Reformed Baptist Church in O'Fallon, Missouri
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God Has a Plan for You

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Opening

Good morning, how are you? Good morning, how are you? Great worship, amen. I just happen to know that worship leader and that worship leader. They’re related, they’re related. So we’re going to look at a number of Scriptures today. Before we do, I wanted to acknowledge a few people that are here. I heard a rumor that Bridget Van Means was here from Thrive. Let’s give it up for Bridget. We also have some other Thrive people here. We have Matt and Katie, and we have Carolyn and her husband. Would you all stand up, please? So we appreciate them being here. They like to watch train wrecks, so they came today to watch this old train wreck.

If you would, open your Bibles to 2 Timothy. Today I’m going to basically give a simple exhortation, but as I prayed about the sermon, what I got was three words. One for the seasoned saints. You notice I didn’t say you old folks. Another for the younger believers, and younger these days doesn’t mean children, but teenagers and even young adults. And then lastly, an exhortation for the staff, mainly the elders, and then I’ll conclude with a personal word. Let’s pray together before we look into the Word.

Father, we thank You for the privilege of being able to gather today, to be here in Your name, unto the name of Your Son Jesus whom we love. We pray that today He would be honored, He would be glorified, He would be lifted up, that He would truly be our vision. The vision for the goal of our life, the passion of our life, the focus of our life. I pray, Lord, that today You would minister to Your people, that You’d feed Your sheep, that they would leave here today built up in the faith, encouraged, exhorted to press on in knowing You, loving You and serving You. We pray all these things for Jesus’ glory. And God’s people said, Amen.

To the Seasoned Saints: Finish

2 Timothy. In 2 Timothy, this is Paul’s last letter, and he’s preparing to be martyred. And he’s foreseeing his death as imminent. And he gives an exhortation to Timothy about preaching the Word, being instant in season, out of season. Then he says this, he says, for I am ready, in chapter 4 verse 6:

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

(2 Timothy 4:6–8)

Here Paul is ready to depart and he makes this profound statement which I wish all of us can say when we’re facing death, and that is this verse 7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” So the word I have for the seasoned saint is the word finish, the word finish. Today we’re celebrating, and I’m not sure what we’re celebrating, maybe we’re happy that I’m leaving and this is a good thing, everybody’s glad to get rid of me. But I’ve heard the word retirement a lot, and the truth is retirement is not a word in the Christian vocabulary. Because the truth is you don’t retire from serving the Lord. Now your position will change, your activity will change, your ministry may change, but your goal never changes. So Paul, here he is, when he’s saying, “I finished the race,” he’s not saying that 20 years before he dies. He’s literally saying it days, maybe even hours before his martyrdom, because he was about ready to be tried again and probably executed. So as much as I love the idea of a beach in Belize, I don’t think that’s in my future. I think what God has for me, which is what He really has for all of you older, more mature, seasoned saints, is He has for you things to do for the Lord. I have told people, older people, regardless of their age, if you are still on the earth, God still has something for you to do. I’m going to say it again for those of you that are wearing your hearing aids. If you are still on the earth, God still has something for you to do. And it’s true. Now I understand as you get older you lose your energy. You know you don’t have the mojo anymore. And you’re like, ah, yeah, well, the young people take care of that because they got more energy. So maybe God will change your focus, He’ll change your ministry, but when you get to be older, the danger that sets in is the danger of stagnation. That’s the danger. And I’ve seen it many times. I’ve seen many people and they get to be in their 50s, they start looking for that retirement, they start looking forward, and forward simply means retirement. Forward means doing nothing. And they lose vision. As we sang today to the Lord Jesus, “Be Thou my vision.” Well, that doesn’t stop when you turn 63. We don’t retire from loving Jesus. We don’t retire from serving Jesus and bringing glory to Jesus in whatever capacity He gives us. And yes, that may change with age, but it never ceases.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9 to run the race to win. Well, let me tell you something I learned from my wife who’s a runner. I’m not a runner, I’m a watcher. Okay. You can’t win if you don’t finish. No one has won a race by stopping before the finish line, even if they were in first place. I mean, any of you watch the Olympics when they run? Rarely, the guy in first place is looking behind him. I say rarely. On the few occasions you see that happen, what ends up happening is he loses. Because he stops focusing on the finish line. I know we have some football fans here, because Jesse Pfister’s here. You ever see a guy catch a pass and he’s like, nobody’s around him for 20 yards. So he starts hot-dogging it. He’s not in the end zone yet, right? He starts dancing. And then out of nowhere, somebody creams him. You see, he thought he had finished, but he wasn’t done. And so he never made it to the end. Paul said, I have finished, I have finished, I have finished. And we don’t finish until the end of our lives, amen? So the word to the seasoned saint is finish. It is to persevere and to beware of stagnation. Maybe God has something brand new, He may have something brand new for you. You don’t know unless you seek Him. But don’t stop seeking Jesus because of your age, amen? Persevere.

