherd could do, lay down his life, a life of such worth that he could redeem his sheep out of the clutches of the devil, devil and make them his own it is that same nourishing cherishing love concern to mend and to feed and to shepherd the sheep that move the cheap shepherd to give little under shepherds shepherds and teachers the word pastor can be translated shepherd that's the standard word for shepherd in the new testament so christ is not jealous he gives and notice it is not said that he gives the pastoral office in abstraction but it is said he gives pastors that is specific

33:55 men whom he has equipped he gives the office in the concreteness of the persons who fill the office do you see that he gives pastors you see that he gives pastors you see that he gives pastors and teachers for what for the perfecting of the saints now the lord who gives them says this to all to whom he gives them john 13 and verse 20 john 13 and verse 20 truly truly i say unto you he that receives whomsoever i send receives me and he that receives me receives him that sent me now here's the chief shepherd from his place of exaltation at the right hand of the father he gives under shepherds not just the pastoral office in abstraction but he gives specific pastors and teachers men whom he has furnished with the requisite gifts and graces and the church has recognized those gifts and graces as they have examined that man in the light of scripture and now the lord jesus says whoever

35:15 receives whomsoever i send receives me in other words there is to be a parallel between the manner in which christ is embraced in his person position and functions as the chief shepherd and the way in which we receive the person position and functions as the chief shepherd of the under shepherd there's a beautiful example of this among those gifts that christ gives he gave apostles in the first century and when paul writes to the galatians trying to humble them by the remembrance of their past attitude to him he describes how they received him in galatians 4 14 and he's not rebuking them for this he's commending them for this and he's not rebuking them for this he's commending them for this and he's not rebuking them for this and he's not rebuking them for this it was not idolatry it was an evidence of true spirituality galatians chapter 4 verse 13 you know that because of an infirmity of the flesh i preached the gospel unto you the first time and that which was a temptation to you in my flesh you did not despise nor rejected but received me as an angel or messenger of god even

36:41 as christ jesus he said you received me in a way that was analogous to your reception of christ himself and that was proper for it was christ who had sent him he said i beseech you in christ's stead be reconciled to god and so likewise the sheep of christ pastor are to embrace the person of christ and the sheep of christ are to embrace the person of christ and the sheep of christ position and functions of every under shepherd whom christ the lord is pleased to give and they're to do it just like they embrace the lord jesus voluntarily joyfully and with thanksgiving why because they should recognize in it a fulfillment of one of the wonderful promises of the new covenant i will give them shepherds after my own heart who shall feed them with knowledge and understanding and dear people as i sat in that sunday school class this morning and had my heart ravished with that sight of our gracious sovereign god with all the wheels within wheels of divine providence ordering and governing and controlling all men and things and all their

38:05 actions and overruling even our sin i thought oh god we're hearing things in 50 minutes of knowledge and understanding and understanding and understanding and understanding and understanding and understanding that some men sit in a church for a lifetime and never hear a tithe of it oh how good god has been to us now this descends to a very concrete expression of that disposition if indeed we have embraced the person position and functions of our under shepherds in a way that is analogous to the manner in which we've embraced the chief shepherd and the women and mothers and the parents 79 visit theない so that i'll bring you to the gospel it is not all my days are numbered and i began working throughout the united states and in the south of the us mediates of division of the Seven Cantons and of the church church life i'm great and i'm truly glad to be part of this does not mean a mere social greeting. It means a greeting in which there is the outgoing of unfamed love and affection,

39:29 reception of the person whom we greet as a brother in the case of all the saints and in the case of those who rule over us. It is the salutation, the open-faced, unfamed, unhypocritical, greeting from the heart that says, with thankfulness, with joy and gratitude, I embrace your person, your position, and your function as an under-shepherd given by the chief shepherd who laid down his life for me. Now I'm going to say something that may sound very, very shocking, but I can demonstrate the validity of it from Scripture. There is no...

40:16 There is no such thing as a true reception of the chief shepherd while there is a pattern of rejecting his under-shepherds.

40:32 There is no such thing as a true reception of the chief shepherd while there is a pattern... Notice I did not say if someone is struggling in a given area at a given time, don't anyone...

40:48 ...to an extreme that is ludicrous what I'm saying very guardedly and carefully while there is a pattern of rejecting his appointed under-shepherds.

41:02 Or in the language of Psalm 77, 20, this would form in itself a fruitful study to open it up in its historical detail. Psalm 77 closes with this language, Thou lettest...

41:19 Verse 20, Thou lettest thy people like a flock. It was Jehovah, the great shepherd of Israel, who led his people like a flock. But how did he do it? By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

41:38 May I say it reverently? Jehovah's rod and staff and voice were found in the person, position, and function of Moses and Aaron. So you remember what happened when the people got a bit antsy, a bit smart-alecky, and rejecting the authority of Moses? What did God do?

41:56 God let him know that that was a rejection of himself.

42:02 That's your first responsibility. You have no option in the matter. It is your responsibility to embrace their persons, position, and functions as under-shepherds. But then secondly, you're to manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to their position and functions as shepherds.

The Sheep's Relationship to Under-Shepherds: Practical Responsiveness (Obedience and Submission)

42:23 Just as with the chief shepherd. You are to manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to their position and functions as shepherds.

42:36 Why are we given to you? We saw two weeks ago. To feed you, to nourish you upon the green pastures and the quiet waters of God's word publicly and privately. To secure your place in the gathered flock, that whole motif, the shepherd does not allow sheep to wander to the fringes and get away from the fold and from the flock because there they are vulnerable and being distanced from the shepherd and their fellow sheep.

43:05 They are exposed to all kinds of danger and God indicts the false prophets again and again saying the straying, the wandering, you've not gone out and drawn them back. They are to protect the flock from their enemies, the wolves, the predators that would pounce upon them. And devour them and then they are to attend to their maladies. Now, as they exercise this shepherding rule by means of public and private teaching, admonition, encouragement, gracious interrogation.

43:40 How are things with your soul? How are things in your walk with God, your relationship to your wife, to your husband, to your children? Are there any besetting sins that you find you're not able to conquer? Why do the shepherds, in that sense, probe?

43:59 Well, they do it for the same reason a loving shepherd may work his hands through the thick wool on the back of one of the sheep to make sure some kind of a tick has not buried itself under its skin and is sapping out its lifeblood. It's the shepherd's tender love that goes down beneath the external appearance of a healthy sheep. It's not because he's got some kind of psychological problem. It's because he's got some kind of psychologically sick bent that needs to be satisfied by pulling back the wool, pulling back the lip to see if there are indications of diseases that register in the color and tone of the mouth, in the performance of all of those functions. The shepherd is seeking to shepherd his sheep. And now this is why God says in Hebrews 13, 17, that this is to be the pattern of your walk with your under shepherds. You're to manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to their position and function as shepherds.

45:05 Hebrews 13 and verse 17. Obey them, people, shepherds, that have the rule over you, and submit, for they watch in behalf of your souls as they that shall give an account, that they may do this with joy and not with grief, for this will be the law of the world. This will be the law of the world. And if your deeds were unprofitable for you, thank God I don't need to preach this to my knowledge as any great call to congregational repentance.

45:39 But it's been four, almost four and a half years, since there's been any formal teaching on this matter when Pastor Nichols brought his series in the adult class. And since at this time it was appropriate to consider it, we need to be reminded of this duty. You and I are to manifest of practical responsiveness to the position and functions of our under-shepherds. We are to obey them.

46:07 If they are true shepherds, they are feeding, protecting, securing our place in the flock, attending to our maladies by means of Scripture and in submission to Scripture. And insofar as that is their function, we are to obey them. Now some clever people have come along and said, ah, but don't you know, Pastor Martin, that the standard words for obedience are not used in this passage, but the Greek word pytho, which is often translated persuaded is used. And what the passage simply means is be persuaded by those that have the rule over you.

46:46 And if you aren't persuaded that what they tell you and demand of you is right, then don't do it. They can only lead by your consent. Oh, is that so?

47:01 Well, granted, the word is sometimes translated persuade, but it's also the word used in James 3.3. We put bit and bridle into horse's mouth to make them obey us.

47:15 Not so we can whisper in their ear, but that we can pull back on the soft, fleshy part of the mouth and say, horsey, go right, go left, or stop. And furthermore, look at the next word. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit. Hupikete, a second-person plural present imperative of hupiko, which means yield, give way, be submissive, and it has no other meaning.

47:44 Now what do we do?

47:48 At that point, we either rear back on our hind legs and say, I don't care what God says, and I'll do my own thing, all right? Do it and be damned, but don't say you're submissive to the chief shepherd.

48:03 Or you'll say, in spite of all of my native independence, and native rebellion, having entrusted my soul to the chief shepherd, who I know governs me for his good, I will believe that he's given me under shepherds for my good. And insofar as they lead by scripture, I will obey, and I will submit, and I will be prepared to get down off my high horse of thinking my wisdom, and my judgment, and my feelings are the supreme and inflexible standard of what is right and good and best for me and for the congregation.

48:48 You're to manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to their position and function. And if you knew how I brag about you as a people when I'm elsewhere, you'd be embarrassed, so I won't embarrass you. But I thank God for these many years that this has been your pattern to your shepherds. As they exercise the role of shepherds and bring the word of God to bear upon the flock, you're to hear their voice and you're to follow because the word they bring you is Christ's voice.

49:21 When he says, my sheep hear my voice and follow me, where do they hear his voice? In the scripture. And how is it heard supremely in the scripture? Not only when we read the word of God in our devotions, but when it is proclaimed by the under shepherds whom he has given to the church as teachers, shepherds, shepherds and teachers.

The Sheep's Relationship to Under-Shepherds: Discerning Rejection of Impostors

49:44 That's why the rulers are described in verse 7 as men who spoke the word of God to you. Remember them that had the rule over you, men who spoke the word of God. Then I must hasten on to a conclusion. Touch these other things just briefly.

50:00 You're to manifest a discerning rejection of imposters of your true shepherds. You, like the sheep, who will not hear the voice of a stranger, will not follow but run, you're to manifest a discerning rejection of imposters of your true shepherds. Remember Paul said, warning the elders, after my departure, perverse men will rise up from your own midst to draw away disciples after them. They will appear as shepherds, gathering the flock into better pastures than their proper shepherds.

50:39 He says, I warned you for three years, day and night, with tears. Mark it down. The three outstanding characteristics of false shepherds are these. Their voice and actions direct attention to themselves and their own interest.

50:55 Ezekiel 34, God indicts the shepherds, they were having a mutton feast while the flock was scattered and being devoured. They fed themselves. They fleeced the sheep and fed their bellies off the sheep. The voice and actions of imposter shepherds will always, direct attention to themselves and their own interest.

51:15 That's why Paul said, perverse men who will draw away disciples after themselves. Secondly, their voice and actions will seek to restrict the liberty of the sheep purchased by the chief shepherd. The mark of a false shepherd is, he will not only draw attention to himself and his own interest, he will try to restrict the liberty of the sheep purchased by the chief shepherd. Galatians 2, 4, they come in to spy, but they will not want to come into the house without your liberty in Christ.

51:46 Galatians 5, 1, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free. 1 Timothy 4, 1 to 5, Paul warns about doctrines of demons that will come through false shepherds that will deny the validity of foods and bodily functions and appetites that God has given to be enjoyed in Christ. One of the marks of false shepherds is like the Pharisees, they'll be like the Pharisees, albine burdens grievous to be borne. 2 Corinthians 11, 20, Paul said these false apostles came in and they took advantage of the Corinthians.

52:22 They charged for their services. They abused them. Paul says, in essence, they spit in your face. They clobber you.

52:28 They treat you like dirt. And yet you follow them and you abandon me, your true shepherd. Oh, dear people, beware of anyone, anyone who in the name of higher spirituality would rob you of the liberty purchased by the chief shepherd but then on the other side of the coin their voice and actions seek to remove the constraints of holiness demanded and purchased by the chief shepherd. You read about this in Galatians 5, 13-15, 2 Peter 2, 1 and 2, and Jude 4 where the mark of false shepherds is that they promise liberty while making themselves and all who follow them the slaves of corruption and sin.

53:13 Those are the three outstanding marks of false shepherds. Dear people, hear me, hear me. When anyone attempts to lead you in this place or any other who is using you as a stepping stone to his own advancement, whether of reputation or money or position, when anyone in any way impinges upon liberties purchased by Christ or seeks to set you free from evangelical law-keeping in the name of God, in the name of God, in the name of liberty, run from him! He's a false shepherd!

53:48 And pray that God will give you an ear that hearing a false shepherd you will not follow, but run from him.

The Sheep's Relationship to Under-Shepherds: Cultivating Knowledge and Esteem

53:57 And then the fourth dimension is this. You're to cultivate knowledge and express esteem for your shepherds. The true sheep know the chief shepherd and he knows them. And what does God say in 1 Thessalonians 5, 12?

54:15 He says, And let's turn to the passage as we close this morning. 1 Thessalonians 5, 12. We beseech you, brethren,

54:27 know them that labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work's sake. Notice how the shepherds are described. They are described as those who labor and uses that strong, strong word, kapi-o-o, which means labor unto toil and pain. They labor.

54:53 They are over you in the Lord. They toil. They preside. They admonish.

54:59 They bring the Word of God to you with encouragement, with rebuke, with guidance, with correction. That's their function. They labor. They preside.

55:10 They admonish. Now what's he say? Run from them? No, he says know them.

55:14 Not merely be acquainted with them, but as this word is used in various ways in the New Testament, and I don't have time to demonstrate it, but if you just have a strong concordance, you can prove it for yourself. It means to have a perceptive, accurate awareness of someone or something. Further, it means to delight in their association and attachment to them. Know them.

55:43 Have a perceptive, accurate awareness of them. Cultivate a delight in association and attachment to them. There's no place for willful ignorance of your under-shepherds. No place for avoidance.

56:00 No place for baseless misconception. No place for conjuring up a notion of who and what they are and making that notion reality without attempting to get to know who they really are. And then he says, not only know them, but esteem them. Hold them in regard.

56:20 Consider them. How? In love. What measure?

56:25 Beyond all measure. It's a compound word in which two prefixes are piled up at the front to give the sense of superabounding, overflowing. Beyond all measure. Ephesians 3.20 is a parallel use and the reason for their work's sake. In the light of what they're doing. For who's good? I say it without any self-serving.

56:51 There's not a man who's a shepherd in this flock who could not be doing something else and doing it well and doing it for a lot more money. And in some cases for a lot more prestige and fame and personal aggrandizement. What in God's name constrains men to turn their back upon financial security or optimum financial advancement, personal advancement, to give himself to lonely hours of study and prayer and wrestling and taking upon his back the problems and burdens and wounds and sores and at times the putrefying sores of people. What does it, dear people?

57:36 It is love for the cheap shepherd who has constrained them to become under-shepherds. Now for their work's sake, a work that terminates upon your preservation, upon your, upon your well-being, upon your conformity to Christ, a work that terminates upon your own highest interest. For their work's sake, know them, regard them with accurate, penetrating love and affinity and outgoingness and esteem them in love for the sake of their work. That's what God calls upon us to do.

Conclusion and Final Exhortation

58:20 Now go back to the prototype the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus. What is the relationship of the sheep to him? Is that your relationship to him? Have you embraced him in his position, in his functions, in his person as the chief shepherd?

58:38 Are you manifesting practical response to his position and to his functions as the shepherd? Are you manifesting a discerning rejection of all impostors? Are you cultivating, a growing mutual knowledge and intimacy with him? Then if you are, it ought to find a growing expression and counterpart in your relationship to your under-shepherds.

59:09 Are you with all of your heart sitting here this morning embracing their person's position and function as the gift of Christ? Are you manifesting practical responsiveness to their functions and positions as shepherds? Are you determined not to allow someone who smooth talks you, who's a false shepherd to wean your affections away from your true shepherds, to isolate you from the flock and leave you vulnerable to the wolves that will devour you? And do you attempt to know and esteem?

59:51 These, I say, are your responsibilities. Those are mine to my shepherds. I thank God for my shepherds. And I trust we as shepherds manifest from the posture of sheep this attitude to our fellow shepherds that you see it lived out as your elders lived before you in our submission to one another, in our embrace of one another, in the absence of rivalry and one-upmanship and ambition.

60:20 You see that displayed before your very eyes. We're not calling you to something that we ourselves are not called to. May God grant that we shall ever be a people who not only know and love the chief shepherd, but manifest that love by our love in response to his under-shepherds. Let us pray.

60:50 Our Father, our hearts are again moved at the contemplation of our great chief shepherd who would love the likes of us enough not merely to expose himself, but to love us enough not merely to expose himself, but to love us enough not merely you, but to love us enough not merely you, not merely you who love us enough not merely you who love us enough not merely you who love us enough but voluntarily to lay down into but voluntarily to lay down into his life in death. And not merely an ordinary physical death, but the horrible death of deaths, he will then have to accept giving himself up to become the recipient of the accomplished love and savoring you so frequently through pearly deer that your infinite wrath against sin. O Lord Jesus, we love you and we thank you and we thank you for laying down your bring for this sacrifice in time of need. our life as well as all our criminal bestowings God爆 from our lives as three.

61:34 concur. life for us help us who are your under shepherds that we shall have more and more of your spirit of selflessness of willingness to spend and be spent for the good of the sheep and give to this flock of sheep a disposition to their under shepherds that will be reflective of your grace and will show that they have caught something of the thrust of the word that has come to their hearts this morning have mercy upon those who have yet to return to the chief shepherd call them from their wandering oh gracious god oh savior seeker of wandering sheep draw some to yourself even today seal now the word dismiss us with your blessing resting upon us and for such mercies we shall forever be grateful amen