09-20-26 Study of Acts Chapter 20:25-28 A Charge to The NT Church Leaders Part 1

➡ This Bible study focuses on the importance of leadership in the church, business, and personal life, drawing lessons from the book of Acts and other scriptures. It emphasizes that good leadership can enhance or destroy institutions, and that it’s crucial in every aspect of life. The study also highlights that God values effective leadership and holds leaders accountable for their actions. Lastly, it encourages self-assessment and personal growth in leadership, stating that success in life comes from leading effectively.
➡ The text emphasizes the importance of leadership, particularly in the context of the church. It suggests that we often mirror the behaviors of our parents, and to overcome this, we must accept God’s guidance. The text also highlights the responsibility of leaders, stating that good leaders are rewarded, while poor leaders face judgment. It underscores the need for leaders to be appointed and trained properly, and the importance of following biblical patterns in leadership.
➡ The text discusses the concept of leadership in the New Testament, using the story of James, John, and their mother asking Jesus for special positions in his kingdom. It emphasizes that true leadership is not about power, control, or dictatorship, but about service and setting an example for others. The text also highlights the importance of consistency between words and actions in leadership, and the need for leaders to be servants, just like Jesus was. It concludes by stressing the importance of teaching leadership to the younger generation to prepare them for future challenges.
➡ Paul explains the four dimensions of ministry: serving God, teaching the church, evangelizing the lost, and sacrificing oneself. He emphasizes the importance of fulfilling these responsibilities faithfully, warning that failure to do so can lead to chastisement. Paul also highlights the equal importance of pastors, elders, bishops, and teachers in the church, dismissing any hierarchy among them. He concludes by urging leaders to take their responsibilities seriously, especially in teaching the church.
➡ The text emphasizes the importance of personal growth and holiness in leadership, particularly in religious contexts. It suggests that true leadership begins with self-improvement and a strong relationship with God. The text also warns against focusing on worldly qualifications like wealth or appearance, and instead encourages leaders to be blameless, moderate, and spiritually focused. It concludes by stating that a lack of personal holiness can lead to a loss of effectiveness in leadership.
➡ The text discusses the spiritual qualifications needed for church leadership, emphasizing the importance of blamelessness and personal spiritual growth. It suggests that leaders should be deeply committed to their own spiritual journey before guiding others. The text also highlights the need for leaders to be loving, faithful, and not given to negative behaviors. Lastly, it underscores the importance of unity within the church, likening it to a flock under one shepherd.
➡ God has divided his one large flock into smaller local groups, each cared for by chosen shepherds. These shepherds have two main duties: to lead and to feed their flock, guiding them and teaching them about God’s word. This responsibility is not to be taken lightly, as they will answer to God for their actions. The church belongs to God, and the shepherds are merely stewards, caring for what has been entrusted to them.
➡ This text emphasizes the importance of treating the church and each other with respect and care, as God paid a high price for us through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. It highlights the need for purity and holiness in the church, and the responsibility of leaders to guide their flock towards righteousness. The text also stresses that we are accountable for our actions and should strive to live our lives in a way that honors God’s sacrifice. Lastly, it ends with a prayer of gratitude for God’s teachings and blessings, and a plea for guidance and healing.

Well, good morning. This is our Sunday morning Bible study. We’re into the book of Acts. We’re tragic. Our way through chapter 20 acts is the first 30, 40 years of the early church. And the rest of the time period in history is taken care of in Revelations chapters two and three that we’ve already studied. And we’re looking at just looked at Paul’s view of his ministry and we’re going to shift from the looking at the ministry to look what the New Testament church leadership ought to look like. And. In doing so, this will again apply to your own self assessment.

The one thing that I can say in teaching at college universities on business and business leadership and management and strategic studies and so forth and so on, is everything that’s written in the textbook about how you should do leadership, managing a people, leading by example, so forth and so on comes directly out of biblical scripture. So as we talk this morning about leadership church leaders, we’re actually talking about business leaders, household leadership really doesn’t, it really doesn’t have a change in no matter whatever area of life you’re, you’re in at this point. So we’re going to look at chapter 20, verses 25 to 28 as a unit itself and we’re going to take it in several parts, as we always do.

But we’re going to look at this from the basics or the priorities of the leadership in the church. Now there’s, there’s all kinds of educational programs out there that you can get your hands on, you can attend, and a lot of people pay anywhere from 2,000 upwards to 3,000, not including transportation and meals, just to be trained in this area called leadership. They’re always looking at something new. They’re always wanting to know what your gimmick is and they always want to know how you applied it and how successful you were at it. And I can say from being in that position of attending in my early years of, of corporate life to actually teaching, the one thing that I can tell you that’s truly important about all this, it’s not all the same as I have taught to parents associated.

You know, God gave us children without an operating manual. Well, he gave us people without an operating manual as well. And every condition of life is completely independent of the other. And every individual that you come in contact with, while you might see similarities in their life based upon the historical representation of what’s happened in your life, they’re all different. And so there’s a tremendous emphasis on leadership because anybody in any kind of business operation or Any kind of commercial enterprise or kind of organizational or institutions know that there’s a great price to be paid for leadership.

Disorganization is loss of profit. Disorganization is frustration. Disorganization provides complete chaos. So everything about leadership, it is about its ability to enhance or destroy institutions. Good leadership makes them thrive. Well, that ought to be something that you add to yourself. Good leadership of your own life determines whether you are a slave living in poverty or you’re are you prosperous living in righteousness? So God is no less, but more concerned about leadership and all of God’s kingdom. Leadership is very, very important. We see this even with the angels. They’re organized. There’s principality angels, there are angels called powers, there are ruler angels, there are archangels.

God knows that there must be authority and submission in everything. And so there is leadership even in the angelic world. And as we look at the Old Testament, you’re going to find that there are many things in the Old Testament that indicate to us the importance of leadership. We could talk about great Old Testament leaders such as Moses or Samuel or David and many, many others. Leadership is a great commodity. And God has always ministered his kingdom through key leaders. Remember, God does not do this on his own. He works through man. And he looks to man in leadership positions or leadership orientations so that he knows that when he puts them in charge, they’re going to be successful.

In the Old Testament, because of the importance of leadership, God takes a very strong view of of inadequate or ineffective leadership. In chapter four of Hosea, in verse nine, God is not only commenting on the sins of Israel, but on the sins of Israel’s leaders. And he says this like people, like priests. In other words, God says, I can’t expect anything out of the people that I’m not getting out of the leaders. Your organization is your failing or your household is failing. You need to look in the mirror. Whatever the leaders are, the people will be like people, like priests.

