Pastors and Congregations

[0:00] Last week we saw Paul's concern because the Galatian believers were acting more like slaves than sons and heirs of God.

[0:18] ! In tonight's text we'll see another example of how the false teachers had influenced the Galatians. The Galatians were treating Paul differently than they treated him when Paul was with him.

[0:30] So let's read tonight's text. Here are Galatians chapter 4 verses 12 through 20. You did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

[1:02] What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that if possible you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

[1:15] They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.

[1:35] I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. In these verses, Paul summarizes how pastors and congregations should interact with each other.

[1:49] That's the main idea for the text. Paul summarizes how pastors and congregations should interact with each other. You may already have noticed a change in Paul's tone with these verses.

[2:04] Up until this point, Paul's tone in the letter has been very harsh. Remember, for example, what Paul wrote in Galatians 3.1. In Galatians 3.1, Paul said, And he again called the Galatians foolish just two verses later in Galatians 3.3.

[2:26] Perhaps Paul was concerned that his tone may have offended the believers, and having gotten their attention with harsh words, he now turned to a more pastoral tone. Martin Luther said of tonight's passage, These words are to be understood not of doctrine, but of affections.

[2:46] Therefore, the meaning is, bear such an affection towards me as I do towards you. As though he would say, perhaps I have too sharply chided you. Pardon this my sharpness, and judge not my heart by my words, but my words by the affection of my heart.

[3:03] My words seem rough and my chastisement sharp, but my heart is loving and fatherly. Therefore, O my Galatians, take this chiding with such a mind as I bear towards you, for the matter required that I show myself so sharp and severe towards you.

[3:20] We'll break tonight's text into three sections, starting with just the first sentence of verse 12. And in that sentence, we see Paul's appeal. So Paul's appeal is your first section.

[3:35] In that first sentence of Galatians 4.12, Paul wrote, Throughout this letter, we've seen Paul agonize over how the Galatians have been misled by the Judaizers, and we know that the Judaizers were false teachers who say that Christians must follow the laws of Judaism to be saved.

[4:02] Paul's deep concern for the Galatians necessitated the harsh tone that we've seen in the first few chapters. However, from the first word of Galatians 4.12, the difference in tone stands out.

[4:15] Paul reminds the Galatians that they are fellow believers with him. Notice that he calls them brothers. Paul was disappointed by the Galatians turning from the true gospel, but his word choice shows that he believed the Galatians truly were saved.

[4:31] They had been foolish and they had been bewitched, but Paul still saw them as true believers. And his appeal comes in the remainder of that first sentence.

[4:42] He says, Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. Paul's appeal to his brethren in Christ was for them to recognize and live by the spiritual freedom that all believers have in God's grace.

[4:59] And that's the central truth of the letter. A truth that he'd previously preached to them and he taught them the same thing. But it was a truth that the Judaizers had seduced them into forsaking and doubting.

[5:10] So Paul is urging the Galatians to view their salvation like Paul views his own. When Paul became a Christian, he abandoned the customs of Judaism.

[5:23] If following the customs of Judaism were necessary to be saved, Paul would have been the person most likely to promote that viewpoint. Listen to what Paul told the Philippians when he wrote to them about other Judaizers.

[5:37] These verses are Philippians chapter 3, verses 2 through 9. Again, Philippians chapter 3, verses 2 through 9. Paul said there, Look out for the dogs.

[5:50] Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.

[6:03] Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews.

[6:21] As to the law, a Pharisee. As to zeal, a persecutor of the church. As to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

[6:36] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

[7:02] Before his conversion, Paul was more of an Orthodox Jew than any of the Judaizers could ever hope to be. Some scholars believe that before his conversion, Paul was on track to be the high priest.

[7:16] Paul gave that up because the person to whom Judaism pointed, Jesus Christ, appeared to Paul and saved him. And in the verses we just read from Philippians, you can see the difference that Paul's conversion made.

[7:31] Compared to gaining Christ, everything that Paul had before his conversion was rubbish. And the word rubbish more accurately could be translated as manure there.

[7:42] Galatians was written about 11 years or more before Philippians. So the Galatians would not have been able to read what we just read in Philippians. But we can be confident that Paul likely shared with the Galatians the details of his life before and after his conversion.

