Well Guarded Treasures

Acts and not just a little hiatus
for today. I have the privilege of essentially
giving the charge to John by way of exposition from the word
and. I wanted to take you to a passage
in the book of Acts, Acts, chapter 20. We’ll get there in a moment. John, this whole thing could
have been done just so much easier. I’ll let you in on it. I think
what now some, well, this would have been back in 1991, I became
the college pastor at Locker Center, First Baptist Church.
And during the course, early course of our ministry there. Now, there’s a bit of controversy
here because I remember the conversation distinctly. And even though I’m
a little bit older, I remember it very distinctly appealing
to the Magnussons, John and Carolyn, to come and work with us in the
college group and what it could have done. We could have done
that deal, marched right out of there and gone and conquered
all the rest of ministry opportunities. And God had other plans. So essentially,
what happened is John and I, I would part ways first with
the church and go on and pastor a church in the Midwest. And
I can remember at my own ordination, I think it was that evening expressing
to John just the desire to work with him again someday. I didn’t
know what that looked like. I didn’t know. How it would come
about, I didn’t even know what his desires were yet for ministry,
but I did express that desire and I remember that distinctly.
He remembers that one. As God would have it, we shared
part of this story yesterday. The first thing that would happen
for John, the Lord took him a different direction and into a church with
a mutual brother, a friend, and things kind of went south there. And John was more than a little
bit frustrated. And we had reconnected the year
before. And as things began to unfold,
God brought a dear friend back into John’s life and Mike Sanford
and Mike, as John detailed yesterday, was instrumental in just kind
of regrounding and helping John sort through some things. And
along about that time, I came into the picture and asked John
to go to lunch while I was out at the Shepherds Conference.
And I appealed to him to come. They were already in the process
of resigning from their church. And they consented to come and
visit, and then they consented to come and the Lord has used
him richly here. And that’s why I said I just
pray that God would continue to use him and that this would
be a brand new day. And so, John, I wanted to take
a moment and take us back to the book of Acts. And specifically
to Acts chapter 20, Trey alluded to this passage in more general
fashion. And I was thankful Trey didn’t
keep talking because he would have stolen some of my thunder.
I am going to leave verse 32 with Trey’s exhortation, and
I’ll be in a little bit different portion of that same great passage. Paul here in Acts chapter 20,
is in the midst of traveling to Jerusalem. He stops in a port
near Ephesus and he calls the Ephesian elders, the elders of
the Ephesian church to him to be challenged by him and to be
encouraged by him. Essentially, what Paul does here
is almost if you if you’re not careful, you would almost think
of him as an egotist. Because I think I counted some
more than a dozen I statements. I was, I did not, I do not, I
am, I did not. And you would almost think that
Paul is so full of himself that he is the only one to be. He
was never afraid to be considered the example. But in the passage
before us, I don’t want to focus so much on Paul’s words, we’ll
read them. I don’t want to look at Paul’s
example per se. Rather, what I want to do is
zero in on this incredible passage to that section that would properly
be called the exhortation to the Ephesian elders beginning
in verse twenty eight and following. But if you would, I want to go
back to the beginning to set the tone. Back all the way to
verse 17. where Luke records from Miletus
he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church,
speaking of Paul. And when they had come to him,
he said to them, you yourselves know from the first day that
I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time serving
the Lord with all humility and with tears and 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 our Lord
Jesus Christ. And now, behold, bound in spirit,
I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen
to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies
to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.
