Pastors and Teachers (Part 2 of 2)

In the fourth chapter of the book of Ephesians, Paul gives strong instruction to pastors and elders on their assigned role as teachers of God's word today on Truth for Life. Alister Bragg describes the three specific outcomes of a minister who is properly fulfilling his assignment. First, it stimulates ministry.

Second, unity, and third maturity was IFAD was I equipped when I go to this place do I feel that I am being prepared for the voyage of life.

Is it helping with good with me in my marriage and my home and my business to the practicalities of Christian living begin to work their way out as the word of God is proclaimed. That's what's begins that's what's been described here and that is why it is so vitally important. The way in which we listen to the Bible. I've told you before there was a man he used to preach at Keswick in the Lake District in England. His name was SD Gordon and apparently he used to say and had a very quiet voice and he made it even quieter. He used to say, are you listening are you listening with all the years of your heart, could question.

Remember, James says if you got a filthy mind. If you have an angry heart. You might as well not even listen to the Bible you need to make sure that when you receive the word he says you receive it with meekness as the implanted word, which is able to save your souls so that the place of the word of God in bringing someone to faith in God is absolutely crucial. I know that there are people who have questions all the time about these things and justifiably so. And understandably so what you do when you do what you do. You don't abandon the love of God because there are problems you investigate the problems in light of the love of God. What you do about the Bible when there are problems you don't abandon the Bible because of the problems you believe the Bible and you wrestle with the problems Jesus said to his disciples. You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am we have no freedom to disagree with what he says nor do we have any freedom to disobey what he says see it ultimately comes down to this fundamental matter is Jesus Christ the person he claimed to be, and then a fee in his ascended glory has given this gift to the church. We are to make sure that we are paying attention to know what I want us to understand this well is this you will notice that the direct link is not there between we teach the Bible and the church matures know the Bible is taught the sensor equipped they do the works of ministry and the church is built up.

So in other words, there's a missing link. Is there if we fail to understand that the way in which we only not only receive the Bible when it is taught to us by the way in which we taken away with is insane. Now there are implications for this so that the if you like the spiritual and the numerical growth of the church, under God is directly related to all who are members of the church doing what they're supposed to do, like turning off the cell phones will come to this later on some of is you notice the phrase at the end of verse 16. When each part is working properly. When each part is working properly. A jolly CAT scan thing that makes that horrible noise of therapy working properly. She's not the cat scans the MRI makes a noise. This changes everything you see is school and in Scotland we used to sing, there is a work for Jesus ready at your hand.

It's a task. The master just for you has planned Hayes to do his bidding, yield him service. True, there is a work for Jesus. None. But you can do as suggested believe that that God has given to you a place and a purpose and a function don't look around and say, but I'm not bad and I'm not him, and I'm not her forget that. Learn to savor the old Anglican Bishop. I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something.

What I can do. I ought to do and what I ought to do with God's help, I will not love ones is ministry ministry and as a result of that the church is built up. In other words, this is a bodybuilding mechanism. I should really talk about bodybuilding to which there should be another hearty a man coming from somewhere know I get that but I have seen bodybuilders, some of you are. Every so often I bump up against you, and I say oh so that's what is supposed to be like. But the average bodybuilder guy, at least, is not the most agile that I've ever seen is related a minute make that grunting noise and impress everybody but I'll tell you what, I'll take him on 100 yards anytime they want. Most of them, not some of the not some of the professional athletes because I want to get in trouble here, but the fact is, when we think about this in biblical terms were not talking simply about bulk trauma flexibility were taught about agility were talking about the ability to lay things down and pick it up. We gotta make sure that the metaphor that we have in mind of the body function. In this way is not of a bus when everybody just sits and criticizes the driver where all we are.

There are a group of consumers but were not contributors or the metaphor of a bottleneck which is routinely the case where you have a pastor teacher who will not delegate anything to anybody and everything must pass through them and there's many a small church that the problem actually is in the pastor teacher, you won't face up to because he feels he has to do everything, is somehow rather his credibility is at stake and so there's that. He never draws around and people are better than himself. He's probably vulnerable to that easy as one anybody you know that is not good at everything but over. Time everybody knows you're not good at everything over.

