So you wanna be a preacher?

Providence Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:04

Amen, a very fitting song to go along with this morning's message. And that is, to be filled with the

00:12

Spirit is to be Christ -saturated. So our hope and all that we base our forgiven past and blessed future is upon the finished work of Christ.

00:28

Well, this is an important night for our church.

00:36

Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 11. In fact, this is a monumental night for our church.

00:52

It's hard for me to really express in all the ways appropriate and rightly

00:58

God -honoring all that has gone on at our church. And this summer

01:03

I'll have been here seven years and the Lord is working here and I'm grateful for that.

01:10

And so tonight's message from 2 Corinthians 11, 16 through 33 is simply entitled this.

01:18

So you want to be a preacher. 2 Corinthians 11, beginning in verse 16,

01:26

I'll explain the title in just a moment, but let's read that together. Would you stand with me as we honor the reading of God's words?

01:33

2 Corinthians chapter 11, beginning in verse 16. 16, Paul says,

01:41

I repeat, let no one think me foolish, but even if you do accept me as a fool so that I too may boast a little.

01:50

What I'm saying with this boastful confidence, I say not with the Lord's authority, but as a fool.

01:56

Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. For you gladly bear with fools being wise yourselves.

02:03

You bear it if someone makes slaves of you or devours you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or strikes you in the face.

02:12

To my shame, I must say we were too weak for that. But whatever anyone else dares to boast of,

02:18

I am speaking as a fool, I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am

02:23

I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am

02:29

I. Are they servants of Christ? I'm a better one. I'm talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonment with countless beatings and often near death.

02:41

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods.

02:47

Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers in toil, hardship, through many a sleepless night and hunger and thirst often without food and cold and exposure.

03:15

And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

03:21

Who is weak and I'm not weak? Who is made to fall and I'm not indignant? If I must boast,

03:27

I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The Godfather of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever knows that I am not lying.

03:35

At Damascus, the governor under King Eratos was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me.

03:42

But I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.

03:48

Let's pray. Father, help us to understand this text tonight. Let us understand the sobriety and gravity and glory of an evening like this, where we look upon a man who we've voted as pastor and we lay hands on him and we call him officially to the office of pastor here.

04:09

I pray for Jacob right now. I pray that he would listen carefully to Your Word preached.

04:16

And I pray likewise for the church body, that we would carefully listen to what it is that You have for us.

04:24

And we pray it all in Christ's name, amen. You may be seated. So you'll want to be a preacher.

04:31

No doubt, the pulpit today has fallen on hard times.

04:39

In fact, if you go to many churches today, they don't even have a pulpit, right? They just have a little thing up at the front, a little, you know, music stand or whatever that a man either puts a few notes or a

04:53

Bible on, or sometimes a man just walks around or sometimes, listen, it may not even be a man anymore.

04:59

Right? The pulpit has fallen on hard times. There are multiple reasons for this. One of those reasons being worthless preachers.

05:07

That is lazy, money hungry, fame seeking, unqualified preachers.

05:16

Another reason for this is worthless listeners. Those designed to have their backs scratched and their ears tickled.

05:27

These issues then have combined to create quite the issue in our day when it comes to supposed elders, supposed pastors, supposed overseers, supposed shepherds of the flock.

05:39

We have some, as I said, allowing women into the pastorate. We have others allowing unqualified men into the pastorate.

05:46

We have sermon stealers. We have men who don't pray or evangelize or know their

05:52

Bibles. We have men who are not good husbands or good fathers. We have unbelievers occupying the office of pastor.

06:01

Friends, with these being true, and undoubtedly you can see today that these realities are true.

06:06

And with these things being true, it is no wonder that evangelicalism in America today is in the state that it's in.

06:16

It is no wonder that churches today are in the state that they are in.

06:22

Friends, we must not forget what we talked about this morning and what we've talked about time and time and time again through Ephesians.

06:29

The gospel is connected to the local church in this way. As Christ comes into a person's heart, as they are forgiven of their sins, as they are transformed by the power of the

06:42

Holy Spirit, as they are made new, they unite themselves with visible local congregations, assemblies known as local churches that bring glory and honor to Christ.

