Focus on the Church Part 6

If people would once again take
their Bibles and turn to the book of First Peter, this is
our sixth week. In a little series that we’re
calling a focus on the church, the men and I having spoken in
the fall just about the need to kind of refresh and revisit
some things and even just savor some of the rich principles about
the church that are presented so clearly in his word, and that’s
given us occasion really through the vehicle of a number of different
passages. The Book of Acts verse 931 was
the first one that we pondered as we looked at the nature of
the church and the nature of a proper church growth. We looked also at second Timothy
Chapter four on the word and its role in the church, God’s
revelation given to the church and here in First Peter. Pardon me, one of my favorite
passages, one of the most solemn in the consideration of church
leadership. Here, written by Peter, who by
God’s grace really had learned the principles of leadership,
and here Peter advances these great principles and exhortations
upon the leaders of the church. If you would, let’s just review
that passage by way of reading through it. 1 Peter chapter 5,
and we find ourselves in verses 1 through 4, where Peter writes,
therefore I exhort The elders among you as your fellow elder
and witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker also
of the glory that is to be revealed shepherd the flock of God among
you exercising oversight not under compulsion but voluntarily.
According to the will of God and not for sordid gain but with
eagerness. Nor yet as lording it over those
allotted to your charge but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears
you will receive the unfading crown of glory. We began to look
last Lord’s Day because if you’re going to consider the subject
of the church you have to include in that the topic of the leadership
of the church and So we did, and the typical approach or the
typical answer is that God really doesn’t care how the church is
led. The standard answer in the church,
and I mean the greater church at least in America, is that
the leadership structure doesn’t matter. And you can just look
at the average church and get a glimpse of that mindset. As you see the CEO model where
the modern day pastor is not so much a shepherd as he is a
CEO, a business executive that oversees the efficiency of the
church. You also have the tendency of
the top-down model where you do have one either president
or CEO or some like term that is taken the helm upon himself
and leads the church in solo fashion. And so it’s crucial
to know or to at least ask the question, does God provide a
leadership structure? And we began to look at that
last Lord’s Day. The simple answer is yes, God
does provide a God given leadership structure. It’s not that the
apostles got together and collaborated and came up with this. It’s not
that it just evolved over time. This was a God given structure
and we began to see that it’s a plurality of elders is essentially
what God presented. Elders were presented in nearly
all the churches throughout the New Testament. We saw a plurality
of elders. We saw that pattern in scripture
we saw instruction given to elders to the churches. We saw instruction
given directly to them and instruction given about them. And so to to
ignore that is to ignore the God given provision of a biblical
leadership structure. It’s a plurality of godly men. It’s a multiple number and we
saw there that. The ministry of the church is
not supposed to be a one man show but there are no hard and
fast numbers. It just says essentially more
than one. That’s what the scripture points
to. It doesn’t point to a quota because as soon as you dip into
quotas as we talked about last week you end up with serious
problems. You either put men in office
who aren’t called who aren’t qualified or you keep men out
of the office that are gifted. and qualified when you have a
God given plurality when you have a multiplicity of godly
men you have the multiple counsel and wisdom of those godly men.
You have the protection against the attack and the difficulty
that would come upon one man functioning by himself. You have
the magnified giftedness of more than one individual. You have
a multiplicity of individuals all functioning in their God
given giftedness which strengthens the church. It maximizes its
effectiveness and it prevents also the weaknesses of one man
and one man’s opinion. So as I suggested. hopefully
began to prove last Lord’s Day there is a God given leadership
structure in the Bible and it is a plurality of elders. Now
the issue becomes typically when you begin to look at especially
this passage the word here in this particular passage is elder.