And as I In Isaiah chapter 9, verses 14 to 16, we find some more indication of God’s attitude towards leadership. It talks about in verse 14. Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel’s head and tail branch and rush in one day God’s going to just devastate Israel. The ancient and honorable. He is the head, the prophet who teaches. He is the tail. In other words, God’s going to knock off all the leaders for the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they are led, of them are destroyed. So God says he’s going to punish the leaders because they have rendered the people sinful by a failure to lead them into holy patterns.

Think of you as parents. What are you doing with your children and your grandchildren? No different than running a business. You think that you are are doing good by catering to your children and ways to produce them in society today is entitlement holders. That’s what we did. We’re going to be held accountable for that because that’s not God’s way. In Jeremiah 5:31, Jeremiah speaks to the same issue. The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love it so. In other words, the people are so loving the inadequate leadership they’re getting.

Why? Because you get your way. In Ezekiel. Again, another portion of interest to us in looking at God’s view of leadership and the important place at play. Ezekiel 22, verse 26. Her priests have violated my law, have profaned my holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and profane. Neither have they shown difference between the unclean and the clean. They have hidden their eyes from my sabbath, and I am profound profaned among them. Her prayers or princess I have. I her midst are like wolves ravening to prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

Our prophets have dabbed them with untempered martyr, seeing vanity in divining lies unto them, saying, thus saith the Lord, when the Lord hath not said as. As a result, the people have used oppression, exercised robbery, vexed the poor and needy, and so forth and so on. And so he indicts the priests, the princess, the prophets for failure to lead as he would have. Well, add yourself to the list. In Matthew 15:14, Jesus made a comment about leaders. He looked at the leaders of Israel and he said this. They are blind leaders of the blind. Where we heard that, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Jesus said people will follow their leaders. Therefore God puts a premium on leadership. God sets the standard high for adequate leadership. And if God set it high, so did Paul, because Paul was a godly man. Well, here’s where your self assessment comes into play. You get nowhere in life unless you lead. It doesn’t matter what you do. It doesn’t matter who you’re affiliated with, what your name is, what bloodline you come from. You’re gonna. You’re only gonna get that which you give and that which you lead. Paul is closing out his ministry journey here. This is the third of his discipleship tours.

In Acts 20, remember, he has stopped because the ship has stopped at Malta on its way to Jerusalem, and he is hurrying to Jerusalem to get there for Pentecost, he. And also to take an offering which he had collected for the poor saints there. And as he stopped in Malta for a couple of days, because the ship stopped there. And while he has the opportunity, he sends about 30 miles away to the city of Ephesus, if you remember, and asked the elders or the pastors of the Ephesian congregation to come to Malta that he may spend a little time with them concerning some final words.

It seems strange to realize that Paul spent three years there and he must have told them at least one point or two points, or maybe even 500 points the same thing that he tells them here. But the reason he grabs this opportunity is because he’s so burdened by the absolute necessity of adequate leadership. When I look back over my, my adolescent years growing up and, and figured out in later in life why I got so angry, I set a course to make changes in my life to ensure that my children didn’t go through the same thing without understanding that at the root of all of this is the same person that led you.

We think we’re not like our parents. We think we’re not like our fathers if our fathers were rough on us. We think we’re not like our mothers who are controlling freaks. Well, I’m going to tell you something. At the heart of your, at the heart of your being, that’s you. If you, whatever you came from is you. Revelation says you got to overcome. How do you overcome? Well, first you have to accept God’s leadership in your life, because if you don’t, then you’re not going to know how to lead. And if you don’t know how God leads and you don’t lead the same way, you’re a failure.

And so in passing, Paul calls them and he says, there’s something I must say again to you regarding the priorities involved in your leadership. And so from verse 17 through 38, well, actually this whole section, Paul gives information regarding leadership in the ministry, in the pastorate, in the life and in the work of Jesus Christ. Now there is a sense in which we have to take leadership as it comes in scripture. And leadership in scripture is sort of a two sided issue. It is an issue of great responsibility with great joy. And it is an issue of great responsibility with great potential for judgment.

Good leaders are doubtless, are doubly blessed. Bad leaders are doubly chastised. You want to know why you’re not getting Things done in your life. I continue to tell you, look in a mirror because what you’re getting is what you’re putting out. Because to whom much is given, much shall be required. And there’s a principle that runs right across the board in everything that God is involved in. For example, if you look at in James in chapter three, verse one, not many teachers, brethren, because there’s a greater judgment. But on the other hand, in 1st Timothy 5, 17, it says the elders that rule well are worthy of double honor.

So you have the double honor for the good leader and you have double judgment for the poor leader. Leadership is a tremendous responsibility. And you think, you guys, the young ones that are coming up, your children that are getting ready to start a family, looking at life with somebody else, this is not play time. Making that decision must have tremendous responsibility. You bring a little one into this world, oh, you are so accountable. Now. The task of the early apostles and of the evangelists was to appoint such leader in each church. What if he went? Why did the old ways of Jewish families think about this? God’s nation of Israel? Why in the old ways of the Jewish families did they not select the mate of their children? Why they had a better judgment point of view than their children themselves.

They understood the conditions of life, they understood the sacrifices being made, and they understood the responsibility and accountability of wrong decisions. Look what we’ve done. We’re so, we’re so accustomedly just open to whatever comes our way. It doesn’t matter if it’s a one night stand or a week or two or maybe a month and sometimes years and oh, you know what, you’re not doing what I want now. And you just sort of everything goes throws away. We become a society of lack of importance. Now the apostles would go around appointing leaders and they would raise them up, raise them up, they would mentor them.

He elders of the elders of the church at Ephesus. And when I said Ellers, I’m saying the same as pastors or leaders, and we’re going to talk about that in a minute. In scripture and there’s always was a plurality. In other words, there was many, never just one man pastor. I know churches today that the guy starts the church, gets the initial capital to begin to construct a building and he thinks he owns it. And therefore he sets all the rules. And if you disobey the rule, he just chastise you in front of everybody. I know pastors of that today.

Oh, what are you doing in a, in your home? It’s always a plural plurality in Scripture. But the elders there, the pastors there have been trained, they’ve been discipled, they’re matured by Paul. And they had been appointed by Paul. They had been raised up by the Holy Spirit. Paul became aware of who they were and appointed them to pastor the church at Ephesus. The apostle said to titus in Titus 1:5, he says, now you set the things in order that need to be set in order in Crete, and you ordain elders in every city. See, pastors in each city were to be ordained by the evangelists or the apostles.

