Amen so we're continuing on we're actually be wrapping up the series we've
been going through the last several weeks entitled distinctive doctrines
we're going through that Baptist acronym of course we're ending in the
letter T today which stands for the two offices which we believe is
Baptist that there are two offices within the local church that of the
pastor and of the deacon so we're gonna preach about that this morning
and if you would keep something in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 and we're
gonna just go back to 1st Corinthians chapter 4 1st Corinthians chapter 4 of
course in chapter 12 we read about the fact that we are a body of believers
that there are many different components just as our human body has a
has many different parts so is the local church you know local church is
made up by many different people we all have different roles to fulfill
within the local church and two of those roles that are distinct in the
body are that of the pastor and of the deacon and it's always important I
think to kind of point out the fact that just because there are certain
people that are put in places of leadership it doesn't make anybody else
less important everybody has a role to play everybody has something to do
within the local church I mean after all what is the point of having a
pastor or even a deacon it's to serve as examples to the believers that
those that would come and be part of that church could look to those
individuals and say this is how the Christian life is to be lived so we
should never think that just because we're not fulfilling one of these two
offices that somehow we're a second-class Christian or you know
we're not in full-time ministry you know that our Christian life is full
time you know we do all things unto the glory of God you know whether
it's in your job whether it's in your family you know you're always
living the Christian life it's not just because you're put on staff or you
lead a church that all of a sudden now you've you've you know now you're
more accountable for being right with God you know we all have that we all
have an important role to fulfill now if you would look there in 1st
Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6 it says in these things brethren I have
transfigured to myself and to Apollos for your sakes they might learn not to
think of men above that which is written that none of you be puffed up
for one against another for who make a theta differ from another or what hast
thou that did thou didst not receive now if thou didst receive it
why dost thou glory as if thou has hadst not received it so you know we
should always think of men you know not above that which is written but in
the same token you know we also should consider what is written you know and
and the specifically I'm gonna focus on the office of a pastorate and it's
it's a it's a subject I think a lot of people take for granted it's a
position that some a lot of people are downplaying a lot you know when you
get into the home church movement and things like this and we need to be
careful not to do that and that's why this is an important topic you say why
why should we even address this topic why should we even talk about pastors
and deacons because it is something that is being brought under attack today
you know it is something that some people will be very dismissive about
and it's not good but I want us to see right out of the right out of the
gate is the fact that we all serve to the same end whether you're a pastor
whether you're a deacon whether you're a church member whatever you are within
the local church we're all working towards the same goal we all have the
same thing in mind at least we ought to go back to 1st Corinthians chapter 12
and look at verse 1 where we see this it says in 1st Corinthians chapter 12
verse 1 now concerning spiritual gifts brethren I would have you ignorant you
know that you were Gentiles carried away under these these dumb idols
even as you were led wherefore I give unto you to understand that no
man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed and that no man
can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost now there are
diversities of gifts but the same spirit and there are different
differences of administrations but the same Lord and there are diversities of
operations but it is the same God which worketh in all all in all so yeah
there are different diversities right we might have different gifts one from
another there might be different and administrations you know one of us might
serve a certain role within the local church and another another role but
it's the same God he goes on and says but the manifestation of the Spirit is
given to every man to profit with all and that is the goal of the local
church to build up the local church to edify the local church and to reach the
lost so we're all called to serve to the same goal we're all called also to
serve within our own capacity look there in verse 27 it says in verse 27
now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular and God had set
some in the church first apostles secondarily prophets thirdly teachers
after that miracles and gifts of healings helps governments diversities
of tongues are all apostles are all prophets are all teachers are all
workers of miracles have all the gifts of healing do all speak with tongues do
all interpret but covet earnestly the best gifts and yet I show unto you a
more excellent way and if you recall he ends there and then moves on into
into chapter 13 which is the famous chapter about charity and makes the
point that you know the greatest gift that any of us could possess is that of
charity or what you know we would call today love that we would love one
another so it's very important to understand that you know there are there
is a rank and file order to a local church that there is a there is an
order given to that there are those that are put in authority but we all
serve to the same end and we should never be puffed up one for against
another and we should understand that we're all serving to the same end
which is love to love one another and to also love the lost to go out and
preach the gospel to them that's why we do what we do now we've got to talk
about this doctrine of the ought to offices the pastors and the deacons and
always want to start out by defining terms okay and sometimes you can get a
little bit of confusion when it comes to this term of a pastor and if you
would turn over to Titus chapter 1 Titus chapter 1 because there's more