But Scripture, as we pointed to last week, uses a number of
different titles for the same exact office. There aren’t all
kinds of offices in the church. There’s really one office, a
permanent primary office of spiritual leadership in the church. And
just to clarify, I said permanent in the sense that it began in
the early church and it is to perpetuate throughout the existence
of the church, but It is primary in the sense that there is another
office there is another position of leadership in the church and
it is equally as important. It is the office of deacons those
who serve the body of Christ in a myriad of different ways. But there are three different
titles that we looked at last week not only elder and we looked
at it 70 times it’s used or more in the New Testament and That
much was clear as we as we looked, there’s almost no pushback on
the fact that Elder is certainly a prominent position in the church
in the New Testament. We see that it’s tying the three
titles together that took some time and we spent some time. The word overseer, I just touched
on this last week, and it provoked a number of good questions. The
word overseer. is really a translation of the
word Episkopos. Episkopos just means to oversee,
epi, over, skopeo, just like when you use a scope, that’s
where you get the word from, is to watch or to oversee. But unfortunately this word has
been historically transliterated, not translated. And I wanted
to share a little bit more detail with you because there is an
important fact and feature to this mishandling of the word.
The Greek, as I pointed to, is Episcopal Episcopal. The Latin, when they translated
the Latin, when they took the Bible away from the people, remember
they translated it into Latin, and then as the language changed,
the Catholic Church retained the Latin translation. and the
people became ignorant of God’s words. Such caused the Reformation. The Latin is Episcopal. The old
high German when they began to translate the scriptures into
German they just looked at it and said Bischoff. Middle and modern German became
Bischoff middle and Dutch became Bischoff. Old English, I think
there’s 27 different ways that Old English translated it. And
that’s simply because the language of English was in a state of
flux. It’s like however you spelled
it, that’s how it was spelled. And so everything from using
B-I-S-C or B-E-S-C or B-I-S-H, all manner of different spellings
of that word. But it’s a transliteration. not
a translation. And such comes Wycliffe in his
attempts to translate the scriptures. And it was a noble task that
he undertook. It literally lit the fires of
the Reformation. But Wycliffe used to translate
his scriptures the Latin, not the Greek and the Hebrew. And
when Wycliffe seized hold of this particular word, He translated
Bishop us. He retained that transliteration. Tyndale followed in his footsteps
in 1526 Tyndale’s translation read Bishop the King James when
it translated it in 1611. You would think here’s an opportunity
to really set things right. And as I indicated every time
you have one of these transliterations you have a recipe for disaster.
because people can attach to it meaning as they desire. Unfortunately in 1611 when the
King James was translated they translated it Bishop and that’s
what left the door open. Here’s what happened as one just
excellently characterized what transpired. Overseers or elders
more usually known by their Greek designations as bishops or presbyters
These terms are used in the New Testament as equivalent, the
former Episcopalist denoting the duties, the latter the rank
of the office. The history of the church leaves
us no room for doubt that on the death of the apostles, one
among the presbyters of each church was selected to preside
over the rest. I want you just to get that point.
That’s why I’m so concerned over the use of these terms. The idea,
the historical idea, was that one pastor among the churches
of a community was selected out to essentially be a super shepherd
over all of the churches. You say, well, so what? What’s
the problem with that, even if he ends up wearing a tall hat
and waves incense? What’s the big
deal? So what if there’s a bishop?
It takes away the authority and the autonomy of the local church.
