Mastering Your Schedule

Introduction: The Man of God and Self-Mastery in His Daily Schedule

0:04 Now, during this entire semester, which ends today, brethren, our attention has been fixed on the essential elements of effective pastoral preaching as they relate to the man of God himself. We've considered the man of God in his spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional health and development, and then the man of God in relationship to his people, in relationship to himself, last week, in relationship to his wife and his children. Today, in the final lecture for this unit, we'll take up a subject which, in a very real sense, will reflect accurately on two very basic issues. Number one, how well you've understood all that has gone before, and secondly, how determined you are to implement at the practical level the understanding that you presently possess. Our subject for today is the man of God in relationship to his daily schedule. The man of God in relationship to his daily schedule, or, as an alternate title, the man of God and the mastery of himself,

1:22 his responsibilities, and his time.

Self-Control as a Biblical Mandate and Fruit of the Spirit

1:28 Now, before laying out three basic axioms and developing and applying them with respect to this subject, let me first explain what the man of God in relationship to his daily schedule is. Let me, by way of introduction, set this concern in a specifically biblical context. In Galatians chapter 5 and verses 22 and 23, we have given to us the ninefold fruit of the Holy Spirit. That fruit is set forth in contrast to the works of the flesh, which have been described in verses 19 and 21.

2:06 And you will notice that the last of the ninefold fruit of the Spirit mentioned is the grace of self-control. Verse 23. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. The word in the Greek is egrateia, or egrateia.

2:29 Now, when the Holy Spirit is present as the Spirit of life and grace, He is active in producing self-control in those in whose hearts He dwells. Now, this is in direct contrast to the works of the flesh described in the previous verses, which are obviously in the direction of both self-indulgence or the non-control of the passions and appetites. The works of the flesh are manifest. Fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, sexual desire, gone, arrayed.

3:14 Sexual desire, unbridled, unrestrained, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths. The whole matter of our passions, our inward passions, lacking control and biblical restraint. And so when Paul reasons before Felix in Acts 24, he reasons with respect to this very moral quality. He reasoned of righteousness, self-control, and of judgment.

3:48 Same word in the original. It was the absence of this moral quality that was one of the dominant indications of the unregenerate state of this heathen leader. And furthermore, in 2 Peter 1.6, we're exhorted, In the way of conscious spiritual effort to add to our faith this very virtue of self-control.

4:18 Egratia. Well, we ask the question then, Is it the fruit of the Spirit, or is it the result of our own effort? And the answer, of course, is given to us in Philippians 2, 12 and 13. We are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

4:43 And there is something about this very use of the word self-control as the fruit of the Spirit that brings us right into the heart of this whole aspect of the economy of grace. That which the Spirit works in us, He does not work in us apart from us, apart from our own conscious, deliberate effort. And so as we take up today the subject of the man of God in relationship to His daily schedule, we are taking up a very vital aspect of this grace and fruit of the Spirit, namely self-mastery or self-control. Now in Titus 1.8, this is one of the moral qualities that must be undeniably evident in one who would be set apart to the work of an overseer. In Titus 1.8, the bishop must be, and then as one of the requirements, the last one mentioned in verse 8, just, holy, self-controlled.

6:01 And here you have egrates, egrates, basic root. Of the same word, and it's listed as one of the requirements for the office of an elder. As with all the other gifts and graces, we must never be content with the mere modicum. Rather, we must strive for increasing measures of those very graces that are requisite for the office.

6:31 Now, few areas will more clearly indicate the measure of this grace than the structure and the implementation. The implementation of one's daily schedule. Now, to illustrate the vigor of this grace, consider its two forms, its two usage in the verbal form, egratuomai. And you have it used in the verbal form in 1 Corinthians 9.25 in terms of athletic discipline and mastery, 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 25. It is this quality. It is this quality in its verbal form that is exercised by the athlete in training who is determined to do something more than merely say that he ran the marathon even if it takes him eight hours.

7:24 Every man that strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now, they do it to receive a corruptible crown. So, it's speaking of an athlete who's training with a view to winning. And the kind of self-mastery.

7:40 History evidenced in an athlete who is committed to a regimen of training in order to win in the games. That's the quality that we as the servants of God must manifest in our own life and particularly in the handling of our daily schedule. And then, interestingly, it's used again, the only other verbal form in its verbal form in 1 Corinthians. 7.9, with reference to sexual drive and appetite.

8:15 Here's the picture, not of a man who was a eunuch from birth or made a eunuch by men, but who has normal, natural, sexual appetites, but some are given a gift of continence. That is the gift to control that appetite. And here the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7.9 says, but if they have not continence.

8:41 If they have not this control over their sexual appetite, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn. So, here's the picture of a man who with normal sexual drive has sufficient mastery of himself to refrain from ordinary, natural, God-ordained outlets of the sexual drive in the marital relationship. And those of you, those of us who have normal, sexual appetites, know that self-control is indeed self-mastery in this area. Now, why do I lay out these materials?

9:23 Well, to make it clear, then, that we are dealing with a matter of crucial biblical importance in relationship to the man of God and his functioning efficiently in the work of the ministry. It's wishful thinking to suppose that you will have any sustained effectiveness in pastoral preaching if you do not have an increasing measure of self-mastery as it relates to your daily schedule. And that grace of self-mastery will be something that has parallels in the self-mastery of the athlete in intensive training to win his event and in the man who has normal sexual drives and appetites who is containing that. For higher ends and keeping himself pure from fornication. Now, having set, then, the concept in what I believe to be its biblical context and perspective, now let me lay out in the time that we have this morning these three basic axioms under which I've tried to collate the materials pertaining to the man of God and his daily schedule. Axiom number one.

Axiom 1: Acquire and Maintain Understanding of Ministerial Duties

10:40 We must acquire and maintain a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to our God-given ministerial duties. We must acquire and maintain a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to our God-given ministerial duties. We must acquire and maintain a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to our God-given ministerial duties. Now, let me exegete the axiom.