06:55

We see today that these churches are falling on hard times because the pastorate has fallen on hard times.

07:01

And so tonight, this sermon will be broken down into two parts. That is,

07:07

I have a charge, first of all, to the elder. That's Jacob. And I have a charge to the church.

07:13

That's the rest of us. So, number one then, I wanna consider the charge to the elder.

07:20

The question here is, do you wanna be a preacher? In reality, that's not a great question,

07:27

Jacob. Literally, anyone can be a preacher.

07:33

All you have to do to be a preacher is to force enough hot air through your larynx and say something, right?

07:42

That's a preacher. There are lots of preachers out there today. There were in Paul's day.

07:48

Go back to verse 13 in the text. We didn't read that, but immediately preceding our text, verse 13, for such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

08:02

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

08:12

Their end will correspond to their deeds. In other words, it's not hard to just be a preacher. All you gotta do to be a preacher is to go out and preach.

08:20

Just go say something. Not difficult to be a preacher. So the question, so you wanna be a preacher?

08:27

It's not the best way to put it. Rather tonight, I should ask Jacob, do you wanna be a faithful preacher?

08:38

Do you want to be a biblical man of God, pastoring the flock of God?

08:47

Yes. All right, amen. So here then is my charge to you, brother.

08:54

And church, you need to listen to this so you can help understand your charge in just a moment. If you want to be a faithful pastor, first, you must be, number one, preposterously pathetic.

09:08

Number one, you wanna be a faithful preacher, you wanna be a faithful pastor, a faithful elder, shepherd of God's flock.

09:14

Number one, you must be preposterously pathetic. Verse 16, I'm gonna read all the way through 21 again.

09:21

I repeat, let no one think me foolish, but even if you do, accept me as a fool so that I may boast a little.

09:27

What I'm saying with this boastful confidence, I say, not with the Lord's authority, but as a fool. Since many boast according to the flesh,

09:34

I too will boast. For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves, for you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face.

09:47

To my shame, I must say we were too weak for that. But whatever anyone else dares to boast of,

09:54

I'm speaking as a fool, I also dare to boast. Verse 30, if I must boast,

10:01

I will boast of the things that show my weakness. You wanna be a faithful pastor, brother, you must be preposterously pathetic.

10:09

Okay, the issue that Paul is dealing with is false teachers and false apostles that were plaguing

10:15

Corinth. Okay, granted, let's get this out of the way. Paul was an apostle, and he's talking specifically about the apostolic ministry, but certainly there's a serious and real connection and parallel to what it means to be a faithful pastor.

10:29

And so I think the application here is warranted. Do you wanna be a faithful shepherd of God's people?

10:35

You must be preposterously pathetic. That means this, you must be foolish and weak in the eyes of the world.

10:44

The false teachers were devouring the flock. Look what they were doing in verse 20. For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face.

10:58

This is what the false teachers in Corinth were doing. And they were boasting in their excellence.

11:07

They were boasting in their flesh. They were boasting in their fine preaching, their great oratory skills.

11:13

They were boasting in how to really build and grow a church. They were boasting in all the great things that they were, and all the great things that they could do.

11:21

They probably had a big old Texas grin while they were preaching. Look at us, and all our fine ministry.

11:33

So Paul says, you wanna boast? You guys wanna boast? The false teachers at Corinth wanna boast?

11:38

I've got some things that I can boast about too. What Paul is going to boast about is not himself, but Christ.

11:46

And in order to boast about Christ, he's going to boast in his foolishness and his weakness.

11:54

Turn over in your Bible, all of you, especially Jacob, turn in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 1.

12:01

Listen to what Paul says to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1, beginning in verse 18.

12:07

1 Corinthians 1, beginning in verse 18. Remember what

12:13

Paul had already said. This gives some context to the church at Corinth. Now listen to this.

12:20

We wanna say amen to this, but you gotta believe this, right? You have to believe this. Verse 18, 1

12:25

Corinthians 1. For the word of cross is folly. Folly, foolish, pathetic.

