Practical Helps to Enhance our Pastoral Visitation (SS)

Introduction: Transition and Purpose of Pastoral Visitation Instruction

0:03 This message was delivered on February 2nd, 1992, at the Trinity Baptist Church of Montville, New Jersey.

0:12 Now, as we have announced in the last two weeks, we are presently in a transition period in this adult Sunday school class. We have just completed approximately a year of studies on the vast and vital subject of the rearing of children, and God willing, two weeks from today, under the guidance of Pastor Nichols as your teacher, we will begin a study of what will eventually be called our pre-membership class and then our post-membership class. And in this transition period, I have been privileged to address you, or will be, and am in the process of addressing you, on some isolated but necessary and pastoral, pastoral concerns, concerns which the entire eldership agreed should be addressed. And so last week, we took up in one class period what I entitled Helpful Hints to Enhance Our Public Worship. And the only thing I'll say about that lesson is to remind you of the words of James, if any man be a hearer and not a doer, he deceives himself. And I trust that from suppertime onward last night until rising this morning,

1:38 that there have been many concrete expressions of obedience to the word of God in the light of that lesson. Now this morning, we're going to take up the theme that I have entitled Practical Perspectives to Enhance Our New Round of Pastoral Visitation. This is enhancement time. Last week, we spoke on enhancing our worship, and this morning, enhancing our new round of pastoral visitation.

2:12 As many of you know, it has been our practice as a church since sometime in 1985 to attempt to have each family or each individual single member in the church visited by one of the elders at least once a week. Once a year for what we might call a general spiritual checkup. This is in addition to, in many cases, private counseling sessions, seasons when there have been exchanges between the various elders and the sheep of the flock for various reasons, but once a year to have a specifically designated time and place in which an elder meets with a family or an individual believer, in order to have a general assessment of his overall spiritual health. Now several weeks ago, an announcement was made requesting that the members of this assembly sign up for this next round of pastoral visitations. And since the last time we had any formal instruction on this matter was in late 1987, we thought it would be a good thing to take this.

3:31 We are the first to take this one adult class and address this issue, and that basically for three reasons. Number one, to remind the older, more established members of the basic concerns connected with this practice. Secondly, to give at least the bare bones of biblical instruction to those who are new amongst us since we had any formal instruction on the subject way back in 1995. 1987 and then thirdly to stir us all up whether older more mature established members or new members to a common goal that we might prayerfully enter this new round of pastoral visitation and under the blessing of god receive optimum mutual benefit from it now in 1987 it was my privilege to lead three guided discussions of this adult class on this subject of pastoral oversight visits i threw out to the class three questions and over the course of three class periods you answered those questions and in preparation for this morning's one lesson i

Recap of 1987 Discussions and Sermon Structure

4:52 listened to all three of those tapes and it was a very interesting experience for me it was interesting first of all to see how well many of you had grasped some fundamental biblical principles relative to this issue and a sheer delight to hear again your voices in the congregation then we were still meeting in the phase one auditorium where we meet for prayer on wednesday and it was a great encouragement and refreshment to my own soul to see how much of the word of god has taken root in my life and how much of the word of god has taken root in my life it was distressing in that some whose voices are heard on that tape whose names i named acknowledging their right to speak are no longer among us and very interestingly the very things they confessed in their answer of welcoming such pastoral involvement were the occasions of some of them leaving us in bitterness in rancor and with slanderous tongues so it was a most interesting time and what i have chosen to do

6:08 is to let you teach the class today and i'm simply going to be your mouthpiece to give back to you collectively what this class in 1987 gave in answer to three basic questions which formed the structure of our study on that occasion in the format of a guided discussion on the subject of today it will be straight lecture but the materials in that sense though biblical are not in their points of emphasis and arrangement original with me with but little alteration and if you're suspicious and want to check it out i have the three tapes and have no more use for them right now i'll loan you my set so you don't have to purchase a set of your own and you can listen to all three of them as i have done and if time permits i want to thank you for your attention and i'll see you next time on to add and briefly answer a fourth question which i believe will help what i have said is our subject for this morning practical perspectives to enhance our new pastoral oversight visitation endeavors all right then question number one that i asked the class in 87 and that i will now raise an answer from the scriptures was what is the