But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself
so that I may finish my course in the ministry which I received
from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the
grace of God. And now, behold, I know that
all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom,
will no longer see my face. Therefore, I testify to you this
day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not
shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard for yourselves and
for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with
his own blood. I know that after my departure,
savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock and
from among your own selves, men will arise speaking perverse
things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be on
the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three
years, I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. And now
I commend you to God. and to the word of his grace,
which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance
among all those who are sanctified. I’ve coveted no one’s silver
or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these
hands minister to my own needs and to the men who are 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 than to receive. When he had said these things,
he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep
aloud and embraced Paul and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially
over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face
again. And they were accompanying him to the ship. The office of priest would be
fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. The office of apostle would expire. The office of profit, too, would
pass away, and yet the church, the young fledgling church, needed
leadership. Ongoing, perpetual leadership
in the one primary office that is referred to with a variety
of terms in Scripture. identified by three Greek words
used in reference to the primary permanent office of spiritual
leadership in the church. And they’re all three in this
passage. We saw the word elder verse 17,
he called the Ephesian elders to himself and he said, be on
guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the
Holy Spirit has made you overseers. The second term. To shepherd
the flock of God, the third term. Elder is that almost forgotten
word for several hundred years. That the word presbyteros from
where the word Presbyterian comes from, that model of government
that essentially says they are to be elder led churches used
some 70 times in the New Testament. Most are often rather in reference
to mature age. There is no. Simpler way to put
it than that, it’s in its non-technical use, it just means aged or older,
implying seniority. But there is also a technical
use of that, and many times in scripture, we have to sift through
and determine exactly how that word is being used. In. The book of Hebrews chapter
11, it speaks of those older saints. But it’s not talking
about anything technical, they’re just godly men of old. But there are technical uses
of this term as well that speak of more than just age. The first
was the Jewish system, the Jewish religious elder spoken of in
numerous places in Scripture. Matthew 16, 21, just one of them. From that time, Jesus began to
show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many
things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes and
be killed and be raised up the third day. There are also the
what I would call the eternal elders spoken of in Revelation,
the heavenly council, if you will, 24 elders that surround
God’s throne. Revelation four, four, I saw
24 thrones and upon the thrones, 24 elders sitting clothed in
white garments, garments rather. And then there is a third technical
use, and that is of the church elder, the elders in the New
Testament church. That office is first mentioned
in Acts chapter 11, verse 30, the office is set forth in Acts
14, 23, which says this when they had appointed elders, For
them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended
them to the Lord. And so here is an official use
of this technical word for the leadership in the church, the
elders. In Acts 15, the office is validated. The elders came
together as sort of a council. In Acts chapter 20, as we see
here, the elders, the Ephesian elders are summoned in first
Timothy four for Paul there speaks of an elder board. In 1st Timothy
5, Paul gives repeated instructions about the elders, about the office
itself. Verse 17, let the elders who
rule well be considered worthy of double honor. 1st Timothy
5, 19, do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the
basis of two or three witnesses. Titus talks about appointing
elders. James says that when you’re sick, you should call
the elders. Just a little hint. First Peter gives exhortations
to the elders, urges our subjection to them. And so it’s only reasonable. It’s only reasonable here in
Acts chapter 20 that when Paul desired to discuss crucial church
related matters, he called the elders of the Ephesian church
to meet with him. But there is a second term Used
in Scripture in this context with regard to the leadership
of the church, and that is the term overseer. The problem is
that historically speaking, this word overseer, the word, the
Greek word behind it, for those of you from Wednesday nights
is episcopal to look over. Epi. Blended with that verb scopeto
just means to watch, to look over, to oversee. And yet historically
it was mistranslated repeatedly on up even until the last hundred
years as bishop. And so an entire distinct office
raised up in the church. Just through a misinterpretation. Repeatedly in the Scriptures,
this is used interchangeably. With the leadership position
of elder in the church, Philippians one, one bondservants of Christ
Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus, who are in Philippi, including
the overseers and deacons. I’ll come back to that thought
in a moment. First Timothy three, two. We asked John yesterday,
where would we find the qualifications of an elder? First Timothy three,
right? Except there, they are the qualifications of an overseer,
an overseer, then must be above reproach. Titus one seven. Likewise, the same list. Says
that an overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, and
so Paul here speaking to the elders reminds them that God
himself, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, had designated
them as overseers in the church. But he adds to that with their
particular job description with a third term used for the leadership
of the church, the term shepherd. Or pastor. Usually it is translated
as shepherd. And the amazing thing is to any
who serve in this capacity is usually those occurrences are
of Christ that we bear the same term that Christ bore Astounding
for any who serve in that capacity. The verb here just means to tend
to shepherd, to nourish, feed, lead. It’s used 11 times in the
New Testament and five of them clearly refer to Christ. Two of them refer to literal
shepherding and three plainly refer to the responsibility of
church leadership. We’ll come back to those in a
minute. The noun shepherd is used 18 times in scripture. Eight
of those clearly refer to Christ as the great shepherd. Perhaps
the most noteworthy is the lengthy discussion that John reminded
us of last night in John chapter 10. In John chapter 10, Christ
repeatedly refers to himself as a shepherd. John 10, 14, for
instance, I am the good shepherd. Five additional references allude
to Christ as that same shepherd and four refer to literal shepherds
and only one now. In all of the New Testament.
