The Gospel Minister's Calling

And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken that they would not see his face again, and they accompanied him to the ship. Now you probably noticed it's going to be a bit of a longer service than normal, but that's okay because it's a special time and a special moment in the life of the congregation as we now have put Ben in place as the human leader of this church. As Pastor Ben, you will lead and influence this church greatly.

You can see that and hear that already. So I think today would be a good time just to reflect on the simple ways that you can and will lead the church. And there are principles that have been drawn out of this passage that we've just read, Paul's charge to the church in Ephesus, to the elders there. But it's not just a word specifically for Ben this morning because this is not a Ben-led church. This is an elder-led church, and so these things should be at the heart of every elder, the things that are said here.

But if you think that lets you off the hook, no. Well, I'm not speaking specifically to Ben or to the elders because there's a word for all of us in here. You'll see what God requires of the leaders of your church. You'll see ways in which you can help them in the work that they do so that this church can give glory to God and that this church can be a solid foundation for our gospel work. And you'll also notice there are principles in here that are applicable to all of us as followers of Jesus Christ.

So putting this passage in context first, Paul is encouraging the leaders of the church in Ephesus. The church in Ephesus is one that he founded. He spent three years of his life ministering amongst the congregation there. And while he was ministering there, the whole town was turned upside down by the power of the gospel. Ephesus at that time was the centre of worship for the goddess Artemis.

People were now being converted to Christianity, and this massive pagan temple that they had in Ephesus was receiving fewer and fewer sacrificial offerings. And we read in chapter 19 that the idol makers are going out of business. To maintain the apparent stability of their paganism and the wealth within the city of Ephesus, an angry mob starts rioting. Their aim is to stop Paul in his ministry. Paul is then forced to leave Ephesus, and what he does is he goes on a further missionary activity in the area of Macedonia, which is in Greece today.

So now we're in Acts chapter 20. We start at verse 17. We're picking up Paul on his journey back to Jerusalem. Leading up to that, Paul has been encouraging the churches in Berea, in Thessalonica, in Philippi, Corinth, and Troas. So he's done this journey through the churches.

But we read that when he leaves Troas, he doesn't want to spend much time in Asia. So Ephesus is in Asia. So it says there he arranges a sail past Ephesus, yet he still wants to have a word to edify the elders of the church in Ephesus. So he calls them to meet him at the port city of Miletus. And Paul, when he calls them there, expects that that'll be the last time that he physically sees them.

He talks about a special revelation that he has from God that is to go to Jerusalem. There, he'll complete the ministry that he's received from the Lord, which leads in verse 37 towards the end of much weeping on the part of all people because they would not see his face again. While Paul doesn't physically see them anymore, a few years later, he writes a masterful letter to the church. We have the letter to the Ephesians in our Bible. He also has sent Timothy back there to pastor amongst the church in Ephesus, and so he writes two letters to Timothy, which we have in our scriptures as well, instructing him in pastoral leadership within the church in Ephesus.

But the context here is giving a last word to the church in this face-to-face meeting. He's leaving a church that he loved, a church that he had served many years. So what's his word of encouragement to them? Well, from the verses, we could actually probably make an entire pastoral ministry or elder training curriculum, but we're not going to do that. We're just going to pull out a couple of points about leading the church.

And there's a couple of points about leading. So we can lead by example, lead by love, lead by proclaiming, and lead by the power of the Holy Spirit. So leading by example, Paul is establishing himself as an example for them to follow as he lived among the people there. In verse 19, "You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews." Paul's wanting to make sure that they know where he's coming from, that in a sense, he's the real deal, that he's not a show off.

His agenda was to serve Christ, to do that whether the times were good, whether they were bad, whether they were difficult, and he wasn't distracted by anything else. And he says that not even by money. Now we know Paul, if you read through particularly through Acts, you know that Paul faced challenges that none of us really in Christian ministry would ever face, whether we're a pastor or otherwise. But he does model what it looks like for us to pastor and to pastor in all circumstances in the life of the church. We see that Paul is not an isolated minister.