To the Younger Saints: Focus

A word of exhortation to the younger saints. Ephesians 5, if you turn there with me. Ephesians chapter 5. It’s all so good. I want to read the whole chapter. We’ll start in 15. Paul says in 5:15 in Ephesians, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Paul in this passage lists many temptations that face us. And I think they especially—you know, he talks about foolish talking and jesting and different forms of folly, and then he talks about immorality, and he says, avoid these things, put these things away, because you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord. And then he exhorts them to walk wisely and not as fools. You know, there’s a saying in our language, a phrase, which refers to the folly of youth. Now, I don’t want to insult any young person here, okay? Believe it or not, I was young once. Once, long time ago. Before cell phones, can you believe that? Before the internet, can you believe that? It’s amazing. Before cassette tapes. Doesn’t that make me look really old?

And I was young and I was foolish, because what young people lack that the seasoned saints have is experience. And there’s no way to crush 40 or 50 years of experience into a life of 10 or 20 years. You can’t do it. It’s not possible. There are things you only learn by doing them, by living them. And therefore one of the things that younger people need to learn is that older people have something to offer them. And they truly have many years of experience to offer them, and that experience ought to issue in various forms of wisdom. Now, back to the seasoned saint for just a moment. Many older saints say, well, I messed up. I wish I had known then what I know now. I’ve heard that so many times. When I give a sermon on a parent, you know, they said, you know what? I wish I had heard that when my kids were young. I messed up. Well, is anybody here not messed up? No, I don’t think so, right? We’ve all messed up. We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all sinned. But the glory of grace, the glory of grace, is that even in your mistakes and even in your sins, there are lessons that can make you wiser. That God redeems even your mistakes. He redeems your mistakes. So even, OK, you messed up. You didn’t make the right call here, you didn’t make the right call there, maybe you, whatever. Well, you learn from those mistakes and you can say to the younger generation, well, here’s what I did and what I did was wrong. And that is still imparting wisdom. Because it’s really imparting an admonition. Now wisdom on the part of young people takes the form of heeding counsel. Heeding counsel. Listening to those who have more experience than you do. Even people that maybe made mistakes, but you can learn from their mistakes. As a matter of fact, Paul tells us that much of the Old Testament, which if you read, it’s people messing up, right? Paul says these things are written for our admonition. In other words, we can look at them mess up so we don’t mess up. And so young people need to have the humility to listen and heed counsel. Amen? I’m looking over here at a lot of young people. Amen? Let’s hear it. Let’s hear it. Let’s hear it. Humility, which is an underrated virtue.