12:32

For the word of cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

12:40

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning, I will thwart.

12:46

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

12:53

For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

13:03

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.

13:11

But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

13:23

You wanna be a faithful pastor, you must be preposterously pathetic. We have a foolish gospel that is foolish in the eyes of the world.

13:33

How is God gonna reconcile wicked and evil men to himself?

13:39

Every other religion says, well, what you gotta do is, you've gotta appease God, you've messed up, and now you've gotta fix it somehow.

13:46

And so you've gotta take a journey to Mecca or you've got to go and knock on doors and be part of the 144 ,000 or you've gotta take the

13:57

Eucharist or you've gotta go to confession, whatever, you've got to do something to make up for all the wrongs that you've done against God.

14:05

That's the wisdom of the world. But the foolishness of God is this, not only can he not do anything,

14:13

God has done everything for us in Christ. And every other religion is do, do, do, do, do, and Christianity stands alone because its final word is done, it is finished.

14:29

Friend, this is the gospel that we preach, it's foolish to the eyes of the world and our dependence is all upon God.

14:38

We are weak men, we're weak, but in the moment, the very moment that you're wise in the eyes of the world, in the moment that you're strong in the eyes of the world, that's the moment you need to step away from the pulpit and reassess your ministry.

14:55

You wanna be a faithful pastor, you must be preposterously pathetic. The world must see you as foolish and weak.

15:01

Secondly, you wanna be a faithful pastor, you must have a proper pedigree. So I'm back here in 2

15:07

Corinthians 11. You must be preposterously pathetic, you must have a proper pedigree.

15:12

Notice what Paul says in verse 22. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites?

15:18

So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one,

15:24

I'm talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonment, with countless beatings and often near death.

15:31

Now, I'm just gonna mention here something, I'll make an application I believe is warranted, but Paul does not despise his

15:37

Jewish heritage. He asserted that on one level, he had the same pedigree as these false apostles.

15:44

When we think about the apostles in the New Testament, that is the office of apostle, there were no

15:50

Gentiles in that office. They were all Jews. Paul had the proper pedigree.

15:55

He says, are they Hebrews? I'm a Hebrew. Are they Israelites? I'm an Israelite. Are they

16:00

Israelite? Are they offspring of Abraham? I'm an offspring of Abraham. He had the proper pedigree.

16:07

So I want to mention in the way of application that there is a proper pedigree for a pastor and it's not

16:14

Jewishness, right? You'd be disqualified. It's not Jewishness. It's character.

16:21

There are qualifications that must be met. We've examined you, we've observed your life, but it's important tonight

16:29

I think to reaffirm this. We'll turn over just for a moment. We'll just look at one passage, 1

16:34

Timothy chapter three. 1 Timothy chapter three.

16:44

1 Timothy chapter three, beginning in verse one. Part of Paul's pedigree for being an apostle was his

16:53

Jewishness, not all of it, but part of it. But that's not the pedigree for a pastor, verse one, chapter three, verse one, 1

17:04

Timothy. This saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

17:10

Therefore an overseer must, an overseer must, not should be, not it would be a good idea, but must be above reproach.

17:21

The husband of one wife, sober -minded, self -controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

17:35

He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive.

17:40

For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

17:51

Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

18:00

I'm gonna tell you something tonight. There's an idea in America today, specifically, there's an idea in America or the

18:07

West today, that if you feel God's call upon your life to pastor, that warrants you being a pastor.

18:13

But I'm gonna tell you something, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what someone feels inside.

18:19

It doesn't matter what they think about inside. If they do not meet these qualifications, God has not called them to pastor.

18:27

I've had, and many times I've had this conversation, because the forefront issue is about women and the pastor in Southern Baptist churches.

18:34

And so people ask me, but what if God calls, what if, how are you gonna say no if God calls a woman to be a pastor?

18:42

And I say, friend, God doesn't call a woman to be a pastor. Well, how do you know that?

18:48

Because I don't have to worry about subjective internal things. I have an objective standard, the truth of God.

