1 00:00:01,451 --> 00:00:03,741 I've had some neat opportunities in my life 2 00:00:03,741 --> 00:00:08,078 to preach in some different places, 3 00:00:08,078 --> 00:00:10,034 different countries, 4 00:00:10,034 --> 00:00:12,120 different venues. 5 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:14,278 I regard getting to be here 6 00:00:14,278 --> 00:00:15,623 for the weekend as perhaps 7 00:00:15,623 --> 00:00:18,139 the highest honor of my life 8 00:00:18,139 --> 00:00:21,847 to get to participate and have this pulpit 9 00:00:21,847 --> 00:00:26,052 to proclaim God's Word to a church 10 00:00:26,052 --> 00:00:30,156 that has been so massively influential 11 00:00:30,156 --> 00:00:32,036 in my life. 12 00:00:32,036 --> 00:00:35,809 And so I thank God deeply 13 00:00:35,809 --> 00:00:37,655 for the privilege of getting to open 14 00:00:37,655 --> 00:00:40,675 God's Word to you this morning. 15 00:00:40,675 --> 00:00:42,523 And I thank you specifically Garrett, 16 00:00:42,523 --> 00:00:46,502 for giving me this opportunity. 17 00:00:46,502 --> 00:00:49,764 I hope it won't be one that you regret. 18 00:00:49,764 --> 00:00:51,229 And you'll know whether it is 19 00:00:51,229 --> 00:00:55,815 in just a short hour. 20 00:00:55,815 --> 00:00:58,927 Yesterday, I found myself "amen-ing" 21 00:00:58,927 --> 00:01:02,730 the faithfulness of Charles and Dick; 22 00:01:02,730 --> 00:01:05,325 that God had given grace to them 23 00:01:05,325 --> 00:01:08,382 to keep them faithful all of these years, 24 00:01:08,382 --> 00:01:10,789 and I found myself filled with tears. 25 00:01:10,789 --> 00:01:12,424 I have a 13 year old daughter, 26 00:01:12,424 --> 00:01:14,455 so she kept giving that embarrassed look, 27 00:01:14,455 --> 00:01:21,573 like would you stop gulping back those sobs? 28 00:01:21,573 --> 00:01:24,508 But I've pastored the church I pastor now 29 00:01:24,508 --> 00:01:26,851 for twelve years, 30 00:01:26,851 --> 00:01:30,273 so I've gone a quarter of the distance 31 00:01:30,273 --> 00:01:32,800 of these men. 32 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:37,037 And I suspect that the next three legs, 33 00:01:37,037 --> 00:01:38,866 the next three decades 34 00:01:38,866 --> 00:01:41,380 are harder, not easier. 35 00:01:41,380 --> 00:01:43,639 And when I just amass and think 36 00:01:43,639 --> 00:01:46,990 about all the difficulties 37 00:01:46,990 --> 00:01:49,637 that a person goes through in the course of a year, 38 00:01:49,637 --> 00:01:51,183 just to keep preaching the Word 39 00:01:51,183 --> 00:01:53,461 and keep loving the people, 40 00:01:53,461 --> 00:01:55,979 it just gives me tremendous 41 00:01:55,979 --> 00:01:59,580 respect and love for Charles and Dick. 42 00:01:59,580 --> 00:02:01,049 Where is Dick this morning? 43 00:02:01,049 --> 00:02:02,816 I want to be able to look at him. 44 00:02:02,816 --> 00:02:07,676 There you are. 45 00:02:07,676 --> 00:02:10,495 I have the privilege of having served - 46 00:02:10,495 --> 00:02:12,025 I have a number of co-pastors, 47 00:02:12,025 --> 00:02:13,808 but I have the privilege of serving 48 00:02:13,808 --> 00:02:15,717 beside one co-pastor in particular, 49 00:02:15,717 --> 00:02:18,875 Jeff King, who is one of my dearest friends 50 00:02:18,875 --> 00:02:20,316 on the planet 51 00:02:20,316 --> 00:02:23,795 who is the opposite of me in every way. 52 00:02:23,795 --> 00:02:25,391 And Steve Welch, who's a friend 53 00:02:25,391 --> 00:02:26,822 of this congregation says that 54 00:02:26,822 --> 00:02:28,038 he looks like Dick. 55 00:02:28,038 --> 00:02:29,646 I don't look like Charles, 56 00:02:29,646 --> 00:02:34,725 but that's where the similarities end. 57 00:02:34,725 --> 00:02:40,784 And I know what it takes to put up with me 58 00:02:40,784 --> 00:02:43,083 in the course of a week or a year. 59 00:02:43,083 --> 00:02:44,671 I think if he were here would say 60 00:02:44,671 --> 00:02:48,202 he knows what it takes to put up with him. 61 00:02:48,202 --> 00:02:52,453 It's a miracle when people can stay friends 62 00:02:52,453 --> 00:02:57,013 and stay side-by-side in the ministry, 63 00:02:57,013 --> 00:03:00,923 and when Mack Tomlinson got up yesterday 64 00:03:00,923 --> 00:03:04,119 and said: think about church history. 65 00:03:04,119 --> 00:03:05,910 How many have labored side by side 66 00:03:05,910 --> 00:03:06,813 for forty years. 67 00:03:06,813 --> 00:03:08,591 And I'm not expert in church history, 68 00:03:08,591 --> 00:03:09,832 but I kind of thought - 69 00:03:09,832 --> 00:03:11,782 my first initial reaction was, well Mack, 70 00:03:11,782 --> 00:03:17,200 that's easy - there must be a lot. 71 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,183 And then I couldn't think of any. 72 00:03:19,183 --> 00:03:24,588 And so, no small task. 73 00:03:24,588 --> 00:03:28,681 And you ought to pray fervently 74 00:03:28,681 --> 00:03:30,964 and in an informed way 75 00:03:30,964 --> 00:03:33,279 for the four men who are graced 76 00:03:33,279 --> 00:03:34,342 to be your elders, 77 00:03:34,342 --> 00:03:35,761 that the Lord would give them 78 00:03:35,761 --> 00:03:38,064 a supernatural unity. 79 00:03:38,064 --> 00:03:40,090 I have the privilege of laboring aside 80 00:03:40,090 --> 00:03:41,525 some very faithful brothers, 81 00:03:41,525 --> 00:03:43,911 but I know that unity among the pastors - 82 00:03:43,911 --> 00:03:45,387 even pastors as like-minded 83 00:03:45,387 --> 00:03:47,760 and as godly as the ones I serve alongside of - 84 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,289 it takes work. 85 00:03:51,289 --> 00:03:53,344 Nothing short of work. 86 00:03:53,344 --> 00:03:55,624 I have spent way more time in Denny's 87 00:03:55,624 --> 00:03:59,775 than I ever wanted to working 88 00:03:59,775 --> 00:04:02,597 to keep that unity at times. 89 00:04:02,597 --> 00:04:06,931 And it's a miracle that it's kept. 90 00:04:06,931 --> 00:04:08,808 I was delighted to be here yesterday 91 00:04:08,808 --> 00:04:11,111 just because what you did yesterday 92 00:04:11,111 --> 00:04:14,006 for your pastors was right. 93 00:04:14,006 --> 00:04:16,423 It was just right at so many levels. 94 00:04:16,423 --> 00:04:19,765 We're to respect those who labor among us 95 00:04:19,765 --> 00:04:21,399 and are over us in the Lord 96 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:23,977 and admonish us and esteem them 97 00:04:23,977 --> 00:04:26,886 very highly because of their work. 98 00:04:26,886 --> 00:04:29,290 And people are afraid of doing things like you did yesterday 99 00:04:29,290 --> 00:04:31,769 because it might make the pastor proud. 100 00:04:31,769 --> 00:04:33,950 And I'm not denying that there are proud pastors, 101 00:04:33,950 --> 00:04:35,327 but I'll be honest with you, 102 00:04:35,327 --> 00:04:37,648 I think the general tendency of pastors 103 00:04:37,648 --> 00:04:39,350 is not to be proud, 104 00:04:39,350 --> 00:04:42,434 but to be discouraged. 105 00:04:42,434 --> 00:04:44,381 Most of the pastors I meet 106 00:04:44,381 --> 00:04:48,986 are mildly to severely depressed 107 00:04:48,986 --> 00:04:52,149 about who they are. 108 00:04:52,149 --> 00:04:53,675 And so for them to get a season 109 00:04:53,675 --> 00:04:55,532 where they get to hear what God's grace 110 00:04:55,532 --> 00:04:56,639 is doing in their life, 111 00:04:56,639 --> 00:04:59,015 it is a sweet, sweet thing. 112 00:04:59,015 --> 00:05:00,394 Don't make it every Sunday. 113 00:05:00,394 --> 00:05:01,433 You'll spoil them, 114 00:05:01,433 --> 00:05:03,401 but it can be a really great treat, 115 00:05:03,401 --> 00:05:16,708 say, every forty years or so. 116 00:05:16,708 --> 00:05:21,450 The gift I want to give you 117 00:05:21,450 --> 00:05:25,682 this morning is a text. 118 00:05:25,682 --> 00:05:28,024 And it's a text that I believe 119 00:05:28,024 --> 00:05:34,347 that if it's heard and obeyed, 120 00:05:34,347 --> 00:05:36,471 will give, I hope, another forty years 121 00:05:36,471 --> 00:05:42,028 of tremendous blessing to the church. 122 00:05:42,028 --> 00:05:44,115 Dick and Charles are probably not hoping 123 00:05:44,115 --> 00:05:46,970 for another forty years, 124 00:05:46,970 --> 00:05:53,163 so I'm talking about even beyond them. 125 00:05:53,163 --> 00:05:54,837 I'm hoping that this passage 126 00:05:54,837 --> 00:05:56,799 that I'm going to share with you 127 00:05:56,799 --> 00:06:00,470 becomes a catalyst; 128 00:06:00,470 --> 00:06:03,350 becomes a spur; 129 00:06:03,350 --> 00:06:05,658 becomes an encouragement 130 00:06:05,658 --> 00:06:07,986 that sets a culture 131 00:06:07,986 --> 00:06:11,809 where the pastors of Lake Road Chapel 132 00:06:11,809 --> 00:06:15,038 are full of joy, 133 00:06:15,038 --> 00:06:18,002 and where the people of Lake Road Chapel 134 00:06:18,002 --> 00:06:20,178 are benefiting from them 135 00:06:20,178 --> 00:06:22,058 and profiting from them 136 00:06:22,058 --> 00:06:26,406 for a very, very long time. 137 00:06:26,406 --> 00:06:29,376 And then I'm aware that whenever I speak at Lake Road Chapel, 138 00:06:29,376 --> 00:06:31,478 that James Jennings is going to make sure 139 00:06:31,478 --> 00:06:32,965 it goes all over the planet. 