He's not merely someone who steps out of his study on a Sunday morning in order to preach. I asked if we had a green room here that we could meet in before church so he didn't have to meet with the congregation. Paul's not like that. He's there with the people. More than anyone, in a sense, he may have had a right to claim some special class, but he counts himself as one of the Ephesians.

He doesn't consider himself some special class of Christian, and I don't think any pastor or elder should. Like Paul, pastors are church members as well. Pastors are one of us. Pastors have all the same basic life experiences as all other Christians. Pastors sin.

Pastors make mistakes. Pastors get tired. They get discouraged. They're spread thin. They can get brokenhearted about things that are happening.

Brothers and sisters, expect much from your pastor, but don't expect him to be superhuman. Expect him to be faithful, to pray for his faithfulness. Bear with his weaknesses. Confront him if needed. Praise God for his strengths.

Follow his lead as he follows Christ. And, Ben, you're going to lead with your life, with your wife, with your family. People are going to look to you just as the Ephesians looked to the life of Paul. The way you deal with elders and deacons, the way you deal with the rest of the congregation, the people in the church, the way that your family functions, the way that you live your life. The call is to lead by example by living humbly before God, and people will listen as you lead by that example.

So don't neglect your own walk with God. And it's a warning to all leaders, but to us generally in the congregation. You can get so busy serving the Lord, serving other people that you don't take time to feed your own heart. What can happen does happen to pastors. You're preparing sermons.

You're doing pastoral work. You're doing the work of ministry. And because of that busyness, you don't take time to stay close to the Lord. You don't take time to stay strong in your walk with God. And what happens?

You get familiar with the holy things, and your heart can grow cold. You can drift from God and become insensitive to the work of God here in the church. That's why Paul says in verse 28, pay careful attention to your life as a leader. Later, Paul wrote to his young pastor friend Timothy who was now in Ephesus. He writes something similar.

In 1 Timothy 4, he says to Timothy, "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by doing so, you'll save both yourself and your hearers." Keep a close watch on yourself. Ben, elders, you lead well by example as you guard your own walk with the Lord. Because you serve people this way, following God, they're going to watch you and learn from you.

So you lead by example, but you can also lead by love, by loving these people as you serve them. Look at verses 36 and 37. We read, he, Paul, knelt down and prayed with them all, and there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul, and they kissed him. That really shows that Paul's not a cold dispenser of doctrine.

We can read some of his stuff and think, oh, he's just a theologian that's out there, especially if you read Romans. But he's not. He's got a warm pastoral heart. He loved the people he served. He loved them greatly, and they loved him in return.

There's much weeping. Paul has a deep pastoral love for the church. It comes out clearly later in his letter to the Ephesians where he says he prays fervently for their spiritual growth. He prays for their growth in their love of Christ. He gives urgent exhortations for unity and love and faithfulness.

So, Ben, love this church. And church, love your pastor, your pastor who's giving his life for the church. As a demonstration of the love Paul had for the church, it's seen in that exhortation to the leaders, which is bookended in verses 28 and 31. Pay careful attention. Be alert.

Paul loved the church, but this church that he loved was in danger. He talks about guarding the flock. The flock is in danger. What's the danger? He says savage wolves will come in from the outside.

False teachers will arise from within. So he says to the elders, be prepared. Be prepared to defend the church because that is the flock of God. You know, almost all animals have great ways to defend themselves. I love this animal, a wombat.

We used to go camping down where we lived in Victoria at Wilson's Prom and at the old ways, and the wombats would just come wandering through your campsite. They don't care about you. They just wander through and knock things as they go through, but they also have one of the most unusual defence mechanisms. They retreat into their burrow, and they block the entrance with their backside. And that way, they prevent any predators from coming into the burrow.

And their rear is thick. It's layered with cartilage, which makes it really hard and resistant to bites and scratches. It becomes a formidable shield against attacks, and so they can ward off dingoes and foxes. But the church aren't described as wombats. We're described as sheep. Sheep with a shepherd.

