Let Us Thank Our Pastor

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving, so first we thank God triune-the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-one God existing in three Persons, the Creator of heaven and earth and all things that are in them. He alone is almighty, all-wise, all-glorious, and all-compassionate. He gave us existence through our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. For existence and being let us thank God and our parents.

Let us thank God for granting us all temporal provisions-food and clothing. Let us thank God for divine election, for God chose us to salvation from his own wrath even before the creation of the world. Let us thank God for the gospel call. He sent someone to preach to us the gospel of his sovereign grace because faith comes by hearing the gospel. Let us thank God for regenerating us, so that we were able to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Let us thank God for our eternal salvation.

Let us thank God for our families, our husbands, our wives, and our children. Let us thank God for this country and all the freedom we enjoy here. Let us thank God for the church of Jesus Christ, here and in heaven. Let us thank God for our pastors-God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Bible says we are the sheep of his pasture. God feeds us in pastures green the word of his grace, which always nourishes us and builds us up. Let us thank God for the Scriptures, in which we see the face of Jesus Christ and the glory of God in the face of Christ. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).

Worthless Pastors

We want to speak to you from Ezekiel 34 about two types of pastors, or shepherds. First, we want to look at worthless pastors. God delegates his pastoring responsibilities to human leaders who sometimes misuse God’s trust. In Ezekiel 34, Matthew 23, and Jeremiah 23 God expresses his displeasure with such worthless human pastors.

In Ezekiel 34, the word “shepherds” in the plural is found at least nine times. Ezekiel says these human pastors became worthless. Instead of caring for the sheep, they abused them, slaughtering them for their own purposes. They eat their sheep. The sheep are in their mouths (Ezek. 34:10).

In Ezekiel 34:1-6 we read the charge God makes against these shepherds:

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered on all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.'”

Jesus spoke the same way of the shepherds of Israel-the Sadducees, Pharisees, teachers of the law, priests, scribes, and elders. Instead of blessings, the Lord of the universe, the head of the church, pronounced seven woes upon these preachers who did not care for God’s sheep. These pastors refused to preach the gospel. They did not want to use the key to open the door of the kingdom that people might come into it to experience righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces . . . Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. . . . Woe to you, blind guides! . . . You say, “If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath” . . . Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness . . . Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence . . . Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean . . . . Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, “If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets” . . . You snakes! You brood of vipers! (Matt. 23:13, 15, 16, 19, 23, 25, 27, 29, 33).

Recently we read of a mega-church into which vast numbers of people are crowding. But when the church leaders conducted a study to find out what kind of a job they were doing, they discovered the people were not growing in Christ because they were not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are modern worthless shepherds! Such shepherds are found in churches throughout the world. Their people are not provided for, protected, directed, strengthened, sought out, or healed. Instead, they are used and abused for the personal power and wealth of the pastors. Yet how many people flock to such churches, not to hear the word of God, but to be entertained! Their pastors carefully pick their pockets and send them out, not only with empty pockets, but with empty hearts as well.

God is against such shepherds whose sheep are scattered, famished, wounded, sick, and even killed by wild animals. To have worthless pastors is worse than having no pastors at all. Jesus himself observed this: “When he saw the crowds he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36).

Jesus said such worthless shepherds are thieves, robbers, and hirelings (John 10). Paul called them savage wolves: “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number, men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30). Elsewhere he said these people are preaching a different Jesus, a different gospel, and speak of a different spirit. They are servants of Satan, not true ministers of the gospel (2 Cor. 11). Paul even pronounces a curse on them, saying, “Let them be [anathema,] eternally condemned!” (Gal. 1).

Yes, such pastors will entertain by preaching psychology and materialism. But they refuse to preach the gospel of life. These pastors are parasites. They are called and anointed by the devil.

Jeremiah also spoke of worthless pastors:

“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. . . . “The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly. Both prophet and priest are godless; even in the temple I find their wickedness,” declares the Lord. “Therefore their path will become slippery; they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall. I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished,” declares the Lord. . . . And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie . . . Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They keep saying to those who despise me, “The Lord says: you will have peace” . . . . But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word? . . . I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message . . . But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people . . . “Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams . . . They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them” . . . Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your fathers. I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace-everlasting shame that will not be forgotten. (Jer. 23:1, 10-12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 22, 30, 39-40)

The Lord is against false shepherds who have nothing to do with the gospel. He will judge them, curse them, punish them, and destroy them because they refuse to preach the word of God that alone gives life to the dead.

