(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. Alright, well thank you very much for being here tonight. It's a great turnout for Sunday night service. We appreciate all of you being here and looking forward to, we've been looking forward to this trip, looking forward to the potluck at the end and the time of fellowship and we're just very thankful for this church and of course for Fr. Jared and Ms. Heidi and the family and all of you who have just made this possible and made this church plant a success. Last time I was here, it was just in January, I preached a sermon on the subject of how to treat your pastor's wife and family and tonight I want to continue kind of that idea but before I get started let me say this, please be in prayer for my family and I. We're going to be traveling all week. We are here tonight, I was telling some of the guys before the service, we're here tonight and tomorrow we're going to be filming, we've taken on, Verity Baptist Church has taken on the second season of Landmarks so we're going to be filming with Fr. Jared in Yosemite for the show and actually I was sitting there and I asked my wife, I said, is that Yosemite? I've never actually been to Yosemite and she said, yeah, that's Half Dome. I thought, good, this will make it a lot easier, we'll just film it here and we don't have to do it tonight and we'll have to take the day off tomorrow but we're going to be filming in the real Yosemite, alright, tomorrow and then on Tuesday we're going to be filming down at one of these big redwood trees on Wednesday my family and I will be driving down to LA and I'll be doing a Rod of Iron podcast with Pastor Mejia on Thursday I'll be preaching there in First Works and on Friday we'll be driving back to Sacramento Saturday will be Soul Winning, Sunday we'll have church and then on Monday I'll be in Lake Tahoe with Pastor Jones from Shield of Faith recording for Landmarks so it's a busy, busy few days so if you would pray for us and we would appreciate your prayers especially on the road and as we're driving but like I said, last time I was here I preached a sermon on the subject of how to treat your pastor's wife and family and later on this year, just a few months from now, Lord willing, I will be ordaining Brother Jared as the pastor of this church of an independent Baptist church here in Fresno, at that point this church will no longer be a satellite, it'll be an autonomous church and you'll have a pastor, you'll have a pastor's wife, you'll have a pastor's family, all of that and that's why I preached that sermon last time I was here my job as the pastor, especially as we kind of finish this, in August, Lord willing, we will be cutting the umbilical cord this church will become an autonomous church and to be honest with you, this may be the last time I come before we do that I may have one more trip before that but it's coming very close and my job is to prepare you for that transition from a satellite church plant to an independent autonomous church and for that reason I want to preach these sermons not because there is a problem, because there is no problem, there hasn't been a problem but I want to help you as a church transition from a satellite church with a local leader here under the authority of our church in Sacramento to an autonomous independent church with a pastor and I want to teach you how to treat your pastor how to work with your pastor, how to come alongside your pastor so last time I preached a sermon called how to treat your pastor's wife and family tonight I'm preaching on the subject of how to treat your pastor and I want to help you with that you're there in Hebrews 13, I want you to notice that in Hebrews chapter 13 there's a theme that runs through the chapter a little bit if you look at verse 7, Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 7 says remember them which have the, notice this word, rule over you remember them which have the rule over you, if you look down to verse number 17 it says obey them that have the rule over you if you look down to verse number 24 it says salute all them that have the rule over you and through this chapter we see this theme and the writer continually brings up this individual who has the rule and I believe this is talking about the pastor and the pastor is the one who rules within the church what I've learned over the last 10 years of ministry is that oftentimes people need to be taught how to treat how to deal, how to handle, if that's an appropriate word, their pastor, you know especially our type of churches our type of churches for the most part reach two types of people and I'm not saying these are the only two types of people we reach but primarily when we reach people, we reach people right off the streets, I mean we knock their doors, we preach the gospel we get them saved, we invite them to church, they come, they're unchurched, they're maybe haven't gone to a good church or don't know anything about church and then what we also reach is a lot of people that we reach through social media through the YouTube channels and that arm of our ministry and oftentimes those are people that maybe are already religious they're going to a church but they're not maybe going to a good church, maybe they get saved as a result and start learning good doctrine a lot of times those people aren't going to church anywhere, they just find us online and they're learning and grasping a lot through the internet ministry but they've never actually been part of an actual church, an assembly of believers and what I have found with both of these groups and we love both groups but what I found is that what we often have to do is teach them how to deal with a pastor how to live within a congregation because it's not something that comes natural and that's the purpose of these sermons is to try to teach you how to treat your pastor, how to work alongside your pastor here's what I believe and I'm going to get into the sermon here in a minute but let me just finish this introductory point what I believe is this, that every Christian should either be a pastor or be supporting a pastor every Christian should either be a pastor and I don't mean that that I think every Christian should be a pastor I would say probably most Christians shouldn't be a pastor, there's certain people that should be pastors and they've got to meet certain qualifications and we understand that but here's what I believe, I believe that you're either a pastor or you're supporting a pastor you're either a pastor or you're putting yourself under the, because I believe that God wants every Christian in a local church and therefore God wants you under the authority of a pastor so we should either be a pastor or be supporting a pastor and hopefully you want to support your pastor, hopefully you want to support, you've supported me as your pastor over the last couple of years and hopefully you'll want to support your pastor once you have an ordained minister here so I want to give you some thoughts tonight, I realize we've got to potluck, we've got to move quickly the snow cones are getting cold is what I'm told so we've got to hurry up so that we can get to those but I want to give you four thoughts tonight in regards to how to treat your pastor's back, pastor's back pastors, how to treat your pastor in the back of