Time to wondering if you get a bus bottleneck orchestra player part you wanted to be a juvenile player off your piccolo player player piccolo to the glory of God. But I like a big double base really like when the orchestra is leaving through Hopkins you like a big double base.

Are you telling me you're not happy to have that little piccolo right here. Your insight on God knows what he's doing or better move on ministry and unity.

Unity Paul has started the chapter by urging them not to create unity. It's already there is in and through Christ in their union with Christ, they are united with one another.

So it is a unity that is to be maintained. Verse three and then down here in verse 13 it is that to which we attain. So it is maintained, and it is ascertained. He's already told him that you are the dwelling place for God by the Holy Spirit. The uniqueness of the church is fundamental to the impact of the church. If you reach Worchester you will know that the church is always that is most effective when it is most countercultural. Everything the church is absorbed by the culture or identify politically or socially with a certain framework is diminished in its usefulness. So, for example, for the first 250 300 years of the church.

The developing churches persecuted their chase from pillar to post, and then Constantine becomes a Christian, and suddenly the church is gone.

Establishment know the Roman Emperor is part of the game and one of the great questions that is confronted church historians.

In that context and then beyond is did not make the church more effective are less effective in history would argue that it made it less effective because there was confusion as to whether this was a political issue, or whether this was a spiritual reality level and you know the exact same confusion today.

The church is at its best when people are going. This isn't what I expected.

The progressive movement within evangelicalism in the last 2540 years has been to try and make everybody know that were not weird or just like you. We dress like you walk like you don't whatever it is you know where were the same as you go more and feel the same as ours. What we want you for you know we have the same music, yet we have the same lifestyle. Yet when we have everything set. That's why we did it this way so you would like us 40 years on Melissa. The millennial generations as we don't like you really want to do with you. Do you really think that we think that because you think you're cool that's going to make us want to come and listen that the fact that you and your 60s can wear jeans that will be gone all the worst change, we gotta get there. Another too smart for that. Let me tell you whether looking for looking for something that is radically different. That's why so many of them are intrigued by Eastern Orthodox. That's why so many of them have gone in search of the numinous in search of an existential did I mention that is not met by the trivialities that is represented in so many churches attempts to try and prove that we can absorb you by being just like you know it's supposed to be very, very different because the unity that exists is the unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is not like in any other organization. All kinds of clubs you get in on the basis of your achievement or your social status, but the church is not that entryway to the church is by the grace of God so that all the readers in the Ephesian churches realized this is only God could put these Jews in these Gentiles. Together they hate each other's guts, and I was at one of their fellowships the other day and they are sitting side-by-side, something has happened. There, it's not like anything else we have ever seen, and the end of the members of the Ephesian congregations realized that the only person that would ever be excluded from the church would be the person who thinks he or she has no need of grace. Now you see the entryway to the church is rather for the old court is divine, put it the entryway into a knowledge of Jesus is low, low fiber, the better for it was whether the essay down with your topsail down with your topsail stoop student.

It is a low entry to go in the way of Christ. I don't want to go down like that. I want to walk in like this know you can't know when the grace of God shows you who you are and what you are and shows you the wonder of who Jesus is and what Jesus is. Then all of the things that Mark is out as having significance are not irrelevant. They are simply subservient to the unity that is brought about in a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ is a will know I'm maybe I do. Maybe I don't know I don't. Things are never met or you're not going to meet him.

He's not walking around Cleveland Heights. I know, is there while I put if I lived at another era.

I would perhaps believe, but not now.

Where I come to a knowledge of Jesus.

What were back in the exact same position is through the word of God by the enabling of the spirit of God that we come to an awareness of the son of God who so this is a conundrum.

