Acts chapter 20 and beginning
verse 27. For I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers
to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own
blood. That's all I'm going to read
right now. We named this assembly building
that we have here the Sovereign Grace Chapel. And we did that
on purpose. A lot of people may not understand
the difference, but I think we do. In the scriptures, the word
church has been translated from the word ecclesia. The church
of God, which Paul is referring to here, is the people of God. That's what the church is, the
ecclesia. I'm not against places being
named churches. The place we were at before this
was called Calvary Baptist Church. But when it came time to move
and to rename this assembly, we used the word chapel. And
we did it on purpose, because we don't want to have the confusion.
Most people think the church is the building. The church ain't
the building. The church is not the denomination.
A lot of people go that way. Oh, because I go to a Lutheran
church here, and then I come down to a Lutheran church Georgia
and they think it's going to be pretty much the same and maybe
this But that's not the church according
to the scriptures I Want to be clear on this the chapel a chapel
is a place The church is his assembly the church is made up
of believers. We believers are the members
in particular of his body. That's what also the scripture
says. The church is his body, and it is made up of many members,
not many buildings. He, Christ Jesus, is the head
of the body, which is also what the church is called. which we
believers are, his body. And he is our head. So, I wanna preach Christ this
morning, but I wanna preach about the church. This is the title,
Paul. The church purchased, purchased. Now I'm not gonna keep you long,
And I'm not going to preach anything new, because all this stuff is
pretty old. It's the old story. And it doesn't
change. And it never will change. But
I began reading with the last verse of the former paragraph,
where Paul had been talking to these Ephesian elders. He called
them to come to him. He was on his way to Jerusalem.
He couldn't make it to Ephesus, but he wanted to talk to them.
And this is what he ended his statement to them, this paragraph
here. For I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God. First thing I want to point out
is that Paul called the Ephesian elders plural. Having more than one elder in
an assembly seemed to be normal in those days, Walter. But he was telling these people,
these elders, these overseers, I preach to you who and what
Jesus Christ has revealed unto me. I kept back nothing profitable,
nothing profitable. You know, some people say. We shouldn't preach some things
to sinners. Maybe you ought not preach election.
That's usually what comes up. I believe election, but I can't
preach it. People say that. Now, I know why they won't preach
it, and so do they. I'm not going to really go into
it now, but they're afraid that people are going to get mad at
it and leave and cut down on their numbers. This is what some
preachers worry about. But I can tell you this. Paul
preached to these Ephesians. Election. He preached unto them. He preached unto them. I was
listening to a sermon by Henry Mahan the other day on Ezekiel. He was preaching on Ezekiel in
his very dry bones. And he made this point. And what
he said was. Ezekiel preached to those dry
bones, to those very dry bones, two things. Well, he preached
the word of the Lord, which is what the Lord told him to preach.
But here's the word of the Lord to those very dry bones, dead
dry bones. I will, and you shall. That's it. God will, and you
shall. We ought not preach the sovereignty
too hard. People can't take it. Sinners
won't like it. Of course they won't like it.
Jesus Christ preached it, and they left him. But he preached
it nonetheless, because those that would hear him will listen
to what he has to say. He told those dry bones, Ezekiel
did what God said. God said, I'll cause breath into
you. And you'll breathe. You'll breathe. If God puts breath
into you, you'll breathe. I'll lay sinews and flesh and
skin and put breath in you. And you know what? You shall
live. You shall live. The sovereignty
of God is not in question, except from seriously too many pulpits. In the Bible, the sovereignty
of God is never in question. He wills, and you shall. The difference is, believers
love to have it that way. You understand? I don't want
to be in charge. Not of your destiny, not of your end, or
mine. I don't even want to be in charge
of mine. Why? Because I also believe that
thing about there's none good, no not one, and that means me.
There's none that doeth good. There's none that seeketh after
God. And I still don't naturally. But by his grace, he wills and
I shall. And that blesses your heart if
you know him. That blesses your soul if you're a sinner. Because
you understand, we're going to try and preach a God who saves. Not one that's trying to save.
