Shepherd as Leader

John Macarthur

Description

The very best training a pastor can receive comes from proven leaders with proven track recordsleaders like John MacArthur, John Piper, Steven Lawson, RC Sproul, and Al Mohler.You'll find all of them and more in The Shepherd as Leader, a collection of the all-time best-ever messages on spiritual leadership from the popular Shepherds' Conference held annually at Grace Community Church in Southern California. With longtime bestselling author John MacArthur as general editor and contributor, church leaders will find an abundance of guidance on...the key essentials of effective ministrythe urgency of purity and integrity in a leader's lifethe value of prayer, both personal and publicthe biblical responses to suffering and oppositionthe necessity of complete reliance upon God's grace and empowermentThe Shepherd as Leader is the second volume in our popular Shepherds' Library series, a new line of resources designed to help pastors fulfill their calling with excellence. Also available is The Shepherd as Preacher.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736962100
• Langue: English

Extrait

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Verses marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover by Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
Cover photo deathtothestockphoto.com
THE SHEPHERD AS LEADER
Copyright 2016 Grace Community Church
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The shepherd as leader / John MacArthur, general editor.
pages cm - (The shepherd s library)
ISBN 978-0-7369-6209-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-7369-6210-0 (eBook)
1. Christian leadership-Congresses. 2. Pastoral theology-Congresses. | macArthur, John, 1939- editor.
BV652.1.S53 2016
253-dc23
2015025423
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
C ONTENTS
I NTRODUCTION
1. H UMILITY : A N E SSENTIAL FOR M INISTRY (2005)
John MacArthur
2. P URITY IN THE C AMP (2007)
Ligon Duncan
3. H ALLOWED B E Y OUR N AME : T HE L EADER ON H IS K NEES (2013)
Tom Pennington
4. A L EADER W HO S UFFERS W ELL (2001)
John Piper
5. A M INISTRY OF I NTEGRITY (2010)
John MacArthur
6. O PPOSITION AND H OPE (2007)
Mark Dever
7. T HE L EADER AND H IS F LOCK (2011)
Rick Holland
8. G UARDING THE G OSPEL (2009)
Steven J. Lawson
9. N O L ITTLE P EOPLE , N O L ITTLE S ERMONS (2010)
Albert Mohler Jr.
10. C ONFRONTING H YPOCRISY (2005)
John MacArthur
11. W HAT I S M ISSING FROM Y OUR C HURCH S ERVICE ? (2014)
Austin T. Duncan
12. F OSTERING F ELLOWSHIP (2014)
John MacArthur
N OTES
C ONTRIBUTORS
B E S URE TO A LSO G ET B OOK #1 IN T HE S HEPHERD S L IBRARY S ERIES
A BOUT THE P UBLISHER
I NTRODUCTION
T he first Shepherds Conference was held on March 19, 1980, at Grace Community Church, where 159 men gathered to focus on the theme of pastoral ministry. From the beginning, the goal was to live out Paul s mandate to Timothy: The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2).
What started as a small event has, by God s grace, blossomed into an international movement with thousands in attendance each spring. Over the years, pastors from every state and nearly 100 countries have come to the conference to be challenged and encouraged in areas of preaching, theology, leadership, discipleship, and counseling. My own heart has been deeply blessed by the faithful men I ve met and fellowshipped with at the conference.
Since its inception, the Shepherds Conference has featured hundreds of sermons specifically directed at pastors and church leaders. Because the truth of God s Word is timeless, those messages are still as rich and powerful today as when they were first preached. That is why I was so grateful when Harvest House Publishers approached me about publishing this second volume-a collection of the most memorable Shepherds Conference messages on the topic of leadership.
Today more than ever, the church needs a restored model of leadership that is based on God s Word and that brings Him glory, which is why a book on this subject is so timely. The aim of this volume is to encourage pastors to fulfill their pastoral mandate: to exemplify the truest kind of leadership, which according to Christ, demands service, sacrifice, and selflessness.
This book is for all spiritual leaders, whether you ve been to the Shepherds Conference or not. As you read it, my prayer is that your passion for truth will burn brighter and your resolve for Christ s glory will grow stronger as you seek to serve and lead His church.
For the Great Shepherd,
John MacArthur
H UMILITY : A N E SSENTIAL FOR M INISTRY
Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.
L UKE 9:48
1
H UMILITY : A N E SSENTIAL FOR M INISTRY
John MacArthur
Shepherds Conference 2005
Luke 9:46-56
