Listen To Your Preacher

Amos 3:7

Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

One of the great mistakes many have made throughout history is to think they know more than the preacher, and they do their own thing to their detriment. God makes it clear in the Scriptures that He spoke to the prophets in the Old Testament and speaks to the pastor in the New Testament about what He wants done or is about to do. God says that he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Everything Israel faced was told to them through the prophets, but sadly, they did not listen.

This truth agrees with Revelation. In chapters two and three, God spoke to the pastor of each church. You will notice the Scriptures says when God spoke to each church, And unto the angel of the church of…. The angel was the pastor. God spoke to that pastor directly about what He saw as the problems of the church and what that church needed to do to correct those problems.

When Paul was being transferred to Rome, they encountered a storm. Paul warned them that their voyage would occur with hurt and much damage. However, the centurion chose to listen to the master and owner of the ship than to listen to God’s man. Had they listened to the preacher, they would not have lost the ship.

Several years ago, I was having difficulty with my voice. Every time I preached, my voice was down to a whisper when I was done preaching. One morning, I woke up and could not talk. I made it through that meeting and went back home to speak with my pastor. Bro. Hyles, my pastor, made a statement while he was trying to help me that I have never forgotten. He said that though he could not prove it, he believed many voice problems come from acid reflux. He advised me how to care for my voice, and it has worked tremendously over the years. However, it was about three or four years after Bro. Hyles talked about the acid reflux that I was reading the USA Today newspaper. In the health section, they said doctors just discovered that acid reflux would cause voice problems. When I read that article, I thought to myself, they should have listened to the preacher.

My friend, your pastor is certainly a man, and a sinful man at that, but God uses sinful men to lead us, and we would be wise to follow their preaching and advice. To do your own thing only leads to heartache. It doesn’t matter if you agree with God speaking to your pastor or not; that doesn't change that the Scriptures teach that God speaks through your pastor about the direction of the church. The fact that you are a member of that church means that God will also speak to your pastor about the direction of your life.

Let me ask, are you listening to your pastor? Your pastor cannot help you if you don't listen to him. Your pastor cannot help you with decisions you need to make or with problems in your life if you don't go to him for advice. The sermons he preaches are given to him by God to help you in your life, and if you don't listen, you will miss God’s direction. God has chosen to use His men, the pastor, as the means to help you in determining direction for your life, but if you avoid him or don't listen to him, you have one person to blame for the wrong decisions, yourself. If you truly want God’s direction for your life, you would be wise to ask your pastor about decisions and heed to what he preaches.