[8:00] Paul even alluded to his life before conversion earlier in Galatians. Remember Galatians chapter 2 verses 19 through 21.

[8:12] Galatians 2, 19 through 21 say, For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ.

[8:24] It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

[8:36] I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. All believers are called to live in obedience to God's moral standards that never change.

[8:53] Such living is the evidence of salvation, and we know that from passages like Ephesians chapter 2 verses 6 through 10. But believers can no more live by the law than they could have been saved by it.

[9:05] The reason for Paul's appeal here also is personal. He says in verse 12, For I also have become as you are. When he came to Christ, Paul tore away every shred of legalism.

[9:22] 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 20 through 22 give us a glimpse of how Paul approached his ministry. So here's what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 20 through 22.

[9:36] To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law.

[9:52] To those outside the law I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law.

[10:03] To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

[10:16] Although Paul willingly became a Jew when among Jews and became like a Gentile when among Gentiles, he never represented himself nor thought of himself as anything but a sinner redeemed by Jesus Christ.

[10:30] Remember what Paul wrote just a few verses earlier in Galatians 3.28. Galatians 3.28 says, There is neither Jew nor Greek.

[10:43] There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Some of the Galatian believers were former Jews like Paul.

[10:56] They also had paid a dear price when they turned from Judaism to Christ. They were ostracized from their families and synagogues and treated as if they were dead.

[11:08] Yet they were now being intimidated by the Judaizers in returning to their former bondage under the law. It was almost as if Paul was saying, I introduced you to freedom, don't turn back to slavery.

[11:22] And we see here a principle that's of far-reaching importance for ministers, missionaries, and other Christian workers. In seeking to win other people for Christ, our end is to make them like us, while the means to that end is to make ourselves like them.

[11:41] If they are to become one with us in Christian conviction and experience, we must first become one with them in Christian compassion. We must be able to say with the Apostle Paul, I became like you, now you become like me.

[11:59] So this shows us the balance that pastors must strive to attain. Paul has been appropriately harshed in the first sections of this letter. The Galatians had been duped by dangerous people, so we would expect a pastor to take that tone.

[12:14] So if I see Jerry tonight unknowingly step out in front of an oncoming car, he likely will want me to be more forceful than saying, I'm sorry to inconvenience you, but you might want to wait until that car passes before you cross the street.

[12:30] He'll want me to holler at him to stop before it's too late for him to stop. But after Paul has delivered his harsh message, he reminds the Galatians that he's a fellow brother in Christ.

[12:42] And we should expect our pastors to have a similar approach. They need to warn us and warn us harshly and directly if we're about to do something that contradicts God's word.

[12:54] But that warning needs to come from a place of love and concern for us. After his appeal, Paul next reminds the Galatians of their love for Paul.

[13:05] And from the last half of verse 12 through the verse 16, we have the second section of our lesson. And in that section, we see Paul's appreciation.

[13:16] So Paul's appreciation comes next. Paul remembers how the Galatians treated him when he was with them. And that causes him to think about his appreciation for the congregation.

[13:30] So look at verses 12b through 16 again. Paul says, You did me no wrong. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first.

[13:45] And though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then has become of your blessedness?

[13:58] For I testify to you that if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

[14:10] The last half of verse 12 makes it obvious that the Galatians had treated Paul well. He says there, You did me no wrong. That sentence implies that the Galatians treated Paul even better than Paul could have expected.

[14:25] During the entire time he spent with them, Paul had nothing to complain about. So Paul wants to clear away any notion that he has a grudge against them, and he asserts that he's not speaking out of vindictiveness toward them.

[14:39] He could say that they had done him no wrong because he was confident of their esteem and love, because they had showed it to him before. Verses 13 through 15 have caused many commentators to waste a lot of ink by expressing their opinions about what was wrong physically with Paul when he came to Galatia.

[14:59] We'll generally stick to what we can tell from Scripture, but here are two of the most common theories that you'll hear out there. One is that Paul contracted malaria on his missionary journey and had to stop in Galatia to recuperate.

[15:14] The other is that Paul had a horrible looking eye condition that caused him to stop. And when we get to verse 15 in a minute, we'll see why that some people use that verse to support the theory.