than one name for the role of a pastor okay there's more than one
name you have elder you have Bishop and you have pastor or you could also
call it an overseer which basically means the same thing now if you come
across these terms in the Bible elder Bishop pastor overseer these are all
referring to the same office these are always serving to the cert referring
to the same person it's not like there's the office of this an office
of a bishop an office of an elder in office it's all the same guy and you
say well why is that important why do we have to cover this well it's
important because of the fact that it makes us distinct as Baptist that's what
the series is called Baptist distinctives you know there's a lot
of other churches out there in denominations they'll have a multi you
know they'll have all kinds of different offices in their church you
know you can think of the the Catholic or Anglican systems that are
out there I mean they've got a Pope they've got Cardinals they've got you
know so on and so forth it goes right down the line and they have all
these different offices but when we go to the scripture which we allow to be
our final authority in everything that we say and do in our practice in this
church we find that there are only two offices that of the pastor which is
also referred to as the elder the bishop or the overseer and that of the
deacon as well so that's why it's important because that makes us
distinct it makes us who we are as Baptists now these are descriptions of
the office these are not distinct offices themselves just these these
terms are all used interchangeably we see that in first Corinthians Titus
chapter 1 excuse me look at verse 5 it says for this cause I left the
increase that thou should have set in order the things that are wanting and
ordained elders in every city so he's saying he's saying a bit ordained an
elder what's he referring to he's referring to bishops or pastors you
see that in verse 6 where he says if any been blameless the husband of one
wife having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly for a
bishop must be blameless so he says there again he's referring to the
same person right and he calls him an elder in verse 5 and then he goes
on to verse 7 and calls him a bishop so he says for a bishop must be must
be blameless as the steward of God and not self willed not soon angry now I know
I've already gone through first Timothy and some this might be repetitive to
those that have been coming as we've been on Thursday nights as we're
going through first Timothy but it's kind of you can't really go talk about
deacons and elders and pastors without talking about the fact that
there are qualifications that are very specific for these offices and you know
we see several of them right there you know yeah he first of all it has
to be ordained it's somebody else has to ordain that man into that
position and that man has to meet these qualifications he says if any be
blameless the husband of one wife you know and let me emphasize the husband
of one wife so there is no such thing as female church leadership you
won't find it scripture I know it's out there I know it's out in the
world but you know we let the Bible define for us what we believe and the
Bible says you have to be the husband of one wife in order to be a
bishop so if you ever run across one at the door and you know and they say
oh you know I'm we do we all the time I run into a lot on the
reservations when we go so any out there and say oh my aunt's a pastor I
never say it but I've always tempted to say oh how you know it is her is
her wife behaving well you know is she the husband of one wife you know
because I mean is that not the qualification is it not clear as day
in Scripture you know we could turn to other passages in first Timothy and see
the same qualifications give now I don't want to go off on that because like I
said we were talked about that going through first Timothy but go over to
Acts chapter 20 we're defining these terms of elder bishop and pastor and we
see in Scripture that elder bishop and pastor are terms that are all used
interchangeably look at Acts chapter 20 verse 17 and from Miletus he sent to
Ephesus and called the elders of the church so here we have Paul going
in his journey on his journeys he's going he's headed back towards
Jerusalem and when he gets to Miletus he sent to Ephesus and who does he
call he calls the elders of the church now that doesn't mean he just called all
the old people he called here the pastors or what they call here in this
passage the overseers look at verse 28 and this is him charging them and he
says take heed therefore into yourselves into all the flock over
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the Church of God
which he had purchased with his own blood so in verse 17 he calls them
the elders and then in verse 28 he calls them the overseers so we can see
how these verses or these terms are being used interchangeably Ephesians go
to Philippians chapter 1 Philippians chapter 1 I'll read to you from
Ephesians 4 it says and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some
evangelists and some pastors and teachers so we see there again this
term being used pastors and that's referring to the office of a pastor at
the office of an elder the office of a bishop these are all the same thing
Philippians chapter 1 verse 1 the Bible says Paul and Timotheus the
servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at
Philippi with the bishops and the deacons so we see again these two
offices are being mentioned the bishop and the deacon now he uses the term
elder because of the fact that you know there it should denote something
about that man that is fulfilling the role of a pastor why doesn't he just
always call them pastor why doesn't he just always call them any one of these
terms because each one of these terms denotes a certain characteristic that
that man should possess and he says there that he calls them elder because
of the fact that pastors should be experienced Christians and we see that
first Timothy 3 again if you it recalled from our teachings on Thursday
night it says this is a true saying if a man desire the office of a bishop he
desire at the good work a bishop then must then be blameless and if says in
verse 6 the qualifications of a bishop not a novice what does that mean it's
not somebody who's new to the faith don't take the guy that just got saved
and put him behind a pulpit to teach the Word of God he should be
somebody that is experienced that has lived the Christian life has been
