What should I do for my pastor? That's my subject this evening.
What should I do for my pastor? I want to talk to you tonight
as plainly as I can, as profitably as God will allow and enable
me to do, about serving Him. for the rest of your lives in
this place with that man he has graciously given you to be your
pastor. I can't think of a more needful
message for you. I'm going to state things very
simply and very plainly. I hope you will take notes, but
I encourage you to listen carefully now to the message and I encourage
you to get a copy of it and listen to it frequently. You will need
this. What I have to say tonight today
and tomorrow and for as long as you live in this world and
seek to serve God in this place, in this body of believers, with
the man he's given you to be your pastor, Brother Eric Richards. when you asked me to send men
out and recommend men to preach to you. I had no hesitancy at
all in recommending that you have brother Eric out here and
have none whatsoever in recommending him as your pastor. I commend
him to you as highly as I possibly can. He's a man of proven faithfulness. Now I want you to open your Bibles
to Isaiah chapter 52. Isaiah chapter 52. We're going
to read verse 7 together. And I'll try to give you some
very plain biblical answers to this question. What should I
do for my pastor? Isaiah chapter 52 verse 7. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation,
that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. Now here, God's prophet
Isaiah, writing by divine inspiration, describes for us who God's servants
are. These words describe every true
gospel preacher and the prophet tells us what our attitude ought
to be toward those who preach the gospel. Now try to get the
picture before us. The picture here in Isaiah 52
is of a city. besieged and taken captive by
an enemy, held in bondage. And they hear the sound of an
army coming across the mountains, an army coming to bring deliverance,
an army coming to give freedom. That's a very accurate picture
of God's church in this world. God's elect, His people, are
in bondage by nature, and He sends an army of men through
the ages of time preaching the gospel of His grace, and by the
preaching of the gospel, they bring deliverance. Yes, it is
God's work, not the preacher's. But he brings deliverance to
the captive by the preaching of the gospel. So the prophet
says, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that saith
unto Zion, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God
reigneth. Now obviously, these words do
not apply to every preacher. San Diego, California, and I
presume this is San Diego County, I don't know. Like Danville,
Kentucky and Boyle County, it's full of preachers. Preachers
who have no business in the pulpit, no business calling themselves
preachers, and should not be regarded and respected as preachers.
This is not talking about false prophets. False prophets, preachers,
are free will works religion. and all preachers of free will
works religion, all of them, are themselves men whose feet
are not beautiful, nor their message desirable, for they do
not bring good news of redemption accomplished by Christ. Rather,
they only bring bad advice. They don't tell sinners what
God has done, they tell sinners what they must do. Let it sink in. I'm not looking
for something to say. Any preacher, any preacher, and
I know some of you attend churches where preachers claim to what
they call reform, claim to believe grace and all the stuff they
give lip service to faith. But when you listen to them,
when you listen to them, listen to them Sunday morning, Sunday
night, Wednesday night, whatever you need, when you listen to
them, all you hear is what you ought to do. If that's what you
hear, he's a work monger. He's not a gospel preacher. If
that's what you hear, you're not listening to a man who comes
with good news. You listen to a man who brings
you bad advice, and if you follow him, you'll follow him to hell.
God's servants come with good news. They always come with good
news. They don't come to tell sinners
what to do. They come to tell sinners done.
They don't come to tell sinners how they must do something, how
they must be this, how they must be that. They come to tell sinners
how God saves sinners and how he's accomplished it in Christ
the Redeemer. First, Isaiah speaks to us plainly
about these faithful preachers whose feet are beautiful to God's
people, whose coming is desirable to God's church. They are men
sent of God to preach the everlasting gospel of his free, sovereign
grace in Christ Jesus. Hold your hands here in Isaiah
52 and turn over to the book of Romans. Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. The Apostle Paul is here quoting
from Isaiah 52. He's been telling us in chapter
10 that redemption's accomplished. Christ is the end of the law
to everyone that believeth. The end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. And then he says the scriptures,
the scriptures not like the law, not like Moses, not like what
Moses, they say what shall we do? The scripture says the word
of grace, the word of salvation is near you. It's in your mouth.
Jesus Christ. Confess Him. Believe Him. Trust
Him. And the message comes from preachers.