Not one that's made salvation possible. Not even once, what
was the new word? Not even one that's made salvation
available. No, no. I need a God whose arm
is not short that he cannot save. I need a God who can save. And
that's what Paul declared to these Ephesians. And he says,
I didn't shun to tell you anything that God had told me. There's the counsel of God. He
will, and you shall. But then he says this. This is
what I want to talk about. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock. I love how Paul wrote this, well
Paul said it, Luke wrote it down, what Paul said. Take heed, he's
talking to the elders now, take heed unto yourselves and the
flock. You understand, pastors, preachers,
are no different than the flock. We are members of this assembly. And I need to take heed for myself
and for the flock. But I've got to take heed for
myself. Take heed, what's that mean? Pay attention. Pay attention. Think about what you're doing.
Think about what you're saying. And yes, I will admit, I have
a great deal of problem with that sometimes. Too much comes
out of my mouth without enough up here. But the elders' needs are exactly
the same as the flock. The elders' needs. You know why
I say that? Because the elders are in the
flock. They are part of the flock. Now. I do want to mention this about
the word flock here. Because I got to looking at it,
and whenever you start talking about the flock of God, you start
talking about the flock. It's a reference to sheep. So
what do we think of? I am the good shepherd. John 10.16 says this, and other
sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring,
and they shall, I will, and they shall, hear my voice. And there
shall be one fold and one shepherd. Well, I was looking at this.
And the first fold in that statement, he says, other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, that's one word. But when he gets down
to the other part, there shall be one fold and one shepherd,
that word fold, there's a different word. The first word is fold. It's a place, a gathering for
the sheep. It could be in a courtyard, a
yard, but the second The actual word translated here
from the Greek is the exact same word that Paul uses here. He
says, other sheep I have that are not of this fold, them I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be
one, and the word is this, flock, and one shepherd. I like that,
I like that, because you understand, The flock moves with the shepherd. And it's the shepherd's responsibility
to keep the flock together. Now, yes, we are to be overseers. We are to be bishops. Now, it
does say overseers and not overlords. Bishops, pastors, teachers, we
are to be that. But there's only one flock. There's
one fold, and there's one flock, and there's only one good shepherd. And I'll throw this in for free.
Did you ever think about that where he says, this is the words
of Christ, he said it, I am, okay, the good shepherd. Now
did you ever think about that in relation to when he spoke
to that rich young ruler, the one who had many goods? And
the one who kept the Ten Commandments up for my youth? No, he didn't. But anyhow, that young ruler
came to Christ and said, good master. And Christ looked at
him, and he said, why callest thou me good? There's none good
but God. Now, what does he say in here? I am the good shepherd. There's none good but God. There's
none but God. Jesus Christ told us he was God.
And I'm going to tell you something, he's God's shepherd. And we are
the sheep of his pasture. We are the sheep of his fold,
and we are the sheep of his flock. And he's bringing in his sheep.
I like that. And it says here also, take heed
therefore to yourselves and to all the flock, over which the
Holy Ghost has made thee overseers. 1 Timothy 3 and 1 said this. This
is a true saying. If a man desire the office of
a bishop, the overseer, he desireth a good work. But here's the truth
also. That's true. It is a true saying.
It's the Holy Ghost that makes overseers. We are not to take things to
ourselves. We have the guidance of this
book and the Spirit of God. And we are to be overseers, again
I'll say it, not overlords. I know people who say, I'm lord
of my house and my church. Pastors have said that. Well,
I'm not. I'm not in either place, really
wanna know the truth about it. Here's the thing. I'm not to
be Lord. I've got a Lord. We have a Lord. I'm to be an overseer. Paul said it. The Holy Ghost
makes overseers. In Romans, he asked a question.
How shall they preach? except they be sent. The Holy
Ghost makes over spheres, but he makes them for a purpose,
to feed the church of God. That's what my statements were. That's why I picked that song
this morning. The church's one foundation is
Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's the only foundation we
have. That's the only foundation we
have. And when it says that in that song, the church is one
foundation, that is his body. That is the body of believers
who know Christ, who had Christ revealed to them, and they believe
him. We are to take care of the church
of God. And that word, to feed, This
is another word relating to sheep. The word is to tend, to tend
my sheep, to tend the church, to take care of the church of
God, the people of God, the overseer, the bishop, the elder, the pastor
teacher, is to tend to the needs of the assembly of God. Now there's another word where
it just flat out says feed, fodder, pastor. This word is more than
that. This is to tend, this is to care. Excuse me, this is to bind up
wounds, to watch over the sheep so that they don't injure themselves.