18:55

But it's not just about, it's not, we're not facing that issue. It's also about qualified men.

19:02

It doesn't matter how many degrees a man has. It doesn't matter how well -spoken he is.

19:08

It doesn't matter how nice he dresses. If his character is not in line with the biblical qualifications, he is not called to be a pastor.

19:19

Of course, Jacob, we're always seeking to grow in these areas, as I told you this morning.

19:26

The Lord doesn't call perfect men into the pastorate. If he did, there would be no pastors today. So we grow in these areas, but to be harboring secret sin or to be living a life contrary to these qualifications will bring much pain upon yourself and the flock.

19:43

Unqualified men do not make faithful shepherds. There's too much at stake to be slack in these areas.

19:55

God cares about His church. So you want to be a preacher. You must be preposterously pathetic.

20:02

You must have a proper pedigree. Thirdly, you must be prepared for pain. Verse 24, five times

20:15

I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less one. Three times

20:21

I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times

20:26

I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

20:58

God loves you, Jacob, and has a wonderful plan for your life. But that life, that life may involve, will involve pain.

21:14

Again, this is Paul the Apostle's story, and this degree of suffering is not going to necessarily be true of every pastorate, though some may be even worse than this.

21:25

Yet there's no doubt that those called to ministry will suffer. It's inevitable, they will.

21:30

All Christians will suffer, but it seems particularly those who take up the mantle of pastoral ministry are going to suffer.

21:38

And I think this is for two reasons. One, because Satan hates the pastorate. What we're doing tonight, church, you need to hear this too.

21:45

What we're doing tonight is we're taking a big old bullseye and we're putting it on the Robinson family.

21:51

We're putting it up on Trey and upon Jack and upon Jason, upon Taylor and upon Jacob. Here you go,

21:57

Satan, fire away. And let me tell you, he will.

22:05

And another reason I think that pastors suffer is because God loves them very much.

22:11

And God loves his church very much. So what God does in the suffering of ministers is he shapes them evermore into the image of his son for the good of his shepherds and for the good of his flock.

22:25

Let me reread these verses. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less one.

22:31

Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day

22:36

I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night and hunger and thirst, often without food and cold and exposure.

22:58

Notice in this text, we probably, you guys know me, we could probably spend weeks in this text, couldn't we?

23:08

But notice, brother, that sometimes you will find pain from those who claim to be following God.

23:20

It is those inside the church who hurt you, who talk behind your back, who slander your family, who sow discord, who ridicule you.

23:31

Church scars are the hardest to heal sometimes. Sometimes you'll find pain from those outside the church, those who will try to silence your voice or perhaps lock you up or beat you or harm you or seek to harm your family.

23:52

It's no doubt, no doubt, what happened this week in Nashville was a hate crime.

24:03

Don't let media tell you anything else. It was a hate crime against Christians.

24:13

Jacob, for you to take this bullseye up on you and your family is making yourself a special target for the evil one and those who hate

24:24

Christ. Will you be faithful? Will you be faithful in evangelism?

24:31

You can't be a faithful pastor without being faithful in evangelism, but being faithful in evangelism is only going to invite more pain upon you.

24:39

Notice here too, there's really nowhere to run from this in verse 26, on frequent journeys and danger from rivers.

24:46

Okay, I'll get out of the river, danger from robbers. Okay, I'll get away from the robbers, danger from my own people.

24:51

Okay, I'll run away from my own people, danger from Gentiles. Oh, okay, I'll run to the city, danger in the city. Well, okay,

24:57

I'll run to the outskirts of the city, danger in the wilderness. Okay, I'll flee to the ocean, danger at sea.

25:04

Okay, I'll get out, danger from false, you can't escape it. You think to yourself,

25:10

I'm in rural Arkansas. How much pain can there be?

25:22

Remind me to talk to you about some meetings I've had. Then of course there's the pain of providence.

25:29

Now I know it's interesting to say, it comes out kind of funny because providence is always for the good of God's people.

25:38

But sometimes providence is painful. Sometimes you get into chapter 12, providence is a thorn in the flesh.

