In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of listening to the word of God with a sincere and open heart. He highlights that our attitude towards the preacher can influence the perception of the message by those around us, including children. The sermon also touches on the balance of responsibilities between elders and the church, emphasizing the need for mutual respect and support. The preacher references Bible verses from Ephesians and Hebrews to support his points and emphasizes the importance of these principles in the growth and prosperity of a church.

For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. This message has been brought to you by Manichristian Fellowship, Ellensburg, Washington, area code 509-925-1167. Praise God, let's go! Amen? I mean, why sit we here till we die, huh? There's work to be done. I was thinking about it while Brother Jake was preaching and sharing with us, you know, my background, which is a long way back now, but some of my background, they have this term that they use, full-time Christian service, you know, and sometimes I'll have meetings like this and preach a sermon like our brother just preached, and try to get two or three of you to come up here and yield your lives to full-time Christian service. And I have no problem with that, except that I think we ought to expand the thing a bit more. Every one of us is called to full-time Christian service. And if we're going to give an invitation, we ought to all be up here at the altar surrendering our lives to full-time Christian service. I'm going to serve God with all of my heart and soul and strength all the days of my life and in everything that I do. And I might make a few tents on the side while I'm at it, amen? Full-time Christian service, are you ready for that? That's what God is calling us to, every one of us. Boys, every one of us, girls, that's what He's calling us to. Well, that's not my sermon tonight, but I could easily make it my sermon tonight. I just enjoyed the challenge that our brother brought to us in this opening meditation. Let's bow for a word of prayer, can we do that? God, our Father, send revival. Send revival, Lord, that all of your people are in full-time Christian service. Thank you for the challenge this evening. We receive it in Jesus' name, Lord. We acknowledge it is true. We acknowledge that it is what you're doing in every one of our hearts. Oh, give us grace, Lord, to yield, to yield to thee in everything, in every way, in every area of our lives, Lord. Father, we come to this message this evening, this message that has to do with ordination, ordaining a preacher, a pastor, an elder in a church. Oh, Father, I pray, will you attend to these words, oh God, just as much as you would to a revival message, Father? Would you attend to these words, God? Would you take them and write them deeply on the tables of our hearts, Father? For it is thy word, and thy word is beautiful, and it's precious, and it's right. The statutes of the Lord are right. They work. We acknowledge that, Father. I pray, give us open hearts as we prepare this evening and look into your words. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Well, we're here this weekend to set in order the things that are lacking. If I can use the words of Paul to Titus, one of the men that worked with Paul the Apostle, doing apostolic work, doing church planting work, Paul said to Titus, I have left you in treat that you may set in order the things that are lacking. That's what this weekend is about. It stirs my heart to see so many of you coming from so many different places, and it would be so easy to just take off down the road and preach revival messages, and let's hit the altar, and let's do business with God. But we're here for an ordination weekend, and you have come as visitors, and I guess God has brought you here that you can also walk through this weekend, learn some of the principles which God has in his word concerning the ordaining of elders, and concerning our responsibility to the ordaining of elders. It seems that God has called you here for that, because that's what the agenda is for the weekend. Some of the messages will be challenging, inspirational messages. Other messages will be instructional messages, because God has given us some beautiful principles in his word, in the New Testament, concerning the subject of ordaining elders. And I would like to address some of those subjects this evening. The title of my message tonight is, The Gift of a Pastor. The Gift of a Pastor. I'm going to do this evening what nobody else here in this fellowship can do. I'm going to do what only a visiting minister can do and say. We're going to speak to the fellowship here and to all of you about what some of your responsibilities are to the elder or the pastor that God is giving you. I'm sure that this message will make our brother Jamie very uncomfortable. He would be just as glad to depart from this meeting tonight, I assure you, nevertheless, the word of God is clear on our responsibility to our elders. It's beautiful, it's lovely, you know how God's word is, whenever God reveals the truth to us, if we will walk in that truth, we will prosper underneath it, we will find it a blessing, we will see beautiful things happen in our life and in the life of the church that we live in, and in the life of the elders that are our elders. So, it's very important that we open up our heart to that which God reveals in His word in the New Testament concerning the responsibility of the church to its elders. Now, the church here is a growing church, a church that is developing, and things need to be set in order, and there will be changes after this weekend, I'm sure that you already are aware of that. The lines of leadership up until now have been a bit grey, there's been moderating leadership here, but moderating leadership is not ordained leadership, and so therefore the lines of leadership have been a bit grey, they're not going to be grey after this weekend. And some of you have longed