So Paul is talking to men that he himself has discipled. Some of you can’t even talk to your children because you don’t even talk to them. You don’t even know who they are. And he gives them a charge that really is much bigger than just the scene that you see in Acts chapter 20. It’s a kind of thing that can be timeless because what Paul tells these people is just basic stuff to any kind of biblical leadership in the church. Now, believe me, if the church is the church of the New Testament and the church is the church of Jesus Christ, it ought to follow the biblical patterns.

I found this to be true, that if the church does not follow biblical patterns at the point of its leadership, it will never follow them at the point of its laity. It just doesn’t happen. Oh, let me interpret that for you. If you don’t follow Jesus Christ in the good times and you get bad times and then you want to think you want to follow Jesus Christ, it doesn’t work that way. He’s not a come and go guy. He’s not. Let me call you today because I need you and oh, I don’t need you tomorrow. So you know what? I might not call you for a week.

Just like people and the priest were true in Israel as a group of people, and it’s still true in the church today. Real reform in the church, the real New Testament realization and revival must come at the level of leadership. How are you going to change your home? Now, as we look at this passage, we’re going to see not just a word from a man to some people in history, but a word from the Holy Spirit to the church of Jesus Christ throughout history. How in the world are you going to overcome if you don’t understand these principles? And so we don’t just make these things historical and lock them in a box and throw away after the time of the writing of Acts, but we say that they are as appropriate to the church today as they were the very second Paul uttered them from his lips.

They give us for all historical time God’s perspective on the role of the pastor and the elder and the husband in the church, who are one and the same. Now, the church, like every other dimension of God’s kingdom and his rule manifested on earth, depends upon its leadership. We find that Ephesians, chapter four, a very familiar passage to us. God desires that the church be built up. He wants the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body. He wants unity of the faith. He wants deep knowledge of the Son of God.

That’s your whole purpose, is to know who God is. He wants the perfect man, that is the church, to be matured to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. He does not want the church to be any more children tossed to and fro by every wind or doctrine. He does not want the church to be loveless, but speaking the truth in love. And he wants the church to grow up and increase in love. And all those things, let’s say, before any of that can happen, before the church can ever be unified, or before the home can be unified, before it could ever be mature, before you are anyone of your network, be Christlike, before it can be insensitive or ungullable.

If here’s such a word to false teaching, there must be for something that takes place prior, and that is this. He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some teaching pastors for this purpose. You are teachers. You might be called for a higher authority in ministry, but you are all teachers. In other words, the life of the church in its productive productivity and its fruitfulness is directly dependent upon its leadership. In second Timothy 2, 2, a verse which we studied some in other. In other discussions. God’s design for the church is to teach faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.

Therefore, leadership is the priority of the church and it’s a tremendous responsibility. Believe me, I’m telling you, I’m held accountable. If I don’t teach you the truth. Now, because leadership is so very important, we ought to understand very clearly what the New Testament biblical church leadership really is. First of all, let me show you what it is not so. If you go to Matthew 20, there’s an interesting passage there that I’m not going to take the time to explain it in detail, but just to throw it at you, it does give us some very good insights into what the New Testament church leadership is not.

I heard a message on this passage Some time ago. And. And it always stuck with me in Matthew 20, verse 20. Then came to him. This is to Jesus. And you see, Jesus had announced his kingdom. So then came to him the mother of Zebedee children with her sons. Here comes Mama Zebedee and James and John. And James and John were no inferior people. I mean, they were class A disciples. But they came along with Mama Zebedee and Butters up to Jesus, worshiping him and desiring a certain thing out of him. They were trying to manipulate him.

So she lays it out a little thick. He said unto her, what will thou? What do you want? He knew what she wanted, but he just confronted her, she says, and he could tell she wanted something when she didn’t even say anything. What she wanted was to grant that these two, my two sons, may sit, the one on thy right hand and. And the other on thy left in the kingdom. Now, this had been a running argument among all of the disciples. Who was going. They. Who was going to be the. The chosen one, who was going to be the favorite one, the one that would sit on the right, the one would sit on the left.

Oh, and the one that had to sit behind, you know, so forth and so on. They had argued this the whole time of Jesus’s tenure on this earth, since the kingdom was announced for the most part, about who was going to get to set in the right spots. Think, guys. Think about where your spot is in your life, in your course of your. Your own self assessment and what it applies to your social order, your status. In fact, that’s what they were arguing about the night of the Last Supper, when nobody would stoop to wash anyone else’s feet, because they would never do that when they were arguing about who was the greatest.

And so this was a little problem. So finally James and John said, mama, would you just go ask for us and see which one of us is the real man of men? Oh. Oh. This is what she did. She asked, and Jesus said, you don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I shall drink and be baptized with? The baptism that I am baptized with? Are you going to be like me? Are you me? And they said unto him, we were able to do that. They didn’t even know what they were talking about.

They had no idea what he was going through, anybody was had to go through to even get this built. And he said unto them, ye shall drink indeed. My cup. My cup. All right, you’re gonna. You’re going to get it and be Baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. But to set on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give. It shall be given to them for whom it is prepared by my Father. They didn’t get what they want, but they did get what they didn’t want. And when the 10 heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.

Why? Because he put them all in a bad spot. You know why they were made? Because they go there first. Number one, leadership is not political power play. New Testament Biblical leadership is not political power play. You’re a leader in the church, rightfully, when God has appointed you as such. Why? Because he says, that’s the fathers to give, not mine. If God the Father is responsible for giving you leadership, why do you think you can lead when you don’t even know what leadership stands for? Second thing, Biblical leadership is not dominant dictatorship either. Verse 25. Jesus called them unto him and said, you know that the princess of the Gentiles.

Exercise dominion over them and they are great. Exercise authority over them, but it shall not be so among you. New Testamental Biblical leadership Leadership in God’s kingdom is not dominant dictatorship. I know many parents that run their household this way. You know when they want to know why? When their kids get teenagers, the kids don’t want to do anything with them or even obey them or take their advice or even want to sit down and have a decent conversation about life principles. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your what? Servant. Not dominant dictatorship.

Do you realize your role at leaders? Leadership is to be a servant to others. You’re to show how to be a leader. You’re to show what makes you a leader because they need to follow you. And the New Testament biblical leadership isn’t characterismic control either. Whosoever will be chief among you. You know, some people just want to be up there, oh, we’re fighting this today. All over the place, we’re fighting this. And the implication of chief is the one that everybody looks at and says, oh, isn’t he wonderful? Now, if you really want to be that, be servant, be a slave.