Question 1: Biblical Basis for Pastoral Visitation Defined

7:29 biblical basis for this practice what is the biblical basis for this practice or our fundamental concern was not the have we found it helpful pragmatic do the people want it that's consensus do the elders desire to do it that may be tyranny but the great question is not pragmatism consensus or the will of your elders is the revealed mind of God in the Holy Scriptures. Now, when I ask the question, what is the biblical basis for this practice, let me define the practice. I am speaking of a shepherd or elder-initiated personal visit to each member of the flock, or in the case where there is a husband and wife, to each couple of the flock. And it is not general interaction, such as we have week by week, as we see one another and speak to one another. It is not crisis counseling, in which one of the sheep may cry for help to one of the shepherds and may need a number of office visits in order to address the malady. Nor am I speaking of general social interaction, in which you may be at the invitation of one of the elders in his home,

8:56 interacting. Interacting at a social level, or when you have the elder in your home and have social interaction and fellowship. Rather, we are speaking of those meetings in which the elders have taken the initiative to meet with each member of the flock for the express purpose of general assessment of the spiritual state of each sheep. Now, what is the biblical basis for this?

9:27 Practice. On what biblical grounds does it rest? And I am not looking for biblical grounds and express biblical warrant for the mechanics of how we go about it. I.e., posting a list on the bulletin board and having you find a week that is convenient to you, etc.

9:46 No, we are not looking for biblical warrant for the details of the mechanics of how we go about arranging this practice, but the practice itself. And when I asked you that question back in 1987, you came up with three categories of biblical materials that demonstrate the biblical basis for this practice. Category number one, explicit biblical warrant to elders. Explicit biblical warrant to elders.

Biblical Basis: Explicit Warrant to Elders (Acts 20, Hebrews 13)

10:22 And two of the texts that you brought forward are, first of all, Acts, chapter 2, verse 1. Chapter 20, and verse 28. Acts 20, and verse 28. In this passage, only one of two passages, to my knowledge, where we have a record of a specific charge made to elders which has any length to it.

10:49 The other being 1 Peter, chapter 5. Now, we have sufficient materials in the Old and the New Testament to develop a record. Now, we have sufficient materials in the Old and the New Testament to develop a record. We have a very thorough and comprehensive doctrine of the function of elders.

11:03 But here in Acts 20 and in 1 Peter 5, we have two rich deposits of concentrated exhortation directed specifically to elders. Well, you'll notice in Acts 20 and verse 17, that from Miletus, he, that is Paul, sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said, unto them. And so the entire passage is taken up with Paul's exclusive exhortation, instruction.

11:36 There's a bit of condensed history and biography with reference to these elders. So that verse 36 tells us, when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And there's no introduction that anyone else came into the picture between verse 17 and verse 36, but the elders of the church at Ephesus. And what is it that he lays upon these elders as the essence of their God-given task?

12:09 Verse 28 is the answer. Take heed, pay close and constant attention unto yourselves. Here is a group of elders, whether 5, 10, 15, or 20, we don't know. But he says, unto these elders, pay close attention unto yourselves.

12:32 Each elder is to have a deep personal concern to watch over the state of his own soul, his own life, his own walk before God, and by inference, he is to be concerned for the state and the walk of his fellow elders. Pay close attention to yourselves. And obviously, that can only...

12:56 Pay close attention to yourselves. And obviously, that can only...

12:57 Pay close attention to yourselves. And obviously, that can only...

12:57 be done as each individual elder lays to heart his responsibility to pay close attention to himself. The same exhortation Paul gave to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, 16. Pay close attention to yourself, Timothy, as well as to your teaching. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

13:24 But now notice. Take heed unto yourselves. And to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood. Elders, all elders, are to take careful pains and pay close attention to all of the flock.

13:53 Now, if they cannot pay close attention, and take heed to themselves, without individual screamaly of their own hearts and lives before God, how can they take care to all of the flock without giving individual care and attention and inspection to each member of the flock? You cannot deal generically with the flock as a concept without dealing specifically as a concept without dealing specifically and inspecting the flock. as a concept without dealing specifically and inspecting the flock. and individually with each member of the flock in the concreteness of his or her true spiritual condition.