[15:27] Let's look at what the Bible tells us, though, about Paul. And the Bible tells us that Paul's journey through Galatia was marked by intense persecution by the Jews. They drove him out of Antioch.

[15:40] We can see that from Acts 13.50. He went to Iconium, where they threatened his life. When his traveling party became aware of it, they fled to the cities of Lyconia, Lystra, Derbe, and the surrounding region, and there they continued to preach the gospel.

[15:56] And you can read about that in Acts 14, verses 5 through 7. Then in Lystra, the Jews stoned Paul and left him for dead. You can read about that in Acts 14.19.

[16:09] So you get the idea that the entire ministry in southern Galatia was marked by intense persecution, bodily weaknesses, and afflictions of Paul's flesh.

[16:21] Given all that mistreatment, we can understand why Paul was glad that the Galatian believers had treated him so well when he finally got to them. Let's step through verses 13 through 15 now to see what else we can learn from this section.

[16:36] Whatever his affliction was, verse 13 tells us that Paul made an unplanned stop in Galatia because he was sick. That much is obvious from the text.

[16:47] In ancient times, they didn't have the benefit of good medicines, sterile bandages, and other modern care. So diseases were often disfiguring and their stench was often nauseating.

[16:59] They might have been able to smell Paul coming before he actually appeared. And to most ancient people, including Jews, physical affliction was considered a form of divine judgment.

[17:12] Remember how Job's three friends assumed that Job had done something to cause his own suffering. And we see similar sentiment in the New Testament when Jesus came upon the man born blind.

[17:25] Listen to John chapter 9, verses 1 through 3. John 9, verses 1 through 3 say, As he, talking about Jesus, passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.

[17:38] And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? They really sound like good preachers of the loving gospel there, don't they?

[17:49] But look at what Jesus did. It says in verse 3, Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

[18:03] From what Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 4, verse 14, we see no evidence that the Galatians thought that Paul was under divine judgment. Look at Galatians 4, verse 14 again.

[18:16] Paul wrote, The Greek term behind scorn means to count as nothing or worthless.

[18:33] And the term behind despise literally means to spit. And that's because pagans in that day often would spit at somebody when they thought that person was possessed by an evil spirit.

[18:45] I'm not sure why that would ward off the evil spirit, but that was what they thought would happen if they spit at the person. But Paul says here that he was treated neither as worthless nor with contempt.

[19:00] Rather than despising or rejecting Paul, the Galatians treated Paul as if he were an angel of God or even as if he were Christ Jesus himself. Listen to this quote from Martin Luther.

[19:14] He said, This is a worthy commendation and a singular virtue of the Galatians.

[20:08] Luther later noted that the commendation we see here in verse 14 is the strongest commendation that Paul wrote in any of his letters.

[20:21] The reason for the Galatians' warm welcome to Paul was not so much that the Galatians loved Paul as much as it was that they loved God's word. They recognized that Paul was an apostle, an official messenger of Jesus Christ.

[20:35] Therefore, they received his ministry the way God's children always received their father's word, and that is with real joy. The example of the Galatians reminds us that the primary qualification for any Christian minister is that he must preach the word of God.

[20:54] Too many churches have the wrong expectation of their ministers. Pastors should be evaluated primarily by their faithfulness to the word of God. If they are faithful, then to welcome their message is to welcome Christ himself.

[21:11] Happy is that Christian society wrote John Brown when the minister loves his people, and the people love their ministry for truth's sake. Look at verse 15 now.

[21:25] Verse 15 says, What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.

[21:40] So you can see from the first sentence of this verse that Paul is concerned because the Galatians are starting to turn against him. The Galatians may not have wronged Paul before, but they certainly seem to be wronging him now.

[21:54] Their hospitality was turning into hostility, presumably because the Judaizers had been severely criticizing the apostle and denying the gospel that he taught.

[22:06] The last sentence of verse 15 is the sentence that many people use to support the theory that Paul had an eye problem. He may have been referencing an actual eye problem there, and at the end of Galatians, he'll make another statement that hints at an eye problem.

[22:24] However, he may have just been using a common figure of speech in that day. In the ancient world, a man's eye was considered his most valuable possession.