Preachers. How shall they hear without a
preacher? How shall they hear without a preacher? Now watch
this. Verse 15. And how shall they preach? Except
they be sent. Sent. Sent. I come here after working all
day preparing this message and I've labored to bring something
that's profitable to your soul. But what I have to say will just
be words bouncing off these walls unless I've been sent here by
God this hour. You understand that? Understand
how important I'm talking about this? Your pastor will come here
and preach to you two or three times a week. However many times
y'all set your services. And he's scheduled to come, works
to come. But unless he's sent to you, every time he comes,
it's just so much exercise in nonsense. So much exercise in
religious activity. How can a man preach except he
be sent? Look at this. As it is written,
how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
priests, that bring glad tidings of good things. These men who
are sent of God bring good tidings. They bring good tidings from
the heart of God to the hearts of his people. They bring good
tidings to poor needy sinners, declaring that righteousness
is established, redemption is accomplished for all who believe
on the Son of God. Every gospel preacher does. Men
talk about your righteousness, and they talk about your goodness,
and they try to get you to be righteous, and try to get you
to be holy, and try to get you to be good. Gospel preachers
come and tell you you can't be righteous, and you can't be holy,
and you can't be good, and you can't make yourself such. God
alone makes sinners righteous, and we proclaim righteousness
finished in the Redeemer. They publish peace. Peace accomplished
by Christ Jesus. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself. Not all men in the world, but
his elect throughout the world. By the accomplished work of Christ,
the Lord God reconciles his elect to him righteously and justly
punishing his son as our substitute. Now we beseech you, be reconciled
to God. The problem is with you. In this
regard, men live as rebels against God. You who believe not. The
problem is not just making a decision for Jesus, you hate God. You
refuse to bow to the rule and dominion of Christ as Lord. And
if you have peace with God, you must lay down your weapons of
warfare at the feet of King Jesus and surrender to Him. We come
publishing peace. God's servants are men sent of
God to bring good tidings of good. Isn't it wonderful how
the prophet reiterates himself here? To bring good tidings of
good. Redemption. Righteousness, forgiveness,
free salvation, everlasting life, everlasting glory. They bring
good news, good tidings of good things in Christ Jesus the Lord.
Redemption accomplished through the merits of Christ the Savior.
They publish salvation. We come publishing that salvation
which was purposed and accomplished of God from eternity. That salvation
that was purchased and accomplished by Christ at Calvary. That salvation
that is performed and accomplished by God the Holy Spirit in the
new birth. We come publishing good news,
publishing salvation, declaring blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and calls us to approach unto thee. They say unto Zion,
look at it here, every man, every man who is sent of God is a messenger
of grace to needy sinners. They say unto Zion, thy God reigneth. Gospel preachers, gospel preachers,
every gospel preacher, all gospel preachers, speak in clear, unmistakable
terms, so that when folks hear them, they can't help but to
understand what they said. They declare God's absolute,
universal sovereignty in all things, in creation, in providence,
and in salvation. They declare that God rules.
God rules. That's the first answer to everything. That's the first answer to everything.
