Eph 4:11-12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: ________________________________________________________________________

I spoke to you this morning about your adversary, the devil, and how he wants nothing more to destroy you. In fact, it is his desire to sift you as wheat (see "Satan's Desire," preached 7/04). And yet that is only one facet of the attack that Satan has planned to destroy the church, the other chief plan being to destroy the pastor in your life. The methods matter not to the devil, if he can get the pastor downhearted or irreverent or to not take his duties very seriously and not apply himself to the Word and Prayer, then he will have destroyed the pastor's influence in the church. Or maybe the devil will try to get the pastor distracted from the harvest through other things in the church or even try to get the man of God to fall into sin and destroy his credibility with the saints. I've known Satan to get the same results by causing a pastor to get prideful and become as a king over the church and therefore able to sit gleefully by and watch God bring the man down because of his pride. It doesn't matter the method that it happens, Satan desires to see the "pastor," the very word means "shepherd," to cease to live spiritually within the congregation of the church body. He wants to somehow, through whatever means, to destroy the pastor's influence in your life.

Satan desires this because he knows scripture, too. And he knows -- even though he would never admit it -- that God's Word cannot fail and is true. After all, Satan has seen every promise that God ever made work and come to pass! And so when the scripture states:

The office of pastor is what stands between Satan and the saints of the true, living God. And since Satan's desire is to destroy the "sheep," he also wants nothing more than to destroy the pastor, the shepherd that God has placed over the local flock, because he knows that if he does that, the sheep will be easy prey. And so the devil begins a process of looking for an opening, of looking for a weakness. He wants the shepherd dead, either physically, spiritually, or influentially. Without a shepherd in their life to keep them together and to water them and to feed them and to help them grow and to guard them and to discipline them, the sheep will be an easy target for the roaring lion, our adversary.

Everything I've already mentioned to you, are things that I as your pastor must fight against and guard against myself. You can pray for me and fast for me and support me, but ultimately it's my decision to zealously guard myself from these traps. If I give in to prayerlessness or carnality or complacency or discouragement or frustration or even falling into sin, then I have only myself to blame. The church didn't make me do it and neither did my job title or ministerial calling. If I fall and allow myself to be "smitten" for these reasons, then it completely and totally my fault. Pray for me, because Satan would like to see me fall into one of these traps, and now perhaps you can somewhat understand why I take this job of shepherding, pastoring, very seriously. I must guard myself because it is one of hell's primary goals in this area for me to fall!

Let me say that I don't plan to fall, and that I plan to take this thing seriously for the rest of my days. By the power of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Bible, and Holy living, I plan to grasp onto the mercy and grace of God and fight for truth and to not give in! I plan to obey the commands of the Word given to pastors through the Apostle Peter:

Peter was commanding the pastors to "Feed the flock of God." In other words, study and pray and fast and get the right messages for your congregation. Teach and preach the entire counsel of the Word. Don't leave anything out and do it with passion and diligence and constantly seek out the freshest pasture in God's Word for your spiritual sheep.

Let me read it to you in the Amplified Version:

1 Peter 5:1-4 I WARN and counsel the elders among you (the pastors and spiritual guides of the church) . . . 2 Tend (nurture, guard, guide, and fold) the flock of God that is [your responsibility], not by coercion or constraint, but willingly; not dishonorably motivated by the advantages and profits [belonging to the office], but eagerly and cheerfully; 3 Not domineering [as arrogant, dictatorial, and overbearing persons] over those in your charge, but being examples (patterns and models of Christian living) to the flock (the congregation). 4 And [then] when the Chief Shepherd is revealed, you will win the conqueror's crown of glory. AMP

I take that very seriously! I also have posted on the wall of my office the following scripture that Paul wrote to the young pastor, Timothy. I read this almost every day:

I strive, to the best of my ability, to live up to that charge! But notice verse 16 carefully. Paul tells Timothy to continue in and guard against changing the doctrine, for "in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." Likewise, Peter said in the afore mentioned verses that if I as your pastor obey these commands, then "when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away!" In other words, if I am faithful to these things, I will also be saved myself!