through the ups and downs of the Christian life that has gone through
the trials and tribulations and proven himself to be faithful that's the
person that should be the pastor or as it refers to as the elder someone
who has gained some spiritual maturity he is a spiritual elder because here's
the thing I say why is that important because the fact that it takes experience
to minister to other people you have to go through those things so that when
other people go through them you know what they're going through or to deal
with problems within a church you have to have seen that be dealt with you
have to have you know experience in order to minister to others that should
just go without saying and really what it helps avoid when you're not
putting a novice behind the pulpit you're putting somebody who was a
spiritual elder is the fact that you're avoiding the sin of pride because
that is the warning that we're given there he says he should not be a novice
less being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil
so that's one of the dangers of putting a novice behind the pulpit as
the pastor is because of the fact that that position whether you like it or
not does come with a certain degree of honor I mean people look up to the
pastor at least they should they should be respecting him they should be
treating him as such you know and if he's not a seasoned individual if he's
not somebody who's you know understands that he's receiving that at that
respect because of the office that he's in and because he's earned it that
could go to his head you know that's it's a possibility that could go to a
person said pretty quick and they could start to think too highly of
themselves so it's important that he be not a novice because of the fact
that you it takes experience to minister others he should be an elder
because of the fact that he won't be caught up in this sin of pride now
what about the so that kind of covers the characteristic of an elder right
these are the three terms that we see elder pastor or overseer and bishop so
let's take a look at Bishop go ahead go ahead and turn over to Hebrews
chapter 13 now that's the term that he used there in Philippians 1 where it
said that with them that with the bishops and deacons so he calls them
bishops in that in that one but what does Bishop denote what does it mean
to be a bishop well Bishop is just simply means one that rules and this
speaks to the fact that a pastor should be one that rules in the house of
God you know we don't believe in a committee run Church you know we don't
we don't follow that that pattern we don't see that in Scripture you know
we're not gonna have a vote every time we decide to replace the carpet
and see what color it's gonna be or what kind of chairs we're gonna get
and you know and this is the kind of thing that churches get real caught up
in they get caught up in the building they caught up and voting on
everything and having their business meetings and things like that and
really the real work of Christ goes undone you know and in case you can't
tell we're not real focused on buildings around here right I think this
is a pretty nice one those of you that when our old location think this
is a really nice one right you you realize that we've stepped up and we
should have you know I'm not against having a nice building and being
comfortable but that's not the focus here you know and that's why we're
not going to just sit around and vote on things as a church body that's
where we're gonna point a man as the pastor and say lead us in the work of
Christ you know send us out to go preach the gospel and that's why you
know there first to the pastor as a bishop because of the fact it should
be somebody that is ruling in the house of God and now again it those
you know just to be clear those that's where it begins and ends that
that authority begins and ends at the church door you know and I've been in
ministries in the past where the pastor seems to think that he can you
know his his uh his authority could even extend into your home and there's
been ministries like that where they think hey if you're gonna before you
buy a car you should probably come talk to me about it you know silly
things like that and he gets blown weight out of out of control and you
know but that's not to take away from the fact that a bishop is one who
rules but it has to stay within the church walls you know we don't want we
don't want to be you know if we're ever in the office of a bishop be one that
is going to start meddling in everybody's lives you know here's the
great thing about it if you just get up and preach the whole counsel of God you
don't have to meddle in people's lives if they come to church like they
should and they hear the preaching the Word of God it'll straighten them out
for you you have to sit around trying to figure out what everyone's problem
is and what you need to fix in their life we just need to focus on
ourselves and preach the Word of God and everything else just falls into
place so but the bishop is one that rules make no doubt about it you know he
should be ruling in the house of God what he says goes in the house of God
is what goes now it needs to line up with Scripture obviously and you know we
should respect that as a ruler yes and because here's the thing somebody
has to be the boss I mean think about in any other situation in life
think about at your work does your boss come to work every day and take a
vote on what what you guys are gonna do hey are we gonna go to work
today guys you know the owner of the company is gonna show up and let the
employees decide which jobs they're gonna do and which jobs are if they're
gonna work at all no somebody has to lead that thing someone has to grab the
bull by the horns and lead it and give it direction you know it has to be
that way in our in our in our homes and our places of business where we
work it has to be like that in the house of God we have to have somebody
ruling and pointing us in the right direction us and leading us the way
we ought to go now look there in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 7 it says
remember them which have the rule over you so the Bible is real clear that
there are people within the house of God that have the rule over you now again
I'll say it again that's within the house of God okay doesn't extend
outside those walls who have spoken unto you the Word of God whose faith
follow considering the end of their conversation so there are those that
rule over us within the house of God and it's it stops at those you know