Refers to the office of leadership in the church. And unfortunately,
it’s translated as pastor. And unfortunately, that alternate
translation of pastor has just served as fuel to the fire of
misunderstanding or mischaracterizing the leadership structure of the
church. As if there is a hard and fast distinction between
pastors and elders, overseers. As if there is such an animal
as senior pastor. A name that I issue for a number
of reasons, as if the office of pastor is separate and distinct
from the office of elder. Now, let’s consider the facts
just for a moment and then we’ll get going. I want to just consider
the biblical data. The bottom line is that these
three terms elder, pastor, shepherd and overseer, bishop. All refer
to the same leadership office, all three of them. The fact that
the qualifications for an overseer in First Timothy three are almost
identical to those of an elder in Titus, they both are referring
to the same office. The fact that in Titus, In the
book of Titus, the terms elder and overseer are used interchangeably. Listen to this. For this reason,
I left you in Crete that you might set in order what remains
and appoint elders. That was Timothy or Titus’s main
job. Right. Fix what’s wrong in the
church. Namely, go and appoint elders. And the passage goes on and he
talks about some of the qualifications. And then just in the next verse,
verse seven, he says the overseer must be. Above reproach. Elder and overseer used plainly
interchangeably here in Acts, chapter 20, all three terms are
used in conjunction with one another. Likewise, in first Peter
five, a parallel passage, the terms elder, overseer and shepherd
all used interchangeably. Listen to how first Peter to
first Peter five, one to two reads. Therefore, I exhort the
elders among you as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings
of Christ and partaker of the glory that is to be revealed.
Shepherd the flock of God among you exercising oversight. Well,
this is what led John MacArthur to put it this way. Bishops and
pastor pastors are not distinct from elders. The terms are simply
different ways of identifying the same people. All three terms
refer the same office. So the term elder emphasizes
who the man is. Bishop speaks of what he does
and pastor deals with how he feels in the pastoral role of
caring and feeding. And that’s good. John Murray,
likewise, and somebody from another camp said it this way. Elders are shepherds of the flock. They are to shepherd the Church
of God and the flock of God. It is the same term shepherd
that appears in Ephesians 411, the passage we just spoke of.
Since Paul penned the latter, it would be necessary for us
to infer that he has in view the same function which he enjoined
upon the elders from Ephesus. And so the conclusion is that
pastors or shepherds of Ephesians 411 are those designated in Acts
chapter 20, verse 17 and 28 as elders and bishops. In a word,
the evidence would require the conclusion that pastors are elders
of the Church of God. All this to point out. That as we recognize another
elder this morning and we are thankful to God for that blessing.
We acknowledge that he takes the highest place of leadership
in the church. That of elder or overseer or
pastor or shepherd. And all I’ve ever asked is whatever
you whatever title you use of the one use of the other. And I understand the difficulties
of going out there and explaining to somebody that your overseer
told you. I understand the difficulty of
that. Even the confusion which caused
one young man and one church I served in to jump up out of
his seats when I said that we were elders, he feared for his
life that he was suddenly in a Mormon church. I understand
the difficulty of the terminology. But what I want to guard against
and what I want to advance is doing things biblically. And
Scripture does not distinguish between a pastor and an elder,
between a bishop and a pastor. And so with that little discussion.
As a foundation, let’s backtrack all the way back to verse 17.