The other thing I want to say to the younger saints is the key word for you might be focused. You have your whole life ahead of you. You have, I mean, life is coming at you so fast. You have so many opportunities. You’re facing, maybe you’re deciding about college, maybe you’re out of college, you’re making decisions about career, maybe you’re getting engaged, maybe you’re having children. I mean, life is like, it’s like a blank book that has to be written in. Right? Well, I’m not a fiction writer, I’m a nonfiction writer, but I’ve read about fiction writers, and fiction writers often know the end of the story before they start, because they have to build up and build the clues. Now one of the things I did over the holidays was my kids forced me to watch all the Harry Potter movies. Back to back. All of them. Back to back. And I need to watch them again apparently because I missed a lot of the clues. But clearly, there are clues in the beginning of the story which tie into the end, right? Well, that wasn’t coincidence because the author planned it that way. Well, you young people, you are planning the story of your life. And I can tell you, I can tell you the end of your story if you show me what you’re writing right now. Because all the clues are there. I have seen many people fall away. People that love the Lord, people that serve the Lord, you would have thought this is a person who’s so on fire they will go on to be a champion for Jesus forever. But they didn’t. They became shipwrecked. [audio unclear] sound when they were young and they just bore fruit later.

I had a young person tell me a few years ago, I’m not going to go to your church anymore because you talk about sin. I appreciated his candor. But the problem is a faithful shepherd has to warn of the wolves, and one of the greatest wolves is not other people per se, it’s those things in your own heart that are rising up against the knowledge of God in your life. And what happens is because the sins are not rooted out and dealt with at a younger phase of life, they end up bearing fruit down the road. You see somebody in their 40s and their 50s just walk away, you see people get divorced, you see all kinds of things, and you’re scratching your head. How in the world? I would have never thought what happened. It’s what didn’t happen. It’s what they didn’t do when they were 20 and 25 and 30. Paul says, what we sow, we reap. And so, you can sow something in a minute and not see the fruit for years. That’s how it works because you sow it underground and you don’t see it. And it’s like, I got away with that sin for a while. I think I’ll do it again, and then again, then it’s a habit, then it’s an addiction. And all the while it’s growing, but it’s underground, so it’s just, no big deal. But then one day it blossoms and behold it can destroy a marriage and destroy children, even destroy a church, destroy friendships. So the word for you is to focus, and the word to young people is to discipline yourself. You have so much before you, you have so many opportunities, it can be overwhelming, it can be bewildering. I don’t know about you, but I do grocery shopping. I kind of like it, actually. Kind of therapeutic. But sometimes I hit an aisle and it’s like, do I need 85 kinds of toothpaste? It’s too much. Too many choices. That’s how you can feel when you’re young. I have too many choices. Well, what do you do? You have to focus. You have to discipline yourself. You have to realize that many of the things coming at you are simply distractions. They’re distractions. I am so thankful. I did not. [audio unclear] I know I’m jumping around. This is not cohesive. [audio unclear]

To the Shepherds: Love the Sheep

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”

(John 21:16–17)

Of course, the threefold repetition, of course, that because Peter had denied Him three times, right? So this is a full restoration of Peter as a follower of Jesus after his terrible sin, grievous sin of denying the Lord. So he’s restored. But notice here that Jesus says, if you love Me, what did He want him to do? To feed the lambs or to tend the sheep. You love Me, then take care of My people, is what He’s saying. And what we see in the Word is that pastors have many, many responsibilities that fall under the heading of tending the sheep or shepherding the sheep: teaching, preaching, counseling, administrating, disciplining, vision-casting, many things the pastors have to do. And one of the dangers of the ministry is that you get so caught up in the ministry that you forget why you’re doing it. You really do forget why you’re doing it.

In John chapter 10, if you want to turn there, Jesus tells us why He did it and of course gives a model for all shepherds under Him, for why they ought to be in the ministry. Verse 7 of 10: “Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.’” Isn’t that good? That’s what God wants to give you, not just more life, but a more abundant life. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep”—or your version may say, “lays down His life for the sheep.” “But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees, why? Because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”