at the church walls it doesn't go into our personal lives and things like
that you know the preaching the Word of God will do that for us now I will say
you know there are certain sins that if it's that are going on you know then
yeah the pastor has to step in and deal with it certain sins or
heresies that might get preached but really what we want to focus in on
here is the fact that we don't want to forget or disregard leadership in
the church we don't want to become forgetful of the fact that it's there
and we don't want to disregard it he says remember them you know we
should be mindful of the fact that there is leadership within the house of God
don't forget it don't be dismissive of it and a lot of people that they do that
you know and they they come into church and they just you know no one's
gonna tell them what to do they're they've got everything already figured
out they already know everything there is to know and the pastor can't tell
those people anything you know he can't teach him anything and what they are is
they're they're forgetting the fact that God has put some in positions to
rule in the house of God now it goes down there in verse 17 you know it's
not just the fact that we shouldn't forget that they're there and be
mindful of them he also says in verse 17 obey them that have the rule over
you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they must give
account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is
unprofitable for you so not only should we not forget the fact that
there's rulership that there are bishops that there are our elders that
there are pastors in the church we shouldn't be dismissive of that fact
but we should also obey them you know we should listen to what they have to
say and if if the pastor gets up and says hey thus this is the way it is here
in church then that's the way it is you know if he says this is how we're
gonna do things in this church and I expect everybody to be on the same
page in this area then that's the way it is because that's him ruling
over the house of God we ought to obey them in that capacity and here's
the thing every local church has its own way of doing things you know
where we do things here like we do things in Phoenix because this is
faithful word Baptist Church we pattern our services after them you know I'm the
deacon here I'm not the pastor you know pastor is pastor Anderson and we do
things the way he wants things done here because he's the pastor you know
not at liberty just because we're an hour away to start doing things
however we want you know we have to do things the way the man of God has
deemed them to be done in the house of God we need to obey them to have
the rule over us you know take heed to what is taught and submit to the
decisions that are made now one area that this kind of comes to mind is you
know unfortunately seeing people creep into churches just like the Bible
tells us will happen in parallel in the last days perilous times shall come
that men will you know certain men are crept in unawares and we've seen
this happen where people creep in unawares and they start to preach
heresies or they they they start siding with those that would you know
want to discredit our pastor or talk down to on our pastor or publicly you
know revile our pastor that's happened you know and and the pastors had to get
up and lay down the law and mark people and say you know have nothing to
do with these people and give them perfectly biblical sound reasons why those
people are to be disregarded and yet then you'll have other people come
down on their side and side with them over their own pastor and it's not
right and you know they're not obeying them which had the rule over
them and it's not that the pastors up here ruling just because you know he's
got something to prove you know it says there submit yourselves for they
watch for your souls why is the pastor getting up and ruling and
reigning in the house of God and demanding that people obey what is
taught because he's watching for your souls you know he's watching for you as
they that must give an account you know the pastor is held to a higher
degree of accountability before God for the I mean he's got a greater
responsibility he's watching for the souls of a multitude of people but
here's the thing it says obey them that they may do it with joy give that
account with joy and not with grief right well how does that end though for
that isn't profitable for you and when people want to disobey the pastor
and disregard the pastor they can do that that's fine but it's going to be
unprofitable for them not for the pastor because he's not in it for
himself he's in there to protect and guide and lead the flock and to teach
and build up the body of Christ so if we obey if we remember it's going to
be profitable for us to remember those that have the rule over us look at
verse 24 you know he's talking about how we ought to be we behave ourselves
towards the pastor it says salute all them that have the rule over you and
all Saints says salute them you know it'd be a good idea to probably greet
the pastor when he walks in to shake his hand to saying hello hi pastor
and he used that word pastor you know that's and I understand everybody not
everybody that comes into church that they're new to church they've never been
in church they sometimes they'll say they won't call the pastor pastor
they'll call him by his first name you know and here's the thing you gotta
you gotta give people space to grow whenever I hear somebody do that
say you know because pastor has a big online following and people visit and
they've got they're not church themselves they never been in church
they'll come and say well Steve here like well maybe he is maybe isn't but I
and I don't go hey it's pastor buddy you know and strain them out but I'll
subtly say well pastor Anderson you know is or isn't here you know then
I'll immediately respond by saying pastor Anderson and usually people
pick up on that once they hear that a few times once they hear everybody
addressing the pastor as pastor Anderson or whoever the pastor is you
know they'll pick up on that because there's the thing what's that what's
one of the ways that people like to kind of passively aggressive elite you
know in a passive-aggressive manner attack the pastor by leaving off that
title I mean well we ran into a guy out stolen in the other day you know you're
eating he's gonna work his way into my sermons you know and I told I was
very polite I told him where we're from and and gave him after the