140 00:06:32,965 --> 00:06:37,113 So let me just say it's my hope 141 00:06:37,113 --> 00:06:38,917 that this message, this verse, 142 00:06:38,917 --> 00:06:41,291 would be used by God 143 00:06:41,291 --> 00:06:45,655 to fill more and more pastor's lives with joy, 144 00:06:45,655 --> 00:06:47,571 and to see more and more people 145 00:06:47,571 --> 00:06:50,034 profiting, taking advantage of, 146 00:06:50,034 --> 00:06:55,321 reaping a harvest from their pastors. 147 00:06:55,321 --> 00:07:00,052 Would you open your Bibles to Hebrews 13:17? 148 00:07:00,052 --> 00:07:04,647 Hebrews 13:17 149 00:07:04,647 --> 00:07:05,758 Like most of you, 150 00:07:05,758 --> 00:07:10,346 I knew nothing about what was going to unfold yesterday. 151 00:07:10,346 --> 00:07:13,950 I just got the emails that promised me 152 00:07:13,950 --> 00:07:19,691 I wouldn't get any more emails. 153 00:07:19,691 --> 00:07:21,956 And so I had no idea this was going to be 154 00:07:21,956 --> 00:07:25,562 a theme verse yesterday. 155 00:07:25,562 --> 00:07:28,001 But I think it's a good verse 156 00:07:28,001 --> 00:07:30,797 for an occasion like this. 157 00:07:30,797 --> 00:07:32,363 It comes in the book of Hebrews. 158 00:07:32,363 --> 00:07:33,819 It comes in the last chapter, 159 00:07:33,819 --> 00:07:35,487 which is the chapter that covers 160 00:07:35,487 --> 00:07:37,647 all kinds of exhortations 161 00:07:37,647 --> 00:07:39,620 from not being covetous, 162 00:07:39,620 --> 00:07:42,777 to not letting your marriage bed by defiled, 163 00:07:42,777 --> 00:07:45,546 to remembering past leaders, 164 00:07:45,546 --> 00:07:47,307 and in the midst of all these 165 00:07:47,307 --> 00:07:50,585 various exhortations in the book of Hebrews, 166 00:07:50,585 --> 00:07:52,474 the author to the book of Hebrews 167 00:07:52,474 --> 00:07:53,974 says these words, 168 00:07:53,974 --> 00:07:56,900 "Obey your leaders and submit to them, 169 00:07:56,900 --> 00:07:59,925 for they are keeping watch over your souls 170 00:07:59,925 --> 00:08:02,320 as those who will have to give an account. 171 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:04,078 Let them do this with joy 172 00:08:04,078 --> 00:08:10,206 and not with groaning, 173 00:08:10,206 --> 00:08:16,913 for that would be of no advantage to you." 174 00:08:16,913 --> 00:08:18,895 Let's pray. 175 00:08:18,895 --> 00:08:21,428 Father, we want to ask You that this one verse 176 00:08:21,428 --> 00:08:23,955 would be impressed; 177 00:08:23,955 --> 00:08:25,132 would be branded; 178 00:08:25,132 --> 00:08:26,235 would be tattooed; 179 00:08:26,235 --> 00:08:28,827 would be glued to the very fabric 180 00:08:28,827 --> 00:08:30,406 of our souls, Lord God. 181 00:08:30,406 --> 00:08:33,651 That You'd shed light on this Word 182 00:08:33,651 --> 00:08:35,784 so that it sticks with us through life 183 00:08:35,784 --> 00:08:38,838 and Lord, that even pastors who are not here 184 00:08:38,838 --> 00:08:40,796 this morning, but who may pastor 185 00:08:40,796 --> 00:08:42,413 Lake Road in the future, 186 00:08:42,413 --> 00:08:44,165 or maybe children in this very room 187 00:08:44,165 --> 00:08:46,867 who may grow up to be some of the future shepherds, 188 00:08:46,867 --> 00:08:48,502 that they would inherit a culture 189 00:08:48,502 --> 00:08:51,462 of joyful pastoring. 190 00:08:51,462 --> 00:08:53,932 And Lord God, we pray for Charles and Dick 191 00:08:53,932 --> 00:08:57,655 that the gift that they receive from this congregation would not be 192 00:08:57,655 --> 00:09:02,111 a special day once every few decades, 193 00:09:02,111 --> 00:09:06,960 but a joyful congregation to pastor. 194 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,243 We pray, Lord God, that You would create 195 00:09:09,243 --> 00:09:12,818 in Charles and in Dick 196 00:09:12,818 --> 00:09:15,847 and in Garrett and in Mason 197 00:09:15,847 --> 00:09:18,344 the kind of ministry that would be 198 00:09:18,344 --> 00:09:21,715 tremendously profitable - 199 00:09:21,715 --> 00:09:24,807 eternally profitable 200 00:09:24,807 --> 00:09:29,075 to Your people knowing Jesus. 201 00:09:29,075 --> 00:09:31,624 I pray this in Christ's name, 202 00:09:31,624 --> 00:09:33,410 Amen. 203 00:09:33,410 --> 00:09:35,578 If you were going to give this sermon a name, 204 00:09:35,578 --> 00:09:36,455 you could call it: 205 00:09:36,455 --> 00:09:38,632 "How To Get the Most Out of Your Pastors." 206 00:09:38,632 --> 00:09:41,673 If you were going to give it a cynical name, you could call it: 207 00:09:41,673 --> 00:09:44,060 "How to Take Advantage of Them." 208 00:09:44,060 --> 00:09:46,395 And I say that because the word advantage 209 00:09:46,395 --> 00:09:47,993 is right there in the text. 210 00:09:47,993 --> 00:09:50,695 The whole idea is that the writer 211 00:09:50,695 --> 00:09:53,534 of the book of Hebrews wants you - 212 00:09:53,534 --> 00:09:56,059 each one of you individually - 213 00:09:56,059 --> 00:09:57,986 to get some advantage; 214 00:09:57,986 --> 00:10:00,320 to get some - the NASB translates it 215 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,423 some profit, from the men 216 00:10:03,423 --> 00:10:06,379 who God places over His church. 217 00:10:06,379 --> 00:10:08,034 So it says, "obey your leaders 218 00:10:08,034 --> 00:10:09,169 and submit to them, 219 00:10:09,169 --> 00:10:11,347 for they are keeping watch over your souls 220 00:10:11,347 --> 00:10:13,232 as those who will have to give an account. 221 00:10:13,232 --> 00:10:15,799 Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, 222 00:10:15,799 --> 00:10:18,820 for that would be of no advantage to you." 223 00:10:18,820 --> 00:10:21,357 And so the very simple idea 224 00:10:21,357 --> 00:10:24,048 pulsing at the core of this passage 225 00:10:24,048 --> 00:10:27,319 is that when pastors are finding joy 226 00:10:27,319 --> 00:10:29,362 in their congregations; 227 00:10:29,362 --> 00:10:31,605 when their joy is maintained 228 00:10:31,605 --> 00:10:33,039 and they are strengthened 229 00:10:33,039 --> 00:10:34,493 by the joy of the Lord, 230 00:10:34,493 --> 00:10:38,300 then the congregation is benefited. 231 00:10:38,300 --> 00:10:39,833 They are given a tremendous 232 00:10:39,833 --> 00:10:43,122 and eternal advantage. 233 00:10:43,122 --> 00:10:45,878 Sometimes we come at this from the pastor's end. 234 00:10:45,878 --> 00:10:47,774 We remember the verse that says, 235 00:10:47,774 --> 00:10:51,370 "watch your life and your doctrine carefully, 236 00:10:51,370 --> 00:10:53,728 by so doing, you will save 237 00:10:53,728 --> 00:10:56,206 both yourselves and your hearers." 238 00:10:56,206 --> 00:10:57,984 That passage says, hey, pastor, 239 00:10:57,984 --> 00:11:00,049 you watch yourself, 240 00:11:00,049 --> 00:11:02,536 and then you'll be of eternal advantage 241 00:11:02,536 --> 00:11:03,637 to your people. 242 00:11:03,637 --> 00:11:06,209 This passage comes at it from another angle 243 00:11:06,209 --> 00:11:08,120 and says, hey, congregation; 244 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:09,085 hey, sheep; 245 00:11:09,085 --> 00:11:10,731 hey, people of God, 246 00:11:10,731 --> 00:11:13,268 watch your pastors. 247 00:11:13,268 --> 00:11:15,300 Watch your attitude towards them 248 00:11:15,300 --> 00:11:16,959 and your actions towards them, 249 00:11:16,959 --> 00:11:18,900 so that they may be filled with joy. 250 00:11:18,900 --> 00:11:21,655 If you do that, it will benefit you. 251 00:11:21,655 --> 00:11:23,600 It will help you 252 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:28,153 if they are full of joy. 253 00:11:28,153 --> 00:11:31,212 And this passage is not like some passages 254 00:11:31,212 --> 00:11:32,880 in the Bible. 255 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,014 Some passages in the Bible are 256 00:11:35,014 --> 00:11:39,092 very hard to understand. 257 00:11:39,092 --> 00:11:41,217 You know, like when the Gospel was 258 00:11:41,217 --> 00:11:44,368 preached to those who were dead in 1 Peter. 