There are but two kinds of preachers
in all the world, those who are used and those
who use, those who give and those who take, those who serve and
those who demand that they be served, those who enrich the
souls of men. and those who enrich themselves
at the expense of men's souls. There are no other kinds. In
the last three verses of Zechariah chapter 11, all false prophets,
all self-serving religious leaders in every age are portrayed and
portrayed under the emblem of a foolish shepherd. Read with
me beginning at verse 15, Zechariah 11, 15. And the Lord said unto me, take
unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. He has
just said, I have cut asunder my two staves, beauty and bands,
he who is the true shepherd of our souls. And he now commands
his servant and says, take unto thee the instruments of a foolish
shepherd. For lo, I will raise up a shepherd
in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off,
neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken,
nor feed that that standeth still. But he shall eat the flesh of
the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idle shepherd
that leaveth the flock. The sword shall be upon his arm
and upon his right eye. His arm shall be clean dried
up and his right eye shall be utterly darkened." Zechariah
is here commanded of God to take into his hands the instruments
of a foolish shepherd. To take the instruments of the
foolish shepherd in his hands and stand before the people with
the instruments used by a foolish shepherd so that we might be
able to see visibly by a clear image how to identify the foolish
shepherd when he comes among God's sheep. How often we are
warned of our God to beware of false prophets, foolish shepherds. Let me show you just a few of
those warnings. Turn to Colossians chapter 2. I want you to see
the warnings and the reasons for them. Our Lord Jesus said,
beware of false prophets. which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. They are hungry
wolves, and they want nothing from the sheep except what they
can get from the sheep to gratify their own bellies. They're ravening wolves. Colossians
2, verse 8. The apostle Paul writes to this
church of Colossae, and he says, beware, beware. You see, a sign
says, beware, that's a danger warning, beware. Lest any man
spoil you, ruin you through philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions
of men and the rudiments of the world. That is, man comes preaching
to you the philosophy. and vain deceits of human tradition
and the rudiments of the world, that is, the rudiments of legal
outward religion, beware, it'll ruin you, and not after Christ. Now look at the next word, for,
that is because. Beware of anything that will
turn your eyes, your heart, your mind, your attention, your thought
away from Christ. Beware of anything that turns
you to man's wisdom, traditions, outward forms, your goodness,
your righteousness, because in Him, in Christ, is everything
your soul needs. In Him is all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. Turn to 1 John
chapter 4. Peter warns us of these false
prophets who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, and
many shall follow their pernicious ways. Pernicious ways, oh! Surely he didn't mean to say
that about preachers. I think he meant to say just that. Pernicious
ways. Their ways are always pernicious
ways. And by reason of these false
prophets, the way of truth is evil spoken of. And through covetousness
shall they with feigned words, pretentious words, make merchandise
of you. 1 John chapter 4. John, that
one who is considered by almost all universally to be the most
gentle, tender, kind, loving of all the apostles of his day. John writes concerning these
false prophets, beloved, believe not every spirit, and he's not
talking about spirits you see in a dream or when you see a
hallucination of some guy, he's talking about preachers. Believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits. You're listening to
one right now. Try it. Try it. If what I say
to you is verified by this book, if what I say to you is that
which is the clear teaching of this book, you better hear what
I say. If it is not, don't you ever
hear this preacher again. Go find you another one. It's
that serious. Try the spirits, whether they
are of God. How come? Because many false
prophets, and this is first century stuff. Many false prophets are
going out into the world, not are going out, are going out.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Well, there
are not many false prophets there. Of course, everybody confesses
that Christ came in the flesh. Who do you know that does not?
Find me a preacher in this town who does not confess that Jesus
Christ came in the flesh. Find me a preacher in any Baptist
church anywhere who denies that. The Pope of Rome says Christ
came in the flesh. The papists say Christ came in
the flesh. The Pentecostals say Christ came in the flesh. Even
the Mormons say Christ came in the flesh. Well, obviously, then,
John is not talking about merely saying words and speaking historic
facts. What's he saying? Every spirit
who confesses that the Christ of God, spoken of in Old Testament
scripture, has come in the person of the man Jesus of Nazareth
and has accomplished everything he said he would accomplish.