I'm here to tell you that I'm not in this thing for power or glory or fame, but I AM in this because I intend to be saved! I'm a pastor/shepherd because that is what God has called me to do, but I fully intend to make it to heaven one day! No offence, but if you turn around and walk away from God, don't expect me to follow you. If you get bitter and treat me horribly, don't expect me to get bitter and lose out with God. I'm not over confident, but there are some things that I've settled long ago: As your pastor, NOTHING is worth losing out on my relationship with God over! Let people come and let people go. Let the storms blow! I don't intend to be discouraged and quit. I don't intend to stop living for truth even if everybody else doesn't. Why? Because by staying faithful, I will reap one day a crown of life for myself, and since I'm the shepherd, I fully intend to let the shepherd live! In fact, I fully intend on letting the shepherd live forever with Jesus Christ!

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I've preached to myself, but let me come back around to you. Those are things that are my responsibility. You need to be aware of them, but really, whether or not I obey them is up to me. I fully intend to try to obey them completely. But understand something: if the devil cannot get the shepherd to die spiritually through his own actions, he will then move to the sheep and try to get them to kill the shepherd. Not in a physical sense, hopefully, but in a much more deadly way -- spiritually. Let me illustrate to you the ways that Satan will try to accomplish that objective by relating to you a story example. There is no story in scripture that illustrates the importance of having a pastor/shepherd in your life that that of King Saul of the Old Testament.

King Saul was Israel's first king and he began his career brilliantly. He won mighty battles over the enemies, the dreaded Philistines. He led Israel to unite under worshipping the One, true God Jehovah. He banished all witches and warlocks and made having occult books and paraphernalia punishable by death in the kingdom. (a law that I think would be very beneficial today, and certainly ought to be obeyed in a spiritual sense in all of our home libraries). Under his able leadership, Israel became the kingdom that God had intended and stopped having to worry about be carried off by the various wicked armies that God had allowed to torment them because of their idolatry under the "judges."

King Saul's initial success was due mainly to his humble attitude and the fact that he had a man of God in his life, a pastor/shepherd if you will, the mighty prophet Samuel. Samuel offered sacrifices to God Almighty before the battles and taught and guided Saul through some tough day-to-day decisions, ensuring that he stayed in favor with God. Samuel arises in the scripture as one of those mighty men of God on par with Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist. He was one of a kind, and he was perfect to be Saul's pastor, his loyalty and fierce trust in God helping influence and encourage Saul to keep God first and foremost in his life.

But then came the day that forever changed Saul's life and history and spiritual fate. I've often wondered and discussed with various Bible scholars what happened to Saul to bring this great change. Maybe the victories got to Saul's head and he began to think that somehow it was his power alone that was fighting for Israel. Maybe he grew complacent in the routine of living and let the things of God become too commonplace. Maybe he allowed a little bit of resentment or bitterness to creep in and place a root of rebellion into his life. Whatever the reason, there came the day that Saul decided that he no longer needed a man of God in his life. After all to his thinking, God had anointed him too. The Spirit of God was with and upon him also! He had seen the man of God anointed so much that he began to think that there wasn't really anything to it. What Saul had failed to realize was that his anointing was quite a bit different from Samuel's. He was anointed to do what God had commanded him to do: lead the civil and military affairs of the country, but God had not called him to pastor/shepherd or to fulfill that spiritual role. It was a lesson that Saul learned too late: after he became a God reject.

Let me stop here and say that there are many people who are supposedly "in tune" with God that have the same attitude. "I have the Holy Ghost." "I have an anointing on my life." "I'm a Christian." or "I can read the Bible, too." And those are certainly great things and very needful things, but unfortunately there are those who think all of those things prove that they don't need a pastor. They don't need to submit to a man of God in their life. They really don't need to attend a church. They really don't need a shepherd to guide them. They are maverick sheep and are so far out of the will of God it would be funny if the ramifications of their actions were not so serious. Unfortunately, too many of them have to lose their family and their kids and their walk with God before they realize that they made a mistake and sometimes, by that time, it is too late.