for clarity in the leadership here of this fellowship, and the time has come. So I want to speak on the scriptural direction of how we should relate to our leaders. And, you know, the Bible is a beautiful balancing book. I don't know if you've noticed that, but God's word balances itself so beautifully, and in this matter of elders and the subject that we have here this evening, again, it gives a beautiful balance. Think about it with me for a moment. God says to the leader, I want you to be a servant and lay down your life for your flock. But God doesn't say to the flock, I'm giving you a servant, he is your servant, go tell him what to do. God doesn't say that to the flock. God says to the leader, you are a servant, you are a slave, I want you to lay down your life for the sheep here. But God says to the sheep, I am giving you a leader, I want you to honor him and respect him. You see those two? And they beautifully balance together. Just like God says to us husbands, I want you to love your wife and lay down your life for her. And God says to the wives, I want you to submit to your husband in reverency. But God doesn't give those verses to each of us to use on the other. Do you understand that? It just doesn't go well, does it husband, if we sit our wives down and say, now listen here, you know what the Bible says that you're supposed to do with me. It doesn't go well. It's the same way, this beautiful balance of the responsibilities that an elder has and the responsibilities that the church has to its elders. Now, Brother Jamie will get his cup full of the responsibilities that he has before the weekend is over. But I feel urgently moved by God to lay some groundwork on the other side of this subject this evening. The gift of a pastor. We want to start our reading here this evening in Ephesians, if you can turn there, blessed book of Ephesians. We were there this morning, we're here just for a little while here this evening. Ephesians chapter four, reading from verse seven through thirteen. Precious words. Chapter four, verse seven. But unto every one of us is given grace. Hallelujah. According to the measure of the gift of Christ. Every one of us in this building tonight has been given grace according to the measure of Christ. That measure which Christ has measured to every one of us. Praise God. Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended upon high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Do you believe that tonight? Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things. And brothers and sisters, this evening he is in the process of filling all things. We are here this evening that Christ, who is the head of the church, may continue his work of filling all things. Verse eleven. And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. 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 under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. And that perfect man there, brothers and sisters, is not you being a perfect man, and you being a perfect man, and me being a perfect man. It's speaking about a local church coming to the place where they are unified, where they are unified in the faith, and they are as a mature man, a mature body of Jesus Christ, connected to the head, functioning, flowing from the strength and grace that the head gives to each member of the body. That's the mature man that Paul is speaking about here in Ephesians chapter four. That's where God is going. And dear brothers and sisters, God is giving you an elder with that in mind. And as I understand it here in the text, in the context here, it is a gift. It is a gift. Now looking at verse twelve, the way that I understand verse twelve, God is not giving us these different offices, men to fulfill these different offices, so they can perfect the saints and do the work of the ministry and edify the body. I don't understand it that way. The way I would understand that verse is simply this, God gives those gifts to men and those men as gifts to people for the perfecting of the saints or that the saints might be matured so that the saints can do the work of the ministry and edify the body of Christ. That's the way I understand those verses. So, we have to be careful here. You know, some would interpret different than that. And, you know, the preacher does everything and there's only one man who preaches and everybody else sits and listens. We don't believe that. You know, we believe, would God, that all of God's people would prophesy. That's God's heart. That the church would be filled with men that are full of the Holy Ghost and have something to say. Amen? Well, that takes place because God gives pastors and teachers and evangelists and prophets and even apostles to the church. So, this evening we're looking at the gift of a pastor. I would like you just to ponder that for a moment. You know, the best way for you to get a good glimpse of what God is doing for you, I'm speaking to the local ones here, the best way to explain what God is doing for you is for you just to ponder how it has been already. No leadership. No pastor. No direction. Nobody to watch over you. Nobody to care for your soul. And then all of a sudden, God, in His mercy, gives you the gift. How do you receive a gift like that? What should our response be? These are the things that I would like us to meditate upon a bit this evening. How do we receive such a gift? Well, first of all, we recognize it is a gift from God. A gift from God. How do you receive a gift from God? You receive it with gratitude. You recognize God is giving me this gift because I need it. Because I need it. God is giving you this gift for the perfecting of the saints. That you might be equipped for the work of the ministry. I'm not sure how that sets with you, but I believe that. It is the work of the ministers in a church to equip the church for the work of the ministry. It is not the ministry of the ministers to do all the preaching and everyone else sits and listens. It is the work of the ministry