Shelby called this afternoon
and told me we received a very thoughtful and I'm sure will
be a very delicious package from you all today. Thank you so much. And again, she sends her greetings
to you. Now, I want you to listen very,
very carefully to what I'm about to say. What do you suppose would be the greatest blessing
God Almighty could bestow on you in this world. What do you think might be the
greatest curse, the greatest act of judgment God might send
to you in this world? Let me make four statements that
will answer that question for you. The greatest blessing that
God himself can or will give to any people is to send them
a man to preach the gospel of Christ to them. The greatest
blessing, bar none. The greatest blessing God can
bestow on any local church is to give them a pastor who faithfully,
boldly, and consistently, and when I use that word consistently,
I mean all the time, who faithfully, boldly, and consistently preaches
the gospel of Jesus Christ without compromise, without courting
the favor of men, and without fearing the frowns of men. Here's
the second statement. The greatest blessing God can
bestow on any town, any community in this world, is to establish
in their midst a gospel church with a preacher holding forth
in the midst of darkness the light of the gospel of his glory
and his grace. Here's the third. The greatest
judgment. the greatest curse God Almighty
can bring upon any people, any church, any town, any community,
is to silence the voice of His prophet. Recently I visited Bedford, England. Went down to the little bridge
over a creek where John Bunyan was housed in a jail for 12 years. Many recall that act in history
and think that it was some kind of a great act of judgment on
John Bunyan. It wasn't an act of judgment
on John Bunyan. It was an act of judgment on the people all
around him. God used that man in those twelve
years to write that blessed, blessed picture, that spiritual
biography of every believer called the Pilgrim's Progress. When
God removes his candlestick, when God silences his prophet,
when God takes away from a people the light of the gospel, And I've seen it happen many
times in my life. Many times I've seen it happen
in my life. No greater curse, no greater
judgment befalls them. And here's the fourth. And I
know this will be shocking to some who may hear this on tape
or video, however you're recording it. Nothing on this earth is so important
I had written out the words today more important. I scratched them
out. Well, I didn't. I hit the delete button. I used
to scratch them out. Nothing on this earth is so important,
so absolutely needful to you, to your family, to eternity-bound
men and women around you, as the preaching of the gospel.
Nothing. knows the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace in Christ, appreciates the ministry, appreciates
those who preach it, and they appreciate having a church to
go to, but few, very few, I fear, understand that gospel preaching
is absolutely vital to their souls. The preaching of the gospel,
men sent to preach the gospel, are the ascension gifts of Christ
to his church. You can read it in Ephesians
chapter 4, Psalm 68. Not only is it true that God
sends his word to heal his elect, that is, faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. God sends his word to perform
all his works of grace in his redeemed upon this earth. If
God speaks to a sinner's heart, If God teaches you anything or
teaches me anything, if God reveals anything out of this book to
us, it will be through the instrumentality of gospel preaching. Now, I often
hear people say, well, I was converted because I was just
reading the scripture one day and I never heard a preacher
or anything of the like. No, you weren't. You may not recall
what you heard, but you don't learn anything from God's book
except some man showed you. Now I'm not suggesting, I'm not
suggesting in the least, and do not imagine, that preachers
stand as infallible men to instruct folks with infallible light.
None of us do. But God Almighty did not establish
the ministry of the gospel as an additional optional add-on
to this thing called Christianity. The eunuch was exactly right
when Philip asked him, said, understandest thou what thou
readest? He said, how can I? except some man show me." Now
here is the wonder of this. God Almighty could just as well
speak by that chair to your heart as speak by me. God Almighty could easily send
an angel from heaven down here to communicate the gospel to
you. or God could communicate it directly without the use of
anything. Were that his purpose? But it
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. And God Almighty has given you,
you, this congregation, and your pastor, the treasure of His grace. Paul said we have this treasure
in earthen vessels, the treasure of the gospel, in empty, broken
clay pots to carry to his people throughout the world that the
excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. And when
Paul speaks of God choosing and purposing by his good pleasure
to save his people through the preaching of the Word, He says,
now, don't get too proud and cocky about that. You see your
calling, brethren. Not many mighty, not many noble,
not many great, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise, the base to confuse and confound the mighty. And He's chosen such things as
the man standing in front of you, nothings, insignificant
nothings, to bring to nothing the things
that are. We were talking just a little
bit ago about some of the old preachers and writers that were brilliant
men, brilliant because gifted by God. who were utterly illiterate,
totally uneducated. In particular, William Huntington
was a bastard baby, not sure what his name ought to have been.