Here Jesus tells us that the motive for ministry, especially—it’s really true of all ministry, but especially for pastoral ministry—the motive, the grand motive is love. To love the sheep, to love the people of God. And the danger for pastoral staff is the danger of tradition. Tradition. Now tradition isn’t just doing now what we did before. Sometimes you do now what you did before because it was right then and it’s right now. Because if it’s right, it’s right, right? However, what happens in much tradition is we forget that when they sang “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” it was actually contemporary worship. You hear me? So it was cutting edge. I remember playing guitar at a youth group 40 years ago and people thought I had demons. You just don’t do that. I mean, you just don’t play guitar. I mean, you just don’t raise your hands to God. I mean, something’s wrong with you, right? Revolutionary. But we don’t do things a certain way just because that’s the way we do them—that is death. Okay, that is death. There are reasons that traditions exist, but what happens is that people forget why they do what they do anymore. They don’t understand why they’re doing it, they just go through the motions, and that’s what ritual is. Ritual becomes the motion. It’s doing the thing. Why? Because that’s the thing you do. And so in ministry, you do this or do that and well, we’re going to have these groups and this group and this ministry and this program. Why? Well, I don’t know, we’ve just been doing it a long time, so that’s what we do. We do that. But that’s not the motive for ministry. The motive for ministry is love. The motive for any productive ministry is love. And Jesus defines love here as laying down your life for the sheep, laying down your life for the sheep. The hireling is a hired, as the word suggests, a hired hand. And Jesus says, the reason he runs when the wolf comes is because he is a hireling. I mean, that’s what hirelings are, that’s what they do. They run, right? They run when it gets hard. Because they don’t own the sheep. They’re not invested emotionally, spiritually in the sheep. They’re just doing a job. And that is the death of ministry. When you’re just doing a job and you’re not truly loving the people that you minister to. Pastoral ministry is rough. They say it’s one of the, next to, you know, counselors and lawyers and police, one of the most stressful jobs, most difficult jobs, mentally and clearly spiritually. There’s no question about that. I can testify. But the only thing that keeps you going is love for the body of Christ because you love Jesus. Jesus says to all pastors, “Do you love Me?” And when the pastor says yes, then He says, “Feed My sheep, take care of My people.” A pastor doesn’t own the sheep the way Jesus does, right? They’re Jesus’ sheep. But he is so identified with Jesus that they feel like his own. That Christ’s church is like his bride. That he loves God’s people that much because he has the heart of Christ and the love of Christ for God’s people. That’s why Spurgeon said, if you can do anything else, he said to young pastoral candidates, if you can do anything else than ministry, do it. Good advice.

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

Final exhortation to all of us. I had an old pastor friend who passed away this year. And he had a simple saying. He said, keep the major things major and the minor things minor. He’s a good old boy, unsophisticated, down-home kind of guy. But he had a lot of wisdom, because he had seen what happened in the church committee, because he grew up in it. The fighting, the infighting, the bickering, the divisions, all the things that happened about things that in the final analysis were not that important. What is the major thing? What is the major thing? Why are we here? Why do we gather? Is it unto the pastor? Is it unto the worship team? Is it unto our friends? Or do we gather unto the name of Jesus? We’re here for Jesus, amen. Jesus is the main thing. And that’s the thing we need to keep uppermost in our hearts and our lives. No matter our age, no matter our position. Jesus Christ is why you are here. Not only here at this gathering, Jesus Christ is why you are on the earth. To know Him, to love Him, to serve Him, to glorify Him, that is why, amen?

I want to read two Scriptures and close with this. The first one is in Psalm 27, where David says this in Psalm 27. He says in verse 1:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.

(Psalm 27:1–4)

Isn’t that good? Now David, if you read the Psalms, actually asked the Lord for many things. But this was the uppermost thing he always kept in view: seeking the Lord. That’s why he says, ultimately, there’s only one thing that’s most important. That is desiring the Lord and seeking Him and knowing Him. This is what Paul says in Philippians, you all know it, but we’re going to read it one more time. Philippians chapter 3. He says in verse 7:

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

(Philippians 3:7–8)

Why was Paul willing to lose his reputation, his friends, his position in society, all the things that he had—and he was a successful person in his community? Why did he give all that up? He said, I’ve counted it loss for Christ. It was the passion of David’s life, the passion of Paul’s life, the passion of all true saints that made a mark on the world, that they loved Jesus above all things. Amen?

