The Gifts of the Spirit - The Pastor/Teacher

I do have some longer-term goals in taking time with these, type of, this type of stuff, in the sense of allowing these truths to really resonate, and, having a good grasp of them is gonna help us a great deal, with some of the things that we're gonna look at and work on as a church family next year. 

So that's kind of where I'm choosing to, let's get these things really taught, and let's understand what we're dealing with, because this is really the bedrock of our understanding, what it, what it like, how we function together as a church family. we know why we come together. We come together for the benefit of the whole body. 

Why has God gifted you and I with what He's gifted us with? so that it can come into the body, and it can be a blessing and help to all those around us. We've looked at the first three of these gifts, mentioned in, chapter 12, verse 28. We looked at, apostles and the gift that God gave the church of apostles to pass on and establish the teachings of Christ, for us in New Testament form. 

Then we looked at prophets and those that were receiving revelation. then we looked, last week we started looking at one aspect of what's there in verse 28 when he says, "And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily of prophets, thirdly teachers." and if you remember last week, we took the time to break this apart and looked at it first, that idea of teachers in the sense of the gift of teaching, that God by His Spirit enables individuals in the church with an ability to study, to comprehend, and then make a application, organize the thoughts, and then deliver those truths that God has revealed in His word. 

I told you that that's one of those gifts that's, that's, it can be young and old, it can be men and women, it can be all across the spectrum of who God enables with this gift to communicate and to teach His word. We looked at it in the sense of the gift to teach last week. this week I wanna kind of launch into something that, this one's gonna take us some time to work through, and I really, I think it's gonna be very, helpful to us because it brings us to consider not just the gift of the teacher that God gave to the church, but those who are, who operate in a calling of being teachers in the church. 

So this isn't just, particularly someone that maybe leads a Bible study or a class or, that type of thing. This is someone... Th- this really moves us into consider one that God has put a call on their life and set them apart for the work of pastoring, okay? So bringing people along, not just in teaching a lesson here or there, but the one that can come alongside and help shepherd you toward the Lord, okay? 

so when we look at that, this next idea we saw last week related to the gift of teaching, which is given to the individuals in the church so that God's revelation can correctly be interpreted and explained. Tonight I want us to begin to look at the men who not only possess the gift to teach, but fulfill the New Testament office of pastor, elder, bishop, teacher, okay? 

Now, why is that important? Okay. Let me just try to get as practical with this as I can. last week, I hope what kind of stood out to you is we need it. We all need teachers. We all need people in our lives that are helping us to come along in our understanding of the word, okay? We need that because it's m- it's more than what just you and I can grasp on for ourselves. 

yes, we have the Holy Spirit, and yes, he is the teacher. He is the guide and the truth, but in how God communicates it, he is, he has put his people in the path to help bring you along in the word. So one of those individuals that you find referred to throughout the church is called in all throughout the New Testament. 

It's called kinda one group referred to with three different names. we'll look at it being the group that's called elders. they're called bishops or overseers, and then they're called pastors or shepherds. And I'm gonna show you, we're gonna walk through some different passages, and I wanna show you how all three of those tie together in the same... 

We call it kinda one of the words that gets attached with it is like the same office, same, individuals in the church. But you and I need pastors in our lives, okay? there's this epidemic nowadays where people think that they can just do Christianity on their own and they're good. No. There- you can't find any support for that in the scriptures. 

We have to have fellow believers that we're, we're with and are being encouraged and sometimes corrected and helping us come on for the Lord. We need other believers, but we need the function of the church, and God has put thirdly here in our text, teachers or pastors in the church to help nurture you along in the faith you come to the, you come to the Lord and, you're like, "Okay, I need to take this thing serious. 

I need to, I need to progress. I need to understand better. I need to walk with the Lord." And the Lord says, "That's great. You're recognizing that. I've already put individuals in the church that can help you take those steps, that can... That you can put yourself connected with them, and they can help bring you along." 

It's not so that you stay, like, dependent on them all, but as time goes on and you progress, then you can become someone that's helping to teach and helping to bring along. but we're gonna look for the next couple weeks at what you can kinda call, like, the New Testament pastoral office. This group in the church that God has called and given these things to. 

because it's, it's... The terms that are tied to it will help us understand why these individuals are so significant. because it shows us that, this person must be spiritually mature. they are entrusted with watchful care, and under the Lord as the head of the church, they are trying to help bring the church along toward Christ. 