your course of the week or in the back of your bulletin I should say there's a place for you to write down some notes, maybe you can write these things down how to treat your pastor, how to treat your pastor, you say once we have a pastor, once he's ordained once we're autonomous, we're independent, what do we do, how do we treat him, how's this all going to work number one, when it comes to how to treat your pastor, you should obey your pastor now I've already probably lost some people there but that's okay, that's what the Bible says Hebrews 13, look at verse 17 again, obey, see that word? Obey them that have the rule over you that word rule, that language means the one who is in charge, the one who makes the rules he has the rule because he makes the rules, it says obey them that have the rule over you notice this word and submit yourself, the word submit means to put yourself under the authority a lot of times in a Baptist church when we see the word submit we only like to bring that up in the context of marriage and make sure we tell those wives you better be submitting to your husband but you know we all are to submit in different areas in our lives of authority, absolutely wives should submit to their husband but you know what men, you should go to work and submit to your boss and submit under his authority and work under his authority, the Bible says ask unto the Lord, children should obey their parents and submit to their parents and we should all, we all have areas where God has given us ordained authority, God given authority in our lives and one of those areas is within the local church the Bible says that God has placed the pastor as the authority in the local church and it says obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourself, you say why, here's why, and here's what I know about brother Jared and here's what I know about any pastor or future pastor who is worth their salt for they watch for your souls you know what a good pastor does, he watches, he's vigilant, he's paying attention, he knows what you need he's spending enough time around you to be able to and I don't mean this in a way and I hope you don't take it this way it's not like we're just you know watching people and taking notes and I got a sermon idea right there, look at that that's not what we're talking about but you know we can't help but look at the people we've given our lives to we can't help but love the people that God has given us to lead and sometimes God allows us to see things and whether it's in an individual or just a trend that come into churches in general the Bible says that we are to watch for your souls you say why, notice, as they that must give account, you say who does God hold accountable for the local church the answer is the answer to that question is always the leader, who does God hold accountable in the home, the leader who ate of the tree of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Eve did, she gave to her husband Adam but who's blamed all throughout the Bible, Adam, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world wait a minute what about the woman didn't she eat first, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin God always holds the leader accountable and in church it is the leader, it is the pastor as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable, notice, he says why do you want to obey the pastor because the pastor is watching for your souls because he must give an account for what happens here at this church and he says you know what at the end of the day that is unprofitable for you it is in your best interest to obey your spiritual leader and by the way in any area kids let me tell you something, it's in your best interest to obey your parents wives it is in your best interest to submit to the authority of your husband church members it is in your best interest to submit to your pastor, you say well how should we treat our pastor well number one you should obey your pastor, notice verse seven of the same chapter there Hebrews 13 and verse seven, remember them, notice the words which have the rule over you they have the rule over you, they are the rulers now you say well what exactly is this referring to we're talking about, I'd like you to keep your place there in Hebrews chapter 13 we're going to come back to Hebrews 13 through the sermon but go with me if you would to the book of Acts Acts chapter number 20 you have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts Acts chapter number 20 Acts chapter number 20 do me a favor when you get to Acts 20 put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it later on in the sermon Acts chapter 20 you should have your place in Hebrews 13, Acts chapter 20 Acts chapter 20 when we say you ought to obey your pastor, what do we mean by that? well it means that you ought to obey the pastors rules for the church literally you say do you mean in a spiritual sense should we obey the pastor no I mean it quite literally the pastor sets the rules he's the ruler, he sets the rules, you ought to obey his rules obey the pastor's rules for the church, see the pastor's authority extends to anything under the canopy of the local church which he pastors, are you there in Acts 20? Look at verse 28 Acts chapter 20 verse 28 the Bible says this, take heed therefore unto yourselves this is the apostle Paul speaking to a group of elders, he's speaking to a group of pastors and then he says this, and to all the flock, what's the flock? the flock is the congregation, the assembly of believers that God has put us over he says take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, notice these words over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers the word overseer means to be someone who supervises, someone who looks over, and by the way let me say this, notice who makes the pastor the overseer? it is the Holy Ghost, this is why we call it God given authority you say oh no pastor you're going to make brother Jared the pastor of this church I may be the human vessel that physically lays hands and ordains them into the ministry but it is the Holy Ghost that will set him here, it is the Holy Ghost, it is the spirit of God that has brought him here, that has built this place, that has brought this congregation together it is God that has done these things, when Paul and Silas were sent off into the ministry yes there were men that physically laid their hands but the Bible tells us that the Holy Ghost said separate unto me Paul and Silas, it's God's man, God's position, God's authority God's the one that's put in there, but I want you to notice it says that the Holy Ghost has made you Paul speaking to preachers, he says has made you overseer to feed the church of God which he has purchased with his own blood the context is about the church, who's the overseer? who's the authority? who's in charge? who's the one that needs to give an account? who's the one that God holds accountable? who's the one that God holds responsible? see I want you to understand this it is the pastor who sets the rules for the church, his authority extends to anything under the canopy of the church keep your place there in Acts chapter number 20 go back, go to 1 Peter chapter 5, if you kept your place in Hebrews continue to keep your place in Hebrews but go to James and then 1 