It creates, in essence, a position that God never designed. And that’s why it’s so important
that we look at this word and see what did God mean by this
word? And what God meant is that elders
are also overseers. They oversee the flock. They’re
not bishops. They’re not separate and distinct
apart from local congregations that are not over as super pastors
over a number of bodies. Even look at the passage before
you look at the passage before you. I exhort the elders among
you shepherd the flock of God among you exercising oversight. It’s always the local church
that’s in view. That is what’s God, what God
is concerned with. It’s not this super pastor position
that is left open in the pages of Scripture. The third word,
as we saw last Lord’s Day, is pastor or shepherd. Every time
that one translated as shepherd. The conclusion we drew last week
is that whether you call them elder or pastor or shepherd,
whether you refer to them as overseer, you’re talking about
the same office. The scriptures are talking about
the same office. Now, I’m not advocating for the
use of any position or title. I’ve never asked anybody to call
me anything other than Ron. Young children, I prefer that
they call me Mr. Frasco. Just out of a sign of
respect and I asked my kids to do the same thing not me. We’ll get to that later. My point
in suggesting that the church use the same title it’s not that
I want us all to be held as the very right reverend or the. the
right reverend pastor of Frasco. What I prefer is that you recognize
the brothers who serve alongside of me as functioning in the exact
same capacity as me. Exactly the same. We looked at the fact that elders
are ordained or appointed by God. They’re not elected by the
church. We recognize what God has already
done. Ordination, if it’s spoken of
at all in Scripture, is spoken of elders. Appoint elders in
every church. And those elders end up serving
for life. That doesn’t mean they can’t
be called away by providential circumstances. As I suggested
last week, they shepherd a local flock. And if they’re called
away, they’re no longer pastors. They’re no longer elders. If
they go to another community and they present themselves before
the church. The church does its homework.
Then they are ultimately recognized once again. But they’re examined. They’re scrutinized. These elders.
They’re looked at. And as I pointed out last Lord’s
Day we just touched on this. The elders are scrutinized not
on their degree. They’re scrutinized not even
necessarily on their knowledge. They’re scrutinized on their
spiritual character on their standing before God. One pastor
wrote that God’s standards for leadership in the church are
high. The basic and extremely crucial truth that many evangelical
churches today either deny or ignore and that’s what makes
the rotating eldership so disastrous is you get ungodly men potentially
serving in a very important capacity making really errant decisions. He goes on to say that New Testament
standards for pastors are often lowered selectively applied or
simply disregarded. Some congregations and denominations
pick and choose pastoral qualifications that seem most relevant and appropriate
for the times. In other words you know is this
guy does he have an MBA. I’ve heard churches discuss along
those lines, you know, various worldly standards, all the while
ignoring the clear standards that are laid out in front of
us, which standards we’ll look at momentarily. They do this to satisfy personal
preferences and that do not conflict too sharply with contemporary
social standards and practices. In other words, we don’t want
a guy who’s too spiritual. Nothing is more needed in the church
than the careful application of the biblical principles of
leadership. What are they? Please, if you would turn to
First Timothy. First Timothy, these are hard
passages to read. And I don’t, for a moment, present
myself before you nor the other men as having arrived at any
degree of perfection on any of these standards. Nor do I suggest
that these standards are only for us. Do you realize that elders
aren’t called to anything that you men aren’t called to? That
the rest of you aren’t called to? It’s just that the elders
are seen in these capacities as having essentially no indictable
offense. Look at 1 Timothy 3. Look at
verse 1. It is a trustworthy statement.
If any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work
he desires to do. You might just pause and note
that that word aspire is literally the word translated lust. This
is no passing affection for the office. This is no happenstance. This is certainly no rotating
eldership. This is a passionate desire here,
a good passion, a passionate desire to serve Christ by serving
the people of God. It is a trustworthy statement,
if any man aspires to the offices of overseer, it is a fine work
he desires to do. An overseer then must be above
reproach, he can’t have an indictable offense, that’s the umbrella
quality, if you will. That’s the umbrella standard.
He must be blameless. He must be irreproachable. I
like the word, not indictable. If you are accused of a crime,
the evidence will be taken before, in many cases, a grand jury. The grand jury will hear the
testimony and they will decide, a jury of your peers, Whether
the evidence warrants bringing this charge. That’s essentially
the umbrella quality that is over an elder. That he must be
blameless. He must be a man who is not indictable. On what? The husband of one wife. Literally a one woman man. Not
a man, not only with multiple wives. He’s not a man that looks
about. He’s not a man that enjoys the
company of other women. He’s not a man that desires the
company of other women. He’s not a man who feasts his
eyes on the form of another woman. He’s the husband of one wife.
