For the word of God is quick and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.
This message has been brought to you by
Manichristian Fellowship, Ellensburg, Washington, area code 509-925
-1167.
Praise God, let's go!
Amen?
I mean, why sit we here till we
die, huh?
There's work to be done.
I was thinking about it while Brother Jake
was preaching and sharing with us, you know,
my background, which is a long way back
now, but some of my background, they have
this term that they use, full-time Christian
service, you know, and sometimes I'll have meetings
like this and preach a sermon like our
brother just preached, and try to get two
or three of you to come up here
and yield your lives to full-time Christian
service.
And I have no problem with that, except
that I think we ought to expand the
thing a bit more.
Every one of us is called to full
-time Christian service.
And if we're going to give an invitation,
we ought to all be up here at
the altar surrendering our lives to full-time
Christian service.
I'm going to serve God with all of
my heart and soul and strength all the
days of my life and in everything that
I do.
And I might make a few tents on
the side while I'm at it, amen?
Full-time Christian service, are you ready for
that?
That's what God is calling us to, every
one of us.
Boys, every one of us, girls, that's what
He's calling us to.
Well, that's not my sermon tonight, but I
could easily make it my sermon tonight.
I just enjoyed the challenge that our brother
brought to us in this opening meditation.
Let's bow for a word of prayer, can
we do that?
God, our Father, send revival.
Send revival, Lord, that all of your people
are in full-time Christian service.
Thank you for the challenge this evening.
We receive it in Jesus' name, Lord.
We acknowledge it is true.
We acknowledge that it is what you're doing
in every one of our hearts.
Oh, give us grace, Lord, to yield, to
yield to thee in everything, in every way,
in every area of our lives, Lord.
Father, we come to this message this evening,
this message that has to do with ordination,
ordaining a preacher, a pastor, an elder in
a church.
Oh, Father, I pray, will you attend to
these words, oh God, just as much as
you would to a revival message, Father?
Would you attend to these words, God?
Would you take them and write them deeply
on the tables of our hearts, Father?
For it is thy word, and thy word
is beautiful, and it's precious, and it's right.
The statutes of the Lord are right.
They work.
We acknowledge that, Father.
I pray, give us open hearts as we
prepare this evening and look into your words.
In Jesus' name, I pray.
Amen.
Well, we're here this weekend to set in
order the things that are lacking.
If I can use the words of Paul
to Titus, one of the men that worked
with Paul the Apostle, doing apostolic work, doing
church planting work, Paul said to Titus, I
have left you in treat that you may
set in order the things that are lacking.
That's what this weekend is about.
It stirs my heart to see so many
of you coming from so many different places,
and it would be so easy to just
take off down the road and preach revival
messages, and let's hit the altar, and let's
do business with God.
But we're here for an ordination weekend, and
you have come as visitors, and I guess
God has brought you here that you can
also walk through this weekend, learn some of
the principles which God has in his word
concerning the ordaining of elders, and concerning our
responsibility to the ordaining of elders.
It seems that God has called you here
for that, because that's what the agenda is
for the weekend.
Some of the messages will be challenging, inspirational
messages.
Other messages will be instructional messages, because God
has given us some beautiful principles in his
word, in the New Testament, concerning the subject
of ordaining elders.
And I would like to address some of
those subjects this evening.
The title of my message tonight is, The
Gift of a Pastor.
The Gift of a Pastor.
I'm going to do this evening what nobody
else here in this fellowship can do.
I'm going to do what only a visiting
minister can do and say.
We're going to speak to the fellowship here
and to all of you about what some
of your responsibilities are to the elder or
the pastor that God is giving you.
I'm sure that this message will make our
brother Jamie very uncomfortable.
He would be just as glad to depart
from this meeting tonight, I assure you, nevertheless,
the word of God is clear on our
responsibility to our elders.
It's beautiful, it's lovely, you know how God's
word is, whenever God reveals the truth to
us, if we will walk in that truth,
we will prosper underneath it, we will find
it a blessing, we will see beautiful things
happen in our life and in the life
of the church that we live in, and
in the life of the elders that are
our elders.
So, it's very important that we open up
our heart to that which God reveals in
His word in the New Testament concerning the
responsibility of the church to its elders.
Now, the church here is a growing church,
a church that is developing, and things need
to be set in order, and there will
be changes after this weekend, I'm sure that
you already are aware of that.
The lines of leadership up until now have
been a bit grey, there's been moderating leadership
here, but moderating leadership is not ordained leadership,
and so therefore the lines of leadership have
been a bit grey, they're not going to
be grey after this weekend.
And some of you have longed for clarity
in the leadership here of this fellowship, and
the time has come.
So I want to speak on the scriptural
direction of how we should relate to our
leaders.
And, you know, the Bible is a beautiful
balancing book.
