Would you take your Bibles, please, and turn to Psalm No. 90 as we gather tonight to honor and to promote Bruce Cresswell from a assistant pastor to associate pastor now. That may not mean a whole lot to many of you and I understand if that's confusing, but in the Presbyterian Church, there are three types of pastors Three what we call teaching elders. There are pastors or senior pastors They are called by a congregation and they are called to lead and be responsible for the congregation to the Presbyterian. They have pastors who are associated with them called associate pastors and those who assist them called assistant pastors. Let me read to you briefly from our book, The Georgia, that explains the difference. The various pastoral relations are pastor, associate pastor, and assistant pastor. The pastor and the associate pastor are elected by the congregation. Being elected by the congregation, they become members of the session and therefore they are entitled to vote in a session meeting. An assistant pastor is called by the session by the permission and approval of Presbyterian under the provisions of the book Church Order, with Presbyterian membership being governed by the same provisions that apply to pastors. He is not a member of the session, but may be appointed on special occasions to moderate the session under provisions of the book of Church Order. Since the assistant pastor is not called by the congregation, then he does not vote in session meetings, although he votes in Presbyterian, where he is a member. The relationship of the associate pastor to the church is determined by the congregation. The relationship of the assistant pastor to the church is determined by the session. And the dissolution of these relationships is both governed by the provisions of the book of Church Order and the Presbyterian. So there is the significant difference between an assistant pastor and an associate. An assistant is called by the session. He serves the church, but he does not vote in the session. And he is accountable to the elders. Whereas an associate pastor is called by the congregation. He votes in the session meetings and he, like the senior pastor, is accountable to the congregation. It has been our practice, which is often the case in the PCA, to hire new pastors as assistants. Therefore, it's the session that vet is the process and looks at the candidate and hires him to do his duties, his form, his office for the church. And then later on, usually after minimum of seven years, if we feel that the particular assistant pastor has met certain criteria, we present him to you and ask you to consider making him an associate pastor. Now, one of those criteria for us, well, there are these five things. First of all, he must have a good and solid marriage and he must be a godly parent. That is, his overwhelming number one qualification. He must be the husband of one wife who oversees his family well and a man above reproach. Secondly, he must have a cooperative spirit toward the senior pastor, the elders on the session, and the other people on staff. That's kind of a summary of a lot of the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3, and Titus 1, to talk about this man being not being put natious or argumentative, but win some in easy to deal with in a collegial spirit. Thirdly, he must have wisdom and grace and handling people. Fourthly, he must have proven competency in his particular duties. There is a certain level of performance that pastors are expected to meet in order to be honored by the congregation and continue to be employed. And finally, fifthly, he must have a character that is mature and spiritual and holy. Now, these qualifications are not automatic. We don't just automatically, after seven years, take in the system pastor and put him before you. We look at these things. We talk about them in our executive leadership team, and then among the staff and then among the elders, and we make recommendations to you. So in my tenure, here these eight years, we have taken Bernie Lawrence and appointed him to be the senior associate pastor. He is the second in command, so to speak, of the staff, and is the associate pastor in charge of the church when I am gone, along with the clerk of the session. We installed Mike Miller as an associate pastor after two 10 years here at our church, and a total of 15 years, Chris Decker, to associate pastor after 15 years. And now Bruce Creswell, who with his internship of five years and as an assistant pastor for seven years, has 12 years of proven track record and stellar character and performance. And we are asking you and you have responded to honor him by elevating him to this position of associate pastor. There are three things we want to do in this as the elders of the church as a session. We want to reward faithful service with honor and privilege. You're to honor those who are due honor, the Bible says. We want to strengthen the leadership of the session with gracious good and godly elders, both ruling elders and teaching elders. The church is only as godly, only as wise and mature, only as strong as its elders. And thirdly, we want to encourage and edify our congregation by building a truly godly pastoral team of like-minded and solid men. And I am all the more convinced that this is an important process that we go through in the light of things that have happened in the past year, things that have been known or crossed the country in the condition of the American pastorate. One of my dear brothers, a very close friend of mine, over 25 years, was on Thursday, sentenced to 10 years in prison. I was there to stand before the judge and show my support for him because after 22 years of being drug-free, he returned to drug use. He robbed a bank. He was convicted of strong arm robbery and now he'll spend the next 10 years in prison. One of our former moderators, who about seven years ago, became addicted to painkillers, resigned from his church, was eventually restored to the ministry, became a chancellor of a seminary in Texas and then was actually hired back on the staff of the church where he was senior pastor as an associate just a couple weeks ago, returned to drug abuse and again resigned in dishonor. Another friend of mine, for over 30 years, after 30 years of stellar pastoral ministry, his habit of alcohol abuse got out of control. He was convicted of a DUI and he resigned and went into retirement early and in great dishonor. The founder of the Acts 29 Network, a noted author and a pastor of a West Coast mega-church was fired from his congregation or I should say suspended because of foul language unethical promotion of his books and misuse of church funds and for the mismanagement of staff over a period of 20 years.