He’s a one woman man. He’s temperate. It just refers
to sober mindedness, clear headedness. He’s not a man that’s muddled
in his thinking. but is able to think clearly
through the biblical requirements of any given situation. He’s
prudent. Titus 1.8 translates the same
exact word as sensible. He’s sound mind. He’s reasonable. He’s a serious man. It’s not
to say that an elder can’t have a sense of humor. I’m glad that
all three of us do. But he’s not what you know, the
world would call a goofball. He’s not just constantly flippant
about life. Ministry is a serious matter. Souls hang in the balance. He’s
a respectable man. He’s an honorable man. As he
goes about in the streets and in the city, people look at him
as a respectable man. They may not like him. They may
not like everything that he believes and teaches. But he’s respectable. He’s hospitable. This is a practical
love of strangers. When strangers come across his
path, he cares for them in a practical way. He’s able to teach. This talks about a skillfulness
in teaching, but he has the capacity to distill down spiritual truths
and nourish the people of God, exactly what Peter was called
to when he was restored to ministry. Not addicted to wine. He’s not
a drunken man. He’s not a man that is literally
given over to alcohol and to its abuse. He is not pugnacious. He’s not violent. He’s not a
bully. He doesn’t have a tendency to
lash out physically. He doesn’t ever threaten people
to punch them as it were or do them any kind of physical harm.
He’s gentle. He’s yielding. He’s kind. He has a forebearing spirit,
whether it’s in conversation or in discussion. He’s a peaceable
individual, and that essentially fleshes itself out in conversation
and in the conduct of his life. He’s uncontentious. There’s no
doubt that from time to times we will have to contend. We will
have to argue for the faith. We will have to defend biblical
doctrine. But he doesn’t argue for the
sake of arguing. Have you ever known people like
that? I have a neighbor like that. That if you say the sky
is blue, he’ll come back. Well, it’s actually kind of an
awkward, slightly chartreuse, whatever. No matter what I say. There are people that are just
given to contention, given to arguing, given to lobbying and
arguing for their own Thought free from the love of money.
He’s not a greedy man. We’ll touch upon that one in
a moment. He’s one who manages his own household. Well, he is.
He is not only the God given head of his family, he is in
charge of his family. They are under his rule, under
his care, under his direction and authority. They’re not doing
their own thing. They’re not flying off the handle. Disrespectful to him and to everyone
else. He’s not a new convert. This
is one who is seasoned in the faith, one who has not only made
a profession of faith, but is growing in grace and flourishing
in that. The last quality that Paul mentions
here to Timothy is that he has a good reputation with those
outside the church. Again, you know, I would be aware
of the guy who everybody loves. I would be aware of the guy who
has, you know, a good and upstanding and an agreeable position with
everybody that he ever meets. That’s a politician. He has a
good reputation. You know what? I disagree with
the guy. This whole Bible thing, he’s over the top on it. But you know what? I can’t argue
with the guy’s life. I can’t argue with the fact that he loves
me, cares for me. Would God’s people please turn
to the book of Titus. Two books over. One of the arguments for the
fact that overseer and elder are essentially the same position
is taken from these two passages. The qualities there just outlined
were outlined for the office of overseer. But Titus, having
been tasked with appointing elders begins to hear the list expounded
almost at the identical list. For elders, look at verse five,
for this reason, I left you in Crete that you might set in order
what remains and appoint elders. You know, there’s really that’s
the work of the church. It’s a constant reformation.
That’s why I don’t like the word reformed church. We’re not reformed.
Not in that sense, not in any kind of complete sense. Set in
order what remains. That’s a constant work. Set in
order what remains and appoint elders. OK, what do they look
like, Paul? You left me here alone on this
island. You want me to go around appointing these guys. What do
they look like? Paul’s going to tell him in explicit
detail, just like he just did Timothy. Now, we don’t have cause
to repeat. A great number of these qualities
because they’re already embedded in the exhortation given to Timothy.
But Paul does say it a different way in a couple of different
places. Glance down at the list. Having children who believed
who believed not accused of dissipation or rebellion. Now please this
does not take away. God’s sovereignty it leaves.
