God’s Flock – Acts 20:28

I discovered something on Friday which I had never noticed before.

The three words “the church of ….” are found fourteen times in the text of the New Testament.

There are another two occasions when we find those words in the postscript of Paul’s epistles.

And there is another one which isn’t preceded by the article.

Hebrews 12:23 says, “To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.”

That verse is very different from all the others, so we’re not considering it for tonight.

Seven of the fourteen references are to “the church of the Laodiceans” or to some other city, like “the church of Ephesus.”

But, how many of the remaining nine references, would you guess, read “the church of CHRIST”?

Not one of them.

Never in the text of the Bible do we read of “the church of Christ.”

In every case, New Testament churches are called “the churches of GOD.”

I thought about breaking this verse into half a dozen different messages, but I’ve decided against it.

Let’s think about the entire verse.

I’ve called this message: “God’s Flock.”

There are a number of different metaphors used to describe and illustrate God’s church.

For example, she is like a bride, a body, and a building.

These are important illustrations, and they help us to visualize some important ecclesiastical truths.

I have quite a number of books on the Lord’s churches which contain chapters and sermons on each of these three metaphors.

But as I was thinking about this verse, it occurred to me that in the majority of those good books there are no chapters or sermons on the illustration which Paul gives to us here.

And that is despite the fact that this is as important, and perhaps more clear, than most of the others.

The church of God is a FLOCK, or LIKE a flock.

Let’s read verses 28-30 before turning to John 10:

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

Now please turn to John 10.

I know that we usually read this passage 0with the subject of salvation in mind.

I’m not saying that is incorrect,

but let’s change the perspective just a little bit and see what we see.

Let’s say that Jesus, the pastor of the first church, the first flock, was speaking to His sheep, the members of God’s first church.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”

Notice that in both Acts 20 and John 10 we have references to sheep, thieves and robbers.

We might call those thieves and robbers, wolves in sheep’s clothing.

And notice that the Lord says that He has other sheep, which are not of this particular fold.

Isn’t it true that besides the church in Jerusalem, he had other churches – other flocks?

Notice that the Lord intends to bring all his folds together, and that there will one day be one fold and one shepherd.

The church of God is like a flock.

Or perhaps I should say, the churches of God are like flocks.

Flocks are made up many individual sheep.

There are large flocks and there are small flocks.

But no matter what the size of the flock might be, they are all made up of individual sheep.

And sheep are all just sheep, even though there is a variety of varieties of sheep.

There are Merino, Dorset, Suffolk, Hampshire, Targhee and dozens of others,

But they can all be brought together into a single flock because despite their differences they are all sheep.

That is just like the fact that Christians can be brought into a church from dozens of different backgrounds.

What is important is that all the sheep really be sheep.

Sheep are creatures which, unlike most other kinds of cattle,

can bring income and blessing to their owner without having to die.

The Lord will be glorified in the day of our deaths, but He’s much more interested in our blessing Him today.

Sheep are creatures which I am told need close supervision.

Sheep are basically herding creatures rather than solitary loners.

And because sheep are gregarious, social creatures,

it is their nature to band together, whether they have a shepherd or not.

Sheep make a fitting illustration of individual Christians.

And whenever you see a flock of sheep, you see them occupy a parcel, patch or plot of ground.

I have seen large flocks in southern Idaho, which seem to stretch as far as the eye can see.

A flock of x-number of sheep require x-number of acres of grass on which to feed.

I understand that the size of a grazing range is extremely important to a flock of sheep.

But whatever the size, actual property is involved.

A flock of sheep can’t survive without real grass, real water and real property.

Which point out the fact that there is no such thing as a universal, invisible flock of sheep,

just as there is no such a thing as a universal, invisible church of Christians.

Just as every flock is a real and tangible entity, so is a church of God.

The pastors of the church in Ephesus tended a specific group of Christians which had been formed into a specific assembly.

The church is a flock, a flock which has been PURCHASED by the BLOOD of CHRIST.

Do you think that I abused or twisted John 10 when I applied it to a church rather than to personal salvation?

If you think that I did, do you also think that Paul twisted scriptural theology when he said that it was the Church of God was purchased with his own blood?

This is a statement which is enjoyed by the proponents of a universal church, despite the obvious problems with the idea of a flock.

They point to these words and say, “Christ died to save lost souls, and here those lost/saved souls are called “the church of God,” therefore to be saved is to be a part of the church of God.”

This sends some who deny this false doctrine into a dither, trying to explain away the argument.

But I have no trouble both accepting what Paul says here while denying what the heretics say over there.

Yes, Christ died as the personal sacrifice, and as the vicarious substitute, for each of His elect.

And, it is the command and will of Christ that every one of those redeemed become the kind of servants that their salvation should have made them.

In other words, their newly regenerated hearts should yearn to worship and serve their Saviour.

And as a result, if they are children of God then they should also be sheep of His pasture and members of His flock.

God never intended for any of his saved to become the ovine equivalent of mavericks.

A maverick is usually a calf, often orphaned, which has gone unbranded and run wild.

In people, it is someone who refuses to be identified and who refuses to become a part of a group.

A maverick is a renegade, a rebel, a recluse.

But God never intended for any of his sheep to be mavericks.

They are all supposed to be members of one of His flocks.