I don't know if you've noticed that, but
God's word balances itself so beautifully, and in
this matter of elders and the subject that
we have here this evening, again, it gives
a beautiful balance.
Think about it with me for a moment.
God says to the leader, I want you
to be a servant and lay down your
life for your flock.
But God doesn't say to the flock, I'm
giving you a servant, he is your servant,
go tell him what to do.
God doesn't say that to the flock.
God says to the leader, you are a
servant, you are a slave, I want you
to lay down your life for the sheep
here.
But God says to the sheep, I am
giving you a leader, I want you to
honor him and respect him.
You see those two?
And they beautifully balance together.
Just like God says to us husbands, I
want you to love your wife and lay
down your life for her.
And God says to the wives, I want
you to submit to your husband in reverency.
But God doesn't give those verses to each
of us to use on the other.
Do you understand that?
It just doesn't go well, does it husband,
if we sit our wives down and say,
now listen here, you know what the Bible
says that you're supposed to do with me.
It doesn't go well.
It's the same way, this beautiful balance of
the responsibilities that an elder has and the
responsibilities that the church has to its elders.
Now, Brother Jamie will get his cup full
of the responsibilities that he has before the
weekend is over.
But I feel urgently moved by God to
lay some groundwork on the other side of
this subject this evening.
The gift of a pastor.
We want to start our reading here this
evening in Ephesians, if you can turn there,
blessed book of Ephesians.
We were there this morning, we're here just
for a little while here this evening.
Ephesians chapter four, reading from verse seven through
thirteen.
Precious words.
Chapter four, verse seven.
But unto every one of us is given
grace.
Hallelujah.
According to the measure of the gift of
Christ.
Every one of us in this building tonight
has been given grace according to the measure
of Christ.
That measure which Christ has measured to every
one of us.
Praise God.
Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended upon high,
he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto
men.
He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto
men.
Do you believe that tonight?
Now that he ascended, what is it but
that he also descended first into the lower
parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that
ascended up far above all heavens that he
might fill all things.
And brothers and sisters, this evening he is
in the process of filling all things.
We are here this evening that Christ, who
is the head of the church, may continue
his work of filling all things.
Verse eleven.
And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
For the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ, till we all come
in the unity of the faith and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, unto
a perfect man under the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ.
And that perfect man there, brothers and sisters,
is not you being a perfect man, and
you being a perfect man, and me being
a perfect man.
It's speaking about a local church coming to
the place where they are unified, where they
are unified in the faith, and they are
as a mature man, a mature body of
Jesus Christ, connected to the head, functioning, flowing
from the strength and grace that the head
gives to each member of the body.
That's the mature man that Paul is speaking
about here in Ephesians chapter four.
That's where God is going.
And dear brothers and sisters, God is giving
you an elder with that in mind.
And as I understand it here in the
text, in the context here, it is a
gift.
It is a gift.
Now looking at verse twelve, the way that
I understand verse twelve, God is not giving
us these different offices, men to fulfill these
different offices, so they can perfect the saints
and do the work of the ministry and
edify the body.
I don't understand it that way.
The way I would understand that verse is
simply this, God gives those gifts to men
and those men as gifts to people for
the perfecting of the saints or that the
saints might be matured so that the saints
can do the work of the ministry and
edify the body of Christ.
That's the way I understand those verses.
So, we have to be careful here.
You know, some would interpret different than that.
And, you know, the preacher does everything and
there's only one man who preaches and everybody
else sits and listens.
We don't believe that.
You know, we believe, would God, that all
of God's people would prophesy.
That's God's heart.
That the church would be filled with men
that are full of the Holy Ghost and
have something to say.
Amen?
Well, that takes place because God gives pastors
and teachers and evangelists and prophets and even
apostles to the church.
So, this evening we're looking at the gift
of a pastor.
I would like you just to ponder that
for a moment.
You know, the best way for you to
get a good glimpse of what God is
doing for you, I'm speaking to the local
ones here, the best way to explain what
God is doing for you is for you
just to ponder how it has been already.
No leadership.
No pastor.
No direction.
Nobody to watch over you.
Nobody to care for your soul.
And then all of a sudden, God, in
His mercy, gives you the gift.
How do you receive a gift like that?
What should our response be?
These are the things that I would like
us to meditate upon a bit this evening.
How do we receive such a gift?
Well, first of all, we recognize it is
a gift from God.
A gift from God.
How do you receive a gift from God?
You receive it with gratitude.
You recognize God is giving me this gift
because I need it.
Because I need it.
God is giving you this gift for the
perfecting of the saints.
That you might be equipped for the work
of the ministry.
I'm not sure how that sets with you,
but I believe that.
It is the work of the ministers in
a church to equip the church for the
work of the ministry.
It is not the ministry of the ministers
to do all the preaching and everyone else
sits and listens.
It is the work of the ministry to
equip the saints to do the work of
the ministry.
