This sermon was preached on Sunday
morning, July 7, 1985, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville,
New Jersey. Now let us once again seek the
face of God in prayer, asking the present and powerful assistance
of the Holy Spirit to be our portion, particularly His ministry
as the spirit of illumination, the Spirit who inclines our hearts
both to understand and to receive the Word of God written. Let
us pray. Our Father, we thank you again
this morning, not only for the gift of your dear Son to be the
friend of sinners, but for the gift of your Holy Spirit through
the Son to teach us of yourself. And we thank you for your word
which says that we have an anointing from the Holy One and we know
and that that anointing teaches us. And we therefore come and
plead that each of your children bowed in your presence in this
moment upon whom and into whose heart this anointing has come. will know his mighty ministry
as the one who teaches with power and who not only illuminates
the mind but inclines the affections and the will to your truth. For those who are strangers to
his ministry, who do not know him as the indwelling spirit
sent from you through the sun, Oh, may the Word this day be
instrumental to bring them to repentance and faith, that they
too in Jesus Christ may receive the gift of the Spirit. Speak,
then, our Father, through your holy and infallible Word, we
ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Now it was two Lord's Days ago
that we had the privilege of formally recognizing and receiving
Dr. Robert Paul Martin as an elder,
a shepherd, a pastor in this assembly. And in conjunction
with that act of formal recognition, an act previously ratified or
expressed by your unanimous acknowledgment of God's work in giving Him to
us, I took the opportunity to turn your attention to some of
the biblical teaching relative to the elder as a shepherd. And in the two messages of two
Lord's Days ago, we saw several vital things in the Word of God
relative to this subject. We saw together that the shepherd
imagery is the dominant and most comprehensive imagery relative
to the appointed tasks of the spiritual leaders in Christ's
church. The imagery of a shepherd most
comprehensively and accurately embodies the task of an elder,
an overseer, a pastor. And then we discovered in the
second place that Christ Himself is the perfect example and pattern
of the Shepherd's office and function, since He is called
the Chief Shepherd and the Great Shepherd and the Good Shepherd,
We take our clue of what it means to be a shepherd to the sheep
from this one who is the perfect, the chief, and the great shepherd
of his people. Having established those principles
from the Scriptures, we proceeded then to set before you, first
of all, the fundamental bond between a shepherd and his sheep.
With reference to Christ and his sheep, it was love and accountability
to God, and likewise with the under-shepherds and their relationship
to the sheep. And then we had time only to
deal with the fundamental tasks which the shepherd is to perform
towards his sheep. He is to provide for their nourishment,
secure the presence of each sheep within the fold, protect the
flock from its enemies, and to attend to the wounds, diseases,
and distresses of the sheep. And when we drew that meditation
to a close, I said that I had hoped to speak on the responsibilities
of the sheep to their shepherds, but time would not permit it.
One or two of you spoke to me and asked if I would complete
the message, and as I prayerfully sought the mind of God yesterday
after returning from the Bluffton Conference as to what I ought
to do today, I was convinced that I should complete it, and
in working on the message, I can see why it was, in the kind providence
of God, impossible to touch on the subject two weeks ago, because
I really was not prepared to give it anything approaching
the treatment that it deserved. And so we complete this brief
three-message series by considering together this morning the responsibilities
of the sheep to their shepherds. Having seen from Scripture the
bond that unites the shepherd to his sheep, the fundamental
tasks which the shepherd is to perform towards his sheep, we
now turn to the word of God to consider the responsibilities
of the sheep to their shepherds. And as with the two previous
messages, we shall look at the relationship between the sheep
and the chief shepherd, that is, the relationship between
the people of God and the Lord Jesus Christ when set before
us under the imagery of the shepherd-sheep-sheep-shepherd relationship. And after seeing
the pattern of that relationship between the sheep and the chief
shepherd, we will then note how that pattern applies in the relationship
of the sheep to the under shepherd. So there are two basic divisions
in our study this morning. First of all, then, the biblical
teaching regarding the relationship between the sheep, that is, the
people of God, and the great shepherd, that is, the Lord Jesus. And the biblical teaching regarding
this relationship includes at least these four categories. Number one, the sheep embrace
his person, his position, and his functions as a shepherd. They embrace his person, his
position, and his functions as a shepherd. One of the most beautiful
descriptions of true conversion is given to us under the shepherd-sheep
imagery. If you turn with me please to
1 Peter chapter 2, you will see the text to which I am making
reference. Referring to the Lord Jesus as
