The Pastor's Task and Goals

Great. That's the kind of things we ought to pray about all the time. Do you realize that? Listen to me carefully.

! I think about the Psalm 73, where the Psalmist Asaph, he says this, who do I have in heaven but you?

And there is none that I desire beside you.

I think about 1 Peter, where it says, I love this verse, whom having not seen you love, though now you see him not.

That's a mouthful. I don't see him yet, but I love him.

And then it goes on and says, yet believing filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

I am convinced, and this is not the Ephesians passage, but it's applicable.

I am convinced that loving Christ is the bedrock.

It is the genesis.

It is the energy that we need for the growth and journey of life.

Would you agree with me?

And here's the truth.

We're not natural at that.

And so, like Stephanie, we need to not only sing the song, but we need to pray the song.

Lord, draw me nearer.

Well, I do want you to turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

I said 5, and I meant 4.

Let's hope that that is the only error that I make this morning.

Last week, I tried to add two extra books to the Bible, and I was gently rebuffed by one of our dear sisters,

and I am very thankful for that, and I want you to know that.

I said that there are 29 books in the New Testament, and there really aren't.

And so, I'm here.

One of the things about newspapers is that they print their retractions like where?

Page 9, column 4, somewhere in the middle of the page.

Unfortunately, when pastors make errors, it is suitable that they do that at the beginning where they let you know they were wrong.

Do you understand that?

And here's the reason why.

Because I have the responsibility of always speaking the truth.

And when I make a mistake, God forbid, but when I make a mistake, I owe it to the authority and the supremacy of the Word of God

that I let you know that up front.

Now, saying 29, 27 is not a big thing, but we want to always be submissive to the authority and the accuracy of the Word.

Isn't that right?

And so, if I teach it, then I have to model it, and that's why we begin this way.

Let's read the passage of Scripture, and then we're going to pray together and ask that the Spirit of God

would equip us to hear and apply His sweet truth.

Ephesians chapter 4, verse 12 and 13.

Ephesians 4:12

Actually, I'll pick up in verse 11.

That's where the thought begins.

He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry,

for building up the body of Christ,

until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,

to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Join me in prayer.

Precious Father, for us, prayer is not something that we do out of habit,

or because it's something that's kind of written into the order of our service.

It is something that we do because we are both desperately dependent upon You,

and we are supremely confident in Your work and Your power in us through Your Spirit and through our humble dependence.

And so, like the psalmist, we would pray this morning,

open our eyes that we might behold wondrous truths in Your law.

And like Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 2,

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

we are dependent upon Your Spirit, both me in the declaration of the truth,

and then in the lives of Your people in applying it and understanding it and enjoying it

and living in the light of the truth that You've given to us.

We pray that this morning as we study Your Scriptures,

that our hearts would be lifted up to say with awe and reverence

how great You are, how wise You are, how good You are,

and how blessed we are to be Your children

and be drawn together and put together into a body of believers

for the glory and for the sufficiency of the testimony of Christ.

We ask, Lord, that as a result of our hearing the Word,

that we would be different,

that the undeniable effect of the Word of God would be seen

in lives that are changed and lives that are growing in grace.

And we ask this in Your precious name.

Amen.

I remember last week at one point in the sermon,

I referenced the fact that Mark Dever summarized pastoral ministry

by four little statements.

He said that pastoral ministry really comes down

to preach and pray, love and stay.

As I was thinking about this passage in particular

and studying on it earlier, actually last week,

I remember thinking about my ordination service.

And I don't remember exactly, I didn't look at the date,

but I remember that after my ordination service,

I was given the privilege of inviting two different men to preach,

one who preached to me and the other who preached to the church.

And I asked my father to preach to me,

and I asked Dr. Bill Brock,

some of you are here who still remember his ministry,

I asked Dr. Bill Brock if he would preach to the church.

My dad preached from a passage in Deuteronomy

where Moses, as he was given that responsibility and burden

of taking the nation of Israel into the promised land,

across the wilderness, etc.,

he said, listen, I'm not going unless you show me your glory.

You go with me.