Sheep. They're defenceless except for the shepherd. And God has called pastors and elders to be the shepherds, to defend and protect the true sheep from false teaching. And he talks about this false teaching in a sense from the outside. And I think there are times we can discern there are Christian leaders around the world who are nothing more than wolves out to destroy the people and to undermine their faith.

And if people are attracted by some of these outside voices, pastors, elders can easily discern the error, and we could drive them off. We can warn people about them. But of greater concern is those who rise up within the congregation. When I read that, I find it quite frightening. People that rise up, and he says, and draw disciples after themselves.

Their motivation is not to serve the sheep. It's to use them to build their own little kingdoms, speaking twisted things. It's frightening. And the call is, well, what do you do? How do you deal with that?

How do you deal with these false teachers? Well, do as Paul does in verse 31. He says, admonish, warn of the dangers. Do that because of a deep love for the people entrusted to your care, a deep love for defenceless sheep. Lead by example.

Lead by love as you shepherd the people, and lead by proclaiming. The number one responsibility of the pastor, we had it in the commissioning part of the service, is to teach and to preach the Bible. That's how you feed the flock. That's how you protect the flock. You give them the ability to discern as well.

So feed the flock. Paul says that he declared what was profitable. He taught church members in public and from house to house. Verse 20. He called everyone towards repentance in God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul made it clear that his primary ministry and so forth, the primary ministry of those who lead the local church is teaching. But not just any kind of teaching, it's teaching the whole counsel of God. Verse 26. So friends, good pastors teach the scriptures. They aim to know the Bible, to know what it says, and to apply that increasingly well in their own lives.

But as they do that, as they teach the text to us, they help other believers apply it increasingly well in their lives too. So just remember this. Pastors are not life coaches. They're not therapists. They're not marriage counsellors.

They're not parenting experts. They may have some experience personally in these things, but that's not their expertise. Ben won't always know the right answer. He won't always have a good story. He definitely doesn't have the ability to save your kids or to heal your marriage or to bless your bank account.

But expect Ben to go to the scriptures with you. Expect him first and foremost to teach you how to be in a right relationship with the God of the universe and do that through the person and work of Jesus Christ. And expect Ben then to teach you biblical principles that you can apply then to your marriage, to your parenting or grandparenting, to your work ethic, to your budget, to your calendar, to a host of other areas of life. But Ben, stick with the word of God, which alone is able to build up and give an inheritance among the saints. Because the scriptures, God's word, the Bible is our guide, our rule, our infallible inerrant standard for all that we must believe and for all that we must do.

Ben and the elders, go back to the scriptures. Keep calling people back to God's word, which means as a congregation, don't look to Ben as your hope, as your hope in life and death. Look to him as he points you to Christ. So the call is to look to Christ who is your only hope, your only mediator before God. Look to Christ as your ever-present help in your time of need.

Look to Christ as the one who can and will make good on the promises of the gospel. And expect Ben to keep pointing you to Christ and not to himself. Expect him to show you Christ's word. Expect him to help you think through good application of that word. So, Ben, lead by proclaiming and lead by the power of the Holy Spirit. The relationship between the pastor and the congregation works well when they're both submitted to Christ, all submitted to Christ.

It's God's design because it's Christ who is the shepherd of the congregation. It's Christ who's feeding His people. It's Christ who's protecting His people. It's Christ who's leading His people, and He's doing it through Ben and through the elders of this church as under-shepherds. That's a beautiful thing.

The church is not a place where someone leads because they've got a strong personality, not because they're domineering and get their way. The church is the place where we all submit to Christ, and He leads us. He leads the church through His word and Spirit. He leads the church through His under-shepherds, Ben and the elders. And this under-shepherd work is only done in the power of the Holy Spirit, the source of everything that Paul says and does, everything that we say and do.