the great pattern of his people in the midst of unjust suffering,
Peter writes in 1 Peter 2 and verse 25, For you were going
astray like sheep, but are now returned unto the shepherd and
bishop or overseer of your souls. He says to these Gentile Christians
that in their unconverted state they fit the description of Isaiah
53, 6. All we like sheep have gone astray. And he says you people before
you were converted perfectly fit that description. You were
going astray like sheep. And when the sheep go astray,
they obviously leave the side, the government, the influence,
the protection, the provision, fellowship with the shepherd
himself. But now he says in your conversion,
this is what happened. You were going astray like sheep,
but are now returned unto the shepherd and overseer of your
souls. What does it mean to be converted? What does it mean to become a
Christian? It means to be returned unto
Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinners, under the imagery
of a straying sheep that is returned unto the presence, government,
fellowship, influence, provision, and love of a shepherd. That's
what it means to be a Christian, to be returned unto the shepherd
and bishop of our souls. And this returning is not in
some mystical, undefined way, for he has just described the
Lord Jesus in verse 24 of this chapter as the one who his own
self bore our sins in his own body upon the tree. So it is
a return unto Christ crucified for sinners, Christ buried and
raised from the dead for sinners, but it is a returning to Him
under the figure and imagery of the Shepherd of our souls. In their pre-Christian state,
they were going astray. No desire for the provision,
the protection, the presence and rule of the shepherd. In
the language of the hymn we sing, I was a wandering sheep. I did not love the shepherd's
voice. I would not be controlled. I did not love his fold. I was a sheep going astray. But when grace arrested these
people, when in the language of chapter 2 and verse 9 God
effectually called them out of darkness into his marvelous light,
they were returned unto this shepherd and overseer. What happened? Well, Christ as the true shepherd
was embraced in his person, his position, and his functions as
the great shepherd of the sheep. And that's exactly what Peter
calls him in chapter 5 and verse 4, and when the chief shepherd
shall be manifested. So you see, a Christian is not
someone who simply turned over a new life to live a little better
life in order to have a little more peace of conscience. A Christian
is not someone who has in some undefined way some kind of relationship
to Jesus. No, a Christian is one who has
returned unto Christ as the shepherd, the good shepherd who laid down
his life. There is a commitment to His
person. Notice, you're returned not unto
the shepherd's salvation in abstraction from the shepherd. Do you see
it? You are returned unto the shepherd. But they are not only returned
unto the shepherd as to his person, but with reference to his position
and his functions as a shepherd. Therefore, Peter can write unto
the shepherd and the overseer, not just the Savior and the Redeemer
of your soul, but the overseer, the governor, the leader of your
soul. And this embrace of Christ in
His person, position, and functions as a shepherd in the heart of
every sinner that has been renewed by the Holy Spirit is a voluntary,
joyful, and thankful embrace with the result that anyone who
has ever been saved can say, not reluctantly, not with dragging
of the inward feet of the soul, but with joy. Jehovah Jesus is
my shepherd. I have embraced him in his person,
in his position, and in his functions as a shepherd. Now, the second
aspect of the relationship of sheep to the great shepherd is
this. They not only embrace his person, his position, and functions
as a shepherd, but, secondly, they manifest a pattern of practical
responsiveness to his position and functions as a shepherd.
They manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to his position
and functions as a shepherd. Now again, we turn to Psalm 23
and we see it on the surface of the text. Jehovah is my shepherd,
I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green
pastures. When it's time to lie down, a
time determined by the shepherd, I'm found lying down. When it's
time to be by the waters of quietness, that's where I am. He leads me
besides waters of quietness. He leads me into green pastures. He leads me, and now the imagery
is all dropped, He leads me in paths of righteousness for His
name's sake. He doesn't drive. He leads. Shepherds in the Middle East
lead their sheep. They do not drive them. They
manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to the position
and functions of a shepherd. In John chapter 10, our Lord
underscores this two times in the most plain language with
reference to His sheep, that is, those who have been returned
unto Him as the shepherd and bishop of their souls. John 10
verses 2 to 4. John 10 verse 2, But he that
enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him
the porter opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls
his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has put forth
all his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep are following
him, for they know his voice. Here is a description of the
true shepherd and his true sheep. He goes before them and the sheep
are following him. Drop down to verse 27 in the
same chapter with the same imagery of the shepherd-sheep relationship.