New Testament leadership isn’t political power play. It’s not dominant dictatorship or charismatic control. It’s slavery, guys. It’s service. And you gotta love verse 28 because it lays down the basic commodity of leadership. Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give his life a ransom for many. If you need something, if you want something, you must give it first. The greater greatest leadership that ever lived was a servant. The greatest leader that ever lived was a servant. And he taught us the greatest principle of leadership. Example. What he was is what we’re to be.

That’s the key. Real leadership is the exemplary life. In a lot of ways. I have a title of being a leader. In all conditions of that I’m a, I’m a true leader. I can say I would never tell you a lie. I will, I will never. I will always tell you the truth. And I going to lead by example. But when you don’t follow me anymore, I’m not a leader. I may have the title, but I’m not a leader. And you’re only going to follow the words that I give you when you can look at my life and see some consistency between what I am and what I say.

If I don’t speak the truth and I don’t live by an example of that truth, then how can I lead if I was able to disciple leaders not only by what he told them, but what. But. But what? By what he was. Now that’s what New Testament biblical leadership isn’t. Let’s look at Acts 20 and see what it is. Paul closes out his instruction to the Ephesians elders. He, he charges them in order their ministry after the priorities that God has set down. Now I know there are people in this group who consider themselves to be elders of many.

Some of you have small groups going. Some of you participate in other areas of ministry. Elders are mentors to people laboring in the word and doctrine, subsidized in some cases by the church. Or they can be elders who are. Have outside employment but are responsible for the care of the flock and leading of the flock and so forth. There are elders that God is blessed with us in this family. And as the days go by and as we see maturity happen and the spirit of God laying his hands on each of us, this, this group of people recognizes what’s going on.

And God has begun to put you into positions of leadership as well. But there are others who are young people who are preparing. Now you’re learning and someday you’re going to be called to whatever God calls you to do in life. And you’re going to be laboring in the word and the doctrine. And all of us must know the responsibility of those who are to, to lead over us. We already walked through that in, in history lessons of looking about the bad leadership that we’ve elected and wondering why our society is what it is. Well, because we didn’t do our job in leading see in order that we might make sure that we pray for them intelligently and pray for them along the lines of what the priorities are and that they are allowed into major in those areas of life.

Your children. If you don’t give your children opportunities of leadership, they’ll never grow up. They’ll never be able to face the maj the major areas of their life challenges and more important, they’ll never know when to ask for help. They’re going to hit rock bottom after rock bottom after rock bottom because I we as parental leaders did not do our job. So the idea of leadership must be important to all of us. Paul lays out some priorities for the New Testament church leader, and they were priorities that he didn’t talk about only, but he lived in his own life.

Example and beginning in verse 17, he talks to them and he pointed out remember last time. From verses 17 to 24, he pointed out the four dimensions of the ministry. First of all, he said, the ministry toward God is service to the Lord, to the church, it’s its teaching. Toward the lost, its evangelism, and toward yourself, it’s sacrifice. We’ve covered all of that in detail over the last few weeks. Paul says, I see the ministry in four dimensions. Serving God, teaching the church, evangelism, evangelizing the lost, and sacrificing myself. Now, having finished all of that, he wants to concentrate on the church aspect.

He’s given the overall picture. Now he zeros in and says, now I’m going to give you the priorities for teaching the church or being effective in the church. Who’s the church? You. Who’s the church? Your home. Who’s the church? Your kids. Who’s the church? Your network. But before he launches into that in verse 28, we need to look at his summation. In verses 25, 27, he says to them, behold, I know that you all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God and see my face no more. Now he says, I just gave you all of the ingredients for the dimensions of of the ministry.

You know what your obligation toward God is? You always to remember you’re in service to Him. Not to men, not to the world, not to your children in manipulation or control, not to your social ladders, to him, for the church, your teeth. To teach, to withhold nothing that is profitable. He said, toward the lost, you’re to evangelize, testify unto the Jews and Greeks, repentance and faith. And towards yourself, to think of nothing of yourself, to sacrifice yourself not to count your life, dear at all. You’re not important. You’re not important. You’re only important see is of Christ.

Now he says all of these things I’ve not only told you, but all of these things I showed you, I did that. I served the Lord, I taught the church, I evangelized the loss, I sacrificed myself. Therefore, he says, I’m now leaving. And you all know that I have gone through preaching the kingdom of God. You’re not going to see me see many anymore. This is it. It’s over. I’ve given you all the facts regarding the kingdom of God. And that phrase is a general statement, of course, speaking of all of God’s operation and God’s rules.

He’s given them everything. What are God’s operation applications that we’re. We’ve Talked about? Ephesians 4, 5 and 6, the last half of every epistle Paul wrote. That’s the operation, God’s rule. What’s that? That’s a doctrine and theology in the first half of all of his epistles, Ephesians 1, 2 and 3, obedience. Wherefore he says in verse 26, I testify unto you this day that I am pure from the blood of all. And what he means by all is all. The Jews and the Greeks didn’t matter what class. I have discharged my responsibility to all, to the church, to the, to the save, to the unsafe Jew and Gentile.

I’ve done the job. I told you the truth. And you can’t condemn me for being unfaithful is what he’s saying. Why? Because in verse 27, for I have not failed to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Paul says, I’ve done my job. I finished it. I did it, I fulfilled it. Do you even know what your job is now? It’s interesting that he makes the statement that he does in verse 26 regarding the fact that he’s pure from the blood of all men. Why. Is it true that a leader or a teacher or pastor is going to be guilty of the blood of certain people? Well, that’s what society wants you to think.

If you go back to Ezekiel 33, 8 and and Ezekiel was told that he was to speak what God told him. God would give him a message and he would relay it to Israel. And, and God said this, you better be faithful in relying the message. Verse 8. When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die. Ezekiel, if you don’t say the same thing to the man, his blood will I require at your hand. Watchman. Now that doesn’t mean that Ezekiel is going to be damp. It means Ezekiel is going to be chastised for unfaithful ministry.

Not telling the truth. And Paul is saying here, I will not be like that warning in Ezekiel 38. And I’m sure he had that on his mind. And he says, my hands are clean. I am pure from the blood of all men. See, there’s a responsibility for every man of God and he has to recognize that responsibility. If God has committed unto him a ministry and he doesn’t fulfill it, he’s going to be chastised for the failure to fulfill it. You couch potatoes better get up and start acting. And I’m sure that there are some pastors who wonder who or why everything in their life seems to go wrong.

Self assessment, guys. And when they wonder that, they ought to examine a little more closely whether or not they are really fulfilling the ministry that God has committed to them. Because if they’re not, then they’re under the punishment of the blood of those that have failed to minister to in the way that God designed them to minister. Say you’re being held accountable. This is serious responsibility. And believe me, that’s what James man and chapter three, verse one. When he says, don’t hurry into teaching ministry because there is a greater condemnation if you fail to be faithful.

