HOG SWILL PREACHING

By Buddy Smith

A man told me I was not fit to eat with the pigs.
My Internet Bible expert told me I was, and he promptly started preaching.

Back when I was a lad, it was common for local pig farmers to drive around town in their trucks, usually under the cover of darkness, collecting left over food scraps from hotel kitchens, restaurants, cafes, bakeries, etc. On the back of their trucks they carried a several evil smelling empty 55 gallon drums with the tops cut out of them. These they used as containers to collect any kind of food, from any source, that was considered unfit for human consumption.

This was then taken back to their pig farms and fed to their pigs.

It was called Pig’s Swill.

I enjoyed watching what happened back at the farm when the pig farmer emptied the rotting, stinking swill into the feeding troughs. The pigs wallowed in it, and hogged it down like they hadn’t been fed for a whole week. If you didn’t know better, the way pigs react to Pig’s Swill, you would probably think it is the most delicious, and most wholesome food in the whole world.

But friends, pigs are not a very good example of any creature that should be consulted on the subject of food quality. Their very animated and noisy display while eating, doesn’t mean pigs are experts in regard to public health and safety, not to mention good table manners. In fact, Pig’s Swill is usually unable to be safely consumed by practically any other creature on the face of the planet, without becoming violently ill. But pigs enjoy it with total immunity. To a human, Pig’s Swill will give you a fatal dose of food poisoning very shortly after you take the first mouthful.

Perhaps I should point out that it is now illegal, in most developed countries of the world, to feed swill to pigs that are bred for human consumption.

Feeding The Flock Of God

Acts 20:28 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.
29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

1 Peter 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

There are a number of important truths that can be gleaned from Acts Chapter 20, regarding both the quality and source of the spiritual food that is being dished up for Christian consumption in contemporary Christendom. The chapter also instructs us what we, both Shepherd and sheep, must do, to ensure that we are being nourished with wholesome Sheep’s Fodder and not poisonous Pig’s Swill.

Paul Instructs Church Elders

Firstly, In verses 17 and 18 of Acts Chapter 20, we read about the Apostle Paul, that he had come ashore at Miletus after an extended missionary journey, and that “…from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him…” he gave them a number of instructions that we will look at, in a bit more detail, as we progress.

If you take a look at a map of that area, you will find that Ephesus is a fair way north of Miletus. The distance between Ephesus and Miletus by land, taking into consideration that there is a large bay separating the two cities, is about 60 kilometres.

The church Elders at Ephesus recognised Paul’s Apostolic authority as their teacher. They recognised it enough, so that Scripture records the words in verse 18, “And when they were come to him…” They came to him!!!

What causes the sheep to eagerly come to the pastor?

This was based in the fact that Paul taught the early Church Christians the truth, and that truth, as Paul taught it, brought them to salvation and to Christian maturity. Many pastors demand that their "pastoral authority" be recognized, but they fail to feed the sheep. When the man calling them to himself feeds them hog slop, instead of making them to lie down in green pastures, that pastor has no business whining that they sheep will not come to him eagerly.

Are YOU one of those whining pastors who is feeding the sheep garbage? If so, you have NO business complaining that the sheep will not come running to you every time you climb into your high and mighty pulpit. It is all about feeding sheep, NOT about demanding obedience to YOU.

The Importance Of The Message

Secondly, we need to recognise that the message that Paul had delivered to the Ephesian elders must have been very important.... important enough for him to presume that the Ephesian elders would actually do what he asked them to do. He knew his message was food for their souls, and he knew they knew it already. Thus, they came to him eagerly.

When they arrived, verses 17 through to 27 of Acts 20 reveal that Paul spent most of his time reminiscing about the past, reminding the Ephesian Elders about his Christian relationship with them, about all that they had experienced together, and also about his ministry as an Apostle among them. From verse 28 and through to verse 31, however, Paul changes from speaking about past events to speaking about future events.