So one of the most, sobering responsibilities that I have, that I get to have, is that there are people that look to me as their pastor. And they're like, "Okay, that guy can help me understand these things." That's probably one of the bigger burdens, you know, of all the, you know, as the church has come along and growing and all that. 

Like, one of the biggest weights is just, like, God has given more people that are looking at me to say, "Okay, help me understand. Bring me along." That's a blessing. you know, it's partly a blessing 'cause I remember, like, there was, there were definitely days where there weren't ... You know, this would've been a massive crowd back in those days. 

you know, that was a joke. It, but it was true, you know? but, like I remember Vira and I, like, specifically, you know, 10 people showed up to church on Sunday, and we're like, "Oh, 10 people. Can you believe 10 people showed up?" It's the coolest thing in the world. now you're just stuck with me after all these years. 

but yeah, bless your heart back there. I know. but God has called me and given me the responsibility to bring people along with the Word, not just to, like, stand up and teach lessons, but to live life together and help you come along in the faith. It's not just me, though, in this church. God's blessed this church in a big way because of James and Alex and Ben, you know, men that God has called and gifted in this area of pastoral care for the body. 

So it's a blessing to be able to, like, work together with those guys and to kinda, like, help care for you and care for others. But at the end of the day, what I hope we'll take from this as we work through this over the next couple weeks is you look at your task of growing in Christlikeness, like becoming more and more like Christ. 

God has put individuals in the church to help foster that. Like, the command is at-- Once you're saved, the command is to grow, right? To grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, to- so that Christ is formed in you. Your life represents, looks better and better like His. Well, God puts pastors in the church to help that become a reality Say, well, okay. 

Well, that's great for the pastors. Well, what are the pastors supposed to be? They're supposed to be Christ-like. They're supposed to be Christ-like. One of the biggest traps for pastors i- is that it can just become about your ideas, your preferences, what you think, and then it becomes trying to, you know, get people to just follow you toward what you're trying to accomplish. 

that's not the Biblical role of a pastor, and we're gonna walk through that a- as we work through this. So let me, let me get started tonight. I don't know, we'll stop wherever we stop when it's time, k- maybe like we normally do. But, in the meantime, let's start in Acts chapter 20, because I wanna begin with the three terms that describe this with you. 

So Acts chapter 20 this evening is where we'll launch into this, and I think I spent maybe a minute here last week, but this will be helpful to get started. Okay. Let me set the stage here for you. Acts chapter 20, Paul is headed to Jerusalem, but he's near, the city of Ephesus, and he pulls off on his journey, by sea in a town called Miletus, and there he had sent ahead and he called for the elders of the churches of Ephesus to come meet him because this is gonna be his last opportunity to help them, to encourage them, to strengthen them before they go back. 

Okay? So I want you to just kind of put some of this stuff together here. Look at verse number 17. it says, "And from Mile- Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church." Okay, first word that I want you to key off of there is the elders of the church. the Greek word behind elder, is, i- it means, it means, spiritual maturity. 

It was used of, like, older individuals, in the, in the Greek society. In the church, though, it became synonymous with, um- It ca- became synonymous with a spiritual maturity, with dignity, and a recognized standing. So when you think of elder, you're not just talking about someone who's older. In a spiritual sense, you're talking about someone who has the kinda character of life and the maturity and the dignity by which they go about things, that they represent the Lord well, okay? 

In this sense, we're gonna find that these elders in the church at Ephesus are given responsibility, okay? So you see that in verse number 17. This group is called elders, these mature ones. It re- it refers to kind of their character. Now drop down to verse number 28. He's speaking to those elders, and he says this. 

"Take heed therefore to yourselves and to the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he has purchased with his own blood." Okay. So what you just see there is a job description of this group called elders in the church. The group called elders, they are, to, recognize that the Holy Spirit has made them overseers of the church. 

Okay, so what does that look like? The head of the church, we as through our study in 1 Corinthians, the head of the church is Christ, right? He's the head of the body. He's everything. In the local churches, he puts under shepherds to lead the people toward him, okay? So how do they do that? By having oversight. 

That's the word, that points to the idea, this idea of overseers. That's the word that we'll look at in some different passages. It's called the bishops. So, you know, some f- some churches break these out. You have elders in the church, you have these bishops, and they're different groups. You have these pastors in the church. 

But when you put the New Testament together, they're not three different groups in the church. They refer to one group in the church that has different functions of ministry, and that's why you see the elders have the oversight in the church, and their primary task with the church is to feed the flock. 