14:36 And so in this passage we have an explicit biblical warrant given to elders to pay constant close attention to all of the flock and to do so as shepherds ministering in their capacity as divinely appointed under shepherds, a task which cannot be fulfilled without individual interaction with the sheep. Then a second text that you brought forward in the discussion in 87, and it came forward very early, is in Hebrews 13 and in verse 17. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit to them, for they watch in behalf of your souls as they that shall give account, that they may do this with joy and not with grief, for this were unprofitable for you. If elders have a responsibility to watch for the souls of those under their care, and they are to watch for the souls of those under their care, and they are to watch for the souls of those under their care, and they are to watch as those who will give an account, the great question is, will our accountability be generic,

15:58 or will it be in terms of the specific sheep under our care? Will it be the John and the Marys and the Henrys and the Peters and the Elizabeths and the Andrews of the real congregation? Well, obviously it is the latter. Though there may be a sense in which elders, can be judged in generic terms for the maintenance of pure doctrine being preached from the pulpit, biblical order and worship being established in the house of God, but surely the accountability goes beyond the mere care of the house of God and descends to the individuals who are commanded as individuals to submit to the rule and to the oversight, of their elders. And so these two passages, though others could be brought into service, I'm conscious of time, and this is why again I'll be sticking close to my notes and breaking eye contact more than usual, because I do want to get through the material. On what biblical grounds does this practice rest? Number one, the explicit biblical warrant given to elders.

Biblical Basis: Apostolic Pastoral Example (Acts 20, 1 Thessalonians 2, Colossians 1)

17:18 But then secondly, there is the apostolic passage, the apostolic pastoral example. The apostolic pastoral example. In the beginning of the church in Jerusalem, in its full new covenant glory and power after the descent of the Spirit, until elders were established in the church in Jerusalem, the elders were the apostles, and wherever they went, they were conscious in the planting of churches that they were setting an example of pastoral care, for those who would later on, when the churches matured, and they could ordain elders in every city, Acts 14.23, that they had left a pattern of pastoral interaction for these emerging elders to follow. Now in Acts 20 and verse 35, back to that passage where Paul is speaking to elders, he was conscious of this exemplary dimension of his apostolic ministry. For he says to these elders, in Acts 20.35, in all things, I gave you an example.

18:34 I am conscious that I've left you an example of comprehensive God-honoring pastor-flock interaction. Whatever I tell you to do, remember not only what I tell you to do, but what I did when I was among you. In all things, I left you an example. And one dimension of apostolic pastoral example is highlighted in verse 31.

19:05 Wherefore watch ye, remembering, call to mind my own practice and example, that by the space of three years I cease not to admonish every one night and day with tears. And the language used in the original leaves us no other conclusion but that Paul is highlighting this individual pastoral dimension of his apostolic pattern of what it is to be a true shepherd of souls. With all of the burdens and all of the responsibilities, he could say, I've given you an example in all things. Here's one area. I ceased not to admonish every one. Whatever I did in group ministry, and he did much, he also had, according to verse 20, a ministry going from house to house, testifying repentance and faith.

20:13 Apostolic pastoral example, then, establishes the warrant for shepherd-initiated individual interaction between an elder and the members of the church. A second passage is 1 Thessalonians 2. And this again is a passage which you brought forward in that guided discussion, and rightly so, for 1 Thessalonians 2 has one of the richest deposits, not of direct exhortation to elders, but of the exemplary apostolic pattern of pastoral life and conduct. And this is what Paul could say to the Thessalonians, verse 7 of chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians 2, 7. But we were gentle in the midst of you, as when a nurse cherisheth her own children. Even so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were well pleased to impart unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were become very dear to us.

21:28 Verse 11. As you know how we dealt with each one of you as a father with his own children, exhorting you and encouraging you and testifying to the end that you should walk worthily of God. Well, take these two concepts, the sensitive, intimate, caring, self-giving role of a nursing mother with her child, and the sensitive, loving, yet manly assertiveness of a tender, careful, patient father with his individual children. And Paul says, that's the way I ministered among you.

22:12 Yes, I did much in the synagogue. There was much labor in the public place and in group situations. But as one exemplifying a true pastoral pattern, I was with you in the one-to-one intimacy of a nursing mother with the child upon her breast. Now, few things are more personal, individual, and intimate unless she has twins.

22:38 And he said, that's how I was among you. Furthermore, though a father may do much with general family pow-wows and with table talk, with all of his olive plants gathered at once, he cannot be an adequate father without taking each of the children aside under various circumstances and bringing home to each child the dimension of encouragement, of exhortation, of rebuke, of discipline, of instruction that that particular child needs at that particular time. And he says this was all part of his pattern of apostolicism. Apostolic pastoral practice.