tribulation the DVD and he flipped it over and he saw pastor Anderson's
picture he said wait a minute you're associated with Anderson with Steve
didn't address him as pastor that's a passive-aggressive attack you know
in any way and you could do that and not just in the password in any way you
know of just dropping a title that somebody has is warranted to somebody
and on the pastor is a warranted title you know you don't just become a
pastor because you go to a Bible college for four years and someone
gives you a piece of paper you become a pastor because you meet all those
qualifications which are very stringent and and and they're not easy to
obtain so you know we should use that term pastor because it's warranted you
know salute them to have the rule over you we should show respect you know by
saluting them and addressing them properly now you know as as deacon you
know I've kind of had to talk and think about this too because I people
would ask like well what do we call you now now that you're the deacon
you know I got ordained deacon eight months ago and and or nine months
ago whatever it was and and I was just like whatever you like nothing
really changed but you know what I thought to myself know that there is
something you know they people should probably address me as either deacon or
brother and I took some getting used to because of the fact that I'm not used to
that you know and I'm I'm not one like well you know actually it's uh
like I feel like I need to be but you know lift it up in that way or
something like that but what happens is is people the way they address you
is the way they'll treat you you know and whether I like it or not you
know being as the deacon here it does you know I'm an example to the flock
and and it should be respected to some degree I'm not saying you know it's
anything that you know people have to you know kiss the ring or thing like
that but you know people will call me deacon I'll say hey you know you can
just call me brother and I call a lot of people brother I call you know
everyone here brother unless you're a sister you know and I say you can
just call me brother Corbin and but some guys will insist they'll say no
it's deacon now like well fine you know call me deacon I try to meet
them halfway you know if you insist on calling me deacon you can just call
me brother wrestle that's a little you know a little more formal you know
you can just call me brother Corbin you know but when it comes to the pastor
you know if somebody calls me by my first name I just let it roll off my
bag it's not like it gets me gets my feathers all ruffled but I'll tell
you what if somebody calls my pastor Steve like if you you know and to the
online listeners out there that are going to email the church or call me
voicemails if you want to have a better chance of actually getting a
response don't start out your by addressing the pastor is Steve you know
if I hear him say hey is Steve available no he's not I don't even know
who you're talking about y'all just go get some random guy
named Steve you know like here's Steve you know was that was that who you're
referring to because I don't know because he didn't use the pastor so
you know even little things like that you say well that's a little thing
yeah but that could turn into something big
when people stop giving people the respect and the uh
and the honor that is due unto them for the position that they hold as a
pastor you know that can lead to bigger
things for now they just feel like well everyone we're all equal here and
there is no ruler here and we can all just do whatever we want no the
Bible says that they are the bishop that they are to rule in the house of
God and that we are to obey them and
remember them and salute them so we've talked about the fact that the
Bible uses these terms interchangeably he uses elder he uses
bishop and another one he uses is pastor or overseer which is
basically the same thing now again I'll point out there in verse 17 it
says that they watch for your souls and this speaks to the
fact uh the or speaks to the characteristic
of a pastor I mean that's what a pastor is you
think of a pastor is somebody who would lead a flock
he would pastor a flock of sheep he'd be out on a pastor somewhere it's his
job to be an overseer you know he'd be up on the hill and
he'd be making looking out for danger leading them to the proper pastures
into water and things like that and that's what a pastor does that's his
duty to God's people is that they are to watch for their
souls you know he's watching out for them and he's to be leading them
uh you know to spiritual waters and to spiritual meat and to be protecting them
from spiritual dangers so um go ahead and turn over to acts uh
I think we were already there but go back to acts chapter 20
actually we were there already go to first peter five first peter five
the Bible says in Jeremiah 3 and this is a term that the Bible uses
when describing the man of God is pastor
he says in Jeremiah 3 and I will give you pastors according to mine heart
which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding so again just like a
pastor would lead of actual physical flock
of sheep to a green pasture and feed them
God likens you know the man of God unto a pastor because
he feeds them with knowledge and understanding
Paul told them in acts 20 he told the elders of Ephesus take heed
therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock
over which the holy ghost hath made you overseers
now it's an overseer it's the same thing as a pastor you get that idea
somebody looking out over the flock and managing it and and guiding it and
leading it man he had made you overseers to feed the church of God
which he hath purchased with his own blood so just like
a fish a physical uh herd or a physical sheep
would need nourishment and water we're the same way spiritually
you know we as God's people we I mean they say well that's kind of
degrading to liken us unto animals well
Jesus said you know my little flock that's what he called us
he says you know he likened us unto sheep often in the bible you know
so it's of course we're speaking spiritually here and he's saying you
know we need spiritual nourishment just like that animal needs to find a
proper grazing area to get the nourishment that he needs he needs to
find water to drink for the nourishment that he
needs we need that spiritually you know and that should tell us something
about church that it's important that it's not just a hobby that it's not