So who would be the flock? The people, the people. Okay, to borrow what Paul's been talking about in 1 Corinthians 12, the members of the body, the individual members. So the, these elders are given oversight, and their responsibility is to feed the body. So let's just have a little group think idea. 

With what are they to feed the people? Is this just referring to the physical needs of the body? Like, you know, these elders, they cook lunch and dinner for you all the time. you don't want that, trust me. what are we supposed to feed with? The Word, right? So this group of elders in the church is entrusted with oversight of the body, and their responsibility is to take the Word and explain it and apply it. 

So they're these individuals with this, dignity, with this spiritual maturity, who are given responsibility. They watch over closely, they guard, they supervise, they care for, and feed the church. So that's where you see the three concepts come together. Elder, bishop, and pastor, shepherd, okay? All those three things come together in the charge that Paul gives to these Ephesian elders. 

Why is that so important? Verse 29, "I know this, that after my departing, grievous wolves will come in a- among you, not sparing the flock." What does that mean? It means there's gonna be people that come in with things that are not of the gospel of Christ to the church. It's just naturally gonna happen. 

There's gonna be people that are trying to get their own following and trying to lead you astray to come toward them. And so the elders are charged to care for the congregation with the Word and build them up so that the congregation can also participate in the fighting off of bad ideas and non-gospel-centered things so that the whole body is healthy together, okay? 

so that's a passage that deals with the idea of elders. turn to Ephesians chapter 4, and let me, spend a minute on, Spend just a minute here on another passage that we will take some more time in. Ephesians chapter 4 

If you're one of the, if you're somebody that really does well when you know exactly what you're shooting for, like what the Christian life really is all about, these verses set the goal for all of us. Okay? They set the v- goal for all of us, and I'll just give you the Crib Notes version first. Your goal as a believer should be to progress in Christ likeness. 

Okay? That is your preeminent goal that your life, as you walk with the Lord, grows more and more into uniformity with the life of Christ. Okay? It's not something you can do in and of yourself, but yes, you're, you're, you are applying your spiritual disciplines, you're in the word, you're fellowshipping with the believers, you're praying, and you're in the community of believers so that you can be taught and brought along in the word. 

But your goal, number one, top priority, is to become more and more like Christ in your thoughts, in your actions, in your heart, in your responses, that you are tr- being transformed to resemble him. So that is what Paul's dealing with in this passage. so if you pick up in verse number 11, it, this is again along the same idea. 

Paul says this, referring to the Lord, it says, "He gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers." Okay? So what's he referring to? He's talking to the church, the body, and he says that God, much like he has in Corinthians, has given the church these called individuals to fulfill a responsibility. 

You see that at the end, these, the idea there is these pastors, teachers. Okay, for what purpose? Verse 12, "For the perfecting or maturing of the saints, for the work of the ministry," so the, that the serving of each other and coming along is happening all across the body, "and for the edifying of the body of Christ." 

So God has put these individuals in the church so that the body, the individuals, are being built up in the faith. The key building block for you growing in the faith is the word being explained to you It's got to be there. It's like, it's like the food group. It- I- it's, it's what you got to have. You gotta have the word being explained to you. 

To what purpose? Verse 13, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith." In other words, we're all progressing towards something in this. What is it? The, what the faith identifies, the likeness to Christ. to, and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man. And then here's the phrase, "To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." 

All those words, what do they come together and mean? God put all this in the church so that you can have the resources to achieve the number one goal of being a Christian. That is, you have the resources at your disposal in the church so that you can grow to be like Christ. That's, that's what the whole thing about... 

The, when we, when we think of salvation, we, I've talked about it in the sense of it's a past tense thing. I have believed. It's a present tense thing. In other words, now that I have believed, I'm trying to, or the, my goal is to become more and more like Christ, and one day salvation will be complete when I'm forever with the Lord. 

In this moment, the present tense of salvation, you have one all-encompassing goal. Say why, you know, my goal is to get to the place where I can retire, my goal is to get to the place where I have this and I have that, and there's nothing wrong with having other goals, but if you make that the preeminent thing in your life, you're gonna be sadly mistaken when you get that and it's not worth it. 

Or you don't get that and you're just upset that you didn't get the one thing. You have one preeminent goal as a believer. Everything else is secondary. That preeminent goal is that your life is being conformed to Christ, and God put the resources in the church so that you have the tools at, before you to come along in that. 

And so in other words, God makes clear, like, the goal of being a Christian in this life is to become more and more like Christ in your thoughts and your words and in your heart, okay? And so because you need to experience that, I'm gonna put individuals in the church that can help bring you along. Now, every one of us can probably tell stories for all of these times we're going to study this of pastors that have either done this well and we've been connected with them or not done this well and it been a detriment to us. 