If we interpret this verse in any other way, we are forced to say that Christ died for God’s church as an institution.

That would eventually mean the same thing as ecclesiastical regeneration.

That would eventually mean that salvation falls upon people who join God’s church, and only upon them.

But clearly Christ died as a substitute for specific and individual souls before they ever become a part of one of the Lord’s churches.

Christ died for goats, wolves, worms and weasels, giving them the hearts of sheep.

Those sheep then are commanded to herd together into the Lord’s flocks.

The church of God is like a flock – and we might add an ENDANGERED flock.

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock.”

The word translated “take heed” is “prosecho” (pros-ekh’-o).

It is found 24 times in the Bible, and it is most often translated “beware.”

What makes it necessary that these pastors “take heed” or “beware?”

Actually there are two things.

First, beware because, “of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

Paul tells these church elders that they are going to see his face no more.

“Therefore, take heed unto YOURSELVES, AND to all the flock.”

Notice that Paul’s first exhortation to these men is to beware of their own wicked tendencies.

Nine times out of ten, if not 95 times out of 100, trouble in a church starts within that church, not outside.

Let’s say that there is a sheep who has learned to enjoy the taste of knapweed,

and it begins to lead some of the other sheep to eat it, by its example if nothing more.

But knapweed is a useless, non-nutritious weed which will cause sheep to starve, if it’s all they eat.

Or perhaps there is a sheep which likes to stray and sheep being sheep, some are beginning to follow that wanderer, which could eventually take them into danger.

Nine times out of ten when a flock gets into trouble, it has brought that trouble upon itself.

But perhaps more often than the sheep getting the flock into trouble, it’s the under-shepherd who does it.

Paul’s first exhortation was that these pastors, these shepherds, take care of their own hearts.

There is no temptation which is not common to all men,

and there is no temptation which cannot tempt and corrupt the pastor of a church.

But in some ways there are temptations and problems which are unique to his office.

Satan knows that the quickest way into the heart of one of God’s flocks is through the shepherd.

Greed has destroyed hundreds of pastors down through the centuries.

False doctrine has, like a cancer, devoured hundreds of others.

Lust, indolence, pride, jealousy, anger and stupidity have in turn destroyed hundreds of others.

The pastor has got to be aware of his weaknesses and guard against them.

And he has just as much responsibility to continue his struggle to grow and mature.

But in addition to watching for the dangers against himself, the shepherd must guard the flock as a whole.

“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.”

I have never met a shepherd who didn’t want his flock to grow.

But I have met, and I am myself am a shepherd whose desire for growth has changed over the years.

Growth for growth’s sake is a dangerous desire.

And ungoverned and unguided growth is also dangerous.

It was the Lord Jesus who said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

Not only are there false prophets falsely wearing sheep’s clothing, but so are a lot of goats.

More often than not, those wolves and goats come in tailor-made sheepskins, which make it difficult if not impossible to recognize the fraud.

Maybe the sheep can recognize those who are not sheep, but it is the shepherd’s job to recognize them.

Judging from what we read here and elsewhere, flocks can be dangerous places.

Not only are flocks in danger, but they are also in constant need.

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

This word “feed” is quite interesting.

It’s “poimaino” ( poy-mah’-ee-no ) and it’s found eleven times in the Bible.

Seven times it is translated “feed” and four times it is rendered “rule.”

Paul’s instructions to these men was very appropriate to that of a shepherd.

It is the pastor’s job, and as you know “pastor” is a synonym for “shepherd,”

Generally speaking, it is the shepherd’s job to take the flock to the place where they can feed themselves.

Ordinarily, the shepherd doesn’t bring feed to the sheep; he takes the sheep to where they can graze.

And that means that he has to rule them; he has to make them understand why they have to leave one field to move over into another.

At times it might appear that he is even being mean and cruel in order to get those sheep to do what they need to do.

From what I understand sheep are relatively simple if not actually stupid creatures.

If they aren’t guided and tended properly domesticated sheep will cause their own deaths.

And for this reason the Holy Ghost has established the office of the shepherd.

In this case the word which He has used is “overseer.”

According to Strong’s Concordance an overseer is “a man charged with the duty of seeing that things to be done by others are done rightly, any curator, guardian or superintendent.”

In other words, the word means exactly what we might expect it to mean.

But what is not readily seen or admitted is that this is the Greek word “episkopos” ( ep-is’-kop-os ) and it is translated “overseer” just once.

Six times it is translated “bishop” as in I Peter 2:

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”

Something which most of our Protestant friends fail to recognize is that the people whom Paul called “bishops” in verse 28, were called “elders” in verse 17 – elders of a specific church.

Verse 17 uses the word “presbuteros” ( pres-boo’-ter-os ) or “presbyter.”

I think that it is unmistakable that the bishops were elders or presbyters and that both words are referring to the pastors or shepherds of the flock which gathered in Ephesus.

There is no such Biblical office as a bishop who presided over a bunch of churches.

The only bishops that we see in the Bible pastored over single churches.

In fact, many of the New Testament churches had more than one bishop.

Bishops didn’t rule over churches; single churches were ruled by several bishops.

And what was the primary purpose of that rule?

Those sheep were in need of protection, feeding and tending.

And when the sheep do well, glory is brought to the Lord, the owner of that flock.