In our text in Ephesians, we read about how that God set spiritual authority in place in the church. He set ministers to be apostles (those who are sent to pioneer works in places that have not heard truth and oversee the building from scratch of the kingdom of God in an area), prophets (those who speak direct words from God for specific situations), evangelists (those who travel from place to place and focus on reaching the unchurched and the sinner), and yes, he also placed pastor/teachers who are to be the local "shepherd" -- for that's exactly what the word, "pastor" means -- who are to be a spiritual shepherd to the local flock and obey the commands that we have already covered. People forget that the anointing and position of pastor is not one that was dreamed up by organizations and religions, but is at the very heart of God. Pastors were God's idea. And God blesses men who are called to that role and, more importantly, blesses people who submit to the pastor's ministry. When people don't "need" a pastor in their life or to submit to any spiritual authority in their life, they are only fooling themselves. They are like a sheep trying to make it on their own. Peter made it clear: Jesus Christ is the Chief Shepherd, but the pastors of the local church are the "undershepherds." If the sheep don't need a shepherd, then we'd better take these scriptures out of the Bible.

But the scriptures says that God gave us pastors and then he goes on to say that he gave them -- and I'll read it in the New King James Version-- for specific purposes:

You need a pastor/shepherd in your life! But when Satan couldn't get Samuel to be unfaithful or fall into sin, he then began to work on Saul's attitude toward Samuel's authority. When Satan can't get the pastor to give in or compromise and kill the shepherd's influence that way, then he begins to work on the saints attitude toward a pastor. People who say that they don't need a pastoral authority in their life have already given in to the work and lies of Satan!

And then there are those who like Saul reach a place where they think that there is nothing to it. After all, they are anointed of God in their own way and so they decide that they suddenly don't need a pastor anymore and they rebel and begin to try to kill the shepherd in their life. Only to find out that they were wrong because they forgot to remember that that it was God who placed the pastor in their life and gave him his anointing and authority. And God had honored the anointing of the man of God and thus the blessings had flown down to those who are under them. Authority is like an umbrella that lets the blessings fall and shields away the judgment. Jesus Christ is the head, the pastor is next, the husband and then the wife and then the children are all in line. The umbrella allows the blessings of God to fall but shield you from the judgment and wrath. But when you decide that you don't need spiritual authority at any level, and you rebel, you take yourself out of the line of where the blessings of God are falling and you also place yourself squarely in the line of the judgment of God in your life. Your pastor and parents and all other authority in your life will be imperfect because they are humans, but never forget the lesson that Saul learned the hard way: God respects the position even if the human being is imperfect. It is God who placed the anointing and the authority over you, therefore God will only bless you if you submit to that which He has given!

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Whatever the reason, Saul decided that he could be his own priest and his own pastor. But then came the day that he had perform the duty of the man of God and when he went to give the sacrifice himself, just as he had often seen Samuel do it, he found that God didn't bless him despite doing the same thing that Samuel would have done. What worked for the man of God didn't work for him because God will only bless those He has chosen for the particular office! Saul had killed the shepherd's influence in his life intending to be the replacement and for the role of the shepherd to live through him, only to find out that it didn't work that way! The only way to let the role of the shepherd live in his life, was to let the man of God remain in his God-given position of authority!

When Saul made his ill-fated decision, he began to resent the instruction of Samuel. Samuel, you see, didn't leave just because of his decision because Samuel was not serving the office for Saul, but because of the call of God. And so Saul began to resent and fight against the words of wisdom from his shepherd.

If Satan can't get the shepherd to die through his own failure or get a person to remove themselves totally from the authority, then he tries to get the pastor to kill himself by giving in to those who fight against his warnings and instructions. Let me take you to a sobering passage for a pastor that is found in the book of another man of God who was a pastor/shepherd, the prophet Ezekiel:

This is God speaking here. The warning is clear to the pastor/shepherd: if he will not warn the wicked or is afraid of correcting the righteous who have strayed, then God will hold him guilty of that person's soul. But if the pastor/shepherd warns the sinner and the saint and corrects them in truth and speaks the truth in love and is not afraid to speak the Word of God even if it is unpopular, then if the wicked person or wayward righteous man dies lost, they die with the responsibility of their actions on their shoulders and the man of God is not guilty of their blood. The exact words of God was "thou hast delivered thy soul."