23:20 And then a third text that you brought forward, and rightly so, is Colossians chapter 1, where here again the emphasis is upon individual, personal, tailor-made pastoral interaction. In this wonderful paragraph, verses 24 to 29 of Colossians 1, in which Paul gives a relatively comprehensive overview of his apostolic ministry, he says that in fulfillment of that ministry of which Christ himself is the lodestone, the magnet, the central point of focus, verse 28, whom we proclaim, now notice, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ, where unto us by labor also striving according to his working, which works in me mightily. You see, he could have used the more generic term, and it would have been translated like this, whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone that we may present everyone. And the concept would be more of the generic group, but he says no. Teaching every man individually and personally where necessary and appropriate,

24:46 and admonishing every man individually and separately, taking him apart, that we might minister to him his particular special need of some dimension of the will, the word, the work, and the enablement of Christ. And so these three passages clearly establish that apostolic pastoral examples demands some framework in which pastors can say, we dealt with each one of you, and bring in the imagery of the nursing mother, of the loving, caring father, and the minister of the gospel who follows in the pattern of the great apostle. But then there's a third category of biblical warrant for this practice, and it's what I have called, you did not call it that, but you brought forward these verses, and Pete Leon will remember, we really put you on the spot. You remember it, Pete? It seems as though it were yesterday.

Biblical Basis: Unavoidable Inferences from Shepherd-Sheep Analogy (John 10, Proverbs 27, Ezekiel 34)

25:50 Pete brought forward a verse, and I was really relentless with him. I said, all right, what's the verse say? And he says this. I said, well, how does that fit?

25:58 And he said that. I said, on what grounds do you prove it? And we really put him on the cross-examination stand, but eventually Pete came off smelling pretty good. And the text that he brought forward under this heading, we'll look at in a moment, but this is the heading.

26:13 If there is explicit warrant to elders, and if there is apostolic pastoral example, then the third biblical category on which this duty rests is the unavoidable inferences from the shepherd-sheep analogy for the pastor and the flock. The Bible sets forward as the dominant image under which the Bible is to conceive of the elder-churchmember relationship, that of a shepherd and his sheep. So dominant is it that in a passage like Ephesians 4, we are told the ascended Christ gives as the continuing standing gift in his church pastors, shepherds, and teachers. Here in Acts 20, when Paul is going to give the distilled essence of the task of the elders, he gathers it all up. He gathers it all up by taking the verb to shepherd. Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, to shepherd the flock which he purchased with his own blood.

27:25 And so as we look into the Scriptures, we find that there are some unavoidable inferences from the shepherd-sheep relationship which demand the practice of individual shepherd-initiated interaction with the sheep. Let's look at just several such passages. The one Pete brought forward was John chapter 10 and verse 14. John 10 and verse 14.

27:54 Now I know this means we've got to hang in there and concentrate, and I would like to draw you all out again, but the interests of time demand that I stick to the lecture method, and I trust you'll bear with me. I've tried to lay out the material simply and clearly. John 10 and verse 14. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd, and I know mine own, and mine own know me.

28:21 Here the Lord says in his capacity as the good shepherd, there is deep, intimate, personal, mutual knowledge. I know my own, and my own, each and every one of them, know me. Now, in verse 27 he says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Well, when we turn to 1 Peter chapter 5, that second great deposit of explicit instruction given to elders found in the New Testament, notice what Peter does.

29:03 In charging the elders, verse 1, the elders among you I exhort, verse 2, same verb used as in Acts 20, 28, shepherd the flock of God which is among you. Then he gives various lines of thought with regard to that shepherding work, its nature, its motivations, and then he concludes by saying in verse 4, and when the chief shepherd shall be manifested. Christ is called the archipoimen, the chief shepherd. You who are shepherding the flock are under shepherds.

29:41 You are to take the leading lines of your function from the perfect shepherd, even the Lord Jesus Christ. He is to be our great example of how to shepherd the flock of God, for he is the archipoimen, the chief shepherd. And we have seen that the chief shepherd sustains a relationship that is not generic and faceless. It is an intimate, reciprocally personal, knowledgeable relationship.