And Jesus said, My sheep are hearing my voice, a present tense
verb, and I know them, that is, such as hear my voice are the
ones that I regard with distinguishing love and affection and the knowledge
of intimacy and communion. And they are following me, and
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. Now the subject
of all those wonderful promises is His true sheep. And His true
sheep are described as those who manifest a pattern of practical
responsiveness to His position and functions as a shepherd.
They listen to His voice and they are following Him. The evidence
that they have truly embraced His person, position, and functions
is that when He speaks, their ears are opened. where he directs,
their feet follow. This pattern of practical responsiveness
is not perfect, but it is purposeful and the predominant disposition
of his sheep. Do you see it in the text? You
don't need to know any Greek, just any English Bible makes
it very plain. But then there is a third characteristic
of the relationship of the sheep to the great And it is this,
they manifest a discerning rejection of impostors of their true shepherd
and his position. They manifest a discerning rejection
of impostors of their true shepherd and his position. You've often
heard it said that sheep are dumb and stupid. Well, in some
ways they may be. And there may be grounds for
that statement, but this is what our Lord says about his sheep.
And that's why we must never, never interpret the Bible by
our observation of sheep, but let the Bible's use of the shepherd
sheep imagery interpret itself. Because Jesus says in John 10
verses four and five, these words about his own sheep, when he
has put forth his own. He goes before them, and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger they
will not follow, but will flee from them, for they do not know
the voice of strangers. He said, my sheep have a discerning
ear and they reject and flee from those who are imposters
to the position and function of the true shepherd. They follow
him, the true shepherd, because, he says, they recognize his voice. Notice how the following has
as its cause the recognition. The end of verse 4. The sheep
follow him for, this is why, they recognize his voice. Conversely,
the stranger they do not follow, but rather run from him. Why? For they do not know the voice
of strangers. When someone appears in the apparent
position and role of a shepherd, whose voice the sheep do not
recognize, not only will they remain put and not follow, they
flee. That's an imposter, they say.
He has no good in mind playing the role of the shepherd who
lives for our well-being. You see that in the text? That's
what Jesus says about his sheep. There is a loyalty of the sheep
that has not only a positive but a negative dimension. Jesus
said his sheep instinctively recognize if anyone tries to
take the place of himself, tries to imitate him, tries to disguise
himself as the Lord Jesus the Great Shepherd, not hearing the
shepherd's voice when his mouth is open, They not only refuse
to follow, but they flee, for they know that this imposter
has no good at heart. Then there is a fourth characteristic
or dimension of the relationship of the sheep to the shepherd.
You see what we're doing now? We're just taking the pattern
from what Christ says about his true sheep and himself as the
true shepherd. And the fourth thing is this.
They possess a reciprocal knowledge and loving fellowship with the
shepherd. They possess a reciprocal knowledge
and loving fellowship with the shepherd. We could go back to
Psalm 23. I will fear no evil for thou
art with me. David says, as a sheep who looks
up to Jehovah as his shepherd, it is in the consciousness of
his nearness and communion and fellowship that I feel safe. And then the apex of the sheep's
privilege is to be brought to the shepherd's fold, never to
be taken out again. The psalm closes with the wonderful
and well-known words, I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah,
who is my shepherd forever. But notice how the Lord Jesus
picks up this strand in John 10. Not only is it there on the
surface of Psalm 23, but in John 10, 14, and 15, this is what
our Lord says. I am the good shepherd, and I
know mine own. and mine own know me. Now is that bare knowledge? I know my own like I know all
things, and my own know me? No, for look at verse 15. Even
as, here is the measure of that reciprocal knowledge between
shepherd and sheep and sheep and shepherd, even as the Father
knows me, And I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the
sheep." Now, what is the knowledge that exists between the shepherd
and his father? In one place, Jesus said, no
man knows the Son save the Father. No man knows the Father save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is willing to reveal
Him. Within the mystery of the Godhead,
only God can comprehend God. That's why you must expect mystery
at every stage of your investigation of the ways of God. As one eminent
servant of God said, there is no truth in Scripture which,
if it is not traced back far enough, does not explode in mystery. Why? Because it is rooted in
the God whose ways are past tracing out. If God were big enough for
you to comprehend Him, He wouldn't be big enough to fill the vision
of adoring worship. Understand God and you can no
longer worship. And so the Lord Jesus said, as
I know the Father, that is, as I have an intimate, loving, penetrating
cognizance of His nature, of His being, of His ways, as I
know the Father and the Father knows me in a way that is not
strictly equal to, but has some parallels, it is analogous, it
is something like this, Jesus said, I know mine own, that is,
mine own sheep. I have with respect to them a
penetrating, insightful, loving, sensitive knowledge and understanding
of them. And look, mine own know me. My sheep have more than a surface
acquaintance with me. More than that which they could
have been taught by parroting verses in the catechism and going
to Sunday school and church and listening to preachers, they
have a knowledge of me that penetrates into the mystery of who I am
as the God-man. There is a knowledge that is
suffused with love and devotion and the attachment of affection
and will. I know mine own, mine own know
me. They possess a reciprocal knowledge
and loving fellowship with the shepherd. So the relationship
is not surface or devoid of the deepest love. and mutual appreciation. Well, those are the four main
categories that I discovered in my study. There may be more.