And if you question that, why, just go
to the book of Acts and see how
many people were busy about God's work in
the book of Acts.
Yes, there were twelve apostles.
Yes, they were the leaders.
Yes, they gave lots of direction.
Yes, people went everywhere preaching and teaching the
Word of God.
They went everywhere.
And that's the way God wants it to
be.
And God in His wisdom has set certain
things in motion to begin to make that
happen.
And one of those is the gift of
a pastor or an elder.
And as I use these terms, I want
you to know, to me, as I've studied
in the New Testament, they're synonymous words.
Pastor, elder, presbyter, bishop, overseer, all the same
words.
Just different functions of the same office.
All the same words.
The gift of a pastor.
There are, as I look in the New
Testament, seven different areas which give some direction
to us and help us to understand how
we are supposed to relate to those elders
or elder that God has given us.
Let me give you these seven ways and
then we will look at them one at
a time.
Number one, we are to esteem them.
Number two, we are to follow them.
Number three, we are to pray for them.
Number four, we are to know them.
Number five, we are to obey them.
Number six, we are to support them.
And number seven, we are to protect them.
Those seven areas we would like to cover
this evening.
Let's turn and read, first of all, in
1 Thessalonians chapter 5.
We're going to read about three little portions
of scripture here which cover these seven areas
and then we will take these areas each
one in a row.
1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 12 and 13.
We beseech you brethren to know them which
labor among you and are over you in
the Lord and admonish you and to esteem
them very highly in love for their work's
sake and be at peace among yourselves.
1 Timothy chapter 5, just a few pages
over there.
1 Timothy 5, verse 17.
Let the elders that rule well be counted
worthy of double honor, especially they who labor
in the word and doctrine.
2 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not
muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn,
and the laborer is worthy of his reward.
3 Against an elder receive not an accusation,
but before two or three witnesses, them that
sin rebuke before all that others also may
fear.
4 I charge thee before God, and the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that
thou observe these things without preferring one before
another, doing nothing by partiality.
Sobering words.
Hebrews chapter 13, verse 7 and then verse
17.
Verse 7 reads, Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken unto you
the word of God, whose faith follow, considering
the end of their conversation.
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.
I'm not sure.
Those two go together real well, don't they
brother Ken?
Verse 17, Obey them that have the rule
over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch
for your soul, as they that must give
an account, that they may do it with
joy and not with grief, for that is
unprofitable for you.
Alright, these three portions of scripture clearly reveal
these seven principles that I would like to
look at here this evening.
The first one that we're going to look
at is the admonition that we are given
to esteem them highly in love.
God says to the sheep in a flock,
to the congregation, to the brothers and sisters
in a local church, concerning your elders, you
should esteem them highly in love.
That word esteem means, give them a place
of high honor.
Give them a place of high honor.
You may say, even in your own mind
as you sit here, now wait a minute
brother Denny, it's not good for them, they
need to be humble.
That's right, they need to be humble, but
God did not call you to, you understand?
God does not call you to humble them.
Yes, they need to be humble.
But brethren, consider with me, don't you need
to be humble?
How many of you appreciate having a wife
that humbles you again and again?
It just doesn't go very far when your
wife feels her responsibility to keep you humble
by telling you all the things that you're
doing wrong.
It doesn't go well that way.
In fact, you know as well as I
do, that when your wife encourages you, when
she comes alongside of you and blesses you,
when she sees beautiful things in you, it
moves you way further ahead when she comes
alongside and says, you didn't do very well
in that.
That wasn't a very good sermon.
You didn't have very much wisdom when you
talked to that person.
That doesn't...
God's Word says that we shall esteem them
very highly in love.
That's what it says.
That's not what I said.
These aren't my words.
You should esteem them very highly in love.
Why?
For their work is safe.
It's true.
God says to them, be a humble servant,
wash people's feet, expect nothing.
And that's the posture that an elder ought
to have.
But that's not the posture that the people
ought to have.
He doesn't need any encouragement.
I don't want to bless him after he
gives a good message.
He might get puffed up in pride.
Listen, let me tell you a few inside
secrets about preaching the Word of God.
Just a few inside secrets.
The devil will beat him and beat him
and beat him.
You give him some encouragement.
Esteem him highly in love for the work's
sake.
Notice that it says there in Timothy, Double
honor to those who rule well, especially those
who labor in the Word and doctrine.
I would like you to just note here,
brothers and sisters, that word labor there, those
that labor in the Word and doctrine.
That word labor is the same word that
we would use when we would say, I
went out and cut wood all day.
We labored.
If we went out into the woods and
we chopped wood all day, we labored.
It's the same word.
And I'm here to tell you from my
own experiences that those who labor in the
Word, listen, messages don't come by accident.
They come by grit.
They come by labor.
They come by fasting.
They come by prayer.
They come by battles that you have no
idea of.