Leadership is always under the work of God's word and the Holy Spirit. In verse 28, Paul says it's the Holy Spirit who has made them overseers. And their job then is to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood. It's interesting that Paul says the church itself is God's, and so is the pastoral ministry of the church. The saints who are members of a local church are those who have been bought with God's own blood.

You know what? That taps into the profound centre of the gospel itself, that the one in very nature was God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself. Emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, Philippians 2. Jesus, the Son of God, lived and died in order to obtain, to purchase a people for His own glory, which is done here in this church in Open House. He's purchased a people for His own glory.

Makes you wonder how do you view church, this church? When you think of this church, do you sometimes think it's just a bunch of people? Some I like, others I don't. Maybe there's a time when I need to look for another church. Is that how you think about church?

Maybe you need to think of church as this group of people who have been bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. Open House is now a local expression of the church, of the body of Christ. You here are His people. You here are the sheep of His pasture. You here are His children.

You here are part of the body of Christ united to Him who is your head, bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. This local expression of the church universal is so valuable. So you ought to pray for the church, give to the church, serve the church, sacrifice for this body of Christ. You know, that's not just a matter of showing up, grading the music team on the songs that they sing and the way the worship went, not deciding on how the pastor had preached today, whether it was good or boring, whatever. It's realising that this group of people is God's flock.

His people, His family purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus gave His life on the cross so that we could be bought and redeemed and be part of this household of faith here. So Ben, love this local expression of the body of Christ. Handle it carefully because it belongs to Jesus. And church, love this leader that God has given you as he carefully, faithfully, lovingly stewards you.

Because this commissioning service isn't about a new star. It's not about someone who is going to take over everything, but it's about a new servant committed to the eternal King, proclaiming His grace, guarding His people, pointing everyone to the word of God. So, Ben, we have here just a glimpse of what you're called to do, to lead by example, loving the church, proclaiming the word of God under the power of the Holy Spirit. If all of this makes you feel inadequate, it's a good thing. Because in and of ourselves, we are inadequate.

As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2, who is sufficient for these things? And the answer, of course, is no one. It's good to be aware of our inadequacies because that awareness drives us to rely on God, to rely on His grace, His provision, His empowerment as you engage in the ministry He's given to you. Because the reality is it's not just you working, but it's the Holy Spirit working in and through you in all that you do here. And what a privilege it is that you get to serve the Lord in the ministry here at Open House.

God is gracious in giving you the opportunity to be a part of what He's doing here. Listen to what Peter writes to the church using the shepherd imagery as well.

Peter says, "So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you'll receive the unfading crown of glory." Doesn't that sound good? The unfading crown of glory.

Yeah. The responsibility of the pastors and elders is great, but the reward is even greater. And, church, I encourage you in this new season, this new chapter of ministry in the church to encourage Ben. Encourage Ben as you all grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ under his ministry. That'll be a blessing to Pastor Ben, knowing and hearing that you all are growing in the knowledge of your Lord and Saviour.

And, Ben, know that our prayers will be with you, and we're delighted that the Lord has called you to serve here in this church. Let's pray together. Our Father and our God, we thank You. We thank You for this word in the scriptures concerning gospel ministry, teaching of a gospel minister's calling and stewardship. So, again, we thank You for Your gracious provision to this church with Ben and Mishan and the family.

We pray that Ben will shepherd the flock well here as he exercises oversight with the rest of the elders, not for shameful gain, but as an example to the flock. We pray, Lord, that You would guard his heart as he works to guard the hearts of the sheep entrusted to his care. Father, give Ben Your love that he may give it to others by serving You with all humility. We pray that Open House would embrace, love, and care for Ben and Mishan and the family so that altogether we'll grow in the grace and love and knowledge of God. We pray that Ben will clearly declare to others the whole counsel of God and give himself on behalf of this church even if that's tears and trials.

We pray that Ben would finish the race set before him here with joy so that when the chief shepherd appears, he'll receive that unfading crown of glory. We pray that in Jesus' name. Amen.