But I trust you can see from the scriptures we've looked at,
there's nothing hidden, nothing sneaky. There's no clever way
to come to these conclusions. They stand right on the surface
of the text. That in these four ways, the
sheep of Christ are found related to Christ as the shepherd. What a beautiful description
of what it is to be a Christian. And if I were to stop at this
point and apply my have-enough to drive home to your conscience
the question, do you have any relationship to Jesus Christ
that in any way fits the description I've just given? If not, you're
not a Christian. I will say it in passing. If
not, you're not a Christian. If you have not embraced the
Great Shepherd in His person, position, and functions as the
Shepherd who dies for the sheep, as the Shepherd who rules and
governs in grace and kindness His sheep, who leads them, who
directs them, if you have not embraced the Great Shepherd,
my friend, you're a lost sinner and under the wrath of God. If
you do not manifest a pattern of practical response to his
position and functions as a shepherd, if what Jesus says and what Jesus
is as the pattern for his people does not cut any mustard in your
life, doesn't impinge upon you as you live day by day in the
home, in the school, in the shop, in the marketplace, behind the
TV, with husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister, if the
words of Jesus don't mold you really, practically, vitally,
powerfully, day by day, you're not a Christian. My sheep hear. My sheep follow. And if you do not manifest a
discerning rejection of impostors who would substitute the role
of the true shepherd, you're not a Christian. Maybe that's
why some of you dabble in all kinds of religions. That's why
you dabble in church hopping. You can dabble in this and dabble
in that and dabble in the other thing. Why? You don't know the
voice of the shepherd. If you ever went to a place where
his word was faithfully expounded and applied, you'd hear his voice
and that's where you'd want to be. And the reason you're so
gullible in things religious is you're devoid of the Holy
Spirit, who is given to all who embrace the Lord Jesus as shepherd,
that they might know His voice, that they might distinguish it
from the voice of impostors and not follow but run from them. And if there is no reciprocal
knowledge between you and Christ, a knowledge suffused with love,
and a penetrating insight into the glory and the beauty and
the loveliness of Jesus, my friend, you're not a Christian. Now,
I don't find it delightful to say that, but that's reality.
Jesus is describing a Christian under the imagery of a shepherd
and sheep, and he says those four things are true of the sheep
in their relationship to the shepherd. Now then, our second
category, having as it were, applied it evangelistically.
Now we come to consider the biblical teaching regarding the relationship
between the sheep, that is the members of a congregation, and
their under shepherds, that is their pastors, their elders,
their bishops, their leaders. And what we're going to do is
just go back and take those four categories and demonstrate from
the word of God. that they form not a complete
index of all the responsibilities of church members to their elders,
but they present at least the dominant elements of that responsibility
that fit under the sheep-shepherd imagery. So you hear me what
I'm doing now? I'll be saying nothing about
your responsibility to provide for the shepherd's well-being
because that imagery isn't found in the shepherd-sheep analogy.