How can I do this to remember the disciples on the Emmaus Rd., Luke chapter 24 and there they are walking along and Jesus draws near to them. The risen Jesus they don't recognize them there From recognizing interesting From recognizing until it's time to recognize and when did they recognize when he opened the Scriptures to us: Elizabeth, so he is physically beside him and they don't see him and he gives him a Bible study and the CM John starts this. The Bible will give Christ to you in an intimacy so close that he would be less visible to you if you stood before your eyes. The behavioral will give Christ to you in an intimacy so close that he would be less visible to the stood before your eyes. The final word and I'll have time to introduce.

It will come back to it is the word maturity. You see the development the pastor and the teacher equips the Saints to engage in ministry. The body is built up.

This is an ongoing progressive reality until we obtain into the unity of the faith in the knowledge of son of God who ultimately now we see through a glass darkly, then we will see face-to-face. There are degrees of your light curve of of sanctity and therefore there are degrees if you like of unity and clearly there are degrees of maturity. The purpose in this is that we might come to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Remember early in the right letter.

He's prayed that he might be filled with all the fullness of God. What an amazing prayer that God might be all in all to you son about that this morning. You are my all in all did we mean it doesn't mean me and I mean one thing right now at this time in the morning on a Sunday with a group like this, but what does it mean when you're on your own when you're in the car when you're confronted by temptation when you when you want to just go your own row now. You're my all in all I want to become mature and only one around like a Christian baby is telling somebody yesterday in another context that all week.

Everything about an Indian doctor whose name I do not know whom I met when I was 16 years of age when he did an operation on my big toe. There's more information than you deserve.

The only reason I'm telling you is because somebody after postoperatively. Somebody hit hit my foot in a cage with a trolley bus the stitches which demanded I go back in the OR with the aforementioned Doctor Who done the evil deed previously and as he sat up out put in that needle in that stuff through my all. Apparently I did not respond in a particularly submissive way in her forget he cared became obvious that in the said you are a big baby like that. I think I said somehow show you the baby give me give me that needle so you are this is like, but I did think about all the Colorado on the Montenegro plague. You are your existing you're just your child when you should be mature. How do I become mature, the word of God through the servants of God to the people of God involved in the ministry of God to think about it, not just an individual terms will finish in this way.

Let's think about in corporate terms but nothing individual. Let's think about it as a church. How about the maturity of parts I church question one is the word of God, the driving force that shapes our churches life. Rhetorical is the word of God, the driving force that shapes our churches life because to the degree that it is we have the opportunity for maturity to the degree that it isn't then we diminish the possible. Secondly, is that same word of God dwelling in us richly and are we, as a result, teaching and encouraging one another with all wisdom, that's Colossians 3. Thirdly, are we living then in the unity that is supernaturally created by putting us together as a group in the recognition of the fact that we are surrounded by people that sort of we just really wouldn't necessary want to go on vacation to get good to feel bad about, but yet we love one another really and are we growing up in every way into him into Christ into the full measure of the stature of Christ important questions. You know the writer to the Hebrews spoke very straightforwardly, didn't he and his in his letter, and he said he said to the folks he says you know my concern for you is that you become dull of hearing dull of hearing, so still, there is still kind of listening.

But it's not actually going there and then he says to them.

By this time you ought to be teachers, but you need somebody to teach you all over again to teach you the basic principles of the word of God, what an indictment on a charge, then later on process, but I am actually confident of better things concerning you as you pay attention to the provision the goddess me. Alister Greg is teaching today from Ephesians chapter 4 message about the role of pastors and teachers. This is Truth for Life and Alister will complete today's message with prayer coming up in just a minute. If you're enjoying the current series called the pastor's study.

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In fact, Tim Shelley's traveled all around the world over a three-year period. He visited more than 80 museums, not to mention dozens of other sites to take photographs of artifacts that tell the story of our Christian legacy and so he's included 33 chapters about a variety of objects somewhat behind by people like Billy Graham or Charles Spurgeon, Charles Wesley, a copy of epic is yours by request.

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Alister describes the priorities Paul established for his protégé Timothy. I'm Bob Lapine hoping you can join us again tomorrow as we discover how this essential list helps pastors today stay true to their call this daily program features the Bible teaching of Alistair Begg and it's furnished by Truth for Life where the learning is prolific