30:20 So what is the unavoidable inference? Well, if we are following the pattern of Christ's shepherding of his sheep, which is individual and personal and intimate, so we likewise who are shepherds over God's sheep must have a relationship that is personal, that is individual, that is intimate. And then another text that you brought forward as a strong inference was Proverbs chapter 27 and verse 23. Proverbs chapter 27 and verse 23.

30:58 The writer of Proverbs speaking with regard to a literal sheep herder and his literal sheep. Be thou diligent, be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy herds. And then he goes on to give him motivation and says in essence the economy and the stock market may go up and down and bust and go out, but if you've got some good healthy livestock you won't starve. So you better take close attention not only to watching the stock market but you better take care of your sheep.

31:33 Look well, be diligent to know the state of thy flocks. Look well to thy herds. Look well to thy herds. Because as anyone who knows anything about sheep knows, if a certain kind of disease, a certain kind of tick, a certain kind of disease that is being fed by a fly leaving certain substances in its feces upon the area where they're eating, a whole flock can be decimated and wiped out in a matter of weeks.

32:01 So he says you better get out there and get among your sheep and get your fingers into their wool until they drip with lanolin and make sure there are no ticks burrowed into their skin that will sap away their life. That there are no flies biting them and then leaving their eggs and causing diseases that will wipe out your flock. Be diligent to know the state of your flock. You see a man can't do that sitting by his fire in his den with TV monitors posted on posts all over the place where the sheep graze and sit back and say oh well they seem to be grazing nicely and look nice and they're not fighting, they're not fighting, they're not nipping at one another, I see no wolves, they must be in good shape.

32:42 And he gets up the next morning to go into his den and turns on his things and they're all lying over dead. What happened? He didn't look well to the state of his flocks. He didn't get close enough to see the signs that could only be seen when he'd open their mouths and see a certain color on their tongues.

32:59 Or he'd see certain signs of other diseases if he pulled back their wool. That's the imagery and I say the unavoidable inference from the shepherd-sheep relationship is such that we as shepherds must have some framework for shepherd-initiated individual involvement on some regular basis with the sheep of the flock of God. And then the third passage you brought forward, I'll just mention it, is Ezekiel 34. That's a primary passage where God there indicts the shepherds of Israel because they did not have a deep, personable, personal, knowledgeable interaction and they did not heal the disease, they did not go after the straying, etc. So then, I trust that threefold cord will not be broken by any pressure brought upon your conscience that it is indeed mandated by the Scripture that there be some framework, whatever the mechanics may be in any given congregation, whereby the divinely appointed shepherds can have more than corporate interaction in public worship and preaching and teaching, in public interaction at the conclusion of public gatherings, meetings for prayer, social interaction, crisis counseling. There must be some framework

34:27 whereby elders can do what God's told them to do, take heed to all the flock, where they can follow the apostolic example, every one of you, where they feel comfortable with the unavoidable inferences from the shepherd-sheep relationship. So that's question number one. We've spent the most time on that because that's most critical. If your conscience is not convinced, then how can you receive us as from the Lord?

Question 2: Benefits of Pastoral Visitation (Sheep to Shepherds)

34:57 And if our consciences are not convinced, how can we give ourselves to a task which many times is delightful, but other times is grievous, and many times, though delightful at the end of the day, is grievous to our flesh when it means another evening out when we'd like to kick our feet up and read a good biography? It must be that our consciences are held in Luther's words captive by the Word of God. All right? Second question is, having addressed the question, what is the biblical basis for such a practice, we then took up the question, what are the benefits of this practice?

35:39 What are the benefits of this practice? And we broke down our discussion into two categories. The benefits of the sheep in their relationship to their shepherds, and the benefits of the shepherds in their relationship to the sheep. And I'm not even going to give you all the ones you gave.

36:02 I put eight numbers on the board, and I remember you all laughed. I said, oh, you think I'm ambitious? I said, I don't think so. And you filled up all eight.

36:10 But we're going to look at just six, and we're going to run through them very, very quickly. What are six of the benefits in terms of the relationship of the sheep to their shepherds? Well, number one, it provides a unique opportunity for early detection of spiritual diseases or general needs. A man who wants to be healthy is never resentful that he has a family physician who has a good eye at early detection of incipient indications of disease.

36:47 And likewise, true sheep do not resent having shepherds who will get close enough to be in a framework of early detection of spiritual diseases or general needs. Such things as doctrinal aberration. God gives pastors and teachers, according to Ephesians 4.14, that the people of God be no more children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine to see if there is ethical abnormality, if there is spiritual disease, Ezekiel 34, to see if there is any disaffection, any distance growing in the affection between the sheep and the shepherds.

