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Book of Acts, chapter number
eight. Acts chapter eight and read verse
number four. I got to think about this this
week. And so. I want to preach about the difference.
Between preaching the gospel and pastoring. Because there
is a difference. There is a difference between
preaching the gospel and pastoring. I want to read to you tonight
about some men that preached the gospel very ably, but they
never pastored. As far as I can tell, they never
pastored. But they did the work that was
necessary to do. In the book of Acts, chapter
number 8, And verse number four, the Bible says this, therefore,
they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the
word. Now that's our text. Therefore, they that were scattered
abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Okay, so let's go on
in a word of prayer as we begin tonight. Heavenly Father, I pray,
Lord, that you might clarify things in my own mind that I
might be able to make clear to these people. Lord, I pray that
you might help me to teach them right. Lord, that I wouldn't
just go off on a tangent somewhere. Lord, I pray that you might just
bless in a great way, that you might help us understand the
difference here between pastoring and preaching. Lord, I pray,
Lord, that in all things your will might be done Lord, that
You might be with us in honor and praise. Just forgive us now
and keep us close to You, of course, in Jesus' name that I
pray. Amen. Years ago, I was about 12 years
old when the Lord saved my soul. That was a very definite call
that the Lord gave me. It was unmistakable that I was
lost that I needed Jesus Christ. Anybody that knew me at all would
know that it wasn't me, it was the Lord doing that. Just like
the Lord called Abram from early Chaldees, the Lord called me
into salvation. I'm thankful for that. I really
am. That was a turning point in my life. So I had another
turning point a little bit later on. That was when the Lord called
me to preach. Now that's a term that I used.
But the Lord really wanted me to pastor one of the churches
that He has established upon this earth. That was a definite call. But many believe today that preaching
the gospel as an ordained minister and pastoring people is exactly
the same. But it's not. Preaching the message
is very different from pastoring the people of God. It's different.
To watch people grow is a blessing to me. But I think of them two different
things. I take it that when I preach the gospel, I'm just declaring
the truth of the Word of God. That's what's happening. When
I'm pastoring the people of God, that is when you want to see
them grow, when you want to see them develop, when you want to
see them take up the message for themselves and to take that
message to others. I mean, that's what pastoring
really is to me. Now, I will make a statement
here that I want you to bear with me just a little while. Are you going to bear with me
a little while? Okay, I want you to. Because all of God's
people are called of God to spread the gospel, whether you're male
or female. God wants you to take the gospel
message to somebody. God wants you to do that. I don't
believe that God ever saved anybody and gave them nothing to do.
I just don't believe that. I believe that God wants you
all to be actively for Him. Now, as one preacher said one
time, He said about 50% of the people who are active for Him
and 50% of the people who are active against Him. That's not
what I'm talking about. I'm talking about that God wants
you as a saved individual, whoever you are, whether you're male
or female, whether you're 10 or 12 or whether you're 85, God
wants you to be active for Him. Alright? God wants you to proclaim the
truth of the Word of God. You can do that. Whether you're 10, or whether
you're 80, or whether you're called to pastor or not, God
can give you the strength to take the gospel message to whoever
you want to take it to. Now, I'm saying some of this
for a reason, because I've run across some
people that they don't witness to nobody. They don't believe
in that. I'm talking about church members
that don't witness to anybody. They believe, somehow they get
it in their heads, that if you're not ordained of God to preach
and to pastor, you can't witness to anybody. I hope you don't believe that.
He goes, I don't believe that. I tell you what, tonight we're
going to prove that to you. Because there's people in the
Word of God that were never, as far as I can tell, were never
called to pastor one of the Lord's churches, but they proclaimed
the truth of the Word of God everywhere they went. Now that's what we're talking about.
So I think there's a difference between preaching the gospel
and pastoring the people of God. I think there's a difference.
Moses at one point was told that some people over
here, they were proclaiming the truth, the Word of God. And he
said, let them talk. Just let them talk. I think that's
necessary. I think it's a good thing for
people to do that. Everybody don't fit my mold.