He took the name Huntington. I think, if I recall correctly,
somebody tried to sue him one time for doing that. Couldn't read or write, couldn't
spell his own name, and God opened heaven and dropped down the pail
of his grace in his heart and used him mightily. mightily,
used Him to confound the mighty, to confuse people for the saving
of His people. It pleased God to do this. He
allows us to carry the message of His grace, of life, to lost
sinners. And He gives us this great privilege
to proclaim among men the unsearchable riches of Christ. Faith comes
by hearing. Hearing by the Word of God doesn't
come any other way. Men and women are born again
by the incorruptible Word of God, which lives and abides forever,
and this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you,
the Apostle Peter tells us. Our understanding of all things
spiritual comes by the instruction of God's Word in the preaching
of the Gospel. God's saints are edified and
comforted and built up in the faith by the preaching of the
word. Without the preaching of the gospel, there is no possibility
of salvation, no possibility of sanctification, no possibility
of spiritual growth, no possibility of spiritual direction, no possibility
of spiritual stability. Again, I repeat, this is not
an optional thing, it's not something God just ads out there that says
you can have this if you want it it's what you must have let's
see if the book of God will make good on that again there was
a time when God spoke for the last time to the children of
Israel for four hundred years four hundred years Malachi gave
the last word until John the Baptist came preaching repentance
in the name of our Savior. But those Jews, they could get
along all right. After all, for 2,000 years, they
had God's prophets. They had been instructed by Moses
and David and Elijah and Elisha, all the prophets. For 2,000 years,
they alone had the oracles of God, the law of God, and the
worship of God for 2,000 years. They had the holy place, the
most holy place, the ark of the covenant, and the mercy seat
for 2,000 years. They had the priesthood. Nobody
else. God had spoken to them and had
given them all the Old Testament. All of it was given to them.
Well, they'd get along all right without a preacher. Just read
the Bible and study the Bible and sit around and talk to one
another about the Bible would be just fine. Let's see. Let's see if
they did. After 400 years without a prophet,
their religion had degenerated to utter apostasy. Their religion had become an
utter abomination. All their worship had become
nothing but hypocrisy, nothing but a show of religion, nothing
except religious morality and religious feeling and religious
tradition and religious custom. No, they did not go and worship
the idols of the Gentiles. They did worse. They turned the
altar of God into an idol, and they turned the worship of God
into idolatry. And they turned the very name
of God into idolatry. So that when the Lord Jesus,
of whom all the prophets, and all the law, and all the oracles
of God, and all the ceremonies, and all the priesthood, and the
tabernacle, and the temple, and all the services connected with
it, of whom all these things spoke, when He came and stood
right in their midst, He came unto His own and his own received
him not." They didn't have a clue who he was. They didn't have
a clue. In Jeremiah 3.15, God promised
his church, I will give you pastors according to mine heart which
shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. A faithful
God-given pastor A pastor, according to God's own heart, is a man
who feeds God's flock. He doesn't fleece it, he feeds
it. He doesn't beat the sheep, he feeds them. He doesn't use
the sheep, he is used of them. He doesn't abuse the sheep, he
cares for them. His life work is the business
of tending God's sheep. Those men whom God gives to his
church as pastors feed his church with knowledge. A God-given knowledge
of this book. A knowledge that only God can
give. I went to two of the most reputable
conservative, well they wouldn't like to use that word, fundamentalist
Bible colleges in the nation. It doesn't show much, but I did.
I went there and got all their courses. And you know what I heard while
I was there according to this book? Five years of training. You know what I heard that was
according to this book? Not one blessed word. Not one. Oh, now they stated
facts according to this book. And they stated historical events
according to this book. And they stated doctrinal facts
according to this book, but not one bit of spiritual instruction
and understanding. Everything I was taught for five
years, sitting in their classes, I found to be contrary to what's
written in this book. Everything. And I found it so
at the time. That's the reason they wouldn't
give me their sheepskin. But that's all right. That's all
right. What I'm saying is this. God's servants are men who are
given by the gift of God the Holy Spirit, understanding not
only in His Word, but of His Word. I don't pretend, and I
don't know any man that I could say has such a gift. I know many who think they do.