Paul’s message was of immense importance initially to the Elders of the fledgling churches, but they were recorded in Scripture for the benefit of, not only past church leaders and their congregations, but also for those throughout the entire church age.

These verses of scripture in the Books of Acts and 1 Peter also have serious implications for us who live in the perilous closing days of the church age, but unfortunately, most Christians, even Independent Baptist ones, completely miss a couple of grave issues that are addressed here.

Paul tells the assembled Elders, “Take heed!” Beware! There is a serious issue being addressed. And it is addressed not only to the sheep in their care, but also to the Elders themselves. Firstly they are to take heed unto themselves, and secondly they are to take heed to the flock, over which the Holy Ghost has made them overseers.

The church leaders are just as much, if not more, exposed to the dangers Paul is going to describe in the following verses, as are the people that God has entrusted into their pastoral care. The spiritual security of God’s lambs is only as secure as the spiritual vigilance of His Shepherds.

Zechariah 13:7 warns that if you “…smite the shepherd…the sheep shall be scattered.” The Devil knows that truth, and he’s aggressively smiting a multitude of Shepherds in our day – with disastrous consequences for the sheep.

The Pastors of the churches have a responsibility to be vigilant, sober and alert to the dangers that are surrounding the sheep’s pastures on all sides, firstly on behalf of themselves, and then on behalf of the Lord’s flocks that have been entrusted into their care.

I had a brother in the ministry whom I visited with to find fellowship and spiritually charge my batteries. I went to visit one day, and as we talked in his office, I noticed almost all the books in his library were gone. I asked about that, and he told me he was praying and fasting in the recent past, and God smote him. While he was seeking a deeper walk with the Lord, God hit him with something very practical. As he looked at library is suddenly realized nearly all his books he had borrowed from other pastors, and he had never returned them. He at once bundled up book after book and mailed them off to the original owner.

Needless to say, God did increase his blessing on the pastor's ministry, and as he talked about walking holy with God, he knew how it worked. He had "taken heed" to his own walk, so he had authority in showing his flock how to walk with God. This is where pastoral authority starts.

The Importance Of The Flock

The protection and nourishment of the Lord’s sheep is a serious responsibility that has been delegated to the Elders, or the Pastors of the Church. The sheep are precious in God’s sight, and their protection is vitally important to Him. How important? In verse 28 of Acts 20 the Shepherds are commanded to “…feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

Don’t read the words and miss the message of what is being said in this verse. This isn’t saying that the Shepherds are to “…feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with Jesus’ blood.” Nor is it saying to “…feed the church of Christ, which he hath purchased with his own blood,” even though both those statements would be true. No! God worded it this way. The Shepherds are to feed the church of God, which God Himself has purchased with His own blood. It’s God’s own blood that purchased our redemption!!!

There is a bit of theological controversy regarding the translation of this particular verse of Scripture – whether it should read the “church of the Lord,” or whether it should read “the blood of His own Son.” But one of my commentaries says it this way: “This passage must be allowed as an incontestable proof, that the blood of Christ is here called the blood of God, as being the blood of that Man, who is God with us,—God manifested in the flesh.”

In my way of thinking, understanding the truth that it was God’s own blood that was shed for our sins, should have some effect upon how we view the seriousness of the rest of what Paul had to say to – and also what he had to say about – the elders from the church at Ephesus.

Who Feeds The Flock?

Both Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:2 above command that the Elders, or Pastors, are “to feed” the church, or the flock of God. Something here in this important instruction to Church Pastors, and to church members, is also generally misunderstood, or resisted, by many Christians today. The word "feed" actually relates to the pastoral care that a Shepherd exercises over his flock of sheep. To feed the flock applies not only to the act of feeding the flock with suitable nourishment, but it also applies to protecting, guiding, and guarding it. It relates not only to the Pastor’s duty of properly instructing his congregation in the Word of God, but also of governing the church, and also of securing it from its enemies.