Where Luke records it from Miletus He that is Paul sent to Ephesus
and called to him the elders of the church. And so Paul called
the elders of the Ephesian church, the elders here, not necessarily
old men, though wisdom often comes with age, as does hair
loss. But the official leaders of the
Ephesian church. One pastor. Obviously, catching
a glimpse at the overwhelming nature of this calling, said
this, what made a presbyter was not age, but ordination. Remember,
you have an office given you which reckons not by years, but
by graces. You have to walk the aisles of
your church to tread the streets of your parish as men in one
sense, prematurely old, As men of that truest dignity, which
consists not in wealth, not in rank, not even in age, but in
bearing Christ’s commission. And this commission, as he calls
it, is no small undertaking. This is the highest and most
noble work on Earth. To watch over God’s people, to
preach God’s word, To exhibit God’s grace at work in our life. It is the highest and most noble
work in all the earth. It requires nothing less than
a large liberal doses. Of God’s grace. If we’re going
to do it correctly. Another pastor, obviously likewise
caught up in the overwhelming calling of the office of overseer,
said it this way. When a man enters the eldership.
No small honor is conferred upon him. For he is entering on the
oldest religious office in the world, an office whose history
can be traced through Christianity and Judaism for 4000 years. When
a man enters the eldership, no small responsibility falls upon
him. For he has been ordained as a
shepherd of the flock of God and a defender of the faith.
From Miletus, it says that he sent to Ephesus and called to
him the elders of the church. And when they had come to them,
he said to them, And with that, Paul begins that lengthy discourse,
which we just read, which will carry all the way through to
the end of the chapter. But we want to pick it up here
in verse 28. Where Paul turns to exhortation, where Paul urges
be on guard. Be on guard. We are to be on guard as elders
and in an ultimate sense, the elders are to be on guard over
the church. We are the watchman, if you will,
of the church. Is the church precious to God?
It is of infinite value. Note how the verse concludes. Be on guard. for yourselves and for all the
flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd
the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. It was the
blood of the family of God. It was actually the blood of
Christ, his son. But it was God’s blood. God suffered. God sacrificed for the sake of
the church. And that’s Paul’s point here.
It is infinitely precious to God. This is a treasure above
all treasures to God. It is of infinite value. It requires
the most careful protection and care. And it is for her that
the servants are to be on guard. That little word is often translated
with terms that emphasize a solemn warning. Beware, says Matthew
6.1. Matthew 7.15 says, beware of
the false prophets. Luke 17.3 says it a little bit
differently. Be on your guard. Acts 5.35 sounds
softer. Take care. But what it implies
there is an eager and careful watchfulness. In that case over
God’s interests. In Acts, chapter six begins to
take a bit of a turn through the rest of the book of Acts,
give attention. And that sounds very soft to
us, doesn’t it? After the solemn word, beware, giving attention
is casual, but not. To Luke. And not to Paul, as
Paul will pick up that Imagery and certainly the translators
do as well pay attention, give attention. First Timothy 1.4,
don’t pay attention. Don’t give in, don’t turn your
guarded attention to strange things, myths and endless genealogies. First Timothy 4.1, some are going
to fall away because they are paying attention. To deceitful
spirits, some have lost their guard. They’ve dropped their
guard for the things of God, for God’s word and for the church. And they’ve given over instead. And there are things that we
are supposed to give our attention to give attention to the public
reading of Scripture and the life. Elders, Paul says, here
are to give their utmost attention. to the church there to be where
they are to be literally put on guard over the church. But
note. Paul says, first and foremost.
In an ultimate sense, it is for the church that they are watchmen,
but first and foremost, this vigilance. This vigilance over God’s interests
is first full, first of all, a watchfulness The fact that
watchfulness rather over God’s flock is begun with the shepherds
themselves. The first thing that the shepherds
need to watch isn’t the flock, if not the doctrine, the first
and foremost thing they need to watch is themselves. Now,
this seems like a strange place to start, doesn’t it? Here, we’ve
just ordained an elder and we’re telling him that his first order
of business. His number one job description, is to watch himself. But Scripture lays this down
as the beginning. This is where it all begins with
yourself, with your life, with your walk. This is an echo, this
little passage, this little reference here is an echo of what Paul
said to his young son in the faith, Timothy. 1 Timothy 4.16
Pay close attention. Be very careful, be very watchful. Pay close attention to yourself
and to your teaching. We are to observe, we are to
give attention, we are to stay and watch and wait over our own
lives. Pay attention to yourself. As
one pastor exhorted, we are to be more afraid of ourselves than
the world itself. more afraid of ourselves than
the world itself, more afraid of our cold hearts, more afraid
of our wandering eyes, more afraid of our lazy minds. We are to watch our minds. We
are to watch our thoughts and our beliefs and our studies.