Rose was talking to me about that massacre up in Newtown a
few weeks ago. The first way to begin understanding
is God rules. God rules. If you don't understand
that, you don't understand anything. If you don't understand the fact
that God always has his way. God rules everywhere in the thoughts
of every man, in the deeds of every man. Nothing wiggles on
this earth except by God's decree. Nothing. And God's servants declare
that. Not only is it true with regard
to his providence in salvation, God rules. God does his will. God saves his people. God calls
out his elect. You want so much, and I want
for you, to see God bless this work. You want so much to see
God add to his church. You want so much to see God save
his elect. What do we do? You preach the
gospel and you wait. You seize every opportunity,
use every means God puts in your hands, whatever God gives at
your disposal, use it, seize it, labor as though everything
depends on you, but you wait. You don't dare compromise the
message. You don't dare tone down the
message. We proclaim the gospel of God's
free grace and wait for God to work. And I'm going to tell you
something few people seem to understand. The Lord God is doing
today exactly what Peter said he did in Acts chapter 2. He
adds to the church daily such as should be saved. He still
adds to his church daily, such as should be said. All right,
now, every message from every faithful gospel preacher sets
forth these wondrous facts, especially with regard to God's glorious
sovereignty in the saving of his people. Any man who doesn't
preach these things is not sent of God. It's not to be received. It's not to be heard. It's not
to be aided in any way by God's church. Read the epistle of 2
John. John says, you give them a nickel,
you're just as guilty as they are. You encourage them, you're
just as guilty as they are. I had an occasion this past week. A man my wife used to work for
when we first moved to Danville. She worked for him for a number
of years. She was a secretary, bookkeeper, died suddenly. And someone asked, one of the
folks said something at the church one night, said, you won't be
going to the funeral, will you? I said, no. No. We'll go to visit, go to the
wake, visit family. No, I'm not going to the funeral. I wouldn't go to my daddy's funeral
if there's an Armenian bridge in it. I'm just, I'm telling
you facts. I'm just, I wouldn't go. I wouldn't
go. I am not going to give credibility to any form of religion that
denies the gospel of God's grace. I'm not going to give credibility
at all to any preacher who does not preach the free grace of
God. God's servants proclaim thy God reigneth in all things. And those who support those men
who deny the gospel of God's grace are as guilty of murdering
men's souls as the preachers themselves. Read the second epistle
of John, he says so plainly. Alright, now if you know the
value of your soul the preciousness of Christ in his blood, the blessedness
of the gospel, you will cherish that man who is sent of God to
preach the gospel to you. You want to treat him as one
who ministers to your soul. As one who is sent of God to
care for you. And you want to do everything
you can for Him. I'm sure that's the case with you who are gods. I have no question about that.
And this question I'm sure is of interest to you. What should
I do for my pastor? I've searched this book and I've
got ten answers. I won't be long on any of them. But there are ten answers that
are just as plain as those on your face. We'll begin in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Here's the first thing. What
should you do for your pastor? Know him. Know him. I don't mean know who he is,
know his name. I don't mean know something about his background.
People are fools who call a pastor and don't know who he is, don't
know anything about him, don't know anything about his background.
But when I talk about knowing him, I'm talking about something
else. In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul says in verse 12, We beseech
you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you. To know your pastor is to
acknowledge him as your pastor, as God's messenger to your soul. Every believer should get to
know and show his care for every faithful gospel preacher. I try
to introduce our folks in Danville to every preacher I can in the
world who preaches free grace. I want them to know them. I encourage
them to call them, correspond with them, visit them. I want
them to know them. But there should be and is always
a special relationship between you and your pastor. You ought
to know that man who labors for your soul. You ought to have
a special relationship with that man who serves your soul and
serves the souls of your families. Your pastor is to be acknowledged
by you above all others as God's messenger to you. I wrote to
you just after you called Brother Eric as your pastor. And I said
to you, I will step aside from that which I have been doing
here for the last four years. You will not be hearing from
me. He won't be here in five minutes. I'm here for you. I'm
here for you to do anything on this earth I can for you. Nothing's
changed about my attitude toward you. But I will not interfere
in your pastor's work. And I will not allow folks in
another congregation where there's a faithful man to look at me
somehow still as their pastor. No, no, no. This man that God
sets over you is to be esteemed by you. as God's messenger to
your soul and treat it as such so that he above all others is
special to you. To know your pastor is to love
him. Love him. The word know is frequently
used in scripture for love. The scriptures teach that that
man who devotes his life to you to securing your soul's good
That man who devotes his life to your comfort and your edification
and the knowledge of Christ, who devotes his life to preaching
the gospel to you, ought to be loved by you, cherished by you. To know your pastor is to hold
him in respect. And Paul wrote to the Philippians,
he admonished them to hold their pastor Epaphroditus in high honor
as he honored them. God's people are to give honor
to God's servants. Our Savior said, as he sent his
disciples out in Luke chapter 10, he said, He that receives
you, receives me. He that hears you, hears me. He that despises you, despises
me. So he sends his servants out.
Paul said we are God's ambassadors. as though God did beseech you
by us. We pray you in Christ's name, be you reconciled to God.