What God is saying here is that He’s got a vested interest in these sheep. After all, He’s purchased them with His very own blood. And He’s not about to jeopardise His highly valuable, purchased possession, by entrusting them to Shepherds who are a bit blasé about the sheep’s spiritual value and security.

Strict instructions, directly from the mouth of God, demand that the Shepherds are to feed His sheep. Each Shepherd is responsible for feeding the sheep in his particular sheep fold. Or, let’s put it another way. Each Pastor is commissioned, by God, with the task to feed the congregation of his particular local church. And each Pastor is instructed regarding what food he is to feed God’s sheep. As well as that, the Pastor is instructed what he is to protect his congregation against eating. As stated previously, today we have a serious problem in Christendom regarding the quality of some of the food that is being fed to God’s sheep. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of Scripture knows that. But it’s not just the quality of the food that is a problem. In my way of thinking, a worse problem is the source of the food.

Is there anywhere in Scripture where it is stated that this serious task can be delegated to anyone else but elders or pastors? Well, yes there is! But it has to be under the oversight of the Shepherd – the Pastor.

In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul instructed young Pastor Timothy to train up men in the Word, and those who were properly grounded in the Scriptures, and who demonstrated that they understood the spiritual truths of what they had learned from Timothy, and who were faithful to that truth, and to serving in the church, could, according to this Scripture, be delegated to teaching also. Paul said, “…the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

If that were not the case, then the church would have no one but the pastor teaching and preaching from the pulpit. We wouldn’t have Sunday School teachers teaching our children either. The Pastor would have to do it all himself. Never the less, the delegation of teaching and preaching responsibilities in a local church should be under the oversight of the Shepherd, into whose care God has entrusted His flock of precious lambs.

And this is where we see a great evil happening in the Church in our day. The Pastor no longer has any control over what his congregation is being fed, nor over where the food is coming from. Too many pastors have been seduced by hirelings who, with fair speeches, con he pastor into entrusting to them the care of children and all ages in Sunday School classes and in youth programs.

Pig Farmers Feeding God’s Lambs

It’s the Shepherd’s God-given role to feed God’s sheep, as well as to determine what they’re being fed, but his authority is being usurped by pig farmers who insist that he needs their help to feed them. These impostors also insist that he needs their help in choosing what to feed God’s sheep, and also when to feed it to them. In some churches, even Independent Baptist ones, the Shepherds are clearly at fault, but in many others, they are not. Not entirely anyway. Providing the Shepherd knows the difference between wholesome Sheep’s Food and poisonous Pig’s Swill (if he doesn’t, he’s not yet ready to be a Shepherd) and providing he is warning God’s flock not to carelessly consume food that hasn’t been provided, or at least scrutinised by him, then the fault really lies in two other places.

1. The fault lies with the pig farmers who are chucking their unsolicited Pig’s Swill over the fence into the Sheep’s Pen, and,

2. The fault lies with the sheep who are all too willing to quickly and recklessly hog into Pig’s Swill as soon as it lands in the Sheep’s Pen.

Our opening Scriptures actually identify the source of the problem, and why it is that God gave Shepherds the oversight of His flock. They also instruct exactly what food the Shepherds are to feed His sheep.

Reading on in Acts Chapter 20 we see that Paul warned, “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.”

God has not been caught by surprise that the Church Age is plagued by false teachers and seducers who are used as instruments of Satan to draw away His sheep from the safety of the Shepherd and the Sheep’s Pen. God knew beforehand about our particular time in history. He has warned us – we who belong to the Church at the end of the age – that these pig farmers, these servants of Satan, will appear on the scene as angels of light to deceive God’s Shepherds, and also His sheep. And true to His Word, if you have eyes to see, you will see these impostors – these pig farmers – everywhere.

Paul closes off this warning in Acts 20 with the words recorded in verse 31. “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” This impending threat of pig farmers gaining easy access to God’s flock of sheep, feeding them Pig’s Swill, was of such seriousness to Paul – and to God – that it caused the Apostle to actually shed tears about it, night and day.