That's spirits of God. Every spirit who confesses that
Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, that he fulfilled all covenant
responsibility for his people, that he satisfied all the demands
of law and righteousness and justice as our substitute, that
he put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself, that man's of God. Anybody who doesn't preach that
is not of God. Every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of antichrist. You mean everybody, every preacher
who denies the gospel of Jesus Christ, who denies the gospel
I had just declared to you, That Jesus Christ has accomplished
all he came into this world to accomplish. That he actually
did put away sin. That he actually did redeem unto
himself a peculiar people. That he actually did ransom his
own. That he actually did secure the
everlasting salvation of all for whom he died by his one great
sacrifice for sin. that he actually did enter into
heaven and sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high from
which he rules all flesh to give eternal life to all his elect.
You mean that everybody who denies that is Antichrist? Mark, I wouldn't
say that for the world. God did. Read it for yourself. This is the spirit of Antichrist.
Antichrist is not Some fellow who's going to rise up with a
devil's costume on and a long tail and a pitchfork in his hand
with 666 written across his face. You'll find him standing in pulpits
all over this country, all over this town, this hour. Denies
the gospel of Christ. Jude speaks of these false prophets.
Jude, verse 3. He said, Beloved, when I gave
all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, I said,
I wanted to write to you about God's grace that you know so
much about and what you've experienced, the salvation once delivered
to the saints. But it was needful for me to
write unto you and to exhort you that you should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.
For, there's that word again, because. Here's the necessity. There are certain men crept in. Slithering snakes crept in without
anybody being aware of it. They just kind of slithered their
way in and sat down beside you and snuggled up to you and got
you to pat them on the head. And they scratched your back
a little bit, and you began to like each other. Who were before
of old ordained. to this condemnation. This is
not beyond God's decree. It's not beyond God's control.
God Almighty is fulfilling His purpose even in this. They are
ungodly men. Religious as all get out, ungodly. Do good works, ungodly men. They
pray three times a day, ungodly men. They practice their devotions,
ungodly men. Ungodly men. How come? Turning the grace of our God
into lasciviousness. Declaring that if you proclaim
salvation through Christ alone, by grace alone, without any works
on the part of man, that'll lead men to licentiousness. Thus denying
the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul
in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, you don't need to turn there,
speaks to the Corinthians. And he says, I'm jealous for
you, with a godly jealousy. I'm fearful lest some man come
along and beguile you as he was beguiled by Satan from the simplicity
that is in Christ Jesus, from the singleness that is in Christ
Jesus. One message, one God, one Savior,
one salvation, one thing, Christ. That's the word, the singleness
that's in Christ. I'm jealous for you unless somebody
comes along, they slither under the doorway, and they take their
place beside you, and they elevate themselves at last to the pulpit
by getting you to agree to it. And they now turn you by the
beguiling influence of Satan from the simplicity of Jesus
Christ crucified. He said, they'll come and preach
another Jesus, another God, another spirit, another gospel. And don't be surprised, they'll
teach you to do good. Read 2 Corinthians 11. They'll
teach you to do good. False prophets are not fellows
who get in the pulpit and read Playboy magazine to you. That's
not what they do. That's not how they beguile.
False prophets are not fellows who get you to practice adultery
and fornication and drunkenness and all that stuff. That's not
how they beguile. That's not beguiling to anybody.
Those things are blatantly, obviously evil and ungodly. That's not
how they beguile. False prophets, they transform
themselves into ministers of righteousness. preachers who
promote righteousness. They establish the moral majority
and tell you about good, godly America and how good, godly Americans
with the good Judeo-Christian ethic practice godliness. They've transformed themselves
into ministers of righteousness, not preachers of Christ's righteousness. promoters of your righteousness,
to keep you from trusting the righteousness of Christ. Now,
don't be surprised at this. It's no marvel, he said, Satan
transformed himself into an angel of light. And it's no marvel
that his ministers transformed themselves into ministers of
righteousness. And their end is according to their works.
All right, back here in Zechariah. Our Lord speaks of raising up
a foolish shepherd. I have to agree with the vast
majority of the men that I've read on this passage. This is
talking about Antichrist. He says, he will raise him up.