259 00:11:44,368 --> 00:11:46,566 You kind of scratch your head. 260 00:11:46,566 --> 00:11:48,991 Or when it speaks of baptism for the dead 261 00:11:48,991 --> 00:11:50,160 in 1 Corinthians 15. 262 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:51,700 I think I read recently there's 263 00:11:51,700 --> 00:11:55,428 something like 52 possible interpretations 264 00:11:55,428 --> 00:11:56,820 of that passage. 265 00:11:56,820 --> 00:11:58,343 I understand that passage, 266 00:11:58,343 --> 00:12:00,599 but there are 51 other people who don't. 267 00:12:00,599 --> 00:12:06,831 And so it's a difficult situation sometimes. 268 00:12:06,831 --> 00:12:08,646 This passage isn't like that though. 269 00:12:08,646 --> 00:12:12,053 It's easy to understand. 270 00:12:12,053 --> 00:12:15,222 It's just hard to hear. 271 00:12:15,222 --> 00:12:17,655 It's got that four-letter word in it 272 00:12:17,655 --> 00:12:20,430 that our culture loves so much: 273 00:12:20,430 --> 00:12:23,805 obey. 274 00:12:23,805 --> 00:12:28,455 "Obey your leaders 275 00:12:28,455 --> 00:12:31,344 and submit to them, 276 00:12:31,344 --> 00:12:33,504 for they are keeping watch over 277 00:12:33,504 --> 00:12:35,892 your souls as those..." 278 00:12:35,892 --> 00:12:38,053 That's easy to understand. 279 00:12:38,053 --> 00:12:40,236 It means submit yourself to; 280 00:12:40,236 --> 00:12:44,463 obey your leaders. 281 00:12:44,463 --> 00:12:46,849 And come up under them. 282 00:12:46,849 --> 00:12:48,704 So that's not hard to figure out. 283 00:12:48,704 --> 00:12:50,528 We don't really need a massive 284 00:12:50,528 --> 00:12:52,897 Bible commentary lesson this morning 285 00:12:52,897 --> 00:12:54,609 on exactly what this means. 286 00:12:54,609 --> 00:12:57,075 It's abundantly plain what this means. 287 00:12:57,075 --> 00:13:01,317 What's difficult though is doing it. 288 00:13:01,317 --> 00:13:02,980 And not just doing it, 289 00:13:02,980 --> 00:13:07,332 but loving it. 290 00:13:07,332 --> 00:13:09,412 And it's hard for many in our day 291 00:13:09,412 --> 00:13:10,858 to value a call to obedience, 292 00:13:10,858 --> 00:13:12,057 but if we're honest, 293 00:13:12,057 --> 00:13:16,673 it's even often hard for a mature Christian 294 00:13:16,673 --> 00:13:19,313 to value obeying their pastors. 295 00:13:19,313 --> 00:13:21,223 One of my co-pastors says 296 00:13:21,223 --> 00:13:24,026 everybody loves being elder-led 297 00:13:24,026 --> 00:13:29,276 until they don't. 298 00:13:29,276 --> 00:13:31,745 There's a sense in which everybody loves 299 00:13:31,745 --> 00:13:34,459 this idea of good, strong leadership 300 00:13:34,459 --> 00:13:35,412 in the church. 301 00:13:35,412 --> 00:13:37,872 We need strong leadership in the church, 302 00:13:37,872 --> 00:13:41,771 until the leadership gets all up in your business. 303 00:13:41,771 --> 00:13:44,144 And then somebody else needs strong leadership. 304 00:13:44,144 --> 00:13:48,915 That leadership needs leadership. 305 00:13:48,915 --> 00:13:51,817 And yet the passage tells us 306 00:13:51,817 --> 00:13:54,288 that we are to obey our leaders - 307 00:13:54,288 --> 00:13:57,603 the leaders of our local congregation, 308 00:13:57,603 --> 00:13:59,880 and submit to them. 309 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:01,984 And I want to begin by just giving you 310 00:14:01,984 --> 00:14:05,429 six reasons why this is hard. 311 00:14:05,429 --> 00:14:07,689 Not six explanations of what the passage means. 312 00:14:07,689 --> 00:14:09,663 That's easy. 313 00:14:09,663 --> 00:14:12,512 But six explanations for why we can 314 00:14:12,512 --> 00:14:15,063 find this hard to hear. 315 00:14:15,063 --> 00:14:16,816 And the first is there simply are 316 00:14:16,816 --> 00:14:19,634 many churches that abuse. 317 00:14:19,634 --> 00:14:22,076 There simply are many churches 318 00:14:22,076 --> 00:14:23,772 that have abusive leaders. 319 00:14:23,772 --> 00:14:26,391 And one of the things we heard last night 320 00:14:26,391 --> 00:14:28,718 was how many people found in Lake Road 321 00:14:28,718 --> 00:14:31,441 a kind of leadership they hadn't experienced before. 322 00:14:31,441 --> 00:14:33,658 They had experienced overbearing 323 00:14:33,658 --> 00:14:37,243 or distant or lording- it-over-you leadership, 324 00:14:37,243 --> 00:14:40,065 and when they experienced a different kind of leadership, 325 00:14:40,065 --> 00:14:42,577 it was like a breath of fresh air to them. 326 00:14:42,577 --> 00:14:44,056 But the simple fact is 327 00:14:44,056 --> 00:14:46,753 that many people have a hard time being told to obey their leaders, 328 00:14:46,753 --> 00:14:48,969 because they've experienced abusive leaders. 329 00:14:48,969 --> 00:14:50,355 In the congregation I pastor, 330 00:14:50,355 --> 00:14:52,048 there are women who have 331 00:14:52,048 --> 00:14:53,798 literally been physically abused 332 00:14:53,798 --> 00:14:56,935 by pastors. 333 00:14:56,935 --> 00:14:58,932 And so to come without any explanation 334 00:14:58,932 --> 00:15:02,020 and say, now obey us, 335 00:15:02,020 --> 00:15:04,668 can be hard to hear. 336 00:15:04,668 --> 00:15:06,467 The second reason it's hard to hear 337 00:15:06,467 --> 00:15:08,246 obey your leaders and submit to them 338 00:15:08,246 --> 00:15:09,464 is because we are - 339 00:15:09,464 --> 00:15:11,289 if you've spent any time in North America; 340 00:15:11,289 --> 00:15:13,737 many of you have spent all your lives in North America; 341 00:15:13,737 --> 00:15:15,906 all of us have spent some of your time 342 00:15:15,906 --> 00:15:17,168 in North America - 343 00:15:17,168 --> 00:15:20,017 if you weren't aware, you're in North America this morning. 344 00:15:20,017 --> 00:15:23,052 And so if you spent any time in North America, 345 00:15:23,052 --> 00:15:25,156 you have been infected by 346 00:15:25,156 --> 00:15:29,878 some degree of the radical individualism 347 00:15:29,878 --> 00:15:33,118 that is dominant in our entire culture. 348 00:15:33,118 --> 00:15:35,485 So our culture is just full 349 00:15:35,485 --> 00:15:38,286 of reinforcing radical individualism. 350 00:15:38,286 --> 00:15:40,443 Burger King says "have it your way." 351 00:15:40,443 --> 00:15:42,082 Anne of Green Gables says, 352 00:15:42,082 --> 00:15:43,656 "just follow your heart." 353 00:15:43,656 --> 00:15:45,794 Yoda says, "trust your feelings." 354 00:15:45,794 --> 00:15:48,405 Frank Sinatra says, "I did it my way." 355 00:15:48,405 --> 00:15:49,924 You didn't know that Yoda 356 00:15:49,924 --> 00:15:51,163 and Anne of Green Gables 357 00:15:51,163 --> 00:15:55,662 had the same worldview, but they do. 358 00:15:55,662 --> 00:16:01,059 It's this basic: you follow you. 359 00:16:01,059 --> 00:16:03,618 If you're going to be properly led, 360 00:16:03,618 --> 00:16:09,507 you need to be true to your own heart. 361 00:16:09,507 --> 00:16:15,014 Enter: people who are impossible to pastor. 362 00:16:15,014 --> 00:16:17,267 Because if your highest authority 363 00:16:17,267 --> 00:16:19,825 is whatever you're feeling right now, 364 00:16:19,825 --> 00:16:22,339 you cannot be led. 365 00:16:22,339 --> 00:16:24,936 And it will never sound like good news to you 366 00:16:24,936 --> 00:16:26,898 to obey someone else 367 00:16:26,898 --> 00:16:28,822 and even worse, it will never 368 00:16:28,822 --> 00:16:30,652 sound like good news to you 369 00:16:30,652 --> 00:16:35,013 to obey God. 370 00:16:35,013 --> 00:16:37,666 Robert Bella, the sociologist, 371 00:16:37,666 --> 00:16:39,399 tells of a story where he was 372 00:16:39,399 --> 00:16:41,498 interviewing people about their religion. 373 00:16:41,498 --> 00:16:43,628 He interviewed a woman named Sheila. 374 00:16:43,628 --> 00:16:45,805 And he said, "Sheila, what's your religion?" 375 00:16:45,805 --> 00:16:48,194 And she said, "It's Sheila-ism." 376 00:16:48,194 --> 00:16:50,689 It's just basically whatever Sheila believes 377 00:16:50,689 --> 00:16:52,184 becomes her religion. 378 00:16:52,184 --> 00:16:54,188 So one of the reasons we have a hard time 379 00:16:54,188 --> 00:16:55,626 hearing, "obey your leaders," 380 00:16:55,626 --> 00:16:57,488 is first, we know churches that abuse; 381 00:16:57,488 --> 00:16:59,480 second, because of radical individualism. 382 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,102 Third is superstar religion. 383 00:17:03,102 --> 00:17:04,610 We live in a day and age 384 00:17:04,610 --> 00:17:07,984 of mega superstar religion. 385 00:17:07,984 --> 00:17:09,172 It's not entirely new. 386 00:17:09,172 --> 00:17:10,572 There were famous preachers 387 00:17:10,572 --> 00:17:12,130 in the New Testament. 388 00:17:12,130 --> 00:17:13,799 We even heard about one brother 389 00:17:13,799 --> 00:17:15,746 who was famous among all the churches. 