just something that we do or when we feel like it that it's something
that we should you know we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves
together as the manner of some is the bible says
that we should be in here because we need to get fed spiritually now could
you feed yourself spiritually outside of church yeah
but you know what you need more than that you know there are things
that you need to be taught from the word of God have things explained to
you and and you know that happens with
the preaching of the word of God so you're there in first peter chapter
five look at verse one he says there are the elders which are
among you who also am an elder so here's using that
term elder again and a witness of the suffering of
Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed
feed the flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof
right so there's that idea of an overseer again not by constraint but
willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready
mind neither as being lords of over God's heritage
but being examples to the flock and when the chief shepherd shall appear
you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away
so a pastor is a pastor because he's a shepherd but he's the under shepherd
right we have the the the chief shepherd mentioned here
right and it's it's the pastor's duty
as the under shepherd of the sheep chief shepherd
to oversee the flock he's been given the oversight thereof
and pastors you know they are likened unto pastors they use that term
because they have a duty to protect the flock not only to feed the flock
not only to teach doctrine and to encourage and to exhort
with the word of God but also to protect the flock by taking the
oversight thereof and that's why one of the qualifications
of a pastor is that he be vigilant you know that he what does that mean
to be watchful to be aware of what's taking place to be alert to danger
you know the pastor has a duty to protect the flock
you know not just from physical danger you know i think we all here
can probably do a fair our fair share of that on our own
right but also spiritually you know to identify
a wolf that has crept in to call out heresy when it's there to call out
you know those that need to be called out there's a time and place for it
you know but uh that's the that's the job that he's been given
to protect the flock you know and we need this more than ever
i mean we we've always needed it but i mean the day and age that we're
living if you were here thursday night we talked about it
about the fact that we're living in perilous times because men are lovers
of their own selves and there are all these attributes that
are associated with them and they creep in to churches they
target churches you know these people that the
pedophiles why do you think all these these scandals take place in all
these churches and it used to just be oh it's just
the roman catholic church is just shuffling these pedophiles around
now it's taking place even independent baptist churches
we have these perverts creeping in that want to just
harm innocent people they want to harm children they want to take advantage of
of weaker vessels and and it's it's wrong and they need to be called out
and they need to be purged from the flock
and the pastor has a duty to protect people from them
and that's why they have to be vigilant
so you know the pastorate when we read first peter chapter five
you know if we haven't caught on to it already it's not a position to be
entered into lightly you know a pastor isn't just
something well i feel like i should do that
or maybe maybe one day i'll do that or yeah i guess i'll give it a try
no it's a very important job that's why it the bible's showing us it
warrants so much respect and honor and that we should be
obeying and saluting and remembering these people
because it's a very important position that they have because they've been
given literally the oversight the protection of the flock spiritually
they have that duty it's not to be entered into lightly
and it's interesting it says there that they are to feed the flock of god
which is among them taking the oversight thereof
not by constraint not by constraint you know you should go into the
pastorate because you want to you know and and we're living you know
and and believe me we need more pastors i mean there's
people that are that are wanting good churches started everywhere
i mean they're yeah they have churches in their town but they're they're
they're preaching heresy or they're not doing the works or they you know
they want a good solid baptist church in their town
we're getting contacted by them all the time you know and the temptation is for
just start sending out whoever you know but we can't do that we
can't just send out whoever they have to be somebody that meets the
qualifications and one of the things is they should
not be doing it out of constraint even if there was a guy let's say he met
all the qualifications he was approved he could be ordained
and sent out you know that guy should want it
you should want to do it it should not be done by constraint not just like
well you know these people want a church there and i guess i should just
do it because no you know i have to i mean obviously
that's a great motive to go out and want to help people and
to and to provide a church for somebody
but it should be something that you still at the end of the day desire to
do you know don't let your wife twist
your arm into being a pastor that never happens that happens where
the wife want just wants the husband to be a pastor he's just got to be the
pastor that happens and what is that that's
constraint you know it's somebody constraining you into that position
so don't enter it lightly just don't do it because you know
it you know i yes it needs to happen yes people are needed but don't you
should still want to do it at the end of the day
don't do it out of constraint neither do it for filthy lucre he says
and this is a big one this is a big one
because there's a lot of people that go into the pastorate for one thing
money because there's money to be made in the pastorate
if you want to start preaching lies and heresy and start rubbing backs and
tickling ears and just telling people what they want
to hear you can build a big church and we can build a big church if we want
to just compromise on the word of god you know and uh and we can make a lot
of money and uh that's not but that's no
reason to go in the pastorate if you're going into it for money
you know you're in it for the wrong reason you know and the pastor should