25:44

In fact, let me just read that. Paul says in chapter 12, I must go on boasting, though there is nothing to be gained by,

25:50

I will go into visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven, whether in the body or out of the body,

25:57

I do not know. God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know.

26:02

God knows. And he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man,

26:08

I will boast, but on my own behalf, I will not boast except of my weakness. Though if I should wish to boast,

26:13

I would not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth, but I'll refrain from it so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

26:22

So to keep me from being conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being conceited.

26:34

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

26:46

Jacob, sometimes the Lord brings things in your life because he loves you.

26:58

And he wants you to know that his grace is enough. From shipwrecks, to sleepless nights, to tornadoes, to hunger, to thirst, ministry can be so discouraging sometimes that you will be tempted to quit.

27:19

So if you think tonight that you're signing up for a leisurely stroll down Broadway to the thunderous applause of the crowds, where maybe one day you might even aspire to be the mayor of Perryville, Arkansas, right?

27:35

Maybe, no, get out while you still can because there's such a reward in ministry, no doubt, but it comes at a cost.

27:45

Ridicule, lack of support, lack of trust, verbal assaults, lies, condemnation.

27:51

This is the weakness that Paul is boasting in here. So you wanna be a preacher, right? Beyond that, even the physical suffering and a heartache.

28:00

You wanna be a preacher, you wanna be a faithful pastor, you must be prepared for pain. And then finally, preposterously pathetic, proper pedigree, prepared for pain.

28:09

And finally, you must prioritize God's people through all of this. Verse 28, look at what

28:14

Paul says. And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

28:23

So commentators think that Paul here as the crescendo of his pain is offering this reality.

28:29

That is above all these other things, he remains concerned about the churches, right?

28:36

It's like, I ain't sleeping, I'm getting beat up, I'm almost dying, I'm hungry, I'm thirsty.

28:42

Oh, but above these things, I worry about the churches. He loved

28:47

God's people. I gotta do a little bit talking with just me and Jacob here for a second.

28:54

Danny, Danny can be involved in this conversation too. There is a weight that a faithful pastor carries for his people that no one else can actually and fully understand.

29:13

Your wife will not ultimately understand it. Your friends and your family members will not ultimately understand it.

29:23

Your fellow church members will not ultimately understand it. It is something, it is a burden, it is an anxiety, it is something only a pastor can know.

29:36

Brother so -and -so has his operation tomorrow. Everybody else is going off to work and they're having a good day and their thing, but your burden for brother so -and -so in this serious situation that he's facing, or sister so -and -so and her son has gone off wayward, or family so -and -so, they just haven't been plugged up as they need to at church.

29:55

And there is a wolf at the door here and there's a fire being started over there. There's a complaint over here and there is an encouragement over there.

30:03

And then you have these people, they want more of these types of songs and this type of ministry. And so maybe you start leaning that way, but then you realize these people over here, you know what type of songs they want?

30:14

The exact opposite of what these people want. And you know what kind of ministry they want? They wanna focus on something else than these people.

30:20

And it's just continually upon our heart and you carry the burdens of the people of God that God has entrusted you.

30:30

And your great goal in all of this is to show the people

30:35

Christ. And it is to bring glory to God as you seek to love these people through the mountaintops, through the high school graduations, through the birth of newborn babies, through the marriages, through the raises, through the new houses.

30:54

You walk with them and you celebrate and you put your arms around them and you say, glory be to Christ.

31:00

And then when the cancer comes and the stillborn child comes, and the financial hardship comes, you love them in Christ.

31:15

And then when they hear what you have to say and they don't take your counsel and their life is ruined, or they walk away from Christ, you carry the weight of their souls upon your heart.

31:41

Through stubborn sheep or wayward sheep or dirty sheep, you keep on shepherding, brother, as you seek to see them mature in the faith and make it to that celestial city.

31:57

Brother, is your prayer life geared toward these people upon your heart? If you're more anxious about your golf swing or the stock market or the big buck than you are about God's people, it's time to step away.