37:31 Or, in the light of Matthew 25, it may not be that there are doctrinal aberrations, ethical abnormalities or disaffection, but there may be general benevolence needs. And according to Matthew 25, Jesus said, Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these My little ones, you have done it unto Me. Shepherds may not be able to detect that there is great financial or economic hardship in a given home by seeing people just on the Lord's day and saying, How are you doing? You are too modest to tell the truth about their situation.

38:07 This then provides a unique opportunity for early detection of spiritual diseases or general needs. Secondly, sheep to shepherds, it provides a special opportunity for the cultivation of the knowledge and love required by 1 Thessalonians 5, 12. Provides a special opportunity for the cultivation of the knowledge and love required by 1 Thessalonians 5, 12. Here the word of God is clear.

38:37 We beseech you, brethren, 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. And this provides the sheep with a special opportunity for the cultivation of the knowledge and love required by this text. You're to know them, you're to love them. As they get closer to you in that intimate situation, you have a wonderful opportunity for the cultivation of that knowledge and love and for expressions of it that might be inappropriate in a public setting.

39:20 If people were to overhear some of the things you want to say in private, they might think you're trying to flatter. I've had situations where when I've been in a pastoral visitation where a woman in the presence of her husband and kids said, Pastor, can I just give you a big hug to express what's in my heart? I said, that's all right with your husband, that's all right with me. Whereas they were not the huggy type in public and it may have not been discreet to express it.

39:45 This is the kind of thing that I'm speaking about. Thirdly, it provides a natural opportunity for biblical imitation. One of the things God requires of the sheep is that they imitate their shepherds insofar as their shepherds imitate Christ. Philippians 3.17 says, Mark them which so walk as you have us for an example. Titus 2.7, In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works. Paul says, Be ye followers of me even as I am of Christ.

40:20 Hebrews 13.7 says, Remember them that had the rule over you men who spoke unto you the word of God and imitate their faith. Well in that closer interaction there is an intensified opportunity for godly imitation. Fourthly, it intensifies a wholesome sense of accountability.

40:45 Now we don't like the word accountability in our day but it's a biblical concept. Each one of us shall give account of himself to God. Elders shall give account of those over whom God has placed them. And God says that those who are the sheep the members of the church are to obey them that have the rule over them and submit to them.

41:08 And by this personal interaction there is an intensification in a wholesome way of this sense of accountability. For if we are attempting to get to know those that are over us in the Lord and admonish us 1 Thessalonians 5.12 says, then the thought that those who are over us love us enough to come to us and personally get their fingers into our wool and feel for ticks. Well obviously if we know we've got a tick we'll get rid of it before they come.

41:42 We'd rather get rid of it than have a shepherd find it. And if we've been eating bad food and are diseased we would sooner if we're aware of it get it dealt with. And some have testified that this is has been a means of grace. The upcoming pastoral visit has been a means of grace.

42:03 Not that they sat in the corner and shriveled and shrank as though someone were coming from an ecclesiastical Gestapo. But someone that they knew loved them enough to be honest with them. Was coming to sit down with them and that intensified sense of accountability enhanced their walk with God. And then sixth or fifth it increases the ability of the church and sheep to pray realistically for the shepherds.

42:33 It increases the ability of the sheep to pray realistically for the shepherds because it's two way communication. And your elders will feel free in the intimacy of your home to disclose aspects of themselves to you which would not be appropriate in a public ministering situation. And therefore you are better able when they say in the language of Hebrews 13, 18 and 19 brethren pray for us for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience desiring to live honorably in all things and I exhort you the more exceedingly to do this. Pray for us.

43:14 We're seeking to live with a good conscience. But here are some particular areas of need and I leave them with you that you might bring them to God in your prayers. And then sixth it provides an opportunity to validate the shepherd's integrity. And this is sort of a transition point and it was the point that Pastor Nichols made at the conclusion of the third lesson in Proverbs 23 and verse 11.