not be one who has an abundance of wealth
who's just you know rolling in dough you know
and and we could go on and on about that
but that should not be a motivation we should not do it by constraint
we should not do it for filthy lucre that's not to say a pastor shouldn't
earn a living as a pastor again this is another topic that
probably needs to be preached on the idea that
the pastorate is a paid position that doesn't mean he's to sit there and
fleece the flock and get filthy rich you know he should he should take what
he needs to survive you know and the rest of that money
that if there's anything left over would go back into the work of god
it would go back into paying rent you know you know pay the rent
and lead a you know go up and uh lead a missions trip somewhere use that money
uh rather than just spending it on a you know another vehicle or a bigger
house or whatever you know that money could go back into
the work of god so he says there don't do it by
constraint don't do it for filthy lucre and be of a
ready mind you know be alert and aware of the position you know if you go
to the pastorate what you're getting yourself into
now i don't i'm not obviously again not the pastor i don't even fully
understand what all is involved with being a pastor completely because i'm not
i've never done it and i don't think anyone will really
know completely what it's like to be a pastor without having been a pastor
but there's some things that you could probably get an idea of
well okay if i'm a pastor it means this if i'm a pastor it means this
you should be ready for that should be of a ready mind
and and be prepared for the uh what comes with that position
not just prepared to fulfill that position but also prepared
you know for what comes with that position the good and the bad
you know and being ready to teach the word of god and to preach the word of god and this
all goes back to them being an elder right one who's experienced so really that kind of
covers uh the pastorate and i do want to kind of hear at the end just kind of touch on the
deacons the bible doesn't go on and on a lot about deacons but uh you know being a deacon
myself you know i i'd be a little remiss to not mention it so
we're going to talk about it for a little bit here go over to first timothy chapter three
verse eight so what is the deacon
well you know really a deacon is basically the same thing as a pastor without the authority
i mean am i not doing basically the same thing right now that pastor does
coming down here three times a week preaching the word of god taking the oversight of a flock
and feeding the flock that's what i'm doing that's what a pastor does but you know what
i don't have the authority to just decide well you know what this is how we're going to do
things here in tucson because i'm not the pastor so the deacon a lot of ways is likened
unto the pastor but he doesn't have the authority in the house of god to make just make calls
now there are certain things that you know i don't have to go to pastor anderson about
every little thing you know about this color carpet that color carpet you know obviously some
things he just wants hey just figure it out and get it done you know doesn't want to have
to hold my hand over every little thing and trust you to have the wisdom and the discernment
but you know when it comes to big decisions or if there's problems in the church
those have to be brought to his attention you know i can't just make decisions
as the deacon so they play the same role as a pastor but without the authority and that's why
the deacons have the same qualifications as a pastor let's look at those again verse
first symphony three verse eight likewise must the deacons be grave not double-tongued
not given to much wine not greedy of filthy lucre again don't be getting into it for the
money holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience and let these also first be proved then
let them use the office of a deacon so again kind of likening it onto somebody who should be
an elder somebody who should have been in church for a while you know let them first
be proved let them be found faithful and then use the office of a deacon being found blameless
even so must their wives be grave not slander sober faithful in all things so there's even
qualifications for the deacon's wife and again goes back to the fact that a deacon is a man
the bible couldn't be any clearer about this kind of thing ruling their children in their
own house as well so again you can see how it should be somebody that knows how to rule
just like a pastor would somebody has their children in subjection because it goes on and
says for they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase themselves to a good
degree and great boldness in the faith which is in christ jesus so we see here that they are
to be you know in the same position they have the same qualifications of a pastor but they
don't have that same authority and they are really what they're there to do is to help the
work of god and they're there to help the pastor i won't have us go back there to first
corinthians chapter 12 but when he gave those lists of diversities you know of offices and
administrations and one of those things he listed was helps and governments and i believe
that's something you could apply to the office of a deacon he's somebody who's there to help
in the work of christ he's someone who's there to govern or administer in the work of christ
you know take some of the load off of the pastor so that he can focus on
you know more important things or bigger things or just more in general you know for example
when i came on as deacon you know the the the native american soul winning had kind of
fallen off a little bit was something we really wanted to fire back up getting out knocking the
doors on every uh every door and every Indian reservation in the state of Arizona and beyond
but uh you know that takes somebody leading that somebody has to spend the time making the
maps you know gathering uh the folks that want to go leading it physically going up there
booking the rooms getting the meals paying for everything driving the van and driving the van
and driving the van did i mention driving the van so you know someone has to do that
you know and the pastor if he does that well then this other things are going to get left off
you know so that was one of the things he gave to me he said look here's my here's the
big vision figure out the details how to get it done you know he's got the macro vision i