Peter Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, let me make this clear and again this is going to be maybe a very educational sermon but I want you to understand, you say how do we treat the pastor? how does this all work? because sometimes people get this idea and people will come to our church and a lot of times they're new Christians or they've never just been part of a church that is a strong pastor led church our type of church is independent fundamental Baptist, we try to model biblical Christianity we try to follow what the Bible says and the Bible teaches that churches are to be pastor led we're not elder led in the sense that there's a board of elders, we're not deacon led, we're dead sure not lady led we have a strong male spiritual leader called a pastor, we are a pastor led church but sometimes people come to a church like ours and they don't realize it and I'm just trying to help you and make sure you understand this the pastor led church, the pastor has the authority over the canopy of anything that falls under the umbrella of the local church because sometimes people get this idea they get the idea that says, well pastor just preaches pastor gets up to preach, he's the one that writes the sermons, he decides what Bible study we're going to do he decides what personality he wants to rip on or whatever I'm an advocate, I don't know if you've preached on that yet but you better say nice things and he decides all the things he's going to preach about but his authority extends to there and then we as church members can just kind of run wild with anything else we can do whatever we want and we can do this and do that and start this ministry and have this Bible study, let's start this Friday night Bible study in my living room no, anything that falls under the authority of this local church what are we talking about, we're talking about the preaching of God's word, the teaching of God's word, soul winning, any event anything that falls, look, if you can do it as a result of your connection to this church, that's his authority his authority does not extend only through preaching, our influence is done through preaching but his authority, his rulership falls under the canopy of the church so you ought to obey the pastor's rules for the church, quite literally, his authority extends to anything under the canopy of this local church now there's a limit to that, what's the limit, 1 Peter chapter 5, are you there? his authority, cause you say, I don't know, this sounds a little, you know, is this like a cult, is this a dictatorship you know, are they just going to run my life, the pastor's going to tell me everything, what to do his authority, let me be clear, extends to anything under the canopy of the local church and for sake of clarity, his authority does not extend to anything outside of the local church 1 Peter chapter 5, look at verse 1, notice Peter, he says the elders, referring to himself, Peter was a pastor he says the elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed, notice he says feed the flock of God which is among you so this is Peter, who is an elder, talking to other elders, he says feed the flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof, notice it's a consistent theme throughout the Bible, the pastor is the overseer he says take the oversight, he is the ruler, taking the oversight thereof, then he says this, not by constraint we're not a cult, we're not going to force you to do anything, he says but willingly, not for filthy lucre, our motivations are right we're not doing it for money, but of a ready mind, notice verse 3, neither as being lords over God's heritage but being in samples to the flock, what does this mean? it means that we are not to dictate into the lives of God's people, see at the end of the day, a pastor, you know, we may call it my church and I don't think there's anything wrong with saying that, this is my church, I should take ownership, you know, I love Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento I love this church as well, but you know, my church, the church that, we start these churches with the idea that we will cut the umbilical cord make them independent, the church in Sacramento is not getting rid of me that easily, and you know, I love that church, it is my church and I don't mean that in an ownership way, I mean that in a part that I'm part of the family, it's part of our church and I love our people, and sometimes we as preachers say, they're my people, aren't there anything wrong with that? we do have to realize that they really are God's people and our authority extends within the church, but not outside the church now we love you, but we're not going to tell you what to do at home, now we may preach what you should do at home but we're not going to enforce what you should or should not do, where or should not wear, watch or should not watch we'll preach that with our authority here at church, we'll say hey, God wants you to not watch certain things and not listen to certain things, and not go certain places, but we're not going to force you to do that because see, the pastor's authority, it extends to the local church so anything done in and out of the local church, falls under the authority of the pastor sometimes people, they don't understand that, they hear that we'll teach that to them, they think, I don't know, you guys are kind of dictators I've had people, you know, come to our church and say, oh we want to have a wedding ceremony at Very Baptist Church, and pastor we'd like you to do the wedding and it's like, okay, well we'd like to do that, you know, let's sit down and talk about some rules right, with the ruler, and you know, you start telling them, well no, we're not going to play Celine Dion and no, we're not going to have a dance, and no, we're not going to do this, and we're not going to do that and you know, young couples look at me all the time and say, you're ruining our wedding I say, well, there's a misunderstanding, it's my wedding you just get to be a part of it because the authority of the pastor, hey, I'm the one that's going to have to give an account to God for the type of music that's played in our church I'm the one that's going to have to stand before God and have an account for the dancing that was allowed and the things that were done, and obviously we don't try to ruin, I mean it's always fun to ruin you know, newlyweds' weddings or whatever, but you know, the goal is not to ruin your life but the point is this, that's the authority of the pastor you say, oh, we'd like to have this event or that event at church, well, we're not going to allow for certain music and we're not going to do, we'll have a funeral, but you're not going to bring alcohol that's the authority of the church, that's the authority of the pastor but we're not going to go to your house and dump out the alcohol now if you had any, if you were worth anything as a Christian, you'd go home and dump out the alcohol but we're not going to physically show up and tell you, you know, do this and do that see, the authority of the pastor extends under the canopy of the church but it does not extend outside of the canopy of the church so when we say obey your pastor, we mean obey the rules he has for this church obey the things that he's declared that he wants done here but there's