I t is easy to be proud when we are right. Our theology is right. Our understanding of the Word of God is right. Our view of Scripture as the inerrant revelation of the holy God is right. Our understanding of the gospel is right. We have the right message to preach to the world. It is difficult to be humble when we are right, for we can become intolerant and heavy-handed. The reminder to be humble is a helpful one. The reminder to speak the truth in love and to be patient is necessary. Ironically, we live in a world that exalts self-love, self-satisfaction, self-promotion. For the world, it is considered virtuous to exalt self. But as pastors, we are forced to live in a counterculture way by being models of selfless humility in a world that sees that as a weakness.
The Perils of Pride
Children of God are commanded to be humble because Scripture sees pride as an ugly sin that the devil committed along with the other angels who joined his rebellion. Pride is the sin that led to Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden. It is that damning sin that produced rebellion against God and His law, for it was pride that sought to dethrone God, strike at His absolute perfect sovereignty, and replace Him with self. This kind of pride naturally grips every human heart.
Pride is the reason it is difficult to come to Christ. After all, who wants to hate and deny self? Yet Jesus taught just that message-a message that one cannot come into His kingdom if he does not hate himself. It is tough to refuse to associate any longer with the person you are-to set aside your own desires, ambitions, dreams, goals, and come empty-handed, broken, and contrite to Christ.
It wasn t too many years ago when a wide-eyed first-year seminary student asked me, Dr. MacArthur, how did you finally overcome pride? A genuine but silly question because no one will ever overcome pride until this fallen flesh is forsaken. Battling pride will continue until the day of glorification. However, this does not give people an excuse to hold onto their pride. Pride has to be broken for individuals to be saved, and it has to be continually broken for individuals to be sanctified.
The Pastor s Pride
My fear is that pastors who attend conferences like the Shepherds Conference, who read the right books, and who accumulate the right knowledge may be motivated and energized to go out and fight the battle for the truth in the wrong way. I fear that well-equipped pastors are often too ready to pound on people who are slow to learn and accept certain truths. Pastor, the more you know and the more mature you are, then the more impact your ministry has, the more blessing you experience upon your life, and the more likely you are to feed your pride.
This is what the apostle Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians when the Lord sent him a messenger of Satan; I believe that is a reference to a group of false teachers who came to Corinth and troubled the church. The chaos this group caused devastated the apostle. Paul experienced much agony as he watched a church be shredded by false teaching-a church into which he had invested so much of his life. He even prayed three times for the Lord to remove this thorn, but he recognized that the Lord had sent it to pierce his otherwise proud flesh. Paul said the reason God sent this message of Satan was to keep him from exalting himself.
Paul had seen many revelations, had been to heaven and back, witnessed things unspeakable, was caught up to the third heaven, and had personal private appearances of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 12:1-7). This man had plenty to be proud of, and when the Lord needed to humble His otherwise proud servant, He sent a demon in the purposes of His providence. In the midst of this pain, Paul knew that God s grace was sufficient and that God s power would be perfected in his weakness. Beloved, it is when you come to the end of yourself that you experience the power of God.
A Lesson on Humility
In Luke chapter 9, Jesus taught a lesson on humility. At this point, the disciples had been with Jesus for more than two-and-a-half years, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They were constantly in the presence of Jesus, and every location was a classroom and everything was a lesson. These followers experienced relentless teaching, and everything Jesus taught them was absolutely right. Every word Jesus spoke came from a divine mind and because of this, the disciples were taught perfectly.
In addition, the disciples were given authority to represent Jesus Christ by proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom from town to town and village to village. These men were given so much authority that if they went into a town that did not receive their message, they were to pronounce a judgment on those people, shake the dust off their feet, and leave. The disciples were also given the power to cast out demons and to heal diseases. Common, ordinary men received an immense amount of truth, autho