Wide room for God’s sovereignty. This refers to the classic argument. Does this mean that they believe
or are they faithful? They’re faithful, trustworthy,
loyal. They’re not given over to debauchery,
incorrigibility. They’re not sinning in high handed
fashion against their father and against God. Not self-willed. This is a dangerous
one. And this is one that the church
is classically just overlooked, and they have built a structure
that facilitates these kinds of men who call all the shots
and set all the agendas and make all the decisions. Stubborn,
arrogant men. Not quick tempered, he’s not
a man who’s inclined to anger, he’s not a hothead. He’s not
fond of sordid gain. We’ll talk about that one again
in a minute. Dishonesty, fraud. Loving what is good, he’s virtuous. And then this one, and I have
to tell you, the first time I read this, I read right over it and
I looked at it and said, just just what? The word refers to an uprightness,
a righteousness, a practical righteousness. And this. Somebody who’s fair and impartial,
you see, In the eldership, so many times people will be tempted.
Oh, you know, you’ve got to cater to them. They’re a big giver.
What does that have to do with anything? So oftentimes in various
circles, not unlike the church, people will lick their finger
and stick it in the air and see which way the political winds
are going. What do the people want? Because they can’t go against
them. An elder is called to be just. He’s called to make the call
based on what he sees Scripture teaching, and he’s called to
take that stand. Regardless of what the people
say. He’s called to appeal to their consciences to carefully
and patiently teach them that ultimately he must be just. He
can’t be guided by all these other elements. He’s got to look
to God’s word and read it. and interpret it and stand upon
that and not alone. He’s a devout man. Paul says
to Titus, he’s pious, he’s pleasing to God, he’s holy, he’s pure.
He’s self-controlled, he’s disciplined. And finally, he’s holding fast
the faithful word. He will not let go of the gospel. He will not let the world taint
The one clear message that the church has for the lost who won’t
do it. MacArthur said it this way. Is
this idea of biblical standard for men who lead the church is
this passe. Should we really be looking for
those with MBAs those that are powerful leaders in the community
regardless of their moral standing. MacArthur said the character
and effectiveness of any church is directly related to the quality
of its leadership. That’s why the Bible stresses
the importance of a qualified church leadership and delineates
specific standards for evaluating those who would serve in that
sacred position. Failure to adhere to those standards
has caused many of the problems that the churches throughout
the world currently face. What a sad thing. Not only are these men called
to be godly. It shouldn’t surprise us that
they’re called to be men. I don’t mean to embellish the point.
I don’t mean to be obnoxious. I certainly don’t look to make
any enemies, but turn back, if you would, to First Timothy,
because the context makes this absolutely clear that those who
serve in the capacity of eldership are called to be men. Now, in
a sense, this argument has really died down in the church 10 years
ago, certainly for 15. This was I mean, this was splitting
churches, splitting denominations. Pastors were getting fired over
this because of their position. If you articulated that a woman
should not serve as an elder, you could lose your financial
support as a seminarian. I’ll tell you how later. You know sadly it’s given way.
The fact that women can serve as an elder in a church that’s
not even a question anymore. Do you know there’s a church
in town that gave up the fight recently gave up the fight just
acquiesced gave in to political wins of the issue not of whether
a woman can serve in the pastorate but whether a homosexual man
or woman can serve as a pastor. This woman thing is a secondary
question in the church now. It’s not even an issue. But it
is to God. Look at the context and go back
to verse nine of chapter two. Likewise, Paul says, I want women
to adorn. He’s talking about women. How
are we to conduct ourselves in the house of God? Likewise, I
want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly
and discreetly, not with. And he’s not talking about if
you braid your hair, ladies, You’re a sinner. He’s talking
about if that’s all you do, if that’s the only thing you do
befitting godliness, 1st Peter 3, 1 through 6. If that’s all
you do, you haven’t done enough. I want women to adorn themselves
with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided
hair and gold and pearls and costly garments, but rather by
means of good works as befits women making a claim to godliness.