But I don't pretend that I understand everything written in this book.
When I was 20 years old, I really thought I did. But it's getting
bigger all the time. It's getting bigger all the time.
And I realize there's just very little in this book that I understand. But I do understand the whole
book. I do know what this book is about. I do know the message of this
book in its entirety. The whole counsel of God is Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. And there are not many folks
who understand that. Gospel preachers do. They're gifted of God to
see the whole book pointing to Christ Jesus the Lord and declaring
Him. Not only that, they're gifted
of God to feed His church with understanding. Understanding. Spiritual understanding,
yes. Doctrinal understanding, yes.
But the word, unless I'm mistaken, in Jeremiah 315 particularly
means this. They feed you knowing who you
are and knowing what you feel and knowing what you go through,
knowing the conflicts you have in your soul. knowing the struggles
you have putting food on the table and the struggles you have
taking care of a house and taking care of a family and the struggles
you have raising your families. They feed you with knowledge
and understanding because they are men walking in Christ Jesus
by faith who experience all the difficulties you do. I recall
back years ago one of the men in our congregation, Brother
Mark Henson, this has been 20 years ago, is sitting in our
living room He'd just started coming to church. And he asked
me one day, what's sitting in our den, he said, Brother Don,
do you know why I started coming to church out here? He'd been
in church all his life, gone to church all his life. He went
to church because he played on a softball team in churches.
I said, no, I figured it was because you started dating her.
Well, he said, that's part of it. He said, you're the first
preacher. He said, in fact, you were the
only preacher at the time. I'd ever heard in my life who
talked honestly about himself. I understand what you struggle
with. I understand coldness and unbelief, sin, corruption, baseness
of heart, vileness and evil deep inside. And here's the most painful
thing I live with. the most painful thing I live
with. God's servants feed his people
with knowledge and understanding so as to comfort and strengthen
and edify them. I recall a fellow sitting on
my back porch one time. He visited me from somewhere
over in Staten Island, I think it was. No, it wasn't Staten
Island. One of those places out there right out of New York City.
And he said, you know, I go to church every Sunday, Sunday night,
midweek service, and said, our pastor is such a faithful man,
he said, he just beats me down. And he just beats me down. And
I always leave just so beaten down because of my sin. I said,
you're a strange fellow. And he looked at me and said,
what do you mean? I said, you're a fool to keep going until somebody's
beaten you. I mean, you're a fool. I don't
like being beat like that. Do you? God's servants feed his
people with knowledge and understanding. Now, I'm confident God has given
you such a pastor. I've known Brother Curtis most
of his life. As we said last night, he was
17 years old when I first met him. I think maybe, Melinda,
you can turn your head He might have had an eye for my daughter,
but that was the age, 17 years old. I've chosen for my subject tonight
a question I hope each of you are asking, a question I hope
you will continue to ask throughout your days of service together
with this man. What can I do for my pastor? Let's look at my text, Isaiah
52. Isaiah 52. If ever you come to
understand that the preaching of the gospel is absolutely vital
to your soul's good, you'll understand the meaning
of Isaiah's words in this text. 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. Thy watchmen shall lift up the
voice, with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall
see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion, break
forth into joy sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord hath comforted his
people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy
arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our God." Now with those words, Isaiah
was inspired of God the Holy Spirit to describe the attitude
that ought to prevail among all God's people with regard to his
servants, those men who preach the gospel to them. Try to get
the picture. Here is a city taken into captivity. They've been in bondage for a
long, long time. And suddenly, they hear the sound
of a mighty army coming across the hills, and they recognize
the sound. It's the sound of an army coming
to bring deliverance. And as they see them coming,
that which they see in the distance is nothing but the movement of
their feet carrying the bodies of these men to them to bring
deliverance. The fact is God's church, His
elect, by nature is in captivity, taken captive by Satan at his
will, held in bondage, in bondage to sin, shut up under the curse
of God's holy law. And God's servants are men coming
over the mountains proclaiming deliverance. Not delivering. Proclaiming deliverance. Proclaiming
deliverance by our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you hear the message
and God brings deliverance, oh, how highly you value those who
brought the message. Those men and women who've heard
the gospel and experienced the grace of God in salvation, cherish
these men who are God's watchmen. The Lord willing, I'll say more
about this tomorrow night, but I can't think of a more awesome
responsibility in this world than that which you have just
assumed, a watchman. A watchman on the walls of Zion. A watchman whose responsibility
it is to watch over and protect God's sheep in the name of the
Redeemer. A watchman responsible for the
souls committed to your trust. If you volunteered for this job,
get out now. Get out now. God's servants are
divinely appointed watchmen over your souls. The watchmen all
see eye to eye. That is, they all proclaim the
same message. If our preacher doesn't preach
that, it's because he's not a watchman. Well, I've never known a preacher
to preach like that before. You've never known a watchman. No, you
don't really mean that. If you hang around after a while,
you'll find out I do mean that. God's watchmen are watchmen by
whom the Lord not only protects, but He comforts His redeemed
people, making the souls that have been waste places fruitful. And they are watchmen by whom
the Lord makes bare His holy arm and reveals His salvation.