Everybody don't. Everybody don't have to preach.
Everybody don't have to pastor in order to preach. You don't
have to do that. But everybody must declare the
Word of God to every place that you go. Listen, you people know people that I
don't know. You can reach people that I can't. I'm just telling
you the truth. Oftentimes, when people find
out I'm a preacher, either they clam up or they're Mr. Goody Two-Shoes. One way or the
other. I hate both of those. I don't
like either one of those. But sometimes that's what happens. They think that I'm special,
but I don't think I am. I don't think that at all. But you have a job to do. You,
as a member of one of the Lord's churches, you're saved. God wants you to take the gospel
message in your way to the people that you meet. God wants you
to do that, wherever that is. My question comes in verse 4
of Acts chapter 8. The question is this. Did just pastors preach the Word
or did all those that were scattered abroad preach the Word? And who
was scattered abroad? Who was? I mean, that's really
what it amounts to. The very evident answer is this,
the very evident answer is this, that all of those that were saved
were scattered abroad. They all proclaimed the truth
of the Word of God. I don't think for a second that
these people that were saved, that they went into a certain
area and there they waited on a preacher to come to declare
the Word for them. I don't think that happens at
all that way. I don't. Now, that's just me. But I don't.
I think that the church members themselves, they took the Word
of God and they openly declared it, letting everybody know that
they were saved and that Jesus Christ could save them as well.
That's what I think. That's where I'm coming from
on this message. Now, let's look back a little
bit. In chapter 8, in verse number
1, the Bible said here in chapter 8, verse number 1, And Saul was
consenting unto his death. And at that time, there was a
great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem. Let's just stop right there.
And this was a great persecution. The Bible says that there was
a little persecution, right? No. No, it didn't say that. It
said there was a great persecution against the church at Jerusalem. Actually, what they did, and
Saul, I think, was the leader of this, of this great persecution
against the church. And Saul had just held the garments
of those that had killed Stephen. That's in chapter 7 of Acts. And Saul was consenting unto
his death. Alright? But there was a great persecution
against the church which was as usual. Why was there a great
persecution against the church? It's because they were spreading
the Word. The Bible doesn't say here in
this place that there was a great persecution against the apostles.
Did it? It didn't say that there was
a great persecution against the preachers. No, it didn't say
that. What did it say? It said there was a great persecution
against the church. By the way, who did Christ give
the commission to? The church? Or the preacher? Or the pastor? He gave the commission
to the church. It's evident fact that He did. And so there was a great persecution
against the church. which was at Jerusalem. And the
Bible said, continuing in verse number 1, and they were all scattered
abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. And then
there's this little phrase there, except the apostles. The apostles
stayed in Jerusalem, but the church was scattered around.
You know, I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. The devil don't
know it. You know what he just did? He just spread the fire. That's what he did. Have you
ever seen, in the summertime, have you ever been burning your
trash and the wind come up and it gets that fire and takes it
out? Boy, that's what happened. Now, the apostles, they stayed
in one place. They were not scatterbraws. But
the church took the gospel message every place they went. The devil
thought he was stopping it all when he wasn't, because the power
is in the church. It's in the individuals. They
were the ones that took the gospel message, and they need to take
it. The Bible said in verse number
2, And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great
lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of
the church. He was in there destroying the
work of God. That was before he was saved.
After he was saved, then he apologized for all that. But the Bible said,
here's what he did in verse 3, Entering into every house, and
hailing men and women committed them to prison." That's what
the Bible said in verse number four. Therefore, they that were
scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. And I would ask you again, who
was it that went? It wasn't the apostles. It was
the church members themselves. They took the message, and they
proclaimed it everywhere they went. You can find where they
went, but they declared the Word of God everywhere they went. You see, this idea that some
people have, that if you're not ordained, or you're not called
to preach the gospel in a formal setting, that you can't take
the gospel, that is wrong. That is absolutely wrong. I tell
you what, you can be a great witness for God if you never
stand behind the pulpit. You can be. If you're not even
qualified to stand behind the pulpit, you can be a great minister
for the Lord. Think of this, the Bible gives
a record of the qualifications of a minister. And you can read
them, right? And let's say there's some qualifications
there that you don't meet. That doesn't mean that you can't
take the gospel. It doesn't mean that. If you
divorce your wife or divorce your husband, that doesn't mean
you can't take the gospel. Right? It doesn't mean that.