God is concerned with what we look like when we come to church.
But he’s also concerned, ladies, with what we sound like when
we come to church. Let a woman quietly receive instruction
with entire submissiveness. Now, you would think that Paul
is laying down, he’s a sexist, laying down for the first time
this ridiculous standard that no woman has ever had to submit
to. But now Christianity comes on
the scene and now we have this ridiculous, harsh, sexist standard. Do you know that a woman wasn’t
even supposed to be in a public assembly? In the Greek and Roman
and Hebrew cultures, you weren’t even supposed to be there, much
less sit under the teaching. Paul is elevating a woman to
a new and high standard, but he’s not going to throw out all
protocol. Let a woman quietly receive instruction
with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to
teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. You
know, this idea, I’ll tell you of all the public challenges
that I’ve ever faced, I would say, you know, whenever you have
this meeting and everybody’s there and everybody of all the
difficult, awkward public challenges I’ve ever faced, almost every
one of them has come from a woman. Almost every one of them, you
know, in this aggressive tone to put the pastor on the spot
to make someone look bad. And it is a slippery slope when
you have this situation where we begin to sit in participation
and first we begin by sharing prayer requests and then perhaps
we ask a question. And the next thing you know,
there’s contention and you need to check your own heart. If there’s
a contentiousness, if you are contending with the man who is
teaching. Then you’ve stepped over the
line, it’s just clear and simple, it’s as plain. As day. I do not allow a woman to teach.
Or to exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet and
say, well, why is this? Why are we bringing in all of
the sexism of the other cultures? Paul gives the answer in verse
13, for it was Adam who was first created and then Eve. Well, that’s
awfully simplistic, Paul. That’s God. That’s not Paul’s
rule, that’s God’s rule. And it was not Adam who was deceived,
but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression. It is not only because of the
order of creation, but it’s because of the order of the fall that
God says. Men are going to teach. Women
have the elevated position to sit in that teaching. That they
are not to usurp that authority and take control and exercise
authority over a man. That is the man’s role. Look
at verse three or chapter three verse one immediately following
it is a trustworthy statement. If any man aspires to the office
of overseer it is a fine work he desires to do an overseer
then must be above reproach the husband of one wife. Now our
current homosexual culture notwithstanding that is a difficult thing for
a woman to pull off isn’t it to be the husband of one wife. Elders are supposed to be not
only a plurality, they’re supposed to be godly, they’re supposed
to be men. And together, they shepherd the flock of God. It’s
a high calling. It’s a solemn undertaking. Look
back, if you would, to First Peter, chapter five. First Peter. Chapter 5, Peter
lays it out to them. I exhort the elders among you.
Verse 2, shepherd the flock of God. Now, we’ll look at a couple
of those elements. We’ll look specifically at what
shepherding is. But note, first of all, it’s
not my flock. It’s not the elders’ flock. It’s not your flock. It’s God’s flock. They’re God’s
people. They are entrusted into our care,
but they’re not our sheep. They’re not our sheep to knock
around. They’re not our sheep to abuse.
They’re not our sheep to lay claim to. They’re God’s people. They’re God’s flock. Note also
point that we’ve already pointed to shepherd the flock of God
among you. There’s no such thing as a super
pastor, there’s no such thing of a guy who flies into this
community and has any kind of ecclesiastical authority over
this body. Nobody. There are those that
I would befriend, that I would welcome, that I might even ask
to greet you in the name of the Lord, but there’s nobody that’s
going to come in here and exercise any kind of ecclesiastical authority
over you saints. You’re God’s people. God has
given you leadership. God has given you loving shepherds. Paul says I exhort the elders
among you shepherd the flock of God among you. It is a joint
oversight and it is to be done as Peter goes on to say not under
compulsion there is in a sense we are compelled to do this.
Paul says, well, if I do not preach the gospel, we’re compelled
to care for God’s people. But it can’t be just drudgery.