2 Thessalonians 2 says the same thing. But it's not talking about
one man. It is many men represented by
one. He is here called a foolish shepherd. And wherever our Lord
in judgment takes away the beauty and bands, that is the gospel
and the ordinances of the gospel by which he feeds and holds together
his sheep. Whenever he takes away the influence
of the gospel, whenever he removes the candlestick, now the church
building may be standing and the pews may be full, but the
candlestick has been removed. When he does, you will always
find a foolish shepherd ready to stand quickly and persuade
you, though God's forsaken everything that you've counted dear, he's
really with you, and he's really pleased with you. That's the
significance of the word yet here in his 15th verse. But why
does he speak here of false prophets as foolish shepherds? What's
the meaning? The word foolish, of course,
means silly. ignorant. But it's more than
that. The word comes from the root
word that means perverse, ungodly, turned inside out. One who is
obviously without any knowledge of spiritual things. He may be
brilliant scholastically. He may be greatly learned, but
he's a foolish shepherd. He has absolutely no knowledge
of God, no knowledge of Christ, no knowledge of God's word, no
knowledge of salvation. He's a foolish shepherd. Ignorant,
having no part in that wisdom which comes from above and only
God can give. Destitute of spiritual understanding. Nicodemus. was a foolish shepherd. Remember John 3? Nicodemus, the
ruler of the Jews, he was a man of life. He had been to Southern
seminary all over the country and got every degree they had.
And he was some more kind of a good man. Everybody respected
Nicodemus. He was the theologian's theologian. And our Lord said to him, until
you're born again, you don't know a freshman thing. He said, except you be born again,
you can't see the kingdom of God. That doesn't mean see it
with your eyes, that means you can't understand what I'm talking
to you about. Until you're born again, you
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Foolish shepherds. The fool. has said in his heart,
there is no God. Fools die for want of wisdom. For we ourselves, Paul said,
were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers' lust
and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating
one another. That's the foolish shepherd.
He's an ignorant, ungodly, unregenerate shepherd. He's a natural man. A natural man who has crept into
the church, who's slithered into the church, and somehow, by pride,
by education, by cunning, by craftiness, has managed to get
himself elevated to the pulpit. And churches are full of them.
Now, the next thing the text speaks of is the instruments
of the foolish shepherd. You can't help but notice that
though he goes on to describe the character of the foolish
shepherd, he doesn't say anything about what the instruments of
this foolish shepherd are. He says nothing about the instruments
of the shepherd, but he does not leave us to guess about them,
because in other portions of scripture, we see clearly what
they are. Do you remember how our Lord
spoke of the scribes and the Pharisees? Matthew 23. over and over and over again
throughout the chapter. He says, woe unto you scribes
and Pharisees, and then put a big exclamation mark right beside
what he meant, hypocrites. The instruments of the foolish
shepherd, perhaps his most important, most commonly hidden instrument
is a mask. A mask, that's what the word
hypocrisy really means. It comes from a word that back
in earlier days when they had stage actors go on stage and
act, they didn't act just with painted up faces, and they didn't
act wearing their own natural appearance, but they wore masks.
A mask to portray what they knew they were not. A mask that would
make you think that they were something else than what they
really were. A mask. Whoa, unto you scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, who wear a mask. The foolish shepherd
makes the pulpit his stage. He puts on a holy countenance
as his mask, and he exercises a great, loudly promoted zeal,
with loud speech and impassioned ranting as his wardrobe, and
by craft and cunning, entangles the simple and the ignorant.
The foolish shepherd has a scepter of rule, God's servants. are to rule the house of God. The scriptures are abundantly
clear. Obey them that had the rule over you. If a man doesn't
know how to rule his own house, how can he rule the church of
God? God's servants are to rule his house, but not rule his house
as kings and lords over God's heritage. You try ruling your
house that way, and you will most likely find a little objection
from your wife, most likely. but rule your house as a loving
husband, serving your wife's good and your wife's interest,
subjecting everything in your life to her good. Pretty good
chance she might just follow your rule. That's how God's servants
rule his house, but the false prophet having elevated himself
to the place of pastor, ruled with an iron rod, a scepter,
demanding that men do as he say, making himself lord over God's
heritage as possessor of it. Indeed, the prophet tells us
in Ezekiel 34 that he rules the flock with force and cruelty. He's going to have his way no
matter what. The third instrument. the false
prophet always has is a sharp pair of shears. But where do
you get that? Ezekiel 34, verse 3. Listen.