The treatment of the ambassador is not treatment of the ambassador. It's treatment of the king who
sent him. For our embassy, whoever the ambassador was that was brutally
murdered a few weeks back, a few months ago now, for them to get
by with treating an ambassador of the United States with impunity
is to show horrible weakness on the part of the nation and
to bring upon us shame throughout the world. It ought never be
tolerated, not if you expect respect. I promise you, God will
not allow his ambassadors to be abused by men and men not
know his opposition to it. It will not happen. To know your
pastor is to show concern for his comfort and his welfare,
his safety, his protection. David used the word just that
way. He said, I looked on my right hand and beheld, but there
was no man that would know me. No man that would aid me. No
man who would stand by me. No man who would be a refuge
to me. No man who would protect me. Pray for your pastor. Pray
for his spiritual safety, his well-being, protect it. Protect
his name and reputation from the slanderous gossip that he
will have from evil men. And always endeavor to encourage
him in his work. And Paul gives us here in 1 Thessalonians
three reasons for doing so. Three reasons why you ought to
make it your business to know your pastor. First, they labor
among you. They labor among you. Brother Bob asked me a little
bit ago if the message I preached last night is online. And I don't
expect folks to understand this, but I don't bring leftovers to
you. I don't just get up and recite
something I preached last year, last month, or last week. I prepared
a message for you last night. I prepared one today for you
for tonight. God's servants, faithful men,
labor in the Word. They labor in the Word. I've
been pastoring now for nearly 45 years. And I'd say this without any
hesitancy, without any fear of being repudiated. I've never
pastored a man who spends more time laboring his work than I
do laboring at mine. I won't allow it to happen. God's
servant labors in the Word and in the doctrine, studying the
Word of God, corresponding with needy folks, writing, preaching,
laboring in the Word. Know them who labor among you,
laboring to find a message for your soul, laboring to give direction
to you, laboring to minister in this area for the cause of
Christ, laboring, devoting themselves to the work of the ministry.
And second, he says, your pastor is over you. He's placed over
you by divine appointment. The pastor, he's not. Y'all have chewing bugs out here?
You ever play with a chewing bug? Yeah, get it on a string
and just fly him around. Till he's dead. And that's how
most preachers are handled. Deacons and elders put them on
a string and they fly him around, he buzzes and makes a lot of
noise, acts like he's just freezing and doing what he wants to. But he's
just on the string. Not God's servants. You're not
going to control one of God's servants. It ain't going to happen.
It ain't going to happen. You're not going to manipulate
him. You're not going to back him into a corner. They are over
you in the Lord. Not lords over God's heritage.
Over you just as a husband is head over his wife. And if a
husband is not head over his wife, he is not a husband. He
is not a husband. He is not a man who fulfills
the responsibility as a husband who is not the head of his household.
That's the responsibility of a husband and the responsibility
of a pastor. And Paul says they admonish you.
They continually remind you in public and in private of that
which you ought to know. Your past experiences of mercy.
the blessed doctrines of the gospel, the promises of God in
Christ Jesus, the privileges and responsibilities God's given
you, the great, great opportunities before you, the dangers you must
face, and the soul-cheering prospect before you in the hope of Christ.
All right, turn back to 1 Thessalonians again. 1 Thessalonians chapter
5, verse 13. Here's the second thing. What should I do for my pastor?
Esteem him very highly. What's this? To esteem them very
highly in love for their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves. Highly esteem your pastor. Hold high thoughts of him and
don't allow anyone to bring them down. esteem him in your thoughts,
esteem him in your conversation, esteem him before your sons and
daughters, before your husbands and wives, esteem him in the
workplace, esteem him in the community. Let no one ever get
a word from you or a thought from you of disregard and disrespect
for that man who ministers to your soul. If you don't esteem
him, those you influence won't esteem him. speak respectfully
of him, and speak respectfully to him. Pastors are just sinful
men, just like you. Saved by God's free grace, just
like you. Apt to any evil, just like you. Just like you. Apt to do things totally contrary to
his character, just like you. but a man worthy of your esteem,
worthy of your esteem, not using distinct terms and titles, doctor
so-and-so and reverend so-and-so, no, no, the Lord forbids that,
the Lord forbids that, but to be esteemed very highly in love
for his work's sake and thereby be at peace among yourselves. God's church, every local church,
enjoys peace as that local church esteems God's servant sent to
minister to them. And I promise you where there
is not that esteem there will be no peace. This super abundant
esteem must be the esteem of sincere love to that man for
his work's sake. Number three, turn over to Hebrews
chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Let's look
at a couple of verses here. Verse 7. Remember them. Remember them. Remember them which have rule
over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith
follow, considering the end of their conversation, the end of
their lives, Ever keep your pastor close to your heart in remembrance. Remember him at the throne of
grace when you pray. Particularly remember his messages
to you. The doctrine he preaches. Listen
carefully to what he preaches. Take notes to aid your memory.