11:24 We must acquire. And I use the word acquire because no man has imprinted upon his spirit in terms of general revelation or the remains of the image of God an accurate perception of his God-given ministerial duties. When we read in Romans 2, that they show the work of the law written in their hearts with reference to the accusations or the approbations of conscience, God has not written upon the heart in terms of general revelation a clear perception of the God-given ministerial duties laid upon the servant of Christ. So, this must come by way of deliberate acquisition. All right? We must acquire.

12:18 And then maintain. Having once acquired an understanding of our God-given ministerial duties, we cannot sit back and forget the issue because those duties are not static. They change. Certain aspects of them will increase.

12:39 Some will decrease. Some will totally drop off. Completely new ones will come within the orbit of our God-given ministerial duties. So, we must acquire and then maintain by continuous, ongoing concern a clear understanding of that is, a rational, cognitive perception of our God-given ministerial duties.

13:11 Not some vague, generic, misty notion, but a clear understanding of and, of the religious commitment to them. And by that I mean, these issues become matters of conscience before God. Our understanding of our God-given ministerial duties become matters of conscience.

13:41 They become matters in which, if we do not fulfill them, we experience bonafide guilt and stand in need of bonafide forgiveness and cleansing. in the blood of Christ. And all of these things have reference to what I've called our God-given ministerial duties, that is, those laid upon us by the Word of God. Now, it is vital to understand that Christ alone has the right to dictate the duties of the office which He has both designed and instituted. Vital to remember that. And He has revealed His mind in many places in Scripture, but in particular such places as Acts 20, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 5, 1 Thessalonians 2, and, of course, the pastoral epistles. So if we are to acquire and to maintain a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to God, then we

14:55 must be able to cut through mere ecclesiastical traditions. Often, ecclesiastical traditions keep men from obeying the Word of God. You remember Mark 7. You make void the Word of God by your traditions. We must be able to cut through what I would call current ministerial fads that would dictate what your duties are. We must cut through local consensus expectations. If you go into an existing congregation, there will be a general consensus of expectation. Some of that expectation may be rooted in the Bible. Chances are much of it is not. And we certainly have to cut through the carnal

15:49 inclinations of our own remaining sin. If you determine your ministerial duties in the light of the actings of your own remaining sin, you are going to be able to cut through the things that are in your ministry. And you are going to be in a bad shape. And so, brethren, it is essential for us then, by the grace of God, to attain, acquire, and then maintain a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to our God-given ministerial duties. Now, what are some of the major ministerial duties mandated by the Word of God? Well, I can only run them by quickly, not explicitly. found them certainly we've seen already this semester the disciplines essential to the maintenance of a vital and growing piety take heed to yourself and to all the flock of god acts 2028 first timothy 416 pay close attention or take heed to yourself and to the teaching that's a duty laid upon us by god there is secondly the disciplines essential to the maintenance

16:58 of intellectual vigor and balance titus 1 9 we are to be able by healthy doctrine healthy teaching both to exhort and to convict we are new covenant shepherds given to god's elect remnant who are described in jeremiah 3 15 as those who will feed christ people with knowledge and with understanding surely then it is a god-given duty to the maintenance of piety and to the maintenance of piety and to the maintenance of piety and to the maintenance of piety and to the maintenance of piety and to the maintenance of piety not only to maintain the disciplines essential to a vital and growing piety but the disciplines essential to the maintenance of intellectual vigor and balance in our handling of the truth and certainly the third area that is a god-given duty is the disciplines essential for adequate preparation for public ministries the disciplines essential for adequate preparation for public ministries second timothy 215 do your utmost to show your second timothy 215 do your utmost to show your self-approved unto god self-approved unto god a workman who has no just calls for shame handling a right cutting the straight course in the word of truth

18:16 and then certainly another major category of duty laid upon us by god or the disciplines essential for the demands of individual care of needy sheep the disciplines essential for the demands of individual care of needy sheep for the demands of individual care of needy sheep that's twenty twenty eight take heed to the flock all of the flock in which the holy spirit has made you an overseer colossians one twenty seven to twenty nine a passage familiar to most of us after this summer of ministry in colossians that we may present every man mature in christ and then certainly it is a god-given duty to undergo the disciplines essential to wise administration of the life of the people who are in the and then certainly it is a god-given duty to undergo the disciplines essential to wise administration of the life of the people who are in the that weдуal thought the way work each decision or help while full almost what what whole well you would do physical surgery shell the recording hours all the trips which are only Influencing Exercise야지Worth Al 1961-257-15-동전, Fr Caber 5838-s Samsung India William Mailing창o , grain Because 1 priv high for publication of the animal and fish ruling political life

19:39 performed to any degree of efficiency if a man does not have a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to his God-given ministerial duties. Further, as the factors which determine the precise nature of one's own particularized or customized ministerial duties are not static, I've already mentioned that, but dynamic and fluid, there must be periodic reviews of where we are in relationship to our duties. We've had a classic example of this recently. Both our brother Mitch Lush and Bob Carr have come through major building programs in which they found out that some of the things I told them in the lectures were true, that in a new young work in the first major building programs, they'll be doing a lot of diaconal work, and these men will be doing a lot of diaconal work. They did over a period of many months. There are times when Mitch was working from four in the afternoon till 12 or one o'clock in the morning in the building. Now they both recognize with this behind them, there has to be a radical readjustment of their daily schedules. And I'll make reference

20:53 to some of the particulars of this later on as they illustrate some vital principles. But you see, what their duties were up until they entered a major building program were, in many areas, radically different from what they were in the midst of that program and what they now are with that program behind them. So we can never coast on our understanding of our ministerial duties as we perceive them in the past. But there must be constant assessment of this issue that pertains even to the man who's pastoring a group of people out in the boondocks somewhere in the essence of what we must do. And I think that's a very important point. And I think that's a very important point. And I think that's a very important point. And I think that's a very important point. call stable, undisturbed, tranquil, rural America. There still will be enough changing factors to