Now look back at Isaiah 52 verse 7. How beautiful upon the mountain
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." I can't read those words without
first and foremost declaring to you how beautiful are the
feet of Him who is the master of all His servants, Jehovah's
righteous servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, as we behold Him coming
across the hills and mountains of our sin and our troubles in
our nature to bring redemption and publish peace by His blood.
Oh, how beautiful are those feet as we behold Him nailed to the
cursed tree in our room and in our stead, bearing our sin that
we might have his righteousness and live forever. But Isaiah
is here principally speaking about men just like the one sitting
back there and the one standing here, gospel preachers. Obviously
these words do not apply to all who call themselves preachers.
They do not apply to all who come in the name of the Lord
by profession. False prophets Preachers of free
will works religion. Their feet are not beautiful,
and they're not desirable. They've got no good news to bring.
They're not to be treated with respect, but held in contempt. They're not to be received, but
shunned. Isaiah tells us plainly who these
men are of whom he speaks. They are men who bring good tidings. Good news. Good news. Every now and then I'll get a
telephone call or a letter, and it's almost always from some
young fellow who's still wet behind the ears. And he'll ask
me, say, do you preach hellfire and damnation? Well, when I have to, when I
have to. But it's not my preferred message. It's not what I am sent to declare
to me. I'm sent to proclaim good news,
mercy for sinners, redemption accomplished, righteousness brought
in, salvation purchased, good news, the good news of redemption,
grace and eternal life for the most desperate and most wicked
and most helpless of men in all this world. These men whose feet
are beautiful publish peace. Turn to 2 Corinthians 5, I'll
show you. the publication of peace. God's servants never tell
sinners how to make peace with God. Well, I hope I can make my peace
with God. You can give up that hope. Rebels can't make peace
with the sovereign they've offended. That can't be done. The only
one who can make peace is the offended sovereign. We come not
telling men how they can make peace, We come proclaiming to
men, peace is made. Peace is made. Look here in 2
Corinthians 5 verse 18. All things are of God. Now that
applies to everything, but it's talking here about God's salvation.
Who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry, the word of reconciliation. What's that?
To wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.
not everybody in the world, but his elect scattered through all
the world, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath
committed unto us the word of reconciliation. And this is it. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's name, be ye reconciled to God,
for he hath made him sin for us. who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Turn, if you
will, to Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40. This is God's Word to this man
standing here now. This is God's Word to your pastor. This is God's Word to every man
who speaks in his name to eternity-bound sinners all the time. I purposefully turn and read
this passage numerous times through the week as I prepare to preach
the gospel of God's grace. Today, I've asked Him to give
me this for you. Comfort ye. Comfort ye, my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Do you know what that word is? God says, Don Fortner, you speak
to Art's heart tonight. for comfort. Speak to his heart. Speak to
his heart. Your brain is bigger than mine.
I can't do much with that. Speak to his heart. But I can't
speak to your heart. That's impossible. I can't speak
to your heart. No man can speak to another's
heart. No man. Oh, but if God will speak through
me, By His word, I speak to your heart. That's my responsibility,
but I'm incapable of fulfilling it. Cry unto her. This is the message by which
you speak to her heart, that her warfare is accomplished. The warfare is over. It's over. Well, who do you say that to?
