Acts 20:17-38 - Pastors and Wolves and Congregationalism

Podcast Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

You are on the podcast formerly known as Tabernacle Talk. And hope that you're having a good day today. I thought podcast formerly known as Tabernacle Talk was an apropos title.

I've got my purple Bible today. And so I thought that that would be humorous enough to go on. We are in Acts chapter 20, and we have been journeying back towards Jerusalem with Paul.

And he embarked on his third missionary journey. And he saw lots of sights. He was in Ephesus for a good long while.

He's now on his way back. He had been in some of the rest of Turkey and Greece and Macedonia. And he was making his way back towards Jerusalem.

And we read about that in verse number 16. Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus on his way back to avoid spending time in the province of Asia or Asia Minor because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.

So now he has decided, I don't want to go to Ephesus. I'm just going to be kind of near that area in the ship on the way. But where we pick up is in verse number 17 of Acts 20.

Acts 20 and verse 17. It says, Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church. Now, one thing that I know I've mentioned before, want to reiterate again here because it's going to play into so much of what's happening.

When the Bible talks about pastors, it does it in the plural. So normally it refers to elders or overseers, both of which we'll see here in our section of scripture today. We'll also hear the word pastors or pastor sometimes.

That's taken from a word that just means shepherd. And you can see those exact same thoughts mentioned here in Acts 20. And he summons the elders of the church.

He doesn't just select, hey, there's a maybe lead pastor or senior pastor here.

We've talked before about how some of that has tended to look over the past 2000 years, that you tend to have one person, one elder or overseer that preaches more than some of the other elders.

But in kind of the mindset of the biblical world, you had multiple people that were gifted, equipped by God to be able to give oversight to the church, that though they did not make every decision or were not ultimately responsible for every

decision, that there were things that they did. They were responsible for the doctrine of the church.

They were responsible to safeguard that, to be able to feed people the Word of God, to pray for people, and some other things that we'll see as we get down into some lower verses here.

So he summons the elders of the church, and that's something that here at Tabernacle that we are both currently partaking in with both myself and then the man that was our interim pastor, Dr.

Ron Smith, who has been a pastor for decades and decades, first as a kind of missionary here in the United States in several places.

He has done ministry in Maryland, in Utah, in Texas, among other places, and he has been a wonderful blessing to our church right now, obviously.

I'm doing the bulk of the preaching at the church, and I think I've mentioned before some of the things that are incumbent on kind of the primary preacher at the church, those that are laboring in the word and doctrine, as Paul would tell Timothy and

1 Timothy 5, some of the responsibilities I share. But I know both myself and Pastor Ron, we pray for the people of Tabernacle every day that we're praying for God's direction. We are helping to kind of oversee some areas of the church.

And so we both have a plurality of elders, is what that is called. But we would also be working towards having even more of that going into the future, that there would be pastors, and not all of them have to be paid pastors.

You would have lay pastors, those who aren't vocationally in full-time ministry, but that they would join alongside, that they'd be in the prayer conversations, that they'd be in those kind of oversight sections, that we would say, all right, as

pastors, here's what we're recommending to our church. There are some things that the church is kind of ultimately responsible for. They're not responsible for perhaps the color of the carpet, at least not from any sort of biblical standpoint.

They're not responsible for, oh, the order of service on a Sunday. That's not something that the entire congregation has to decide.

But what the New Testament does say, this is the job of the congregation, is mainly the who and the what of the gospel. So the who, that people who are professing to be Christians, that's why we vote in our members.

Not anyone can just become a member of Tabernacle, all of their own accord.

We vote in our members after they have had some sort of a conversation, you might call it a membership interview, with one of the pastors, that one of the pastors has verified this person is actually saved. Like they are a genuine Christian.

This isn't just someone that maybe grew up in church and has no idea about the gospel.

This is a genuinely saved individual, and they want to be part of this local church, joining with them, joining with this particular group of people, with the doctrine that we have confessed as a church that we believe, and to the spiritual leaders

of that church, following in the commands of Hebrews 13, of submitting to those that have the rule over us, that communicate the Word of God to us, and to obey them. So they wanted to join with that church, and now, as the pastors, we are

recommending to the church, hey, so-and-so is going to, they've put themselves forward as a candidate for membership. We have reviewed their testimony, and we recommend that you as a congregation vote them in.

And if someone happens to know, oh, I was talking with this person, they don't believe in the Trinity, I was talking with this person, and either they're in an alternate lifestyle, or they are actively engaging in egregious, open sin, and I don't

believe that that person is actually saved, like they're trying to pull the wool over someone's eyes. That would be an instance in which someone in the congregation might vote no against receiving that particular person with those big issues into the

congregation. So there's the who of the gospel that we vote people in, and also in instances of church discipline where we say this person is barred from the Lord's Table.

They are excommunioned, they're excommunicated from the Lord's Table until such time as they repent, as we can read about in 1 Corinthians 5-7 and in 2 Corinthians, in Matthew 18, and some other locations, that that's something that the congregation

as a whole does, that as a pastor, I can't say, okay, you're no longer a member of this church. I don't have that power from what scripture says. That's something that's the whole congregation, they do the who of the gospel.