another thought, go back to Hebrews 13, keep your place there in excuse me, you don't have to keep your place there, you have your place in Hebrews go back to Hebrews 13, you should have your place in Acts, but Hebrews 13 when we say obey the pastor, we mean that you ought to obey the pastor's rules for the church, literal, but we also mean that you should obey the pastor's preaching for the church, spiritually, Hebrews 13, look at verse 7 remember them which have the rule over you, who have, notice these words who have spoken unto you the word of God, isn't that what a pastor does? they have the rule over the church but they also stand up and they speak the word of God brother Jared gets up here three times a week, opens up the word of God and expounds it upon unto you, the Bible says remember them which have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation go back to 1 Peter chapter 5 if you would, you're there in Hebrews, just go back James and 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 2, excuse me, 1 Peter chapter 5, look at verse 2 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 2, notice the words feed the flock of God, this is what pastors are told to do the flock is the congregation of believers, what are we to do? we are to feed the flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof go to 1 Peter chapter number 2 if you would, 1 Peter chapter number 2 our job is to feed you the word of God you've heard this before, I'm sure you've heard it before and I want you to understand how it works when you got saved, we're going to look at a couple of verses here in a minute when you got saved you were a new creature the Bible says therefore when we become, when we place our faith in Christ when we receive Christ, we become the sons of God we become a new creature and when you became the son of God when you became the daughter of God, you were a babe in Christ, you were a baby and then our job is to help you grow 1 Peter chapter 2, look at verse 2 as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious go back to Hebrews chapter 5 if you would see you come to church like this and we begin to feed you the word of God this is why we actually preach the Bible around here don't all churches preach the Bible? have you been to other churches? I mean I'm talking about even good independent pharaoh Baptist churches churches you get there, you get one verse and then 40 minutes of who knows what you know and I'm not against illustrations and I'm not against stories and I'm not against those things but our job is to preach the word of God Paul said preach the word to Timothy, he said be instant in season, out of season see you say why do you preach the word of God? here's why we preach the word of God because we are to feed the flock as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word of God see you grow through the word of God, Hebrews 5 and verse 13 says this for everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe Hebrews 5 13 now look here's how it works you show up to church like this and you start learning things we teach you about salvation, we teach you about baptism, we teach you about church membership and as you grow you start off with the milk of the word and then you start learning some heavier things we might start teaching you about separation, start teaching you about dress standards start teaching you about prophecy and start teaching you all sorts of different things and things that God wants you to learn and grow see it is the word of God that helps you grow that's why the Bible says that the ruler is the one who has spoken unto you the word of God you grow as you learn and apply the word of God and it's not just learning you must apply it look at verse 13 again Hebrews 5 13 for everyone that uses, you see the word uses there it's not enough to have it you got to use it for everyone that uses the milk is unskillful in the word how do we know when you're a babe in Christ and look being a babe in Christ has nothing to do with your physical age has nothing to do with how long you've been saved I'm about to show you, you say well how do I know when I'm mature as a Christian here's how you know, everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word when you're unskillful in the word you can't handle the word of God you say what do you mean, here's what I mean you can't on Monday morning get up, grab the Bible, open it and read it for yourself you say well anybody can do that, oh really are you doing it? because most Christians haven't read the Bible cover to cover one time well anybody can do that, that's not what I'm asking I'm not saying can you do it, I'm asking are you doing it because when you are skillful in the word that's maturity see a baby has to be fed, right? children don't feed themselves, babies don't feed themselves you got to feed them, you got to give them the milk and we have no problem doing that, you come to a church like this we'll feed you milk we'll feed you the word notice for everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe but strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age see eventually a baby doesn't have to be fed milk anymore because they start maturing and growing and they start grabbing for stuff and they start feeding themselves and we as parents teach them how to feed themselves and they become of full age even those, how does that happen spiritually? here's how, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil you say Pastor Jimenez how do I know if I'm a mature Christian? you know you're a mature Christian when you can start feeding yourself spiritually you're mature when the only time you get the word of God fed to you is when brother Jared feeds it to you here at church you're a babe I'm not saying that to offend you, I just want you to understand where you're at spiritually you say well once I start feeding myself I don't ever have to come to church well here's the thing once babies start feeding themselves they might be able to start, you know, make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and these older kids or whatever and they start feeding themselves but they still need mama, right? because just because a six year old can feed themselves doesn't mean they're going to feed themselves well a six year old can go into the cupboard and grab a bag of Cheez-Its and you know, put a, maybe an eight year old can put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and eat it but they need mom and dad there to make sure they eat their green beans and eat their broccoli and get some good protein, right? so look, even in the growth you say well I started, you know, I started reading the Bible on my own well praise the Lord, I hope you have, I hope you will you say I started with the book of Proverbs, great I started with the book of John, great I started with the book of Psalms, awesome I started with the gospels, praise the Lord but you know, you need a brother Jared to get you through the book of Judges you need a pastor to get you through the book of Ezekiel you need a pastor to get you through the book of Leviticus see we teach you the word of God, we help you grow and then this is how you grow as a Christian as a Christian, we preach the word of God to feed you the word of God to help you grow we teach the entire word of