Anybody walking on God's earth who will hear me. If right now
you hear my word, if right now you find yourself believing on
the Son of God, if right now you find yourself trusting God's
darling Son, the warfare is over! God's got no quarrel with you.
He took it all out on His Son and fully satisfied it. That
her iniquity is pardoned before you ever ask for it. She hath received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins. That's what the prophet means
back here when he says they bring good tidings. Good tidings of
good. Oh, that's good news. That's
good news. God's got no quarrel with me.
God's pardoned all my sin, past, present, and future. Never bring
it up again. Never bring it up again. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. The Lord
God has given me the righteousness of His Son, made me accepted
in the Beloved. They publish salvation. Now, I don't bother myself with
the quibbles and yik-yak that men get involved with. There's
theological debates. I've had some folks on one side
of the table write articles and books on the free offer of the
gospel and others want me to write against it. And I tell
both of them, no, because you're both wrong. We don't come and
offer salvation to sinners. It's not mine to offer. No, but
we freely publish it. We don't come and give you a
possibility of salvation, but we proclaim salvation accomplished. purposed by God the Father, purchased
by God the Son, and performed by God the Holy Spirit. And we
proclaim it to all men freely. And you can have it if you want
it. It's yours if you want it. As a matter of fact, if you want
it, it's already yours. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. You couldn't believe if you didn't
have it. Look at this next line. they
say unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. Everywhere, all the time, in
creation, in providence, and in grace, Thy God reigneth. And any man, I don't care what
credentials he has, I don't care how much you like him, I don't
care how godly he may seem to you to be, I don't care how devoted
he is to his work, Any man who comes in the name of Christ and
does not preach these things is not God's servant, he is not
sent of God, he is not to be received, he is not to be heard,
he is not to be aided in any way whatsoever. John said don't
receive him into your house and don't even bid him Godspeed.
That sounds awful mean. No, because if you bid him Godspeed,
you assist him along his way, you're partaker with his evil
deeds. Any man who does preach these things is to be heard and
received by God's church and treated as the angel of God among
them. He's God's messenger. Robert
Hawker, I read him on this passage today, and he made this comment. What glorious tidings of salvation
must they be when the very feet of those who bring them are accounted
by the Lord Himself to be beautiful. So much so, that on one occasion,
the Master stooped to wash the feet of the men He sent out to
proclaim this message. As I read this, and I've tried
to find something for you, I've searched through the scriptures
and found ten answers to that question I raised a little bit
ago. I'll give them to you very, very briefly. It won't take me
five or ten minutes at most. Listen carefully. You can look
at the references later. What can I do for my pastor?
Know him. We beseech you, brethren, to
know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord. The word is used throughout scripture
to mean love him. Acknowledge him as your pastor. Hold him in respect as one worthy
of your respect and love. Show concern for him, for his
comfort, his welfare, his safety, his protection. David uses this
word in just exactly that way. He said when he was in trouble,
There was no man who would know me. Refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul, knowing. Why should we be so concerned
about knowing and loving and caring for and protecting this
man who is our pastor? Paul gives us three reasons.
He labors among you. I'm not talking about folks you
know. I'm not talking about a fellow
down the road. I'm talking about a pastor. I'm talking about a
pastor, Scott, somebody who cares for your soul, who cares for
the glory of God, labors in the Word of God. He labors in the
Word. I pastor working men. Most of them work long hours.
I make it my determined business that not one of them puts in
anywhere near the hours of his job, I put in with mine. It's
not going to happen. Not as long as I've got strength
to do otherwise. Pastors labor in the Word, doing what God gives
them the ability to do for the furtherance of the Gospel and
the glory of Christ. Second, he says, he admonishes
you. He admonishes you. He reminds
you of your experience of grace, of the things God teaches in
His Word, the privileges and responsibilities that you have
in Christ in this world, and the dangers you must constantly
face, and remind you of God's soul-cheering promises in Christ
Jesus, and knowing because He's over you by divine appointment.
I'm fully convinced God not only sets watchmen in Zion, He sets
them where they are most useful and most beneficial where he
has prepared them and gifted them to labor. I'm pastoring
where God put me. It's so obvious that there's
just no mistake concerning it. But I'm pastoring the only place
in the world where I can pastor. The only place in the world.