21:45 warrant a periodic reassessment of his ministerial duties. The moment God adds another fellow overseer, there's a whole new area of duty that enters. If God takes an overseer away and a man is left the only elder, another whole new dimension enters. And that happens even in the lovely world of the world. And I think that's a very important point. And I think that's a very important point. And I think that's a very important point. And I think that's a very important point. country parsonage stuck out in the middle of a knoll on a hill amidst a population of 800. So we can never coast. We must acquire and then maintain by constant reflection and understanding of and a religious commitment to our God-given ministerial duties. All right? Axiom number two. Axiom number

Axiom 2: Acquire and Maintain Understanding of General Responsibilities

22:33 two. We must acquire and maintain and maintain and maintain and maintain and maintain and maintain and maintain a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to our God-given general or ordinary responsibilities. You see the plot thickens. We must acquire and maintain a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to our God-given general or ordinary responsibilities. Each one of us, in addition to our role as ministers, must acquire and maintain a clear understanding of and a religious to the peculiar demands of our preaching and ruling office has other responsibilities given to us by God as a stewardship, each with its own legitimate demands upon our time and upon our energy. These are given to us simply as Christian men. But as we saw last week in dealing with competence as a husband and a father, God never gives us peculiar responsibilities as elders in order to excuse us from our general responsibilities as Christian men. Never.

24:00 Never. Never. And most of us will have at least six, seven, some of us eight, maybe more, major areas of God-given responsibility. And with reference...

24:16 With reference to those things, we must acquire and continually maintain a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to all of those God-given ordinary responsibilities. There's the responsibilities we have as husbands. And as we saw last week, God never made a man a minister in order to exempt him from any of his duties as a husband. Elders are under as much obligation to nourish and cherish their wives as non-elders, to dwell in the house of God, and to serve in the house of God. In fact, they must be exemplary in this area or they are disqualified for office. Now what this means in the daily program of any given servant of Christ varies in terms of his wife's needs. You've got to dwell with her according to knowledge. If she happens to be a mother of little ones, who has unusual physical and emotional strength, the demands of sharing the nuts and bolts of parenting will impinge very little upon you. But if

25:28 she is one who is weak physically and weak emotionally, dwelling with her according to knowledge may mean that much more actual time is spent in some of the nuts and bolts, mundane

25:44 care of little children. Some women take the pregnancy like a duck to water. They never look better or feel better. better. Others never know a healthy, carefree day. I've seen women that have had to be basically bedridden from the second or third month of pregnancy until they've delivered their child. Well, if you're dwelling with your wife according to knowledge and she is in the latter class, then obviously a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to your God-given duty to her will mean a structuring in of time to care for her and for other needs that she would normally meet in the household that would not be true if she took to pregnancy like a duck to water. And nothing you are as a minister will ever exempt you from being what God says you to be as a husband. Now you add to that the second category. Most of you are or will be fathers,

26:44 and the same principles apply here. As a father, Ephesians 6, 4, you are to nurture your children. It doesn't say fathers, parenthesis, except if you are elders, end of parenthesis, nurture your children. It says fathers, regardless of what your office-bearing capacity may or may not be, fathers, nurture them. You are responsible under God for the nurture of your children.

27:16 And in the end, you are to nurture your children. And in the end, you are to nurture your children. And in the end, you are to nurture your children. And in the whole question of how that nurture will be carried on from the time the little one comes out of your wife's womb until the time that one leaves the home, you primarily answer to God.

27:31 Now there will be periods in the life of your children when the actual administration of their care and their training and their nurture in terms of time may be 80-90% in the hands of your wife. Yes, but you never really...

27:46 Yes, but you never really... Friendship has demands. You write letters to friends. You make phone calls to friends.

28:27 You make time to spend with friends. He that would have friends must show himself friendly. Friendship makes demands upon us. And if we are convinced from the Word of God that it is our duty to nurture friendships, then time must be allocated for that. Then, for some, you may end up being a lecturer in a school. You may end up being a lecturer in a school. You may end up being a lecturer having peculiar responsibilities in some dimension of church life beyond your peculiar and distinct responsibilities as an elder. Most of you will have living parents. You have the responsibility

29:14 of being a son and a relative. And the fifth commandment is clear that evangelical law-keeping will involve your conscious, deliberate efforts to go on honoring your father. And your mother. And then most of you, hopefully, will not be debarred from citizenship in any country. You have responsibilities as a citizen of the country in which God has providentially placed you. Then you have the category of responsibilities as a neighbor. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially they of the household of faith. And it doesn't say except you have to do good unto all men. You have to do

30:00 good unto all men. You have to do good unto all men. You have to do good unto all women. You have the privilege of being an elder. So how's that for starters? Now, you've got to acquire and maintain a clear understanding of and a religious commitment to your God-given general or ordinary responsibilities. No one just automatically fills all of these roles and administers a multifaceted stewardship well by simply following his instincts. or using the term that some of you may not know but I like it flying by the seat of your pants that was a term that became popular in the second world war certain pilots who ignored their instruments and they flew by the seat of their pants that is by instinct and feel well you fly by the seat of your pants and I'll tell you something it won't be long before somebody will be putting foam on the wreckage

30:55 of your airplane no man can fulfill all of these responsibilities as an ordinary Christian just flying by the seat of his pants how much less when added to these ordinary responsibilities we have our God given ministerial duties and these two categories of responsibility were not given to clash with one another to cancel one another but by the grace of God to be efficiently administered wisely and independently upon the Holy Spirit so then if this is to be done because everything in your own life in these various spheres of responsibility are in a state of flux you must acquire and maintain a clear understanding of and religious commitment to your general or ordinary responsibilities and just when you think you really hit a good groove something radical will happen and you need to restructure the whole thing now that's very real to me right now as of tomorrow the last bird will have been shoved out of our nest and then my wife and I will be right back where we were thirty years ago with the lines in our faces and the gray hairs on our temples and all the other things that the thirty years have done and now