And he said, show me your glory.

And I remember that sermon.

I also remember Pastor Brock preaching.

And he dealt with the responsibilities that I had as a pastor

and the responsibilities that the church had to me as their pastor.

And I don't remember the particulars.

I will tell you that I took notes,

and I could pull those up and probably check those,

but I would venture to say that knowing Pastor Brock

and enjoying his ministry for the time that Judith and I were here

before he took us up there to north,

before God took us up there to northeastern Ohio,

I have no doubt that he probably relied on a passage such as Acts 4, verse 42,

where it says that this is what ministry consists of,

in Acts 6, where the apostles said,

but we will give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word,

and perhaps also on this passage that we're going to be looking at.

We're here, there, we're in this passage in Ephesians 4, verse 12 and 13,

Ephesians 4:12

where the Spirit of God, after having explained how wonderful the work of Christ is in the church,

he then brings it together in chapter 4, 5, and 6,

and says, all right, since Christ has done this in your life,

here's how you are to live.

And we are in the first part of those instructions

for how the believers are to live together as a community.

I remind you again that the tone or the individual

that this passage is actually written to

is not private individuals, but it's the body of Christ together.

And the starting place that the apostle has

in these lessons for how believers are supposed to live

is the matter of unity.

Not just kind of acquiescing to one another

and kind of getting along in a kind of Rodney King type of mindset,

but really that genuine unity that comes about

from all of us being under the same headship,

namely under Christ.

And in our lesson so far,

we've understood that he gives to us spiritual gifts.

We understood last week that he gives to you spiritual servants.

He gives to you gifted servants who are there

for the sake of the body and for its effectiveness

as Christ's instrument.

Now, what we are looking at today in verse 12 and 13

is really a clear statement of what a pastor's job is to be.

And so let's open the text and follow along

as we understand that, first of all,

pastors are called to equip the saints.

The text announced that a pastor teacher

is responsible for an equipping business.

And given the importance of having a clear understanding of the word,

this morning what I'm going to do here at the outset

is I'm going to explain two particular words

so that you are well informed.

And I want you to know that one of the benchmarks

or the standards against which my ministry is to be judged

is whether, first of all,

I speak the word of God with accuracy

depending on what God has revealed

rather than my own personal ideas and interests.

And secondly, that I speak it with clarity

and help you understand exactly what it is that God says.

I'm reminded of the fact that God intends

for His people to understand the word.

I think that's a very, very important thing to have in mind.

God intends for you to understand the word.

It's vital to you.

I think about the passage over in Deuteronomy chapter 30,

Deuteronomy 30:11–14

verse 11 through 14,

and just kind of fix that in your mind just for a moment

where Moses, towards the end of his ministry,

he says this about the word.

He says, the word is not far from you.

Do you know what he means by that?

He said, hey, you can get your hands around it.

It's there for you.

How many of you have had to deal with information

that was really pretty fuzzy for you?

It's like, I don't get this.

I don't understand this.

You have to work real, real hard

and it still kind of confuses you.

When it comes to electrical schematics,

Pastor Saul was a physicist

and he worked in physics and blah, blah, blah.

And when we have electrical issues here at the church,

we say, well, here, Pastor Saul, do this.

And he's good with that.

If it comes down to plumbing or carpentry,

we call me out of the reserves.

You know, okay, go.

Water just runs downhill.

Do you follow that?

And it's not so complicated.

But sometimes we deal with things we don't understand

and that's not the way the Word of God is to be viewed.

He wants us to understand it

and my job, among other things,

is to make it understandable.

God intends for his people to read the Bible

and understand what it is saying.

I want you to have that fixed in your mind.

He intends for you to be a people who know the Word.

And part of my job is to encourage, encourage, encourage, encourage,

keep on bumping you to make the Word significant

and supreme and valuable,

not just because it's the Word,

but because it reveals to you the glory of Christ

and the person of Christ

and the reality and nature of God.

Do you follow me?

How is it that we grow in loving Christ?

It will not happen if you sit in a dark corner and go,

mmm, it's not going to happen.