Several years ago, folks up in Alamont, Michigan called me,
wondering if I'd come pastor the church. And I said, no. No,
I'm where I need to be. And this is a large congregation.
But I'd known the church and knew its history for a long time.
I'd known it for 30 years. The deacon said, well, do you
know anybody you can recommend to us? I said, I think I do.
I recommended Brother Jim Byrd. He went there and preached. They
fell in love with him and he with them. And I can't think
of another man I know faithful to the gospel of God's grace
who could have gone there and pastored and not tore that place
all to pieces. I can't think of another one.
He'd done a great job. God has set this man here among
you. Look back at our text, look back
at the Scriptures again, verse 13 and 1 Thessalonians 5. Know
Him and highly esteem Him. He says, and to esteem them very
highly in love for their work's sake. Esteem them superaboundingly. Entertain the highest possible
opinions of your pastor. Speak honorably of your pastor,
especially in your homes. Especially in your homes. The
fact is, if you have a low opinion of a man, it's not likely he'll
be of much use to your soul. And if you ever communicate a
low opinion of him to somebody else, they won't pay any attention
to it. Speak respectfully of him as your pastor, as God's
messenger to your soul. And then Paul says in Hebrews
13, remember them. Remember Him. Remember Him at
the throne of grace. Remember Him as a man like yourself,
compassed about with great infirmity, a sinful man, a corrupt man,
a weak man, a man. and pray for God's grace on him.
Pray for God to sustain him and keep him. Pray for God to use
him. Pray for God to give him a message
for your soul every time you come to hear him and pray for
God to let you hear him. And then Paul says, follow him.
Follow him. I'm not going to follow any man.
There you are. There you are. You're either
going to follow the world to hell Are you going to follow
God's servants to glory? One of the two. Follow Him. Follow His example. Follow His
faith. Follow His instruction. Follow
His doctrine. Follow Him considering the end
of His conversation, the end of His life. He's pressing toward
the mark for the prize, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Considering the end of His life. Jesus Christ Himself, the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Follow Him. Follow Him. Follow
His devotion, His commitment. This is not blind allegiance
to a man. It's obedience to Christ. Fifth, Paul says in Hebrews 13,
17, Obey them that have the rule over you. Obey? Obey? Surely nobody's going to
expect a church, a whole congregation full of folks, to obey one man. Either that or quit pretending
that you're serving God. Obey Him. Obey His instruction
from the Word. Obey His counsel. Obey Him just
as a wife obeys her husband. I'm married to a woman who's
far smarter than I am. She was top of the class, high
school, college, both. I wasn't even in the class. She's
a lot smarter than I am. Usually, in most things, she
has better judgment than I do. But I'm her husband. That means
I have the responsibility for guiding the household. And she
is fully convinced that any decision I make involving our family comes
in this order. First, first, the glory and the
will of God, the good of his church and kingdom by the gospel,
and then her benefit, and then our daughter and son-in-law's
benefit, and then to benefit those two grandchildren. Whether it's good for me or bad
for me is of no consideration. Now either that's true or I'm
a bald-faced liar. Take your pick. And I have made
some decisions that flat messed up. I mean messed up. And sometimes she told me beforehand
I was fixing to mess up. And you know what she does next
time a decision has to be made? What are you going to do? How come? Because she's confident
of my love for her and confident that the judgments I make, while
they may be errors of judgment, are judgments made on the principle
of that love for her and the cause of our Redeemer. Follow
your pastor that way. Pastors are responsible to rule
the church of God as a husband rules his own house. That doesn't
mean bullying his way through. That doesn't mean flexing his
muscles saying, you want to follow me or else. It's a rule that
is given by the willing, delightful consent of God's church and His
people. That means if God raises up other
elders in His congregation, there's just one pastor you follow him.
If he gives deacons, there's just one pastor you follow him.
I have in our congregation four men who are gifted preachers,
gifted preachers. And one man, Brother Lindsey
Campbell, has taught the adult Sunday school class ever since
we started having Bible classes about three years after I came
there. And I have never one time said to any of those men or to
Brother Lindsey, Now, you say this or don't say that. Not one
time. Not one time. But I'll tell you
what not one of them has ever done, and not one of them would
dare do. Well, I know Brother Don doesn't
believe this, and Brother Don doesn't want to say this, but
this is what I believe this teaches. Now, they might do it, but it
wouldn't happen but once. It wouldn't happen but once.