It can’t be just done with laziness and indifference as if we’re
pushed to the front lines. We’re compelled to love and to
serve God’s people because they’re God’s people. Voluntarily, he says, according
to the will of God, it’s a calling. It’s a calling that’s been placed
upon him. One pastor said there is a way
of accepting office and of rendering service as if as if it was a
grim and unpleasant duty. As if it was a weariness, as
if it was a burden to be resented, it is quite possible for a man
to be asked to do something and for him to do it, but in such
an ungracious way that the whole action is spoiled. These men, this plurality of
elders jointly and humbly shepherds the flocks. What does it mean?
What does it look like? What is the elder’s duty in the
flock? They are to protect the flock. Acts chapter 20 says, they are
to watch out for the wolves that come from within. They are to
watch for heretical doctrines that come from without. They
are to feed the flock, as we just read in 1 Timothy and in
Titus. feed and nourish them with spiritual
food. They are to spend time hard working
in the Word. They are to lead the flock. 1
Peter 5. They are to care for the flock.
Acts chapter 20. They are to pray for the flock.
James chapter 5. They are to judge over doctrinal
issues. Acts chapter 21. They are to
counsel. They are to resolve conflict
among the body. Acts chapter 15. They are to
receive and administer the funds of the church as a stewardship
before God. In one word, one pastor says
it was their duty to promote to their utmost ability and by
every means within their reach, the spiritual good of all those
who are committed to their care. It’s a solemn undertaking. Here’s
how Paul said he had done it, and he basically says, do as
I do to the Ephesian elders. In Acts chapter 20, he said this,
from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders
of the church. When they had come to him, he said to them,
you yourselves know. He said, look, look back, replay
the tape. How did I conduct myself in your
midst? You yourselves know from the
first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole
time, serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, with trials
which came upon me through the plots of the Jews, how I did
not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable
and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly
testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Shepherding leaves out nothing
and all of the elders shepherd the flock. All of the elders
care for the flock, not on the same par, not on the same degree. They don’t have the same hours
to spend on the care, but all of the elders participate in
the care of the body. When Paul says, If you glance down at First Peter
once again, pardon me. Paul says, shepherd the flock
of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion,
but voluntary, according to the will of God and not for sordid
gain. You know, that was in our previous
list, wasn’t it? He’s not a one given over to
fraud. That was in our list of elder
qualifications and Timothy and Titus, wasn’t it? He’s not in
it just for the money. What the King James refers to
here, this is where it came from, filthy lucre. He’s not in it
just for the money. He’s not in it for this desire
of undeserved money. He’s not a sellout. He’s not
one that just is showing up for the paycheck like a hireling.
This is something that really This is an argument that even
the Apostle Paul himself had faced. And when he was speaking
to the Ephesian elders, this is what he said about his own
testimony. I’ve coveted no one’s silver
or gold or clothes. You see, that’s a lot of times
the spirit of those super pastors. They want to take everything
they can get their hands on. They want to pilfer and rob from
the very saints that they claim to serve. I’ve coveted no one’s
silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these
hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with
me. In everything, I showed you that by working hard in this
manner, you must help the weak and remember the words of the
Lord Jesus that he himself said it is more blessed to give and
to receive. That’s Paul’s testimony. Paul said, you know exactly how
I live. I never stole anything from anybody. I never even came
close. Not fond of sordid gain, it’s
an important quality, isn’t it? His testimony to the Thessalonians
was very similar. He said, We request of you, brethren,
that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, have
charge over you in the Lord, give you instruction, that you
esteem them very highly and love because of their work. live in
peace with one another. Their Paul begins to lay out
something that. Some churches have a disdain. For the payment of their pastor. Some people would say you know
if the ministry is so great. Let him do it for free. There
is a well turned phrase that is very common in other churches
Lord We’ll keep him poor. You keep him humble. And the
funny thing about it is it’s very true in some circles. They. They regret every penny they
give the pastor because they feel that he should be doing
it for free. That’s contrary to what the scriptures
say. First Timothy says it this way,
in fact, go ahead and we have just a few minutes. Go ahead
and turn to First Timothy five. First Timothy five says it this
way. Verse 17, let the elders who
rule will be considered worthy of double honor. OK. What does that mean? Does that
mean you bend at the waist as you, you know, pay homage? No. It’s really a fascinating passage,
and without the context, you have no idea what he’s talking
about. Worthy of double honor. OK, whatever that is. I really
appreciate you, Pastor. Maybe you give the guy who does
all the preaching, you give him two cards in October, not just
one. I don’t know. Let’s see what it really means.