43:42 We have this statement Proverbs 23, 11 It's not 23, 11 It may be 27, 11 Yes, 27, 11 My son be wise and make my heart glad Why? Answer him that reproaches me. Now we who are your elders as best I know my heart and as best I can know the heart of my fellow elders I believe I can say we are not men ambitious to have a name for ourselves but we are ambitious to have a good name. Alright, see the difference? Not a famous name, but a good name. And there are those who reproach us as being tyrants and sheep abusers.

44:41 And who abuse our authority and intimidate the sheep. Well, when we enter into your home and we interact in a loving open faced, mutually trustful way and you benefit from it then you give to us an opportunity to answer those that accuse us. As you manifest spiritual wisdom you give us fuel to answer those that reproach us. And when they say, your way of going about things abuses the sheep, intimidates the sheep then we can say, well I don't know what sheep you're talking about.

Question 2: Benefits of Pastoral Visitation (Shepherds to Sheep)

45:18 Because in each home I've gone when I've asked a question that would deal with this generically each sheep has said, no, I feel safe I feel comfortable I feel a sense of my liberty in Christ and then you consult with your fellow elders and they say the same thing you have concrete answers that shuts the mouths at least in the theater of their conscience they may still go on saying what they want to and liars will lie if there's hatred in the heart a liar hates those whom his lies wound the scripture tells us but at least you give us the opportunity you see, to have a validation that we are seeking not perfectly but by the grace of God to shepherd you with integrity but then very quickly what are the benefits in terms of the shepherd to the sheep what benefits come to the shepherds to this relationship and now we've got to crank up the speed number one, it aids them in seeking to have a good conscience in the light of their accountability do you want your elders to have a good conscience when they stand before God do you want us to anticipate Hebrews 13, 17b with a good conscience they watch as those that shall give an account then we must we must have this opportunity to have sufficient personal interaction to know to give a good account before our God

46:47 and we would have a good conscience Acts 26 and verse 14 striving always to have a good conscience toward God and toward man secondly, it gives them a unique opportunity to validate their love to the sheep what a wonderful opportunity for the shepherds to validate the love that they express publicly when they call you beloved when they say I love you they came to use that kind of biblical language Paul used it, he even got gushy in first Thessalonians agapites is a gushy word you are beloved to me that's the kind of word you find in Valentine's and he got gushy and there's nothing wrong with us expressing our love, it's not unscriptural and it's certainly not unmanly and it's not ungodly now it may be uncultural but who says that culture regulates what we do in the house of God away with the reserve of Caucasian culture where it's unmanly to say I love you you're dearly beloved to me but you see when you're alone with the sheep someone might sit there and say yeah he's talking about others but not me because if what he knows about me surely can't love me all the grief I've caused him, them no, it gives the shepherds a unique opportunity to validate their love because they're giving up a night they're giving up time that could be used for other things

48:14 and scripture says in 1 John 3 18 let us not love in word only but in deed and in truth, thirdly it helps them to know better any patterns which ought to be addressed in the public ministry as they get among the sheep they may find common patterns of concern and problems and perplexities and sins and they will better know how to minister to the sheep that's how Paul knew how to write his epistles in certain cases he got information from people close to the flock 1 Corinthians 1.11 it's been reported unto me by the house of Chloe there are divisions among you had he been there and visiting them one by one he would have discovered it and addressed it he wasn't there, he had some proxy shepherd's fingers with their fingers in the fleece and coming back and informing him likewise in Philippians 4 2 how did Paul know that two sisters were having a tiff that forever enshrined in holy scripture is the word I beseech you Odea and Syntyche to be of the same mind of the Lord well you read verse 18 when Epaphroditus came with a gift he came with some news and when Paul said how's the church doing oh doing well here, doing well here any problems, yeah we got a little problem those two sisters, strong women women of great stature and great character but of great will

49:43 and they're having a constant little undercurrent of falling out I beseech you Odea and Syntyche to be of the same mind can you imagine what it would have been like you were sitting there when the epistle was read and you were Odea probably sitting way over here and Syntyche probably sitting way over there and you're sitting there and you're listening to this marvelous epistle let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus of every name the name of Jesus every knee bow and your hearts are being lifted up then he comes to chapter 4 and all of a sudden Odea hears her name and Syntyche hears her name and then he's saying before the whole assembly they've got some birds they need to dig that's my bible that's what my bible says now if that's cruel then accuse the holy ghost and the apostle Paul of cruelty if that's snitching accuse Epaphroditus of snitching accuse the house of Chloe of snitching you see how stupid some of these knee jerk terms are ye do err not knowing the scripture so I'd like to say to people who make these horrible accusations it gives the shepherds a unique opportunity to know any of these patterns fourthly it helps them to see individual virtues