to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. And if you question that, why, just go to the book of Acts and see how many people were busy about God's work in the book of Acts. Yes, there were twelve apostles. Yes, they were the leaders. Yes, they gave lots of direction. Yes, people went everywhere preaching and teaching the Word of God. They went everywhere. And that's the way God wants it to be. And God in His wisdom has set certain things in motion to begin to make that happen. And one of those is the gift of a pastor or an elder. And as I use these terms, I want you to know, to me, as I've studied in the New Testament, they're synonymous words. Pastor, elder, presbyter, bishop, overseer, all the same words. Just different functions of the same office. All the same words. The gift of a pastor. There are, as I look in the New Testament, seven different areas which give some direction to us and help us to understand how we are supposed to relate to those elders or elder that God has given us. Let me give you these seven ways and then we will look at them one at a time. Number one, we are to esteem them. Number two, we are to follow them. Number three, we are to pray for them. Number four, we are to know them. Number five, we are to obey them. Number six, we are to support them. And number seven, we are to protect them. Those seven areas we would like to cover this evening. Let's turn and read, first of all, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. We're going to read about three little portions of scripture here which cover these seven areas and then we will take these areas each one in a row. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 12 and 13. 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. 1 Timothy chapter 5, just a few pages over there. 1 Timothy 5, verse 17. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. 2 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the laborer is worthy of his reward. 3 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses, them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear. 4 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. Sobering words. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 7 and then verse 17. Verse 7 reads, 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. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. I'm not sure. Those two go together real well, don't they brother Ken? Verse 17, Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your soul, as they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. Alright, these three portions of scripture clearly reveal these seven principles that I would like to look at here this evening. The first one that we're going to look at is the admonition that we are given to esteem them highly in love. God says to the sheep in a flock, to the congregation, to the brothers and sisters in a local church, concerning your elders, you should esteem them highly in love. That word esteem means, give them a place of high honor. Give them a place of high honor. You may say, even in your own mind as you sit here, now wait a minute brother Denny, it's not good for them, they need to be humble. That's right, they need to be humble, but God did not call you to, you understand? God does not call you to humble them. Yes, they need to be humble. But brethren, consider with me, don't you need to be humble? How many of you appreciate having a wife that humbles you again and again? It just doesn't go very far when your wife feels her responsibility to keep you humble by telling you all the things that you're doing wrong. It doesn't go well that way. In fact, you know as well as I do, that when your wife encourages you, when she comes alongside of you and blesses you, when she sees beautiful things in you, it moves you way further ahead when she comes alongside and says, you didn't do very well in that. That wasn't a very good sermon. You didn't have very much wisdom when you talked to that person. That doesn't... God's Word says that we shall esteem them very highly in love. That's what it says. That's not what I said. These aren't my words. You should esteem them very highly in love. Why? For their work is safe. For their work is safe. It's true. God says to them, be a humble servant, wash people's feet, expect nothing. And that's the posture that an elder ought to have. But that's not the posture that the people ought to have. He doesn't need any encouragement. I don't want to bless him after he gives a good message. He might get puffed up in pride. Listen, let me tell you a few inside secrets about preaching the Word of God. Just a few inside secrets. The devil will beat him and beat him and beat him. You give him some encouragement. Esteem him highly in love for the work's sake. Notice that it says there in Timothy, Double honor to those who rule well, especially those who labor in the Word and doctrine. I would like you to just note here, brothers and sisters, that word labor there, those that labor in the Word and doctrine. That word labor is the same word that we would use when we would say, I went out and cut wood all day. We labored. If we went out into the woods and we chopped wood all day, we labored. It's the same word. And I'm here to tell you from my own experiences that those who labor in the Word, listen, messages don't come by accident. They come by grit. They come by labor. They come by fasting. They come by prayer. They come by battles that you have no idea of. When you have a man who will feed you the Word of God, you count him worthy of double honor and give him a blessing and bless him for his labors and esteem him highly in honor. Let me tell you something else it will do for you. When you have that kind of heart toward the man who stands to give you the Word of God, guess what? You will get more out of the message. It's just that way. I mean, if in your mind you're thinking, yeah, you know, who is he? And who does he think he is? And why is he up? You know, if you have all those thoughts, you won't get much. But if