32:22 one of the things we're looking forward to in the two week break that we're taking the fifteenth to the thirtieth at the insistence of the fellow elders that we take a proper vacation which we haven't had in a couple of years but one of the things that is on the high list of priorities while we're away is talking and praying much about the total restructuring of our lives in the light of this threshold that we pass over as most of you know we had our nephew staying with us so in a sense the care of two young adults one with unusual physical problems the other with his own peculiar concerns and needs suddenly all of that is radically cut off what are we going to do? with the time the energy the various stewardships that are ours as ordinary Christians and then those that are mine particularly as an elder in this congregation and as one who has these additional demands of conference speaker, evangelist, etc. this stuff is all very real to me so I'm not just telling you something it's one reason why I end up rewriting five of the six pages of the notes and didn't get some other work done or that I hoped but that will be justified later on in the lecture ok now we've come to actually you've seen it it got all neat we need to walk out out of here a good conscience this morning thirdly here's the third axiom

Axiom 3: Prayerfully Establish a Structured Schedule

33:50 we ought prayerfully to establish we ought prayerfully to establish a structured schedule which reflects a commitment to God specifically to fulfill all of our ministerial and general duties. We ought prayerfully to establish a structured schedule which reflects a commitment to fulfill all of our ministerial and general duties. Now, by establishing a quote, structured schedule, end quote, I mean some definite plan reflected in the divinely ordained structures of time. God has established time in terms of days, weeks, months, and years. Now, much is available in our day to help us in terms of yearly, monthly, daily calendars and planners.

35:07 I'll just show you by way of suggestion one that I found most helpful after experimenting since 1978, I believe, for the past ten years. I found it very helpful to use this Eton calendar called Month at a Glance. And the thing I like with it is it's of nice size, it can fit in the drawer, and yet it's big enough to write in your various appointments to go through ahead of time on the threshold of each semester and write in on Fridays, take the day. See how it works.

35:46 So tinder són s switch builds time and speed you have a great day. Accordingly, after you finish мен let's spend some time on Eton before the new cards need to be opened up by someone else. Neither end of the уж l mos days write them in the appointments write them in you sit down and do something I haven't done and I've urged you I've confessed my own sin plan your vacation time on the threshold of the year have it written in months in advance blocked out almost like the laws of the Medes and the Persians and you then are master of your calendar under the lordship of Christ determining how your stewardships will be fulfilled without feeling the immediate pinch of any one of them that perhaps may be crying for an inordinate amount of attention others like Pastor Barker seem to work more efficiently with this type of a planning book many of them are available in which each week is laid out in terms of hourly daily schedules with hourly commitments and you may want to in the beginning of your ministry when you're getting locked into certain patterns to have

37:13 something that plans out your day even more in greater detail but whatever method you use I don't know how a man can fulfill these principles without having some kind of a visual planner that will set out before him in a clear way the commitment to these ministerial and general duties that are his as a servant of Christ and as a man of God so you fill in all the standing and ordinary commitments months ahead then you fill in the gaps as each week unfolds and you see here are places that are open for counseling sessions when someone calls and said can I see you on Thursday you're not allocating sermon preparation time by the seat of your pants if Thursday is sermon preparation day that's written in you say to the person no I'm sorry I am committed for Thursday you don't need to tell him what that's none of their business I'm sorry there's no time on Thursday but I do see that I have some time available next Tuesday evening how is that for you well that's not good for me how about next Wednesday oh that's fine good you see and you're not allowing yourself to be bullied by some need that happens to come down the pike demanding your time so let me give you now four things that ought to characterize

Characteristics of a Structured Schedule: Realistic, Comprehensive, Tenacious, Flexible

38:43 this structured schedule reflecting a commitment to fulfill all of your ministerial in general duties all right that schedule should be characterized by four things number one it should be realistic it should be realistic and what do I mean by realistic well simply this if God remembers your frame Psalm 103 in verse 14 that you are dust and he doesn't expect you to perform like Superman don't you expect to perform like Superman read the larger catechism on the sixth commandment thou shalt not murder and you shall not murder yourself by subjecting yourself to a schedule that makes inordinate and unreasonable demands upon you remember Romans 12 3 that we're just judge soberly with respect to our gifts and by implication our capacities our strength how much sleep we need to function efficiently etc so you must have a realistic schedule and remember it is never static these men had a major building program come along and several days a week that previously have been allocated to study and to pastoral concerns were now blocked out for work on a church building

40:10 and I believe rightly so I do not believe they were relinquishing their distinctive call there is a time for a servant of God to be making tents if not to support himself to help supply the needs of others and if an apostle did it then we certainly have precedent in the word of God but now when these men were thinking in terms of getting back into their regular schedules they were vulnerable to guilt because they could not as it were immediately structure back in those two or three days and be able to sit at their desks for six hours I said no if your mind's been accustomed to only working intently for two hours you can't immediately make it go back to six or seven you've got to ease back into it and establish a schedule that realistically brings you back to where you were before the building program and then also to allow some time in there for the additional pastoral burdens that are come will come as God begins to fill that building with people and you have a higher profile and greater credibility so that's what I mean by realistic your schedule must be realistic I mean I don't mean to be coarse this is one thing I don't like with so many biographies you'd think the man never slept never went to the bathroom never had an upset stomach

41:37 and never just playfully fooled around with their wives for an hour or two like a couple of teenagers I mean they don't tell you that and they put you in this terrible bondage and you say I just can't live that way well neither did they neither did they when they got their wrongs on any given day they spent an hour or two on the john just like you do all right so i'm speaking bluntly I hope not coarsely but your schedule should be realistic and that's what I mean by realistic but then secondly it should be comprehensive it should be comprehensive there's enough time to do the will of God for you now there may not be enough to do what others would like you to do but there is enough time to do the will of God for you now there may not be enough to do what others would like you to do but there is enough time to do what God has called you to do. If you're serious about serving God, you're going to be tempted to allow ministerial duties to crowd out your general duties. Your duties to your wife, your children, your relatives, your neighbors. And when that temptation comes, remember 1 Samuel 15, 22, to obey is better than to sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.

42:51 You do not have the luxury of sacrificing duties. You do have the luxury and you will of necessity have to sacrifice liberties.

43:02 Self-denial is one thing. Indifference to duty is another.

43:11 Self-denial has to do with saying no to things that you have the right to say no to.

43:17 You don't have the right to say no to your wife's legitimate needs and call that self-denial. That's failure as a husband to dwell with your wife according to knowledge to nourish and to cherish her. You don't have the right to ignore your wife under the guise of self-denial.