handle the micro vision i've actually only covered can do that so that's kind of what a deacon's there
to do he's there to help and you know and we see that in the book of acts where they appointed
deacons you know with steven and those that it was the daily ministration that was their
responsibility so that the apostles be given unto the word of god into fasting and prayer
so they wouldn't be pulled away from their duties to do more menial tasks and really that's
what the deacon's there to do you know write cut write the the rent check and uh you know
order the new chairs and get the new hymnals all those little things we don't think about them until
you're actually in that position you know we as i was a church member for you know 17 years
before i became a deacon and there was a lot of things i i found out real quick that i just
kind of took for granted that the chairs just showed up that somehow the hymnals were just
replaced magically you know that the light bulbs got replaced and all these little things that
the place just cleaned itself up and it was just it was a miracle right no there's people
there just they're actually doing that work and a lot of that work is done by staff you know
a lot of that is done by deacons and others so you know it's not it's not i don't want to say
it's a less important position but it's it's definitely has importance but it's not to the
degree of the pastor can a church function without a deacon sure can't but it can get more
done with one you know it frees up the pastor he's a help he's a government and and uh they
are there to help him you know and yeah it could probably the church could go without a
deacon but it's not a position that should be undervalued either and uh you know it's an
important thing and you know this isn't a this isn't anything i've run into but i've talked to
others who are either gone into the being a deacon or or being considered to be a deacon
and they it's like if they're not being if they're because there's such a need for pastors
people are treating some people are saying well if you're just going to be the deacon like
it's a cop-out or something like oh you're just you know you could be a pastor but you're
just going to be in the deacon you know just the deacon and what that is that's an
that's an attitude of somebody who's undervaluing that position it's an important position it's
needed it gets more done in the house of god i mean i think this plant down here in tucson's
gone a lot better since we've had one guy coming down as a deacon and not not just because
it's me because it's you know corbin but because there's one guy that's been appointed to do
that and there's probably other guys we could have you know pointed to do that and it could
things could have gone just as well or perhaps even better but the point i'm making is because
we have a deacon because we have somebody that position more is getting done more doors are
getting knocked on the Indian reservations more doors are getting knocked the gospel is being
preached more in the city of tucson because there is a deacon more people are getting fed
the word of god so we don't want to undervalue it and just feel like just because a guy goes into
that position that somehow you know he's copped out on some other bigger calling that position is
is important and it needs to be fulfilled and as churches get bigger you know there's more of a
need for that and uh and you know that's just that's just the way it goes so we should not
despise those individuals and i honestly again i'm not i don't feel like anyone's ever done
that to me despise me for not being a pastor being a deacon but there i have heard of
it being out there there people can get that kind of an attitude where they kind of try well this
guy you know he just wants this cush position as the deacon you know come give it a shot you know
first of all meet the qualifications and tell me how cush it is and then actually do the work
because i i haven't found that cush position yet you know where i you know where there's you know
five hours you know driving one way and then coming down here first thing in the morning i'm
not complaining i'm glad to do it i love my job it's great but it's not cush you know it's
not the easiest thing in the world and you know what neither are any of your jobs you know there's
other men here that go out work hard jobs ladies too that go out i wouldn't call your job
a cush position you know so but here's the thing is there is there a little bit of that
stigma is that warranted a little bit yeah because of the fact that some people do take
advantage of that because pastors can get lazy if they allow themselves because the deacons can
become lazy and just kind of you know rest on their laurels and just kind of collect a check
and not really do the work and those churches become lukewarm they become lame the people get
lame and eventually they wither up and die and that's what happens so that's not what we want
here we want to fulfill these positions as pastors and deacons so that we can serve the
people and so that we can serve christ ultimately as a body you know we want we want deacons we
want bishops not to just uh serve some ceremonial role for us so that we can go to church and
play church and feel like we're spiritual but to actually get something done for christ
that's why we want these positions made that's why i was made deacon so that something could
get done for christ and that's why we have a pastor that's why we go to church
so that we can accomplish something for christ and and get something done so we all have
important part to play you know whether you're a bishop an elder you know whether you're the
deacon whether you're a church member in the pew you know we're all serving to the same end
you know to glorify god to reach the lost and to do all things to his honor to his glory so let's
do that let's all fulfill the positions that we have and you know and if there's some in the room
men in the room that would desire the office of a bishop or to be the deacon will strive
to meet those qualifications you know put it out there as a goal to achieve you know it's
needed in the house of god uh it's needed all across this country it's needed everywhere
so let's let's uh don't undervalue that position consider it something to strive for
something to attain unto and let's thank god for the pastor that we have and and and and you know
and honor him and understand that yes we have a head but we all make up that body
so that we can all do that great work let's go ahead and pray