Before I wrap up, I wanted to thank my wife for her many years of faithful service. Come forward, come forward, Diane. I can’t look at her, she’ll make me cry. She cries, you can see that. She’s left me speechless. I think that’s all you got to say, babe. No, I got to say, just a moment. Being a pastor is hard. Being a pastor’s wife is harder. And it’s the one job that is so underappreciated in the church community. She’s given countless hours to teaching Bible studies, to leading ladies’ conferences, to assisting me in counseling, and working on the building, and beautifying God’s house. She has served in a multitude of ways behind the scenes and in front of the scenes without a title and without pay because she loves Jesus and she loves God’s people. And so, you are the best. Thank you. I would be remiss if I would not share something today. [audio unclear]

Diane Vaughan

So I really never thought about this day when we began ministry. I never thought this day would come. I never really, I just, we were just doing what we’re supposed to be doing. But this day is here and it’s a special day. When we were dating so long ago—here we go, memory lane, people, long time ago—we met some friends at a park. And one of his friends, this is kind of a little funny story, kind of an odd story, but it was, as I thought about what I wanted to share, this was one of the things. And so one of his friends had a motorcycle and David’s like, let’s go for a ride, and I had never been on a motorcycle before—

One second, remember when I talked about the folly of youth? Perfect example of me getting her on a motorcycle when I don’t even have one, but go on.

So he hopped on and I hopped on and I wrapped my arms around his waist and off we went. And it was one of the weirdest feelings I had. I felt entirely safe. And I felt like I could trust this man. And even to this day, I feel I can remember how that felt. So when we entered into the ministry, it’s been like being on that motorcycle. And I have felt safe. And I have felt like I could trust him as he pastored God’s people. So I wanted to publicly thank David for being a pastor who—excuse me, but my nose is running. I wanted to thank you, David, for being a pastor who honored the full counsel of the Word of God. I wanted to thank you for never stopping the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I wanted to thank you for being a pastor who washed the feet of the saints in so many ways. I wanted to thank you, David, for not putting the ministry before me and your children. Lydia, Ethan, and Adam. I wanted to thank you for being a pastor who loved Jesus more than reputation, and I wanted to thank you for being a pastor who gave me and so many others a biblical worldview to navigate through the murky waters of our culture. And I want to thank you for being a pastor who did not leave his post before the proper time.

I recently read about an Olympic marathon runner—funny you brought that up, we did not rehearse this. But this was 1968 and he went to the Olympics to represent his small little country of Tanzania. And he finished last. He was 57th out of 57 marathon runners, and he finished 19 minutes after number 56. Early in the race he had fallen and sustained an injury, but he pushed on. When he entered the stadium for this Olympic, his leg was bandaged, and he ran with obvious pain at every step. After he hobbled across the finish line, he was asked why he endured the pain when he had no chance of winning. And he simply said, “My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish the race.” So what motivates a true pastor of God? Is it fame? Is it fortune? Is it to be called a finished scholar? Is it to be counted a wise philosopher, a ready writer, a brilliant administrator, an eloquent orator? Well, as I have served alongside of David these past 30 years in ministry, which I have been so honored to, I believe I’ve seen what motivates a true pastor, and that is to breathe with conviction and perseverance and persistence these words: “My God did not call me to start the race, but my God called me to finish the race.” Now I know David’s race is far from done and he has so many other things he’ll be doing, but this event is complete and I’m just so very proud of you and I love you very much. You’re the best, right here.

Pastor Mike

Okay, I believe you have more entertainment coming. Pastor Mike is going to come up and share with us.

That’s good. As a pastor or teacher, if you speak at a conference, you don’t want to follow the guy that just hit it out of the park. This was actually supposed to be a funny part. Sorry. What’s worse than that is when the guy who hits it out of the park every time is retiring, and you’re taking over for him. That’s the worst. David is the Babe Ruth of preachers, routinely hitting home runs. And I remember in the elders meeting years ago, we were discussing the setup of an upcoming service and whether we should recognize people and what the setup should be. And I remember him saying, you can never go wrong at recognizing and honoring people. So we’re going to take your advice, David, and do that today. I just wanted to share a few thoughts. If I can get through them.