[22:35] So when Paul says that the Galatians would have given him their eyeballs, he simply could have meant that they would have done anything for him. Verse 16 has a simple question.

[22:48] In verse 16, Paul says, Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? When the Galatians recognized Paul's apostolic authority, they treated him as an angel or as Christ Jesus himself.

[23:03] But when they disliked his message, he became their enemy. An apostle's authority continues when he begins to teach unpopular truths.

[23:15] It reminds us that we cannot be selective in our reading of the doctrine of the New Testament. We can't, when we like what an apostle teaches, defer to him as an angel, and then when we dislike what he teaches, hate him and reject him as an enemy.

[23:30] When the Galatians turned against God's message and God's messenger, Paul wondered if they really were God's children after all.

[23:42] No ministers today qualify as apostles. However, ministers who are faithful to God's word often tell people things that they don't want to hear. And truth be told, they sometimes preach things that they themselves don't want to hear either.

[23:56] I'm sure Willard could probably testify to that. But if it really is God's message, God's children should rejoice to hear that message, even if it is a harsh message.

[24:09] They know that if their loving Heavenly Father is telling them something that they would prefer not to hear, it must be for their own good. At Highland Park, we typically do sequential exposition of Scripture because that is the type of teaching we see modeled in the Bible.

[24:27] But verse-by-verse exposition has another benefit. Verse-by-verse exposition forces us to cover passages that we otherwise would be tempted to skip. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 say, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

[24:56] Because we believe that, we cover every verse, regardless of whether we like a particular verse. And when a pastor is consistent with that approach, both the pastor and the congregation benefit.

[25:12] The congregation gets to hear every verse preached, and the pastor is protected from people saying that he picked out a passage just to target certain people. Pastors who skip around the Bible and preach topically can be accused of having their own agenda.

[25:28] But pastors who use sequential exposition rarely get accused of having a hidden agenda because those pastors simply preach the next passage of Scripture. So, so far in this text, we have seen Paul's appeal and Paul's appreciation.

[25:44] In verses 17 through 20, we see Paul's affection. So, Paul's affection is the last section for tonight. Paul's concern for the people comes to the top of his mind again as he thinks about how the false teaching Judaizers are misleading the people.

[26:05] He's hurt by how the Galatians are now treating him, but because of Paul's love for the Galatian churches, Paul is more concerned about what is happening to the church members. Listen to verses 17 through 20 again.

[26:20] Paul says, They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose.

[26:34] And not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

[26:51] In verse 17, Paul seems to be accusing the false teachers of flattering the Galatians insincerely. To win the Galatians to their perverted gospel, the false teachers fawned on them and fussed over them.

[27:05] The New American Standards translation of verse 17 is a little easier to understand here. Listen to how the NASV translates verse 17. It says, They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.

[27:25] So here is that verse one more time. They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them. The term translated seek in the NASV carries the idea of taking a serious interest in someone and it was often used of a man courting a woman.

[27:48] The Judaizers talk like they really care for you, Paul was saying, but they are false suitors who have no genuine love for you or interest in you or your welfare. When you think about it, most cults show keen interest and even affection toward prospective members, they get promised great personal fulfillment and happiness.

[28:09] But as with the legalism of the Judaizers, the true nature of their spiritual enslavement is hidden. In Matthew chapter 23, verse 15, Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees with these words.

[28:27] Jesus said in Matthew 23, 15, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

[28:46] The Judaizers were guilty of trying to do the same thing to the Galatians. Paul's affection for the Galatians compelled him to speak out even if the Galatian believers became offended by Paul's words.

[29:00] The Judaizers' true wish and objective was to shut out the Galatians from God's grace and to gain recognition and acceptance for themselves. The NASV refers to the Judaizers' desire for acceptance and recognition when it uses the phrase so that you will seek them.

[29:20] Going back to the ESV's translation of verse 17, the ESV says that the Galatians want to make much of them. So the lesson here is to beware of any teacher who seeks to be exalted by his or her followers.

[29:36] Beware of any teacher who seeks to be exalted by his or her followers. The false teachers were seeking to build themselves up at Paul's expense.