What’s faithful? Obedient. I don’t know how many times did I ask that? Just let me open up to these people, okay? The majority of your problems in life because you’re disobedient. But Paul says this. I saw my ministry for what it was. I saw it towards God. I saw it towards the church, towards the loss and oh, towards myself. And I fulfilled it. And I never failed to declare the whole counsel of God. I did it. Therefore, I release my responsibility. I can walk out of this place and know that nothing is going to be held against me.

I was obedient and faithful. Now you might say he might be saying that our pride. Not at all. What he’s saying is this. From now on, men church, the responsibility is yours. Make sure that you discharge your ministry in a very faithful, obedient, equal to the way I gave you by example. Leadership comes with a great responsibility. The entire plan and purpose and principle of God is committed to us. To be committed to you and to fail to do that, to fail to give the whole counsel of God is to fail to release the responsibility God has committed to us.

We are to teach the whole counsel of God. For a person who fails to teach the whole counsel of God There is chastisement, judgment. Paul then has given us some pretty clear instructions about the important leadership. And I said, as said earlier, it’s a double blessing or it’s a double judgment. If you fail, that doesn’t mean you lose your salvation. That just means you are going to experience judgment and punishment. It might not be directly to you. It might be your. Through your children to you, or through a loved one to you. Now, from this reflection on the general ministry, he zeros in on one dimension.

Now, I told you there were four. He zeros in on the idea of teaching the church. That’s where you come in. And starting in verse 28, he says, now in particular, I’ve given you the general thing, but now in particular, let me sort of zero in on your responsibility to the church. You mature Christians primarily are responsible for the church. And as he was talking to the elders, he was talking about the church at Ephesus. Now he lays out the priorities. First of all, just a small thought here, a little footnote. Notice verse 17, the word elders.

This is the word we get Presbyterian from. You’ll notice the word in verse 28, Overseers, which is translated bishop elsewhere. Then you see the word in verse 28 to feed that word is for pastors. So you have these same guys called elders, bishops and pastors. They’re really teachers, you might say, jim, why are you making the point of all of that? Because that means they’re all the same thing. There’s no difference in the church between a pastor, an elder, a bishop, or a teacher. They’re all the same thing. You may call some people pastor, you can call some people bishop, whatever.

But they’re all. And you may call some people teachers. They’re all the same thing. There’s no difference. They’re all the same term. That’s why all of this hierarchy that comes in the church, where you’ve got all different levels of all of the bishops and so forth and so on, is just not the pattern. We build false hierarchy. Why? Because a lot of us don’t want to have the responsibility. There’s. There is no difference in the use of those terms here. And they’re all three in the same passage, speaking to the same people. So Paul is going to speak to these leaders, these men in the pastorate, these eldership responsible for the direction of church, these teachers, and he gives them five keys to leadership.

And we’ll probably only get to two of them this morning. Five keys to leadership. These are the priorities. They’re so basic, but so important. And they apply to every aspect of your life. Principle number one make sure you’re right with God. Look at verse 28. It says, take heed therefore, into what’s the next word? Ourselves. The priority begins with you. Nothing will change in your life if it doesn’t start with you. You can’t wish that your husband would change. You can’t wish that your children would change, or your mother in law, or your mother, or your f father or your father in law, or your friends or your cousin, whatever.

Unless you change, you’re going to get what you give. And if you don’t give yourself change, you’re not going to get change. The priority begins with you. Take heed unto yourselves. You’re not ready to minister. You’re not ready to endure what is involved in ministry. You’re not ready to face the responsibility of ministering unless you’re right with God. This is the basic ingredient in any ministry. Your which is ministry is your life. You’re a steward over your life. You’re a minister to yourself. It’s that basic in Mark 13, verse 9. Just to give you some idea of how the New Testament points this out.

But take heed to yourselves, for they shall deliver you up to the councils and in the synagogues you shall be beaten, and you shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. Wow, you could add a whole lot of sub adjectives to that. Be bold that which you ask for. Be obedient in what you do. Teach the truth, not being opinionated. Now he says you’re going to get persecuted. What did I always say? You need to build persecution in your strategic life plan because it’s in persecution that you grow in order for you to endure that persecution.

He says, take heed to yourselves. In other words, if you’re not right with God, you’ll never be able to handle what’s going to happen. You won’t be able to handle it if you’re not spiritually strong. You’re in no position to handle anything. In Luke 21:34, the Lord says, and take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfing and drunkenness and the cares of this life and the day come upon you unawares. What he’s saying is, you know the day of judgment or the day of the Lord is coming, and you better take heed unto yourself so that you’re ready when it happens.

It’s called self examination, self assessments. Take heed of yourself. What in the world are you doing. Now? Directly in reference to New Testament leaders, the Apostle Paul expressed this to Timothy, first Timothy 4:16. He simply says this Timothy, take heed unto thyself. That is a priority right in the middle of everything in the ministry. Ministry. Take heed to yourself. That’s character. Take heed to yourself. That’s character. Now then he says, anti doctrine. That’s creed. Then he says, continue in these things. That’s conduct. Take heed to your character, your creed and your conduct. You are the key to your ministry.

Well, Paul even put it a little bit more bluntly to second Timothy, chapter two, verse 20. He says, in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but wood and earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor. In other words, he says, if you have a big house, you’ve got two sets of china, the fancy stuff for your friends and the outsiders that come in that you really want to have a nice thing for to impress, and the rest of the junk that we just eat on on everyday basis. And those are the two kinds.

Vessels are unto honor, but some are just unto dishonor everyday stuff. Now there’s an obvious implication here. In that God’s house, there’s going to be some vessels that God really honors, and it’ll be used for the greatest tasks. Getting closer to the point here, We sort of studying this in detail in Revelation. I’ll read this again. In God’s house, where’s that? Your heart, guys. Inside of you there are going to be some vessels that your closets that God really honor. And it’ll be used for his greatest task. In verse 21, if a man therefore purse himself from these, and he’s talking about inequity, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and fit for the Master’s use.

Listen, guys. And prepared for every good work. You see, there are some vessels God can use and there are some that he can’t use. You’re the vessel. And I have to say this. There is no ministry for an unholy ministry, none. You may have have some titles. You may call yourself leader, you may call yourself teacher, you may call yourself superintendent, you call yourself manager, supervisor, CEO, cfo, you know, estate leader, whatever. But if there’s no holiness there, there’s no leadership there, there’s no blessing there. You’re working for no reason. God is not working through you.