They clothe themselves with the wool of the sheep. And if you
clothe yourself with the wool of the sheep, you got to get
the wool off the sheep. And the false prophet does that
by his shears. The pastor, hasn't God ordained
that they which preach the gospel live of the gospel? Indeed, he
has. But there is an enormous difference
between a man living off that which men freely give because
they desire to and a man taking from men what he wants from them.
The fourth instrument he uses, and you've all seen it. If you
didn't see it, you felt it. is a long whip. It's called law. It will reach every corner of
the building and lash every back and make everyone tremble in
fear. I was talking to Brother Reichenbach
this week. We were sitting out chatting one day and we were
talking about this very thing. I said, we have a terrible danger
because we are all flesh. There's a terrible danger in
us who know better when it appears that folks aren't doing what
they ought to do to take out the whip. I said, I ground that
thing up in a paper shredder years ago, but somehow it keeps
growing. Because it's natural to us. James Jordan, not coming
to church like you ought to. Well, if you saved, you would.
If you're saved, real Christians would. If you really believe
God, you would. You know what that does? Well,
that's just telling a man if he's a real Christian, this is
what he'd do. That's telling him if you'll do this, you'll
be a real Christian. That's promoting self-righteousness is all it
is. Do or be damned. Obey or lose your reward. Tithe or God will make your children
sick. Whip of the law. You better keep
the Sabbath day. Boy, God will get you if you
don't. Oh, I'd be scared to do that. I'd be scared to do that. Oh, I wouldn't do that on Sunday.
No, I wouldn't. I'd be afraid to do that. How
come? Well, I don't want to break the
Sabbath. I'd really like to go out there
and have lunch with you, but I'd be scared to do that. Well,
if you'd really like to do that, that's what you really did. So
the outward pretense of obedience is no obedience at all. And when
they can't reach folks outside the building, they have another
instrument they use. The scripture describes it as
a bow, a bow and a quiver full of arrows. And the arrows are
bitter words with which they assault God's people and shoot
them out suddenly. And the foolish shepherd has
another instrument. He always carries something else.
It's called corrupt doctrine, turning you away from the simplicity
that's in Christ. And their doctrine is always
the same. It's always the same. Now listen carefully to what
I'm saying. It doesn't matter whether you're talking to a Hindu
or a Papist, or a Buddhist, or a Baptist, or a Pentecostal,
or an Anglican, or a Mormon, or anything else. It doesn't
matter. If it doesn't believe the gospel of God's free grace,
their doctrine is all exactly the same. Exactly the same. They
wear different costumes, and they put on a different show,
but their doctrine is exactly the same. They teach you that
you're somebody and God's nothing. They teach you that you have
a mighty, powerful will, and God's will is insignificant.
They teach you that you must do something by which to make
yourself accepted with God and to keep God's favor. thus making
the blood of Christ and the work of God, the Holy Spirit, the
grace of God, altogether meaningless and insignificant. All false
prophets are will worshipers, as Paul describes them in Colossians
chapter two. Now, look at their character, verse 17. The Lord says, I will raise up
a shepherd. You mean, Brother Don, these
false prophets are raised up by God? Oh, don't miss that. Don't miss that. This is the
only good part of these three verses. This is the only good
part in them. Everything else is judgment.
This is the only good part in them. God says, I will raise
up a shepherd among them. Antichrist, like Satan himself
and false prophets are not things that just spring up from nowhere
and take God by surprise. He raises up false prophets in
judicial blindness, in judgment, to judge and bring to eternal
ruin men and women who receive not the love of the truth. Read
2 Thessalonians 2. Isaiah 66, this is what God says. This is what God says. I've named
all the different brands of religion, but as Scott Richardson used
to say, every man to his own poison. Doesn't matter which
kind of poison it is, every man to his own poison. This is what
God says about that. I will choose their delusions. I will choose their delusions. They would not bow to me. They would not bow to my son.