God Himself Will Pastor His Sheep

But Ezekiel does not only speak of worthless shepherds. In verse 11 and following, the sovereign, almighty, all-wise, all-powerful, all-compassionate God himself promises to shepherd his sheep. So we see the words “I will” repeated throughout the remainder of this passage: “I will take care of you”; “I will save you”‘; “I will search for you”; “I will find you”; “I will bind up your wounds”; “I will heal you”; “I will strengthen you”; “I will shepherd you”; “I will feed you”; “I will bring you into your own land and I will give you the finest pasture.” What great comfort we derive from these promises of God!

The Lord will take care of his sheep. Notice, he says, “my sheep.” Such words appear fifteen or so times in this passage: “my flock” or “my sheep.” C. H. Spurgeon notes that God is not saying “my swine,” but “my sheep.” We are God’s sheep by creation, election, and redemption. The worthless shepherds do not own us; God does, and we belong to him.

The worthless shepherds who abuse and consume the sheep are hirelings. They are self-focused, not sheep-focused. When the wolf comes, they will run. They are only serving for their pay. But from all eternity we belong to God the Father, who gave us to his Son, that he may die for us and save us.

Jesus speaks of this several times in his great high priestly prayer:

For you granted [the Son] authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given to me. . . . They were yours; you gave them to me. . . . I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me from all eternity. . . . Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world (vv. 2, 6, 9, 24).

We belong to the Father who loves us, cares for us, saves us, and provides for us. As a shepherd, he meets our every need every day. Why, then, should we be afraid or anxious? Our heavenly Father will never fail, and neither will his Son Jesus. We are the sheep of the Father given to his Son to shepherd. Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (John 10).

Jacob and David were shepherds who risked their lives for their sheep. But there is only one shepherd in God’s universe who gave his life for the sheep. He did so on the cross of Calvary. That ought to tell us to forget about worthless shepherds. Because God the Father is our shepherd and God the Son is our shepherd, we are in good hands.

The Bible calls Jesus the good shepherd, great shepherd, and chief shepherd who loves and cares for his sheep. Paul writes, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Jesus himself says, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (John 10:14), meaning, “I love my sheep and they love me.” Then he says, “My sheep listen to my voice” (John 10:27), meaning, “My sheep believe me.” He adds, “I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).

Let me ask you some questions: Are you the Father’s sheep? Are you Christ’s sheep? Do you hear Christ’s voice in the gospel? Do you follow him? Do you love his word? If all these things are true of you, then you can experience great comfort and joy because you have eternal life. You are eternally secure; no one is able to snatch you out of the hand of Christ or the hand of the Father. Neither death nor life is able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (see Rom. 8:37-39).

God’s sheep have nothing to fear or worry about. No bear, no wolf, no lion can snatch us out of Christ’s almighty hand or out of the Father’s sovereign hand. We are secure forever.

Promises of God Our Shepherd

Let us examine some of the promises God makes to us in Ezekiel 34.