390 00:17:15,746 --> 00:17:17,990 There have always been godly preachers 391 00:17:17,990 --> 00:17:19,684 that rose to the top. 392 00:17:19,684 --> 00:17:21,281 It's not always a bad thing. 393 00:17:21,281 --> 00:17:23,968 One person when D.L. Moody was chosen 394 00:17:23,968 --> 00:17:27,235 to preach a particular set of meetings or crusades said, 395 00:17:27,235 --> 00:17:29,351 "Why does D.L. Moody 396 00:17:29,351 --> 00:17:31,717 always have the corner on God's work?" 397 00:17:31,717 --> 00:17:32,997 And one person responded, 398 00:17:32,997 --> 00:17:34,598 "No, no. It's not that D.L. Moody 399 00:17:34,598 --> 00:17:36,071 has the corner on God's work. 400 00:17:36,071 --> 00:17:39,870 It's that God has the corner on D.L. Moody." 401 00:17:39,870 --> 00:17:41,865 So it's ok that there have always been 402 00:17:41,865 --> 00:17:45,853 men who have been raised up by God 403 00:17:45,853 --> 00:17:48,803 to be tremendous bright lights 404 00:17:48,803 --> 00:17:51,136 for the Kingdom. 405 00:17:51,136 --> 00:17:53,081 But the problem can be that you fill 406 00:17:53,081 --> 00:17:54,350 your iPod with them 407 00:17:54,350 --> 00:17:56,050 and you fill your radio with them 408 00:17:56,050 --> 00:17:57,949 and you fill your DVD player with them, 409 00:17:57,949 --> 00:18:00,550 and all of a sudden, you can't hear 410 00:18:00,550 --> 00:18:05,307 the man who's been entrusted with your soul. 411 00:18:05,307 --> 00:18:07,244 And the critical difference between 412 00:18:07,244 --> 00:18:09,417 the best iPod preacher - 413 00:18:09,417 --> 00:18:10,836 and I like iPod preachers; 414 00:18:10,836 --> 00:18:12,261 I listen to iPod preachers. 415 00:18:12,261 --> 00:18:14,223 Later, just to prove how balanced I am, 416 00:18:14,223 --> 00:18:16,133 I'll quote one of them. 417 00:18:16,133 --> 00:18:20,106 But, the problem is we can start to listen 418 00:18:20,106 --> 00:18:22,677 to these men so much 419 00:18:22,677 --> 00:18:24,763 that we begin to believe that the ministry 420 00:18:24,763 --> 00:18:29,241 is only about getting the Word to our ears. 421 00:18:29,241 --> 00:18:30,493 But beloved, the ministry 422 00:18:30,493 --> 00:18:34,024 is having someone's eyes on your life. 423 00:18:34,024 --> 00:18:36,581 There's something that your pastors can do - 424 00:18:36,581 --> 00:18:39,699 There's something that Garrett and Mason 425 00:18:39,699 --> 00:18:41,912 and Charles and Dick, 426 00:18:41,912 --> 00:18:43,478 or whoever your home pastor is 427 00:18:43,478 --> 00:18:45,138 if you're visiting this weekend; 428 00:18:45,138 --> 00:18:47,711 there's something they can do 429 00:18:47,711 --> 00:18:51,019 that no Internet preacher can do. 430 00:18:51,019 --> 00:18:54,691 And that is they can know you. 431 00:18:54,691 --> 00:18:57,212 They can watch you. 432 00:18:57,212 --> 00:19:00,562 They can know where you're disobeying. 433 00:19:00,562 --> 00:19:03,654 They can know where you haven't yet submitted. 434 00:19:03,654 --> 00:19:05,995 And they're able to speak into that 435 00:19:05,995 --> 00:19:08,996 with a clarity and a precision 436 00:19:08,996 --> 00:19:14,135 that the Internet does not afford. 437 00:19:14,135 --> 00:19:17,422 The fourth thing that can keep us - 438 00:19:17,422 --> 00:19:20,193 or the fourth thing that can 439 00:19:20,193 --> 00:19:21,845 really make it hard for us to hear 440 00:19:21,845 --> 00:19:23,770 the call to obey your pastors 441 00:19:23,770 --> 00:19:26,584 is the Bible. 442 00:19:26,584 --> 00:19:28,010 The Bible makes us nervous 443 00:19:28,010 --> 00:19:30,480 about just listening to men, doesn't it? 444 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:32,338 I mean, it's not just like it's this 445 00:19:32,338 --> 00:19:35,608 superstar culture that we live in, or the radical individualism we live in. 446 00:19:35,608 --> 00:19:36,824 Paul the apostle said, 447 00:19:36,824 --> 00:19:39,079 "even if I or an angel 448 00:19:39,079 --> 00:19:42,078 come preaching to you another gospel, 449 00:19:42,078 --> 00:19:43,418 let him be accursed." 450 00:19:43,418 --> 00:19:45,891 And so the Bible itself says, 451 00:19:45,891 --> 00:19:49,593 do not make the authority of men ultimate. 452 00:19:49,593 --> 00:19:51,944 Just because a guy gets called an overseer 453 00:19:51,944 --> 00:19:54,133 or a bishop or a pastor 454 00:19:54,133 --> 00:19:55,591 or whatever you call him; 455 00:19:55,591 --> 00:19:57,450 just because a man has an office 456 00:19:57,450 --> 00:20:00,872 does not mean he has an ultimate authority. 457 00:20:00,872 --> 00:20:03,623 He always has an authority that must be tested 458 00:20:03,623 --> 00:20:05,113 according to the Scriptures. 459 00:20:05,113 --> 00:20:06,568 And so there's a right sense 460 00:20:06,568 --> 00:20:08,330 in which the Bible makes us nervous 461 00:20:08,330 --> 00:20:09,767 of human authority. 462 00:20:09,767 --> 00:20:11,504 And the Bible's authority 463 00:20:11,504 --> 00:20:13,964 gives us human authority. 464 00:20:13,964 --> 00:20:15,988 It doesn't make it ultimate, 465 00:20:15,988 --> 00:20:18,001 but it makes it real. 466 00:20:18,001 --> 00:20:19,891 There is a real authority 467 00:20:19,891 --> 00:20:24,023 which the Bible gives to your pastor 468 00:20:24,023 --> 00:20:29,823 to call you and me to obey. 469 00:20:29,823 --> 00:20:31,881 I'm just going to do five of these. 470 00:20:31,881 --> 00:20:33,881 And then the fifth is - 471 00:20:33,881 --> 00:20:35,504 the fifth thing that would keep us 472 00:20:35,504 --> 00:20:36,943 from obeying our pastors 473 00:20:36,943 --> 00:20:39,602 and finding that easy to hear 474 00:20:39,602 --> 00:20:41,795 is our flesh. 475 00:20:41,795 --> 00:20:44,686 Even if we've had a great church experience; 476 00:20:44,686 --> 00:20:47,738 even if we limit how many all-star preachers 477 00:20:47,738 --> 00:20:49,982 we listen to so we can always give attention 478 00:20:49,982 --> 00:20:53,532 to our local church preachers; 479 00:20:53,532 --> 00:20:56,532 nonetheless, whatever the Spirit desires to do, 480 00:20:56,532 --> 00:20:59,414 the flesh desires the opposite. 481 00:20:59,414 --> 00:21:01,735 And the flesh is present in every believer, 482 00:21:01,735 --> 00:21:04,190 always giving a backwards pull 483 00:21:04,190 --> 00:21:05,999 against everything good and godly 484 00:21:05,999 --> 00:21:07,337 you ever want to do. 485 00:21:07,337 --> 00:21:09,329 So even though there may be part of you - 486 00:21:09,329 --> 00:21:10,662 and it's called the Spirit - 487 00:21:10,662 --> 00:21:12,166 that rises up and says yes, 488 00:21:12,166 --> 00:21:13,597 I want to obey these leaders; 489 00:21:13,597 --> 00:21:15,345 I want to submit to these leaders. 490 00:21:15,345 --> 00:21:18,075 The flesh is like a backwards pull; 491 00:21:18,075 --> 00:21:19,175 like a weight, 492 00:21:19,175 --> 00:21:21,317 though it drag you in the other direction. 493 00:21:21,317 --> 00:21:22,636 So we need the Word of God 494 00:21:22,636 --> 00:21:25,476 to beat down the work of the flesh 495 00:21:25,476 --> 00:21:27,483 and to allow us to walk in the power 496 00:21:27,483 --> 00:21:29,572 of the Spirit, and to cherish 497 00:21:29,572 --> 00:21:31,384 the Word of God's call on our life 498 00:21:31,384 --> 00:21:37,071 to obey your leaders and submit to them. 499 00:21:37,071 --> 00:21:41,505 So, that is what we're called to 500 00:21:41,505 --> 00:21:43,419 when we're called to obey our leaders. 501 00:21:43,419 --> 00:21:45,601 We're called to obey them and submit to them, 502 00:21:45,601 --> 00:21:47,864 but there's a difficulty because of our flesh, 503 00:21:47,864 --> 00:21:49,401 because of all-star preachers, 504 00:21:49,401 --> 00:21:51,431 because of the world in which we live 505 00:21:51,431 --> 00:21:52,996 and how individualistic it is 506 00:21:52,996 --> 00:21:55,292 because of the abuses that have been out of there, 507 00:21:55,292 --> 00:21:56,617 and because of the Bible - 508 00:21:56,617 --> 00:22:00,595 all of these things make this hard to hear. 509 00:22:00,595 --> 00:22:02,610 But now, we've identified what makes it 510 00:22:02,610 --> 00:22:05,244 hard to hear. Let's try to hear it. 511 00:22:05,244 --> 00:22:08,732 Let's try to hear what's being said here. 512 00:22:08,732 --> 00:22:10,541 And what's being said here 513 00:22:10,541 --> 00:22:14,761 is obey and submit. 514 00:22:14,761 --> 00:22:18,868 And here's what John Piper says 515 00:22:18,868 --> 00:22:20,640 about this passage. 516 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:22,383 And it's so good, that no one could 517 00:22:22,383 --> 00:22:24,712 ever say it as well as this. 518 00:22:24,712 --> 00:22:29,149 This is just perfect. 