And discuss what he preaches at home, at your table, among
yourselves. discuss the word of God that
you've heard and as you read the scriptures remembering the
doctrine he's taught you the word comes to life for the pastor
has given you the word and now remembering that which he's proclaimed
you read the book and God instructs you in his word here are two
reasons for it first he has the rule of the church his word is
to be remembered Because God has made him to have the rule
over you as your spiritual guide in this world. Now, I don't know
how Brother Eric has spoken to you. I expect you'll probably
hear this message and he can correct it however he wishes
to and he'll have my full support. But when I went to Danville and
they started calling me as pastor. A group of folks just about like
this, meeting in a place just about like this. And they started
to ask about some things. I said, now listen, before you
call me as your pastor, you get to know everything you can about
Don Fortner. You ask everybody you can, friend and foe, everything
you can about me. Because if I come here, we're
getting married. And I don't believe in divorce.
And that's the last business meeting we'll ever have. We won't
ever take a vote on anything again. And I've been there for
33 years and we haven't yet. And it's not going to happen
tomorrow. Not as long as I've got breath. How come? Because
I am there to rule God's church as a husband rules his house.
What on earth does that mean? Well, I'm not going to have that
for many men. Well, maybe you will. Maybe you
will. My wife, And I'm not being facetious,
I'm not being, I'm offering platitudes. My wife is much smarter than
I am, I know that. She's academically my superior,
I'm fully aware of that. She's a whole lot prettier to
look at than I am, everybody knows that. But she generally has better
judgment than I do about most things. And I often consult her
judgment about things. But every decision in the household
is mine to make. It's mine to determine where
we live. Mine to determine the car we buy. Mine to determine
the house we purchase. Mine to determine what we can
afford. My responsibility. Well doesn't she have any? No.
She's my wife. I take care of her. How can she be happy with that?
She is fully convinced of my love for her. Is that true? And she knows I won't do something
that will be hurtful to her. She knows if I make a decision,
I make the decision for the glory of God, hopefully. The furtherance
of the gospel, the good of his church, and then her. My preference
doesn't come into play. My wants are irrelevant. And that's how pastors rule the
house of God. Now, sometimes, we've been married
now for 43 years, I can't tell you how many times I wished I
had paid attention to her when she said, don't do that. Because
I messed up. I messed up. But the error was
an error of judgment, not principle. Understand that? Error of judgment,
not principle. And you follow this man who seeks
the glory of God and your soul's benefit. Follow him. That's the
fourth thing, verse 7. Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God, whose
faith follow. The doctrine of faith he preaches.
The example of faith he gives. The object of faith, Christ Jesus
the Lord, he sets before you. Follow him. Now this is not blind
allegiance to a man. This is obedience to Christ.
For following him, you follow the Redeemer. Paul said, you
follow me as I follow Christ. Following him, you follow the
Redeemer. Considering the end of his conversation. Looking
to the end of his life. Come follow me. Come on. Come
follow. Follow me! I'm going to glory. Come follow me. The end of his
conversation, what is it? Look at the next line. Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. Alright, number
five. Look at verse 17 of Hebrews 13.
Obey Him. Obey them that have the rule
over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls
as they that must give account that they may do it with joy
and not with grief. Obey them. Obey them. Well, we don't have church government
that way. We ought to. We ought to. I know some places have elders
and if you've got elders in church, the elders obey the pastor. and
they've got deacons, got deacons, deacons obey the pastor. You've
got teachers, teachers obey the pastor. There must be one voice
of authority for God in his church. There is only one captain to
the ship and he must be treated with such so that he gives out
the word and you obey the word. I have number of men in our congregation
who preach for me. Men who teach. Brother Mark Henson
teaches the young people downstairs. Brother Lindsay Campbell teaches
the adults. Lindsay and Ron and Frank and
others fill the pulpit for me. And I have never said to one
of them, you can preach this, you can't preach that. I've never
said to them, I don't want you to deal with this, I don't want
you to deal with that. I've never said that. Not one of them, though, would
ever dream of stepping in the pulpit and saying, I don't agree
with what Brother John says about this, this is what I believe. He might do it once, but he wouldn't
do it twice. It wouldn't happen a second time. Because there's
one person responsible for the teaching of the congregation.