We are to monitor our attitude and our actions. We are to be
careful of our reading, be cautious about our conversations. We are
to protect our appetites, our weaknesses. We are to guard carefully
over previous sins. We are even to watch our strengths. We’re to shepherd our children,
our wife. We are to watch over our physical well-being. We are
first and foremost, if we’re going to get anything accomplished,
have to watch ourselves. A minister’s conduct said one
influences his apprehension of the truth. Did you get that?
A minister’s conduct, using the old word for those in the ministry,
a minister’s conduct influences his apprehension of the truth.
You’re not going to get it right if your life is not right. It
is only as he does the will of God that he can know his doctrine,
the life and the teaching, therefore, must receive concurrent attention. The number one job. Of an elder
is his personal character and his life. That he knows that
these are going to be the things, these are the exports, these
are the examples to the flock. And that without those, no teaching, no matter how excellent,
no matter how careful, no matter how crafted, will be of any worth. Paul said it this way at the
end of the book of Timothy, 1 Timothy 6.11, Flee from these things,
you men of God. Pursue righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, and perseverance with gentleness. First and foremost,
Paul says, pay close attention to yourself and commensurate
with that. Keep an eye on your doctrine.
Keep an eye on what you believe and what you hold to, what you
teach. Paul says, keep watch over yourself and your teaching.
You are what you eat, right? We say that all the time. Wendy’s
every day for lunch. You’re going to look like Wendy’s
in time. It is never more so true. than spiritually speaking,
you are what you eat. It is to our teaching that we
are to give attention. Secondly, that the pure word
of God. We’re to monitor it and study
it and digest it and hold to it. Paul said it likewise. As a personal example, in Acts
20, 24, I do not consider my life as dear to myself. His chief
function was not preserving, protecting his life. I do not
consider my life of any account as dear to myself so that I may
finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord
Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”
If there was anything that was crystal clear last night, it
was John’s very clear and passionate articulation of the gospel of
Christ. We have to. We have to maintain
our sound doctrine. Secondly, we’re looking at these
well-guarded treasures and we are called to a vigilance over
God’s interests, watchfulness over God’s flock. His most precious
possession is not only begun with the shepherds themselves,
but secondly, it is extended to the entire flock. Look back
again at verse 28. where Paul says, be on guard
for yourselves and for all the flock. And now the little word
flock here is only used in three little contexts in all of the
New Testament. This idea, this metaphor is more
prevalent than that, but the word flock itself only occurs
a few times. It is used by Jesus as a comfort
in a series of comforts in Luke, chapter 12, verse 32. He says, do not be afraid, little
flock. And he uses that metaphor of
a gathered group of sheep. To receive comfort from the shepherd.
It’s also used, obviously, in this passage here. And then lastly,
in the parallel passage that we just read in Peter Shepard,
the flock of God proved to be examples to the flock. And so
it is here that Paul initiates the great metaphor of the church,
this message to the Ephesian elders, that of the flock of
God. It pictures the church as a shepherd
flock relationship and all of the intimacy that that implies. But it’s not a new illustration.
