Tuesday, May 7, 2013

"Your Minister ~ God's Messenger"

I am writing this as a pastor for members to remember that maybe your pastor is just another man to you, but if He’s truly called by God—in God’s eye your pastor is an angel. I am using [Revelation chapters 2-3; 3:22] as a support for the use of the word angel.
Although this may flow like a sermon, this is just my thoughts put to paper on how and what you should think about your pastor [if he truly recognizes the dignity of the office of pastor].

Let me begin by asking a question:

How many of you know that many churches have ministers who are not God’s messengers?
If you want to be able to distinguish a God-sent pastor from one who sent himself: Just listen at what he is saying, and not saying to the church. If he is not saying exactly what God said, (Preaching exposition ally from the Bible) then God did not send him.
Because if God sends Him, then he is only going to say, what God said…  “Are you listening to me?”
Listening
with the intent to obey is becoming a lost art,
[2 Tim.4:3].
There is a difference between listening and hearing… See, listening precedes hearing… You can listen without hearing, but you can’t hear without listening
And God has given every one of His churches a
god-called pastor with a message to hear… When people neglect to listen to their pastor, they cannot hear, and thus they contribute to their church not conforming to God’s perfect will for their church.
One thing every church needs is a preacher sent by God to listen to, and one thing every preacher needs is a church member to preach to… Both the preacher and the member can exist without each other—but they cannot become better without each other…
So to you your pastor may be just another man, but in God’s eyes he’s an angel!
The word angel means “messenger.” Angels act under the control of God’s command. Angels deliver the message of God, without changing it in anyway.
Angels protect the integrity of the written Word
of God.

When we analyze the contents of these letters to these churches in the Book of Revelation, we will find that they constitute a message to churches today with similar challenges. I know you thought you attended the only church in town with problems, but the truth of the matter is every church in town has problems and challenges. (Why?) Well, what I’ve discovered about church and not just our” church, is, the church [local assemblies] are full of problems because they are full of people with problems, and the only way you will ever get rid of all the church’s problems is by getting rid of all the people in the churches. Because, as long as your church has people in it, it will have problems in it. [1 Thessalonians 5:14-15] tells us that there will always be wayward people, worried people, weak people, wearisome people, and even wicked people in the church.

But God has given you an angel in the form of your pastor who knows what they are going through, to whom if you would listen to, he [the pastor] would be able to guide you through, around, under, and over your problems.

Let me just say this…
The only reason why there are corporate problems in the church is because people haven’t resolved their personal problems at home…  Can I go further? The problems in homes stem from the problems in people’s hearts that live in the homes that make up the communities that go to the church.  “Are you still listening to me?”

Let’s look at a few of the churches and their problems…

The members in the Ephesus church in (2:4) had become a Loveless Church that had drifted away from its devotion to Christ. “Are you still listening to me?”

The members in the Pergamum church in (2:14) had become a Compromising Church by departing from the biblical faith and truth. Some of them had brought the things of the world in the church and no one in the church was willing to address it, even though they knew it was wrong. “Are you still listening to me?”

The members in the Thyatira church in (2:20) had allowed a false prophetess to cause their church to be an Immoral Church, and the only way you become comfortable with immorality is by practicing immorality… “Are you still listening to me?”

The members in the Sardis church in (3:1) had become a Dead Church that was only alive in name. They were not physically dead, they were spiritually dead. “Are you still listening to me?”
You might be thinking, “How can a church be dead, but alive?” Sardis… for example…
Light; - the nearest stars to us that give off the light we see in the night sky are trillions of miles away. Astronomers in their quest to explain the vast distances between us and the stars, came up with an appropriate measurement called the light-year. One light-year equals the distance that light, traveling at more than 186,000 miles per second, travels in one year; that’s more than 6 trillion miles. So with that information consider this, if a star thirty light-years away from the earth imploded and died five years ago, we would not be able to tell by looking at it for another twenty-five years. Though no longer in existence, the light from that star would go on shining as if nothing had changed….Well, this illustration perfectly sums up the situation in many churches today.
They still shine with the reflected light of a brilliant past. And since we only can look at them from a distance, one might think that the church is still shining and that nothing has changed.
When the truth is the church imploded and died a long time ago.
They may still have a reputation [the church] but their light is only an illusion!

And lastly the members in the Laodicea church in (3:15 – 16) had become a Lukewarm Church, this church was filled with people who were not genuinely saved, but they didn’t openly reject the gospel either. They attended church and claimed to know the Lord but they didn’t. Listen, some churches make the Lord cry, others make Him angry; but this type of church makes God sick
“Are you still listening to me?”
When you neither hot nor cold = you are unmoved by the gospel, and it evokes no spiritual response from you. Then you nauseate the stomach of Christ.
Listen, I don’t know much about much. But I do know, that if there’s anyone you don’t want to make sick (in the sense of being tired of what you’re putting down) it’s Christ.
“Are you still listening to me?”

Summary:
Think about it: The book of Revelation shows us that all hell will break loose when the church is removed from the earth. “Are you still listening to me?” 

If you want to assure that your church is hearing what the Spirit is saying to it, (first) protect your pastor’s time… (secondly)  pray for him daily… (and finally) Pay him at least three times a week
Yes, I said “pay him.” And here’s how you do that.
Once a week you need to pay him double honor in salary, and at least twice a week “pay him” with your attendance at bible-study when he is teaching, and your attendance at church when he is preaching.

[Closing Illustration]
With all of the businesses in downtown Houston, many times during the day when one business needs to get information across town in hurry and it’s too much to fax, they call a messenger service. The service sends a messenger, “aka” courier who picks up the information and delivers it to the right person. The messenger’s only job is to deliver the message to the right person, without changing it in anyway.
Well,…  God the Father has a big business, and Jesus the Son runs it.
And everyday He’s trying get information to everyone in town, and it’s too much to fax, email, tweet, or blog, so Jesus uses a messenger service.
And these couriers called preachers, get the information and deliver it.
They have one job, and that’s to deliver the message without changing it.
We are not to mess with the message! We’re to just deliver the message…

Delivering the message consist of opening the Word of God and expounding on its truths so that the Voice of God may be heard, and the Glory of God seen, and the Will of God obeyed…

I know many times you might want your minister to change the message, but he can’t do that.
We cannot mess with the message!
(Why?) Because we are God’s messengers and not just your minister!

Don’t treat your mailman better than you treat your pastor.

You don’t quit on the mailman (the city’s messenger) when he delivers stuff you don’t want!

So don’t quite on your minister and God’s messenger when he delivers stuff you don’t want.

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