Why? There can't be but one voice of authority in any house. Can't be. I know folks say, well, you can't
expect people to do that with a man. You do it with other men. 32 years ago, I was dying with
cancer. Literally, as far as doctors
were concerned, I had weeks, months at best to live. Cancer
was in fourth stage. And I went to see My doctor,
my family doctor, he sent me to a specialist who sent me to
a specialist who sent me to two more specialists. And they diagnosed
what was wrong with me and told me the severity of it, and they
told me the only way to treat it. Brother Jaime will understand
to give me a full mock treatment, they called it in those days.
I don't know what all that means, but I can tell you how it feels.
And I went through a year. taking massive cobalt treatments,
massive doses of drugs, chemotherapy, and doctors told me beforehand
that this could leave you paralyzed in your leg or both legs, could
leave you quadriplegic, could destroy your spine, could destroy
one lung, might destroy both, could even destroy your heart.
It's the only way to treat it. And I didn't have a clue how
any of it worked, and still don't. In fact, I'm not even interested
in how it works. Here I am. What did you do? I submitted myself to a man whose
responsibility it was to know better than me what I needed. You get the connection? You call
a man to be your pastor, you submit yourself to a man whose
responsibility it is whom you trust to know better what's needed
for this congregation and the ministry of the gospel and the
good of your souls than you. Pray for him. Pray for him. Paul says, finally, brethren,
pray for us. Pray for us that the word of
the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is
with you. One time someone asked Mr. Spurgeon,
to what do you attribute the phenomenal success of your ministry?
Without a moment's notice or hesitation, Spurgeon replied,
my people, pray for me and provide for it. Let him that is taught in the
word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Do what you can, and as God increases
your ability Increase what you do to provide for your pastor
so that he doesn't have to give a moment's concern as to how
he's going to take care of his family and take care of their
needs. Because those concerns will rob you. They'll rob you. A pastor must give himself ardently,
completely, completely to prayer. and study and preaching to prayer
and study and preaching to prayer and study and preaching completely. Completely. And it's shameful
that any church that is capable of taking care of a pastor doesn't
take care of him. He shouldn't be required to provide
a piece of bread for himself. Not ever. Not ever. If you can
provide it for him. Well, we have to kind of watch
preachers, you know, they'll take advantage, shoot them if
they do. I was in Alaska a couple of weeks
ago, preaching to a group just like this up there, hoping to
God will send them a pastor. I've been preaching to them for
a while whenever I can. And I said, if you want to have
somebody up here, I said, if I could tell you right now what
it would cost you, it would cost you somewhere in the neighborhood
of $1,000 every time you have somebody up here. maybe fifteen
hundred bucks what's the cost to get to get them back and uh... i'll keep focus but you have
to come up there and uh... all you have to be concerned
with his expenses just just expense motel food that that sort of
thing one of those who will what should we do in addition to that
and to do anything you want to but if he indicates he requires
anymore i don't care who he is, shoot him, leave him up there,
i don't want him back god's servants will not abuse his people. They won't do it. You can't make
one rich. It ain't going to happen. And
then I'll let you look at 2 Timothy, the first chapter at your leisure.
Paul urges Timothy as he instructs young men to adhere to his serpents. Adhere to God's serpents. And
he uses the example of a fellow by the name of Odysseophorus,
who oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my shame, how
many things he ministered unto me when I needed some help. What can I do for my pastor?
Paul says, let a man so count us as the ministers of Jesus
Christ. What a high honor. What an awesome responsibility.
The minister of Jesus Christ is the man whom Christ has made
servant over his own house, to whom he has trusted all the goods
of his house. by whom He speaks His Word to
your soul. Our Father, O our Heavenly Father, how we thank You for the privilege
of lifting our hearts to heaven and addressing the God of glory
as our Father. Will you now, for Christ's sake,
make your word effectual to these your people? How I thank you
for your goodness, your blessing upon them. Lord, increase your
favor. Increase your mercies. You promised
upon the chosen to multiply mercy and peace and grace. Multiply
your mercy and grace and peace in this place. through the ministry
of this man you placed over them, for Christ's sake. Amen.