Chapter 5. I'm going to read
the first four verses of this chapter. The elders which are
among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the
sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that
shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is
among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither
is being large over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that faded not away. I have three truths tonight that
I want to bring to us concerning the Christian ministry. And these
three truths are mentioned here in these verses which I have
just read and some from other places in the New Testament.
But first, let me just remind us that there are three words,
three words in the New Testament, which all refer to a Christian
minister. Now, we understand that in the
New Testament, we are also told that there are apostles, or there
were apostles and prophets. In Ephesians 4, the apostle Paul,
writing, declared, and he gave some apostles and some prophets. and some evangelists and some
pastors and teachers. Now there were requirements that
a man had to meet in order to be an apostle, which meant that
that office would be done away with in time because no one could
fulfill those requirements of an apostle. For the most part,
we believe this refers to missionaries that are sent out preaching the
gospel, and with the Lord's blessings, local churches are raised up. But then we read, and some pastors
and teachers, and those two words are connected together. The other
offices are separate apostles, prophets, evangelists, some pastors
and teachers. In other words, one of the requirements
to be a pastor, he must be someone who is apt to teach. So we connect
this office, these two things into one, pastors and teachers. In that same place, I believe
in the next verse, there in Ephesians 4, these offices, these men are
raised up, it says, for the work of the ministry, for the work
of the ministry, the Christian ministry. And I said that there
are three words in the New Testament which refer to the Christian
minister, and each of these three words are found in these first
two verses that we just finished reading. What are the words? What are the three words? Elders,
pastors, bishops. Elders, pastors, bishops. Well, you say, Preacher, I see
the word elder. The elders which are among you,
I exhort, who am also an elder. I see that. But what about the
pastor and the bishop? Where do we find that in these
two verses? those two words in the words
which are translated here. For instance, in verse two, where
the apostle said, feed the flock of God, which is among you. The
word, the Greek word, which is translated there, feed, is a
word that means pastor, or tend, to tend as a shepherd. He is
to tend the flock of God. As a shepherd tends his flock. And then for the word bishop,
the word which is translated taking the oversight. I want you to keep your places
here, but turn with me to Acts chapter 20. In Acts chapter 20, we find these
three words, these three terms, when the apostle Paul sent word
to the church at Ephesus for the elders to come. and he would
meet with them. It's such a beautiful, precious
passage of scripture here in Acts chapter 20 for me when I
think about Paul meeting with these elders for the last time
in this world. and the admonition that he gave
them. But the point I want to make
tonight is simply this. If you notice in verse 17 here
in Acts chapter 20, it says, and from Miletus, he sent to
Ephesus and called the elders, the elders of the church. But
then notice, if you will, down in verse 28, speaking to the
elders. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers to feed the church of God which he hath purchased
with his own blood. We see the work of a bishop there,
the overseer, and the work of a pastor to feed the church of
God. These three words, elder, pastor,
bishop, they do not refer to three different offices. You
know, there are some churches, mainly national churches, that
have bishops. They have a diocese. They divide
the country up into different dioceses, and they have a bishop
over that diocese, and he's over the pastors. That's not biblical. That doesn't come out of the
New Testament. There are two offices in a local church, pastor,
deacon. That's all you will find, pastor,
deacon. But there are those churches,
national churches, and large so-called Christian churches
that do observe that type of hierarchy. They have a bishop,
and he's an overseer over the various churches in his diocese
and over the pastors. But that doesn't come from the
Word of God. Now that's all there is to it.
You know the Word of God. You know the Word of God. You
read the New Testament. You know that's not found in
the Scripture. That's man-made. That's man-made. No, there are
three words as we see here that refer to the Christian minister,
and that is he's an elder, he's a pastor, he's a bishop. And
some of these names, or titles I should say, some say that the
term elder refers to the man, the man. The term bishop, to
the office, and the term pastor, to his ministry. Now here's some
truths to consider about a Christian minister. If the local church
be thought of as a flock, then he is to do the work of a shepherd. And what is that work? Primarily,
it is to feed the flock. And that's what is emphasized
in the New Testament concerning elders, a pastor, he is to feed
the flock. That's my responsibility, to
feed the flock. If we consider the local church
as a flock, then he's to do the work of a shepherd, and his primary
work is to feed the flock. He should also seek the sheep
that go astray. And sheep are known for that.