The Old Testament uses it frequently, not the least of which is Psalm
23. Why this emphasis on guarding the flock? Watching the little band that
is entrusted now to your care? Paul goes on to explain, look
briefly at verse 29. And I, you know, there’s enough
material here for about eight weeks. So I just want to just
touch on it. Paul says, I know that after
my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing
the flock and from among your own selves, men will arise speaking
perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. Paul
is still sustaining here, isn’t he, the metaphor of the sheep-shepherd
relationship. Paul utilizes here the sheep’s
most feared enemy, the wolf. The wolf, likewise, is a repeated
metaphor in Scripture. Jesus spoke of it in Matthew
7. Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing
that inwardly are ravenous wolves. Matthew 10.16, Luke 10.3, John
10.12. Back in the shepherd’s passage,
where Jesus Himself said, He who is a hired hand and not a
shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming
and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches them and
scatters them. The wolves here representing,
as they always do in the New Testament, that pernicious rabble,
false teachers, false prophets, those spiritual troublemakers
who seek only to devour the unsuspecting by their deceitful doctrine.
Babbling false teachers. Wolves and sheep’s clothing is
a major part of the calling. As an elder, it is a major part
of the shepherding of God’s flock. In fact, turn briefly to Titus
chapter one. I just want to show you one little
thing and then we’d be back in the book of Acts. In Titus chapter
one, John reminded us yesterday that that is the other great
place where we can find the characteristics, the attributes of an elder, the
prerequisites, if you will. In Titus chapter one, the discussion
is begun in verse five. I left you in Crete. You’re supposed
to set in order elders. And in order to do that, you’re
going to need to know what they look like. Here’s what to look
for in a man of God. And he begins to give this lengthy
list. Jump all the way down to verse
nine. Concluding with that list, he says, holding fast the faithful
word, which is in accordance with the teaching. Why? So that
he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine And to refute
those who contradict and don’t stop there. For there are many
rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those
of the circumcision who must be silenced because they are
upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach
for the sake of sordid gain. But note this, look at this carefully.
Not only will there be troublemakers in the world, not only will there
be difficult doctrines out there in the marketplace, but these
troublesome false teachers will come in into the very church. Look at verse 29. Go back now
and look at verse 29 of Acts. I know Paul didn’t have any doubt
Paul wasn’t speculating here. Paul wasn’t giving them the worst
case scenario. Paul says, plan on it. I know
that after my departure, savage wolves. These aren’t pets. You
can’t domesticate these. I’m convinced that my daughter
and her friends would try to domesticate almost anything,
even the fox that chases the chickens. I know that after my
departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing
the flock. They’re not there just to listen
to good preaching. They’re there for a purpose.
Paul says it again in verse 30, from among your own selves, men
will arise speaking perverse things. To draw away the disciples
after them. It’s not enough that the stuff
is out there. There’s plenty of it and there’s
plenty of it that we just ignore and pass by. It’s out there in
the marketplace, but it says here, Paul says they’re going
to come in and once they’re in, they won’t rest until they’ve
plied their wares in the church and among God’s people. And they
won’t stop until they gain a following. That’s the whole point. Right? They will not spare the flock.
They will press and ply until they gain a foothold, until,
as Paul says, they draw away the disciples, part of our flock. It is absolutely crucial that
we be on guard. They want the sheep that God
has entrusted to us. God’s sheep. We know this firsthand in this
church, don’t we? It isn’t just challenges to our
distinctives. We believe in eldership. We believe
in believers’ baptism. We believe in the doctrines of
grace. Some challenges have been odd that we’ve faced. Even quirky. Easily spotted. Easily subdued. Others have been a little more
troublesome. Even difficult. Harder to detect. More difficult
to eradicate only with great effort and difficulty. And others
still that are exceedingly evil, almost nobody knows this story.
There was one that came into our church and basically began
to say that we shouldn’t plan a time for our church and we
shouldn’t pick a preacher. We shouldn’t pick the hymns that
the spirit should just guide. And it went on and on and on.
And they had us to dinner and they kept pressing and kept pressing.