The people of God are to provide for their elders, those that
labor in the Word and in doctrine, and others as well. The laborer's
worthiness is higher. There are other dimensions, but
what I'm doing is limiting myself to those aspects of your relationship
to your under-shepherds that find their parallel in your relationship
to the chief shepherd. And here they are. Number one,
you are to embrace their persons position and functions as your
under-shepherds. Just as you embrace Christ's
person, position and functions as the chief shepherd, you are
to embrace their person's position and functions as your under-shepherds. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Is the Lord Jesus at all jealous that having embraced Him in His
person, position, and functions as the Chief Shepherd, that we
should embrace mere fellow redeemed sinners in some way that is not
equal to but finds a parallel with the way we receive Him? Well, He cannot be jealous because
it is He who made this very arrangement. In Ephesians chapter 4 we read
that it is the ascended Lord, verse 8, wherefore when he ascended
on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. And what are the gifts that he,
the chief shepherd, has given to men? Well, the last gift listed
in verse 11 is this, and some pastors and teachers for the
perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the
building up of the body of Christ. You see, it is the cheap shepherd
who in love for his flock, the same love that caused him to
do that which no under-shepherd could do, laid down his life,
a life of such worth that he could redeem his sheep out of
the clutches of the devil and make them his own. It is that
same nourishing, cherishing love, concern to mend and to feed and
to shepherd the sheep that move the cheap shepherd to give little
under-shepherds. shepherds and teachers. The word
pastor can be translated shepherd. That's the standard word for
shepherd in the New Testament. So Christ is not jealous. He
gives, and notice, it is not said that he gives the pastoral
office in abstraction. But it is said He gives pastors,
that is specific men whom He has equipped. He gives the office
in the concreteness of the persons who fill the office. Do you see
that? He gives pastors and teachers. For what? For the perfecting
of the saints. The Lord who gives them says
this to all to whom he gives them. John 13 and verse 20. John 13 and verse 20. Truly, truly, I say unto you,
he that receives whomsoever I send receives me, and he that receives
me receives him that sent me. Now here's the chief shepherd.
From his place of exaltation at the right hand of the Father,
he gives under-shepherds, not just the pastoral office in abstraction,
but he gives specific pastors and teachers, men whom he has
furnished with the requisite gifts and graces. And the church
has recognized those gifts and graces as they have examined
that man in the light of Scripture. And now the Lord Jesus says,
Whoever receives whomsoever I send receives me. In other words,
there is to be a parallel between the manner in which Christ is
embraced in His person, position, and functions as the chief shepherd,
and the way in which we receive the person. position and functions
of the under shepherd. There's a beautiful example of
this. Among those gifts that Christ gives, he gave apostles
in the first century. And when Paul writes to the Galatians,
trying to humble them by the remembrance of their past attitude
to him. He describes how they received
him in Galatians 4.14. And he's not rebuking them for
this. He's commending them for it. It was not idolatry. It was an evidence of true spirituality. Galatians chapter 4, verse 13. You know that because of an infirmity
of the flesh, I preached the gospel unto you the first time.
and that which was a temptation to you in my flesh you did not
despise nor rejected but received me as an angel or messenger of
God even as Christ Jesus. He said you received me in a
way that was analogous to your reception of Christ himself and
that was proper. For it was Christ who had sent
him. He said, I beseech you, in Christ's
head, be reconciled to God. And so, likewise, the sheep of
Christ, pastor, are to embrace the person, position, and functions
of every under-shepherd whom Christ the Lord is pleased to
give. And they're to do it just like
they embraced the Lord Jesus, voluntarily, joyfully, and with
thanksgiving. Why? Because they should recognize
in it a fulfillment of one of the wonderful promises of the
new covenant. I will give them shepherds after
my own heart who shall feed them with knowledge and understanding. And dear people, as I sat in
that Sunday school class this morning, and had my heart ravished
with that sight of our gracious sovereign God. with all the wheels
within wheels of divine providence, ordering and governing and controlling
all men and things and all their actions and overruling even our
sin, I thought, Oh God, we're hearing things in fifty minutes
of knowledge and understanding that some men sit in a church
for a lifetime and never hear a tithe of it. Oh, how good God
has been Now, this descends to a very
concrete expression of that disposition. If indeed we have embraced the
person, position, and functions of our under-shepherds in a way
that is analogous to the manner in which we've embraced the chief
shepherd, turn to Hebrews 13.24. Surely this will be the most
elementary way in which we'll express that. The epistle to
the Hebrews closes just before the benediction of grace upon
them with this imperative, verse 24 of Hebrews 13. Salute, greet
all them that have the rule over you and all the saints. Now, this word salute or greet
does not mean a mere social greeting. It means a greeting in which
there is the outgoing of unfamed love and affection. reception of the person whom
we greet as a brother in the case of all the saints and in
the case of those who rule over us. It is the salutation, the
open-faced, unfeigned, unhypocritical greeting from the heart that
says, with thankfulness, with joy and gratitude, I embrace
your person, your position and your function. as an under-shepherd
given by the chief shepherd who laid down his life for me. Now
I'm going to say something that may sound very, very shocking,
but I can demonstrate the validity of it from Scripture. There is
no such thing as a true reception of the chief shepherd while there
is a pattern of rejecting his under-shepherds. There is no
such thing as a true reception of the chief shepherds While
there is a pattern, notice I did not say if someone is struggling
in a given area at a given time, don't anyone force to an extreme
that is ludicrous what I am saying very guardedly and carefully,
while there is a pattern of rejecting His appointed under-shepherds. For in the language of Psalm
77, 20, And this would form in itself
a fruitful study to open it up in its historical detail. Psalm
77 closes with this language, Thou leadest, verse 20, Thou
leadest thy people like a flock. It was Jehovah, the great shepherd
of Israel, who led his people like a flock. But how did he
do it? By the hand of Moses and Aaron. May I say it reverently? Jehovah's
rod and staff and voice were found in the person, position,
and function of Moses and Aaron. So you remember what happened
when the people got a bit antsy and a bit smart-alecky in rejecting
the authority of Moses? What did God do? God let him
know that that was a rejection of himself. That's your first
responsibility. You have no option in the matter.