And he says in the very next verse, flee your youthful lusts and follow after righteousness. Say God uses holy instruments, people that are holy. Paul knew this 1st Corinthians 9. He said, I run that I may obtain the crown. You know, they do it to obtain a corruptible crown. But we and incorruptible. I run that I may obtain. He says, I fight not as one who shadow boxes, but as one who beats the air. And he says, all the time I do this, I beat my body to bring it into subjection, lest myself, in my own preaching, I should become a castaway.

In other words, the one thing Paul knew was that the day that holiness ceased to be part of his life, effectiveness also ceased. That’s First Corinthians 9:27. I’m only useful in to God as long as I live a holy life. As I yield to the Holy Spirit, so there’s purity in my life. I’m telling you, God uses only holy instruments. We wonder sometimes how it can happen. You see a guy in the ministry involved in so many, many things. Oh, my gosh, if you ever see your calendar, so very active in the church and all other kinds of things, and all of a sudden some great terrible moral thing comes up in his life.

We’ve all seen this, and he’s been disqualified. You know, we’ve all seen from the news such and such person used to be in the ministry, such and such happened, and now that person’s gone. And you know, what happened was simply the fact that there was this whole area of making sure of his own relationship to God that he lost out on. He just began to become an unholy man. And once that happened, he was disqualified. What does that tell you? Disobedience leads to severity in life. He became a vessel, useless, dishonored. And even though he maintained his redemption, he’s got his ticket home.

Now. He’s not going to like the cheap seats because justification is for everything. He lost his meaning to the body, to the service of Christ, and became a worthless vessel. Holiness is a basic commodity and all leadership. It isn’t your tremendous charisma, your good looks, the way you dress, boy you walk, why you talk, the way you fix your hair. It isn’t your powerful force for dramatic, dynamic leadership. It isn’t the fact that you’re pushed off the right political moves to get where you are that doesn’t qualify you to be a leader. What does it does is your own holiness and the call of God.

Well, let me give you an illustration of that. We only have to turn to passages that are very familiar to us, but there’s a long list of qualifications for New Testament leaders. The first one’s in First Timothy three. If a man desires the office of an overseer, or a bishop, or a pastor or an elder or whatever, if a man desires that office, here are the qualifications. He must be blameless. Well, that’s a good way to start. It doesn’t leave much to say, does it? And after that, after being blameless, he must be madly in love with his wife.

It’s got to be temperate. That means a moderate man, not given to excesses, sober minded. That means he orders his priorities in a spiritual way. He’s got to be a good behavior given to us. Hospitality, apt to teach, doesn’t linger but long beside his win. He isn’t violent, nor greedy of money, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that rules well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if he doesn’t know how to handle his house, how would we ever expect him to care for the church? Verse 7. It must be a good report of them that are outside now.

You find anything in there other than a spiritual qualification? New Testament never suggests. The hand of any kind of qualification that has anything to do with worldly position. Think guys, think. Or money or anything like that, or personality or looks or anything. It is always the same. The only qualification is a spiritual one because this is a spiritual work. Your spiritual being living a physical life experience. You’re not a physical life thinking or going in and out of what you determine to be spiritually oriented. Sometimes what would be the smartest thing to do in a business sense is the absolute opposite of what God wants.

Because he work his works is wondrous ways and we must step out on faith. Oh well, that means you got to be a risk taker in some cases. Titus 1. Just in case anybody missed Timothy, he put it to Titus this way. Now here’s the qualification for elders or pastors. They must be blameless again, that is the church has nothing against them. You know, that’s. That’s one of the reasons some people say, Jim, do you think that is guy who is over there had a sin in his past life? Maybe he’s divorced or remarried. Do you think he can still serve as an elder or pastor of the church? Or do you think a guy who’s done something very tragic in the past, etc.

Etc. Can still function in a ministry in the church? They always throw up this last thing to me. What is the husband of one wife mean? I always say this. I don’t even think the husband of one wife is the issue. I think the issue is the issue of blamelessness. Because invariably when you lift up a man to the position of spiritual leadership, if he has a huge blotch on his life, somebody’s going to throw that in his face just at the point when he has to exercise authority in that issue. And so it’s very important that this man be without reproach, that he be a blameless man who gives off a holy testimony and a whole example that is consistent.

Now I’m not saying God doesn’t forgive and I’m not saying God can’t put such a person who has been restored and who has recovered from such thing in a position of leadership. What I’m saying self assessment is that he better not be the kind of person who will be blamed, who has a right to be blamed for something else that will be thrown in his face when he tends to exercise authority in the same kind of issue in regards to the lives of others. So blameless is important. That’s a holy qualification. What’s this thing about the husband of one wife which means a one woman man, you need to really think about this.

And I interpret this to mean he’s fervorously in love with his own wife. I mean he’s not looking around. There are a lot of people who are the husband of one wife physically, but mentally they’re all over the place. If any be blameless. The husband of one wife having faithful children. There’s another qualification, believing children, not accused of anything unruly man, you need to be blameless as the steward of God. In other words, you’re going to take care of God’s business. You better be a godly man. Not self willed, not hot tempered, not given to wine or lingering beside his wine, not violent, not given to filthy look, liquor, money, a lover of hospitality, a lover of good.

It’s all. It’s one thing to do good, something else to love it. Some people do good but they don’t have much choice. Sober minded, just holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word. Oh, and I like this. As he has been taught so that he may be able by sound doctrine to exhort and confute the opposers. In other words, you can deal with evil. This person’s a holy person. All the spiritual qualifications and the knowledge of the Word. And he doesn’t just know the Word, he holds the word, he transmit into his his life pattern. There’s that word again.

Pattern. That’s sanctification guys. To be sanctified in Christ means that your pattern of life is exactly as Christ laid out. For you. Paul summed it up to Timothy in a very simple statement. First Timothy 4:12. He said this Timothy, be thou an example of the believers. You show the world what a holy man is. And he says in six areas here in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith and purity. All those areas are spiritual areas. Who, who are to be an example. Well, okay, guys, I hope you’re not getting it. You know what the New Testament leadership is, it all boils down to you get yourself squared away with God, be a holy person.

Now there’s a second priority. Second priority of the man of God, the man of the church position of leadership is that he is to feed and lead the flock, be a mentor. Oh, you might call this parenting. See, after your own spiritual care, then comes the care of the flock. You first have got to change you before everything else changes. Now, I think there are some people who put the care of the flock, in a sense, in front of their own lives. I think I did that in my 30s because I felt that if I gave things away, it would make me look better upon myself, when in actuality I had to deal with my anger first in order to understand what that meant.