We know in our own city that recently a pastor of one of our prominent churches has come under suspicion of misconduct. I'm happy to tell you that I learned just tonight that he was exonerated from that. He was found not guilty. There's others who have been discredited because of the way they spend money on multi-million dollar homes and the way they promote their books and handle the finances of the church. And this is not just in Charlotte, the largest church in Southern Florida, 25,000 member to Calvary Chapel. Their pastor last year resigned and refused to be penitent about it to turn away from adulterous affair. I as a young Christian grew up going to the institute of basic youth conflicts. The ministry of Bill Gofford which has a massive influence upon my generation and their founding director was forced into retirement this year because of sexual misconduct. The homeschool movement which was so impacted by and so positively by the vision form found out this summer that their founder of the vision form was guilty of adultery. Now folks we could go on unfortunately and on. And the reason I go into this is because it is affecting people in this country. I'll tell you people and I'll tell you and behind me if I was a non-believer I would not be interested in being a Christian now. The misconduct of the clergyman, their hypocrisy and their based dishonesty and morality would cause me to put as much distance between Christianity and myself as possible. If I were sitting in your place I would be discouraged because I am discouraged by these things. Now some will globally say well pastors are people well indeed they are no one knows that better than a pastor. And they're just like everybody else and that's where I have to say not so. The Bible does not say that pastors are like everybody else. They are called by the Bible men of God. And when they're not there is great shame that is brought upon the church. We just read the passage where Paul says to Timothy but ask for you oh man of God flee these things pursue righteousness. God in his faith loves steadfastness. Generalists fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you to keep this commitment without reproach or staying. In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but of wood and clay and some of honorable use and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from these things from what is dishonorable he will be a vessel of honor useful and set apart helpful to the master of the house ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness faith love and peace along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. It supplies even to young men. Paul would say just a paragraph later that no one despise you for your youthfulness but in speech conduct love faith and purity show yourself to be an example to all those who sincerely believe. Show yourself to be an example. Last year the George Gallup poll released the results of a survey in which they asked Americans this one question who was most honest and ethical person in your life. You know who came to be number one 82% of Americans said nurses 70% said pharmacists and 70% said elementary school teachers. Now you notice they didn't say secondary school teachers because they get into algebra and trigonometry and they get mad at these teachers but elementary school teachers number four medical doctors 69% number five military officers 69% number six police officers 54% number seven clergyman 47% less than half of Americans said the most honest and ethical person in my life is my pastor. Now the answer should be well obviously the most honest and ethical person in my life is my pastor he's a man of God. It takes his toll on the church and a survey concluded this year Gallup asked a concurring question what's the most trusted institution in your life number one I'm surprised at this the military 74% number two small businesses 62% number three the police 53% number four my church at 45% when I became a Christian people were asked that question and 61% of Americans said my pastor now it's 47% when I graduated from college when people were asked what is the most trusted institution in your life 65% said the church 45% now say the church less than half of Americans think that the most trusted institution in their life is the church and the most godly and honest person in their life is their pastor and I suggest you that that is taking a toll upon our most holy religion you say this is not really the kind of sermon that Bruce would want for his installation it is I asked Bruce Bruce what would you like me to talk on here's what he said finishing well what is wrong with all these friends of mine and these others they didn't finish well they started well I have no doubt in particular that the majority of the ones that I know are born again Christians but we'll find out in Psalm 90 why they didn't finish well and how we can this is not just true of pastors I bring you into our circle of the redeemed tonight and I encourage you to look at this song with me and to ask the question how can I finish my Christian life well Billy Graham who in any survey is the most trusted man in America has written what we think might be his last book nearing home life faith and finishing well and in introductory paragraphs he says this someday our life journey will be over in a sense we are all nearing home as we do so I pray that you and I may not only learn what it means to grow older but with God's help also learn to grow older with grace and find the guidance needed to finish well well if there's a person I think in the Bible who could tell us how to finish well it would be Moses Moses the author of the first five books