Okay. So we can rejoice in the things that are good. We can grieve over what was not. But here's where I'd like to push our focus. Let's understand biblically the function of this so that the real reality becomes true in our lives. That we are progressing because we are connected with the resources that God has put so that the goal is achieved. 

We are becoming more and more like Christ. So we've seen that there's three terms. I'll just mention the other one now. But in 1 Timothy 3, Paul says that if the man desires the office of the bishop, in other words, the overseer in the church. And then he goes on to list all these different qualifications for that individual to serve in that. 

Okay. One group in the church referred to three different ways picturing the different aspects of the ministry that they are called to partake in. Okay. Now, the main passages that deal with these things. If you want to make a note of this, and at some point I will get you notes on this, I promise. I'll get you something you can follow along a little better with. 

But there's three or maybe four main passages I'll give you and you can spend some time as we work through this. Acts chapter 20, which we've already been to, is a significant one. Ephesians 4 is another one. 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, and then 1 Peter 5, 1 through 4. Okay. Turn with me. Let's just look at 1 Peter 5 for a couple moments here. 

Let me point out a couple things. So we know who Peter is, right? Loud mouth apostle, the one who's probably the best representation of what our messy growing like Christ looks like. but as he grows and matures, he becomes a powerful tool in the Lord's hands. Okay? in his first letter, he writes to the elders. 

Okay? So First Peter, chapter five, verse number one, it just begins, first two words, the elders. Okay? So the letter's written to the church as a whole, but now he's gonna address that specific group of pastors and teachers and leaders in the church. He says, "The elders which are among you I exhort." So in other words, I have a message to deliver to the elders, and I want you to understand, and I want you to hear it. 

He says, he says, "Who am also an elder." So Peter's saying, "I'm an elder, so I can tell you these things. Okay? I have that." "And a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory which shall be revealed." Verse two: "Feed the flock of God." So top priority for the pastors is what? Feed the flock Well, we gotta understand, like, primary role of the pastor is not to be a CEO of an organization. 

it's not to be, you know, managing all of the... It's not to be the manager to make all the things work and, you know, all of that, though you do what's gotta be done, right? You take care of what needs to happen. The primary responsibility of the pastor is to feed you with the Word. That's it. To take the scriptures and unpack them for you so that you understand, because that's where your soul is really nourished. 

We could make our gatherings about let's just get here and we'll talk about the, there'll be a different sermon from a different passage every single week on, whatever cultural thing popped up that week, and we'll just make it church about chasing those things, and we'll be a group that has similar ideas and all that. 

But that does not feed your soul. You need what's gonna sustain you when the ground underneath your feet is shaking. You need the strength and the weaponry to fight when false ideas about Christ come at you so that you can go to the Word and say, "No, that's not true, because this is what it says of Christ." 

When you look at a culture around us that wants to minimize the glory of Christ and make him just another person, or to twist his words and turn them so that they are this or they are that, and it sounds like a more, like, modern, soft version of Christianity. Friend, there's only one version of Christianity. 

It's what's revealed in the scriptures. But how are you and I gonna be capable of re- rebuffing those things as they come? We have to be fed in the Word And there's lots of different ways you can be fed, and I think you should be wise in how you partake of that. there are no doubt solid resources that are around that you can get in podcasts and YouTube and things like that. 

They are, they exist and they're out there, and you can, rightly dividing the word, take a lot of good things from them. But as a part of the church, the primary place in which you should be getting fed is in your local assembly. It's by the people that God has entrusted to care for your soul. That's the reason. 

So I'm not against, in any way, resources and solid teaching that comes in variety of opportunities to you. I'm not against it. I'm, I'm for it. I want you to feed on truth as much as you would like, and more so. But the primary place you need to be feeding is gathering with your body and with those who are entrusted to care for your soul. 

That should take a primary place. The number one responsibility of the elders in the church is to feed the flock of God. How do they do that? Taking the oversight thereof. In other words, there's the idea of bishops. They're, they are viewing this from the top perspective. They are leading. They are living life together. 

They are, they are guiding and shepherding, but not by constraint. In other words, they're not, they're not browbeating you every time you show up to church with the same thing. "Do this, do this, do this, do this, do this." Legalistic churches have just ruined the Christian experience of so many Christians because it just becomes perform as the pastor wants you to perform. 