Is this person a real professor of faith in Christ? Is this person a Christian?

To the best of our ability, obviously we're not God, but the things that are mentioned in Matthew 18 of what we bind on earth, bind in heaven, loose on earth, loosed in heaven, all of those things come into play, that it is though Christ himself

through his body is accomplishing these actions, and those that confess faith in Christ, that he is their Lord, they are living lives that while imperfect, are not openly in defiance to what God has expressed in his word. The church says, yes, you

are part of the body. It is evident that you know Christ, that he is your Lord, and so we welcome you in.

Or on the flip side, if someone is actively living in rebellion against Christ, unrepentant, does not want to get right, wants to hold on to the sin, then the church goes, alright, we can no longer vouch for your genuine walk with God.

It does not appear from all circumstances like you are saved.

So then you have Paul talking about releasing that person back into kind of the world, if you will, that you'd say, okay, this person is no longer a member, a part, a body part, one of the building blocks of this church.

If they ever do repent, we are welcoming them back in, as we can read about that Paul says in 2 Corinthians. But that's kind of the who of the gospel is a very important thing that the congregation is responsible for.

And you can, in all of those passages, that's the church, the congregation that does those things. And then the what of the gospel, of the actual content and the necessary implications from the gospel.

So if a pastor gets up and is like, hey, I think we need to add baptism to salvation, or I think we need to add, oh, I don't know, last rites to salvation or something like that, that then the congregation is responsible for saying, no, that's not

how this works. And you can read in Galatians 1 among other places where they are, the congregation is responsible for the doctrine of the church and in maintaining especially the gospel.

I think some other things that would be related to that would be for how the church itself is run.

So if you have a church that is a congregational church and you were to, if someone were to come in and try to maybe change that into a more Presbyterian model of church where you have a group of men that make the decisions for the church and maybe

they notify the congregation, but there's no, the buck doesn't stop with the congregation, kind of the buck stops with those men. Then you might have some, a congregation that if they feel as though from some of the verses that I'm mentioning, that

the congregation has final say in a lot of things, that maybe they would say, okay, no, we're not with that direction. We're going to vote against that. That is not how we believe the gospel and the word of God to speak.

Another way in which that's fleshed out in scripture, I believe in 1 Corinthians 11, is in regards to the Lord's Supper, that the church corporately is responsible for how, when the ordinances are not being properly observed, it's their

responsibility to rectify that situation. So in 1 Corinthians 11, you have the church is getting drunk, they are being gluttonous. It's a whole mess when they are observing the Lord's Supper.

And so Paul says, Okay, when you all come together, get this sorted out. This is not how it's supposed to go. Here's what you're supposed to do.

Here's the attitude you're supposed to have. Here's the reverence that you're supposed to have. Here's the instructions for those that are hungry.

Here's the instructions for those that are thirsty. You all together figure this out. He doesn't necessarily say, Hey, Pastor so-and-so of Corinth, here's what you need to do.

The observance of the ordinance is in part the congregation's responsibility. That they are to take care of that. So all of that from verse 17, we're going to go much quicker through the rest of this section.

Some of it will just be reinforcement of those main thoughts.

Verse number 18, When they came to him, the elders of the church, he said to them, You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to

me through the plots of the Jews. You know that I did not avoid proclaiming to you anything that was profitable, or from teaching you publicly, and from house to house.

I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

So that's that gospel, repentance toward God, faith in our Lord Jesus, his teaching ministry that he's saying, I embodied this for you guys, preaching publicly and from house to house.

That's how I pastored you, and I'm encouraging you to do that to others. Now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there.

Except that in every town, the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me. But I consider my life of no value to myself.

My purpose is to finish my course, and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the Gospel of God's grace. It says my purpose, finish my course. That I would continue in my Christian profession of faith.

I wouldn't turn back, I wouldn't abandon God, I wouldn't give in to temptation. I want to finish my course. It says, and I want to finish the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the Gospel of God's grace.

And I believe that that ought to be all of our goal and our aim, our mission as well. Verse 25, now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again.

Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you. He says, I told you everything that God told me to tell you. There's nothing that I left behind.

There's nothing that would be good for your soul that I neglected to tell you. He says, I gave you everything you needed, so I'm not guilty of any blood of any of you. He says, I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God.

Be on guard for yourselves, and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. So here, this is being guard for yourselves.

We ought to always have an introspective look. And he says, for all the flock, be on guard for the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers. He says, you are responsible to oversee the church.

And while the congregation does recognize its leaders, its elders, its pastors, it is mainly something the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit appoints someone, and the church recognizes that in them.

It's not that the church appoints them, and then the Holy Spirit is like, okay, yeah, I guess. But Lord willing, if we are following the Holy Spirit of God, God makes it clear, hey, this person is a leader.

This is someone whose life can be followed, whose doctrine can be followed, who can be a leader, an overseer, an elder, someone that is helping to guide the way, a shepherd, someone that helps to guide people.

That the Holy Spirit builds that in a person, builds a desire. So 1st Timothy 3, the one that desires, aspires to be an overseer, desires a good work.