1. “I myself will search for my sheep” (v. 11). The Father says he himself will search for us, find us, and bring us home to enjoy eternal fellowship with him. Be assured, when God searches for us, he will find us. Even if we are buried in a crag of a rock, we will be found by our sovereign, omniscient, almighty, all-wise God.
2. “I will rescue them from all the places they were scattered” (v. 12).
3. “I will bring them out from the nations . . . and I will bring them into their own land” (v. 13).
4. “There they will feed in a rich pasture” (v. 14). God is speaking about the rich pasture of the gospel, the word of God, that gives us life, nourishes our souls, and satisfies us forever.
5. “There they will lie down in good grazing land . . . I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down” (vv. 14-15). Our shepherd says he will cause his sheep to lie down in these rich pastures. His words are reminiscent of those of David: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures” (Ps. 23:1-2). All weariness is gone and we receive rest in Jesus Christ.
6. “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice” (v. 16). In verse 4 God made the following charges against the worthless shepherds: “You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.”But what the false shepherds failed to do, the Father himself does. He binds up the wounded and heals the sick. He searches, he finds, he rescues, and he saves. So do not worry about false shepherds! Get out of their churches, and God will guide you to a place where he himself will shepherd you. There are churches throughout the world-wherever God’s people exist-that are shepherded and cared for by God-appointed preachers of the gospel, men who do not use, abuse, kill, or eat the sheep, but lay down their lives for them.
7. “I will shepherd the flock with justice” (v. 16).
8. “I will save my flock” (v. 22). God the Father saves us, and he does so through his Son. That is why his name is Jesus, for he saves his people from their sins-not in their sins, but from them (cf. Matt. 1:21). True salvation means God gives us hatred for sin and love for the way of righteousness.
9. “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David . . . I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them” (vv. 23-24). God has many people throughout the world, but they all have one shepherd. The Lord Jesus understood this idea from Ezekiel 34 and declared, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Jesus Christ is the head of the church, of which there is one shepherd. The Father is the shepherd, and now the Father appoints Jesus Christ to be the shepherd, here called David, by which it means David’s son, Jesus Christ-one shepherd for all the sheep of God. This speaks about the unity of the body of Christ.God calls this shepherd “my servant.” He is one who will never fail to obey the Father, but will always fulfill the will of the Father, which included the horrible death on the cross. He said, “Not my will but thine be done,” as he moved toward Calvary where he died. He died for our sins and was raised for our justification. Isaiah saw this and says in Isaiah 53:11, “My righteous servant shall justify many.” This servant must be righteous because an unrighteous servant cannot justify anyone. No wonder Paul said, “I resolve to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified,” that is, the person and work of Jesus Christ for the salvation of wicked sinners like us.The Lord also calls him, “my prince” (v. 24). Jeremiah speaks of the same idea: “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness'” (Jer. 23:5-6).Our shepherd is King. That is why we confess Iêsous Kurios, Jesus Lord. Paul writes, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). “Lord” stands for the God and King who rules and reigns in our lives and in the church. He is the one shepherd the Father appointed. He is “my servant,” but he is also King and God.Jeremiah said this one will be called “The Lord Our Righteousness.” In 1 Corinthians 1:30 we read, “It is because of [God the Father] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-righteousness, sanctification and redemption.” Jesus Christ is our righteousness and sanctification. He who justifies us also sanctifies us. He takes the pig and makes it a sheep. He makes the bad tree a good tree that produces good fruit. A person who is wallowing in the mud should not say he is a Christian. There is some problem between his confession and his behavior. The Lord gave us one shepherd, Jesus Christ, “my servant,” “my king,” the one who justifies us and cleanses us. “He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become nothing less than the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). He is my prince, my king, the one who governs his people justly. He protects us, provides for us, and rules us in righteousness. Woe unto that Christian who does not like the rule of Jesus Christ!
10. “I will make a covenant of peace with them” (v. 25). This is the new covenant, the covenant that changes us, by which God writes his laws upon our hearts and gives us a new heart and puts a new spirit in us (Jer. 31:31-34). He sends the Holy Spirit upon us and forgives us all our sins, and there is peace. Ephesians 2:14-18 speaks about peace being accomplished through the cross. Our guilt is gone and the wrath of God is removed. This covenant of peace is not based on our righteousness but the work of Jesus Christ alone in our behalf.
11. “I will make them a blessing” (v. 26, author’s translation). We are a blessing-a blessing to God, a blessing to the church, and a blessing to the world. We used to be a curse, but now we are a blessing. Who makes us a blessing? God. We are a blessing to our spouses, to our children, and to our grandchildren. We are a blessing in the morning, in the noontime, and in the middle of the night. When we go, we are a blessing; when we come, we are a blessing. We are a blessing in the city and a blessing in the country. And not only that, it says, “I will make his environment a blessing.” Our house is a blessing, our land is a blessing. Everything we own is a blessing.