When people are not living as they should, they tend to give into the trap of resenting the man of God's instruction and correction. Unfortunately, it is a commanded part of my ministry to tell you the truth when I see you in ungodly and undisciplined behavior. Those with the spirit of Saul will not like that. Those with the rebellion of Korah will not receive the teachings and corrections of a pastor. And some will even be used of Satan to try to make life miserable for the pastor to somehow get him to "lay off" of the truth stuff. And there are some pastors that give in to the pressure. They realize that speaking the truth as God's Word has commanded them, will make them sometimes very unpopular. And the human element of pastors wants to be loved. But the warning of God is clear: those pastors that give in to the pressure to just avoid confrontation and do not warn the wrongdoers of their deeds and what they should do according to the Word of God, will die with the blood of those people on their hands.

It's easier for you to be saved, than it is I as your pastor. You must give account to God of your actions, but I must give account of my own life and then whether or not I properly handled every person that God placed under my authority. The plot to try to force or bend a pastor into not speaking the blunt truth and giving in to the pressure to be popular and non-confrontational will cause the pastor to be lost, because will hold him accountable for each person that he refused to correct in love and truth. The plot for a pastor to not really confront anything is really a plot to kill him eternally! But you better make up in your mind to "let the shepherd live" and thank God for a man of God who will look you in the face and disagree with you when your chosen action violates the Word of God! Such a man cares for your soul and is willing to be unpopular for a few weeks if that's what it takes for you to be saved. A man who will not stand up to you with the truth and is afraid of correcting you doesn't really love you because he cares less what happens to you! You'd better receive the correction of a pastor who is striving to be Godly. You'd better let the shepherd live in your life! Because it's that kind of Godly boldness and truth that will get you to heaven!

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In our other text, we are at a place much later in King Saul's life. He has now become a God-reject. He about to lose his kingdom and God has vowed that his sons will never sit upon the throne. Israel is in chaos because of the rebellion of their leader, and the Philistines -- once the beaten foes conquered by Saul -- have risen up again to their prominence and are conducting raids on Israeli villages, stealing the harvest and killing the people of God. The prophet Samuel has been removed from his life and now Saul is having to face life without any pastoral influence, whether he wanted it or not. Because of his rejecting of God's plan for his life, we find that the scriptures in our text say that God has allowed an evil spirit to trouble Saul daily. He is half insane at times and yet it comes and goes, but at times this evil spirit drags him into the lowest states of depression. Understand that this is not mental illness which is caused by physical and genetic disorders, but this is clearly identified by the scriptures as a spiritual condition.

It is one of the servants of Saul that comes up with the idea to get a musician, a skilled harp player, who can play beautiful music to Saul when he is troubled and deranged, and perhaps the music would bring him out of his depression and madness. One aide steps up and says that he knows just the man, a young "son of Jesse" named David.

It is interesting to note that the good qualities of David are exactly the qualities that make a good pastor! And then when they go to find David, they find that he is "with the sheep." He is a shepherd boy. At this time, Saul does not realize that God has already anointed David to one day rule Israel as his successor. In fact, Samuel had anointed David to be king in the first part of this 16th chapter.

David comes in and begins to play his harp for Saul in the times that he is mad, and surprisingly it works! The scriptures state:

Now nowhere else in scripture can we find that a musical instrument drives away demonic forces. There is never a case in Acts and the Gospels, for example, where demons are being cast out of people right and left by Jesus and His disciples, that one of them reached over and said "alright, I've got my trusty harp here and it's time for the demons to go by by!" But yet, the scriptures clearly state that when David took an harp and played, the "evil spirit departed from him" and he was "refreshed."