And this includes themselves also. We are our own worst enemies
most of the time. I don't normally need any help
getting into trouble. I tell people at work, and they
sort of think I'm joking, and I sort of am, but I'm not. They
asked me how I'm doing. I said, well, I'm trying to stay
out of trouble. And then I'll look at them, I'll say, that's
a lot harder than it sounds. And I mean it, because I know
to a degree how much trouble I can cause myself. But this word means to tend,
and you can't tend the flock of God without feeding it. It's
not possible. That is part of it. It is part
of that word. So how is the church of God fed? Preach the word. Preach the word. Be instant in season and out
of season. What did he just say before this?
Where he says, feed the flock, feed the church of God. I have
not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God. I don't know exactly how to say
this other than flat out. The bishop, the pastor, the preacher
is not The primary job of the overseer
is not to feed the world. It's not to tend to the world.
It's to tend to the church. I know a lot of people, and they
talk a lot about social justice, and I'm glad somebody is. But
you understand social justice has never saved anyone. Christ
saves. Christ alone saves. And you understand when you're
talking about the church of God, you're talking about believers.
Trust me, we've got the world all around us. This is where
we gather to hear about our Lord. This is what we are concerned
about. And when I talk to Walter on the phone, or we text back
and forth with Paul and others, I wanna talk to you about Christ.
because I can't talk to anybody else about it. Well, I can, but
it's like having the conversation with this wall. They don't get
it. They don't understand it because
they don't know him. Paul tells us in that previous
verse, declare the counsel of God and here's the counsel of
God, Jesus Christ and him crucified. Because all the counsel of God
is a person. All the counsel of God is the
person of God. God manifests in the flesh. We don't know anything about
the Father apart from what the Son tells us. And we don't know that very well. Like I said. Primary job of the
overseer of the bishop of the pastor is to feed the church
of God Now we will preach right now
up there we will preach to anyone who will listen We will speak you anyone here
is welcome to come here to hear us preach But you understand
It's only food for believers. To some, we are the saver of
life unto life. To God, we are the saver of life
unto life. And to others, we're the saver
of death unto death. There are not two messages, one for
the church and one for the world. There's only one message, Jesus
Christ, Him crucified, and Jesus Christ who saves sinners. If you don't know your center,
I can't help you. But we are to preach Him, Jesus Christ,
and Him crucified, and that, this, is food for the believer. Because that's food for the Church
of Christ, the Church of God. And now we come to this part
where I got stuck a little bit. Which he, he hath purchased with his own
blood. And the he being God. God has purchased his And I looked,
and it is definitely in the past tense. Understand, God is not purchasing
his church now. He purchased it. We're talking
about redemption here, folks. I'm not talking about salvation
in time, which will come. Other sheep I have, them I must
bring. And he's bringing them. But here,
when we're talking about the purchase here, and that word
is something. God purchased his church. This is the work of God entirely. This is the work of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Understand this, man hasn't purchased
anything. The only thing man's got, he's
earned, and that's the wages of sin. which is death. And I looked at this word, when
I looked at this word purchase, and I was pretty much expecting
to see the same word that is translated redeemed or purchased
in other places. There are two main words translated
redeemed in the New Testament. One of them means redeemed, purchased. No, it means ransom. That's another
word that is translated redeemed. He's ransomed us, bought us. The illustration is to like purchase
with money. There is another word they translate
redeemed. And actually, and I like this one, it means to go to the
market and purchase. I like that one, Walter. What's
that? Jesus Christ came here to buy
us. Jesus Christ came here to purchase the church of God. That's good. Those are great
words. But this word is only used in
two places in the New Testament, where it says, which he hath
purchased with his own blood. This word purchased here means
this. Well, the secondary meaning of
it is to buy. The primary definition of this
word purchase is to make around One's self. Now man, that hit me pretty good.
I like that. The church of God. The church
of God. Which God has made around himself. Around himself. Ah, I like that. Other sheep I have, them I must
bring. And there's gonna be one flock
and one shepherd. Where's that flock gonna be?