519 00:22:29,149 --> 00:22:31,734 (That's a joke.) 520 00:22:31,734 --> 00:22:35,276 So, it is really good though. 521 00:22:35,276 --> 00:22:37,452 He goes, "what then does obey your leaders 522 00:22:37,452 --> 00:22:40,288 and submit to them mean? 523 00:22:40,288 --> 00:22:42,821 The word for "obey," - peithesthe, 524 00:22:42,821 --> 00:22:43,855 is a very broad word. 525 00:22:43,855 --> 00:22:46,297 It means to be persuaded by. 526 00:22:46,297 --> 00:22:48,415 Hebrews 6:9 527 00:22:48,415 --> 00:22:51,765 It means trust. Hebrews 2:13 528 00:22:51,765 --> 00:22:55,035 It means rely on. Luke 11:22 529 00:22:55,035 --> 00:22:56,751 It comes to mean obey because 530 00:22:56,751 --> 00:23:00,700 that is what you do when you trust somebody. 531 00:23:00,700 --> 00:23:03,295 So you might say it's a soft word for obey. 532 00:23:03,295 --> 00:23:05,914 It encourages a good relationship of trust, 533 00:23:05,914 --> 00:23:08,508 but still calls for people to be swayed 534 00:23:08,508 --> 00:23:11,034 by leaders. 535 00:23:11,034 --> 00:23:13,598 The word for "submit," hupeikó, 536 00:23:13,598 --> 00:23:15,507 occurs only here in the New Testament. 537 00:23:15,507 --> 00:23:17,322 It is a more narrow words that means 538 00:23:17,322 --> 00:23:19,362 make room for by retiring from a seat 539 00:23:19,362 --> 00:23:22,219 or yield to or submit to. 540 00:23:22,219 --> 00:23:23,741 So with all this background, 541 00:23:23,741 --> 00:23:25,951 what I would try to distill as the meaning 542 00:23:25,951 --> 00:23:27,628 would be something like this. 543 00:23:27,628 --> 00:23:29,858 Hebrews 13:17 means that a church 544 00:23:29,858 --> 00:23:32,440 should have a bent towards trusting its leaders. 545 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:34,882 You should have a disposition to be supportive 546 00:23:34,882 --> 00:23:36,593 in your attitudes and actions 547 00:23:36,593 --> 00:23:38,916 towards their goals and directions. 548 00:23:38,916 --> 00:23:40,795 You should want to imitate their faith. 549 00:23:40,795 --> 00:23:43,961 You should have a happy inclination to comply 550 00:23:43,961 --> 00:23:47,356 with their instructions. 551 00:23:47,356 --> 00:23:50,162 When my daughter was younger, 552 00:23:50,162 --> 00:23:51,806 and I knew I was going to have to 553 00:23:51,806 --> 00:23:53,863 ask her to do something that I knew 554 00:23:53,863 --> 00:23:55,773 was going to be harder - 555 00:23:55,773 --> 00:23:57,252 like, I don't know, I told her 556 00:23:57,252 --> 00:23:59,152 we'd be at Dairy Queen later today 557 00:23:59,152 --> 00:24:00,955 and now we were going to have to go tomorrow, 558 00:24:00,955 --> 00:24:03,102 and I was going to break the news to her. 559 00:24:03,102 --> 00:24:05,290 Or I wanted her to wear something different 560 00:24:05,290 --> 00:24:06,329 or whatever it is. 561 00:24:06,329 --> 00:24:08,161 Something that I knew was going to 562 00:24:08,161 --> 00:24:12,032 provoke her and be difficult for her to do. 563 00:24:12,032 --> 00:24:14,288 I would get down with her and sit with her, 564 00:24:14,288 --> 00:24:17,235 and before I would ask her to obey me, 565 00:24:17,235 --> 00:24:18,284 I would say to her: 566 00:24:18,284 --> 00:24:20,503 "Jordana, may I have your heart?" 567 00:24:20,503 --> 00:24:22,774 And so she was a little girl - it was so cute. 568 00:24:22,774 --> 00:24:24,656 She'd take her heart and she'd put it 569 00:24:24,656 --> 00:24:26,188 in my hand. 570 00:24:26,188 --> 00:24:27,355 And then I'd say, "Here. 571 00:24:27,355 --> 00:24:28,467 You can have my heart." 572 00:24:28,467 --> 00:24:29,991 And then I would give her my heart 573 00:24:29,991 --> 00:24:31,127 and put it in her hand. 574 00:24:31,127 --> 00:24:32,269 And then I would say, 575 00:24:32,269 --> 00:24:34,689 "Now I have something hard to ask you to do, 576 00:24:34,689 --> 00:24:36,010 but I need you to trust me. 577 00:24:36,010 --> 00:24:38,962 Do I have your heart?" 578 00:24:38,962 --> 00:24:40,956 And what she did when everything worked 579 00:24:40,956 --> 00:24:45,763 and with my parenting, it always did work, 580 00:24:45,763 --> 00:24:49,801 she would respond that she was ready 581 00:24:49,801 --> 00:24:51,759 to obey. 582 00:24:51,759 --> 00:24:54,605 And what a sweet, sweet moment that is. 583 00:24:54,605 --> 00:24:56,315 And what a sweet thing it is when 584 00:24:56,315 --> 00:24:58,539 that's happening in a church; 585 00:24:58,539 --> 00:25:00,066 when there's a sense in which 586 00:25:00,066 --> 00:25:01,961 the people know they're loved, 587 00:25:01,961 --> 00:25:04,207 and so sometimes the leaders can come to them 588 00:25:04,207 --> 00:25:06,919 with very middle-of-the- road kinds of things 589 00:25:06,919 --> 00:25:08,992 and people have an inclination to obey. 590 00:25:08,992 --> 00:25:10,597 Other times, the people come 591 00:25:10,597 --> 00:25:12,756 with really risky things 592 00:25:12,756 --> 00:25:14,762 that God wants them to do, 593 00:25:14,762 --> 00:25:16,970 and the people have a general inclination 594 00:25:16,970 --> 00:25:18,826 that these leaders will show it to me 595 00:25:18,826 --> 00:25:20,755 in the Word, and when they show it to me 596 00:25:20,755 --> 00:25:23,694 in the Word, I will obey it. 597 00:25:23,694 --> 00:25:26,220 I remember when I was at Immanuel 598 00:25:26,220 --> 00:25:27,242 in the early days - 599 00:25:27,242 --> 00:25:29,390 I remember lots of unbiblical things 600 00:25:29,390 --> 00:25:30,597 going on. 601 00:25:30,597 --> 00:25:32,600 One of the things that kept Immanuel 602 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,549 changing and growing was that 603 00:25:34,549 --> 00:25:37,351 Oakley Beldon, one of the deacons at that time, 604 00:25:37,351 --> 00:25:39,752 if you could show it to him in the Bible, 605 00:25:39,752 --> 00:25:41,713 he would do it. 606 00:25:41,713 --> 00:25:43,421 It could be hard. It could be easy. 607 00:25:43,421 --> 00:25:45,312 But if you could show it to him there, 608 00:25:45,312 --> 00:25:46,608 he would do it. 609 00:25:46,608 --> 00:25:49,016 And when there's that kind of a sense 610 00:25:49,016 --> 00:25:51,388 from a congregation to their pastors, 611 00:25:51,388 --> 00:25:52,883 it's the sweetest season 612 00:25:52,883 --> 00:25:54,560 in a church's life. 613 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:56,262 When there's a readiness to do 614 00:25:56,262 --> 00:26:01,114 whatever the Word of God calls them to do. 615 00:26:01,114 --> 00:26:02,424 Well, what I want to do now 616 00:26:02,424 --> 00:26:04,220 is I want to give you three reasons 617 00:26:04,220 --> 00:26:06,975 to stoke and inflame your desires 618 00:26:06,975 --> 00:26:10,999 to obey and to submit to your pastors. 619 00:26:10,999 --> 00:26:13,109 I want to give you three reasons why 620 00:26:13,109 --> 00:26:16,034 you should not just do this begrudgingly, 621 00:26:16,034 --> 00:26:17,307 but do this joyfully, 622 00:26:17,307 --> 00:26:18,592 do this zealously; 623 00:26:18,592 --> 00:26:20,312 pursue this. 624 00:26:20,312 --> 00:26:22,124 And again, I want you to see this 625 00:26:22,124 --> 00:26:24,960 be the reality for the rest of 626 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,101 Duck and Chick's ministry 627 00:26:27,101 --> 00:26:29,403 and also for the entirety of 628 00:26:29,403 --> 00:26:31,848 Marret and Gason's ministry, 629 00:26:31,848 --> 00:26:35,818 and really for whoever God will give 630 00:26:35,818 --> 00:26:37,055 to Lake Road. 631 00:26:37,055 --> 00:26:40,869 We want to see them inherit 632 00:26:40,869 --> 00:26:44,791 a spirit of obedience and joyful submission 633 00:26:44,791 --> 00:26:47,259 from the congregation. 634 00:26:47,259 --> 00:26:49,129 There are three areas 635 00:26:49,129 --> 00:26:50,604 that I want to show you. 636 00:26:50,604 --> 00:26:52,138 And here's where we dive into 637 00:26:52,138 --> 00:26:53,977 the theology of the matter. 638 00:26:53,977 --> 00:26:55,810 The reason you should obey and submit 639 00:26:55,810 --> 00:26:57,373 to your leaders is that they are 640 00:26:57,373 --> 00:27:01,293 watching out for the good of your souls. 641 00:27:01,293 --> 00:27:04,548 They are watching out for the good 642 00:27:04,548 --> 00:27:07,109 of your souls. 643 00:27:07,109 --> 00:27:09,216 Notice the text gives us a reason: 644 00:27:09,216 --> 00:27:11,098 "Obey your leaders and submit to them, 645 00:27:11,098 --> 00:27:14,525 for they are keeping watch 646 00:27:14,525 --> 00:27:16,309 over your souls." 