32:11

Are you ready to stand in the gap, to admonish the idle, to encourage the faint hearted, to help the weak, to be patient, to be patient, to be patient, to be patient, to be patient, to be patient.

32:24

Point taken, hope, with them all. You must prioritize the church in the sense that you are resolved to stand for the truth, no matter the cost, to wisely and patiently and boldly lead the people of God in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.

32:41

In essence, I believe Paul would say, beat me and try me and mock me and kill me so long as the local churches are faithful in Christ.

32:51

And this is the kind of mentality that we have to have. You can't buy me, you can't trick me, you can't tip me, you can't kill me, but even if you kill me, it's all for the glory of Christ and it's my desire and it's my burden that Christ is worthy of a healthy church right here in Perryville, Arkansas, and I'm gonna give my life to that.

33:13

Is that your burden for the people of God? You must give your life to the church's loyalty to Christ, to her unity, to her doctrinal fidelity, to her mission and evangelism, to her overall health, to her worship.

33:28

You are called by God to oversee these things. Christ is worthy of a healthy church in Perryville and God will use faithful pastors to bring it about.

33:38

This is your charge. When I ask you a question, I want you to answer it. Can you say here tonight that you are preposterously pathetic, have the proper pedigree, are prepared for pain and prioritize

33:51

God's people? Can you say yes to those things? Amen.

33:58

Well, now we move to the church. Verse 29 through 33. Who is weak and I'm not weak?

34:05

Who is made to fall and I'm not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of these things that show my weakness.

34:10

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever knows I'm not lying. At Damascus, the governor under King Eratos was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window on the wall and escaped his hands.

34:25

Now, here's the idea. How should the Corinthians responded to Paul?

34:33

He should have been honored. Hear me, church. Of course, the problem was the false teachers in the midst of the church.

34:42

And that is the issue, that is an issue today in our area. We have many, now church,

34:49

I'm preaching to you now. We have many in our area who do not recognize the responsibility of a church to a faithful man of God.

35:00

We tend to look at pastors as men we've hired to fill a pulpit and to do what we want.

35:07

And if they don't do what we want, then we'll just fire them and find someone else. This is not the charge of the church to the pastor.

35:17

The Bible is very clear about this. So I'm gonna quickly walk through five ways. So get your

35:22

Bibles ready. We're gonna just go through this real quick. Five ways that a church must respond to a faithful elder.

35:27

Number one, honor him, 1 Timothy 5. How should a church respond to a faithful elder?

35:33

Don't take my word for it. Listen, hear the word of God. How should a church respond to a faithful elder?

35:43

Number one, honor him, 1 Timothy 5, 17. Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

35:56

An elder is to be honored. I wanna tell you something tonight, church, and I'm not gonna be such a stickler about this, but I do want you to think about this.

36:04

And that is, no longer is this man just Jacob, right? He's Brother Jacob.

36:10

He's Pastor Jacob. That is, we show respect and honor because he's no longer just one of our friends.

36:17

He's no longer just a fellow church member. He is our pastor. And there are certain ways, hear me very carefully, there are certain ways that we don't speak about him or things that we say to him because we're commanded by God to hold this man in honor.

36:31

And we ought to be ready and willing to defend the honor of this man to those who would call it into question.

36:37

We are commanded by God to honor him, commanded. We hold pastors in honor when we speak to them appropriately, when we defend their honor, but also we hold pastors in honor when we listen to what it is they have to say and we adjust our lives to it.

36:55

There's no bigger slap in the face, there's no bigger dishonor to a pastor than to hear what he has to say and just ignore it and go your own way.

37:03

There's tremendous sadness when this happens. So show up to church, show up to fellowship, listen to what

37:10

Brother Jacob has to say and honor his words and honor his life. Secondly, submit to him.

37:15

Oh, this is fun, right? Hebrews 13, honor him, number one. Secondly, submit to him.

37:21

Keep flipping to the right to Hebrews 13. That's a fun word, right, today. Everybody loves that word.

37:26

Submit, submit, submit. If they could, they would take it out of the dictionary, right, unless it meant you have to submit to some sort of leftist propaganda.