It's gonna be around him. He's made them around himself. He's made them around himself! Wow. Because there's a bit of
creation in this word. He takes those things which are
not and says that they are. And he takes us who all we had
was a dead sinful nature and brings us in, gives us life
and brings us in around himself. Around himself. You understand, back when the ark was built,
God looked at Noah, and God told Noah, what did he tell him? Come
into the ark. He didn't tell him, go in the
ark. No, he said, come in. Because guess what? God was in the ark. And you know what happened? Noah did. I will, and you shall. The great
I am is in the ark. Come into the ark. And Noah did according to all
that the Lord commanded. Last week I spoke of, come unto
me, and I will give thee rest. And what was that? Take my yoke
upon you. And I said, it's Christ's yoke.
And the primary root word for that word yoke, I told you, is
to join. It's to join. And here we have
this word purchase, where he has made us around himself. And
we join. It's still his yoke. It's not
your yoke. It's his yoke. But you're joined
with him. You're joined with him. Them
I must bring. Like that I Am good shepherd. I am God's shepherd, and he is
bringing in his sheep that are not in the safe place yet Other sheep I have Them I must
bring And he's bringing them in he's
bringing them in and there's gonna be one flock and one shepherd. Jesus Christ has made around
himself the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. The precious price of the salvation
of his people is the blood of God himself. That's the purchase price. That's the price that had to be paid. I was listening to a sermon the
other day. It doesn't matter, and Earl used to say it, and
I'll say it now. Even if Jesus Christ came to
save one sinner, and one sinner alone, He would have had to do
everything that he did that is recorded in this book. For the
salvation of just that one soul, it would take every drop of his
precious blood. So for the salvation of his church,
his people, those chosen by God in Christ before the foundation
of the world, it took this price. the blood of God himself, Jesus
Christ our Lord. God has purchased us with his
own blood. And Christ's blood is sufficient
to pay all of the sins of all of his people. Why? Because it
is the blood of God himself. The God man. Jesus Christ has made around
himself the church of God He has brought the church the people
of God around and around himself He's redeemed us to God. I Just love that Sinners come
to it and You are to come to him All that are weary and heavy
laden, come to him. He'll bring you around himself.
He'll put you in the flock. And the flock is always around
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. You understand? He didn't gather
us together to stick us in a corner. He didn't gather us together,
and that's what it's talking about. He's gonna gather together
in one, and guess who the one is? It's God himself, our Lord
Jesus Christ, who purchased us with his own blood. And he gathers us around himself. And we believers, even the overseers,
the pastors, teachers, Bishops, elders, I like the word elders.
Why? Because I'm getting older. I
like the word elder. It's just me. But we all look
to him. We don't look at ourselves, we
look to him. He has gathered us around himself,
so we can look to him. He has given us eyes to see so
that we can look to Him. He's given us a heart to understand
so we know we need to look to Him. And He's given us ears to
hear so we can tell each other and be told ourselves that we
need to look to Him. Think about it. You know how
the book ends, right? Y'all already read the end of the Bible, right?
I'm not gonna give you any spoilers. What's it say? It says that Jesus
Christ is going to be the light thereof. He's the light now.
But he's gonna be the light on that new earth. You're not gonna
see without it. You're not going to see without
him. And you're always going to be able to see him. He has made around himself the
church of God, and that will never change. There's only one
fold, and there's only one flock, and there's only one shepherd.
And the shepherd, the lamb, shall be the light thereof. Believers take heart. He will
never forsake you. He will never leave. Sinners, come to him. All you that are weary and heavy
laden, he'll give you rest for your souls. He'll give you rest
for your souls. Now if you don't need rest for
your souls, don't bother coming. If you don't want rest for your
souls, I'm not talking to you. I'm here to feed the flock. The church of God, which he has
purchased with his own blood. And he is gathering in his people
as we speak. In his good time, and in his
good place, and in his good manner. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this time. Lord, thank you for your Son,
who in Him we have all things, all spiritual blessings, all
life, all light, all honor, and glory is yours. And we can see just a little
bit of it. and your son, our Lord, Jesus
Christ, in whose name we pray.