You know, you’re, you’re, you’re wonder how a guy spent so much time in the church, as Paul did and such and such, and had a terrible problem. But it was right when he was busy in the church and he was doing this and he was teaching that, and he was carrying on with this and he was doing that. He was running around and in some measure trying to care for the flock. But he failed to do the one priority that comes first, take care of himself. You know, I feel like that my greatest obligation in life these days is to make sure my life is right before God.

First of all, before I can even come in front of you and even have a discussion. Secondly, to make sure I carry out my responsibility toward you. See, if I’m not truthful and I don’t teach, not going to mean anything to you. And the reason across America and across the world, at all kinds of Christian homes, ministries, nothing happens is because there are some people in positions and nothing happened in their lives. Verse28 says, Take heed therefore unto yourselves. Then it says, and to all the flocks, there’s a priority statement here. My priority, the priority of anybody in leadership.

I don’t care whether you’re teaching a school, a Sunday school class, doing a group Bible study or whatever, you’re working in a Bible study in a home. I don’t care what it is that you’re ministering. If any function that you do, your second obligation is in is that ministry. Your first obligation is between you and God. If that isn’t right, all the stuff you’re doing on the other side is not right and doesn’t make a difference anyway. Notice he says, take heed to the flock. Not just the flock, but what all the flock. No favoritism. I like the way the scripture says the church is seen as a flock.

You got some that are slow, some that don’t have a big gate of walk. I, I think in terms of a duck chain. Here’s the mom walking across the road and all of her little ducklings are walking behind her and there’s one straggler at the end that she’s got to go back across the road, sort of nudge, nudge them to go across across the road. That’s how the flock is. There’s something about sheep that’s characteristic of Christians. It’s like a little clump of helpless, ignorant, stupid followers. But there’s been a historical term that God has used for his people in the Old testament.

In Jeremiah 13:17, Zechariah 10, 3, God calls Israel the Lord’s flock. Luke 12:32, I think it is, where Jesus looked at the group of a few disciples and he called them his little flock. And we come to the Gospel of John and you see even a broader interpretation where you see in the Gospel of John repeated reference to all the children of God, all of God’s people, those that are going to believe even in the future, as his sheep. And he is the great Shepherd. In John 10 where Jesus says, I’m the good shepherd and the good shepherd cares for his sheep and he knows them by name and they follow him and they hear his voice and they know it’s him.

And so man’s able to pluck them out of my hand. You know, thieves and robbers try to come and steal us, but God protects us. And that whole idea of flock concept in John 10, we’re a flock and God is the one who is our shepherd. He’s called the good shepherd in John 10 and Hebrews 13, the great shepherd. So we are a flock under a great good shepherd. But there’s one thing I want to pull out of this flock concept and there’s all kinds of angle on this, but I’m gonna put pull this one idea as a flock.

The total church is a flock. One flock, unity, one flock with one great shepherd. But God takes that one flock and it’s all apportioned out in local areas. We’ve got a little flock right here in this group. Now we’re all part of one flock, but we’ve been localized to what Peter meant when he said in 1st Peter 5:2, Feed the flock of God among you. And he uses the Greek word in human, which is a local term. In is local. He says feed the flock of God which is among you, not as those who, who lord it over the ones apportioned to you.

See, God takes the whole flock, cuts it up into little apportionments flocks and says here’s an apportioned flock for you. And then he selects under shepherds and places them in the care of those apportioned flocks. That’s what you do in your small groups. Now that’s really what I am. I’m just an under shepherd and, and I try to teach what God lays on in my heart as being the truth of his scriptures. But we have a real simple task in definition, although it’s not simple in function, it can be defined pretty simply. It is to do two things to all of the flock of God over which the Holy Spirit has made you.

There you have the Holy Spirit apportioning. And incidentally this is supported in 1st Peter 5:2, verse 3. Neither is being lords over the charge allotted to you is really what it’s saying there. The word is translated heritage, but the literal world is the segment allotted to you or apportioned to you. So we are shepherds over a flock apportioned to us. Now in verse 28 of Acts 20 says it’s apportioned us by whom? By the Holy Spirit. You know, it’s exciting thing to think about as we look at our lives and see that somewhere back in eternity past when God was laying out this whole sovereign plan, Ephesians 1, 2 and 3, he had somebody to talk to because there was this Trinity there.

He said now in about 20, 26 Pew will be ready and we’ll stick him in with a panorama city flock, Internet wise. And then we’ll include all the others that God has granted to us to come our way. You know, it’s a fantastic thing to realize that, that before the world began, Ephesians 1, 2 and 3, we were planned into this whole thing. And to be part of it is, you can’t believe the thrill of knowing being assigned as another shepherd of Jesus Christ to take care of the flock. But the Holy Spirit did that. Now you notice here that there are two responsibilities either given to the under shepherd with a flock that is the.

Is the overseers. That’s to lead and to feed. To lead and to feed. There’s a general word used here, to feed, which means to do all of that shepherding stuff. It’s more than just the simple act of feeding to a teacher, a parent would be to care for or discipline, to bind up their wounds, to exercise authority over them, to guide them in the right path. Really most everything and anything that could fall into the category of shepherding is included. But the heart of shepherding is to feed. You have got to want to, because what the shepherd does most is to get the sheep to the place where they can be fed.

And so the heart of this is feeding. But it involves the whole concept of leading as well. In the word. First time. That he uses this word bosco, and the third time he uses the word bosco, which means simply to feed them, nothing more. If you put two out of the three or just feed them, the they kind of lets me know what the party is to feed them. Feed the flock. And in most cases is even translated that way because they’re obviously the. The emphasis feeding the flock does include the care and discipline and authority and all the other things.

But primarily it’s feeding teach. Life for me. I can’t imagine conceive of a person who loves the Lord and loves to teach, who does not feed a sheep. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand what we’re doing. We’re leading them around from desert to desert or just leave them in the same desert all the time. What kind of a concept of a shepherd? What kind of a life of a person who doesn’t feed his sheep? Say we have two responsibilities in Christian life is to lead and feed. Leading is very important. What we do in leading is like ruling.

Okay, In a way, ruling with God’s holy leadership, where you get double honor, guys. This means selecting the direction of the church, the direction of you. The sheep didn’t decide which field they’d go to next. Your children shouldn’t just go willy nilly all over the place. You should provide the fields. See, God has committed the leadership of the church into the hands of you. And it says there we are overseers. That simply means those in authority, foreign. Rules and feeds, and the flock is in subjection. Now, we’re not leading. We’re not leading by dictating or dominating or lording it over you.