And the terrible thing is that, even though he gave the warning, Paul knew full well that it was still going to happen. “I know – I know, he said – I know that after I depart, this is what’s going to happen.” And it won’t be the unchurched that will be the problem. It will be through professing Christians that Pig’s Swill will be introduced into the sheep’s diet. It will be pig farmers in Shepherd’s clothing!!!

But it doesn’t have to happen in our own particular Sheep’s Pen, my friends. Not if we’ve got Shepherds who take Paul’s warnings seriously. Not if we’ve got Pastors who teach their congregations the difference between Sheep’s Fodder and Pig’s Swill. And also, not if we’ve got Pastors who are wise and bold enough to stand against the continuous appeals to become members of the local Pig Farmers Network, Co-op or Fraternal Fuzzy Pastors.

Wholesome Fodder Or Poisonous Swill?

So, what is the food that God has provided for the Shepherd to feed His flock? How can we tell the difference between good Sheep’s Fodder and poisonous Pig’s Swill?

Even if there was nowhere else in all of Scripture, Acts Chapter 20 has made it clear what the Shepherd is to feed God’s sheep.

In verses 20 and 21, Paul said “…I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” In verse 24, Paul said that his ministry was to “testify the gospel of the grace of God.” In verse 25 he said he had been “preaching the kingdom of God” among the people, and in verse 27 he said that he had “not shunned to declare… all the counsel of God.”

Anything that fits within the parameters that Paul describes here, is pure, unadulterated Sheep’s Fodder. What is Pig’s Swill? Verse 30 describes Pig’s Swill as “perverse things” that pig farmers chuck over the fence of the Sheep’s Pen, unannounced, hoping the lambs will like it, and then run after them as part of their herd. Anything that is outside the parameters that we just read Paul describe, is Pig’s Swill. Anything that contradicts the Word of God is Pig’s Swill. Anything that makes a fool of the Pastor, while making a great authority of the Pig Farmer, is poisonous swill.

Therefore Watch!!!

If you know of some professed Christian ministry, a church, a university or college, or some religious group, that has taken it upon themselves to offer something that they claim to be of spiritual nourishment to you, without the knowledge of your own Shepherd, then you need to be very, very careful that you don’t end up swallowing a fatal dose of Pig’s Swill. Some of the most poisonous swill comes from Bible colleges and seminaries.

If you have a question about something in the Bible and your source of spiritual learning is the Internet, then again, you need to be very, very careful that the spiritual advice you receive, and swallow, is according to sound doctrine, and not according to the twisted interpretation of the apostate churches or alleged Christian Bible teachers. That may sound good, but it is actually poisonous Pig’s Swill dressed up to appear as wholesome Sheep’s Fodder.

Someone in your own church, should recommend to you a book, or a You Tube video by this Apostle, or that Prophet, or some other big name preacher or teacher. They may be promoting some newly discovered truth about things like Four Blood Moons, the Nephilim or how we all need to love each other and get together in unity with people of other denominations. Many other novel topics turn up under the label of Sheep's Fodder which are Hog Swill. You need to at once check with your Shepherd to learn if you are being enticed with an unhealthy serving of Pig’s Swill, innocently disguised to look like Sheep’s Fodder.

Also, there is a certain seduction these days on the Internet. Men who have honed their elocution skills, have a deep manly voice, and have developed an air of being the final authority, can seduce you into suspecting that your Pastor is not keeping up with the latest discoveries in Bible truth and historic evidences. Understand this please..... there have been nearly 2000 years of Pastors come and go, and when some Internet alleged Bible teacher tells you he has just discovered something new in the Bible, especially in prophecy, run for cover. The Holy Ghost is not about to hold back revealing all the truth until this late date. Do you think millions of Christians were so unworthy of the whole truth that you and your online guru are just now the first ones spiritually up to handling the complete message? Bah

If you should venture into what is called a “Christian Bookstore”, or if you should look through any classy Internet book catalog, you will see poisonous Pig’s Swill everywhere. All beautifully prepared, and presented, to appear like a genuine Lamb’s Smorgasbord. And, who can resist that prophecy guru who offers two of his previous books free if you buy the new one with it? You will be encouraged to have a taste of the latest “Christian” book, or video created by famous Christian producers, or recorded self-esteem massages, or “worship” music from some famous Christian Rock band, all presented in such an appetizing way, so as to make any unwary lamb of God start drooling at the mouth.