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double
honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. All right, that helps us a little
bit. That it isn’t a noble undertaking, it is a great thing that someone
labors in the word to nourish us. Here’s the context. He says,
for the scripture says you shall not muzzle the ox while he’s
threshing. And the labor is labor is worthy
of his wages, the double honors is talking about the fact that
the church can justify paying the pastor based on that one
passage alone, if that’s all they had. Why do you pay elders
to do ministry, even the teaching elder? Because we’re we’re tasked
with that calling, do not muzzle the ox while he’s threshing.
Paul used the same. Defense when he was questioned,
then it must have been a heartbreaking accusation that was leveled at
him because he spends a great amount of time in first Corinthians,
first Corinthians nine. Let me just zero it down to one
verse. Does the law also say to these
things for it isn’t written in the law of Moses, you shall not
muzzle the ox while he’s threshing. God is not concerned about oxen,
is he? Now, young ladies, God loves
cows. Don’t be mad at me. God is concerned
for oxen. What he’s saying is God is more
concerned about cows than he is about men, is he? Of course
not. And that’s the justification
for The financial remuneration that
a pastor receives. We turn to one more passage as
we close. Why do you pay elders, even the pastor, even the one
who preaches? Look at Acts, Chapter 18. In Timothy, it says, even those,
especially those rather who work hard at preaching and teaching,
there’s the justification And here’s the benefit that flows
from it. Look at Acts chapter 18 verse one after these things
he that is Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. He found a certain
Jew named Aquila a native of Pontus having recently come from
Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded
all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them and because he
was of the same trade he stayed with them and they were working.
This is where you get the idea of tent making ministries. Those
who are, you know, missionaries, they go abroad, they have some
other skill that they can do and they’re referred to as tent
makers. This is where it comes from. He stayed with them and
they were working for by trade. They were tent makers. And he
said, well, that’s good. It’s good for a pastor to have
a job. Good. And believe me, I’ve done it.
And I’ll tell you, it’s not good. It’s not good for the church. It’s not good for the ministry,
not good for the ministry in the word and watch what happens.
He was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to persuade
Jews and Greeks, but when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia,
Paul began devoting himself completely to the word. Solemnly testifying
to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. Now, we don’t know exactly
what happened. Whether Paul or rather whether Silas and Timothy
brought a bag of money that freed Paul up or whether Saul and whether
Silas and Timothy said, you know what? Let me run the tent making
business. You go preach. I don’t know what
happened, but something came that freed Paul up from having
to work that second job that freed him up to be able to do
what he was called to do. The last thing regarding this
passage that we’ll look at, and this really absolutely in closing.
Paul says in First Peter, nor yet is lording it over those
allotted to your charge. I said it at the start that it’s
spiritual leadership. It’s not lordship. It’s not this
abusive mentality that looks down on the sheep. This is Jesus, as it were, washing
the disciples feet. Showing them an example of a
servant and a call to lead the church should be marked by a
servant status, a servant mindedness. Servanthood is the heart of ministry,
not dictatorship, not self-appointed lords, not self-willed tyrants. Servants, servants of Christ
and servants of Christ’s people. Let’s go before God. Our merciful
God, we humble ourselves in your presence. We thank you for your
patience with us. We thank you for the gifts that
you give to us. And Father, we pray that you
would use the leaders in this church. Humble them that they
might be usable and serviceable to your people. That your people
might be built up and your church glorified. It’s in Jesus’ name
that we ask.