[29:48] They sought to erect a wall between Paul and the church in Galatia because they wanted the people's loyalty. and they slammed shut the door of gospel liberty because they wanted popularity.

[30:01] Contrast the approach of the Judaizers with the approach that Paul was using. Paul desperately wanted the Galatians to turn back to the true gospel, but Paul never would compromise the truth to accomplish his own desires.

[30:16] Paul had proven his love to the Galatians by telling them the truth, but they would not accept it. They were enjoying the kisses of the Judaizers, not realizing that these kisses were leading them into bondage and sorrow.

[30:30] We've already seen in the letter how Christ had made them sons and heirs, but they were rapidly becoming slaves and beggars again. Listen to verses 18 and 19 one more time because Paul builds upon what he said in verse 17.

[30:47] Galatians 4, 18 and 19 say, Paul himself had eagerly sought the Galatians when he first preached the gospel in their region, but it was in a commendable manner out of love for Christ and a deep desire for the Galatians' salvation.

[31:16] Such enthusiastic concern was appropriate all the time. It was appropriate not only when Paul was present with them. A true pastor does not seek his own glory, but God's glory and the well-being of those to whom he ministers.

[31:34] False teachers bask in the sunlight of attention when they're present, but when they move on, they cannot care less about the people they've left behind. For this reason, Paul points out that even when he is apart from them, he longs for their well-being.

[31:50] So we see here that he expresses pastoral love, a love that always seeks the best for the people. John Stott said, Christians are not in subservience to their human teachers because a Christian's ambition is to become mature in Christ.

[32:08] But when Christianity is turned into bondage to rules and regulations, its victims are inevitably in subjection tied to the apron strings of their teachers as in the Middle Ages.

[32:23] Notice the term of endearment that Paul uses in verse 19. He refers to the Galatian believers as my little children. Paul's their spiritual father in the sense that he's the one who first preached the gospel to them.

[32:39] Here in verse 19, though, he compares his love for them to a mother's love. He says, I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.

[32:51] Here's another John Stott quote. He said, the point of the mother metaphor is not to illustrate their dependence on Paul, but to illustrate his travail for them.

[33:03] He is not satisfied that Christ dwells in them. He longs to see Christ formed in them, to see them transformed into the image of Christ. In ardent desire and prayer, he agonizes over them to this end.

[33:18] He likens his pain to the pangs of childbirth. He had been in labor over them previously at the time of their conversion when they were brought to birth. Now their backsliding has caused him another confinement.

[33:31] Joseph Pippa fair-phrased the phrase like this. He said, Paul bears the true heart of a pastor. He struggles for his people as a woman in labor.

[33:44] He struggled with them in this letter that Christ might be formed in them. In fact, he dealt harshly with them because he loved them. His language reminds us that ministry is daily giving birth.

[33:57] There is much work to be done and pastors cannot be men-pleasers and time-servers. Pastors are like mothers giving birth and they must labor and travail over the lost and over the sheep that Christ has given to them.

[34:12] John MacArthur paraphrased Paul's words a lot more succinctly. He said, Paul was saying, you have already experienced the new birth but now you are acting as if you need to be spiritually born all over again.

[34:25] You make me feel like a mother who has to deliver the same baby twice. So that's an interesting picture, isn't it? They make him feel like a mother who needs to deliver the same baby twice.

[34:38] But despite the difficulties, Paul was unwavering in his goal that Christ be formed in the Galatians. The verb translated form there carries the idea of essential form rather than an outward shape.

[34:54] It refers to Christ-like character and Christ-likeness should be the goal of every believer's life. Paul wanted Christ to be used as a mold to shape the lives of the Galatians and he wanted them to be like Christ.

[35:10] We're reminded of Paul's words in Galatians 2.20 that we read earlier where he spoke of Christ living in him. Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 4.10 Paul spoke of the purpose of the sufferings of the apostles.

[35:26] There it said, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. So this is the freedom that Paul is talking about. Christ shaping us, molding us, changing us, and forming us into his image so that we might be liberated to experience life in him, for him, through him, by him, and then finally with him.

[35:51] So think about that last part. This is the freedom that Paul is talking about. Christ shaping us, molding us, changing us, and forming us into his image so that we might be liberated to experience life in him, for him, through him, by him, and with him.