12. “I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing”(v. 26). This has reference literally to showers and rain-the early rain and latter rain-so that God’s people would have plenty of fruit from the trees and crops from the land. God will take care of our physical needs.But that is not all that is saying. In Acts 2:17-18 we read, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” When the mighty rain of the Spirit of the living God comes upon us, we flourish and thrive and bear fruit to the glory of God. What we need is a great effusion of the Holy Spirit to revive us, strengthen our faith, and cause the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit to abound in our lives. Do we need fruit? Do we need gifts? We do! We need the Holy Spirit. Here God is saying he will send the rain in its season: There shall be showers of blessing, that God’s people will thrive and grow and mature and bear fruit for the glory of God.I am an unashamed champion of this Holy Spirit truth. And the greatest miracle of all is the regeneration of a sinner who is dead in trespasses and sins. (PGM) We believe in the total depravity of man; the only way a person can be made alive is through the direct action of the Spirit of God. He makes a bad tree a good tree. He raises the spiritually dead and they become spiritually alive. The same Holy Spirit is with us now. He is interested in us, he dwells in us, he gives us enlightenment, he teaches us, he opens our eyes, he speaks to us, and he does wonders. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.God says, “I will send showers of blessing.” We need the early rain and latter rain, a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Every child of God needs the Holy Spirit to wean us from worldliness and fill us with godliness.
13. “I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety” (v. 25). Do you want security? In this verse, as well as in verses 27 and 28, we are told of the security we have in our shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. We can go any place; God is with us and in us. He says to us, “Fear not; I am with you. Peace, be still.” Christ died for our sins, was raised from the dead, ascended into the heavens, and is seated on the right hand of God the Father. But he is also says to us: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). We are safe forevermore in Christ.In verse 27 we read, “The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops. The people will be secure in their land.” This is the second time the Holy Spirit is giving this teaching. Do not worry about the future, the present, or the past. We are secure. The wild beasts are taken care of. The stronger One came and bound the strong man, defeating him on the cross. And verse 28 tells us, “They will no longer be plundered by the nations nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety and no one will make them afraid.” We can go to bed in peace. We live in peace and die in peace. We fight our battles in peace, knowing that “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).Paul speaks about this great security: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv. 37-39, italics added). In speaking about his people (his sheep), Jesus himself said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 28-29). We are in Christ’s hand and in the Father’s hand, gripped by the everlasting love of God. No one can snatch us out. We are secure in Jesus.
14. “They will know that I am the Lord when I break the bars of their yoke” (v. 27). Christ has broken the iron yoke of our guilt, sin, punishment, and death, and has brought deliverance for us. In his great chapter on sanctification, Paul writes, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Rom. 6:18). Christ broke the bars by opening our prison doors and ushering us out into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Look at Romans 6:22: “[Y]ou have been set free from sin.” God sets us from the dominion, power, and rule of sin.Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). Sin is wearisome. We must not say we are having a good time if we are wallowing in it. Especially if we are Christians, we will be miserable under the crushing yoke of sin. But there is good news: God can set us free. Jesus invites us to come unto him and he will give us rest. Then he gives us a new yoke-the yoke of his teaching. This yoke is easy and his burden is light. He tells us, “[Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that [you] may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
15. “Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them” (v. 30). Knowing God is with us is an important blessing that every child of God must desire and enjoy. May we pray, “God, give me a love for your presence. Grant me an insatiable desire for nothing else in the world but for you. Come and fill me that I may be fully satisfied by God.” Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20).What more can we want than God with us? Jesus Christ is with us. That is why we are not afraid. God is with us and we are with God. Jehovah Shammah means “The Lord is there.” He is called “Immanuel,” God with us. May God make us hunger and thirst after God. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God” (Ps.42:1). I am not hungering for power, money, or position. I desire nothing but God.Jehovah Shammah means “the Lord is there,” but he is also here with us and in us. The author of Hebrews says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'” (Heb. 13:5-6). The infinite personal God is with us and in us. He says, “I will be with you always.” He said, “I will not leave you as orphans,” and sent the Holy Spirit. So the Spirit of God is also our shepherd; we are led by him.John writes, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away'” (Rev. 21:3-4). We are experiencing a foretaste of God dwelling with us now; in heaven we will experience the fullness.God is with us. This is the greatest reality, yet how often do we forget it! Why are we afraid, anxious, and murmuring? Because we have forgotten this great promise, that God is with us. God himself tells us, “I will be with them. I will be their God; they will be my people. I will do what only God can do, and you will be my people, praising me, worshiping me, rejoicing in me, and finding security in me.”
16. “They will know that I am the Lord . . . Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord” (vv. 27, 30). We know and love the Lord, and the Lord knows and loves us. Having recognized this truth, we love it, appreciate it, and worship God because of it.