When you have a man who will feed
you the Word of God, you count him
worthy of double honor and give him a
blessing and bless him for his labors and
esteem him highly in honor.
Let me tell you something else it will
do for you.
When you have that kind of heart toward
the man who stands to give you the
Word of God, guess what?
You will get more out of the message.
It's just that way.
I mean, if in your mind you're thinking,
yeah, you know, who is he?
And who does he think he is?
And why is he up?
You know, if you have all those thoughts,
you won't get much.
But if your heart says, bless God, we
have a leader.
God has given us a pastor.
This pastor's been praying.
He's going to preach the Word of God
to us.
I want to listen with all my heart.
You know what?
You get more out of the message.
You know who else will get more out
of the message?
Those little children sitting next to you will
sense what your attitude is towards the preacher.
They will sense what your attitude is.
I've often said it and it's true.
It holds true everywhere I go.
I'll say to parents, I know how you
feel about me.
I met your little boy four years old
over there in the corner when you weren't
around.
I know how you feel about me.
That's right.
And you know what I met when I
met that little four-year-old boy?
He came up to me like this.
I know what his mom and dad think
about me.
I don't need to go ask anybody.
And how much do you think that little
four-year-old is going to get out
of that message?
He's going to get something out of that
message.
Now, I could just tell you what God
says and tell you to go do it,
but I'm giving you some of the secrets
behind the scenes.
This is why God says to do it.
Esteem Him, God says.
Esteem Him.
I know.
I'm speaking to some in this room.
You see?
These are whole new thoughts to you.
Well, we don't do that.
We don't esteem a minister.
They might get proud.
You don't go up to them and say,
Praise God for that message you gave.
They might get proud, you know.
You don't want them to be stumbling in
pride.
They tell me, How do you esteem them
highly and love if you don't feel that
respect in your own heart?
You can't do it.
God is telling us to be a little
one.
Esteem Him highly in love.
And it says, For their work's sake.
Rejoice, dear brothers and sisters.
Here's a man who is willing to be
an elder.
Willing to be an elder.
Willing to make the sacrifice.
Willing to stay up late.
Willing to get up early.
Willing to be misunderstood.
Willing to be stepped on.
Willing to be accused.
Willing to be surmised about.
Willing to do all those things.
You better rejoice that you've got somebody that's
willing to do that.
Because those are all the things that are
going to happen to him as the church's
life rolls on.
Those are all the things that are going
to happen to him.
You rejoice that God has given you somebody
who's willing to do that.
Alright, let's move on.
The next point is follow Him.
Hebrews chapter 13 verse 7 says, Whose faith
follow.
Amen?
You know what that means?
Whose faith follow.
It means you look and see how He's
living out His faith and you follow His
example.
Just like Peter said in 1 Peter to
the elders that he was writing to being
an example to the flock.
Why be an example to the flock?
Because the flock has been instructed to follow
the example of their preacher.
Whose faith follow.
You know I it's some time ago now
so it's a good ways back but some
time ago we had a brother in the
church and he was there and you know
he was he didn't really plug into the
church but he was there and he didn't
really want to get involved but he was
there and he didn't really fit in but
he was there and he didn't really want
to do what we were doing but he
was there.
Finally we approached him and talked to him
a little bit about this and this is
what he said.
He said Oh Brother Denny please don't make
me leave I like your preaching I don't
agree with everything you say I couldn't order
my life the way you do but I
like your preaching please let me stay.
Well listen there's lots of churches where you
can hear good sermons.
I mean there are lots of places where
you can get a good sermon.
There aren't very many places where you find
people who follow the faith of their pastor.
There aren't very many places like that.
Whose faith follow?
How he guides his family How he speaks
How he dresses How he orders his life
That is the expression of his faith Follow
his faith You understand?
Sometimes I think we we've been infected by
the evangelical world more than we realize and
we think that church is a place where
you come and hear good sermons and go
home and do what you want That's not
so Not according to the Bible That's not
so Whose faith follow?
That's what the Bible says and I've said
it many places and many times Don't ordain
somebody that you're not willing to follow It
doesn't make any sense at all Don't ordain
somebody that you're not willing to follow Somebody
that you're not willing to look up to
their life and say I want to order
my life after them Follow them Follow their
example There to be an example to the
flock Follow their example in devotional life in
family life in personal convictions in business life
in church life And what a joy that
is to you Think about it Remember how
much faster we learn how much quicker we
grow if what we hear we also see
Amen?
It's You know the little poem It's true
I'd rather see a sermon than hear one
any day Brothers and sisters You will grow
faster if you also follow the example of
your elders You put the preaching and the
living together and you've got quick growth quick
growth Whose faith follow That's what God's word
says What an easy way to serve from
a pastor's perspective What an easy way to
serve a people who want to follow What
more could a pastor ask for than that?