It is your responsibility to embrace their persons, position,
and functions as under shepherds. But then secondly, you are to
manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to their position
and functions as shepherds, just as with the chief shepherd. You
are to manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to their
position and functions as shepherds. Why are we given to you? We saw
two weeks ago, to feed you, to nourish you upon the green pastures
and the quiet waters of God's Word publicly and privately. to secure your place in the gathered
flock. That whole motif, the shepherd
does not allow sheep to wander to the fringes and get away from
the fold and from the flock because there they are vulnerable and
being distanced from the shepherd and their fellow sheep. They
are exposed to all kinds of danger. And God indicts the false prophets
again and again saying, the straying, the wandering, you've not gone
out and drawn them back. They are to protect the flock
from their enemies, the wolves, the predators that would pounce
upon them and devour them. And then they are to attend to
their maladies now as they exercise this shepherding rule by means
of public and private teaching, admonition, encouragement, gracious
interrogation. How are things with your soul?
How are things in your walk with God, your relationship to your
wife, to your husband, to your children? Are there any besetting
sins that you find you're not able to conquer? Why do the shepherds
in that sense probe? Well, they do it for the same
reason a loving shepherd may work his hands through the thick
wool on the back of one of the sheep to make sure some kind
of a tick has not buried itself under its skin and is sapping
out its lifeblood. It's the shepherd's tender love
that goes down beneath the external appearance of a healthy sheep. It's not because he's got some
kind of psychologically sick bent that needs to be satisfied
by pulling back the wool, pulling back the lip to see if there
are indications of diseases that register in the color and tone
of the mouth. in the performance of all of
those functions. The shepherd is seeking to shepherd
his sheep. And now this is why God says
in Hebrews 13, 17, that this is to be the pattern of your
walk with your under-shepherds. You are to manifest a pattern
of practical responsiveness to their position and function as
shepherds. Hebrews 13 and verse 17. Obey
them. people, shepherds that have the
rule over you and submit. For they watch in behalf of your
souls as they that shall give an account, that they may do
this with joy and not with grief, for this were unprofitable for
you." Thank God I don't need to preach this to my knowledge
as any great call to congregational repentance. But it's been four,
almost four and a half years since there's been any formal
teaching on this matter. When Pastor Nichols brought his
series in the adult class, And since at this time it was appropriate
to consider it, we need to be reminded of this duty. You and
I are to manifest a pattern of practical responsiveness to the
position and functions of our under-shepherds. We are to obey
them. If they are true shepherds, they
are feeding, protecting, securing our place in the flock, attending
to our maladies by means of Scripture and in submission to Scripture.
And insofar as that is their function, we are to obey them. Now, some clever people have
come along and said, ah, but don't you know, Pastor Martin,
that the standard words for obedience are not used in this passage,
but the Greek word paitho, which is often translated persuaded,
is used. And what the passage simply means
is be persuaded by those that have the rule over you. And if
you aren't persuaded that what they tell you and demand of you
is right, then don't do it. They can only lead by your consent. Oh, is that so? Well, granted,
the word is sometimes translated persuade, but it's also the word
used in James 3.3. We put bit and bridle into horse's
mouth to make them obey us. Not so we can whisper in their
ear, but that we can pull back on the soft, fleshy part of the
mouth and say, horsey, go right, go left, or stop. And furthermore,
look at the next word. Obey them that have the rule
over you and submit. Hupaikete, a second person plural
present imperative of hupaiko, which means yield, give way,
be submissive, and it has no other meaning. Now what do we
do? At that point, We either rear
back on our hind legs and say, I don't care what God says, and
I'll do my own thing, all right? Do it and be damned, but don't
say you're submissive to the chief shepherd. Or you'll say,
in spite of all of my native independence and native rebellion,
having entrusted my soul to the chief shepherd, who I know governs
me for his good. I will believe that He's given
me under shepherds for my good. And insofar as they lead by Scripture,
I will obey and I will submit and I will be prepared to get
down off my high horse of thinking my wisdom and my judgment and
my feelings are the supreme and inflexible standard of what is
right and good and best for me and for the congregation. to manifest a pattern of practical
responsiveness to their position and function. And if you knew
how I brag about you as a people when I'm elsewhere, you'd be
embarrassed, so I won't embarrass you. But I thank God for these
many years that this has been your pattern to your shepherds. As they exercise the role of
shepherds and bring the word of God to bear upon the flock,
you're to hear their voice and you're to follow because the
word they bring you is Christ's voice. When he says, my sheep
hear my voice and follow me, where do they hear his voice?