your heart says, bless God, we have a leader. God has given us a pastor. This pastor's been praying. He's going to preach the Word of God to us. I want to listen with all my heart. You know what? You get more out of the message. You know who else will get more out of the message? Those little children sitting next to you will sense what your attitude is towards the preacher. They will sense what your attitude is. I've often said it and it's true. It holds true everywhere I go. I'll say to parents, I know how you feel about me. I met your little boy four years old over there in the corner when you weren't around. I know how you feel about me. That's right. And you know what I met when I met that little four-year-old boy? He came up to me like this. I know what his mom and dad think about me. I don't need to go ask anybody. And how much do you think that little four-year-old is going to get out of that message? He's going to get something out of that message. Now, I could just tell you what God says and tell you to go do it, but I'm giving you some of the secrets behind the scenes. This is why God says to do it. Esteem Him, God says. Esteem Him. I know. I'm speaking to some in this room. You see? These are whole new thoughts to you. Well, we don't do that. We don't esteem a minister. They might get proud. You don't go up to them and say, Praise God for that message you gave. They might get proud, you know. You don't want them to be stumbling in pride. They tell me, How do you esteem them highly and love if you don't feel that respect in your own heart? You can't do it. God is telling us to be a little one. Esteem Him highly in love. And it says, For their work's sake. Rejoice, dear brothers and sisters. Here's a man who is willing to be an elder. Willing to be an elder. Willing to make the sacrifice. Willing to stay up late. Willing to get up early. Willing to be misunderstood. Willing to be stepped on. Willing to be accused. Willing to be surmised about. Willing to do all those things. You better rejoice that you've got somebody that's willing to do that. Because those are all the things that are going to happen to him as the church's life rolls on. Those are all the things that are going to happen to him. You rejoice that God has given you somebody who's willing to do that. Alright, let's move on. The next point is follow Him. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 7 says, Whose faith follow. Amen? You know what that means? Whose faith follow. It means you look and see how He's living out His faith and you follow His example. Just like Peter said in 1 Peter to the elders that he was writing to being an example to the flock. Why be an example to the flock? Because the flock has been instructed to follow the example of their preacher. Whose faith follow. You know I it's some time ago now so it's a good ways back but some time ago we had a brother in the church and he was there and you know he was he didn't really plug into the church but he was there and he didn't really want to get involved but he was there and he didn't really fit in but he was there and he didn't really want to do what we were doing but he was there. Finally we approached him and talked to him a little bit about this and this is what he said. He said Oh Brother Denny please don't make me leave I like your preaching I don't agree with everything you say I couldn't order my life the way you do but I like your preaching please let me stay. Well listen there's lots of churches where you can hear good sermons. I mean there are lots of places where you can get a good sermon. There aren't very many places where you find people who follow the faith of their pastor. There aren't very many places like that. Whose faith follow? How he guides his family How he speaks How he dresses How he orders his life That is the expression of his faith Follow his faith You understand? Sometimes I think we we've been infected by the evangelical world more than we realize and we think that church is a place where you come and hear good sermons and go home and do what you want That's not so Not according to the Bible That's not so Whose faith follow? That's what the Bible says and I've said it many places and many times Don't ordain somebody that you're not willing to follow It doesn't make any sense at all Don't ordain somebody that you're not willing to follow Somebody that you're not willing to look up to their life and say I want to order my life after them Follow them Follow their example There to be an example to the flock Follow their example in devotional life in family life in personal convictions in business life in church life And what a joy that is to you Think about it Remember how much faster we learn how much quicker we grow if what we hear we also see Amen? It's You know the little poem It's true I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day Brothers and sisters You will grow faster if you also follow the example of your elders You put the preaching and the living together and you've got quick growth quick growth Whose faith follow That's what God's word says What an easy way to serve from a pastor's perspective What an easy way to serve a people who want to follow What more could a pastor ask for than that? Many times I've talked on the telephone to men who are pastors in different places in the United States and they're trying to lead a group of people who don't want to follow When I get off the phone I bow my head many times or lift up my heart in thanksgiving to God and say Father thank you I get to minister to a bunch of people who want to follow What a privilege What an easy way to preach Number three Pray for them This is a responsibility of the church to the elders Pray for them Pray fervently for them Pray often for them Paul was constantly asking for prayer Have you noticed that in the epistles? He was always asking Pray for me Remember me Pray that I might have utterance He was constantly doing that Do you know why he was constantly asking that? He knew how much he needed their