Many times I've talked on the telephone to
men who are pastors in different places in
the United States and they're trying to lead
a group of people who don't want to
follow When I get off the phone I
bow my head many times or lift up
my heart in thanksgiving to God and say
Father thank you I get to minister to
a bunch of people who want to follow
What a privilege What an easy way to
preach Number three Pray for them This
is a responsibility of the church to the
elders Pray for them Pray fervently for them
Pray often for them Paul was constantly asking
for prayer Have you noticed that in the
epistles?
He was always asking Pray for me Remember
me Pray that I might have utterance He
was constantly doing that Do you know why
he was constantly asking that?
He knew how much he needed their prayer
Pray for them Hold them up in prayer
You know We remember the missionary What's the
difference between a minister and a missionary?
Is there any difference?
Is the minister on the front line just
like the missionary is on the front line?
Yes he is Is the devil out to
destroy his life like the devil is out
to destroy a missionary's life?
Yes he is No doubt about it But
many times we pray for the missionary over
there But we don't pray for the pastor
that is right here Pray for them When
they are facing decisions Give extra time in
prayer for them Pray for them on Saturday
When they are preparing for the sermon on
Sunday Pray for them on Sunday While you
sit in the meeting and listen to them
Pray for them I once read an account
of a pastor who did an experiment on
Sunday morning in his church He had a
large church several hundred people And he told
the congregation He said I want to do
an experiment this morning I have a burden
on my heart I have a message that
I would like to give It's heavy on
my heart I want it to be received
properly I want to ask every one of
you if you will pray for me Pray
silently in your heart while I preach this
message How many of you will do that?
Of course the whole congregation may raise their
hand Who wouldn't?
I mean they were on the spot for
sure But nevertheless they all prayed for him
while he gave his message His testimony was
He never had a message go like that
in his life It was just like as
if God picked him up and carried him
all the way through the message Hallelujah!
What a beautiful way to give a message
God just picked me up and carried me
all the way through the message What a
blessing it is when a congregation will get
underneath their pastor and pray for them while
he's preaching I've been to places where the
people carry you while you preach And I
mean it's smooth sailing all the way I've
also been to other places where I carried
the whole load myself And it's much harder
to preach that way Much harder Pray for
him on Saturday Pray for him while he's
preaching on Sunday Pray protection over him You
know the enemy is out to get him
You can be sure of that Pray for
his family You know the enemy is out
to get his family You can be sure
of that Pray at devotion time in your
home Pray at meal time Pray on Saturday
evening Gather your family together on Saturday evening
Pray earnest prayers saying God bless the preacher
tomorrow You know what?
You're not just praying for his benefit You
will get the benefit You will get it
rolling back on you If you will take
up this matter of prayer and make it
a serious thing Have special times of prayer
for your minister It's very important I can
remember a couple different ones in our fellowship
at home They're not there anymore Bless God
They prayed themselves out of the prayer closet
and into the ministry But I can remember
them I can remember one dear brother He
prayed for me on Saturday I mean he
prayed for me on Saturday He didn't pray
a prayer for me on Saturday He prayed
for two or three hours for me on
Saturday Imagine that brother Ken Many times
on Sunday morning He would come up to
me after the message and show me the
outline that God gave him yesterday in prayer
And it was my outline that I gave
that morning Sometimes I begin to wonder now
who's giving this message Him or me But
you know what he was doing?
He was praying the message down from God
for the congregation What a blessing that was
to have a man who would pray like
that We have a sister in the congregation
that prays like that Not just a little
prayer But a specific time where they get
alone and just pour out their heart before
God for the ministry of the Lord Pray
for them It's part of our responsibility Number
four We read the scriptures there in Thessalonians
It says Know them Know them That's an
interesting word That's an interesting word in this
modern high-tech age that we live in
You know You can get on the radio
and hear What is it?
37 different flavors of ministers You can hear
them all on the radio You can get
on the internet and you can just go
everywhere you want You can get everything you
can imagine off of there But the Bible
says Know them Do you know them?
What does it mean?
What does Paul mean when he says to
the Thessalonians Know them which labor among you
He means this Get to know them Learn
how they think Find out what the deep
burdens of his heart are Find out what
makes him tick Find out what the burdens
are that God is laying on his heart
That's what it means to know them It
means spend time hearing their hearts It means
spend time drawing out of them their vision
Get their heart on biblical issues and conviction
That's what it means Know them Know them
Recently I heard the account of a young
man who had the opportunity to work for
one of his ministers He had a whole
day that he was going to be working
for one of his ministers He was a
young man but he was a wise young
man and he thought Oh boy I got
the whole day with my minister All day
long You know what he was doing?