God Acts chapter 20, if you can, go back there Acts chapter 20, verse 27 Acts chapter 20 and verse 27, notice what the apostle Paul says he says, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God one of my goals as a pastor of Arity Baptist Church is to preach through every verse of the Bible to our church family you say why? that I might stand up one day and say I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost made you overseer to feed the church of God you say, how do I treat my pastor? well, you ought to obey the pastor's rules for the church the pastor may have some things he wants for this church and his authority does not extend outside of this ministry but within this ministry you ought to obey him but you know what else? you ought to obey his preaching when he stands up and preaches the word of God you ought to obey it, you ought to do it please understand this and don't take this the wrong way and I don't mean for it to sound the wrong way but we do not preach to be heard we preach to be obeyed we preach for application we don't preach to be heard we don't stand up here and preach so that people can stand you know, walk up to us after the service and say that was a great sermon, that was the greatest sermon I've ever heard now look, we appreciate it when people say that I'm not saying it's wrong for you to say that if it's a great sermon, it was a blessing to you go ahead and let brother Jared know but you know what? then go home on Monday and do it obey it it's for your benefit obey them that have the rule over you submit yourselves for they watch for your soul I think my brother Jared was preaching that at me well who else was he preaching? the ghost? why was he preaching it? he preceeded that? and by the way, let me just say this any time a pastor preaches something you're like, I think he was preaching that at me there's like five people in the church that that applies to pastor said something about whatever pastor said something about smoking there's like people in our church that smoke calm down but even if you're the only one you need to hear it for they watch for your souls that they that must give a cup that they may do it with joy and that's profitable for you so he said what do I do with my pastor? you ought to obey him you ought to obey his rules you ought to obey his preaching he's trying to help you grow he's trying to help you mature go back to Hebrews 13 while you turn there let me just read to you from Ephesians chapter 4 you don't have to turn here I'll read Ephesians chapter 4 you go back to Hebrews 13 Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 says this and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers here he's talking about positions of spiritual leadership he says he gave some pastors and teachers for what purpose? for the perfecting of the saints the word perfect means to make complete to make whole we use the word perfect like there's nothing wrong with it that's not the way that our King James Bible use the word perfect the word perfect means to make it complete to make it whole why did God give you pastors and teachers right? you have a pastor his name is pastor Jimenez right now you have a teacher his name is brother Jared one day your teacher will be your pastor but you'll have other teachers why did God give you those? for the perfecting for the maturing for the completing of the saints you need to grow you don't have it all put together look and you never will have it all put together the apostle Paul probably the greatest Christian other than the Lord Jesus Christ the greatest Christian who ever lived said I have not yet attained what are we trying to do? we're trying to help you grow for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man a complete man by the way that's what the Bible says in the book of Job when the Bible says that Job was a perfect man it doesn't mean he was sinless it means he was a mature well-balanced Christian he was a perfect notice unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait Jeremiah chapter 3 and verse 15 don't turn there the Bible says this and I will give you pastors according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding God, obey your pastor's preaching let me give you a second one tonight I said number one you should obey your pastor number two you should follow your pastor how to treat your pastor you ought to follow him are you there in Hebrews 13 look at verse 7 again Hebrews 13 verse 7 remember them which have the rule over you who has spoken unto you the word of God notice these words whose faith follow whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation what does that mean? it means that you ought to follow the direction of the church notice it says whose faith follow 1st Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 1 you don't have to turn there Paul said this be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ spiritual leadership sometimes people attack pastors why should I follow you I need to only follow God I need to only follow Christ Paul said hey be ye followers of me even also as I am a follower of Christ you ought to follow your spiritual leadership as they follow their leadership their head as they follow of course as we all follow Christ and as we follow the word of God but the Bible says here that you ought to follow their faith whose faith follow now what does that mean to follow their faith well first of all it means that you ought to follow their direction for the church you know that different churches have different directions different churches have different things that they're doing that's okay now look every church needs to do certain things we all need to be the pillar and ground of the truth we all need to preach the word of God we all need to go sowing we understand that but with that there is some wiggle room for churches to have different sorts of things that they might focus on some churches may focus on media and making videos and documentaries and things like that does the Bible require us to do that the Bible does not require us to do that could somebody be a successful pastor and never put out a video that gets 173,000 views on YouTube of course they could but you know some churches have decided to make that part it's something that God has allowed them to do something that they can reach people with there's nothing wrong with that our church has a little prison ministry and I won't take the time to tell you the story but a lot of it had to do with a family in our church that helped us get that going and you know it started with us writing letters to one person we loved in prison and today up to this point I think we've got 47 people who we send transcribed sermons to every week in prison all over this country and I hope that number one day is a hundred I hope that number one day is five hundred I hope that number one day is a thousand we might need some help you know if that happens does every church in America have to send transcribed sermons to prisoners no but it's something we're doing there are some things that all churches should be doing and then there's other things that not every church needs to be doing you know different churches have different flavors they have different things things that they may want to do as a ministry and you know when it comes