of the Bible the Pentateuch we call it the leader of the old Testament Exodus the law giver a man second only to Jesus Christ in his intimacy with God the Bible says for the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ for the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend he happens to also be the author of the oldest psalm in the salter Psalm 90 which fittingly has the title a prayer of Moses the man of God the clergyman it has four trophies or poetic paragraphs each of them drawing a certain truth out of the life and experiences of Moses that can be applied to the rest of us I'd like to read down through this psalm paragraph by paragraph and look at four things that you and I need to do well in order to finish well truth number one to finish well you must build your life and your ministry on the sure foundation of God Psalm 90 the first two verses Lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth in the world from ever lasting to ever lasting you or God it is this great man Moses who introduces us to the truth that God is eternal in the beginning God in the beginning God was already in fact in the beginning God created everything that exists Moses often in his writings in this psalm and in other places were referred to God as a fortress or a stronghold or a rock that's why Paul when he was writing about the children of a Israel in their relationship with Moses wrote this in 1 Corinthians 10 for I do not want you to be unaware brothers that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink for the drink from the spiritual rock that followed them and the rock was Christ Moses builds his life upon the the rock the solid foundation the mighty fortress as the hymn writer says God himself he was a godly man with a God word ministry and a God centered approach to everything Moses knew God face to face the Bible says not not once but twice at the end of Deuteronomy it says and there has not arisen a prophet sense in all of Israel like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face you know how that reads in the Hebrew whom God knew mouth to mouth it's the picture of two friends cheek to cheek whispering to each other things that no one else is allowed to hear Moses knew what it was to build his life and his ministry on God I know that there are many great men of the Bible but there's something about Moses that makes him tower above everyone else except Christ and I think one of the things was Moses could not have cared less what people thought about him Moses was not a man driven by popularity with people but rather with the desire to please God
that is that he defined himself and his ministry by his building upon the foundation of the eternal God and his revelation to Moses that I think is perhaps the number one problem of the men in the ministry today is if you get down to the core of their being what they really want to be is popular with people they need to be affirmed they need to be approved they need for people to like them and in that that weakness of wanting to please men they're Achilles heel is exposed and it is their ruin someone asked me this past week why do these things keep happening in all these big churches I'll tell you why it's not rocket science brothers and sisters big churches need to draw crowd they need to have people come and be happy and give their money to support the big infrastructure and all of the mega events that go along and so they need one who is a charismatic performer you go to church not to be with Christ but to encounter him after well you live your faith vicariously through him you think that what he preaches and he teaches you really believe and do and he begins to believe his own press he becomes too big for a spiritual bridges and pretty soon he's building his ministry and very subtly the church upon popularity with people as long as they keep having this dramatic experience and this this persona this superstar this but built this celebrity before their own eyes they just keep coming what they don't realize is that this man of God who is no longer concerned about pleasing God but pleasing men has just sowed the seeds of his own ruin inevitably God will say well what Paul said what Jesus said they want the applause of men they have their reward and fall that is why churches are collapsing left and right around us look at the prophets like Moses look at the apostles look at Jesus Christ look how popular they were with people all the time everybody always loved them they always agreed with them they gave them wealth and fame and acclaim they had big institutions named after them not so was it as Paul would say to a young clergyman if anyone would be godly in Christ Jesus he will suffer persecution look at all the people of Israel did to Moses look how many times they complained against him read through the book of numbers as I am right now in my quiet time and see how many times they said let's kill him get us a new leader and return to Egypt Moses was not a popular man but he was a godly man and he built his foundation upon one thing listen number one foundation I must please God even if it doesn't please the people Billy Graham writes when we build on a shaky foundation problems will arise this is certainly true when we replace Christ with other things when we put ourselves first our dreams our ambitions our hopes our goals our appearance our health our possessions we may even experience a measure of happiness and contentment for a time but sooner or later the shaky foundation revealed for what it is the troubles come as they inevitably will do cracks then appear and the foundation starts to crumble sadly we become like the man in Jesus's parable who built his house upon the sand and when rain came down in the streams and rows and the winds blew and beat against that house it fell and Jesus said the ruin of that house was great God is my witness Jesus Christ was talking about the church it was talking about the church and the ruin of that house which is great Paul says that no man can build on another foundation other than Jesus Christ and how he builds on it will be the measure of his judgment and his reward at the end of time Jesus will never ask the minister how many people