They would not bow to the stains of beauty and bands, the gospel
and the ordinances of divine worship. They would have none
of me. So I choose their delusions. And by these they shall be damned.
Now read what it says about the character of these whom he raises
up. The man raised up to delude and
deceive, he shall not visit those that be cut off. Visit. True religion and undefiled is
to visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction. But
the false prophet will not visit them. Now, as I said this morning,
That's not talking about running around and having coffee and
tea with folks on a regular basis. That's not talking about going
and making social calls. You go talk to anybody, go ask
them, ask old folks, especially ladies, forgive me, but ask old
women. They've been around for a while. They've been in church,
and they've had several pastors. Tell me, who's your best pastor? I remember Brother Joe, you know
he used to come by the house and visit with us every week. He'd come to the hospital and
sit up with us all night long if we were sick. That's got nothing
to do with pastoring. Now please hear me, please hear
me. I want you to use me for anything for which I am needed
at any time, any hour of any day. But socialization ain't
pastoring. That's not pastoring. To visit
those that are cut off is to come here and seek by God's spirit
that which your soul needs. You, especially, who by transgression,
by iniquity, by countless falls, have cut yourselves off from
consolation and comfort. to find out what's needed from
God for you, and to visit you with his word, to visit you with
the gospel of his grace. But the false prophet, he doesn't
give a flip about those things. He'll find some sermon notes
and illustrations and outlines wherever he can, and spend as
little time as he has to getting ready to preach, and he'll He'll
come up and give you some three points in a poem and smile at
you and say, God bless you and send you home, caring nothing
about your soul's needs. The false prophet will not visit
God's hidden ones. those whom he has hidden in his
hand and in his heart from eternity, and those whose lives and hearts
and experiences are hidden from the world and the worldling,
hidden because they know nothing of those things, those who are
cut off. Prophets who care for nothing
but themselves won't do that, but God's servants do. Scripture
speaks of the shepherd causing the sheep to pass under the rod
as they come into the fold. As they do, he examines them
and watches them, looks for any injuries, any signs of sickness,
not while they're out in the field, but as they come into
the fold. This is what it's talking about to shepherd God's people.
The pastor seeks to minister to the needs of God's people. The false prophet never visits
from the pulpit those that are cut off. He never has anything
for them, has no ability to do it. Neither shall he seek the
young one, the newborn babe, The newborn babe who desires
the sincere milk of the word that he may grow thereby, the
prophet has no time for him. He's tasted that the Lord is
gracious, but he needs to be fed and nurtured and cared for.
But the false prophet, the foolish prophet has no need for him.
How come? Because he can't get anything from him. It has no
use for him. The foolish prophet does not
heal that which is broke. To this man, God says, I will
look. To him that is of a broken spirit,
a broken and contrite heart, oh God, thou will not despise. But the false prophet does because
he knows nothing about it. Doesn't know anything about it.
He's never experienced what it is to fall on his face before God with
a broken heart. Because of his corruption and
the evil that's in him because of his hardness and his unbelief,
he knows nothing about it. And so he doesn't know anything
about how to visit and heal those who have a broken heart. He knows
nothing of the disease and nothing of the remedy. And then the Lord
says, he feeds not that which standeth still. What's he talking about? What's
he talking about? Most of the time, most of the
time, you and I, God's sheep, move along and we either make
some progress or we have some falls. We either move in some
way worshiping God, in some way walking with our God and Savior,
believing Him, Oh, we fall horribly on our faces. But sometimes we're
so weak, hearts so dead, that we stand still, have no ability
to move. Nothing we can do. You try to
pray and you can't pray. You try to read the book and
you can't read the book. Oh, you read the letters, but
you can't read the book. Hear from God and you can't hear anything. And the false prophet won't do
anything for you. And I'll tell you why. Because
he doesn't have a clue what's going on in you. He's never been
there. He's never been there. God's
servants take those who cannot and will not help themselves. and try by God's spirit through
the word to minister to those people as to all others, feeding
them with knowledge and understanding. But I'll tell you what he will