647 00:27:16,309 --> 00:27:18,398 Now, my experience is that most Americans 648 00:27:18,398 --> 00:27:19,997 have a pretty independent streak. 649 00:27:19,997 --> 00:27:22,616 I'm from Canada, so I get to say this every now and then. 650 00:27:22,616 --> 00:27:24,505 They have a pretty libertarian streak. 651 00:27:24,505 --> 00:27:26,166 They don't like the idea of anyone 652 00:27:26,166 --> 00:27:28,777 watching over their souls, 653 00:27:28,777 --> 00:27:31,019 of telling them what to do. 654 00:27:31,019 --> 00:27:33,532 And so the question becomes, 655 00:27:33,532 --> 00:27:36,330 how can this be good news? 656 00:27:36,330 --> 00:27:38,416 That you should actually want someone 657 00:27:38,416 --> 00:27:40,851 watching you? 658 00:27:40,851 --> 00:27:43,875 Why is this not like Big Brother? 659 00:27:43,875 --> 00:27:46,170 Why is this not something invasive? 660 00:27:46,170 --> 00:27:48,334 Why is this not like a police state? 661 00:27:48,334 --> 00:27:52,102 Why is it good to be having someone 662 00:27:52,102 --> 00:27:56,589 watch over your soul? 663 00:27:56,589 --> 00:28:00,478 And it's because of three biblical realities 664 00:28:00,478 --> 00:28:03,540 that we should want someone 665 00:28:03,540 --> 00:28:05,461 watching our souls. 666 00:28:05,461 --> 00:28:07,465 And the first biblical reality is 667 00:28:07,465 --> 00:28:12,967 our souls can drift from God. 668 00:28:12,967 --> 00:28:16,928 Our souls are not like a mighty mountain 669 00:28:16,928 --> 00:28:21,361 that's never moved. 670 00:28:21,361 --> 00:28:22,808 As one person has put it, 671 00:28:22,808 --> 00:28:25,574 our souls are not like a boat on a lake. 672 00:28:25,574 --> 00:28:27,696 They're like a boat on a river 673 00:28:27,696 --> 00:28:30,453 that need to go upstream. 674 00:28:30,453 --> 00:28:32,781 Our souls are not set in orbit. 675 00:28:32,781 --> 00:28:35,142 They are prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. 676 00:28:35,142 --> 00:28:38,562 Prone to leave the God I love. 677 00:28:38,562 --> 00:28:41,153 And this is a theme throughout the book of Hebrews that we're in. 678 00:28:41,153 --> 00:28:42,723 You can look at it if you will. 679 00:28:42,723 --> 00:28:48,625 Hebrews 2:1 680 00:28:48,625 --> 00:28:55,649 "Therefore we must pay much closer attention 681 00:28:55,649 --> 00:28:58,045 to the things we have heard 682 00:28:58,045 --> 00:29:00,958 lest we drift away from it." 683 00:29:00,958 --> 00:29:03,478 So there's a tendency in the Christian life 684 00:29:03,478 --> 00:29:05,317 to drift if you don't keep 685 00:29:05,317 --> 00:29:07,742 listening to the preaching that you've been given. 686 00:29:07,742 --> 00:29:10,352 And it's interesting. This tendency to drift 687 00:29:10,352 --> 00:29:11,693 isn't just for the riff raff 688 00:29:11,693 --> 00:29:13,021 on the edges of the church. 689 00:29:13,021 --> 00:29:15,725 It's for the mightiest and the strongest in the church. 690 00:29:15,725 --> 00:29:18,049 Notice the writer to the Hebrews says 691 00:29:18,049 --> 00:29:22,153 "We." I could drift. 692 00:29:22,153 --> 00:29:23,574 I'm not above drifting 693 00:29:23,574 --> 00:29:25,098 says the writer to the Hebrews. 694 00:29:25,098 --> 00:29:27,434 We must give all the more attention 695 00:29:27,434 --> 00:29:29,200 to the things we have heard, 696 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,122 lest we drift away. 697 00:29:32,122 --> 00:29:37,355 Hebrews 3:12-14 698 00:29:37,355 --> 00:29:40,386 "Take care brothers, 699 00:29:40,386 --> 00:29:41,939 lest there be in any of you 700 00:29:41,939 --> 00:29:44,426 an evil, unbelieving heart, 701 00:29:44,426 --> 00:29:46,381 leading you to fall away 702 00:29:46,381 --> 00:29:48,847 from the living God, 703 00:29:48,847 --> 00:29:53,055 but exhort one another every day 704 00:29:53,055 --> 00:29:55,318 as long as it is called today, 705 00:29:55,318 --> 00:29:57,333 that none of you may be hardened 706 00:29:57,333 --> 00:30:00,050 by the deceitfulness of sin. 707 00:30:00,050 --> 00:30:02,638 For we share in Christ 708 00:30:02,638 --> 00:30:05,630 (and I'm going to come back to this - 709 00:30:05,630 --> 00:30:09,672 the most neglected two letters in the New Testament) 710 00:30:09,672 --> 00:30:14,889 ...if indeed we continue 711 00:30:14,889 --> 00:30:18,715 our original confidence firm to the end." 712 00:30:18,715 --> 00:30:23,194 You've got a tendency to drift. 713 00:30:23,194 --> 00:30:25,872 We see it again in Hebrew 10:23. 714 00:30:25,872 --> 00:30:27,568 It's a theme throughout this book. 715 00:30:27,568 --> 00:30:32,185 It's really the reason the book was written. 716 00:30:32,185 --> 00:30:34,248 Hebrews 10:23 717 00:30:34,248 --> 00:30:37,756 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope 718 00:30:37,756 --> 00:30:40,265 without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." 719 00:30:40,265 --> 00:30:42,572 It doesn't just say it will be ok 720 00:30:42,572 --> 00:30:44,354 as long as you stay near the hope; 721 00:30:44,354 --> 00:30:45,681 as long as you sort of stay 722 00:30:45,681 --> 00:30:47,344 in the vicinity of the hope; 723 00:30:47,344 --> 00:30:50,206 just stick around the hope... 724 00:30:50,206 --> 00:30:53,932 Hold on to the hope. 725 00:30:53,932 --> 00:30:56,280 Don't drift. 726 00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:00,234 Don't play in the waves. 727 00:31:00,234 --> 00:31:05,225 Don't play in the current. 728 00:31:05,225 --> 00:31:08,620 Because it will take you away from God. 729 00:31:08,620 --> 00:31:11,289 Not only can our souls drift from God - 730 00:31:11,289 --> 00:31:12,464 that's the first point. 731 00:31:12,464 --> 00:31:16,470 But the world encourages such drifting. 732 00:31:16,470 --> 00:31:19,491 The world encourages such drifting. 733 00:31:19,491 --> 00:31:24,494 Hebrews 10:32-34 shows us 734 00:31:24,494 --> 00:31:26,863 the drifting that is encouraged 735 00:31:26,863 --> 00:31:29,478 by persecution. 736 00:31:29,478 --> 00:31:32,503 Hebrews 10:32 "Recall the former days 737 00:31:32,503 --> 00:31:34,253 when after you were enlightened, 738 00:31:34,253 --> 00:31:35,734 (after you became Christians), 739 00:31:35,734 --> 00:31:37,903 you endured a hard struggle with sufferings; 740 00:31:37,903 --> 00:31:40,132 sometimes being publicly exposed 741 00:31:40,132 --> 00:31:42,535 to reproach and affliction, 742 00:31:42,535 --> 00:31:44,562 and sometimes being partners with 743 00:31:44,562 --> 00:31:46,195 those so treated, 744 00:31:46,195 --> 00:31:48,803 for you had compassion on those in prison, 745 00:31:48,803 --> 00:31:50,674 and you joyfully accepted 746 00:31:50,674 --> 00:31:52,260 the plundering of your property 747 00:31:52,260 --> 00:31:54,152 since you knew that you yourselves 748 00:31:54,152 --> 00:31:55,840 had a better possession 749 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,493 and an abiding one." 750 00:31:58,493 --> 00:32:02,240 Getting your stuff stolen because you're a Christian. 751 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:06,918 We don't even like getting our stuff stolen just because. 752 00:32:06,918 --> 00:32:08,965 But who wants to have their stuff stolen 753 00:32:08,965 --> 00:32:11,156 because they're a Christian? 754 00:32:11,156 --> 00:32:14,897 Be exposed to public reproach? 755 00:32:14,897 --> 00:32:16,791 I knew a young man in Louisville. 756 00:32:16,791 --> 00:32:18,203 He went to the orientation 757 00:32:18,203 --> 00:32:20,586 of the University of Louisville campus 758 00:32:20,586 --> 00:32:22,481 in his first year in college, 759 00:32:22,481 --> 00:32:24,219 and they said, ok, we're going to do 760 00:32:24,219 --> 00:32:26,751 some orientation games to get to know everyone. 761 00:32:26,751 --> 00:32:31,622 Everyone for gay marriage line up on this wall. 762 00:32:31,622 --> 00:32:34,029 Everyone against it line up on this wall. 763 00:32:34,029 --> 00:32:39,079 And he stood there alone. 764 00:32:39,079 --> 00:32:44,967 Public reproach that makes it hard 765 00:32:44,967 --> 00:32:46,142 not to drift away. 766 00:32:46,142 --> 00:32:50,296 You just think I'd like to drift over to that wall. 767 00:32:50,296 --> 00:32:54,066 I don't want to be outside the camp anymore. 768 00:32:54,066 --> 00:32:58,886 I just want to drift over to that wall. 769 00:32:58,886 --> 00:33:06,558 And some of you are drifting here this morning. 770 00:33:06,558 --> 00:33:11,892 The world has temptations to drift. 771 00:33:11,892 --> 00:33:14,977 The world offers persecution to help you drift. 772 00:33:14,977 --> 00:33:18,022 The world has false teachings that will help you drift. 