He was knowing him that labor is among
him That's what he was doing His heart
said I've got the whole day with my
minister I'm going to find out what makes
him tick I'm going to find out what
the burdens are on his heart I'm going
to ask him every question that I can
think of about every issue on spiritual things
that I can come up with I'm not
going to waste this day I've got a
minister with me all day long I'm going
to ask him everything I can That was
a wise young man He did not waste
his day nor his time Some of this
takes time To know them which labor among
you takes time Time a length of time
meaning a couple years Some of it takes
time a space of time You have to
take the time to get to know him
And some of it just simply takes interest
You know like the young man He had
the interest And when God gave him the
time He seized the opportunity that was given
to him He had the interest I want
to know what makes this minister tick I
want to know what the burdens are on
his heart This is a wise thing to
do And I just give you a little
caution about all the radio preachers today Many
times and I've said this before You wouldn't
fit into their congregation You wouldn't fit into
their congregation You wouldn't want to be there
Know them which labor among you Number five
Obey them Hebrews 13 again verse 17 Obey
them which have the rule over you And
over there in Timothy it says Count those
who rule well double honor That word rule
means rule Sorry It means what it says
It means administrate It means give direction It
means watch over your life It's the same
word as where it talks about giving the
qualifications which brother Ken will share with us
some tomorrow where it talks about the qualifications
of a bishop and how he should rule
his own house well It's talking about order
and leadership and direction and administration And whether
you've had a bad experience in all of
that or not It's still in the Bible
Obey them They have authority God has given
them authority We need to recognize that authority
It's very important that we do that Recognize
This is a man that God has placed
as an overseer in my life Recognize the
authority Now I want to quickly say that
word obey is not the same word that
God gives in Ephesians 6 where God says
children obey your parents in the Lord It's
not the same word Obviously God is not
calling us as brothers and sisters to blind
obedience to a minister It doesn't mean that
It's not that strong of a word But
here's what it means It means allow yourself
to be persuaded in the direction of that
which the minister is giving That's what it
means Give in to the direction of your
minister It doesn't mean he must go around
and tell you do this, don't do that
go here, don't go there stop this, go
here No, no, no, no, no Just give
your heart over to the direction that the
minister is giving into your life The word
obey is a word of submission It is
a word of rule It says you're to
follow their direction It says let them lead
out and you follow Now I don't know
how that sets with you and you know
I'm sure that we can find many more
inspirational subjects here this evening But the fact
of the matter is if we don't have
a church what do we have?
God in his wisdom has set the church
in order and he has set order in
the church and some of that order is
ministers elders pastors overseers bishops same word same
word God in his wisdom knew that we
as sheep would need the direction of spiritual
men who were called to be overseers This
is one of the reasons why when we
have an ordination it's not an ordination you
don't choose the man who has the best
sermon no you don't go get somebody from
somewhere else and have him come in and
give you a sermon and if you like
his sermon you're going to be your minister
no you choose out from among you you
know who your minister is you've already walked
with him you sense God's call all these
things play into this matter of submitting to
the authority of those that you have recognized
God is calling them to lead this church
and therefore I'm going to follow by the
way you will prosper if you do follow
you will I thought about your children earlier
this afternoon as I was meditating fathers mothers
your children need to see you submit your
heart to the leadership of a fellowship of
a church your children need to see you
do that they need to see you bow
your heart they need to see you bow
your heart when you don't agree you make
them do it don't you you expect them
to bow their heart sometimes when they don't
agree how are they going to learn to
do that if they can't see you do
it you see the secret wisdom hidden behind
these principles now
God says to the elders that they are
servant leaders they are not to be lords
over God's heritage God says those words to
them again He balances the things very beautifully
you know so that the leaders not walking
around thinking you need to do what I
say and I'm in charge around here no
that's the wrong attitude for the leader to
have but oh how sad it is if
the followers somehow think the leader is here
to do what we say no no whose
faith follow obey them special
insight you know why?