You are going to grow to love Christ

by learning what the Scriptures tell you about Christ.

It's the reason I would encourage you,

if you're, boy, I don't love him like I should,

I would encourage you to begin reading

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,

Matthew, Mark, why would I do that?

You can't love somebody you don't know.

Do you follow that?

Read the Gospels.

Read the Gospels.

Read the Gospels.

Go to the book of Hebrews.

Read Hebrews.

Read the book of Revelation.

Are they easy books?

The answer is no.

But they will be books that will enrich your affection

for the Lord Jesus Christ

and give you legs on which to stand

when you work at loving him.

I want you to recognize that understanding

and applying the Bible is really one of the principal means

whereby we gain blessing from God.

And so as we are studying this morning,

we are going to see things that God intends for his body

to understand about the role and the responsibility of a pastor.

And understanding that is really part of where the blessing comes

from that man that God assigns to you to serve in that capacity.

I want to say something here in relationship to this matter of understanding.

An uninformed believer is at a greater disadvantage than an illiterate citizen.

An uninformed believer is at a greater disadvantage than an illiterate citizen.

Now why would I say that?

We value literacy.

And that's a good thing.

And having a literate congregation or having a literate nation

or a literate community is important

because being able to read and comprehend what is in print

is a very, very valuable resource in the lives of individuals.

But let me say it again.

An ill-informed believer is at a greater disadvantage

than an illiterate citizen.

And the reason is, is because economic and intellectual hardship is one thing.

Spiritual darkness and hardship is of a whole more significant nature.

Now we're looking here at the issue of the responsibility of a pastor teacher

and you mark there in verse 12, it says,

to equip the saints.

The Greek word that Paul chose carries the idea of preparing someone

and putting things in order so that the person is fully prepared to do their work.

It's not enough for a pastor just to kind of back the dump truck of truth up

on the platform and pull the lever and let it all go.

I have had two of my sons go into the military

and neither I did not do it,

but I will tell you that they both explained to me the experience

of arriving at basic and having the process take place

of turning them in from being just a yahoo

to being actually part of the armed services.

And it begins with little things like getting down to your skivvies,

getting your head shaved, and then having people dump a whole bunch of stuff

on your arms and out you walk.

And you have everything you need in that pile.

Now what follows is they teach you all about all the things you have in your hands.

And so equipping is not just shoving all that equipment out in a pile

and saying, well, there it is, do what you want.

It is, this is your business and you are going to learn how to use all this stuff.

I want you to understand that thankfully a pastor is not called to invent equipment

or the training process.

The things that equip the saints are the Word of God.

I want you to turn back.

You're in Ephesians there.

Actually turn forward just a little bit,

but go to 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 and 17.

2 Timothy 3:16

2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 and 17.

2 Timothy 3:16

In relationship to what equips the believer,

here's what it says in verse 16 and 17.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable

for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.

Hey, listen.

The Bible is your source book.

It's your resource book.

It's what you need.

It's the absolutely go-to document to help you with every aspect of life.

And verse 17, that the man of God, you can put woman in there as well,

may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Listen to me.

The Bible's got the answers.

And my job is to help you understand that,

to remind you of it, to encourage you,

to do everything within my power to encourage you to be a people

whose first thought is,

what does the Bible think?

Now, stop and realize that in our contemporary culture,

when we have a question,

what is the simplest place to go to get information on it?

Say it loud.

Google.

Google.

I mean, hey, how many of you have said to somebody,

Google it?

How many of you have done that?

Google it.

You know what?

Google cannot answer spiritual questions.

And here's what it says in that passage in 2 Timothy 3, verse 17.

2 Timothy 3:17

It says that the man of God, you who know Christ,

may be completely equipped that you have everything you need

for handling the challenges of life.

It's in the Bible.

The pastor is called to do more than just lecture, however.

He is called to love the Word.

He is called to know the Word.

And he's called to model the Word.

And I rely upon that sequence of loving the Word

and knowing the Word on the basis of what it says

in Deuteronomy 6 when it encourages fathers

in their responsibility of being the minister

and shepherd of their home.