You can take the gospel message To your friends and neighbors?
People I would never even come in contact with. But you can
tell them about the Lord, and you ought to. You ought to do
that. Now, in verse 5, the Bible says here,
and it's immediately after the Bible talks about this destruction
of the church at Jerusalem. The Bible says, Then Philip went
down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. And I think about Stephen and
Philip occasionally, and especially about Philip. I wonder, as he went on one of
the various journeys that he went on, how in the world did
he ever pay for it? Whoever supported him, how did he get the money to do
that? I don't find any record of it.
I don't find how that he did that. But all I know is, is that
Philip went to this place, he went to this place, he went to
this place, he went to this place, he went to many places and preached
the gospel of God. That's all I know about him. How he was paid? I don't understand
that at all. I know they had enough. You see,
Philip did what God wanted him to do. And in the middle of all
that, in the middle of all that, as Philip went and Philip preached
the gospel, he always obeyed what the Lord
told him to do. And in the middle of that whole situation, chapter
9 shows up. Where that Saul, going to Damascus, was determined to take all of
those that were of the Christian persuasion and take care of them. It was going up there. But you
know what happened to him on the way was that he met the Lord
face to face. He met the Lord. And the Lord saved his unworthy
soul. He didn't deserve salvation. It was unexpected that the Lord
would even save this man who had persecuted the Church of
God. Look what the Bible said in verse
number two of Acts 9. The Bible said, and these are
letters to Damascus, that if he found any of this way, whether
they were men or women, get that, there were men and women that
were declaring to their friends and neighbors and whoever they
come in contact with about the Word of God. Were they preachers? Well, they were not pastors.
But that didn't mean they were not declares of the truth of
the Word of God. That didn't mean that. They were
declared. The Bible said that if he found
any of this way, whether they are men or women, that he might
bring them bound unto Jerusalem. That's his orders that he got. The Bible said in verse number
3, he was on his way. He was on his way. And as he
came near to Damascus, suddenly there shined round about him
a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? That was the Lord talking to
Saul. And you would say, well, the Lord wasn't persecuting,
I mean, you could say Saul wasn't persecuting the Lord. Oh, yes,
he was. Because he was persecuting, look
at the letter again. In verse number 2, the Bible
said men are women. It didn't make any difference.
To bring them bound unto Jerusalem. So if you're a woman, you can't
preach, right? As far as in the pulpit, no. But as far as being a witness
for the Lord, you can be a witness. You can be. And that is a great,
that's a great thing. That you can tell people just
as freely as anybody else. You can. You can tell people
how to be saved. You can be a witness when they
are saved. You can give them something to think about that
they've never thought about before in their lives. You, you can
do that. And Saul said, verse 5, Why? Who art thou, Lord? Who art thou?