prayer Pray for them Hold them up in prayer You know We remember the missionary What's the difference between a minister and a missionary? Is there any difference? Is the minister on the front line just like the missionary is on the front line? Yes he is Is the devil out to destroy his life like the devil is out to destroy a missionary's life? Yes he is No doubt about it But many times we pray for the missionary over there But we don't pray for the pastor that is right here Pray for them When they are facing decisions Give extra time in prayer for them Pray for them on Saturday When they are preparing for the sermon on Sunday Pray for them on Sunday While you sit in the meeting and listen to them Pray for them I once read an account of a pastor who did an experiment on Sunday morning in his church He had a large church several hundred people And he told the congregation He said I want to do an experiment this morning I have a burden on my heart I have a message that I would like to give It's heavy on my heart I want it to be received properly I want to ask every one of you if you will pray for me Pray silently in your heart while I preach this message How many of you will do that? Of course the whole congregation may raise their hand Who wouldn't? I mean they were on the spot for sure But nevertheless they all prayed for him while he gave his message His testimony was He never had a message go like that in his life It was just like as if God picked him up and carried him all the way through the message Hallelujah! What a beautiful way to give a message God just picked me up and carried me all the way through the message What a blessing it is when a congregation will get underneath their pastor and pray for them while he's preaching I've been to places where the people carry you while you preach And I mean it's smooth sailing all the way I've also been to other places where I carried the whole load myself And it's much harder to preach that way Much harder Pray for him on Saturday Pray for him while he's preaching on Sunday Pray protection over him You know the enemy is out to get him You can be sure of that Pray for his family You know the enemy is out to get his family You can be sure of that Pray at devotion time in your home Pray at meal time Pray on Saturday evening Gather your family together on Saturday evening Pray earnest prayers saying God bless the preacher tomorrow You know what? You're not just praying for his benefit You will get the benefit You will get it rolling back on you If you will take up this matter of prayer and make it a serious thing Have special times of prayer for your minister It's very important I can remember a couple different ones in our fellowship at home They're not there anymore Bless God They prayed themselves out of the prayer closet and into the ministry But I can remember them I can remember one dear brother He prayed for me on Saturday I mean he prayed for me on Saturday He didn't pray a prayer for me on Saturday He prayed for two or three hours for me on Saturday Imagine that brother Ken Many times on Sunday morning He would come up to me after the message and show me the outline that God gave him yesterday in prayer And it was my outline that I gave that morning Sometimes I begin to wonder now who's giving this message Him or me But you know what he was doing? He was praying the message down from God for the congregation What a blessing that was to have a man who would pray like that We have a sister in the congregation that prays like that Not just a little prayer But a specific time where they get alone and just pour out their heart before God for the ministry of the Lord Pray for them It's part of our responsibility Number four We read the scriptures there in Thessalonians It says Know them Know them That's an interesting word That's an interesting word in this modern high-tech age that we live in You know You can get on the radio and hear What is it? 37 different flavors of ministers You can hear them all on the radio You can get on the internet and you can just go everywhere you want You can get everything you can imagine off of there But the Bible says Know them Do you know them? What does it mean? What does Paul mean when he says to the Thessalonians Know them which labor among you He means this Get to know them Learn how they think Find out what the deep burdens of his heart are Find out what makes him tick Find out what the burdens are that God is laying on his heart That's what it means to know them It means spend time hearing their hearts It means spend time drawing out of them their vision Get their heart on biblical issues and conviction That's what it means Know them Know them Recently I heard the account of a young man who had the opportunity to work for one of his ministers He had a whole day that he was going to be working for one of his ministers He was a young man but he was a wise young man and he thought Oh boy I got the whole day with my minister All day long You know what he was doing? He was knowing him that labor is among him That's what he was doing His heart said I've got the whole day with my minister I'm going to find out what makes him tick I'm going to find out what the burdens are on his heart I'm going to ask him every question that I can think of about every issue on spiritual things that I can come up with I'm not going to waste this day I've got a minister with me all day long I'm going to ask him everything I can That was a wise young man He did not waste his day nor his time Some of this takes time To know them which labor among you takes time Time a length of time meaning a couple years Some of it takes time a space of time You have to take the time to get to know him And some of it just simply takes interest You know like the young man He had the interest And when God gave him the time He seized the opportunity that was given to him He had the interest I want to know what makes this minister tick I want to know what the burdens are on his heart This is a wise thing to do And I just give you a little caution about all the radio preachers today Many times and I've said this before You wouldn't fit into their congregation You wouldn't fit into their congregation You wouldn't want to be there Know them which labor among you Number five Obey them Hebrews 13 again verse 17 Obey them which have the rule over you And over there in Timothy it says Count those who rule well double honor That word rule means rule Sorry It means what it says It means administrate It means give direction It means watch over your life It's the same word as where it talks about giving the qualifications which brother Ken will share with us some tomorrow where it talks about the qualifications of a bishop and how he should rule his own house well It's talking about order and leadership and direction and administration And whether you've had a bad experience in all of that or not It's still in the Bible Obey them They have authority God has given them authority We need to recognize that authority It's very important that we do that Recognize This is a man that God has placed as an overseer in my life Recognize the authority Now I want to quickly say that word obey is not the same word that God gives in Ephesians 6 where God says children obey your parents in the Lord It's not the same word Obviously God is not calling us as brothers and sisters to blind obedience to a minister It doesn't mean that It's not that strong of a word But here's what it means It means allow yourself to be persuaded in the direction of that which the minister is giving That's what it means Give in to the direction of your minister It doesn't mean he must go around and tell you do this, don't do that go here, don't go there stop this, go here No, no, no, no, no Just give your heart over to the direction that the minister is giving into your life The word obey is a word of submission It is a word of rule It says you're to follow their direction It says let them lead out and you follow Now I don't know how that sets with you and you know I'm sure that we can find many more inspirational subjects here this evening But the fact of the matter is if we don't have a church what do we have? God in his wisdom has set the church in order and he has set order in the church and some of that order is ministers elders pastors overseers bishops same word same word God in his wisdom knew that we as sheep would need the direction of spiritual men who were called to be overseers This is one of the reasons why when we have an ordination it's not an ordination you don't choose the man who has the best sermon no you don't go get somebody from somewhere else and have him come in and give you a sermon and if you like his sermon you're going to be your minister no you choose out from among you you know who your minister is you've already walked with him you sense God's call all these things play into this matter of submitting to the authority of those that you have recognized God is calling them to lead this church and therefore I'm going to follow by the way you will prosper if you do follow you will I thought about your children earlier this afternoon as I was meditating fathers mothers your children need to see you submit your heart to the leadership of a fellowship of a church your children need to see you do that they need to see you bow your heart they need to see you bow your heart when you don't agree you make them do it don't you you expect them to bow their heart sometimes when they don't agree how are they going to learn to do that if they can't see you do it you see the secret wisdom hidden behind these principles now God says to the elders that they are servant leaders they are not to be lords over God's heritage God says those words to them again He balances the things very beautifully you know so that the leaders not walking around thinking you need to do what I say and I'm in charge around here no that's the wrong attitude for the leader to have but oh how sad it is if the followers somehow think the leader is here to do what we say no no whose faith follow obey them special insight you know why? because He has made them overseer that's just the way it is God channels His wisdom through different methods and one of those methods is through the overseer that you have in your life and think about it we've read it over here in Hebrews 13 and 17 obey them to have the rule over you submit yourselves notice that it doesn't just say do what they say submit yourselves let your heart be a heart that says amen to what the preacher said but here's why they watch for your souls as they that must give an account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you now just consider with me it's not very pleasant to oversee somebody who doesn't want any direction in their life it's a grief you do it you know you're supposed to do it but it's a grief to do it you don't do it as well because it's a grief to do it you don't speak as often because you're afraid you'll get bit if you do a person who treats their minister like that is cutting their own throat they basically are saying stay away from me don't touch me don't touch my life don't give me any direction I'll do what I want this is unprofitable for you this is unprofitable God says I'm giving you a gift the gift of a pastor here's how I want you to relate to this pastor that I'm giving you allow yourself to be persuaded with the things that he says open your heart to his counsel listen to what he has to say God is working through him to direct your life not only through him but through him and many other ways but God is working through him to direct your life let him do it with joy you know there are certain people not a whole lot of them I might add but there are certain people who come to me on a regular basis and say Brother Denny I want you to know that I am open to any input that you have in my life please care for my soul please direct me please I want input from you anything you see in my life anything you see in my family any direction that you see in what I'm doing that you have a caution about I want you to know I want to hear please come to me you know it's so easy to go to somebody like that I mean it's a pleasure you know it's like going to a faithful son and sitting down with a faithful son and having a little chat with them knowing that that faithful son is going to listen to what you have to say that's what it's like that's to your advantage if you have that kind of an attitude if you have this kind of an attitude that is not going to go well for you I know I know maybe you got burnt maybe somebody was an unauthoritative leader maybe that you were taking advantage of that may be so but listen it's still in the Bible and what our human tendency is when we've had a bad experience we tend to swing way over here you know what I'm saying way on the other side you know we have religious people in the area where we live and sometimes when they get born again and realize that all this religious stuff all this outside stuff didn't have anything to do with their soul salvation and they swing way over to the other side throw everything off get a pair of shorts buy a TV put a swimming pool in the backyard and join evangelical Christianity what did they do they swung way over here because of something bad that happened over here no God would balance our lives with the principles of His Word and I just want to encourage all of us here this evening not to overreact because of a bad experience obey them that have the rule over you number six support them support them we read the scriptures we were admonished not to muzzle the ox that tread the corn that illustration out of the Old Testament was given in the context of giving financial support to our ministers if you muzzle the ox that treads the corn he's not going to tread the corn very well he'll tread it yes because he has to but he won't tread it as well he won't tread it as fast his heart won't be in it but he'll do it God says thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn the burden of the cares of life can be a great burden to a minister it can be a great burden it can be a load it can cause him to do cut corners which he shouldn't do I don't know what the financial situation is of the man that God is calling to lead out here but to me it really doesn't matter I feel like a man who is called to lead in the church needs to be given the financial freedom to lead that means the others help financially so he has the freedom to do the work that needs to be done I know we don't believe in just giving a salary to a minister and letting him go with that I understand that we think that ministers ought to work and that's fine I work I enjoy my work and I wouldn't want it any other way but when the work gets to be so much that you're scrapping around to try to find something to give to the church on Sunday morning on Saturday evening that doesn't go well and guess what you won't get much corn on Sunday morning support is more than money but it is money Malachi chapter 3 talks about tithes bringing the tithes into the storehouse and God challenges the children of Israel they're saying prove me now say it to the Lord bring me all the tithes into the storehouse and see if I will pour you out a blessing that you may not be able to contain it and I don't believe what God is talking about there is you give me your money and I'll multiply it and give you more money than you know what to do with God is not talking about that even though God does bless us when we give but I don't believe that's what the import is of Malachi chapter 3 what God is saying there is he is challenging a nation of Israel who quit taking care of the Levites and the priests and the Levites and the priests went back to work and they didn't have time to prepare and they didn't have time to pray and they didn't have time to seek God and they didn't have time to study and they didn't have time to preach and so the preaching went down and the prayers went down and the fasting went down and the study went down and the people went down God says prove me now sayeth the Lord you bring me all the tithes back into the storehouse and then take those tithes and give them where they are supposed to go and see if I won't pour you out a blessing that you will not be able to we're talking about the principle of making sure that our minister is free enough to seek the Lord and do the work of the church that's what we're talking about and frankly we're weak on it we believe that ministers ought to work so much we believe that so much we believe it to our hurt but supporting your minister is more than money it means standing beside them it means affirming them it means when they preach the tough message you come up afterwards and bless them it means you write them a letter sometime and thank them for their input into your life it means an encouraging word it means coming up to the preacher and saying I'm with you I agree with you thank you for taking that stand in the brothers meeting last night I'm with you God bless you that's supporting your minister and lastly the seventh one protect him protect him yes protect him what do I mean by that we read the scripture there where it the admonition was given against an elder received not an accusation against an elder except by two or three witnesses that is the verse that I'm using for this principle to protect your elder don't hear accusations about your elder that's something that people somehow feel very free to do on Sunday afternoon yeah did you hear what brother so and so is doing did you hear did you hear what happened last week when such and such and such happened no what is it let me tell you how you should handle that when someone comes to you and says do you know that so and so did you just say whoa wait a minute hold it right there brother john brother joe here comes brother john here comes brother joe then you look back at him and say okay now what were you going to say to all of a sudden he will feel strangely led to not say anything that's called protecting your elder don't receive accusations don't let them just dump on you don't let them tell their story to you and say really i can't believe that don't even go down that road as soon as you smell somebody starting to say this or that about so and so and what he did or whatever you just get a couple other brothers in there wait a minute it seems to me that we need a couple witnesses here now go ahead what were you going to say what were you going to say what were you going to say well i guarantee you they'll fit and stutter and stammer around and it won't come out the way that it was going to come out before i guarantee it's good to do that it's good to do that that fits right in with all the other principles that we've been speaking about don't let somebody undo your elder by slandering him even if what was what they want to say is true don't let him do it it won't come out right i guarantee it your elder's going to make some mistakes i guarantee it he's a human being just like you are he's not going to do everything right he's going to make some mistakes protect him from slander protect him from those who would like to undo him protect him from that don't hear those kind of things you will do the church such a favor if you will do that come now let us reason together brothers and sisters those of you that are here in this local fellowship and all the rest you know you come from different places come now let us reason together god wouldn't give all these principles to us as church members as brothers and sisters in a local church he wouldn't give them to us if he did not have specific things in mind that will come forth out of it I for one I believe whenever god tells us to do something he has dozens of blessings hidden dozens of blessings hidden and if we do not hear what he has to say and we don't follow his lead through the word of god we will not experience those blessings but if we follow his lead we will be blessed it will all roll back on you I promise you it will all roll back on you it will also roll on him it will also bless him but that will only roll back on you I promise you god knows what he's doing he is the only wise god the honor and glory to him forever and ever amen he is the only wise god he knows what he's doing in every one of these principles which are clear in the word of god every one of them I haven't stretched the principles here this evening it may be new thoughts to you you may not have heard them before but I haven't stretched the principles of the word of god you need to heed them you may say I've had leaders that were not esteemable I've had leaders that were not knowable I've had leaders that were hard to obey I've had leaders that were not so easy to follow and though that may be so but the principles they're still here they're in the books they're in there for a very good reason so this evening I will finish the way that I started I know that it would have just been great to have a revival message this evening and all of us to shout amen and hallelujah and all those things tonight but you came to an ordination weekend you came and we have been instructed by god to set in order the things that are lacking and that's what we're doing this weekend so I would just encourage you to take these admonitions ponder them yeah discuss them just share back and forth and open your hearts one to another but consider these things it's part of receiving a ministry it's part of receiving a ministry and I want to say this in closing just so that you know that I'm not picking any bones myself I feel more than honored in my congregation at home I don't think my congregation is not obeying me I don't think I'm worthy of how I'm treated at home that's my testimony so I'm not picking any bones here I'm just telling you these principles work brothers and sisters work they are some of the principles that make a church go forward and prosper the minister has some responsibilities and the brothers and sisters also have some responsibilities and all those flow together and the minister said I am going to lay down my life and serve these people and the people said I'm going to receive my minister at God's hand as a gift when those two flow together you have beautiful beautiful function in a local church beautiful sometimes people ask me these kind of questions brother Denny do you push your weight around at times back home in your church I mean other times when you have to sit the congregation down and tell them a thing or two and make sure things go right and all of that I get those questions thrown to me and I ponder that for a minute and I think maybe I had to do that two times in 20 years two times in 20 years where I just simply had to sit down and say look brethren we're not doing right here this is the way we're going to go just do what I say and trust me I think maybe two times in 20 years why because these two things work together they work together they work beautifully together the church just moves on goes forward and grows and prospers and God's blessing is upon us and I want to encourage you just ponder the things that I've given here this evening even though maybe maybe it's new medicine for you I will encourage you just to ponder may God help you let's bow for prayer our father in heaven we love you tonight Lord what a good father you are to us Lord Lord my heart fills to look into these things again this evening Lord my heart overflows with Lord thank you father thank you for the beauty of your words thank you for the wisdom of your words Lord you know what you're doing Lord we acknowledge these beautiful principles tonight Lord we receive them in Jesus name into our heart God oh I pray I pray for this congregation I pray that it will prosper I pray that the brothers and sisters here will receive their minister their pastor from thee Lord God and I pray that you will cause this church to prosper in ways it never has before God we trust these words into your heart you take them into every heart and do what we need to do in every one of our hearts in Jesus Christ name Amen