[36:12] Paul longed to see the Galatians transformed for the glory of Christ and this ought to be the heart of every pastor and of every follower of Christ. We need to pray for each other, teach each other, and model the Christ-like life before each other because we want others to be transformed.

[36:32] We're not followers of Christ merely for our own sake. We're here together for each other. Churches ought to be communities that weep with each other, plead with each other, confront each other when necessary, pray with each other, and exhort each other.

[36:48] And we do all of this because we want to see each other transformed into the image of Christ. And Paul says here that he will not be satisfied until that happens with the Galatians.

[37:01] And we also should never be satisfied until that happens with our fellow believers here in this church. We have one more verse to cover tonight and that is Galatians 4.20.

[37:13] Paul says, I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone for I am perplexed about you. This really is a summary verse and we won't spend a lot of time on it but you can see that Paul hardly knew what more to say or even how to say it.

[37:32] He was so perplexed about them and the verb translated perplexed means to be at one's wit's end. He could not understand how the Galatians could have been taught the gospel so well, believed it so genuinely, and then appeared to have forsaken it so quickly.

[37:50] So remember the main idea. Paul summarizes how pastors and their congregations should interact with each other. John Stott said, The church needs people who in listening to their pastor listen for the message of Christ and pastors who in laboring among the people look for the image of Christ.

[38:11] Only when pastor and people thus keep their eyes on Christ will their mutual relations keep healthy, profitable, and pleasing to Almighty God.

[38:23] Then he went on to say, The Christian minister should resemble Paul, not the Judaizers. He should be preoccupied with the people's spiritual progress and care nothing for his own prestige.

[38:37] He should never exploit them for his advantage. He should seek to serve the people for their advantage. He should never use the people for his own pleasure but be willing on their behalf to endure pain.

[38:50] He longs for Christ to be formed in the people and to this end he is ready to agonize even to travail in birth. As John Brown comments, When such pastors abound, the church must flourish.

[39:06] Stott didn't stop with those words though. He also summarized the responsibility of the people in the congregation. Listen to this quote. He said, Frequently, what interests a contemporary congregation most is the preacher's technique, mannerisms, or voice, how long he preaches for or whether they can hear him, understand him, and agree with him.

[39:31] And often, when the sermon is over, they love to criticize it and pull it to pieces. Certainly, people have cause for criticism if the preacher is unfaithful to his commission, if he makes no attempt to preach biblically, or if he himself is not subject to the apostolic word.

[39:50] But when the minister expounds scripture, the word of God, the proper reaction of the congregation should be to receive the message rather than criticize it. Not on the authority of the minister, but on the authority of Christ, whose message it is.

[40:05] Most Christian congregations today could be more alert, more humble, and more hungry in listening to the exposition of God's word. And one commentary included this note.

[40:19] It said, too many churches have the wrong expectations of their ministers. Consider this description of the perfect pastor. And as we go through it, you'll notice some contradictions in it.

[40:32] But here is the description of the perfect pastor according to this commentary. He condemns sin but never upsets anyone. He works from 8 a.m.

[40:43] until midnight and is also the janitor. He makes $60 a week and gives about $50 a week to the poor. He is 28 years old and has been preaching for 30 years.

[40:57] The pastor smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his work. He spends all his time evangelizing the unchurched and is always in his office when needed.

[41:13] I ran that quote by Pastor Tyler and Pastor Mike. They do not think it applies to them. They said they are very thankful that Highland Park treats the pastors much differently than other churches.

[41:25] So there is your disclaimer that was not a paid message from them but let us never be a church that has those kind of expectations from our pastors. Let us always be a church that gives our pastors time to study to meditate and to recuperate and when we do that we will continue to have pastors who can say to us what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11.1 In 1 Corinthians 11.1 Paul said Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.

[41:57] Let's pray. Father we thank you for this review of how pastors and their congregations should interact.

[42:09] And even though Paul was an apostle and we have no apostles today we see in this passage that he had a pastor's heart and we see how he treated his congregation. Let us be thankful that we have pastors that behave the same way and let us never take that for granted.

[42:27] In Jesus name we pray. Amen.