37:36

Other than that, no one wants you to submit to have to submit to anything. But I just wanna tell you very clearly what the word of God says.

37:43

Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17 says this. Hebrews 13, 17, obey your leaders and submit to them.

37:53

For they are, so you're saying, well, who's it talking about? The president, the cops, what?

37:59

Well, there's various levels of authority there, but we know specifically he's talking about elders.

38:05

How do we know? Obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.

38:14

Let them do this with joy and not with groaning for that would be of no advantage to you. When Jacob thinks of your life and when he thinks of having to visit you, when he thinks of having to talk with you, when he thinks about having to shepherd you, you don't want him doing this.

38:30

Oh man, I've gotta go to brother so -and -so. I've gotta go to sister so -and -so.

38:37

They're so difficult and they're so hard to shepherd. What advantage of your soul is that?

38:43

That's what the author of Hebrews is saying. That's no advantage to your soul, so submit with joy.

38:51

The text says that elders are watching over your soul. They'll give an account. Jacob will give an account one day to Christ for the souls of this church.

39:00

Some people have said things like this before, and I know people close to Jacob and I have said things like this.

39:05

Why would a church of that size, why would you have more than one pastor? One, we believe it's the biblical teaching.

39:12

Two, we don't understand shepherding well. We think that shepherding, we think that one man could shepherd 500 people.

39:20

How many did Jesus shepherd closely? 12, right?

39:27

I'm just saying, I'm not saying that has to be the standard. I'm just saying it's something to think about that we will stand before Christ one day to give an account for how we shepherded you, how we preached to you, how we prayed for you, how we visited you, how we counseled you.

39:42

And so the Bible calls you to follow the leadership of your pastors. Jacob is an overseer.

39:48

You are one who is being overseen. We must understand this relationship rightly. Thirdly, so we are to honor this man, we're to submit to this man.

39:58

Thirdly, we're to partner with this man. Now, there are many passages I could look at.

40:05

1 Timothy 4 .12, for example, 1 Peter 5, one through three.

40:11

You can look at those in your own time, but just suffice it to say this, the pastoral role is to be an example to the flock.

40:18

Or here's another one, Ephesians 4. The pastoral role there is to equip the saints for what?

40:25

The work of ministry. Now, let me just tell you what people have come to think about the pastor.

40:30

They've come to think of the pastor is we pay these people. These people are our pastors. I'm not gonna go to evangelize, that's what they do.

40:38

That's why I pay them, so that my Saturdays can be given to golf or deer hunting or whatever. I'm not gonna work on ministry, that's what their job is.

40:46

I don't have to study theology, that's what their job is. No, no, no, friends, what your responsibility to the pastor is, is to sit under his teaching, to learn their teaching, and then to partner with them, right?

40:58

They are examples for you. So as they evangelize, you're evangelizing with them. As they're going on mission, you're going on mission with them.

41:05

As they are teaching and learning and studying theology, you're doing the same thing. We partner with our pastors.

41:11

Fourthly, 1 Thessalonians 5 for this one, care for. So we're to honor this man, we're to submit to him, we're to partner with him.

41:22

Fourthly, we're to care for him, 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5 says this.

41:34

Starting in verse 12, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 12. We ask you brothers to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the

41:42

Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

41:53

Friends, it is a church's responsibility to love her pastors.

42:03

Brother Jacob is being installed in this office, understanding that at this time, our local church cannot financially support two full -time pastors.

42:11

It's just not where we're at providentially. This does not mean, however, listen carefully, church.

42:16

This does not mean that the church has no obligation towards Brother Jacob's financial state. We must, as we are able, show our love for him financially.

42:26

Not because he's a hireling, but because God expects his churches to make sure the needs of her pastors are taken care of so that they can better focus on shepherding our souls.

42:37

The 1699 says it this way. The work of pastors is to give constant attention to the service of Christ and his churches in the ministry of the word and prayer.

42:49

They're to watch over the souls of church members as those who must give an account to Christ. The churches to whom they minister must not only give them all due respect, but also must share with them from all their good things according to their ability.