In the scripture. And how is it heard supremely
in the Scripture? Not only when we read the Word
of God in our devotions, but when it is proclaimed by the
under-shepherds whom He has given to the Church as teachers, shepherds
and teachers. That's why the rulers are described
in verse 7 as men who spoke the Word of God to you. Remember
them that had the rule over you, men who spoke the Word of God. Then I must hasten on to a conclusion. Touch these other things just
briefly. You are to manifest a discerning rejection of impostors
of your true shepherds. You, like the sheep who will
not hear the voice of a stranger, will not follow but run. You
are to manifest a discerning rejection of impostors of your
true shepherds. Remember Paul said, warning the
elders, after my departure, Perverse men will rise up from your own
midst to draw away disciples after them. They will appear
as shepherds, gathering the flock into better pastures than their
proper shepherds. He says, I warned you for three
years, day and night with tears. Mark it down. The three outstanding
characteristics of false shepherds are these. Their voice and actions
direct attention to themselves and their own interests. Ezekiel
34, God indicts the shepherds. They were having a mutton feast
while the flock was scattered and being devoured. They fed
themselves. They fleeced the sheep and fed
their bellies off the sheep. The voice and actions of imposter
shepherds will always direct attention to themselves and their
own interest. That's why Paul said, perverse
men who will draw away disciples after themselves. Secondly, their voice and actions
will seek to restrict the liberty of the sheep purchased by the
chief shepherd. The mark of a false shepherd
is, he will not only draw attention to himself and his own interest,
he will try to restrict the liberty of the sheep purchased by the
chief shepherd. Galatians 2.4, they come in to
spy out your liberty in Christ. Galatians 5.1, stand fast in
the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free. 1 Timothy
4, 1-5, Paul warns about doctrines of demons that will come through
false shepherds that will deny the validity of foods and bodily
functions and appetites that God has given to be enjoyed in
Christ. One of the marks of false shepherds
is like the Pharisees, they'll bind burdens grievous to be borne. 2nd Corinthians 11 20 Paul said
these false apostles came in and they took advantage of the
Corinthians They charged for their services. They abused them.
They Paul says in essence. They spit in your face. They
clobber you They treat you like dirt and yet you follow them
and you abandon me your true Shepherd Oh, dear people, beware
of anyone, anyone who in the name of higher spirituality would
rob you of the liberty purchased by the chief shepherd. But then
on the other side of the coin, they, for their voice and action,
seek to remove the constraints of holiness demanded and purchased
by the chief shepherd. You read about this in Galatians
5, 13 to 15, 2 Peter 2, 1 and 2, and Jude 4, where the mark
of false shepherds is that they promise liberty while making
themselves and all who follow them the slaves of corruption
and sin. Those are the three outstanding
marks of false shepherds. Dear people, hear me, hear me.