You know what it says?

Love the Lord.

Love the Lord.

That's the starting point.

And let these words that I say to you be in your heart

and then teach them.

I want you to recognize that a pastor is called

to love the Word.

He is called to model the Word.

And those things go together and make for a difference in ministry.

Listen to what Paul had to say to his son in the faith, Timothy,

who was serving as a pastor in a congregation there at Ephesus.

You're in 2 Timothy.

Just go back a little bit to 1 Timothy 4, verse 12.

1 Timothy 4:12

Let no one despise you for your youth,

but set the believers an example in speech,

in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

You know what Paul's saying?

He's saying, Timothy, I want you to understand

that one of the essential elements in your ministry

is that you are an example of what you preach.

And that's true.

Pastoral ministry is different in some senses

from many other different kinds of professions.

You may be an excellent surgeon

and an absolute wretch in your moral life.

Do you understand that?

You may be a great carpenter,

and you may be an absolute failure

in your spiritual walk.

You may be the most wonderful mathematician

or scientist or lawyer,

and you win every case,

but the truth of the matter is

is your profession and your practice

may not necessarily be linked together

and require that what you say

and what you do match.

That is not the case in pastoral ministry.

I'll never forget early on in ministry

when Dr. David Moore said to me,

Tim, he said,

character is the only coin you have.

Very interesting statement,

and I thought about that a long time

because at that moment in my life,

I wasn't thinking about coins.

So I had to kind of squeeze the poetry out of it,

and what he was saying is this,

is that your character is at the heart of what you do.

And here is Paul making this statement.

He says,

let no man despise your youth,

but set the believers an example.

In other words,

you are a living illustration of what you preach.

1 Timothy 4, verse 16,

1 Timothy 4:16

there follows on that same frame.

He says,

but if you're going to take care of your exampleship,

keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.

Persist in this,

for in doing so,

you will save both yourself and your hearers.

What's he saying?

Hey, listen.

At the heart of pastoral ministry is,

first of all,

you take care of your own walk before the Lord.

You take care of your own walk before the Lord.

Many, many years ago,

and I don't know exactly why,

but I made a commitment that I would not have devotions

in the same passage that I was going to study

in that week or the week to follow

or the week after that.

I have always had devotions in a portion of the Scripture

that has not been directly related

to what I plan to preach at the moment.

Now, having said that,

one of the things that I,

a number of years ago,

began doing is in preparation for a book

that I had settled in my heart

that I was going to read

or I was going to preach.

I would begin reading that book,

sometimes daily,

the book of Ephesians.

I read pretty much every day

for about five, six months.

But as I was reading it,

I was reading it to understand Ephesians

and its application to me.

I was not reading it for the sake of preaching,

and I did not make notes

for the sake of preaching.

Right now, I'm in the process.

I'm in my seventh month.

I'm almost finished with my seventh month

of reading through the book of John.

Does that tell you

where we're going eventually?

We're going to the book of John, okay?

And I got to tell you,

there are times when I am reading

the book of John,

and I think I can't wait.

But I do it like Ephesians.

Here's the deal.

If the Word of God

is not making a difference in my life,

it won't make much difference in yours.

And I have to preach

with an affection and a passion.

That comes from having time in the Word

and understanding its value.

So to understand what the word equip means,

let's put it this way.

The pastor teacher is called

to use the Word of God

to first shape his own life

and then teach it to fellow believers

so they can do their divine work.

Appropriate ministry with the Word

is first of all,

letting it affect you

and then secondly,

having it affect other people.

And that's important.

Now let's talk secondly

about another word

that appears in the passage.

And so go back,

if you would,

to the book of Ephesians.

We were there in the Timothy.

So let's go back

to Ephesians chapter 4

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

and look there.

If you would,

at verse 11,

it says,

or 12,

it says,

to equip who?

Who are we equipping?

Saints.

Okay.

Well, let's explain

how the Bible uses this word.

And so as I think about this,

let me introduce several saints to you.

I don't know that you actually realize

that they're here this morning,

but I'm absolutely certain

that we have saints

in our midst this morning, okay?