43:03

They must do this so their pastors may have a comfortable living without having to be entangled in secular matters.

43:09

And so they can show hospitality to others. This is required by the law of nature and by the explicit command of our

43:15

Lord Jesus, who has ordained that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.

43:22

Friends, I understand that there's different financial situations for churches, but you need to remember this.

43:28

As we are able, we should bless this man financially. We should help him out. For Jacob has your yard going, can we help you mow?

43:36

So you don't have to get home from work and mow. So maybe when you get home from work, you can spend more time with your family and you can spend time studying the word of God for the sermon that you're gonna be preaching in two weeks or whatever.

43:48

The church must care for her pastors, even the ones that aren't able to make a salary from the church.

43:54

So as we're able as a church, as individuals, we ought to show our love to the Robinsons and help care for their needs and bless them financially.

44:01

And then the final charge of the churches is number five and finally, we must hold him accountable. Again, back to 1

44:07

Timothy 5. I'm taking special privilege.

44:13

I told us that we're gonna be getting out at seven on these sermon nights, but this is a special night. We must hold him accountable.

44:21

1 Timothy 5, 19 says this. 1 Timothy 5, 19, do not admit a charge against an elder.

44:28

Now that would be a problem if it said that only. But if it did, then we would just have to do that. But that's not what it says.

44:35

It doesn't say don't admit a charge against an elder. It says, do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

44:43

So let me say this, every local church seeks to hold her pastors accountable, right?

44:49

The church holds her pastors to a high standard of doctrine and life and mission.

44:54

Look at verse 20. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all so that the rest may stand in fear.

45:00

In other words, the church must make sure her elders are accountable in the scriptures, in life and love and doctrine and evangelism.

45:09

If two or three witnesses notice a pattern of impropriety or of sin in brother

45:15

Jacob's life, it is your responsibility before God to approach this man in humility and in love.

45:22

I'm not talking about preferences here. I'm not talking about if he preaches too long or whatever, praise

45:27

God, right? I'm talking about patterns of sloth or unfaithfulness or outright sin or doctrinal infidelity.

45:35

The church cannot just say, well, I just have to obey him. So I guess I'll just go along with whatever sin is happening.

45:41

No, God will hold you accountable. Nor can you say, well, he's being unfaithful. So I'll just sneak out the back and I'll leave.

45:47

No, the local church must hold her pastors accountable to our doctrinal commitments and to our church covenant and to the standard of elders given to us in the scriptures.

45:58

This is not going behind an elder's back and stirring up discord. I am certainly not advocating collecting signatures.

46:07

Rather, it is a loving accountability and a desire for the exaltation of Christ above all.

46:18

You must honor this man. You must submit to this man. You must partner with this man.

46:24

You must care for this man. You must hold this man accountable. So church, here's what

46:30

I need you to answer this question. Do you accept this charge to you? Will you honor and submit to and partner with and care for and hold accountable brother

46:40

Jacob? This would be yes, or you can say verbally yes. Church, I'm looking at you, yes.

46:49

Okay, so let me borrow these words from a friend. The Lord has a way of giving us exactly what we need and when we need it.

47:00

For years, I have prayed for a qualified man to be ready to be a fellow pastor of this church.

47:13

God gifts and He calls man and the church is responsible to examine these men and to recognize these men and affirm that calling.

47:20

This is what we have done. We have just sat here and allowed the providence of God to drop this man on our doorstep.

47:33

And now it has become clear, again, borrowing these words, through sufficient examination that the

47:39

Lord has called and gifted this brother, Jacob Robinson, to be a pastor of this congregation.

47:48

Jacob said yes, you said yes, you voted to affirm. So now what we're going to do is we're going to officially install

47:55

Jacob as a pastor of Perryville Second Baptist Church by the biblical example of laying on of hands and prayer.

48:05

There's only one elder here now, officially, that's me. And so I'm going to do this honor and this responsibility before God.

48:13

So Jacob, you come forward to the front. I'm going to lay hands on you, brother. I'm going to pray for you.