to your church you ought to let the pastor set the tone you ought to let him set the direction every year at our church we take a special offering we call it the vision offering well you're taking it this coming Sunday we're taking it in Sacramento this morning in Sacramento I preached my annual vision offering sermon and our vision offering is not us just trying to raise money our vision offering is me really casting a vision for our church what we want to do and the goals we have and the things we'd like to accomplish and then of course motivating to raise money to accomplish those things to do those things but let me tell you something sometimes people show up to church and they say oh no no no no you know pastor you preach and let's go in this direction let's do this and let's do that but you know what you ought to do as a church member is you ought to figure out what direction are you going let me follow your faith whose faith follow you set the direction you cast the vision and let me help you got to follow your pastor follow his direction there's nothing more frustrating over the last 10 years of ministry we have some great people in Sacramento God has given us some of the greatest people in Sacramento that has made up our church and Verity Baptist Church but let me tell you something there's something there's nothing more frustrating than having to fight and kind of butt heads with church people that are trying to take the direction of the church in a different way don't do that all churches are different all churches are different at our church there's something that we've done something that works for us this in Sacramento actually does not work here in Fresno it may work here in the future you know all churches are transitioning as well brother Jared and I had a conversation about this recently but in Sacramento I push for Saturday soul winning now we have Thursday soul winning we have Sunday soul winning we have other times for soul winning but I push for our main soul winning group to go out on Saturday morning that works for us it works very well for us we get a lot of visitors as a result here in Fresno it's a little different Sunday seems to be more of the big day and you guys get a lot of visitors on Sunday nights I wouldn't try to fight that I just realized that's how it is here and I'd get on the man of God's vision and I'd get on the man of God's vision and I'd get on the man of God's vision and try to help him with that you know but in Sacramento for us I try to push Saturday soul winning the Lord has blessed us over the last several weeks we've had somewhere between 90 and 110 soul winners out every Saturday morning and I appreciate that and I appreciate people following my vision in regards to that over the years though my wife and I have had to confront some people look people don't want to go on Saturday and they want to keep their Saturday open for whatever they want to do that's fine with us no problem we've got Thursday soul winning for you we've got Sunday soul winning for you that's not a problem at all we're not going to tell you what to do in your personal life but when people make it their agenda and start going to soul winners and saying hey don't go on Saturday let's all go on Sunday don't go on Saturday why are you trying to fight the pastor's vision? I'm not saying that every church has to go soul winning I'm just saying so why don't you just get on the pastor's vision you know when brother Jerry is the pastor here why don't you just figure out what's he doing what's he pushing what's his agenda what has God called him to do what direction is he going and then you get behind that and you say I'm going to follow you whose faith follow you ought to follow his direction you ought to follow your pastor's direction for the church but you ought not only follow his direction for the church you ought to follow his direction in life look down at Hebrews 13 again look at verse 7 remember them which have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God whose faith follow then he says this considering the end of their conversation the word conversation means their lifestyle their behavior their way of life their personal lifestyle the Bible says that you ought to be able to look at your pastor and consider the end of his conversation see a pastor is to be an example go back to 1 Peter if you would you're there in Hebrews just go to James and 1 Peter 1 Peter chapter 5 1 Peter chapter 5 and look at verse 3 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 3 I apologize I'm only on the second point we may need to put we may need to put those on ice because I'm going to be a little while 1 Peter chapter 5 look at verse 3 neither as being lords over God's heritage notice these words but being in samples to the flock you say what's your job as a pastor one of my jobs is to be an example to the flock my wife is to be an example to the flock Brother Jared Miss Heidi their family 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 12 you don't have to turn I'll just read this for you 1 Timothy 4, 12 says let no man despise thy youth this is Paul speaking to Timothy this is a pastoral epistle this is Paul speaking to a pastor he says let no man despise thy youth and by the way that's why we know that spiritual maturity has nothing to do with physical age Timothy was a young man but yet he was an elder when I got into ministry I was a very young man today I like to think I'm a young man I'm getting older everyday but Paul told Timothy he said hey let no man despise thy youth he says but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation in charity, in spirit in faith, in purity and notice he says be an example not to the believers but of the believers so what does that mean? See people think oh the pastor he's an example to the believers so that means that he has to have this high standard in life and we're going to and then we all get to kind of you know lack a little bit no, no, no the pastor's not an example to the believers he's an example of the believer which means that you ought to look at him and say hey what pastor is doing with his family that's what I should be doing with my family hey how pastor works that's how I ought to be working hey what pastor is doing that's what I ought to be doing see you say how do I treat my pastor you got to obey him you got to follow him you got to follow his direction for this church and you ought to follow him in life be thou an example of the believer go to 1 Corinthians chapter 9 if you would 1 Corinthians chapter 9 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians chapter 9 I said tonight number 1 you should obey your pastor number 2 you should follow your pastor number 3 you should provide for the physical needs of your pastor now this point I want to give a disclaimer I'm not saying this needs to happen immediately and in some cases it may never happen we're talking of course about a pastor being full time having the church provide for their physical needs a pastor does not need to be full time for the first four years of our ministry in Sacramento I worked a full time job and you know that didn't make us any less of a church and there are situations where a pastor may never go into full time into that full time capacity that doesn't make them any less of a pastor but what