Sheep are known. for going astray. They'll be
out in the field, the pastor's led them, the shepherd has led
them to a place where there's plenty of food, but they just
keep moving farther and farther and farther, and before long
they're out in the boondocks. And it's the shepherd's responsibility
to find the sheep that have gone astray and to restore them. And it's also If we consider
the church as a flock, it is the responsibility of the pastor
to administer the right medicine to the sheep. Sheep need medicine. One of the books that I have
back in my library was written by a teacher that I had in Bible
school. Dr. Rogers, and it covers everything
about a shepherd and sheep. I've read that book so many times,
but always so interesting when you think about Christians as
sheep and the shepherd. And of course he takes, I believe
it's his text, Psalm 23. But the work of a shepherd, They had to lead their sheep.
In Palestine in that day, they had to lead their sheep where
they would have pasture. They had to protect their sheep.
That rod and that staff, that's not just for decoration. That rod and that staff that
the shepherd has, David said in Psalm 23, that is used to
correct, to protect, and to keep the sheep of God, to lead them. Well, if the local church be
thought of as a family, And that's the way I like to describe our
church. When I'm talking to people and they say, well, what's your
church like? I always say, our church is like
a big family. That's the way I look at it.
It's like a big family. We're all brothers and sisters
in Christ. It's just like a big family.
But if the local church be thought of as a family, then the minister
is to be the faithful and wise steward that the scriptures speak
of to give the proper food according to the necessities of the people. There's milk to be given and
there's strong meat to be given. And the shepherd or the pastor,
he needs to give both. You know, we have some small
children here and I'm so thankful the Lord has blessed us with
little children. You know, for them to learn to
walk, and we've watched them now learn to walk, but they need
that milk, don't they? They need that milk for their
bones to grow strong, and before long, they're not crawling anymore,
they're up running. And desire the sincere milk of
the word of God, that's what Peter said, that you may grow
thereby. And the pastor, he needs to administer,
yes, milk, but also strong meat because a baby, I mean, that
milk is very important, but there comes a time when the food, the
diet must change, right? And the same thing spiritually
speaking. If the church be thought of as
a city, well then the pastor, the Christian minister, he's
to be the watchman. He's to keep the people awake
or to awaken the people And he is to warn of dangers. He's a watchman. The Old Testament,
we read of watchmen, watchmen on the wall. What were they doing?
They were watching for enemies. And the pastor, the minister,
he's to watch. He's to be a watchman and to
warn because Satan always attempts to come in among the sheep and
cause division and trouble and sow discard. He's to be a watchman
and to warn the people if we consider the church as a city. If the church be thought of as
a garden or as a husbandry, as the Apostle Paul refers to it,
the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 3, then the pastor is to sow
the seed, to sow the seed. And that's so important, isn't
it? To sow the seed of God, the word of God. and to water the
seed. And if the church be thought
of as a building, and all of these things that I've mentioned,
we have the analogies in the New Testament of the church like
a building, the church like a husbandry, and all of these things. But
if the church is considered as a building, then the minister,
he must build with gold Right? He must build with gold, with
silver, with precious stones. Forget about the hay and the
stubble. You can put up something quickly
with bales of hay. But the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ is to be built with precious stones, with gold, with silver.
