Scripture Appendix: God’s Word on the Pastoral Calling

The following scriptures on pastoral ministry and shepherding are cited throughout this book. All quotations are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise indicated.

Introduction Isaiah 40:11 — “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”

Ezekiel 34:2–4 — “Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! 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.”

Acts 20:28 — “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

1 Peter 5:2–4 — “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

Chapter 1 — John Chrysostom John 10:11–12 — “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.”

2 Timothy 4:2 — “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.”

Galatians 3:28 — “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

2 Timothy 4:3 — “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

Philippians 4:11 — “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

Chapter 2 — Gregory the Great Ezekiel 34:16 — “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.”

1 Corinthians 9:22 — “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”

Matthew 20:26–28 — “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

1 Timothy 4:16 — “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

1 Peter 5:3 — “Not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”

Chapter 3 — George Herbert 1 Thessalonians 2:7–8 — “Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”

1 Timothy 3:2–3 — “An overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness.”

John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

2 Timothy 2:24–25 — “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.”

Colossians 1:28 — “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.”

Chapter 4 — Richard Baxter Ezekiel 3:18–19 — “When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.”

2 Timothy 4:1–2 — “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season.”

Acts 20:28 — “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

Romans 15:14 — “I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.”

Jeremiah 3:15 — “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.”

Chapter 5 — Jonathan Edwards Colossians 1:28–29 — “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.”

1 Thessalonians 5:19–22 — “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.”

Acts 20:27 — “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.”

Romans 8:28 — “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Ephesians 4:15 — “Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

Chapter 6 — John Newton 1 Thessalonians 2:7 — “We were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.”

Philippians 3:12 — “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

2 Timothy 2:24–25 — “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.”

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 — “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

1 Corinthians 15:10 — “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.”

Chapter 7 — Robert Murray M’Cheyne 1 Timothy 4:12–16 — “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity… Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

1 Corinthians 2:2 — “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

2 Timothy 1:5 — “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

2 Corinthians 12:9 — “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

1 Peter 2:9 — “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Chapter 8 — A.W. Tozer Philippians 3:10–11 — “I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”

John 4:23–24 — “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Isaiah 6:1 — “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.”

2 Timothy 4:3–4 — “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

Mark 12:30 — “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Chapter 9 — Dietrich Bonhoeffer Matthew 16:24–25 — “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

1 Corinthians 12:12 — “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.”

Hebrews 13:17 — “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.”

Philippians 4:13 — “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

1 Peter 5:2 — “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be.”

Chapter 10 — Martyn Lloyd-Jones 1 Thessalonians 2:13 — “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.”

Romans 1:16–17 — “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed.”

Acts 2:42–43 — “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.”

Acts 20:27–28 — “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

Hebrews 12:1–2 — “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

Conclusion Hebrews 13:20–21 — “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.”

John 21:16 — “Take care of my sheep.”

“I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.”

— Jeremiah 3:15 (NIV) THE END