I believe is this that if the church grows and if the church is able to and if the pastor wants to the church should not only obey them should not only follow them but the church should provide for their physical needs now Paul gives us some arguments for how you know providing for the needs of your pastor look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 7 first I like Paul he's very good at systematically putting down an argument first he begins with the logical argument the logical argument is just this he says look you ought to pay your pastor you ought to provide for the needs of your pastors he says it just makes logical sense he says 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 7 who goeth to warfare at any time at his own charges I was in the military many of you were many of you were in the military and when you're in the military you know nobody nobody says hey go to Qatar go to Afghanistan but buy your own ticket and you know try to get a gun and you know some bullets would be good if you can find one a helmet preferably not a bike helmet but you know something he says who goeth who goeth a war any time of his own charges look when somebody somebody sends somebody off to war they provide what they need to go fight that battle Paul's just giving the logical argument here he says who goeth a war at any time at his own charges then he gives another example logical he says who planted the vineyard and eateth not the fruit thereof anybody plant a vineyard and not eat from the fruit that comes from that vineyard now you may not eat all the fruit you might use some of it and sell some of it and do other things but generally speaking when someone plants a vineyard they eat of the fruit thereof and who feedeth the flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock notice verse 8 say I these things as a man see because Paul's giving us this logical argument but he says hey don't confuse my logical argument as the logic of man he said I'm not just saying this as a man or sayeth not the law the same old doesn't God's law teach this concept as well? he's about to quote the word of God verse 8 say I these things as a man or sayeth not the law the same also then in verse 9 he quotes the Old Testament he says for it is written in the law of Moses thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn he goes back and he pulls out and I'm kind of offended at Paul because he's like let me tell you something God says you ought to provide for the needs of your pastor and people would say well where does the Bible say that Paul? and he says well doesn't the Bible say muzzle not the ox that treadeth out the corn? and then you know we as pastors are like thanks Paul you're calling us an ox? but here's what Paul's saying Paul's saying look when an ox goes out into the field and it's plowing and it's working don't muzzle its mouth don't cover its mouth so that it cannot eat he said when it's working allow him to eat provide for its physical needs Paul's saying feed the ox he said my pastor's kind of an ox okay well feed him thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn is Paul some sort of like animal rights guy? no notice verse 9 does God take care for oxen? Paul says look God didn't say that because he's really worried about the oxen although it makes sense to not just work your ox and not feed your ox and give water your ox look at verse 10 or saith he it all together for our sakes for our sakes no doubt this is written that he that ploweth should plow in hope and he that threshest in hope should be partaker of this hope look at verse 11 if we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? you come to a church like this you say wow I've learned so much wow my life has changed wow my life has transformed man ever since I started coming here I've been learning and I've been growing and God's been helping me and the preaching of the word of God has really transformed my life well if we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? here's what he's saying if your pastor is providing for you spiritually then why won't you provide for him physically? see the biblical argument for providing for the needs of your pastor is that you should not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn this concept is found all throughout the Bible keep your place right there in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 go with me to 1 Timothy chapter 5 if you would find all the t-books they're all clustered together 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy Titus 1 Timothy chapter 5 look at verse 17 1 Timothy 5, 17 1 Timothy 5, 17 says this let the elders let the elders those are the pastors let the elders that rule well by the way let me just say this not all pastors are created equal some rule better than others I'm very happy when I come to Fresno and I see how well run this church is sometimes and don't ask me where because I won't tell you I go preach the Lord has allowed me to preach in different places and go and sometimes every once in a while I'm just kind of like you know I'm not the pastor here just don't pay attention you know service starts at 7 and then actually starts at 7, 15 you know those kind of things you know I don't know if I'm an advocate or type A or what I'll have to listen to brother Jared but the Bible says let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially they who labor in the word and doctrine you know you can tell when somebody labors in the word and doctrine for the scripture saith thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn now there's a context and the laborer is worthy of his reward you ought to provide for the needs of your pastor go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 if you wouldn't the church ought to provide for the needs of the pastor eventually if it grows to that place if it's needed it should not be opposed to that sometimes people get this idea we're not going to pay the pastor you know the Bible teaches you say how should I treat my pastor well you ought to obey him you ought to follow him you ought to provide for his physical needs I said this recently I was preaching in Boise I said this and I don't think it's wrong if people say this but you know people have to say like we pay the pastor we pay the pastor to preach sometimes people say to me you know you get paid to preach you know sometimes I joke around people sometimes I don't say anything but you know sometimes I'll joke with people and say what does that even mean you pay me to preach like if the sermon's good you know $49.99 but if it's not good then you get like a 10% discount like what do you mean you get paid to preach you know every once in a while you get a blue light sale and sermon's 50% off you know you don't pay the pastor to preach you provide for his physical needs so that he can do the work that God has called him to do and our job is to provide while the ox is working don't muzzle his mouth so we ought to obey the pastor we ought to follow the pastor we ought to provide for the pastor I told you to go to 1 Thessalonians I'd like you to I'd like you to go there keep your place right there but go back to 1 Corinthians 9 if you would let me just read these verses to you real quickly 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 12 look at verse