liked you how popular were you how many books did they read that you published isn't that amazing that Jesus Christ never wrote a book and Moses only five Moses established the foundation of God and his approval because he feared God more than he feared man truth number two very quickly when I finish well you must see your life and ministry and the light of eternity the second little paragraph verses three to six you return man to dust and say return old children of man for a thousand years in your sight or but as yesterday when it has passed or as a watch in the night you sweep them away as with a flood they are like a dream like grass that is renewed in the morning in the morning it flourishes and is renewed in the evening it fades and withers Moses when he looked at his life said you know it's like the grass in Palestine it comes up lush and green but within a few hours the sun's heat causes it to weather now Moses didn't have a short life he lived 120 years 40 years as a prince of Egypt 40 years as a shepherd and midian 40 years as deliverant law giver of God's people three as one commentator said three full lives and one and yet he realized that his life was what James says just a vapor you are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then it vanishes away I think here is another pitfall of ministers they are concerned about building for themselves a legacy I don't know how many times I've heard pastors who've gone from one church to the neck look back at their church and say you know the problem with those people the problem with the guy who followed me the problem with this guy who succeeded me as he didn't honor my legacy
well I want you to just think with me for a minute about some people in my generation who've now gone on to be with the Lord let's talk about their legacy I mentioned these men because they had a profound effect upon my life I knew many of them personally and I had a great love and affection for them but what's the legacy of James Montgomery boys where's the Philadelphia conference on reform theology it doesn't exist anymore what about Dr. D James Kennedy when I went through evangelism explosion a thousand churches were doing E E now less than a hundred it's no longer in coral ridge it's in Nashville so was the radio ministry gone the TV ministry gone what about John R.W. Stott man who said a great effect upon many of us and the Langham trust it's fading Billy Graham and his great crusades and not so big anymore none of these men were trying to build a legacy for themselves all of them realized that they had things to do in their time but their examples to us that what we build in our time only lasts for our time that's all the shelf life God guarantees for David after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation fell asleep and was laid with his fathers in saw corruption but he whom God raised up that is Jesus Christ did not seek corruption let it be known therefore brothers that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you and by Jesus Christ everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed through the law of Moses even the law of Moses had it shelf life what's the legacy that you and I ought to be concerned with it's not the legacy that we do it's the kingdom of Jesus Christ John Oliver and Bernie Lawrence and I brother McCann brother Creswell we're all just here for a season we're just here to serve the purpose of God in our own generation then we're going to die and sleep with the fathers and go talk to Moses but not about our legacies but about what Jesus Christ is continuing to do John Wesley says God uses his minister and then kills him then carries on his own work that's a good way to look at life God uses his minister then he brings him home and carries on his own work what is the great legacy it's the legacy of Jesus Christ and I if I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all mankind to myself I will bring them into the kingdom of God I promise you that in heaven we will not sing the praises of our great ministers and their great legacies but we will spend eternity exalting the Lord Jesus Christ we will forget about His servants and think about the legacy of His gospel forgiveness life is too short Bruce here this life is too short to build a legacy for yourself the fruit brief years you have that we have as ministers and as people we must devote to serving the purposes of God on our own generation for soon we will sleep with the fathers and meet Jesus Christ face to face and be asked by Him what did you leave behind in my name third truth if you want to finish where you should seek for wisdom for your life in ministry it's at the heart of the Psalm it's the longest trophy verses 7 through 12 for we are all brought to an end by your anger by your wrath we are dismayed you have set our nicodies before you our secret sins in the light of your presence for all our days pass away under your wrath we're being your years to an end like a sigh the years of our life are 70 or even by reason of strength 80 yet their span is but toil and trouble they are soon gone and we fly away who considers the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you so teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom or better yet the better translation is so that we may give to you a heart of wisdom Moses reflects upon the prevailing presence and persistent effect of sin sin that he calls in equity sin that incurs God's anger and wrath sin that leads to death in short in life sins that make us end our life he says like a sigh I don't know if this is a sigh of relief or a sigh of sorrow when we die any pastor has been to the minister of vows been at the deathbed of someone when their soul left the body and they've heard that death sigh they heard this last great prolonged breath something was released from this life to go stand before God we end our life with a sigh and he says the thing that we have to deal with is our secret sins you have said our secret sins in the light of your presence I know that there's a fantasy we like to believe that a minister who falls into adultery or turns to homosexuality or becomes an alcoholic or gets addicted to drugs or molest children