You say, what is that? That's sound doctrine. That's
teaching the word of God. And that's the reason we're not
ashamed of the gospel and not ashamed of the doctrines of grace. Martin Luther said the difference
between a standing church and a falling church is a doctrine
of justification. And that doctrine is so important. How are men made just, declared
righteous before God? By faith, by faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, being justified By faith, we have peace with
God. One other important truth about
the Christian minister, he is God's ambassador. Turn with me
to 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians rather, chapter five. 2 Corinthians chapter five. The
Christian minister is God's ambassador. And you remember the Lord Jesus
Christ said, he that receiveth you receiveth me. And he that
receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. Now, an ambassador. You've all heard that our country,
we have ambassadors and they all work for the president. They're
all under the state department. They all work for the president. They're president Biden's personal
representative in each of these countries. They live in the embassy,
they work in the embassy, but listen, their job, they represent
the president. Word comes from them, from the
president, this is what you are to say, this is the way you are
to conduct business. They are not there to make up
a message on their own. There's been problems, we know
in history, when that has happened. when the ambassadors have said
something that they had no right to say, they had no cause to
say, they just made it up. No, an ambassador, a preacher,
a Christian minister, he is not to make up the message, he is
to deliver the message that God has given. That's our work. And here in 2 Corinthians 5,
In verses 19 and 20, the apostle said, to wit, that God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation. And remember that reconciliation,
that stands for peace. The Christian minister He is
to declare the terms that God has set forth that a rebel, and
all of us are rebels by nature, how we may have peace with God,
how we may be at peace with God. We're not to make up the message. We're not to make up the terms
that there be peace between a sinner and Almighty God. We are to declare
the terms. That's our responsibility. Now
then, we are ambassadors for Christ. And notice, as though
God did beseech you. When the preacher, the Christian
minister, when he declares the gospel and beseeches men, believe. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look to Christ. Look away from yourself, from
your sins, from your works, and look to Christ alone. It is as
though God was beseeching men. Isn't that what he says? Now
then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech
you by us. We pray you, we pray you in Christ's
head, be you reconciled to God. Put down your arms, stack your
arms. That's the way they surrendered,
wasn't it? They stacked arms. I've been
to Appomattox Courthouse where General Lee surrendered after
the war between the states. And that's what was required,
that the soldiers of the South, the Confederacy, they stacked
their arms. That was the terms of surrender.
And those are God's terms to every sinner. Quit fighting against
God. Submit to Him as your Lord and
as your Savior. Second, here's my second point. My first point is those three
words, elder, pastor, bishop, all refer to the same office,
to the Christian minister. My second point I want to make
is this. Ministers are to come from the
local church. The idea that ministers come
from seminaries is not found in the word of God. And I know
that doesn't surprise you, you know that. That's something that
man has invented. And years ago, when a man was
put into the ministry, he usually served under the tutorship of
a pastor. And when the churches started
sending men to seminaries, if you think about it and look what
happened in our country, this is when unbelief began to permeate
among the churches. People began to question, is
the Bible really the word of God? Is this God's word, or is this
just the word of man? And we just have the choice. Call it higher criticism, you
know. They would decide what made up
the scriptures and what should be put out. And it hasn't worked
good, I tell you. No, God's way's always best,
isn't it? John Newton, I read this this
past week, I believe. John Newton's comment about Christian
ministers. Let me read it to you. None but
he who made the world can make a minister of the gospel. If
a young man has capacity, Culture and application may make him
a scholar, a philosopher, or an orator. But a true minister
must have certain principles, motives, feelings, and aims,
which no industry or endeavor of men can either acquire or
communicate. They must be given from above,
or they cannot be received. I agree 100%. Now, for years,
and you go back and read in church history, the church has believed
in what has come to be called a double call to the ministry. A double call to the ministry.
First, the man himself. The man himself will have a strong
desire to do the work of the ministry. He will. The inspired apostle wrote, this
is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth
a good work. He has that desire from within. And in our text here, I think
this is what Peter is saying in verse two, when he says, feed
the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof,
not by constraint, but willingly, willingly. The man is moved,
he feels he has a call, inward call, that he's moved inwardly
with a desire to serve the Lord, to serve Christ, to be a blessing,
to be a help to sinners, to know God, to come to Christ. That's
that first call. But there's a second call also,
and that is the church, the local church. will recognize the man
has the gift to be a minister. He does. And one of the Proverbs
goes like this, a man's gift maketh room for him and bringeth
him before great men. The church will recognize the
man has the gift to be a minister. And I heard just recently of
a church way over 400 people, members of that church, they
lost their pastor, and so what did they do? They began to form
a pulpit committee. You don't find that in the Bible.
I'm not saying that that's never right, but I am saying that when
a church finds itself without a pastor, I've said this over
40 years, and I emphasize it again, the church should look
within, first of all. And you would think among 400
members there would be someone in that church that would be
qualified, would be recognized to be the pastor, to be the elder,
the preacher. That's the first place a church
should look when they find themselves without a pastor. They should
look within. Cliff Heller, all of us know
Brother Cliff Heller. He wrote a book, I believe it's
titled The Christian Missionary, but it is an excellent book on
this very subject. And his chapter in that book,
if you don't have that book, you need to get it, his chapter,
especially if you want to preach, on preaching, preaching. And that's what he knew that
a missionary is to do, that's what a pastor is to do, to feed
the flock. But he brings out some truths,
and one thing he brings out in that book that is so obvious,
I just wonder why I never saw that. One reason, he says, that
an outsider is not qualified to be the pastor is he doesn't
know the sheep. He doesn't. He doesn't know the
sheep. He comes from another church.