I think he knew already who he was. But he said, Who art thou,
Lord? He said, I'm Jesus whom thou
persecutest. Look at that. He said, I'm Jesus
and you are persecuting me. That's what he's doing. When
Saul is persecuting the people of God, he is actually persecuting
Christ. Right? It's hard for them to
kick you against the brick. So, there's been some convicting
going on here. But Saul had put all that apart. He didn't want anything to do
with that. The Bible said, in verse number 6, he is trembling
and astonished. He said, Lord, what will that
have me to do? And he said, and the Lord said
unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee
what thou must do. Here's the thing, is that the
Lord speaks particularly to different people about doing different
things. He does. Notice this in verse
number 7, that God spoke to Saul, but God didn't speak to anybody
else. There were other people present,
but God didn't speak to them. But God spoke to Saul, in particular,
because He had a reason for calling Saul. He said in verse number
7, And the men who had journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing
the voice, but seeing no man. So they heard the voice, but
they didn't see anybody. Verse number 8, And Saul rose
from the earth when his eyes were opened. He saw no man, but
they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. This whole story is amazing to
me about how great that God really is. That He touches one and not
another. It's amazing. The Bible even
goes on and talks about Ananias. Now Ananias come to give him
baptism. And the thing about it is when
Ananias was called of God to go into the very house where
Saul was sitting into the very house. Now, Saul, I don't think at this
point, was in the house of believers. I don't think that. I think that
Saul was led into Damascus by unbelievers. That's what I'm
thinking. All right? And when he got into
the house, he just sat there until Saul came to him, or until
Ananias came to him. And the Bible said, verse 17,
And Saul went his way, and entered into the house, and nobody said
a word about it. And Ananias He put his hands
upon him, and he said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that
appeared unto thee in the way as thou comest, hath sent me
that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the
Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from
his eyes, as he had been scaled, and received sight forthwith,
and arose, and was baptized, and nobody said a word." That's amazing to me. It's amazing. that Ananias went into the house, and Saul was able to see then,
and then he got up, and he was baptized, and nobody hindered
him. You would think that some of
those people that took him up there would say, wait a minute,
wait a minute, what's going on? They didn't hear them at all.
The Bible said, I tell you what, just tell them something, is
that when God tells you something, you can do it. you may be scared
to death." Ananias was afraid. Ananias said, Lord, are you sure
you want me to go in there? Because this guy has killed people
before. Are you sure you want me to go?
And God said, I'm telling you to go. And Ananias went. Alright? And when God is in charge,
nothing can fail. That's what we want to see. Is
that when God is in charge, nothing can fail. But if we're in charge,
we're in trouble. If God's in charge, no problem. If we're in charge, there's problems. Alright? So let God be in charge. He knows what He's doing. And
I don't. And then the Bible says that
Saul left and after baptism he preached Christ in the synagogue
that He is the Son of God. That would be a different thing,
wouldn't it? Saul, they knew who he was. They knew exactly who he was
when they looked at him. They knew exactly what he looked
like. They knew this was Saul. And they heard him preach that
Jesus is the Christ. Well, that would be a different
message, wouldn't it? That would be different. Wouldn't you love to have been
there? I'll tell you what. Some of you might have seen some
people that once, when they were lost, they wouldn't believe in
Christ. But after the Lord saved them, then they trusted Christ,
and then they would declare to you the things that you knew.
I mean, that's what salvation is. That's what it does. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing
that it does. But notice back in Acts 6, I kind of got ahead of myself,
but read this in Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6 verse 1 through
verse 7. I did get ahead of myself. But
in this time, they were looking for deacons because the work
of the church was just so great that the apostles couldn't even
do it. They could not do it. And they called the multitude
of the disciples together, and they said in verse number 2,
it is not reason that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables.
And it wasn't. And the multitude of the disciples, they agreed
with that. That's so. In verse number 3, the suggestion
was this. Wherefore, brethren, look ye
out among you, seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost
and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we'll
give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of
the Word. And here they chose Stephen,
it was one of them, and Philip is two we want to mention there
in verse number 5. They mentioned these two men. But what a difference it was
though, just later. Because in Acts chapter 8, verse 1 through
verse 4, Saul made havoc of the church. You see, the difference was that
before, the church had grown so large that the deacons, they
needed somebody to take care of something, to take care of
the work of the church. And so they appointed these seven
to take care of that work that the twelve could not do. It was
the mission of the twelve to continue in the ministry of the
Word and in prayer. That's what the Bible says. And
that's what they were out to do. Wanted to do. But the church
was destroyed in chapter 8 and verse number 1 through verse
number 4. The church was gone then. Well,
except the apostles were there to see it. You know, I wonder. When I read this, when
I come to Acts 8 and verse number 5, when I see all of the destruction
of the church at Jerusalem, and I find in Acts 8 and verse number
5, I see Philip going down to Samaria and preaching Christ
unto them. Why didn't Philip just stay in
Jerusalem? Because of great persecution.