because He has made them overseer that's just
the way it is God channels His wisdom
through different methods and one of those methods
is through the overseer that you have in
your life and think about it we've read
it over here in Hebrews 13 and 17
obey them to have the rule over you
submit yourselves notice that it doesn't just say
do what they say submit yourselves let your
heart be a heart that says amen to
what the preacher said but here's why they
watch for your souls as they that must
give an account that they may do it
with joy and not with grief for that
is unprofitable for you now just consider with
me it's not very pleasant to oversee somebody
who doesn't want any direction in their life
it's a grief you do it you know
you're supposed to do it but it's a
grief to do it you don't do it
as well because it's a grief to do
it you don't speak as often because you're
afraid you'll get bit if you do a
person who treats their minister like that is
cutting their own throat they basically are saying
stay away from me don't touch me don't
touch my life don't give me any direction
I'll do what I want this is unprofitable
for you this is unprofitable God says I'm
giving you a gift the gift of a
pastor here's how I want you to relate
to this pastor that I'm giving you allow
yourself to be persuaded with the things that
he says open your heart to his counsel
listen to what he has to say God
is working through him to direct your life
not only through him but through him and
many other ways but God is working through
him to direct your life let him do
it with joy you know there are certain
people not a whole lot of them I
might add but there are certain people who
come to me on a regular basis and
say Brother Denny I want you to know
that I am open to any input that
you have in my life please care for
my soul please direct me please I want
input from you anything you see in my
life anything you see in my family any
direction that you see in what I'm doing
that you have a caution about I want
you to know I want to hear please
come to me you know it's so easy
to go to somebody like that I mean
it's a pleasure you know it's like going
to a faithful son and sitting down with
a faithful son and having a little chat
with them knowing that that faithful son is
going to listen to what you have to
say that's what it's like that's to your
advantage if you have that kind of an
attitude if you have this kind of an
attitude that is not going to go well
for you I know I know maybe you
got burnt maybe somebody was an unauthoritative leader
maybe that you were taking advantage of that
may be so but listen it's still in
the Bible and what our human tendency is
when we've had a bad experience we tend
to swing way over here you know what
I'm saying way on the other side you
know we have religious people in the area
where we live and sometimes when they get
born again and realize that all this religious
stuff all this outside stuff didn't have anything
to do with their soul salvation and they
swing way over to the other side throw
everything off get a pair of shorts buy
a TV put a swimming pool in the
backyard and join evangelical Christianity what did they
do they swung way over here because of
something bad that happened over here no God
would balance our lives with the principles of
His Word and I just want to encourage
all of us here this evening not to
overreact because of a bad experience obey them
that have the rule over you number
six support them support them we
read the scriptures we were admonished not to
muzzle the ox that tread the corn that
illustration out of the Old Testament was given
in the context of giving financial support to
our ministers if you muzzle the ox that
treads the corn he's not going to tread
the corn very well he'll tread it yes
because he has to but he won't tread
it as well he won't tread it as
fast his heart won't be in it but
he'll do it God says thou shalt not
muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn
the burden of the cares of life can
be a great burden to a minister it
can be a great burden it can be
a load it can cause him to do
cut corners which he shouldn't do I
don't know what the financial situation is of
the man that God is calling to lead
out here but to me it really doesn't
matter I feel like a man who is
called to lead in the church needs to
be given the financial freedom to lead that
means the others help financially so he has
the freedom to do the work that needs
to be done I know we don't believe
in just giving a salary to a minister
and letting him go with that I understand
that we think that ministers ought to work
and that's fine I work I enjoy my
work and I wouldn't want it any other
way but when the work gets to be
so much that you're scrapping around to try
to find something to give to the church
on Sunday morning on Saturday evening that doesn't
go well and guess what you won't get
much corn on Sunday morning support is
more than money but it is money Malachi
chapter 3 talks about tithes bringing the tithes
into the storehouse and God challenges the children
of Israel they're saying prove me now say
it to the Lord bring me all the
tithes into the storehouse and see if I
will pour you out a blessing that you
may not be able to contain it and
I don't believe what God is talking about
there is you give me your money and
I'll multiply it and give you more money
than you know what to do with God
is not talking about that even though God
does bless us when we give but I
don't believe that's what the import is of
Malachi chapter 3 what God is saying there
is he is challenging a nation of Israel
who quit taking care of the Levites and
the priests and the Levites and the priests
went back to work and they didn't have
time to prepare and they didn't have time
to pray and they didn't have time to
seek God and they didn't have time to
study and they didn't have time to preach
and so the preaching went down and the
prayers went down and the fasting went down
and the study went down and the people
went down God says prove me now sayeth
the Lord you bring me all the tithes
back into the storehouse and then take those
tithes and give them where they are supposed
to go and see if I won't pour
you out a blessing that you will not
be able to we're talking about the principle
of making sure that our minister is free
enough to seek the Lord and do the
work of the church that's what we're talking
about and frankly we're weak on it we
believe that ministers ought to work so much
we believe that so much we believe it
to our hurt but
supporting your minister is more than money it
means standing beside them it means affirming them
it means when they preach the tough message
you come up afterwards and bless them it
means you write them a letter sometime and
thank them for their input into your life
it means an encouraging word it means coming
up to the preacher and saying I'm with
you I agree with you thank you for
taking that stand in the brothers meeting last
night I'm with you God bless you that's
supporting your minister and lastly the seventh one