When anyone attempts to lead you in this place or any other,
who is using you as a stepping stone to his own advancement,
whether of reputation or money or position, when anyone in any
way impinges upon liberties purchased by Christ or seeks to set you
free from evangelical law-keeping in the name of liberty, run from
him! He's a false shepherd! and pray
that God will give you an ear, that hearing a false shepherd
you will not follow but run from him. And then the fourth dimension
is this. You are to cultivate knowledge
and express esteem for your shepherds. The true sheep know the chief
shepherd and he knows them. And what does God say in 1 Thessalonians
5, 12 and 13? He says, and let's turn to the
passage as we close this morning, 1 Thessalonians 5, 12, 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. Notice how the shepherds
are described. They are described as those who
labor, and He uses that strong word, kapi'aho, which means labor
unto toil and pain. They labor. They are over you
in the Lord. They toil. They preside. They
admonish. They bring the Word of God to
you with encouragement, with rebuke, with guidance, with correction. That's their function. They labor. They preside, they admonish. Now, what's he say, run from
them? No, he says, know them, not merely be acquainted with
them. But as this word is used in various ways in the New Testament,
and I don't have time to demonstrate it, but if you just have a strong
concordance, you can prove it for yourself. It means to have
a perceptive, accurate awareness of someone or something. Further,
it means to delight in their association and attachment to
them. Know them. Have a perceptive,
accurate awareness of them. Cultivate a delight in association
and attachment to them. There's no place for willful
ignorance of your under-shepherds, no place for avoidance, no place
for baseless misconception, no place for conjuring up a notion
of who and what they are and making that notion reality without
attempting to get to know who they really are. And then he
says, not only know them but esteem them, hold them in regard,
consider them how in love What measure? Beyond all measure. It's a compound word in which
two prefixes are piled up at the front to give the sense of
superabounding, overflowing. Beyond all measure, Ephesians
3.20 is a parallel use. And the reason? For their work's
sake. In the light of what they're
doing. For whose good? I say it without any self-serving.
There's not a man who's a shepherd in this flock who could not be
doing something else and doing it well and doing it for a lot
more money, and in some cases for a lot more prestige and fame
and personal aggrandizement. What in God's name constrains
men to turn their back upon financial security or optimum financial
advancement, personal advancement, to give himself to lonely hours
of study and prayer and wrestling and taking upon his back the
problems and burdens and wounds and sores and at times the putrefied
sores of people. What does it, dear people? It
is love for the chief shepherd who has constrained them to become
under-shepherds. Now, for their work's sake, a
work that terminates upon your preservation, upon your well-being,
upon your conformity to Christ, a work that terminates upon your
own highest interest, for their work's sake, know them, regard
them with accurate, penetrating love and affinity and outgoingness. and esteem them in love for the
sake of their work. That's what God calls upon us
to do. Now go back to the prototype, the Lord Jesus. What is the relationship
of the sheep to Him? Is that your relationship to
Him? Have you embraced Him in His position, in His functions,
in His person as the Chief Shepherd? Are you manifesting practical
response to his position and to his functions as the shepherd?
Are you manifesting a discerning rejection of all imposters? Are you cultivating a growing
mutual knowledge and intimacy with him? Then if you are, it
ought to find a growing expression and counterpart in your relationship
to your under-shepherds? Are you, with all of your heart
sitting here this morning, embracing their person's position and function
as the gift of Christ? Are you manifesting practical
responsiveness to their functions and positions as shepherds? Are
you determined not to allow someone who smooth talks you, who's a
false shepherd, to wean your affections away from your true
shepherds, to isolate you from the flock and leave you vulnerable
to the wolves that will devour you? And do you attempt to know
and esteem? These, I say, are your responsibilities. Those are mine to my shepherds.
I thank God for my shepherds. And I trust we as shepherds manifest
from the posture of sheep this attitude to our fellow shepherds
that you see it lived out as your elders lived before you
in our submission to one another, in our embrace of one another,
in the absence of rivalry and one-upmanship and ambition. You
see that displayed before your very eyes. We're not calling
you to something that we ourselves are not called to. May God grant
we shall ever be a people who not only know and love the Chief
Shepherd, but manifest that love by our love and response to his
under-shepherds. Let us pray. Our Father, our hearts are again
moved at the contemplation of our great Chief Shepherd. who would love the likes of us
enough not merely to expose himself to danger, but voluntarily to
lay down his life in death, and not merely an ordinary physical
death, but the horrible death of deaths, giving himself up
to become the recipient of the unleashed fury of your infinite
wrath against sin. O Lord Jesus, we love you and
we thank you for laying down your life for us. Help us, who
are your under shepherds, that we shall have more and more of
your spirit of selflessness, of willingness to spend and be
spent for the good of the sheep. and give to this flock of sheep
a disposition to their under shepherds that will be reflective
of your grace and will show that they have caught something of
the thrust of the word that has come to their hearts this morning. Have mercy upon those who have
yet to return to the chief shepherd. Call them from their wandering,
O gracious God, O Savior, seeker of wandering sheep. Draw some
to Yourself even today. Seal now the word. Dismiss us
with Your blessing resting upon us. And for such mercies we shall
forever be grateful. Amen.