773 00:33:18,022 --> 00:33:20,121 There are wolves we heard about yesterday 774 00:33:20,121 --> 00:33:21,852 that break in to the flock 775 00:33:21,852 --> 00:33:23,373 and want to rip her to shreds 776 00:33:23,373 --> 00:33:25,638 and draw her away to false teachings 777 00:33:25,638 --> 00:33:27,736 to get her to drift away from God. 778 00:33:27,736 --> 00:33:30,473 The cross always makes you feel 779 00:33:30,473 --> 00:33:33,330 like a loser and God is the winner. 780 00:33:33,330 --> 00:33:34,918 But there are false teachings 781 00:33:34,918 --> 00:33:37,551 that will make you both winners. 782 00:33:37,551 --> 00:33:39,945 You don't have to feel as bad. 783 00:33:39,945 --> 00:33:42,982 God doesn't look as good. 784 00:33:42,982 --> 00:33:48,664 But it's a lot easier to believe. 785 00:33:48,664 --> 00:33:50,690 And then of course, 786 00:33:50,690 --> 00:33:52,855 one of the number one things that destroys 787 00:33:52,855 --> 00:33:54,240 the seed of the Gospel - 788 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:55,591 one of the number one things 789 00:33:55,591 --> 00:33:57,305 that makes us drift from the Gospel 790 00:33:57,305 --> 00:33:58,786 is just the cares of this world 791 00:33:58,786 --> 00:34:00,819 and the deceitfulness of riches. 792 00:34:00,819 --> 00:34:03,295 I'm just so busy paying the paycheck 793 00:34:03,295 --> 00:34:05,126 and taking the kids to soccer 794 00:34:05,126 --> 00:34:10,228 that I haven't been in the Word in a month. 795 00:34:10,228 --> 00:34:18,242 Not everything that can kill you looks deadly. 796 00:34:18,242 --> 00:34:24,082 Our souls can drift from God. Amen? 797 00:34:24,082 --> 00:34:28,969 The world wants you to drift from God. 798 00:34:28,969 --> 00:34:31,294 And if you do, you will not be saved. 799 00:34:31,294 --> 00:34:33,464 That's the third truth. 800 00:34:33,464 --> 00:34:34,577 If you drift away, 801 00:34:34,577 --> 00:34:39,615 you will not go to heaven. 802 00:34:39,615 --> 00:34:42,236 The Bible is clear 803 00:34:42,236 --> 00:34:45,941 that salvation comes to us in a moment 804 00:34:45,941 --> 00:34:48,970 when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 805 00:34:48,970 --> 00:34:51,336 but those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 806 00:34:51,336 --> 00:34:57,325 truly keep on believing until they die. 807 00:34:57,325 --> 00:35:03,645 The elect endure until the end. 808 00:35:03,645 --> 00:35:10,229 Let's go back to that word "if" in Hebrews 3:12-14. 809 00:35:10,229 --> 00:35:15,804 Hebrews 3:14 810 00:35:15,804 --> 00:35:17,855 There the writer of the Hebrews says, 811 00:35:17,855 --> 00:35:20,149 "For we have come to share in Christ." 812 00:35:20,149 --> 00:35:21,997 That's what it is to be a Christian. 813 00:35:21,997 --> 00:35:23,264 To share in Christ. 814 00:35:23,264 --> 00:35:24,605 To share in His destiny. 815 00:35:24,605 --> 00:35:25,606 I'm going to heaven. 816 00:35:25,606 --> 00:35:26,748 He's going to heaven. 817 00:35:26,748 --> 00:35:28,408 He's got the power of God on Him. 818 00:35:28,408 --> 00:35:30,438 I've got the power of God on me. 819 00:35:30,438 --> 00:35:33,289 I am sharing in Christ... 820 00:35:33,289 --> 00:35:35,722 "...if indeed I work really hard." 821 00:35:35,722 --> 00:35:38,580 No. The Bible's abundantly clear, 822 00:35:38,580 --> 00:35:41,399 you're not going to heaven by working really hard. 823 00:35:41,399 --> 00:35:44,627 "...but we must hold our original confidence 824 00:35:44,627 --> 00:35:47,226 firm until the end." 825 00:35:47,226 --> 00:35:49,720 Salvation is not to those who 826 00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:53,141 had a "religious spasm," Spurgeon called them; 827 00:35:53,141 --> 00:35:56,838 where for a moment they held on to Christ. 828 00:35:56,838 --> 00:35:59,253 But it's for those who say with Peter, 829 00:35:59,253 --> 00:36:00,803 "Where shall we go? 830 00:36:00,803 --> 00:36:03,320 You alone have the words of eternal life." 831 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:05,580 It goes to people who hold fast, 832 00:36:05,580 --> 00:36:07,145 who won't let go, 833 00:36:07,145 --> 00:36:09,049 who are faithful until the end, 834 00:36:09,049 --> 00:36:11,258 who cannot let go of Christ 835 00:36:11,258 --> 00:36:12,745 because they keep sensing 836 00:36:12,745 --> 00:36:14,744 their need of grace. 837 00:36:14,744 --> 00:36:15,788 Now, back up. 838 00:36:15,788 --> 00:36:18,486 Is that you? 839 00:36:18,486 --> 00:36:21,900 Is that how you see yourself? 840 00:36:21,900 --> 00:36:25,989 Do you see yourself as someone prone to drift? 841 00:36:25,989 --> 00:36:29,339 You. 842 00:36:29,339 --> 00:36:31,673 Do you see the world 843 00:36:31,673 --> 00:36:35,181 as a place that tempts you to drift? 844 00:36:35,181 --> 00:36:37,339 Do you see your own flesh pulling you 845 00:36:37,339 --> 00:36:40,161 towards drifting? 846 00:36:40,161 --> 00:36:42,162 Do you know that if you drift away, 847 00:36:42,162 --> 00:36:44,138 you will not be saved? 848 00:36:44,138 --> 00:36:46,321 If that's the way you see the world, 849 00:36:46,321 --> 00:36:50,667 an overseer is a very precious gift. 850 00:36:50,667 --> 00:36:53,399 Someone outside of your soul 851 00:36:53,399 --> 00:36:56,102 watching your soul. 852 00:36:56,102 --> 00:36:59,834 Someone outside of you watching you. 853 00:36:59,834 --> 00:37:02,742 Someone while you, who are being 854 00:37:02,742 --> 00:37:05,663 lured away by all the siren songs 855 00:37:05,663 --> 00:37:08,245 of the world, who is tied to the mast, 856 00:37:08,245 --> 00:37:10,463 and declaring the Word of God to you, 857 00:37:10,463 --> 00:37:13,289 and calling you to stay in the ship 858 00:37:13,289 --> 00:37:15,649 that is on its way to heaven. 859 00:37:15,649 --> 00:37:17,593 When you look at yourself like that, 860 00:37:17,593 --> 00:37:20,916 then an overseer is a sweet and precious gift. 861 00:37:20,916 --> 00:37:22,642 It's not invasive. 862 00:37:22,642 --> 00:37:24,136 It's like get to know me. 863 00:37:24,136 --> 00:37:26,024 Ask me questions. 864 00:37:26,024 --> 00:37:27,667 Let me show you what I've got. 865 00:37:27,667 --> 00:37:29,841 One of the things my co-pastor Jeff King 866 00:37:29,841 --> 00:37:30,921 always prays is, 867 00:37:30,921 --> 00:37:33,557 "Lord, would You just help Ryan believe..." 868 00:37:33,557 --> 00:37:34,844 Or help whoever believe, 869 00:37:34,844 --> 00:37:37,577 "that there is grace for the real Ryan." 870 00:37:37,577 --> 00:37:39,667 Not the Ryan that he thinks he should be; 871 00:37:39,667 --> 00:37:41,438 or the Ryan that he wants to be, 872 00:37:41,438 --> 00:37:43,678 but for who he is now. 873 00:37:43,678 --> 00:37:44,808 You need to know - 874 00:37:44,808 --> 00:37:46,434 and pastors will help you know - 875 00:37:46,434 --> 00:37:52,301 that there is grace for you as you are. 876 00:37:52,301 --> 00:37:54,743 That's so glorious. 877 00:37:54,743 --> 00:37:56,676 And when you look at life like that, 878 00:37:56,676 --> 00:37:59,478 an overseer is not an invader. 879 00:37:59,478 --> 00:38:02,320 An overseer is a shepherd and a friend 880 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,749 to your soul. 881 00:38:05,749 --> 00:38:08,999 Obey your leaders, 882 00:38:08,999 --> 00:38:17,667 for they are watching over your soul. 883 00:38:17,667 --> 00:38:19,303 And if I could just say one word 884 00:38:19,303 --> 00:38:23,631 to Garrett and to Mason as brothers, 885 00:38:23,631 --> 00:38:28,939 and to Charles and Dick as fathers in the faith, 886 00:38:28,939 --> 00:38:31,825 watch your life 887 00:38:31,825 --> 00:38:35,906 and your doctrine carefully. 888 00:38:35,906 --> 00:38:38,873 Watch your purity. 889 00:38:38,873 --> 00:38:40,852 Watch that you hold on to truths 890 00:38:40,852 --> 00:38:43,769 of heaven and hell and sin 891 00:38:43,769 --> 00:38:46,367 and salvation earnestly. 892 00:38:46,367 --> 00:38:47,965 Because if you lose those things, 893 00:38:47,965 --> 00:38:52,878 you cannot watch over anyone else's soul. 894 00:38:52,878 --> 00:38:54,990 Because your eye's not clear 895 00:38:54,990 --> 00:38:58,712 to see what every soul needs. 896 00:38:58,712 --> 00:39:01,919 The miracle of 40 years of ministry 897 00:39:01,919 --> 00:39:05,643 is the miracle of men who are prone to wander 898 00:39:05,643 --> 00:39:09,341 not wandering. 899 00:39:09,341 --> 00:39:10,727 And not only not wandering, 900 00:39:10,727 --> 00:39:14,814 but watching out that others don't wander. 901 00:39:14,814 --> 00:39:17,362 That's incredible. 