Here's a list, and you do this list, and you're gonna be just fine. No. No. You need to feed on the Word. The primary function of those that God's put in the church is to feed you with it. So on Sundays when we're unpacking the glories of Christ or Wednesdays when we're maybe not so much topical as we are for a few weeks here, but when we're digging into the Word, you and I need that. 

We have to have it because that's what gives us strength to keep going. So they don't take the church by constraint, but they do it willingly, not for filthy gain. That's the idea behind lucre there. They're not doing it for the money. They're not trying to get a following for it. but they're doing it of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage. 

That's another word for the body, God's heritage. In other words, they're not making themselves to be who you serve. You don't exist to serve the pastors. That's, that's not the biblical concept. Remember what Christ said? He said, "I didn't come to be served. I came to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many." 

The New Testament pattern for the pastors is to be serving the body, not building a kingdom for themselves. That's not how it works. but here's the last one in verse number three, "But being examples to the flock." The pastors of the churches should be who you can look to to see how the Christian life should be lived. 

They should be a walking example of Christ-likeness for you to follow. So when Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ," that's the same principle that's at work with the pastors that God gifts the church. Now, are they perfect? Absolutely not. Look close enough and you're gonna see feet of clay everywhere, things that you're like, "Well, that was..." 

But you know what? When they m- when they reveal, when we all reveal that we're not, that we missed it, we take ownership, and we make it right, and we move forward They should walk in humility before the church. They should serve the church because that's what Christ has given them to do. These concepts are not just great ideas of like, you know, a theocratic kingdom that's gonna come one day. 

This is the bread and butter of what New Testament church life should be like. It should be led by men who understand the first goal in their lives is to be Christ-like so that they are an example to their family, to the church family, so that others can grow closer to the Lord as they follow them. 

With a mutual understanding, none of us are gonna be perfect. But an understanding that when somebody gets out of line, we lovingly, with the truth, come along and bring somebody with us. It's how this is supposed to work. So you could define this pastor-teacher then as a spiritually mature man entrusted by the Holy Spirit with watchful care over Christ's flock. 

He feeds and guides and guards and cares for them through the Word of Christ under Christ as he is the chief shepherd. Verse number four, "And when the chief Shepherd, shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away." Here's the idea behind that. The pastor, the pastors are individuals that will give an account to the Lord for how they led his people And we talk about as believers, we all have a moment where we're gonna stand before the Lord and our lives are gonna be judged on what we've done. 

The pastors are going to be accountable for how they led their, the people that they were given toward Christ-likeness So myself and James and Alex and Ben and, like, we are responsible to the Lord for the people that God has given us to shepherd, and we're gonna stand to account for that. That's why this is so serious. 

That's why this is such a real deal. That's why when any of us get up to teach in whatever setting it is, it can't be anything other than the Word. And look, sometimes it's probably... It may be a home run message, and it's like, "Oh, man, I got it." Other times it may be like, "Bless his heart, he didn't quite have the fastball today," you know? 

some- most of the time it's gonna be somewhere in between. But the aim is not for some great experience. It's to just help you see what you need to understand from the Word. So the takeaway that I'll leave with you for tonight in this first aspect of this is this God has given pastors to this church so that this church can continue on in Christ-likeness. 

They're not... None of us are, you know, none of us are the boss. None of us are to be served. We are to serve others. But our primary aspect is to feed you with the Word. And I can tell you this, as God enables us, as the church comes along, as God enables us, the avenues through which we can help feed you with the Word are going to continue to multiply. 

There will be different settings and different opportunities and different times in the week where the teaching of the Word is gonna happen as God enables the capacity for it to come along. Why? Because there's one main priority, to provide the flock what they need so that they can be nurtured up in the Word. 

Father, thank you, for this time tonight and this opportunity to talk through these things and really just kinda get started on it and so much more as we'll look in the coming weeks to, this work of feeding and what that looks like and the life that you've called these individuals to live before you. 

but ultimately we understand that the calling on all of us is to be Christ-like. that our lives would be transformed and become in harmony with our Savior, and we have that positionally, through faith. We are, we are made one with Him. And we praise your name for the forgiveness of sin that's made that a reality. 

But we all recognize that we must continue to, pursue you. we must be in the Word, we must be unpacking it, we must be studying it, and we thank you for how you've put, individuals in all of our lives and in the churches that we've been part of to bring us along in the faith. So Lord, because of that, allow your work to prosper through it. 

May our attention always be on the top priority of making the Word known. And by that, Lord, may you flourish your people to grow in Christ-likeness. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.