But as examples in Hebrews 13:17, we have just a lovely verse that expresses the relationship between the leaders and the people. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves. That has a lot of meaning to it. Listen, see, for they watch for your souls as they must give account. Watchmen. You know, I think that most leaders in most churches don’t know even that verse. When I stop to think about the fact that I have to give an account to God himself for how I care for you guys and so does every other leader, that may change the way I care for the flock.

See, I’ve got to give an account for you. He says, obey them that, submit to them that they may do it with joy and not grief. And you know, every once in a while, when you get to know somebody who bucks it, fights and retaliates and won’t submit, it’s a grieving thing. I learned this this past week. Believe me, there’s enough grief in ministry. And fighting against Satan, there’s enough grief in the anguish of the resistance that you get in the ministry without having grief from the people you’re trying to love and feed. That’s the reason why God told Moses to tell the people to stop complaining.

When they didn’t stop complaining, he just killed them. And he goes on at the end of the verse and says, when you do that, it’s not even profitable for you either. First Peter 5:4, you have similar indication of the response of the people to the leadership. It says, and when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away. Well, how do you get that crown of gourd when you have fed the flock as an example? That’s your rewards. Your actions on this earth in Christian life determines your crowns, and glory does not prevent your salvation.

You have your ticket home, but the cheap seats you shall stay. There’s a crown of glory for the one who’s a faithful example. The flock is the subjection. The one who leads is to be the one responsible to God, and if he’s faithful, he’ll receive the crown of glory. And so this is a question of faithfulness toward God. When you’re an unfaithful leader, there is a high price to pay. First Timothy 5:19 says that you should never receive an accusation against a leader unless there’s two or three witnesses firsthand. First off, assessment. How many times have you heard something about somebody from somebody who heard it from everybody and passed it on to somebody else? Somebody to accuse somebody in whatever.

Don’t speak a word against God anointed unless it is the mouth of two or three eyewitnesses who can confirm it. Your Opinions get you in trouble. That’s a high price to pay, guys. It’s a great joy when you’re faithful to see the blessings of God and they’re doubled, honored. First Timothy five talks about that. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to feed the church of God. This is what I hope that motivates you. I hope what motivates you is that this isn’t my church. This isn’t a church of a portion of you.

Whose church is it? Well, it’s God’s church. We’re stewards over his property, one to another. Have you ever had the responsibility of caring for the property of somebody else where you’re just a little nervous wreck, hopefully they’ll come back before you’re lost it or broken it or sometimes I’ve got it totally messed up, guys. This is his church. Jesus said to Peter three times, feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my lambs. They’re not his, they’re not Peter’s, they’re not mine. They’re his. Oh, this is enough motive, but I kind of think that the Holy Spirit, at least what he’s telling me probably knows we need even more.

And in doing so, he added verse 28, which he hath purchased with his own blood. What is that saying to us? That’s saying that the flock of God is so precious that he paid the supreme price. And if it’s that precious to him, it ought to be that precious to us. I mean, if God would go to the extent of doing that, wouldn’t you want to make sure that you took care of it? See, God Himself, in the form of His Son, shed His blood for the purchase of for the purpose of the church. God paid the highest price, the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Peter said, could I dare treat this church he bought with his own blood any less of a sense that would be commensurate with the price he paid. Could I treat the church as nothing? Could I use the church? Could I manipulate the church? Can I take advantage of the church? Could I starve the church? Could I fail to teach the whole council of the church when this is what he wants us to do? And this is what price he paid to gain the church and gave it to our care that I should be unfaithful? See, we’re all a precious flock of God.

You’re a precious commodity. You are the currency. You cost a precious price. We all better treat each other as precious as we are in God’s. Sight. You know what? Paul did this. He’s our example. Ephesians 5. Husband, love your wives. Listen to this. Even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having a spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy without blemish. Listen to that.

Christ loved the church, gave himself for it, that he might sanctify it, purify it, present it as glorious church without spot, without wrinkle, without blemish. If he wants a holy church, what should you want? Paul wrote to Corinthians and let them have it with both barrels. He obviously unloaded on them. He unloaded on them for 16 chapters, turned around and wrote them 13 more. 29 chapters he spent on them. Somebody was probably saying, you know, that guy’s got something against us. What’s the hang up? Well, this is what Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 11. One would to God that you would bear with me a little in my folly.

Now I hope you’ll endure what I’m doing, for I am a jealous over you with godly jealousy, you might say. What does that mean? I’ve exposed, espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chastite virgin to Christ. See, Paul says, I know one thing. I know that God redeemed you to be a holy church and that God gave you into my care. I’m your pastor. I’m your under shepherd. I got to take care of you. And if God, God’s will is that you be a holy church. That’s what I want to. And that’s why I speak to you the way I speak.

The under shepherd. You and I must have the same attitude that the great shepherd has. We need to be sanctified in Christ, the purity and the holiness of the church, you and I. And if the Lord wants someday to present the church to himself without spot and without blemish, that’s what we should want too. In order to make that happen, we’re going to have to feed the flock the truth of God and lead the flock in the paths of righteousness. These two basic things are the priority of being right with God, my ourselves and feeding and leading the flock.

That the flock, we hold each other accountable, may be presented to the Savior someday as pure as he desires it to be. Guys, leadership starts with you. It starts with a mindset, starts with an attitude starts with a thought. It’s purified from the word of God. It’s manifested in your studying and prayer through obedience. It’s the understanding that your life is not yours. It’s been bought with a price. It says you can either walk one of two paths. You can walk in the holy holiness and receive double blessings, or you can walk in this world and I see double judgment as Scripture goes.

But one thing’s for certain. You now have an understanding of truth. You now have an understanding of leadership in your life. You now will be held to a higher accountability standard. With that, we’ll close for today. Any comments or questions, points. All right, let’s pray. Father, thank you for this morning. Thank you for the time getting back into your scripture. Thank you for the time of hearing the word of God, the truth, understanding life. Understand the requirements of life. Understand that we all are held accountable. We all need to be leaders. Give us. Give us a heart of love.

Give us a heart of. Of fire. In order to completely saturate our lives with your precious son. Father, just grant us the ability of the knowledge of Scripture, the wisdom of application and the revelation of you. Father, just continue to be with those that are healing in their various capacities, stages. Keep your healing hand upon them. Thank you for all of the blessings that you’re outpouring to those in need. Father, we just want to give you all the grace and glory. May we live our lives for the betterment of the flock. Father, we just give you all the praise and glory of your son.

Thank you for sacrificing your son on our behalf so that we might have eternal life in a home that is so beautifully made. I would just give you all the glory and praise that’s all these things in your son’s name.
[tr:tra].