I have here a letter that was written to me by Pastor Vaughan before I had children and before I was even married. It’s postmarked 1996. I was a single guy living in Columbia, Missouri, going to college. And I’d like to tell you that he wrote me saying that he had heard of a young man, currently a college student in Columbia, Missouri, a man greatly gifted and highly sought after for his teaching abilities and many other fine qualities, and how he begged me to come to the O’Fallon area and be part of his church, which he just planted. I’d like to tell you that he wrote me saying that, but he didn’t. No, he wrote me about his favorite subject: books. And in this letter, he encourages me to begin building a good library and gives me a list of books and book sets to begin with. Now how many books would you expect to be on such a list to a poor college student? 5, 10, 20, no. If you total up the volumes he recommends it comes to 103 books.

I’ve known Pastor Vaughan since 1995, and over the years I’ve had many, many lunches with him, and during those 23 years, he’s gone through what I call restaurant phases. Has anyone ever had a meeting with Pastor Vaughan at Steak ’n Shake? Because if you have, then you’ve definitely been here a long time. Because there was the Steak ’n Shake phase, and also the Arby’s phase, there was a Lion’s Choice phase, an Applebee’s phase, and somewhere in there, there’s even like a JJ’s phase. And those phases didn’t last for weeks or months. They lasted for years. And it was a given, if you asked to get together for lunch, you didn’t have to ask where. What’s the restaurant phase now? Yeah. I don’t think that one is going to stop anytime soon.

Well, I met with David and Tim Ward during the Steak ’n Shake phase, and I was the young college student, months away from graduating, and the church I was going to in Columbia, their youth pastor was leaving, and there was an open door for me there. And Pastor Vaughan and Tim knew I was considering the offer, and I just wanted to go where I could minister to people. So I sat at Steak ’n Shake with both of them, and Pastor Vaughan said to me, he said, I’m coming back. I’ll train you. I’ll work with you. I’ll disciple you. And I remember leaving there and thinking to myself, these men have hearts of shepherds and their love for me as a sheep is so apparent I would be crazy to go anywhere else. So I came back. Fast forward a few years from 1996, it’s 2003, and Pastor Vaughan and I are talking on the phone, and I was at St. Louis Teen for Christ, and as we’re talking kind of out of nowhere, he says, what are your future plans? And usually in a situation like that, I’d go with like a vague answer, or wherever the Lord leads type of thing. But I thought to myself, I’m just going to say it. And so I said to him, I’d like to be one of the pastors at Liberty. And he said, really? And then he said, we should talk further. And we did talk. And shortly after I started working as the church’s office administrator and then in 2010 I became one of the pastors here.

One of the things that has always impressed me with Pastor Vaughan is how he has never flaunted his accomplishments. There are members in this church who likely don’t even know Pastor Vaughan has written a book, let alone written seven books. At least two of those books are used in homeschooling curriculum throughout the nation, nor do some people know that he was the editor of a book series, nor do they know that he has a weekly radio program, nor do they know that he is currently, and has been for over 10 years, an adjunct professor at Whitefield Theological Seminary. Why? Because he doesn’t flaunt his accomplishments. He has also never flaunted the fact that he not only rubs shoulders with well-known leaders in the Christian world, he’s actually friends. I contacted a few of them and let them know Pastor Vaughan’s upcoming retirement was approaching and asked them if they would share a few words.

The president of Whitefield Theological Seminary, Ken Talbot, said this: “It has been a privilege to have worked with Dr. David Vaughan educationally and also benefited from his ministry. He has shown great leadership in the years of his service to Christ and the body of Christ. He has pointed the way for others to develop their leadership in Christian education and the ministry. I am sure that one day he will hear those most welcome words from our Lord: Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Congratulations, my friend, on a race well-run and enjoy your retirement.”