He may know the sheep in that church, but when he comes into
a new church, he's called to be the pastor. He doesn't know
the sheep. How is he going to pastor the
sheep? How is he going to tend the sheep? He doesn't know them. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
know my sheep, right? He's a chief shepherd. Is there any reason why women
You know, there's a big dispute about this just recently in the
Southern Baptist Convention about women serving as ministers of
a church, being pastors of a church. Is there any reason why a woman
cannot be a pastor of a church? Yes. There's one very important
reason. Why? God said no. God said no. That's one reason. And that's the only reason we
need, isn't it? Look with me in 1 Timothy. And
I know we live in a day when people want to throw out the Word of God. That's
one of the reasons I believe we're in such a mess in this
country, is because churches, preachers, have neglected to
preach the Word of God teach the word of God, live the word
of God. And yes, society, the world is
opposite and will never fall in. Why? Because the world is
a kingdom of darkness. We've been translated into the
kingdom of God's dear son. Rules are different. Here in
first Timothy chapter two and verse eight, Paul said, I will
therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without
wrath and doubting. And like manner also that women
adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety,
not with broadward hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but
which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let
the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer
not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man,
but to be in silence. Now the reason, Paul says, for
this is, for Adam was first formed, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived. Now that's important. Your father
Adam, when tested in the Garden of Eden, He was not deceived. He knew exactly the repercussions
of him eating that fruit, and he did it anyway. He was not
deceived. But the woman, his wife Eve,
she was deceived in the transgression. Now, someone said, well, I wonder
what he meant there. Have you ever heard that? I wonder
what Paul meant there. I don't find it that hard to
understand, do you? He said the woman is not to usurp
authority over the man. And you cannot preach, not really
preach and be a pastor without authority. And our authority
is God, His Word. I know that. But you can't preach
without authority. You say, well, I know some women
and you see them on TV and they're preaching to big crowds and boy,
everybody thinks they're just the greatest in the world. Well,
maybe so, maybe so, but it ain't right. God's word still says
that a woman is not to usurp authority over the man. Here's my last point. What is
the goal of the minister? What is the goal of the Christian
ministry? It's twofold. Number one, to preach the gospel
for the saving of sinners. And you know this in Romans chapter
10, if you want to turn with me. Romans chapter 10. Verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? As it is written. And how shall
they preach except they be sent? As it is written. How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. How beautiful are the feet of
the man of God that preaches the truth, the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because men are not saved
apart from the word of God. I know God the Holy Spirit quickens
and gives life and men believe. But as one of the old writers
said, the Holy Spirit rides in the chariot of the gospel, where
the gospel is preached and God the Holy Spirit. And we don't
understand that. We don't understand how God works,
do we? If we could, we would be as big
as he is. But I do know this, the preaching
of the gospel is the means that God has ordained to use in saving
his people. The second thing, and I ask you
to turn to one other place in Isaiah chapter 40, what's the
goal of the Christian minister? Twofold, to preach the gospel
for the saving of sinners, and the second, to comfort God's
children. Isaiah chapter 40 verses 1 and
2, God tells the prophet, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak you comfortably. And if you look in your margin,
it says speak you to the heart, to the heart. It's not just dry
intellectual teaching. Speak to the heart. I heard Scott Richardson say
this one time, he said, a message should come from the heart of
God to the heart of the preacher to the heart of the people. That's
true, isn't it? Amen. Someone said, some men
love to preach, and some men love the people to whom they
preach. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
because God's people in this world, They need comfort, and
the comfort is that you've received double, of the Lord's hand, double
for all your sins. Christ has cleansed you from
your sins, number one. Number two, he's given you his
righteousness so that before God Almighty, you are as holy
as he is. You don't say that, you don't
feel that, do you? Ah, comfort ye, comfort ye, my
people. I pray the Lord would bless this
word to all of us here this evening.