I can't have that. Then don't move this pastor down
here. If you're not prepared, if you're not prepared to follow
him and obey his guide, his leadership, his rule as your pastor, don't
move him down here. Don't, don't make that mistake.
Obey his message, the gospel of the grace of God he preaches.
Obey his direction given to you in the worship of God so that,
somebody said last night he was talking about, did he raise his
hands? Great, great. Let that man, be glad for that
man to determine the kind of music and worship services you
have and how you conduct things. Obey his admonitions and reproofs. Number six, look at verse 17
again, submit to him. What should I do for my pastor?
Submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls. Submit yourselves. Just presume, just presume, Tony,
that Eric knows better what's good for your soul than you do.
If he's God's, he does. He's taught and guided of God.
Boy, that's asking a lot. Well, let's see if it is. Thirty-five,
thirty-six years ago, I was dying with cancer. I went down to Duke University
in North Carolina and submitted myself to a man I had never seen
who administered a series of cobalt treatments that if slightly,
slightly off would kill me. I mean just a slight nudge and
I'm dead. I went to Charleston University
Hospital in Charleston, West Virginia and submitted myself
to a surgeon I'd never seen, didn't even know his name at
the time, who split my body open. I submitted myself to an oncologist
who injected me with massive dosages of poison that just slightly
measured wrongly would be fatal. How come? I trusted those men
and their abilities for the welfare of my life physically and submitted
myself to them. I'm talking about, but I laid
my life in their hands. I laid my life in their hands.
In a sense, that's what I'm calling for you to do with your pastor.
Lay out your lives in his hands for the service of the Redeemer.
for the glory of God in the increase of his kingdom look at 2 Thessalonians
chapter 3 here's the seventh thing the pastor watches for
your soul for your soul's welfare submit to him as one who must
give account and then pray for him how many times the apostle
ask God's saints to pray for him look here at 2 Thessalonians
3 verse 1 finally brethren Pray for us. And particularly, this is what
I ask, that the Word of the Lord may have free course. That the Word of the Lord may
be glorified, even as it is with you. Let me tell you something
I know. You might not know it. Last night
in Danville, there were Probably 12, 15 men sat in my office who
were praying for this service out here. And praying for me
as I prepared to preach to you last night and again tonight.
Folks praying for you. Praying for their pastor. I go
somewhere almost every week. And people say, well, what does
your church think about that? They pray for it. That's what
they think about it. They pray for that. They pray for God's
blessings on the Word. Pray for God to open the door.
Pray for God to make the Word effectual. Pray for God to raise
up gospel witnesses. Pray for your pastor. Pray for
him. Spurgeon was asked one time,
to what do you attribute your phenomenal success? And without
a moment's hesitation, this was his answer, my people pray for
me. Pray for your pastor. Pray for
God to open the door of utterance before him. Pray that God will
open doors of utterance for him as your pastor in this place,
as a congregation of believers for the preaching of the gospel.
As he preaches the gospel, pray for him. Pray for him with regard
to his own life and conduct in this world. Pray for him knowing
his weakness, knowing his frailty, knowing He is the object of Satan's
attack all the time. Knowing men seek to abuse his
name, knowing that men would deride and mock and slander his
name because of the gospel he preaches. Pray for him, pray
that God will give him strength, fortitude, that God will keep
him both from the evil that's in him and the evil that's around
him. Pray for him and provide for him. Turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 9. 1 Corinthians 9, that's the 8th
day. Provide for it. Paul said in
1 Timothy 5 that those who rule well, laboring in the word of
God and doctrine, should be counted worthy of double honor. The same
word that's used with regard to honoring winners. Talk about
pay. Paul speaks in Galatians and
says, if we sow unto you spiritual things, it's reasonable that
we reap your carnal things. He says, you sow to the flesh,
you shall of the flesh reap corruption. You sow to the spirit, you shall
of the spirit reap life everlasting. He's talking about the support
of those who preach the gospel to you. The financial support
of gospel preachers. Now look here at 1 Corinthians
9, verse 7. Who goeth a warfare at any time
at his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard, and
eateth not the fruit thereof? Or feedeth a flock, and eateth
not the milk thereof? Say I these things as a man,
or sayeth not the law the same also? For it is written in the
law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that
treadeth out the corn. Paul says, Doth God care for
oxen? Now I'm kind of tempted to stop
and preach on that for a little while, but I won't. No, God's
not interested in oxen. He made them for you. And he
made this law for a reason. Paul says, saith he it altogether
for our sakes, altogether for our sakes. No doubt this is written
that he that ploweth should plow in hope. And he that thresheth
in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown to
you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal
things? If others be partakers of this
power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used
this power, but suffer all things lest we should hinder the gospel
of Christ. Do you not know that they which
minister about holy things live of the things of the temple?