Question 3: Areas to Address in Pastoral Visits

51:10 and weaknesses which would otherwise not be known I was in a home recently not on a pastoral visit I was in one on a pastoral visit but another one not and I saw virtues that I never knew existed in the man and the woman and I'm waiting for the right opportunity to tell them I'm debating whether to do it in writing or face to face and commend them for those virtues that's biblical to commend the virtues that we see in the lives of the people of God and then lovingly to deal with weaknesses otherwise we don't fulfill our obligation preach the word reprove, rebuke, exhort all scripture is profitable for teaching, reprove, correction instruction or training in righteousness well those are the mutual benefits now very quickly question three what areas ought to be addressed as a general rule what areas ought to be addressed as a general rule and you gave three basic categories the general spiritual condition and all that that involves and we do address that and intend to continue secondly the general domestic condition is there a healthy marriage healthy parent child relationships biblical principles implemented in devotions discipline finances order and mark this down there is no area of your life addressed by the scriptures that

52:38 an elder does not have the right and the responsibility to address in a pastoral visit alright no area addressed by the scriptures that an elder does not have the right and oft times the responsibility to address now if he goes beyond the scripture he better have compelling reasons to do so either your question for help in that area or some unavoidable deduction given the facts of your situation that demanded does the scripture address the husband wife relationship does a husband love his wife is a wife submitting to her husband are they fulfilling their conjugal duties first Corinthians chapter seven first Thessalonians of course therefore it is not inappropriate for an elder to discreetly seek to ascertain the health of that marriage so general spiritual condition general domestic condition and then the general ecclesiastical condition are you profiting from your life in the church do you have a good relationship with your elders your fellow members are you finding your place of service etc some of us use a sheet that we like to give to someone before we come in which these various areas are laid out in questions so that you can prepare for the visit now very very quickly it is exactly 10.30 and I want to take three minutes and no more in order to address this fourth

Question 4: Elements for Maximum Profit from Visits

54:07 question it wasn't addressed in 87 what elements must be present if maximum profit is to come from these pastoral visits and I answer number one a climate of mutual goodwill love and acceptance and the key text is Romans 1 11 and 12 where Paul says I long to come to Rome that there may be mutual benefit from my visit I come with an open heart to be used of God to bless you I come with a teachable heart that you might be used of God to bless me may God grant that that will be the climate in which we come into each home mutual goodwill love and acceptance no suspicion not like the kids with some of the old dominies when they see the black suited man come up the front door they ran out the back door may God deliver us from that secondly a climate of honesty and vulnerability a climate of honesty and vulnerability Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6 11 oh Corinthians our heart our mouth is open to you there is openness honesty there's vulnerability he says in the subsequent chapter though the more I love the less I be loved so be it speak truth each one with his neighbor Ephesians 4 25 thirdly a mutual commitment to stick to the purpose of the

55:36 visit now this is critical a mutual commitment to stick to the purpose of the visit the purpose of the visit is not to have your 13 or 14 year old stamp collection shown to the pastor page by page as much as he may love stamps nor is it to go through the whole pictorial review of your family history though he might like to do that it is not a time for crisis counseling unless a critical disease shows up and you got to do some spiritual first aid the purpose is a general checkup and when you go in for your annual doctor's checkup for your general physical condition if he has a suspicion you have a problem in a given area you make another appointment to go in and have him specifically treat that problem or he gives you a referral fourth make prayerful preparation for the visit make prayerful preparation for the visit that God will cause it to be a blessed time in which all of these blessed benefits that we've outlined will be realized in our visits for some of you that want to get more biblical materials and instruction the tapes of the lessons from 87 are available four messages by Pastor Hufstetler at a pastor's conference some years ago on the subject Pastor Hufstetler's book on biblical oversight available in our

57:05 bookstore well I've taken the three minutes let us pray and ask God to write these things on our hearts Father we thank you oh how we thank you that the scriptures have been given to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path and as we've reviewed albeit hastily the scriptural basis and framework for this practice in our assembly we pray that you would bless it may your spirit attend it and may much mutual good come to the prophet of this assembly and its leaders and ultimately to the glory of Christ and the spread of the gospel we pray in Jesus name Amen