do. Look at the next line. He shall eat the flesh of the fat. In Exodus 29, God ordained in
his law, and it was a typical law, He ordained that the priest
should be provided for by the sacrifices of his people, that
they should be maintained in their livelihood by the sacrifices
of his people. But the priest portion was never,
it was never that which was the best portion. The priest portion
was never the loin. The priest portion was never
the hindquarter. The priest's portion was the
breast and the shoulder. How come? Because that's sufficient. That's plenty. That's plenty. But he doesn't need and mustn't
seek the best. He doesn't need and mustn't seek
the best. The word of God sanctions and
teaches that God's servants should be cared for, maintained by his
people, and maintained reasonably But God's servants are not grasping,
covetous, insatiable men. The foolish shepherd seeks not
the good of the flock, but the fleece of the flock. And he will
sacrifice truth. He will mangle the gospel. And
he will preach to please men with the sole purpose of filling
his pockets and doing whatever he can to do it. I've seen this
happen so many times. I've seen men. Who was it? Somebody told me a preacher
said, this is how you preach. I've seen them repeatedly. In
order to enrich themselves from people who are capable of putting
money in their pockets, they'll compromise the gospel of God's
grace. Such a man is a foolish shepherd, whoever he is, no matter
what he preaches. And they will tear their claws,
the claws of the sheep, in pieces. Well, sheep don't have claws,
no, but the hooves by which they stand and attempt and try and
want to walk with God to the false prophets are just like
angry claws. The feet of faith by which we
serve and worship our God, the false prophet, the foolish shepherd
knows nothing about and he would tear from you all that grace
and hope and love and faith by which you seek to walk with our
Savior. The foolish shepherds are described
in verse 17 as idle shepherds. Not I-D-L-E shepherds, though
they're certainly that. Dumb dogs that cannot bark. Lazy. Dolts. Preachers have a reputation
for being lazy. It's a well-earned reputation.
It's a well-earned reputation. Lazy dolts. But they're not just
I-D-L-E shepherds, they are I-D-O-L shepherds. Every one of them. And I'll tell you who their god
is. No, you don't have to listen to me tell you who their God
is. The only God they worship is their belly. Listen to what
God the Holy Spirit says. They serve not our Lord Jesus
Christ, but their own belly. And by good words and fair speeches
deceive the hearts of the simple. Well, Brother Don sounds to me
like you don't have any use for preachers. You got it right. Not for foolish
preachers. Nothing I hold in greater contempt
in all this world than self-serving, despicable, self-righteous false
prophets who abuse and use men in the name of God, making merchandise
of men's souls. And when they've thoroughly fleeced
the flock, look at verse 17 again, they leave it. They leave it. Well, brethren,
I believe my work here is done. And I've done all I can now,
and the Lord, I believe, is leading me somewhere else where I'm more
needful. Strangely, the more needful place
is always bigger and richer and more promising. You ever observe
that? They leave. When they got all
from you, they think they can get from you. used you for everything
they think they can use you for. They've promoted themselves,
established themselves, enriched themselves all they can. Well,
brethren, the Lord's called me to another work. This world can't
understand commitment to Christ and separation to the gospel.
Several years ago, I had a call. I sat back in the office, the
old office. Somebody called me and asked
if I'd consider being their pastor. I said, no. I'd be happy to help
you get a pastor, help you to get one. How many folks do you
preach to? I said, I don't know. Never counted
them. 50, 60 maybe. Oh, we've got 600
people. I said, that doesn't matter.
Well, how much are they able to pay you? I said, they're pretty
good. You see a picture of them, you'll
know they're pretty good. They do all right. Well, we can do that.
That doesn't. I despise the thought that you
think it matters. Well, I don't understand that.
If you knew my God, you'd understand that. If you knew my God, you
would. These fellows move where greener
pastures are. To such self-serving deceivers,
the Lord God promises one thing. Woe to the idle shepherd that
leaves the flock. The sword shall be upon his arm,
his right arm, permanently. and upon his right eye permanently. And his arms shall be clean,
dried up. And his right eye shall be utterly
darkened forever in hell. May God ever deliver his church
from such foolish shepherds. And give his church pastors according
to his own heart who shall feed them. with knowledge and understanding. Those that are cut off and those
that are broken and those that are lame and those that are young.
Oh my God, make me such a pastor. Amen.