protect him protect him yes protect him what
do I mean by that we read the
scripture there where it the admonition was given
against an elder received not an accusation against
an elder except by two or three witnesses
that is the verse that I'm using for
this principle to protect your elder don't hear
accusations about your elder that's something that people
somehow feel very free to do on Sunday
afternoon yeah did you hear what brother so
and so is doing did you hear did
you hear what happened last week when such
and such and such happened no what is
it let me tell you how you should
handle that when someone comes to you and
says do you know that so and so
did you just say whoa wait a minute
hold it right there brother john brother joe
here comes brother john here comes brother joe
then you look back at him and say
okay now what were you going to say
to all of a sudden he will feel
strangely led to not say anything that's called
protecting your elder don't receive accusations don't let
them just dump on you don't let them
tell their story to you and say really
i can't believe that don't even go down
that road as soon as you smell somebody
starting to say this or that about so
and so and what he did or whatever
you just get a couple other brothers in
there wait a minute it seems to me
that we need a couple witnesses here now
go ahead what were you going to say
what were you going to say what were
you going to say well i guarantee you
they'll fit and stutter and stammer around and
it won't come out the way that it
was going to come out before i guarantee
it's good to do that it's good to
do that that fits right in with all
the other principles that we've been speaking about
don't let somebody undo your elder by slandering
him even if what was what they want
to say is true don't let him do
it it won't come out right i guarantee
it your elder's going to make some mistakes
i guarantee it he's a human being just
like you are he's not going to do
everything right he's going to make some mistakes
protect him from slander protect him from those
who would like to undo him protect him
from that don't hear those kind of things
you will do the church such a favor
if you will do that come
now let us reason together brothers and sisters
those of you that are here in this
local fellowship and all the rest you know
you come from different places come now let
us reason together god wouldn't give all these
principles to us as church members as brothers
and sisters in a local church he wouldn't
give them to us if he did not
have specific things in mind that will come
forth out of it I for one I
believe whenever god tells us to do something
he has dozens of blessings hidden dozens of
blessings hidden and if we do not hear
what he has to say and we don't
follow his lead through the word of god
we will not experience those blessings but if
we follow his lead we will be blessed
it will all roll back on you I
promise you it will all roll back on
you it will also roll on him it
will also bless him but that will only
roll back on you I promise you god
knows what he's doing he is the only
wise god the honor and glory to him
forever and ever amen he is the only
wise god he knows what he's doing in
every one of these principles which are clear
in the word of god every one of
them I haven't stretched the principles here this
evening it may be new thoughts to you
you may not have heard them before but
I haven't stretched the principles of the word
of god you need to heed them you
may say I've had leaders that were not
esteemable I've had leaders that were not knowable
I've had leaders that were hard to obey
I've had leaders that were not so easy
to follow and though that may be so
but the principles they're still here they're in
the books they're in there for a very
good reason so
this evening I will finish the way that
I started I know that it would have
just been great to have a revival message
this evening and all of us to shout
amen and hallelujah and all those things tonight
but you came to an ordination weekend you
came and we have been instructed by god
to set in order the things that are
lacking and that's what we're doing this weekend
so I would just encourage you to take
these admonitions ponder them yeah discuss them just
share back and forth and open your hearts
one to another but consider these things it's
part of receiving a ministry it's part of
receiving a ministry and I want to say
this in closing just so that you know
that I'm not picking any bones myself I
feel more than honored in my congregation at
home I don't think my congregation is not
obeying me I don't think I'm worthy of
how I'm treated at home that's my testimony
so I'm not picking any bones here I'm
just telling you these principles work brothers and
sisters work they are some of the principles
that make a church go forward and prosper
the minister has some responsibilities and the brothers
and sisters also have some responsibilities and all
those flow together and the minister said I
am going to lay down my life and
serve these people and the people said I'm
going to receive my minister at God's hand
as a gift when those two flow together
you have beautiful beautiful function in a local
church beautiful sometimes people ask me these kind
of questions brother Denny do you push your
weight around at times back home in your
church I mean other times when you have
to sit the congregation down and tell them
a thing or two and make sure things
go right and all of that I get
those questions thrown to me and I ponder
that for a minute and I think maybe
I had to do that two times in
20 years two times in 20 years where
I just simply had to sit down and
say look brethren we're not doing right here
this is the way we're going to go
just do what I say and trust me
I think maybe two times in 20 years
why because these two things work together they
work together they work beautifully together the church
just moves on goes forward and grows and
prospers and God's blessing is upon us and
I want to encourage you just ponder the
things that I've given here this evening even
though maybe maybe it's new medicine for you
I will encourage you just to ponder may
God help you let's bow for prayer our
father in heaven we love you tonight Lord
what a good father you are to us
Lord Lord my heart fills to look into
these things again this evening Lord my heart
overflows with Lord thank you father thank you
for the beauty of your words thank you
for the wisdom of your words Lord you
know what you're doing Lord we acknowledge these
beautiful principles tonight Lord we receive them in
Jesus name into our heart God oh I
pray I pray for this congregation I pray
that it will prosper I pray that the
brothers and sisters here will receive their minister
their pastor from thee Lord God and I
pray that you will cause this church to
prosper in ways it never has before God
we trust these words into your heart you
take them into every heart and do what
we need to do in every one of
our hearts in Jesus Christ name Amen