I mean, his work was over. There. And so he wanted something
else to do. And so he went. And he preached
Christ. This man was led of God and he
preached Christ everywhere that he went. This is the way that
we ought to do. This is what we ought to do.
Is to preach Christ everywhere we go. When you go to work, you ought
to preach Christ. Listen, if the people that you
work with don't know that you are a believer, you need to change
that. You need to change that. If the people that you buy from,
wherever you buy anything from, if they don't know that you're
a believer, you need to change that. You honestly do. You say, well, I'm not a preacher. Well, maybe you're not the pastor,
but you ought to declare the Word of God, don't you think,
in the places that you go, in the people that you see? You
ought to declare that. God wants you to do that. God
wants you to be a witness of Him everywhere you go. God wants you to be, whether
you're working Whether you're playing or whatever you're doing,
God wants you to be a free witness of Him. What if, what if, what if this
happened? What if there was a great persecution
against us and we were scattered abroad? What would you do? What would
you do? I just pray today, I pray that
each one of us, in the various places that we'd have to go,
because the churches of Israel, they were scattered abroad. And
they went everywhere declaring the truth of the Word of God.
I pray that you would go and declare the Word of God wherever
you go. I pray that you would not go
to a place and wait on the preacher. I pray she wouldn't do that.
I honestly do. Wherever God wants you to go,
you need to go it, and you need to tell the Word of God wherever
you are. And let the Word of God speak
for itself. You might be like Ananias and
say, well, Lord, I don't know if you want me to go baptize
this guy or not because of his reputation. When you get assurance
from God, you need to go and do what God wants you to do.
So there's a difference between preaching and pastoring. There's
a vast amount of difference. But you can tell the Gospel wherever
you go. You can tell the Gospel. And
you ought to do that. People ought to know you as a
believer in Christ. The people you meet, the people
you work with, they'll know you're a believer. They'll know that.
I pray that that's so. You may not be a preacher. You
may not be a pastor. But you can declare the Word of God.
Sometimes the people you meet in the circumstances of their
lives, you know them. And you can be a real help to
them. And you need to be encouraged.
That God has laid that burden upon you. And God has laid that
opportunity upon you, should I say. That you can be a witness
for the Lord. Wherever you are. Just by being
there. Sometimes just by saying a few
things. You can be a good help. A good help. Okay. I'm all done. If you're lost
tonight, we pray for you that the Lord would touch your heart.
That you might be saved. But I tell you what. Somebody said, well, the only
time anybody can be saved is in the church house. I don't
think so at all. I don't think so. People can be saved everywhere,
wherever they are. You can lease a month of the
Lord at your work. I mean, there it is. I know there
are certain laws against all that stuff now. I know that.
There were laws when I was working too. When I was down at Farmer's
Home, there was a couple of times I kind of got in a little hot
water because of that. That's all right. I just changed
the way I did it. I still declared the truth of
the Word of God. I was thinking the other day that when I left
there, they had a cake all decorated up and it says on the cake, Preacher
of the Word of God. I like that. I like that. I'm glad they put that there.
I am. Anyway, we need to be declaring the truth of the Word of God.
God wants us to be everywhere we go, alright? Let's stand,
if you would, as you're saying, Brother John, please come, if
you would, to listen to this new invitation. If you're lost
tonight, we pray for you that the Lord will touch your heart,
that you might come to know Christ. He can save you, whether you're
in a building or not, He can save you. He can touch your heart.
Our prayer is that God will make it real for you, okay? Let's
stand, if you would, as we sing, please.
Difference Between Preaching and Pastoring
Did you know there is a difference between preaching and pastoring? In this message we want to talk about a few of those differences. In the bible actually shows us some men that preached the word of God but never seem to have pastored a church.
| Sermon ID | 228172240461 |
| Duration | 38:31 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Acts 8 |
| Language | English |
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