The spiritual power of this situation came not from the music but from what David represented in this story. Samuel is gone and Saul had the troubled spirit because he had rejected and spurned his pastor/shepherd. But now, David who has been anointed by Samuel and has submitted to him is now in Saul's life. And David not only had the traits of a good pastor, he was a shepherd! David represented a pastoral influence in King Saul's life again and so when he played his music, God honored the authority and anointing of the pastor/shepherd and the evil spirit was chased away! As long as King Saul submitted himself to the skill and the sound of the shepherd, he was soothed and untroubled!

Your pastor alone has the God-given ability to sing the songs of God to your life in such a way to chase away the things that want to destroy you. As long as you are willing to sit under the influence of his ministry, then God will bless you and the plan of Satan will be deterred. When God places a shepherd in your life, it doesn't matter how young or how old, if he is anointed of God and "God is with him," then you'd better submit yourselves because your very salvation depends upon whether or not you respond to the sweet sound of the heavenlies that flows from your pastor's efforts!

I wish that the story ended here and Saul died right with God. Unfortunately, that's not the case. A little while passed, and in addition to the root of rebellion, jealously crept in Saul's life. Because David had had the courage to fight the giant, Goliath, he had become an instant national hero. People praised him for his faith in God and his deed. He was reaping the physical benefits of it to. And then came the day that Saul heard some women singing about him and David and they sang:

As the jealously arose in Saul's heart, he decided that he no longer needed the shepherd, David in his life. And not only that, Saul purposed to kill the shepherd in his life.

Saul tried to kill David and then kicked him out of his palace, and then spent the last months of his life trying to chase him down. Why? Because Saul let jealously cause him to resent the pastoral/shepherd in his life.

The scripture says about pastors:

I'm not trying to get myself a raise for you all know that I could make much more money in the musical field in this secular world. For the last three years, as pastor of this church I have made less money a month than I did as a music director at my last church. God has blessed, and I'm taken care of. I pay my tithes and offering too.

But listen to me: if Satan can't get you to kill the shepherd's influence in your life by being a maverick sheep, or by refusing to listen to his instruction, then he will try to cause jealousy to enter into your heart. If a pastor is faithful, his salary will grow. God will bless him. There are avenues and friendships and travel opportunities that are available to a pastor because his anointing and his ministry opens them up. His kids will have such unique opportunities. It's the side benefits to the heavy responsibility that he carries. He will be able to take vacations at odd times, and usually must take them at odd times because he is required to be on duty in the normal times. He will probably never get up at 5am, but that's because often he will have to be up into the wee hours of the night dealing with whatever saints that need encouraging. His hours are long at times and short at others. Some weeks, there is no such thing as rest and then other weeks are easy. And so God blesses uniquely the life of a faithful pastor and his family.

And so the deceiver will try to bring jealousy to kill the shepherd in your life. If God blesses, me one day and I'm making a salary of $100,000 a year (I hope! but that's not why I'm in it), then what is that to you? If God one day blesses me with a nice home or a nice car, then what does it matter? Are you going to feel that that is too much if you and your family make it to heaven? What's the price on that?

Or maybe the deceiver will bring jealousy toward the spiritual anointing of the man of God. Saul found out that some things that the man of God does, God honors simply because he is called and anointed to that purpose. And there are some that are jealous of the moving of God in other's life and so they reach for the javelin and begin to heave it at the shepherd in their life. There are some that are so driven by jealousy that they devote their entire lives to destroying the effect of pastors and Godly leaders in other's lives.

But I have preached to you a message from God: even if you don't understand him, and even if the truth hurts, let the shepherd in your life live! Even if takes swallowing some pride. Even if it means praying and fasting until you submit. Even when you don't understand why he acts the way he does. Even if you have been hurt by some in the position who were imperfect humans and/or were driven by other means and agendas than your well-being in mind, submit to them. God will bless you because He has placed the imperfect man in the office, despite your opinion of him. If you want to go to heaven, then you must make a very important decision in your life: Let the Shepherd Live!!!