Isaac Malumba,

would you stand

just for a moment, please?

This young man

is Saint Isaac Malumba.

Sit down, please.

Mrs. Cassandra Bach,

would you stand, please?

I'm sorry to embarrass you, sister.

This is a saint

in our fellowship.

Have a seat.

I'm not going to ask

the next one to stand

because once you reach 90,

you're okay.

You don't have to stand.

Okay.

But my mother is 91.

She is a saint.

This is Saint Marlia.

We have Saint Isaac.

We have Saint Cassandra.

Isaac and Cassandra

came to know the Lord

this last year, right?

In this year.

And they are saints.

You know,

when we think about saints,

we have a tendency

to think about people that,

I mean, you know,

they do the heavy lifting

for us all spiritually, right?

The truth of the matter is,

let me explain this,

and I don't mean to embarrass

Isaac or Cassandra,

my mother,

if she'll tell me later,

don't do that to me again.

But here's the deal.

Let's explain what the word means.

The Bible uses the word saint

really to mean

one who's set apart,

one who is holy

by virtue of what Christ

has done for him.

And it points to the fact

that someone who has come

to faith in Christ

is a person who's been

set apart by grace.

It would seem

that one of the reasons

Paul and other writers

in the New Testament

chose to use the word saint

when they were talking

about believers

was to remind

those who were

believers,

Christians,

that they had this

wonderful relationship

by virtue of what Christ

had done for them.

And the truth of the matter

is,

is that we are all equally,

once we've come to know Christ,

we are all equally saints

before the Lord Jesus.

Jesus,

if we limit ourselves

to the logic of the Bible.

Now,

why would I say

if we limit ourselves

to the logic of the Bible?

What is the safety

of limiting yourself

to the logic of the Bible?

Does anybody have,

don't have to raise your hand

and say,

I know,

I know,

but what is the safety

of limiting ourselves

to the logic of the Bible?

That's the question.

Here's the answer.

The logic of the Bible

is absolutely reliable.

The logic of Tim Kenoyer,

or for that matter,

any one of our deacons,

or Pastor Saul,

is marked

and is affected

by the noetic effect

of the fall.

What's that noetic word mean?

It just means

that our knowledge

got messed up in the fall.

How many of you realize that?

How many of you,

while you were debating

doing a sin,

thought it was

a pretty smart idea?

Raise your hand.

Come on.

Every one of you.

Every one of you

have at one point or another

thought that the sin

you were thinking about committing,

whether it was getting snarky

with someone

who had been unkind to you,

right?

They had it coming.

Or honking your horn

at somebody

that wasn't moving fast enough.

They need to be divinely prodded.

You know,

there are all kinds of excuses

that we have.

When we're thinking about the sin,

we think it's pretty smart.

And then the Spirit of God

comes along

and taps us on the shoulder

and uses a little Bible verse

and says something such

as the fact that,

you know,

the wrath of man

does not work the right...

Oh, yeah.

Sorry.

My mind,

on its own,

does not do well

with reality

scripturally.

The Spirit of God

uses the Word of God

and keeps me in companionship

with godly people

and helps me

do a better job of it.

Now,

here we are.

We want to be a people

who are informed

by the Scriptures.

And so,

when we look at the Bible,

we see that the term saint

refers to everyone

who has come to genuine faith

in Christ.

And so,

what you are thinking

right now

where you're sitting

is this.

Here it is.

You don't need to say it out loud,

but I hope you're thinking

this thought.

Prove it to me.

Is that what you're thinking?

Pastor,

can you prove that?

Well,

yes,

I can.

Here we go.

We're going to look

at a couple different places

where in the Bible

it refers to people as saints.

And it's not talking about

people who have

kind of arrived,

but it's talking about

usans,

you and me.

Go to your Bible.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 1,

1 Corinthians 1:2

verse 2.

We're dealing with the reality

that in the Scriptures

every believer

who has come to faith

is addressed

by the title saint.

1 Corinthians 1,

1 Corinthians 1:2

verse 2.

To the church of God

that is in Corinth

to all those

sanctified in Christ,

Jesus called to be saints

together with all those

who in every place

call upon the name

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

both their Lord

and ours.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians

or 2 Corinthians 1,

2 Corinthians 1:1

verse 1.

And by the way,

what kind of church

was Corinth?

Of all the churches

in the New Testament,

it was the one

that was filled

with the nicest people,

the people who had

the least problem

with sin.

No, no, no, no, no.

That's not true.

Okay.

First, 2 Corinthians 1,

2 Corinthians 1:2

verse 2.

To the church of God

that is at Corinth

with all the saints

who are in the whole

of Achaia.

Now, I could just

rattle on,

have you go to

Ephesians 1,

to Philippians 1,

to Colossians 1,

and what you will

recognize is that

the church commonly

was referred to

by the title saint.

The saints.

The saints.

So, here we are

with the saints

in Maranatha Baptist Church

and you're thinking

to yourself,

well, there are

some people here

who are not very saintly

and I'm sure

you're referencing yourself,

not other people.

I do want you

to understand

that when the Bible

refers to us

as saints,

it is not talking

about us

as having reached

a certain plateau

of spirituality

and having extra

lifting power

so we could be of help

to other people.

It's just talking

about the fact

that we are those

who've come to Christ.

Now, are there saints

in heaven?

The answer is yes,

but they're in heaven

by virtue of having

been saved

through the grace of God

and then death

taking them

to that place.

Saints are not people

who have a special section

in the church.

or have extra ability

to pray.

People come and say,

Pastor, would you pray

for me?

I want you to know

I'm happy to pray for you,

but I do want you

to know this.

My prayer doesn't count

any more in God's eyes

than your prayer does.

Why is that?

We are equally saved

by the grace of God

and we have the same

privilege of access

into His presence.

So I want you

to understand

that a saint

just refers to

an individual

who's a believer.

Probably one other argument

that we would undeniably

have to admit

helps us understand

that saints are just

people like us

is that Paul writes here

in chapter 4, verse 12

to equip the saints.

If saints have arrived

spiritually,

do you need to do

any further education

and equipping?

What's the answer?

You wouldn't have to

if they'd already been there

and done that.

Secondly,

I want you to understand

that saints are called

to do the work

of ministry

to mature

and manifest Christ.

The Bible makes it clear

that the primary duty

of the pastor teacher

is to equip

the saints.

But why?

Here's the key.

Because the saints

are to be equipped

so they are effective

in doing the work

of ministry.

ministry.

Those who have known me

for a long time

have heard me say

on many occasions

that my job

is to help you

do your job.

That's it.

My job is to help

you do your job.

To encourage you

to do your job.

To explain how

that your job

should be done,

etc.

And at the heart

of what the expectation

of Scripture is

is that those

who are called

to be pastor teachers

are actively engaged

in preparing,

encouraging,

education,

educating,

and leading people

towards doing the things

that they've been called

by God to do.

There is no indication

in Scripture

that God ever intended

for ministry

or more specifically

the responsibility

of ministry

to be done

by a select few.

The work of ministry

is to be done

by all the members

of the body of Christ.

And to this end,

each member

has been given

spiritual gifts

and it is towards

this end

that the pastor teacher

is actively engaged

in equipping,

encouraging,

strengthening them

so they'll be active

in doing the things

that they've been called

to do.

The members of his body

are to be at work

and we're looking

at the passage

in Ephesians 4,

Ephesians 4:12

verse 12.

It says here,

Ephesians 4,

to equip the saints

for the work of ministry

for building up

the body of Christ.

Now verse 13 then

gives a little more

explanation of what

it means to build up

the body

and I'm going to press

that together for you

and have you recognize.

Number one,

building up the body

means coming

to the unity of faith.

Coming to the unity

of faith.

Shepherding aims

at unity that comes

from understanding

and holding common

truths of the Scripture.

The divisions of the church

at Corinth

were the result

of people

that did not hold

to the same truths.

When you find people

that are of radically

different perspectives

on truth,

guess what happens?

Invariably,

some of you sitting out here

might be conservative

in your political theology

and you work with people

who are right next to you

who are liberal

in their perspective

and what happens

when you try

to have conversations?

Goes pretty well,

doesn't it?

You talk to them

about your fiscal frugality

and how you think

that, you know,

blah, blah, blah

and what happens?

It devolves

into a spitting match

at best.

Why is that?

Because there is

no unity of faith.

There's no core

that the two of you

hold to together.

And so Paul explains,

he says,

listen,

the responsibility

of the pastor-teacher

is to build up the body

and the way that happens

is bringing about unity

of faith

and when it says faith,

it's just not talking about,

well,

having some kind of abstract,

I got faith.

It's talking about the faith,

the truth,

the truth.

And so it's no accident

that on Sunday evenings

we are committed

to doctrinal teaching

of some of the essential truths

of the Scripture

and the reason we're doing that

is we want unity

in our fellowship

and strength

that comes about

from having that cohesive relationship

one with another

around common truth.

Secondly,

we find there in the passage

it says also

coming to the knowledge

of the Son of God.

The word for knowledge

that Paul uses here

is a word that refers

to a deep and accurate

understanding of something

and in essence

it means this,

having an intimate relationship

with Christ.

It's not enough

just to know the facts

about Jesus.

Now I'll say that carefully.

It is not enough

to just know the facts

about Jesus.

Why is that?

Well,

you want a Bible answer

don't you?

Say yes.

Yes.

You always want a Bible answer.

What does it say

in the book of James?

It says you believe

there is one God

you do well

the demons what?

The demons believe.

Has that done them any good

and what's the answer?

Knowing the facts

is not what this is talking about.

It is talking about

knowing the truth

but then having that truth

boil out into a personal

genuine relationship

that's marked by affection

and by an attachment.

Shepherds aim at heart

affection for Christ

and a desire to please Him.

Let me say that again slowly.

Shepherds aim at heart

affection for Christ

and a desire to please Him.

Oh, my prayer is that

God would deliver people

from the hollowness

of an intellectual comprehension

of Christ

that is absolutely

devoid of affection.

That's important.

Now, are there days

where our affections

are a little dampened

by circumstances?

Yes.

But, beloved,

listen to me carefully

and I want you to think

with me about this.

If there is in your life

a persistent

lack

of affection

for Christ,

there's something

wrong.

Why would I say that?

John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

Don't go there

but remember Jesus,

one of the last things

that He said,

He pulled Peter aside.

Remember Peter was the guy

who really messed up

and denied him three times, right?

And so, Jesus pulls him aside

and He says,

Hey, Peter,

do you what?

Do you love me?

Yeah.

You know that I love you.

Well, then feed my sheep.

Do you love me?

You know all things.

Feed my sheep.

See, very interesting,

at the heart,

at the foundation,

at the base

of what Paul

was calling Peter to do

was his heart's affection

for Christ.

over in Revelation,

as the Lord Jesus

wrote to one of the churches,

He says this,

I have something against you

because you have lost

your first love.

And so,

shepherding aims

at heart affection

for Christ

and a desire

to please Him.

Finally,

shepherding aims

at growing mature

and Christ-like believers.

You look there

in verse 13,

it says,

the knowledge

of the Son of God

to mature manhood

to the measure

of the stature

of the fullness

of Christ.

Behind the work

of any pastor

who is faithful

is an unrelenting

dependence

upon three agents

to do their work

in the life

of a believer.

And let me just

rattle these off.

One is the power

of the Word of God.

Pastor Saul

referenced it this morning

when he referred

to the passage

in 2 Corinthians 3,

2 Corinthians 3:18

verse 18,

where it said this,

we, beholding

His glory,

are transformed

from glory to glory.

Do you know

what it's saying?

It's saying that

the more we know

about Jesus,

the more we become

like Him.

And that's at the heart

of pastoral ministry.

I want you to know

more about Jesus.

I want you to love Him more.

I can't make that happen,

but I can encourage you.

I can model it.