You might even end up being seduced into thinking that what you see is even more appetizing than what your own, God-appointed Shepherd has been feeding you in the Sheep’s Pen! But it’s Pig’s Swill. It’s poisonous Pig’s Swill.

Or what about the numerous pig farmers who appear on the TV screens early in the mornings? Sadly, even though professing Christians have been warned repeatedly about the Pig’s Swill these impostors keep dishing up – even Independent Baptist Christians – they can’t seem to resist having just one more little helping of their toxic brew. Or what about that para-church organization that keeps requesting your money so that they can continue to establish God’s Righteous Kingdom in faraway lands? – not by preaching the Gospel to the lost, but by doing social works for the poor! They also are pig farmers distributing Pig’s Swill.

In Acts 20, and 1 Peter 5 we read precisely who it is that has been commissioned to feed God’s sheep – the flock He purchased with His own blood. It isn’t the so called Christian authors with their glossy covered books. It isn’t the preachers from Pentecostal, New Evangelical or Emergent Churches who distribute their books and recorded messages in the Christian bookstores, or over the Internet for filthy lucre. It isn’t the famous Christian rock band with their worldly music. It isn’t the numerous para-church organisations who milk millions of dollars out of Christian pockets for temporal social works. It isn’t some You Tube preacher from another country. It isn’t even the highly educated college professor who can’t understand plain English and work out that God created everything in six literal days. No! God has been very specific as to who has been commissioned with the serious responsibility of feeding His lambs, the lambs that He rounded up Himself, and added to each local Church.

Speaking to the Overseers – the Elders – the Pastors of the church, Paul said in Acts 20:28, “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.” And again in 1 Peter 5:1-2, we read “The elders which are among you I exhort…feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof…”

In Acts 20:29-31, Paul adds the fearful warning of what is in store for those sheep who are unfortunate enough to have a Hireling for a Pastor, and not a true Shepherd. “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. Therefore watch!!!”

“Watch” he says!!! Keep your eyes open. Shepherds, be vigilant for pig farmers who are determined to heave Pig’s Swill over the fence into the Lord’s Sheep Pens.

But it’s not just the Shepherd who needs to watch. The lambs need be watching too, that they won’t be fooled by usurper pig farmers into substituting their God given Shepherd’s diet of nourishing Sheep’s Fodder for their poisonous Pig’s Swill. All Bible believers need to be attentive to other sheep, thoughtfully and only in love, discerning the tell tale smell of Pig Swill on their breath. At that point they may need a loving rebuke and encouragement to learn to be content with Sheep Fodder served up in their own local church by their own God given Shepherd.

Do you know some Bible believer who is lapping up Hog Swill from some Satanic source? Maybe you should send them this article in email.

ARE YOU SUCKING UP THE SWILL OF THESE HOG FARMERS?

LEARN ABOUT THE HOG FARMERS IN CHARISMATIC CIRCLES

VIDEOS

TELL THE HIRELING TO EAT THE PIG SLOP HIMSELF

 

JOEL OSTEEN SLOPPING THE HOGS BY PREACHING HOG LAW
THIS IS AS DEEP AS IT GETS IN HOUSTON, TEXAS

 

SEND MAIL

BACK TO BIBLE STUDY LESSONS TABLE OF CONTENTS

BACK TO MORAL ISSUES TABLE OF CONTENTS

BACK TO THE WAR ROOM- CHRISTIAN LIVING ISSUES

BACK TO ENTRY PAGE OF JOURNAL

graphic edit