actually look at verse 13 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 13 do ye not know that they he's gonna give he gave an argument for providing for the needs of the pastor now he's gonna give the process how does this happen he says do ye not know that they talking about the Levitical priesthood that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple and they that wait at the altar are partakers with the altar he's talking about the Old Testament Levites the priests he says look in the Old Testament people would bring of their tithes and their offerings to the temple to the tabernacle to the storehouse and the spiritual leaders there the priests and the Levites they would work in that some of that would be used to have a feast days with the congregations some of that would be used for things that needed to be done but they would also eat from that that's how they got paid and he says this is the pattern for how you pay the pastor look at verse 14 even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel see eventually eventually the offerings the tithes and offerings that come into a church yes those are used for events yes those are used for this event and that event and a ladies tea or a married couple sweetheart banquet or whatever but also from that you ought to provide for the needs of your pastor and you ought to be generous with your pastor the Bible says they're worthy of double honor especially they that labor in the Word and Doctrine go back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 we're talking about how to treat your pastor number 1 you ought to obey your pastor you ought to obey his rules he sets the rules for the church but you ought to obey his preaching as well we won't force that but it's in your best interest you ought to follow your pastor you ought to follow his direction for the church and you ought to follow his direction in life you ought to provide for the needs of your pastor let me give you the fourth one we'll finish up how to treat your pastor you should appreciate your pastor 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 look at verse 12 and we beseech you brethren to know them to know them which labor among you don't ever say this well what does pastor do all week anyway? you know what God says that it's your job to know them which labor among you I mean pay attention sometimes people show up to churches they're like wow look at this beautiful event this married couple of sweetheart bank well look at all these decorations and you know we get these nice pictures taken and this and that look at all these things and they think you know did that just come out of nowhere? pastor must have some great faith he walked into an empty room got on his knees prayed and poof you know it all appeared that'd be nice if it happened that way but you know usually when events happen somebody was there the night before making it happen somebody was there getting it ready when the man of God stands up to preach he spends hours during the week preparing, reading, thinking, writing a good pastor is busy at work the ministry is work the Bible says that if any man desire the office of a bishop he desires a good work it's work and we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over you that's your spiritual authority in the Lord and admonish you that's the teaching and preaching of God's Word and then he says this verse 13 to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves see you ought to appreciate your pastor a good pastor will work hard a good pastor will accomplish much a good pastor will be there when you need him and will make himself available and we understand that there are limits and boundaries and all those things but we are laboring among you we are over you spiritually and admonishing you with the Word of God that's what we do that's what God has called us to do pastors I don't know I don't know if all pastors are like this I know for me it's this way and maybe it's my own inability to get this under control God has given me the gift of administration I think that the Lord has allowed me to be able to see things and organize things in a way that work well but maybe this is just I need to organize but you know I'll be honest with you the pastors I know and I can tell you for myself we don't take days off it just doesn't really work every time I told my wife I'm tired of this I'm going to take a day off somebody dies nobody ever likes to check with me before they die if I'm taking the day off then some emergency happens there's this and that there's a hospital visit there are things that need to be done and I'm not complaining I'm just telling you the ministry is work acknowledge that realize that you have a man here that works a full time job has a wife and children three sermons that help you grow every week and takes you hiking and does this and does that and takes care of you and has lunch with you and all those things a good pastor works hard accomplishes much and when a good pastor is accomplishing then a good pastor should be appreciated 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 13 you say how do we appreciate our pastor well let me just give you some thoughts from this verse notice it says and to esteem them the word esteem means to be thoughtful to think a lot of appreciation just has to do with esteeming being thoughtful you know you ought to be thoughtful with the Pozarnsky family for their special days birthdays anniversaries birthdays for Brother Jared and Miss Heidi birthdays for the kids in their lives just be thoughtful you ought to be thoughtful from time to time you know is there any way we can help is there a need we can fill is there something we can do it says and to esteem them then he says this very highly you ought to be thoughtful you ought to be generous in love for their work sake and then he says and be at peace among yourselves you ought to appreciate your pastor you ought to love on your pastor and love your pastor just you know just on the way here my wife and I were joking and you know you ever have those dark jokes where you're joking but you know it's kind of like you know and we're like man it sure be nice if Brother Jared and Miss Heidi came back to Sacramento you know and then of course it's like yeah that would be nice that would be good that would mean something went really bad wrong in Fresno here's what I'll tell you take care of them we'll take them back we'll take them away from you don't mistreat them love them realize that there's work and there's effort and there's heartache and there's hard times they go into ministry appreciate them the church is getting ready to transition an independent autonomous local church I hope you're excited I'm excited for what God is going to do I'm excited to for the steps Brother Jared and I even just this trip we'll start talking about how to transition this into an autonomous church and you know I'm excited to find out things like the name of this church I really hope it's not you know but you know he's the boss so whatever but as you transition as you transition remember you say man we have a pastor now that's here how do we treat him? you ought to obey him you ought to follow him you ought to provide for him and you ought to appreciate him let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer you