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Man well, it's great to be here tonight first Thessalonians chapter number five The part that I want to focus on is starting in verse number 12 there where it says and we beseech you brethren to know Them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their Work's sake and be at peace among yourselves Now we exhort you brethren warn them that are unruly Comfort the feeble-minded Support the weak be patient toward all men and the title of my sermon tonight is the right attitude Toward your pastor the right attitude toward your pastor now when it comes to this subject There are people who could make mistakes in either direction here there are some people who lift up their pastor on too high of a pedestal and Idolize him and make him into some kind of a god man And then on the other hand there are people who don't have proper respect and proper esteem for their pastor So as the saying goes there's a ditch on either side of the road here We need to make sure that we get a biblical balance from the Bible on what the right attitude Toward our pastor is number one I take from this passage here is that we should emphasize the works not the man Emphasize the works not the man look what it says in verse number 12 And we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you notice the emphasis on work Which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love For their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves So the Bible is telling us that those who labor among us and are over us in the Lord Which would obviously be the pastor but not only that that could refer to brother Aaron Thompson Because he's over you he's laboring among you he's over you nor he's the ministry leader here So this isn't just the senior pastor But this could be for other leaders in the ministry and the Bible says to esteem them very highly So we ought not be disrespectful. I have a low regard for men of God who preach to us We should esteem them very highly in love why for their works sake For their work's sake we should always put the emphasis on the works not on the man We don't want to elevate a person too highly. We don't want to elevate a man too highly See the Bible says here to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake But it also says before that it says know them that labor among you. Do you see that? We beseech you brethren to know them Which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you So what's he saying, you know get to know them as a person know the man Understand who he is and it's great to learn about his personal life But when we esteem him, it shouldn't be because of his personal life or because of who he is as a person We should esteem him for the works sake we should put more emphasis on the work that's being done, you know Great sermons that have been preached or great soul winning that's been done That's what we should get excited about not lifting up a personality or getting too into idolizing people Now if you would flip over to Acts chapter 17 in your Bible acts 17 He says we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and To esteem them very highly in love for your for their works sake and be at peace among yourselves Now we exhort you brethren Warned them that are unruly So right after he says to know them Which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and esteem them very highly in love for their works sake He says right after that warn those who are unruly now. What does it mean to be? Unruly well, we can see there. The root word is rule and then it's Unruly an unruly person is someone who doesn't want to listen to any kind of authority whatsoever They're just unruly. They're gonna do whatever they want. They're not gonna listen to leadership and listen to me It's critical in church that we have leadership If leadership weren't important if it were if it didn't matter Whether we have a pastor then why is there a whole chapter in 1st Timothy 3 and why is there a whole chapter in Titus 1? Explaining the qualifications for having a pastor. It's important. It's critical Why because the church is not a place of anarchy The church is not a free-for-all the church is not a place where anything goes There has to be somebody there to constantly say no And that has to constantly be watching for the wolves that try to come in false doctrine that tries to come in Sin that tries to come in and listen the bigger the church gets this becomes a big job Perverts are coming in false doctrine comes in all kinds of bad things go on and as a pastor You have to stop those things not just allow all Bible versions Or just allow all doctrines and allow all types of people to come No, when people are living in Drunkenness and fornication. They're not welcome according to 1st Corinthians chapter 5 The Bible teaches that we have to have some standards We have to have some structure and there has to be a leader that makes those decisions and that that leads the church This matters, but there are people out there who are Unruly meaning that they don't want to submit to any kind of authority And the Bible also describes these people as despising government or despising authority in 2nd Peter chapter 2 Now the by, you know Pastor Jimenez, I don't know how many of you heard about this up here But he just had to throw these idiots out of Verity Baptist Church down in Sacramento this guy Evan I met the guy a few times. He was a complete bozo And Actually, I'm sorry. He would be in the next phrase comfort the feeble-minded but when this guy Was thrown out of the church Which the only thing that was amazing about that whole scenario was how patient pastor Jimenez was That he waited that long to throw him out. That was the only thing that was amazing But what's funny is that one of the people that that guy took with him when he was thrown out This is the comment was oh, well, you know, we in our little circle we in our little group we just hate Dictatorship we just despise dictatorship, but you know what? They really are saying is we just hate authority We just hate authority We just hate anybody telling us what to do about anything and that's a person that's unruly So you got a bunch of unruly people and their ringleader is feeble-minded Meaning that he's mentally not all there and So we need to understand that we need to have the right attitude toward our pastor not an unruly attitude But one that is steams him very highly in love Not because he's such a cool guy Not because we just look up to him as a person or think that he's so cool personally No It's because of the work Esteem him very highly in love for the work's sake for his work's sake and be a peace among yourselves see the type of leadership that we see in the Bible is Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord And so that's the kind of leader that the pastor should be so we should Love him and respect him for the work's sake But number two we should give the pastor the benefit of the doubt Give the pastor the benefit of the doubt Acts 17 11 is a pretty famous verse about the Bereans how they search the scriptures daily It's something that we've probably all heard before acts chapter 17 verse 11 these were more noble than those in Thessalonica and that they received the word with all readiness of mind and Searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so and we talked about that verse a lot when we talk about Searching the scriptures daily whether those things are so we don't ever want to just blindly believe what we hear being preached or Blindly believe what people tell us we've got to search the Bible ourselves on a daily basis to figure out whether it's right But what a lot of people forget though is the balancing part of this verse the first part where it says that they received the word with all Readiness of mind what does that mean they're ready to receive what's being preached and They search the scriptures daily whether those things are so so again. We have a balance here We have a balance with yes esteem the pastor very highly in love for his work's sake But because of his works not because of the man number two we need to give him the benefit of the doubt What does that mean that means when you come to church to hear the Word of God preach? You shouldn't be there just to pick it apart You should be ready to learn you should receive the Word of God with all readiness of mind now That doesn't mean that you blindly believe everything you hear because you do go home and search the scriptures daily Whether those things are so but you don't come to church with this attitude like we're not well I'm gonna make sure that everything that he says is right on you know, and you're just watching him You know the watchdog, you know making sure that he does everything right, you know, that's a bad attitude and Remember the sermons called the right attitude toward your pastor Wouldn't have a good attitude and look if you can't have a good attitude toward your pastor My question is why do you even go to that church? I? Mean find a pastor that you can respect Find a pastor that you can esteem very highly in love for his work's sake Find a pastor where you can show up and have a ready mind To receive the message that he's prepared for you and to receive the teaching that he's giving and if you have to be that Skeptical and and just that much on edge about his teaching, you know, why are you even in that church? You should be in a church of a pastor that you can respect and if you love him and if you respect him and if you Believe that he is a true man of God teaching you the true word of God Then why don't you give him the benefit of the doubt now? What do I mean by that? That means that you should go into it with a default of he's telling me the truth Now look if something doesn't jive with the Bible we go with the Bible We search the scriptures daily whether those things are so but by default We should default believe the pastor Trust the pastor not blindly trust him not blindly believe him still search the scriptures But in general the default is to believe him Not just well, I'm going into everything neutral everything neutral. I don't know whether I'm gonna believe him or not And then sometimes the pastor I have to make a decision He has to throw somebody out and he says hey, we have to throw out these here. Well, I need to hear both sides Really that's funny cuz I don't if pastor Jimenez throw somebody out. I'm by default. I'm on his side That's my default that's my starting point. I'm not well How do I know brother Jimenez isn't lying because here's the thing when brother Jimenez calls me on the phone? I love brother Jimenez. I respect brother Jimenez. I'm gonna assume. He's telling me the truth Until there's some evidence that he's not he's innocent until proven guilty And so I'm gonna give him the benefit. He's not even my pastor. I'm just saying I he's my friend though I love him. I respect him. I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt give your pastor the benefit of the doubt and Then search the scriptures. So there's a balance here Go if you would to first Timothy chapter 5 first Timothy chapter 5 Here's another verse on on giving your pastor the benefit of the doubt because we're talking about the right attitude Toward your pastor number one Emphasize the works not the man You know, it's not about his personality. It's not about whether he's short or super tall. It's it's about the works Number two give him the benefit of the doubt the Bible says in first Timothy chapter 5 verse 17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially they who labor in the word and doctrine for the scripture say it thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the Corn and the labors worthy of his hire against an elder receive not an accusation But before two or three witnesses then that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear So the Bible again says here against an elder receive not an accusation But before two or three witnesses meaning give him the benefit of the doubt until there's real evidence That he's lying to you or real evidence that he's in error Don't just go into it with a default of neutrality or a default of being against him You know have a default of being for him of being for your pastor standing with him That should be the default all the time and it doesn't mean we just blindly follow him off a cliff Because hey if he does wrong and if there's two or three witnesses, hey, we're gonna call him out on it We're gonna call him on the carpet, but by default we're gonna give him the benefit of the doubt But not only that if you look in verse number 17 it says Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor number three to have the right attitude toward your pastor Realize that your pastor has authority Realize that he has authority okay, so this is also a balance because Obviously the pastor doesn't have an unlimited authority and obviously he doesn't have authority in all areas of our life But he does have authority because the Bible clearly says here let the elders that rule well Be counted worthy of double honor. So the pastor or the elder is a ruler now again This is where the unruly get a little uncomfortable in the sermon But it does say rule flip over to Hebrews just a few pages to the right in your Bible Hebrews chapter number 13 So number three realize that he has authority Hebrews chapter 13 and look at verse number 7 The Bible says remember them which have the rule over you Who have spoken unto you the Word of God? whose faith follow Consider in the end of their conversation So it says remember them which have the rule over you look at verse 17 obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with Grief for that is unprofitable For you see at the end of the day when the Bible is telling you Hey, remember them that have the rule over you submit yourselves obey them that have the rule over you at the end of the day It's for your benefit. That's what he's saying. He's saying they must give an account They want to do that with joy not with grief. Why because it's unprofitable for you See if the pastor just lets anything go that's unprofitable for you If if the pastor does not rule well If he does not bring the hammer down if he does not crush false doctrine and Crush sin that comes in the church and starts spreading like a cancer if he doesn't do it It's not really him that suffers as much as you that suffer You see he and his family. They're still gonna have the right doctrine no matter what happens in the church You know, he's not gonna allow fornication into his own home. He's not gonna allow drug use and drunkenness into his own home He's not gonna allow Sodomites and pedophiles and weirdos to enter into his own home But you know what? He wants to do is he wants to also protect the church from these horrible things And he wants to stay within the bounds of Scripture But he wants to make sure that he draws the line where God draws the line why because it's profitable for you He's trying to help you. He's trying to be a blessing to you His family will be fine and let me tell you some there are a lot of pastors today who all they care about is their own family So they keep their own family safe. They keep everything right in their own family They teach their own children strict rules, but then when it comes to getting in the pulpit, they don't preach hard on sin They preach just love and sweetness and light constantly They let all the freaks and weirdos in what because they don't really love the people So then they let it be a free-for-all, you know You should be glad if you're if you do have a pastor that does bring the hammer down and does Put a stop to wicked things that they go on you know and and I've been pastoring out for almost 12 years and I've had to make some hard decisions and I've had to make some decisions that were pretty easy You know when people are bringing to me evidence that somebody's a pedophile You know That's an easy decision to throw that piece of garbage out of the church and to get that Wicked pervert away from children away from our families. That's an easy decision I'll tell you what's a hard what's a hard decision is when is when someone brings you evidence to something like that But it's just one witness Because then you know, you're looking at the Bible and the Bible says hey, I've got to have two witnesses here And I don't know a hundred percent sure that this person's guilty But there's a chance that they could be you know, that's a tough decision I put you in a hard place where you're you know What do I do here because you want to protect people you want to get that wickedness out of your church? But you know, you know but when there's two at when there's two witnesses and when the evidence is Concrete and we recently had to deal with something at our church where there was concrete evidence of reprobates in our midst and you know what that was an easy decision to throw them out and to get them out and you know What we've got to do that why for you? Because you know what my kids aren't gonna be going over to their house anyway, I Mean I could just tell my family. Hey, you know stay away from those people Or I could protect everybody And get the pedophiles out get the homos out get the reprobates out whatever the situation whatever the case may be Certainly not gonna invite him in like the mainstream independent fundamental Baptist movement has now decided to do No, we're gonna get him out You see when we throw out the drunkard when we throw out the fornicator When we throw out the heretic it's because we care about you and we want to protect you We want your children to see that fornicator get thrown out and realize this is not an acceptable behavior Because the world is telling us all day long that fornication is fine. The world's gonna tell us Hey this buds for you So we need the church to send a strong message that says no to these things to preach hard on sin And you may not always understand why the sermon has to be so hard You may not understand always why the pastor has to beat the pulpit and scream and yell you may not Understand why people are being thrown out of the church and why the fight rages, but you know what we do understand Give us the benefit of the doubt Give us the benefit of the doubt and look if we're wrong we're wrong prove us wrong But until then give us the benefit of the doubt Look, we've got to give an account to God someday We've got to give an account and we want to give an account with joy We want to go before the Lord and say you know what Lord Let me present to you The church, you know that you put me in trust of here. Here's the work. Here's what we've done Here's what we've got not well, you know a little bit embarrassed doing it with grief Well Lord can I tell you about what I've done personally. Oh, oh, oh the church. I pastored. Oh, well, yeah, there's that too, but It got kind of weird, you know You know, we don't want to you know, we want to give an account to the Lord and say you know what I did my best I I I I I I I ruled the thing You know, that's what you told me to do You know, that's what you told me to do and so we need to get the right attitude. Amen it says here in verse number 24 salute all them that have the rule over you and All the Saints so again, it's just another verse showing everybody's not in charge There's those that have the rule and then there's all the rest of the Saints, right? So somebody's got a lead somebody's got to be in charge Somebody's got to be in authority and it's not somebody who's been saved for six months It's not somebody who's been saved for two years. It's not somebody who's read through the Bible Eighty eighty percent of one time through you know, they're there four fifths through their first time through the Bible and They know everything Now you got to realize that the pastor has authority Okay, and then number four we got to follow the pastor's example Have the good attitude toward our pastor follow his example go to 1st Peter chapter 5 1st Peter chapter 5 1st Peter chapter 5 the Bible reads in verse number 1 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 feed the flock of God, which is among you Taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre But of a ready mind neither as being Lord's over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock now I'm gonna get into this passage here in 1st Peter chapter 5, but first let me just deal with this term elder What does it mean an elder? Well, keep your finger here and flip over to Titus chapter 1 this is that scripture where we get the qualifications for the pastor and The words bishop pastor and elder are three words that are used synonymously So the elder and the bishop are the same thing the bishop the pastor These are just three different terms that you would use to refer to the same man. There's no difference between these things Now some people make the mistake of looking at the term elder and they think oh that just means someone's who's older Just an older person Now truly the word elder has the meaning of being older than someone else That's the obvious face value of the word elder, right? But the the term elder is also a title of a position of a certain person as well Now you say well, why would he call the pastor the elder? Well, these three words bishop pastor and elder they deal with three different aspects of who that man is now the word elder is Referring to the fact that he's spiritually mature because you shouldn't be a pastor Unless you're spiritually mature. That's why it says you can't be a novice. You can't be a beginner Because the beginners not elder and when we say elder, we're not saying physically elder. We're talking about spiritually elder So you could be 90 years old, but you just got saved last year. You're a babe in Christ 24 year old man is Your elder because he's been saved for you know, 16 years or whatever the case may be He's read the Bible 20 times, whatever So the Bible here in Titus chapter 1 shows us that the elder and the bishop are the same thing Look at verse number 5 of Titus chapter 1 It says for this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest said an order The things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee now If this were just based on your age, you wouldn't have to be ordained. You just have a birthday and you're there You're an elder now, right? But it says that they should ordain elders in every city if any be blameless verse 6 the husband of one wife Having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly for a bishop must be blameless So he says ordain elders that are X Y & Z why because the bishop has to be blameless now That would only make sense if the bishop and the elder are the same guy Now this is just like what we read earlier in 1st Thessalonians 5 when it said of the times and the seasons brethren You have no need that I write unto you for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord So cometh as a thief in the night Hey that would only make sense if the day of the Lord is what we just talked about the rapture in 1st Thessalonians 4 So the point is that this is proof Titus 1 5 through 7 that the elder and the bishop are the same guy. They're being used Interchangeably in this scripture now, what does Bishop mean Bishop means? overseer Okay, so one who looks over so basically the elder speaks to the spiritual maturity of the man that should fill that role He should be one who's not newly saved not new to the Bible, but he's read the Bible many times He's been saved for many years He's elder in the faith, but the term Bishop has to do with the fact that he is an overseer Okay now back where we were in 1st Peter 5 if you're still there It says in verse 2 feed the flock of God, which is among you Taking the oversight thereof that word oversight has to do with the term Bishop He's the overseer But then the third term pastor has to do with Feeding the flock says feed the flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof So really in just verses 1 & 2 of this chapter, we have all three ideas here He says the elders which are among you I exhort that they feed the flock of God That's the term pastor and then they take the oversight thereof. That's the term Bishop. So those are your three terms Pastor elder and Bishop you see pastor is simply a synonym for Shepherd pastor just means Shepherd and this speaks to the fact that the man who leads in the church is going to be Feeding the flock when he gets up to preach. He's giving them a spiritual meal Spiritual grass for them to chew on and swallow and get nutrition from and so he's the pastor He's the bishop meaning he takes the oversight thereof. He's overseeing things making sure that Everything is done right now, obviously Jesus Christ is the ultimate shepherd. He's that great shepherd of the sheep We are the under shepherds as pastors and even in this passage if you look at the very End of the chapter actually, is it not in this chapter? Maybe it's in a different chapter where he talks about Jesus Christ as the bishop of our souls It's a different chapter, isn't it? Good night This is what happens when you write your sermon on a on a on a vomit bag, you know from the from the from the airplane Somebody help me out. Where's the verse about the the the bishop of our souls? I Thought it was in this Scripture, but look at look at chapter 5 verse number 3 It says neither as being lords over God's heritage But being examples to the flock and when the chief Shepherd shall appear Ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. There it is It's in chapter 2 verse 25 right there for ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned under the shepherd and what? Bishop of your souls. Did you know that Jesus Christ is called the bishop of your soul? So Jesus Christ is the final bishop we don't need an archbishop because we already have Jesus for that You know the Catholics with their bishops and archbishops and Cardinals and popes and whatever We don't need any of that All we need is just the bishop and then you want to go a step above him you get to the bishop bishop Jesus the bishop of our souls and he's the chief Shepherd. We're the under Shepherd We're the under Bishop and he's older than us amen because he's from everlasting Christ is the true head of the church now the Bible says here in 1st Peter chapter 5 Then when the chief Shepherd shall appear we shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away We're rewarded by him we answer to him, but look at verse 3 neither as being lords over God's heritage But being examples to the flock so we're not the Lords of God's inheritance Jesus is the Lord Jesus is the head of the church the pastors not the head of the church But the Bible does say that we are to be examples to the flock so fourthly tonight Follow his example. He said number one Emphasize the works not the man Emphasize the doctrine not the personality Emphasize the works the laboring number two give him the benefit of the doubt number three realize he has authority and number four follow his Example he's not to be a lord over the flock so again We talked about how people could go overboard in either direction When it comes to the pastor's authority which we know he has because the Bible talks about the elders that rule well and obey Them that have the rule over you That exists in a certain realm He rules in the church Okay, he doesn't come into your home and rule your home That's where it would be cult-like Right if the pastor starts coming into your home and running your home coming into your business and running your business And are there pastors that overstep those bounds? Absolutely, so we need to understand that when it comes to our home the man of the house the husband the father he's the king of that castle and He's the final authority in that home And he submits to Jesus Christ ultimately But he's the final earthly authority in his home not the government not the church But he rules in his home, okay well then in the church Humanly speaking the pastor rules in the church he submits to Jesus But humanly speaking he's the ruler in the church Then we have human government a third realm that their job is for the punishment of evildoers they're there to punish the murderers and punish the rapists and and and Punish those who would violently assault and rob others at least that's the only thing that they're supposed to be doing They're supposed to be attending continually on that very thing not caring for us from the cradle to the grave But that's their job right now We get mad don't we when when the government gets out of control and they want to start telling the church what to do Or when the government gets out of control and they want to come into our homes and start telling us how to raise our children How to teach them how to discipline them we say hey, that's none of your business You know this is my castle. This is my home Leave me alone. You know so we understand that the home Has an authority structure there with the husband and father at the head The mother or the wife is in the second-in-command there right and then the children are in submission to both of them And then when we go to the church There's also a human authority figure and then when we go outside of that into government there are various governors and magistrates and Legitimate human authorities that are there to punish crime Right and to and to take care of that aspect So we ought to make sure that we always keep these in their proper place these three separate Powers and that they don't intersect So therefore it isn't right for the pastor to come in and start telling your wife what to do You know he what he ought to be telling your wife is to obey you Hey, you need to obey your husband. You need to listen to him. He's the boss I'm not the boss. You know if something's wrong if a woman's coming to the pastor saying hey Will you veto what my husband's saying will you override my husband's authority? No way It's none of my business You know and I'm not gonna come and stock you and figure out what you're doing in your private life Pastoring man's isn't gonna stock you and and try to follow you and and make sure that you know you're doing everything that he preaches And it's out of bounds it's out of control isn't it and it you know it's also not the church's job To run the government either now if the government were smart they'd follow this book But they're not so they don't and it is the church's job to preach to the government We see that all throughout scripture preach into the Kings preaching to the governor's Telling them when they're wrong telling them what to fix right, but not actually forcing them to do it our way We can tell them How to do it right, but at the end of the day. It's up to them Well look we as preachers we can tell we can tell you how to run your home, too If we're backing it up with scripture, but at the end of the day. It's up to you You're the final authority in your home not the pastor right, but the pastor can give biblical counsel from the pulpit and say hey look Here's what the Bible says about rearing your kids at the end of the day It's up to you whether you're gonna listen or not See the pastor can get up all day long and say hey don't let your kids sleep over at other people's houses Just because they're from church because you can't just trust everybody you know you need to watch your kids Especially the younger they are especially the girls. You know you need to keep them safe and And and watch them and take care, but the other day You know you you can go home and just disobey all that and do whatever you want But you're the one who's gonna have to live with the consequences When you don't take that advice That's good advice and in all other areas It's the same thing so the Bible says that the pastors not to be a lord over God's heritage not to lord over the flock Right, but to rule the house of God make sure that the house of God stays King James only Make sure that the music honors God make sure that the soul winnings being done properly make sure that fornication Drunkenness and perversion don't come into the church. You know it's his job to do that But he's not to become a self-serving lord of the flock, so there's your balance right there Let's keep reading it says in verse 5 likewise you younger submit yourselves unto the elder Yet all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility For God resisted the proud and giveth grace to the humble humble yourselves therefore Under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time So what the Bible is teaching here is that to have the right attitude toward your pastor? You've got to be a humble person You got to be humble you can't be this person that has this attitude well nobody's gonna. Tell me what to do Nobody's gonna. Give me advice nobody's gonna teach me anything well No You need to humble yourself before God submit yourselves unto the elder and even be subject to one another So that you can learn something Casting all your care upon him for he careth for you be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about Seeking whom he may devour again. It comes back to the fact that look the stakes are pretty high The pastors they're preaching to you He's trying to lead you he's trying to help you and the devil is Trying to destroy your life and creep in all the time, and he's there to try to stop that from happening Now if you would go to Acts chapter number 20 acts chapter number 20 Quick review we said number one to have the right attitude toward your pastor emphasize the works not the man That means if you know if you want to give your pastor a compliment tell him man. That was a great sermon That was a great soul-winning marathon not you are so great You are such an amazing preacher You are my hero You're like a dad unto me. You're like my dad that I never had you know. It's like whoa You know don't emphasize the man right emphasize the work You know if you want to give him a compliment say I really appreciate the work you're doing I I Really like the work that gets done right hey that was a good sermon. You know I remember I used to compliment Sermons from my pastor when I was coming up, and I said to him hey that was a great sermon And he would always say something like you know what it was a great truth wasn't it from the Bible earth man The Bible is such a great book isn't it you know not putting all the emphasis on the man But putting the emphasis on the subject at hand you know putting the emphasis on the work That's being done putting it on the doctrine You know we don't want it to be all about just pastor Jimenez or pastor Anderson or brother Thompson You know what it should be about and what should cause us to have great unity is That we believe the doctrine Right and and if I'm gone and somebody else is here, but it's the same doctrine Amen same thing doesn't matter right who cares it's not because it's me or him Or it doesn't matter who it's coming from so let's emphasize the works not the man now Let's esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake and keep that emphasis where it belongs Number two give the pastor the benefit of the doubt What does that mean that means you walk into church not to try to pick him apart? But with an attitude that says teach me something Edify me help me grow I'm gonna go home and read my Bible and make sure it all jives, but my default is I'm ready to learn I'm ready to believe what you're teaching Because you know if you can't have that default then you're in the wrong church You can't walk in with an attitude that says hey, I'm ready to learn something You know and also when your pastor has to make decisions Where he has to throw people out or he has to bring the hammer down or bring a stop to some sin that's happening or some false doctrine you know you need to by default be ready to back him up and Believe him and stand with him instead of just being like well. I don't want to take a side You know your pastor's throwing out heretics, and you don't want to take a side Your pastor's throwing out fornicators, and you don't want to take a side. Well. You just took a side the wrong side You know you ought to get on board with standing up for what's right and stand behind the leadership You know they're making difficult decisions sometimes. They're under pressure They're under the gun and it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to sit back and talk about Well, you know I would have had a little different than he did But what do you know, but you've never handled anything like this I Mean I had somebody tell me recently well I wouldn't handle it the way you had it and I said that person how would you have handled it tell me what I should? Have done differently, and they're like I don't know But But you know when you're a leader you don't have the luxury to just go oh, no no no No, but you know what there's that's a lot of passages, and then just anything goes You know some of a friend of mine just told me a story this week There was a family in the church where and then this happened many years ago, and it was in a faraway place But a friend of mine told me the story that there was a family in the church And there was incest going on you know just horrible sin molestation going on in this family and the whole church became aware of it the pastor became aware of it and the pastor did nothing about it and Here's what the pastor said I need to I just need to counsel with him and The guy didn't want a counseling session the perpetrator Well, I'm gonna counsel with him he no counseling even took place and Just week after week this this pervert is just coming to church coming to church coming to church finally someone else outside the church Ended up reporting this guy to the police turning this guy in you know and that's what needs to happen friend Perverts and molesters need to be turned over to the police Don't get so anti-government that you forget that the government actually has one job They actually have a job. They're supposed to be doing and It's to punish evildoers the the violent the the people who harm other people to defend the weak against Predators and murderers and robberies and things like that you know they actually have a function And if somebody's a child molester, they need to be turned over to the police But you know what that pastor is not alone when he just says oh, I'm gonna counsel him It's because they don't believe in the reprobate doctrine either. That's another sermon that they need to be schooled on that The point is that we need to back up the pastor You know and give him the benefit of the doubt And what you know and when the pastor gets up and Preaches a radical sermon against the sodomites, and there's hundreds of sodomites surrounding the building angry Wanting to tear him apart you better be on his side, and if you're and you know what if you're not on his side You may be sent out to be with those people then You know if they if you love them so much You know if you love them so much You better get on the Lord's side. Yeah, well, I'm not gonna take a side between the homos and my pastor You just took a side the devil side you pervert fag loving idiot anyway. Oh, sorry. Did I just say that? Sorry, so sometimes. I think out loud anyway acts chapter 20 verse 28 Acts chapter 20 verse 28 says here This is another verse speaking to pastors speaking to elders speaking to leaders it says take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flocks Over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers to feed the church of God Which he had purchased with his own blood so again all the same elements are here He calls together the elders look at verse 17 from Miletus He sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church, so who's he talking to the elders right and what does he say to them? Take heed Therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers There's the idea of the bishop so the elder and the bishop and then it says to feed the church of God That's the idea of being a pastor Which he hath purchased with his own blood for I know this he doesn't say I think so it might happen It's possible. He said I know this that after my departing shall Grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock now notice what he says after my departing Why because when the cat's away the mice will play a lot of people who didn't have the guts to do this Garbage when the Apostle Paul's there he knows that as soon as he's gone. That's when they're gonna come out of the woodwork And that's why he's begging these pastors. He's begging these elders. He's saying look you need to protect the flock I'm not gonna be here all the time. I'm not gonna be here to take the oversight I'm not gonna be here to feed the church of God you need to do what I would do You need to be feeding them. You need to be preaching the hard sermons You need to be watching things and making sure because I'm telling you grievous wolves will come in And then as he speaks to this group of men That are all outwardly appearing to be men of God. They all appear to be his friends They all appear to be good godly men. What does he say to them? Also of your own selves shall men arise Speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. He's saying I know that even some of you are Judas's Even some of you are phonies even some of you are fake Even in this group that I'm talking to he says one of you Talking to he says one of you Is going to arise up and speak perverse things to draw away disciples after them Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day With tears and now brethren I commend you to God And to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up And to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified So we see that the purpose of having a strong leader a pastor an elder a bishop It always comes back to what the wolf is at the door He said in first peter five I'm exhorting the elders I'm telling them feed the flock take the oversight why because the devil is walking about seeking whom he may devour That's why verse eight there's no coincidence Why verse eight? About the devil attacking comes right after he's begging the pastors to do their job And then in acts 20 he does what he begs the pastors to do their job. Why? Because of the grievous wolves and because of the infiltrators who would even rise up from the midst Now look if you want to have a weak pastor if you want to have a milk toast pastor You're going to have a church where the wolves just come in and they don't spare the flock The perverts come in they don't spare the flock the heretics come in they don't spare the fog They'll teach all kinds of damnable heresy. They'll get half the church Believing in the trinity and half the church doesn't believe in the trinity. That's what they'll do No, we need a church where the whole church believes in the trinity Where the whole church believes in salvation by grace through faith not like well half the church says you can lose it And half says you can't look I walked into a baptist church where literally half the church Told me that you could lose your salvation and half the church said you could not lose it I walked up to the pastor and said hey Do you guys believe you can lose your salvation? And he told me it's complicated And he sat me down and he drew me a picture on a napkin It wasn't on a a bag like this or anything, but he he drew a picture for me on a napkin And he had this diagram and he explained it to me And you know at the end I think he was saying that you couldn't lose it But it was the most unclear why because he's trying to play both sides You know, it came across that you couldn't lose it after i'd studied the diagram Analyzed the napkin understood all of his words then I knew okay He believes that we're once saved always saved but you know, what good is that for his congregation? When he doesn't just get up and say hey, it's once saved always saved Hey what you're saying to always say Right But you know what it's not just enough to get up and say what's saved always saved You know what else the pastor has to do make sure no one teaches anything different Because it's not optional. It's not negotional. It's heaven or hell That doctrine is heaven or hell We're not talking about differences of opinion Look, sometimes people get up behind my pulpit and say things that I slightly disagree with and I just think about Oh, that's interesting. They might be right. I don't I don't know that sounds a little off but not a big deal But you know when we're talking about salvation When we're talking about damnable heresy It's got to be nipped in the bud, you know when pastors are allowing missionaries that they don't even know To get up behind the pulpit say, uh repent of your sins to be saved and then you pin the pastor Well, I didn't say that. Yeah, but you let that guy say it You ought to get up and rebuke it and say hey, sorry about having that missionary who's a liar Amen It's salvation by faith alone. I don't know where this heretic came from, but he needs to go back where he came from. Amen But then you know what people are going to say when the pastor does that he's mean He's insensitive He's not in touch with his feminine side or whatever. But the point is that we as we as pastors You know, we've got to be bold We've got to be strong in the lord and the power of his might We've got to draw the line in the sand and we can't take a single step backwards. We've got to stand strong And don't get mad at the pastor when he stands strong when he rules in the house of god say hey, these are the rules Hey, this is where we draw the line Hey, this is what we do say. You know what? Hey, let's follow this guy. He's preaching the truth He's a man of god it's the word of god I i'm not sure I fully understand i'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt until I see point blank in scripture that he's wrong Let's assume he's right until we see in the bible that he's wrong. Now. Look if he's wrong from the bible that he's wrong But until then he's right Why because he read the bible 20 times you read it once You might just not have learned yet I mean there are many times when I sat and thought My back when I was in the pew, I don't know if my pastor's right about that I'm, not sure about that and then later a couple years down the road you read the bible a few more times They're like, oh, you know what? Actually he was right about that Turns out that was right, you know There are times that my parents told me things and I thought to myself I don't think they're right about that and then later on After I stopped being a teenager and my brain came back into my body then Now Then I said, you know why they're right about that mom and dad are right So the the point is that we all make mistakes I can think of several mistakes that i've made just in the past few years And i'm constantly learning new things and and growing we all make mistakes But the whole point of having a pastor is that he's elder In the faith the whole point in having a pastor is to have somebody to take the oversight So it doesn't just become a free-for-all so it doesn't descend into anarchy so that it isn't just anything goes baptist The whole point in having a pastor is so that he can feed us Right. Okay. Well every time he gives us food are we gonna stop and what it what is this? What kind of grass is this? That you're that you're asking us to graze on You know, is this organic? Is this? Is this non-gmo, you know, look if You should trust your pastor's not going to lead you to that gmo flock or pasture to graze on And look, yeah, are there pastors who are leading their flock right into that field of monsanto roundup ready? Grazing. Yeah Are the pastors out there who are leading their their flock into grazing that's right next to chernobyl or fukushima or something? Yeah, it's out there But that's not where you go to church You know, so when the pastor feeds you take a bite Swallow it You know unless you have a reason to think it's garbage then look and look this is everything i'm preaching tonight Comes down to having a balanced view of your pastor biblically That yeah, we esteem him very highly in love Why? Because it's a personality cult no because we like the work he's doing and we want to get involved in the work We appreciate the work. We're thankful for the work We give him the benefit of the doubt Do we does that mean that we give him the benefit of the doubt even when we know he's no no We give him the benefit of the doubt. What does doubt mean? Doubt means we don't know We give him the benefit of the doubt right now if he's proven wrong. He's proven wrong He's wrong he's wrong if the bible says he's wrong that's the balance, okay Third realize he has authority. Does that mean he can just do everything? No, because we understand the balance there. He has authority to run the church He doesn't have the authority to run our lives or the government Right, and then number four we follow his example. Where's the balance? We don't follow him off a cliff Right, but we follow his example And if it comes to a point where we can't follow his example anymore we say hey I don't want to go where this guy's going I don't want to end up where this guy's going to end up You know what then we need to find someone that we can follow You know paul said follow me as I follow christ He said be followers of me and mark them which walk so as you have us for an example For many walk of whom I've told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross Of christ whose end is destruction whose god is their belly whose glory is in their shame He's saying look there are plenty of bad examples to follow. He's saying look follow me I'm following christ come with me see my zeal for the lord. I'm going to make you a fisher of men I'm going to teach you how to go soul winning. I'm going to give you biblical truth I'm going to teach you the bible. I'm going to teach you how to be a husband I'm going to teach you how to be a wife teach you how to raise your kids and look i'm living it And I want you to go where i'm going That's what the bible teaches follow his example and look If he's a bad example, he's not even fit to pastor Because it said that the pastor did take heat unto himself And to the church of god over which the holy ghost has made him an overseer So we need to have a balanced view of the pastor tonight We don't want to go into the ditch on either side of the road. We don't want to get this hero worshiping God man attitude toward the pastor. He's a man of god, but he's not a god man And look in the old ifb movement a lot of the hero worship Has gone on over the years Where they go overboard Lifting up the man, don't they? Where people are just over the top In their veneration and the dangerous thing is when that man can get up and just preach lies preach heresy Or even be caught committing horrible sins and everybody just makes excuses and says nope I'm standing with him no matter what he does no matter what he says. We've all seen that haven't we? Where pastors will just get up and say the craziest things as well. He's my preacher, but no, whoa, buddy If it's against the word of god You know, we need to be loyal to the word of god more than we're loyal to the man Right, so we don't want to go overboard hero worshiping and oh pastor You know, why don't you just you know if and look there's nothing wrong with encouraging the pastor Complimenting the pastor. There's nothing wrong with encouraging complementing brother thompson saying hey, that was a great sermon brother But there's a big difference between saying that was a great sermon That sermon really helped me that sermon was a blessing Hey, you're preaching got me saved your video got me saved, you know, that's a great thing that then just you know you You are just So awesome. I I love you so much. I mean you are you are the most powerful preacher of our generation I mean you are Practically perfect. I mean, you know Don't emphasize the man emphasize the work. Amen But you know, it's it's another big problem when People they make the opposite mistake, you know instead of idolizing the pastor putting him on a big pedestal Acting like he can do no wrong and so forth. They make the opposite mistake of just well, he's just one of the guys You know steve You know good old roger You know and and and just acting like well, you know, I I mean this one that i've heard a few times, you know Well, you know steve's not right about everything, you know Well, here's the thing, of course i'm not right about everything but do you have to go around saying it like that? You know what I mean? Of course i'm not right about everything. I never claimed to be right about everything, you know I get up and say hey, you know search the scriptures i'm not right about everything but then there's the people who go around Hey, you know steve's not right about everything, you know Have you ever thought that maybe He's wrong about some stuff, you know, and just just just going around and just talking down to him Being disrespectful. I mean the bible says rebuke not an elder I mean the bible says rebuke not an elder But entreat him as a father It doesn't say let him do whatever without saying anything. No, it says entreat him as a father if he's in error Go to him talk to him and treat him as a father, but you don't go to him and rebuke him Why because of respect right? So we you know, we do look and by the way children should respect their parents You know wives and husbands should respect each other church members should be respectful to the pastor Now here's the thing You know, it doesn't if people walk up to me and and and call me steve. It doesn't bother me Except for the fact that i've noticed that a lot of the people who just habitually want to call me that next thing You know, they're trying to split the church You know what I mean? And like what's in a name? I mean, I don't who cares, you know, call me whatever you want, right? But except for the fact the attitude that sometimes is behind it i'm not saying all the time But the attitude that's sometimes behind it which is why i've always gone by pastor anderson or brother anderson Brother anderson, you know and look I don't let my kids walk up to adults And call them by their first name whether even if they're not a pastor whoever they are I don't I don't care if it's a custodian or a landscaper or a plumber or an electrician Or a computer programmer, you know I want my children to show respect to adults and and I don't even I don't even let them if it's in the church I don't even let them call it. Mr I I say say brother, you know, that's more Warm and respectful, you know brother he meant his brother thompson, you know brother anderson then to just you know, uh have no respect you waltz in and You know, you're not giving people the respect that they deserve You say why does that matter it matters because the pastor has to lead and we need to have the right attitude toward him So number one emphasize the works not the man number two give him the benefit of the doubt number three Realize that he has authority this is a our movement and our type of church And independent baptists in general is a pastor-led model. We don't it's not a democracy A democracy is two wolves and a sheaf voting on what's for dinner and a lot of churches have too many chiefs and not enough indians Okay, so realize that he has authority and number four follow his example follow his example Okay Okay Go soul winning with him, right? And see how he does it and do it like that. I'm not saying you have to be exactly like him But that's a good person to learn from amen Leaders, you know learn from them Follow that example Consider the end of their conversation look at his life and see if you want to end up at that destination And follow his deal for the lord Follow his example have the right attitude toward your past. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father We thank you so much for this church lord, and we thank you for brother. Aaron thompson lord who has Stepped up to the plate here this ministry Would not be possible without brother. Aaron thompson Lord because we know that uh even though brother himenez Is a is a great leader and a great pastor. He's also several hundred miles away And so lord, thank you for brother thompson to be here to be the boots on the ground lord And I just pray that the people would have a a right attitude toward brother thompson and brother himenez both And that they would esteem them very highly in love Not esteem them highly because the bible said to Help them to esteem them highly in love to love them to love brother. Aaron thompson to love brother. Roger He meant help them to esteem them very highly in love why for their work's sake lord And help this church to be at peace among themselves lord help them to be at peace help them not to be At strife or friction help them to have unity To warn the unruly and cast them out if necessary if they don't take that warning lord And in jesus name we pray. Amen