43:34 You may think it's self-denial because you would like to spend that time with her and you're saying no to something you'd like. But remember, where duties to others are involved, you cannot unilaterally deny yourself without their consent. Isn't that the whole teaching of 1 Corinthians 7? Withhold not yourselves one from another, except it be by what?

43:56 Consent. There's the principle. In any relationship that involves someone other than you, you can't unilaterally say, well, I'll deny myself my legitimate joy or fulfillment in that relationship. No, it must be by consent.

44:12 So by comprehensive, I'm speaking of a schedule that takes into account all of the various dimensions of ministerial and general responsibility. Now, the third thing about your schedule is not only be realistic, comprehensive, but it should be tenacious tenaciously pursued.

44:34 It should be tenaciously pursued. What you have carefully and prayerfully and rationally planned should not be at the mercy of the whims of others or the impulses of your own flesh.

44:52 Now, that's worth memorizing, I think. What has been carefully, prayerfully, and rationally planned should not be at the mercy of the whims of others or the impulses of your own flesh. Now, what do I mean? Well, let me illustrate.

45:10 If you have Thursday blocked out for Sunday preparation, don't let someone's words, Pastor, I've got a terrible problem. I must see you today. Don't let such words throw you off. I had that happen just this morning.

45:25 Some total stranger who's attended a church a couple of times called in time that I had marked out to underline the rewritten sections of the lecture to have time to pray and it was evident he was determined to get my ear now. Ostensibly, he just called to make an appointment but when I told him looking at my calendar, I said, there's no way I can see you to the first of the year. And I was thankful I had my calendar in front of me already committed to the various evenings next week up and through the marriage and then the following Monday we take off for our two weeks. I said, there's no way I can see you to the first of the year.

46:04 How? However, there are other men here equally competent to meet your needs. No, he wanted to see me. I said, fine, after the first of the year.

46:11 Well, I want to ask a question. And I almost came one more time and I was going to say, young man, you're impotent. I've made it plain to you that I'm in no position to talk to you now. Cease and desist.

46:23 He came within a hair's breadth of getting told off because this thing was eating at his gut right now. He had no claims over me but he acted as though he did. Now, there was a time when I could not have done that without feeling all kinds of guilt and all the rest. I'm being insensitive and I'm being un...

46:41 But no. If I have prayerfully, rationally, carefully planned out in a comprehensive way the responsibilities that God has laid upon me, I must not allow the whims of a rather imbalanced, emotional person to intrude upon that and to throw it all into a cock-tat. And you must not do that. If Tuesday is your day, general reading day, so what if you feel dull?

47:08 See? If you've rationally, prayerfully committed yourself to general reading on Tuesday and you come to Tuesday feeling as indisposed to general reading as you could, you take yourself by the seat of the britches in the back of the neck and plunk yourself down and say, now Lord, give me the grace of self-mastery. And if necessary, pinch your cheeks until they're red, slap your face until it's red. I've done that more than once.

47:36 I've never beat my body until black and blue, but I have slapped my face until it was red. And I have walked the floor with a book. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. When it's time for the soldier to go out on patrol, he doesn't tell his platoon commander, I feel indisposed for patrol, sir.

48:00 All right? Tenaciously pursued. If 7.30 to 9.30 in the morning is personal duty, devotional time, time for personal reading of the scripture, intercession for the flock, so what if you feel restless and lifeless? You give yourself to that time. You're not left at the mercy of an unstructured morning and end up puttering away those hours. Nor are you left at the mercy of people that call and say, I must talk to you now.

48:28 You shut your phone off for that time and you give yourself to your God-given duties. If 4 p.m. is exercise time, so what?

48:37 If someone calls at 5 to 4 and wants to get your ear, you say, I have five minutes at 4 o'clock, I have an appointment. You don't need to tell them what it's for. You're not lying. You do have an appointment.

48:47 You have an appointment that you have made before God that 4 to 4.30 or 4.45 is the time you need to exercise, to walk, to run, to play tiddlywinks, to whatever you do to keep yourself in good physical and emotional health. That's a commitment you've made before God.

49:06 Don't let someone's whims throw you off track. If you do, you'll end up like so many preachers do who say, well, I once started to get some regular exercise, but, and then they end up emotional and physical wrecks because they allowed themselves to be bullied by the immediate pressure of the so-called urgent needs that really weren't that urgent.

49:33 Now, how the issue of self-control is related to self-denial, I don't have time to say any more than I have. I just commend you again, Pastor Chantry's book, The Shadow of the Cross, and the chapter in there on ministerial self-denial. But your schedule should be tenaciously pursued and then it should, last of all, be reasonably flexible. Realistic, comprehensive, tenaciously pursued, but reasonably flexible.

50:06 Some very interesting words in Proverbs with regard to living, living by schedule and living by plan.

50:14 Now, we ought to live by schedule and we ought to live by plan, but we must always remember Proverbs 16.3, commit your works unto the Lord and your purposes shall be established. So there's the prayerful, the concept of prayerfully committing our stewardships, our responsibilities unto the Lord and your purposes, that is, your purposes to be a good steward of that which God has entrusted to you will be established. Now, in the outworking of that, verse 9, a man's heart devises his way.

50:54 There you are, prayerfully, wisely, rationally, intelligently seeking to plot a way of discharging the stewardships that you've committed to God in prayer and your heart devises a way, but the Lord directs His steps. There's got to be reasonable flexibility because we are not God in the implementation of our schedule. Chapter 19 and verse 21.

51:22 There are many devices in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. And then chapter 20 and verse 24. A man's goings are of the Lord. How then can man understand his way?

51:41 Now, why must we be reasonably flexible? For the simple reason that we're not going to God. We are not in ultimate control. He is.

51:51 As stewards, we are prayerfully, rationally, to work out a comprehensive, realistic schedule of how we intend to fulfill the stewardship of ministerial duty and general duty. But if there is no reasonable flexibility, then we're going to have problems because ultimately God is in control of all things. You have a beautiful example of that. Here's an example of this in the sixth chapter of Mark.

52:20 The pressures of the ministry were so intense that our Lord sensitive to the fact that the disciples and he did not have so much time as to even have a lunch break. It says, verse 31 of Mark 6, Come apart and rest for a while, for there were many coming and going and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desert place apart. The people saw them going and many knew them.

52:46 They knew them and ran together there on foot from all cities and out went them. In other words, they got to the place where they were going to land before they landed. And he came forth and saw a great multitude and had compassion on them. And then you end up, the story ends up, instead of having a vacation, he ended up pouring out his life in ministry to the needy multitudes.

53:10 Here's this reasonable flexibility. Our Lord judged that the pressures were such they needed a time of retreat. But even in purposing that time of retreat apart from the boat trip across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, their vacation was interrupted. In the presence of need that our Lord could not at that time in the presence of His Father whose will He always did, He could not turn away from it.

53:39 Now there are other times when He did. He was out praying early one morning and they said, look, you've got to come back. The people want you. He said, no.

53:46 I must go to the other villages. He had a plan. For there unto I was sent there was inflexibility. He did not allow the tyranny of the urgent to turn Him aside from the will of God.

53:57 Do you remember that incident? Here He did respond. Well, how do you know which is which? I can't give you an inflexible rule.

54:04 There's a cultivated spiritual art of seeking to discern those matters. And I can't give you any rules. But I would be untrue to the overall teaching of Scripture did I not underscore that your schedule must be reasonably flexible with reference to these matters. Likewise, you don't schedule in convenient times for people to die.

54:31 I don't again mean to be coarse. It's appointed unto men once to die, but that's an appointment but God doesn't reveal to you. So here you've got certain things blocked out and you get a call. My uncle, my father, my relative has died.

54:47 Or so and so is in the intensive care unit. And the whole day is spent running to and from the hospital ministering to people in their homes. And then the Lord's Day inexorably, inevitably is bearing down upon you and you've had so little time for preparation because of the sickness and death and funeral arrangements. These things happen.

55:09 Your own physical weakness. You have the treasure in earthen vessels.

55:15 And there you've planned out what you were going to do for a given week. And you end up some little virus. To me it's one of the most humbling things. How men can strut around proud.

55:25 Some little thing you can only see under a microscope. You can take a six foot seven two hundred and ninety pound offensive tackle and leave him bent over the toilet retching and vomiting all week. What a humbling thing. One little thing you can only see under just render a man utterly weak.

55:43 So a five year old kid could come and kick him in the shins and he wouldn't have the strength to fight back. I mean isn't pride the most irrational thing? God just allows one little virus to get in and take hold of the system and that's it. Well that happens to us you see.

56:01 And maybe you've begun to feel boy I'm really disciplined now. And God says well we'll fix you smart aleck. And God will humble you. Maybe he'll humble you.

56:11 Maybe he's doing it because he wants to teach you something of empathy with those who are constantly weak and sickly. But whatever it may be you're going to have these unexpected unplanned and unplannable intrusions and therefore your schedule must be reasonably flexible. But at least you see when certain duties get bumped you can then push out some of the lesser responsibilities and make room for the greater. So that if you had blocked out something Thursday afternoon that was of lesser importance and Tuesday's study for the Lord's day gets intruded upon by an unexpected event then you can push what was planned for Tuesday into Thursday afternoon. But you're not just left throwing your hands up in the air saying everything's a big mess I'll just have to be a flop this week.

Seven Areas of Self-Mastery for Schedule Management

57:07 Well brethren it's obvious if we're going to keep this axiom of having a reasonable a comprehensive a tenaciously pursued and reasonably flexible schedule that we must attain certain masteries under our master the Lord Jesus Christ. And what I think we'll do is break at this point because we've been going for just about an hour 55 minutes or so and then we'll conclude with these areas in which you must gain the mastery if you are to have the kind of schedule that we've been talking about and then I'll give some practical suggestions as to how to pursue that mastery in relationship to the other people that impinge on your life and on your schedule. Well let's take a break then come on back here. Now I've laid before you the three axioms with reference to this matter of the minister and his daily schedule. Now if you're to keep this final axiom that pertains to prayerfully establishing a strong structured schedule which reflects a commitment to fulfill all of your ministerial and general duties then you have got to be master of certain things in the strength of Christ

58:35 and I want to mention seven. Number one you've got to be master of yourself in a very real sense you will be your own biggest enemy in fulfilling and implementing the counsel given this morning and remember self-mastery comes from one perspective Galatians 5.23 it's the fruit of the spirit so you cry to God for it you pray that God will work it in you by his spirit in the virtue of your union with Christ and then you roll up your sleeves and go to work on doing the very thing you've asked God for. Besides all of this adding on your part all diligence you add to your faith self-control 2 Peter 1.6 and the 1 Corinthians 9.27 I buffet my body and keep it in subjection now there's the great mystery it's the fruit of the spirit we go to God for it having gone to him for it we commit ourselves to cultivate it so you must be master of yourself then secondly you must be master of your home because many of your general responsibilities derive from the relationships of the home and this is why an elder is required to be one who rules well his

60:03 own house doesn't say his house rules him peace at any cost harmony at any price but you rule the household you see to it that its life and activities are so structured that under God you are enabled to establish and maintain a schedule in which you pursue your God given duties then you've got to become master of your telephone and one text that's been a great help to me in relationship to my telephone might be well to punch it out on one of these little labelers and put it right over the top of the phone where it sits on the cradle 1st Corinthians 723 you were bought with a price become not the slaves of men now Mr. Dixon years ago said something to me that broke in my spirit the tyranny of the telephone you see I had this notion our Lord was universally accessible to men therefore if I'm to manifest the spirit of Christ anyone who under any circumstances has a need and gets to me by phone to express it I must be prepared to be their servant for Christ's sake and respond to that need then one day Mr. Dixon said to me said pastor remember the phone is your servant not your master the master of the house tells the servant if and when he wants

61:32 the servant to usher visitors into his presence if he says to the servant for the next two hours I am in my study there to have dealings with God there to balance my books for the month whatever it is I do not want to be interrupted then anyone who comes to the door the servant says to that person I'm sorry my master is occupied and I am under orders not to disturb him now you see the telephone marvelous invention that it is circumvents the servant and comes right into the den of the master and that thing can become your master if you let it and therefore it would be wise early in your ministry to give out the hours at a congregational meeting when you are generally available for telephone calls for setting up of appointments for answering pastoral concerns that may not warrant setting up an appointment but just to have your ear for five or ten minutes I know of some pastors who actually have posted their call in telephone hours this is why some of us have resorted to those abominable creatures called answering machines but we've had to do it to get control of the telephone if word gets out that you can be counted on to be in your study from seven o'clock on and you're going to be there to one o'clock

63:01 once word gets out over the years then people well I know I won't waste my nickel calling at ten or nine thirty and what happens is you lose control of your schedule and I found this happened to me and it was that telephone answering device that put me back in control without putting me totally out of touch and it made people get to me at the time that I believed was important for example yesterday morning when I was on my knees with my bible and my prayer lists and the other things that I have in my folder for those devotional and intercessory responsibilities I think there were three calls that came in on the machine not a one of which was important enough for the person to even identify themselves or leave a return thing or say I'll call you back and to my knowledge there may have been one of them who got back to me but to my knowledge not a one of them did and it would have totally disrupted that time alone with God so you've got to become master of your phone brethren and do it early so you establish the pattern and don't get yourself in the mess that some of us did with a false conscience then of course number four you've got to be master of your calendar you've got to be master of your calendar that means you give direction to your life and put it in those concrete terms that we've suggested and then number five you've got to be master of the TV or the newspaper

64:30 whatever else brings itself into your home in terms of either entertainment information or some of us don't get a newspaper on a regular basis because we just know we wouldn't have the discipline to leave it sit there until in the appointed hour and then only give it the amount of time it's worth others cannot keep a good conscience without having a newspaper but the difference is they are able to be masters of their newspaper I've had over the years many a preacher confess terrible backsliding in direct relationship to inordinate indiscriminate unstructured undisciplined TV watching so if you can't master your TV don't have one just that simple if you can't master it and make it your servant for Christ sake then cut it off pluck it out cast it from you then six you've got to be master of your pillow and your blankets you've got to be master of your pillow and of your blankets while we must have a necessary amount of sleep to function never forget the admonition of Proverbs 6 9 and following how long will you sleep oh sluggard

66:00 when will you arise out of your sleep yet a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep so shall your poverty come as a robber and your want as an armed man now you see when a robber and an armed man hold you up they relieve you of important and valuable commodities suddenly and radically and forcibly but he says an inordinate love of sleep will accomplish the same thing gradually imperceptibly but nonetheless really you see that a little folding of the hands to sleep oh I don't intend to be divorced of all mental vigor and spiritual life and power and usefulness I just intend to have a half hour more in the bed but that begins to establish a pattern that ultimately brings poverty and want as really as if they were radically intruded into your life by the robber and by an armed man and then that graphic picture of the field of the slugger do you remember it's grown over with nettles and thorns and its wall is broken down brethren be master of your pillow and your blankets and there are times when it takes Herculean acts of will to force yourself out of bed when the demands of preparation are such that the only way to get the work done is to chop off

67:29 what might ordinarily under other circumstances be another hour under the sheets and then seventh you must be master of your legitimate avocations that's the word vocation with an alpha privative at the front and an avocation is a legitimate recreation or diversion but you must be master of your avocations remember the very concept of recreation is to recreate that is to do something of a different nature that I might be strengthened and invigorated to go back to that which is my legitimate calling now it's a searching thing brethren to ask yourself periodically am I indeed by the grace of God master of myself my home my phone my calendar my TV and newspaper my pillow and my blankets and my legitimate avocations if I'm not it will be showing up somewhere in terms of failure to fulfill God given responsibilities now if we're to live in such a pattern of responsible structured existence you will need wisely and graciously to instruct those whose lives and needs are constantly impinging upon your life alright so

Securing Cooperation from Key Relationships

68:57 instruct and secure the cooperation of these following people number one instruct and secure the cooperation of your wives God gave Adam and Eve a joint stewardship according to Genesis 1 but in the specific pattern of that Genesis 2 the man was given his legitimate calling in life and the woman was made and given to him to be a helper to him in that calling she was a helper answering to his need and therefore you must instruct and secure the cooperation of your wife sit down with her and say dear here are the dimensions of my God given duties as an elder here are my responsibilities as father and husband and neighbor and citizen etc. now in the midst of that what are your responsibilities and help her to think through clearly now how do we get them all to mesh in such a way that your fulfilling of yours do not conflict with my fulfilling of mine and how can we together under God be true to our peculiar responsibilities as outlined in the scriptures now this takes time to instruct and to secure the cooperation of our wives secondly

70:25 we must instruct and secure the cooperation of our children and very early you can begin to instruct your children with reference to the peculiar responsibilities that you have as a servant of Christ often your evenings will not be free to just spend them frolicking with your kids well neither would the evenings of any serious ordinary Christian he'll be occupied in various responsibilities but you see if they know that there is a time that daddy has blocked out for them and daddy jealously guards it and if something intrudes and bumps it from the ordinary time we mean enough to daddy that he slots us in for an alternate time then there will not be resentment and they are learning the lesson that a person who produces and is worth anything in life lives by commitment to a structured schedule of responsibility or a structured schedule in order to discharge his responsibility so instruct and secure the cooperation of your children thirdly instruct and secure the cooperation of your fellow office bearers when God is pleased to give you others to share in the work of oversight as fellow elders when he gives you

71:55 deacons to carry out administrative many of the duties that you will of necessity bear and discharge in the beginning of the ministry instruct and secure the cooperation of these fellow office bearers how are they going to know the full spectrum of your duties unless you sit down and tell them and secure their cooperation in trying to guard you from unnecessary intrusions and disruptions then fourthly we must instruct and secure the cooperation of our flock the average person doesn't have a clue doesn't have a clue of the many dimensions of responsibility that are yours as an elder and if they have a clue of that they may somehow think that you shouldn't be an ordinary person if you're a pastor you don't need to have time to nurture friendships you don't need to have time to frolic with your wife well you need to instruct them that you do you need to tell them and there are many ways to do that you'll find the best way to do it with your people and then fifthly we must instruct and seek the cooperation of our friends I've got a couple of men here who are not only sitting here as students but throughout the week they are colleagues in the ministry and they are also friends and they know that

Christ as the Exemplar of Systematic Living

73:25 my general call-in times are 12 to 1 and 4 to 5 and they respect that and I want publicly to acknowledge the fact that I am grateful that they respect that they respect that as friends well you've got to instruct and seek the cooperation of your friends in terms of being master of your schedule now I want to conclude the lecture this morning by reading several pages from a book that Gord gave to me back in 84 on the public ministry of Christ and Blakey has a very interesting and perceptive section on the fact that this is the way the Lord Jesus lived that is he obviously was a man who lived in terms of a structured schedule of commitments and in the chapter beginning on page 59 he surveys the tremendous amount of work that our Lord accomplished and yet in the midst of it he did so with marvelous calmness and self possession he never seemed to be in a hurry or in a flutter of activity and then he begins to describe why this was so and this is the part I want to quote beginning on page 63 it is evident that this

74:54 diligence and industry must have been the effect of a remarkable power of arrangement it has been remarked that the faculty of order was quite a feature of the Hebrew mind it was conspicuous and it was conspicuous in Abraham Joseph Moses Gideon David Solomon Ezra Nehemiah and a host of other Hebrews it is very remarkable in our Lord we see it in the symmetrical character of his discourses we see it in the mission of the twelve and of the seventy we trace it in some of his illusions as when he supposes a man about to build a tower sitting down to calculate whether he will have enough to finish it or a king going out to war or a king going out considering whether his ten thousand are a match for his opponent's twenty we see it moreover in the miracle of the loaves and fishes remember he set them down sat them down in companies of fifty in the instruction of the two disciples for celebrating the Passover he sent them ahead to make arrangements he was thinking ahead he didn't come and oh it's Passover time what are we going to do we need a lamb we need a place no in the midst of the burden of a world's sin about to come crushing in upon his soul go into such a city find this make arrangements all the rest the calm deliberate discharging of responsibility that our Lord worked by system and could

76:23 not otherwise have got through his work is plain as noonday to all who know the difference between systematic and random working flying by the seat of your pants it may be thought a mechanical way of work but it's , ours and laws we may be told were made for slaves and it may be extolled as a higher life where one obeys the impulse of the hour and is free to catch and follow whatever gales of inspiration may at any time come upon one no doubt one may be bound by lines too hard and too fast and for our part we deem a little elasticity and advantage in any system a power of adapting it to emergencies as they arise but those who are habitually systematic will probably find that they come to be comparatively independent of fitful impulses and inspirations and that their faculties come to them to use Milton's phrase as nimble servants whenever their aid is sought we hold then that we may well claim our lord as showing the value of system as an aid to the spirit of industry in labor and partly no doubt through this habit he was habitually beforehand in his work he was always ready his discourses have a wonderfully finished air as if they'd

77:53 been matured before they were ever spoken his very answers to casual objectors were marvelously clean cut and finished he was never disconcerted or at a loss as to how to answer or how to act his presence of mind never deserted him and what is very remarkable he never allowed one thing to jostle another in his mind however full it may have been of projects and however burdened with anxieties and then he goes on to expand on this matter of the Passover with his great ordeal looming before him filling his mind now is my soul troubled and what shall I say father save me from this hour he goes on to comment calmly and minutely he describes to the two disciples the arrangements to be made for keeping the Passover assembled with the twelve he deliberately girds himself pours water into a basin washes the feet of the disciples deals with the objections of Peter explains the figurative import of the act and enforces the example which it supplies with equal calmness he institutes the holiest of the mysteries of the Christian religion giving calm utterance to the few but memorable words which were to be repeated on the most solemn occasions in the history of his church till the second coming and to be the vehicle of the most profound impressions of salvation through his blood

Conclusion: The Call to Christ-like Usefulness Through Self-Mastery

79:23 then he goes on to just demonstrate right through to his final cry it is finished that our Lord's life was the life that manifested the power of a well ordered mind to give its whole attention to the proper business of each moment not to let duties or occupations jostle one another not to let the shadow of the more distant disturb the more immediate and second the power of a noble mind to throw off consciousness of itself even when its case might seem all absorbing the triumph of a mind as the hymn puts it at leisure from itself to soothe and sympathize well I found those comments very helpful and perceptive and I commend to you then brethren as my final encouragement that to live this kind of life is in the truest sense to be Christ like it is to be like the Lord Jesus and over the long haul taking men of what we might call more limited ability and men who may have much more native ability many times the man with lesser mental intellectual native furnishing far outstrips the more brilliant man in usefulness and the fundamental differences this man learned

80:51 to optimize what he had by living a structured scheduled life whereas this man flying by the seat of his pants may have occasionally done a spectacular barrel roll in the sky but for the most part he was sitting on the runway preparing repairing his wings and the rest and I've lived long enough to see that men that for sheer native gift I thought were really sore in usefulness but they never did because they never learned the mastery of themselves and their time and their responsibility and other men with much lesser natural gifts yet have risen to true usefulness and in that sense a place of eminence and respect that one could never have predicted in the early days and I trust God will so deal with us that recognizing not many noble not many mighty are called the very fact that if we're called of God it's probably an indication we're one of those who fits in what Fox called God's five ranked army of descending human weakness he's taken the foolish the weak the despised the things that are not to bring to naught the things that are so if you're called you probably fit one or more of those descriptions of God's five ranked army of descending human weakness but if under God you can learn the mastery of yourself

82:20 and the mastery of your time and fulfilled by the grace of God not perfectly always needing the perfect righteousness of Christ as our only resting place but in his strength doing the good and acceptable and perfect will of God then God will use us and cause us to advance his kingdom and there will be those who will rise up and call us blessed not because we were brilliant but because as stewards we were faithful to the tasks that God gave us alright