So God does that in a person, the congregation recognizes that, and then they place that person into leadership. So God works first, and then the congregation works in response to God's work.

The Church of God that Jesus purchased with his own blood, the Church is valuable.

It would be unthinkable, impossible for us to, for the 1st century Christians, to imagine a Christian who rejects and despises and does not want anything to do with the Church or that refuses to join the Church, to commit to that body of believers,

to that doctrine, and to its spiritual leaders. That would be unthinkable for a 1st century Christian. If you want to read more about that, I believe Mark Dever has a great book. It might be Jonathan Lehman, actually.

Church Membership, just read that recently, as well as Dever's book, Why Should I Join a Local Church? Both excellent, very short reads, if you want to dive more into that.

Verse 29, I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.

Always be careful when a person wants you to follow them and not the Word of God. If I'm ever like, hey, I know the Bible says this, but I really think we need to do this instead. Run as fast as you can.

We don't want disciples of us. We want disciples of Christ. There is an element in which, like Paul says, follow me as I follow Christ.

But if there's ever a choice between following scripture, following Christ and following a person, always choose Christ. Even if that person is me, even if that person is Pastor Ron, always follow Christ.

He says, therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years, I never stopped warning each one of you with tears. The Christian life is not all encouragement and happiness.

Sometimes it's warning that there are bad things, bad doctrines, bad religions, bad things that can harm you spiritually. And here Paul encourages the men, hey, I warned you guys, you need to do the same for the flock in Ephesus.

He says, and now I commit 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 who are sanctified. The word of God is what builds us up.

The word of God is what builds our inheritance of sanctification, that as we do the good works that Jesus prepared for us, it amasses those treasures, those crowns that then we cast at the feet of Jesus to say, you are worthy, it's your word, it was

your spirit, it was you that saved us and bought us. You are so worthy. He says, I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing.

Many of us would know here in America about people that are, you know, multimillionaires off of the giving of God's people, that through abusing their trust, that they are living high and on the hog, they've got private jets, they've got incredibly

expensive clothing and attire. And while it's 100% true that we need to take care of those that are feeding us spiritually, it is also true that people can be in it for the money.

And we should always be aware that that is a key indicator, covetousness, a love of money, a love of just the really fine and nice things. I know I'm wearing a T-shirt right now, so I'm not really saying this in the most retrospective way.

But if I ever come to a point where I'm covetous, that is a problem in my life. That's a warning sign. Hey, there's something going amiss in the heart of this person.

And here's what Paul's telling him. He says, I haven't coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. You don't do that either.

That's a sign of a bad pastor, a false teacher. He says, you yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.

He says, in every way, I've shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus because he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Here he's saying something that he'll say to the Church at Corinth later, that though he tells the churches, you take care of those that are spiritually feeding you, he tells the pastors, he says, hey, you know, my example that I didn't want to put

anyone into a spot of inconvenience for me. He says, the people that were with me, I worked to support them and I worked to support me. And so he says, don't be afraid of expending yourself for God's people.

We'll talk a little bit about that even this weekend at Tabernacle. Verse number 36, after he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them. There were many tears shed by everyone.

They embraced Paul and kissed him, grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again and they accompanied him to the ship.

Well, this particular podcast episode has been long enough as is, but I hope that some of that would be an encouragement to you. Pastors are not super Christians. They are not unlike any believer.

Any believer can embody the same characteristics that a pastor does. They can have a love for people. They can warn about false teachers.

They can work hard to be able to give to others. None of those things are restricted to pastors.

For those of you that have a biblical pastor who presents the Word of God to you, who cares about you, who warns you when there's danger for someone that isn't greedy, be thankful for them.

Not everyone is currently enjoying that kind of a pastor, so be thankful for the ones that you have. Honor them.

And we'll hear some more about that even on Sunday because it's directly tied with the passage, not because I relish mentioning that for myself at all.

Truthfully, as I walk here into Tabernacle Baptist, I want to, Lord willing, have that testimony that Paul did that would say, hey, I was constantly with you on Facebook when you were doing your dishes, when you were driving, when you were working

construction. I was with you in all these different circumstances. I was with you at men's breakfast.

I was with you music practice, whatever it might be, and that you would see a genuineness in me that I would have that same heart as Paul that would say, I just want to finish my course.

I want to get to the end of my life going, yes, I stayed with Jesus and I continue to finish the ministry that he has for me.

That's my heart is that I would be genuine in what I do in my heart for people and continuing in my prayers and in the word of God. And I would hope that maybe if you're listening to this, it's well into it. It's 24 minutes in.

I hope that you would pray for me as I seek to pastor and seek to honor the Lord in what I do. I'm incredibly thankful for every one of you that listens or watches these podcast episodes.

I've learned so much and been greatly challenged and encouraged through this time in God's Word. Over the past, I believe this is episode 39. And I want to thank you for tuning in along with me.

Tomorrow, we get to Jerusalem and a lot of things happen. And I'm looking forward to diving into it with you. Have a wonderful day.

Bye.