12/29 Fundamental Thoughts-Sermons

The Pastor

1 Peter 5:1-4  The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:  (2)  Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;  (3)  Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.  (4)  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Introduction:  If we could and we cannot, but if we could interview all of Peter’s competitors, and ask them “Do you feel or think Peter will ever become a religious leader, a man of God or a pastor/preacher?”  What kind of an answer do you suppose you would get?  I would imagine they all would say NO.

              If we could go back and interview those people, those I called friends prior to my 45 birthday, and asked the same question.  Outside of mostly NO you would find several belly laughs and snickers, but I would be honestly surprised if you found one yes.

              Awhile back we were in Palestine, Texas, and I was thumbing through the phone book, looking up names of people we knew.  I found, that except for a few people we worked with, our acquaintances were all from Calvary Baptist Church.  Before we got saved, we didn’t have any friends, only people we worked with, our family visited, that was our sum total, we were loners, until Jesus got our hearts.  And it was good to go back to our home church and visit friends.  We have expanded our family here at Fundamental Baptist and it is great to be back home where Sharil and I belong.

              This is also true here at Fundamental, we are knit for the duration God has given us, as family and friends.

              Andrew, Peter’s brother, sought Peter and led him to the Lord, physically and spiritually.  God uses those who are willing, sometimes they do not meet our concept.  Yet, God sees their heart, as He saw Peter’s and the chiefest of sinners Paul.

              In these few verses, Peter is addressing the elders.  We could imagine a fellowship of preachers, where Peter had been addressing the congregation, the brethren, now he has switched to ones who really need a good preaching.  (We find in our Bible the words the pastor, the elder the bishop and the shepherd.  These words are essentially synonymous defining the under shepherd, the leader of the God given flock.  There is only one other office for the church and that is Deacon.  The Deacon is elected to serve the Lord by serving the Pastor, not controlling or leading, but serving the Pastor.

I.            THE MANNER OF THE PASTOR

              A.           Feed The Flock

                             1.           This is NOT the Pastor’s flock

                             2.           It is God’s flock

                                           i.            It is His sheep

                                           ii.           They are His lambs

3.               This feeding

i.                Is Spiritual

ii.               Not physical

              B.           The Pastor Is The Under-Shepherd

                             1.           The Pastor must

                                           i.            Walk the walk

                                           ii.           Talk the talk

                             2.           It is never

                                           i.            Do as I say, not as I do

                             3.           The Pastor is under authority of God

                                           i.            He must pray

                                           ii.           He must study God’s Word

iii.             He must yield to God’s authority

a.               Jesus the Christ

(Proverbs 27:23)  Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

iv.             He must be diligent

              a.           Focused on his given                                     mission

                                           v.           Be concerned for the sheep

                                                          a.           Know their state

                             4.           All this and more is a God given assignment

II.           THE MOTIVE OF A PASTOR

A.              A Willing Yielded Acceptance

1.               The key is willing

2.               Yet being yielded to God must also be there

3.               It should never be for:

              i.            Pay

              ii.           Someone said you would make a                                good Pastor

ii.               Forces other than The Holy Spirit

              B.           The Pastorate Is An Heart Thing

                             1.           The call is from God

                                           i.            No other source

(1 Corinthians 9:16)  For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!

                             2.           The “…necessity…” is lad upon me

                             3.           The compassion to lead

                             4.           The compassion to do God’s will

             

Conclusion:         A person who steps up to the pastorate, with the motive of money, fame, fortune, has it all wrong.

              A Pastor preaches because God has called him.

One of my problems when I first talked to Bro Huntress, was he was telling me the pay package.  I didn’t really want to hear that, it was tempting me.  My prayer time in the ensuing days, was just that, God I want to go where you want me, stay here and continue not getting paid, or somewhere else.

              God through prayer showed me that by considering coming in view of a call, that if I were called I would be focusing (being diligent) about the church.  Whereas, while I Pastored in Arkansas, my focus was finding part time work to pay the bills, instead of the church.  The church was becoming secondary in my focus.