The Work of the Divine Shepherd

The triune God is our shepherd. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit loves and cares for us. God in his Son seeks and saves us. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). From every nook, corner, dark place, and crevice, both far and near, God’s Son comes seeking to save the sheep of God. “My sheep” were born sinners, under the wrath of God, weak, scattered, afraid, wounded, sick, under slavery to sin and Satan, lost. But thank God, Jesus came, sought, and found. He took us home to God to enjoy the blessing of eternal redemption.

John 4:4 tells us Jesus had to go through Samaria. Why this necessity? Because the Father loved a prostitute in Samaria-a woman who had married five husbands and was now living with another man. But God the Father loved her, so he told the Son, “You must go through Samaria,” where he gave eternal life to this person. She forgot all about the water, ran back to the city, and said, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). Look at Luke 19, where we see Jesus entering Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. Stopping at a sycamore tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5). This is divine necessity: the Son of God was seeking a great sinner. Zacchaeus came down and was saved and transformed instantly by the power of God. Another time Jesus came to Solomon’s colonnade and as he walked about, he saw a lame man who was waiting for a miracle for thirty-eight years. Jesus told him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk,” and he was healed (John 5:8). When God the Father purposes to save us, he tells his Son to save us and he does so. There is no greater happiness than being saved by Jesus.

Jesus, the one shepherd, the good shepherd, is ever coming. Even now he is coming, seeking, and saving the Father’s sheep. I am my Father’s sheep, I am Christ’s sheep, and so are you. Let us give thanks to God.

The Work of Human Shepherds

The triune God also shepherds us through human pastors. In Jeremiah 23:4 we read, “‘I will place shepherds over them who will tend them and they will no longer be terrified, or will any be missing,’ declares the Lord.” It is the plan of the Father and the plan of our Lord Jesus Christ, to appoint human shepherds over his people. So in John 21 Jesus asked Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these? . . . Do you truly love me? . . . Do you love me?” Peter said he did, and Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs . . . take care of my sheep . . . feed my sheep” (vv. 15-17). Christ appoints pastors who will tend-not eat-the flock. They will feed them, protect them, provide for them, and guide them. Paul also tells us Christ appoints human beings as pastors: “It was he [Jesus Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Eph. 4:11-12).

So God the Father appoints Christ and human shepherds, Christ appoints human shepherds, and in Acts 20:28 we learn that the Holy Spirit also appoints human shepherds: “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit made you overseers.” Paul writes, “In the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles,” and so on (1 Cor. 12:28). The triune God appoints human pastors over God’s sheep. This knowledge should make us very happy. We are not orphans! We are completely and fully taken care of by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and human pastors.

What is the job of these pastors? They are to provide for God’s sheep, feed and protect them, and direct them by the word of God. We are to shepherd them in rich pastures on the mountain. It is the pastor’s work to give the sheep some spiritual vitality and strength so they can go up to the top of the mountain to find the rich pasture. So we proclaim the word of God, as Paul did (see Acts 20:20, 24, 27, 32). We do not preach psychology, politics, science, or materialism. We preach the word of God’s grace, which alone is able to build up, nourish, and make spiritual giants out of God’s people.

Paul exhorted Timothy, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). We will not sell the gospel for a cup of soup or anything else because “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). In this church we have over a dozen pastors who lay down their lives for the sheep. We do not consume the sheep; we care for them night and day. We do not entertain them, but we feed them the word of God. We provide, protect, and direct the people of God by the word of God, fully knowing they are God’s sheep.

Thank God for Our Pastors

Let us, therefore, thank God for our Pastor, the one true God-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit-and for the human pastors who preach the word to us by the appointment and anointing of the Holy Spirit. May we thank God for all true pastors throughout the world who are faithful to their holy, high, and heavenly calling. May God bless them richly, and may God himself shepherd his sheep in rich pastures of all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus until he takes us all home.