And then one day he shared a book with me. He gave me the book. I still have it. I haven’t had
a book, Bernie. The book literally was a manual
on how to go in and take over a church. How to go in and seize
hold of a church. Savage fools. And we have to
be watchful. Third, watchfulness over God’s
flock is begun with shepherds themselves, extended to the entire
flock. It is a result of God’s sovereign
appointment. Be on guard for yourselves and
for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers. Now, I can’t spend a lot of time
on this, but note, first of all, that the overseers are among
God’s flock. They are in it. They are a part
of it. We are not over it and aloof from it. Not in a harsh
sense, but we are intimately involved with God’s people. We
are of them. But note also that it is the
Holy Spirit ultimately who selects and gifts and calls overseers
in the church. With regard to perpetuating leadership
in the church, there is no doubt, no doubt about it. that initially
the apostles took charge of that and then those that were underneath
the apostles. Ultimately, as the church grew,
though, the elders would take that responsibility in appointing
elders. One of my former seminary profs,
Dr. Mayhew, said it this way. Ordination is the process of
godly church leaders affirming the call, equipping and maturity
of new leaders to serve. There’s no doubt about that,
that elders take the lead role. They should. And there’s no doubt
about it, that the body of Christ, God’s people, the flock should
be intimately and actively involved in that process. They must affirm
the man. Alex Strauch said it this way,
although the elders are to take the lead in all church procedures,
this does not mean that the congregation is passive. Biblical elders want
an informed, involved congregation. Biblical elders eagerly desire
to listen to and consult with, seek the wisdom of their fellow
believers. Everyone in the church is to know the biblical qualification
for church leaders and is obligated to see that the elders meet those
qualifications. There’s no doubt about that.
The elders are to take the lead, the people are involved, but
it’s the Holy Spirit that did it. While a local church’s elders
take the lead role and while the local church’s body is actively
involved in the process, ultimately it’s the Holy Spirit. that appoints
a man to ministry, it’s God who ordains. We merely recognize
in the brother what God has already done in him. Fourthly, and we’ll
close with this. Fourthly, watchfulness over God’s
flock begun with the shepherds themselves extended to the entire
flock, a result of God’s sovereign appointment for the purpose of
the particular care of the flock. Look at verse 28 again. Be on
guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the
Holy Spirit has made you overseers with the sole purpose to shepherd
the church of God. That word, as we already saw,
used of Christ Himself. It’s used by Christ, remember,
to restore Peter into the ministry. Shepherd my sheep. It’s used by Paul regarding the
care of those who shepherd. How does the church care for
them? Who tends the flock does not
use those things by Peter, as we’ve already considered shepherd
the flock of God among you. The main function of the shepherd.
As the Bible presents it is to seek out the lost, to gather
those who are scattered, walk over them, care for them, protect
them from wild beasts and robbers, just like a shepherd does. The shepherds, this is what the
Scriptures lay out as their job description. Protecting from
Acts chapter 20. Feeding from 1 Timothy 3. Nourishing them. Leading them,
1 Peter 5 verse 1. 1 Timothy 5 verse 17. Caring for them, Acts chapter
20. Praying for them, James 5, 13 and 15. Judging doctrinal
issues, Acts chapter 21. Counseling, resolving conflict,
all of those things, as one said in one word, it was their duty
to promote to the utmost of their ability and by every means within
their reach. The spiritual good of those committed
to their care. John Brown, the Puritan, said
it this way. It is not enough. for ministers
to preach. Yes, sacredly and diligently,
but they must besides take a particular oversight of their flock and
looking on to the conversation and behavior and applying themselves
accordingly in admonition, exhortation and comfort. If a minister know
any of his people, riotous or profane, he must rebuke them.
If any are out of the way, he must admonish them. He must hearten
them that be in a good course to go on still. And he must comfort
them that languish under their sins, temptations and fears.
In a word, he must deal with everyone as the cause requires. These are to be well guarded
treasures. There is to be an active and
zealous vigilance over God’s interests. Let’s pray for God’s
grace to do that thing. Merciful God, we come before
you in and of ourselves ill-equipped, but by your grace mighty for
the task at hand and ready. Father God, we thank you for
an added shepherd to this flock, and we pray that you would give
John eyes to see even things that Trey and I miss. We pray,
Father, that You would use him mightily in our midst, bring
his gifts and his graces, and infuse even the existing elders
with encouragement. And Father, we pray that in the
end, when You call us home, we pray
that we would be able to entrust this flock in its entirety into
Your hands as a precious treasure. Use us, gracious God, for Your
glory toward that end. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray,
Amen.