Doug Wilson, whom many of you have heard of, has written numerous books, including the well-known Reforming Marriage book. He wrote me back and said this: “David Vaughan is a man I’ve appreciated for many years, for his writing, for his radio show, and for his willingness to have someone like me on his radio show. But the thing I appreciate most is the fact that in an age when backing down has become an art form and is soon to become an Olympic event, he has simply not budged. May God raise up many more men just like that to replace him and may God richly bless his retirement.”

And Dr. George Grant, who would be here today if he wasn’t pastoring his own congregation, has also written numerous books as well, including his famous exposé on Planned Parenthood, said this, which I had to abbreviate because we would go for a while, okay? No joke. It was C. S. Lewis who said, “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What? You too? I thought I was the only one.’” I distinctly remember hanging up the phone after our very first conversation, thinking just that to myself. I wondered if I had just met a sure and certain friend. I had; we are. At the time, David Vaughan and I had not yet planted our respective churches, Liberty and Parish, but already we were on a common trajectory, sharing a whole host of common interests and common concerns. Not surprisingly, despite living and working hundreds of miles apart, we found ways to work together, publish books together, broadcast together, worship together, dream together, laugh together, and perhaps most significantly, hunt down antiquarian books together. Whatever courses our lives may have taken, of this I was certain. There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and for me, that friend is David. Two decades ago, while we were browsing in a dusty antiquarian bookshop in St. Louis, we bought up the whole lot—though I think I wound up with most of them. In any case, one of them declared, “Our true friends will stretch us intellectually, will understand our deepest longings and fondest dreams, and will encourage us to embrace both legacy and destiny. In difficult times, they are most assuredly there for us and we for them. In times of blessing, our fellowship is sweet, sure and secure. Our true friends are those whom we can love and trust so implicitly that we’re actually able to think out loud in their welcome presence. We’re able to talk with them, listen to them, and even share long comfortable silences with them. Oh, what glorious joy our true friends are to us.” That is David, through and through: precociously brilliant, prodigiously gifted, admirably prolific, astonishingly visionary and unstintingly committed to the things that most matter. His Savior, his beloved bride, his children, and his community. It is a privilege to count such a man as a true friend, a yokefellow in life and faith, a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. I know whatever the next stage of life and ministry brings for David, Diane and Liberty, the grace of God which has been evident in and through him all these years will most assuredly abound all the more. I can’t wait to see it.

And I would like to say from Pastor Vaughan’s leadership example, training and teaching, I’ve learned how to be a better counselor, a better shepherd, a better teacher, a better husband, a better father, and much, much more. I appreciate and value his discipleship, his wisdom, his faithfulness to the Word, and his preaching the whole counsel of God all of these years. I’ve been through thick and thin with him. I’ve shared highlights of ministry and the low lights of ministry and there have been mountaintops and valleys and Pastor Vaughan has been faithful through and through. Thank you for your faithfulness, your leadership and example. For all of these things I’ve mentioned and more, I owe him a debt of gratitude that I will never be able to repay. Luke 6:40 says, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher.” I hope that becomes true of me. Thank you, Pastor Vaughan.

Prayer for the Elders

One more thing before you kick me out the door. I’d like to pray over the elders and actually their wives too if their wives are here.

Father, we thank You for Your goodness, for Your people, that You provide pastors for them. Your Word says that pastor-teachers are gifts of grace from Jesus to His people. I pray that You would empower Mike and the other pastors and their wives with supernatural grace. I pray You would grant them a deeper walk. I pray that they’d be willing to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who laid down His life for the sheep. Help them always to put Jesus first and themselves second. He must increase and they must decrease. I pray, Lord, for the people of God to honor their leaders, to be grateful to their leaders, to support their leaders, to pray for their leaders. And I pray that they would all walk in love and in peace. I pray that this community, Lord, would exemplify the love of Jesus. I pray that we would obey Your command to love one another as You have loved us. We pray this for Your glory. Amen.