I can draw you

to the Word of God

and say, listen,

He who has saved you

is worthy

of your infinite affection,

and someday

when you're in heaven,

you are just going

to be beyond yourself

with delight

and satisfaction

seeing Him.

And here in this life,

you should be growing

in your interest

in the person of Christ.

Secondly,

the power of the Spirit of God.

Three agents

that help you

in this growth process.

One's the power

of the Word of God.

Second is the power

of the Spirit of God.

2 Corinthians 3,

2 Corinthians 3:18

verse 18,

again,

the very last part

of the verse,

says,

talking about the fact

that it's the Lord,

the Spirit of God

that does this work in you.

And one of the ways

that you engage

and involve

the Spirit of God

is by pleading with Him

to do it.

And so if you're sitting

here this morning

and the truth of the matter

is your heart

is cold towards Christ,

what I would ask you

to do is suck it up

and say,

hey, listen,

I'm a mess,

do something.

I think sometimes

we're afraid to do that.

I've been debating

why that is.

And I'm not fully convinced

that the reason

we're afraid to do it

is because we're afraid

of what He will do.

That's not it.

I think we're afraid

that we'll come off

the little throne

we have established

for ourselves.

At the heart

of our hesitancy

is self-idolatry.

Lord,

I don't want to pray

and ask you

to do whatever it takes.

By the way,

would He ever do anything

nasty and wicked

and harsh to you?

And what's the answer?

He can't do it

because He's God.

Every stroke

from His hand

is marked

by His love.

And I would ask you,

plead with Him,

man,

I want to know

who Jesus is.

I want to be changed

by that knowledge.

The third agent

that God uses

is the people of God.

The people of God.

Acts chapter 4,

Acts 4:32

verse 32.

The people of God.

Hey,

you want to be a floater?

Do you know what I mean

by a floater?

This morning,

after the morning service,

I'm going to talk

to Tim and Julia.

I am embarrassing you,

Tim,

ahead of time,

so where are you?

Raise your hand.

Wave at me.

Tim and Julia

are going to get married

sometime in the distant future.

It's actually around February,

am I right?

And one of the things

I'm going to say

to this lovely young couple

and Tim is on my bad side

because he moved away

to get a job.

I don't understand this

but I'm glad.

I love you anyway.

But one of the things

I'm going to say

to Tim and Julia

is that next to

the relationship

with the Lord Jesus Christ,

marriage can be

the most wonderful experience

this side of glory.

but it takes work.

It takes work.

It takes work.

You have to pursue

relationship

with the other person.

You have to be willing

to humble yourself.

You have to be willing

to invest in that process

over and over

and over again.

And so my plea

with you this morning

would be this,

that as you think about

what a pastor is to do,

you understand

that my divine appointment,

it is not something

that I arbitrarily chose.

It is not a career path.

Tim Knoyer

and anybody

that ever occupies

this pulpit

better be able to say

I was called

by God

to serve

as a shepherd.

And my calling

is to equip you

to do the work

that Christ

has called you to.

Let's close in prayer.

Precious Father,

we are thankful

that you

in your glorious wisdom

have given to us

the Lord Jesus Christ.

And in your wisdom

you have drawn us together

and you have fit us

in to being

the body of Christ.

And you intend

for the body

to work

for the glory

of Christ.

There are some of us

here this morning,

Lord,

who have allowed

the enemy

of our souls

to rob us

of the joy

and the significance

that comes

from being engaged

in that work.

And for those,

I would plead this morning

that you would bring them

to repentance,

repentance,

to restitution

and reconciliation

that they would know

the full sweetness

that comes

with actively

and being involved

in the bride

of Christ.

And I have no doubt

that there are some

here today,

Christ,

that do not know you

as their Savior.

And it would be my plea

that this morning,

even with the preaching

of the Word of God,

that their heart

would be burdened

and miserable

with the sin

of their soul

and they would understand

that there is nothing

they can do

to remedy that burden

except to cry out

in broken humility

and say,

I stand morally bankrupt

before a holy God

and I have no hope

of an eternal destiny

in heaven

apart from what Christ did

when He died on the cross

and I plead with you

to save me.

And we pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.