And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar.
Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel
should live of or by the gospel. Now the simple statement Paul
is making is this. It is a shame, it is a reproach
for any congregation that is able to support a pastor not
to do so. When I came to Danville I told
the folks who talked to me about coming, I wasn't interested in
what they were able to provide for Shelby and I, God takes care
of us, but I said I am perfectly willing, I am perfectly willing
to pastor a congregation who wants to support me and can't.
I will not pastor a congregation that can't support me and won't.
Not going to do it. Not going to do it. For the gospel's
sake, I'm not going to do it. For Christ's sake, I'm not going
to do it. You faithfully, generously do what you can to provide for
your pastor's every need. So, well, his wife works. That
shouldn't make any difference. That's got no more to do with
anything than if you were applying for a job. or his bowling factory
around here. If you're flying with Jock Bones,
we're not going to pay you this much because your wife makes
so much. That's a bunch of nonsense. That's a bunch of nonsense. No,
you take care of your posture. He shouldn't have to be concerned
about providing a slice of bread for his family at any time. You
take care of it. Take care of those needs as he
takes care of your soul's needs ministering to you. And then
Paul, you don't have to turn to 1 Timothy, or 2 Timothy, Paul
speaks of Onesiphorus who refreshed him in his bonds, and he speaks
of Phygelus and Hermogenes who abandoned him. As you do all
these other things, adhere to your pastor. Stick to him like
glue. Adhere to him. Adhere to his
doctrine. Adhere to him as a friend and
a brother at all times. Now, I'll give you one more text.
1 Corinthians chapter 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. What should I do for my pastor? Treat him as the minister of
Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse
1. Let a man's soul count of us
as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God. You treat God's servant as the
minister of Christ, the servant of Christ. He is Christ's servant
to serve your soul. You treat him as Christ's servant.
As stewards of the mystery of God. As stewards of the house
of God. As stewards of the treasures
of God. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. God has put
the treasure of the gospel in our hands. Stewards in his house. Stewards of the mysteries of
God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that a man be found
faithful. Churches sometimes wonder why
they can't keep a pastor. Why pastors move here and there. Well, there are two reasons. A lot of it's pastors. Most of
them are worthless. That's just fact. Most of them
are just worthless. Not God's servants. Not God's
servants. You give a man this kind of treatment
as the Word of God teaches, and you'll have a man who'll spend
his life with you. A faithful man won't abuse you
and he won't abuse what you do for him and what you're able
to do for him. He'll make whatever adjustments
he has to make to live on that which God provides for him. But
you take care of things as God's people in this place in taking
care of him. In all these things, serve our
Redeemer and do this for your pasture. Know it. esteemed him
very highly in love for his work's sake. Remember him. Follow him. Obey him. Submit to him. Pray for him. Provide for him. Adhere to him. Treat him as the
minister of Christ. The minister of Christ. In a few weeks, you're going
to have Eric in your house. The minister of Christ sitting
at your table. What an honor. What an honor. The servant of Jesus Christ sitting
in my house. Paul said, be careful to entertain
strangers, thereby some have entertained angels unaware I
can't tell you how many times we've had preachers, missionaries
in our home over the years. Oh, how we've been blessed of
God. How we've been blessed of God. Would you serve God in this
generation? Would you build God's kingdom
in this place? Would you be used of God in the
days He's given you on this earth? Then glue yourself to this man
and the ministry God gives you together and make certain that
nothing stops you. Stay steadfast, always abounding
in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain
in the Lord.