or sends filthy emails or whatever he somehow just stumbled it's not true he's had the seeds of these lust and corruptions in his soul all his life they were his secret sins and he never dealt with him he never took them as seriously as he should he never was honest and repentant about it he probably wasn't accountable to other people because of these things and all of a sudden the secret sins became public and he was ruined and you were discouraged wasn't it Moses who said in the very last time he spoke to Joshua the people who said and be sure of this your sins will find you out a man of God a woman of God who wants to finish well takes very seriously their sins they realized they have these sins they realize that these sins will catch them in the end the devil is a patient adversary who will wait for 80 years to ruin a minister and crush in one moment of fleshliness everything he did previous to that moment and they realized that they cannot handle these things alone they have to go to their peers their friends their wives their their loved ones and say I have a problem with anger help me I have a problem with lust how can I starve the flesh to feed the spirit I'm a lover of money I'm a pleaser of men and those are the men who maybe are a little bit embarrassed by it and lose a little bit of honor in this life but their secret sins never find them out they survive the worst any moral their own depraved spirit and they make it to the end without causing dishonor to Christ or discouragement to the church or crushing devastation to their wife and children last point if we're going to finish well we must ask God to establish our life and our ministry in his grace Moses at the end of this prayer asked for five things verse 13 return oh lord how long have pity on your servants he asked for God to turn a word that means to relent and to turn back and when it's referenced to God it means that God would return and revive us again he asked for satisfaction satisfies in the morning with your steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days we know that word steadfast love it's the word quesad it's God's covenant love and loyalty he's saying make me satisfied that you are my redeemer and that I am saved by grace and that you are faithful you never leave me or forsake me keep me satisfied in this one great truth that I and the people that I preach to are redeemed and for me that is enough thirdly give me gladness in the restoration of my years make us glad for all the many years as you have afflicted us as for as many years as we have seen evil I've prayed this prayer I said Lord I I live for the devil for 27 years which you let me live for you twice that long Jeremiah says this is the restoration of the years that the locust hate up fourthly manifest your work in our life and ministry let your work be shown to your servants and the glorious powers to their children let me father and my children and grandchildren great grandchildren see the great power of the gospel that work in our life let us not be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe and finally give me confirmation that what I have done as a minister will count for something prayer number five verse number seventeen let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands upon us yes establish the work of our hands when Moses says let the favor of the Lord be upon us that word favor in Hebrew is our Greek word grace let the grace of God be upon what we do this may be the last dangerous pitfall of all ministers who stumble and crash and burn they try to build their ministry in their own power rather than in the grace of our great God in savior Jesus Christ for by grace you have been saved and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God and not as a result of your works that no one should boast for you or his workman created in Christ Jesus for works which God ordained beforehand that you should walk in them there's no place in the Christian life for building a ministry a marriage a family in our own strength it will not last it cannot bear the the weight of reality it is the favor of God the grace of God that must be upon us in order to confirm the works of our hands old Gamalio was right if this understanding is of man it will fail but if it is of God you will not be able to overthrow it no minister can see the work of his hands established but by the work of God in and through the Holy Spirit and his grace in his life how sad to see all these ministries that we've watched over these years come to not because God was not in what they were doing despite his appearances to the contrary God did not favor their work his grace was not upon them and it came to nothing Reverend Bruce Creswell has been with us for 12 years as an intern and as an assistant pastor and tonight we acknowledge the work of his hands we grant it a measure of honor and approval by making him one of our associate pastors we're going to ask him once again to stand before us and take the vows of ordination looking at the Presbyterian and then looking to you but we're also going to ask you to do some things and that is to pledge your support and your affirmation and your honor to him and the way we encourage and assist and support Bruce Creswell will be to pray for him and to help him become all that a pastor should be a man of God and that my friends is a lifelong process that I and these other ministers can only do with your help at the end of the service of the Church of England and the Episcopal Church there is a prayer that they pray for those whom they have just ordained as ministers and I would like to close this message with that prayer would you pray with me Almighty God give her of all things who by this Holy Spirit has appointed diverse orders of ministers in Thy Church mercifully behold this Thy servant now called to the office of pastor and so replenish him with the truth of Thy doctrine and to dorn him with innocency of life the both by word and good deed he may faithfully serve thee in this office to the glory of Thy name and the edification of Thy Church through the merits of our Savior Jesus Christ who liveeth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Spirit world without end