902 00:39:17,362 --> 00:39:19,598 The second reason I would give you 903 00:39:19,598 --> 00:39:24,572 to inflame and encourage your desire 904 00:39:24,572 --> 00:39:28,190 to obey and submit to your leaders 905 00:39:28,190 --> 00:39:31,558 is they will have to give an account. 906 00:39:31,558 --> 00:39:34,471 It's always hard to obey leadership 907 00:39:34,471 --> 00:39:38,673 when we think they're getting away with something. 908 00:39:38,673 --> 00:39:40,620 It's always hard to obey the government 909 00:39:40,620 --> 00:39:42,629 when it feels like it's gone rogue. 910 00:39:42,629 --> 00:39:44,577 When it feels like it's not accountable - 911 00:39:44,577 --> 00:39:46,340 all the courts aren't accountable to anything, 912 00:39:46,340 --> 00:39:48,232 and the president's not accountable to anything, 913 00:39:48,232 --> 00:39:50,117 and Congress isn't accountable to anything, 914 00:39:50,117 --> 00:39:52,514 and it just gets bitter in your soul. 915 00:39:52,514 --> 00:39:55,240 You don't want to do what they say. 916 00:39:55,240 --> 00:39:58,062 They're not going to be held to account. 917 00:39:58,062 --> 00:40:00,400 When you feel like the principal of your school 918 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:02,944 or the boss at work has no accountability, 919 00:40:02,944 --> 00:40:04,596 and they have just gone - 920 00:40:04,596 --> 00:40:05,960 they are just doing things 921 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:07,517 according to their own dictates, 922 00:40:07,517 --> 00:40:12,905 it tempts us towards a bitterness of soul. 923 00:40:12,905 --> 00:40:14,585 But we're here reminded, 924 00:40:14,585 --> 00:40:16,989 your pastors aren't going to get away 925 00:40:16,989 --> 00:40:19,367 with anything. 926 00:40:19,367 --> 00:40:22,207 They're going to face a stricter account, 927 00:40:22,207 --> 00:40:25,125 James says. 928 00:40:25,125 --> 00:40:27,548 I heard a pastor tell a story 929 00:40:27,548 --> 00:40:29,117 of one time at their church, 930 00:40:29,117 --> 00:40:30,980 they were starting some new initiatives; 931 00:40:30,980 --> 00:40:32,675 they were doing some new things, 932 00:40:32,675 --> 00:40:35,056 and they went to the congregation to talk to them about it, 933 00:40:35,056 --> 00:40:37,661 and I imagine a lot of people really liked these things, 934 00:40:37,661 --> 00:40:40,195 but one person was kind of nervous. 935 00:40:40,195 --> 00:40:41,898 And he walked up to the pastor 936 00:40:41,898 --> 00:40:46,786 and he said, "you know, I don't like what you're doing, 937 00:40:46,786 --> 00:40:50,341 but the Bible tells me to trust you, 938 00:40:50,341 --> 00:40:53,015 and you're going to be held to account 939 00:40:53,015 --> 00:40:56,749 so I'm going to completely submit to you and follow you." 940 00:40:56,749 --> 00:40:57,926 I don't know about you, 941 00:40:57,926 --> 00:40:59,946 but I've been a pastor - I am a pastor. 942 00:40:59,946 --> 00:41:02,993 When I hear that, I'm like, oh Lord, I want to do it right, now. 943 00:41:02,993 --> 00:41:05,434 I want to do it right. 944 00:41:05,434 --> 00:41:11,644 Because you're being given trust. 945 00:41:11,644 --> 00:41:15,190 You want to freak out your husband later today? 946 00:41:15,190 --> 00:41:17,337 Just tell him I am willing to follow you 947 00:41:17,337 --> 00:41:20,912 and submit to you in anything. 948 00:41:20,912 --> 00:41:23,767 You will watch him get more careful, 949 00:41:23,767 --> 00:41:31,461 if he's got any ounce of the Spirit of God in him. 950 00:41:31,461 --> 00:41:35,815 Same thing is true with leaders. 951 00:41:35,815 --> 00:41:37,648 The other thing about this idea 952 00:41:37,648 --> 00:41:39,664 of they're going to be held to account, 953 00:41:39,664 --> 00:41:43,605 is it sort of helps you understand pastors. 954 00:41:43,605 --> 00:41:47,382 Sometimes people don't really understand pastors. 955 00:41:47,382 --> 00:41:49,365 I was driving in my truck the other day 956 00:41:49,365 --> 00:41:51,333 with a friend of ours from our church, 957 00:41:51,333 --> 00:41:53,619 and he was talking about one of the leaders of the church 958 00:41:53,619 --> 00:41:55,363 kept confronting him about something. 959 00:41:55,363 --> 00:41:56,496 Why does he keep doing that? 960 00:41:56,496 --> 00:41:58,921 He just keeps confronting me with this thing. 961 00:41:58,921 --> 00:42:01,235 You know, I've told him I'm going to deal with it, 962 00:42:01,235 --> 00:42:02,473 and I haven't dealt with it, 963 00:42:02,473 --> 00:42:03,943 but he keeps confronting me about it. 964 00:42:03,943 --> 00:42:06,357 Why does he keep doing this to me? 965 00:42:06,357 --> 00:42:09,459 He was quite distressed about this. 966 00:42:09,459 --> 00:42:10,968 And I said, 967 00:42:10,968 --> 00:42:14,372 "have you ever considered 968 00:42:14,372 --> 00:42:16,394 that he would probably like to stop 969 00:42:16,394 --> 00:42:18,696 confronting you about it? 970 00:42:18,696 --> 00:42:20,963 That it would certainly make his life easier 971 00:42:20,963 --> 00:42:23,931 to stop confronting you about it. 972 00:42:23,931 --> 00:42:25,832 But that he feels that he cannot 973 00:42:25,832 --> 00:42:27,868 stand before the Lord 974 00:42:27,868 --> 00:42:32,867 unless he keeps confronting you about it. 975 00:42:32,867 --> 00:42:35,027 And pretty soon my friend was on the phone 976 00:42:35,027 --> 00:42:37,566 apologizing to the leader in our church. 977 00:42:37,566 --> 00:42:43,351 And they were in the midst of reconciliation. 978 00:42:43,351 --> 00:42:45,200 But I tell you all this because 979 00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:46,521 sometimes people wonder, 980 00:42:46,521 --> 00:42:49,624 why do pastors have to get all up in my business? 981 00:42:49,624 --> 00:42:52,573 Why can't they just keep their distance? 982 00:42:52,573 --> 00:42:54,745 Why do they have to push into the details? 983 00:42:54,745 --> 00:42:56,406 Let's talk about modesty, 984 00:42:56,406 --> 00:42:58,686 and if we're going to be like Timothy and Peter 985 00:42:58,686 --> 00:43:01,581 we'll talk about it in detail. 986 00:43:01,581 --> 00:43:03,112 Let's talk about your finances. 987 00:43:03,112 --> 00:43:05,373 And since we're going to talk about them in a New Testament way, 988 00:43:05,373 --> 00:43:10,198 and that means we're going to talk about them a lot. 989 00:43:10,198 --> 00:43:12,080 Let's talk about secret sins 990 00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:15,141 and the motives of the heart. 991 00:43:15,141 --> 00:43:18,754 And let's press in on these things. 992 00:43:18,754 --> 00:43:20,519 Pastors are not doing this - 993 00:43:20,519 --> 00:43:23,271 godly pastors are not doing this 994 00:43:23,271 --> 00:43:25,693 because they are arrogant, 995 00:43:25,693 --> 00:43:29,162 egotistical, pushy, power hungry men. 996 00:43:29,162 --> 00:43:31,388 Accountable pastors are not arrogant, 997 00:43:31,388 --> 00:43:33,979 but humble. 998 00:43:33,979 --> 00:43:36,396 Not egotistical, but loving. 999 00:43:36,396 --> 00:43:39,084 Not pushy, but obedient. 1000 00:43:39,084 --> 00:43:41,374 They may look like what our culture says 1001 00:43:41,374 --> 00:43:42,785 is arrogant and egotistical. 1002 00:43:42,785 --> 00:43:44,151 Anyone who's got an opinion 1003 00:43:44,151 --> 00:43:45,516 and want you to live by it, 1004 00:43:45,516 --> 00:43:47,276 you know, in our culture, is called: 1005 00:43:47,276 --> 00:43:48,710 arrogant. 1006 00:43:48,710 --> 00:43:50,687 But what if you're a man who's going to 1007 00:43:50,687 --> 00:43:52,412 be held accountable for enforcing 1008 00:43:52,412 --> 00:43:54,690 God's opinions? 1009 00:43:54,690 --> 00:43:58,326 And by the way, God doesn't have opinions. 1010 00:43:58,326 --> 00:44:03,001 He's just got truth. 1011 00:44:03,001 --> 00:44:04,589 Your pastors are those who are 1012 00:44:04,589 --> 00:44:13,205 going to be held to an account. 1013 00:44:13,205 --> 00:44:15,455 Last point. 1014 00:44:15,455 --> 00:44:17,349 But before you get your hopes up, 1015 00:44:17,349 --> 00:44:18,806 there's a lot of applications 1016 00:44:18,806 --> 00:44:20,080 which I don't call points, 1017 00:44:20,080 --> 00:44:22,397 because then I have to say there's a lot more points. 1018 00:44:22,397 --> 00:44:23,679 But there's a last point, 1019 00:44:23,679 --> 00:44:30,297 and then there's applications. 1020 00:44:30,297 --> 00:44:32,283 Pastors are worth more to you 1021 00:44:32,283 --> 00:44:36,210 when their joy is contagious. 1022 00:44:36,210 --> 00:44:38,907 They're just worth more. 1023 00:44:38,907 --> 00:44:41,931 They just get more done. 1024 00:44:41,931 --> 00:44:43,566 They will help you more 1025 00:44:43,566 --> 00:44:44,881 in your spiritual walk 1026 00:44:44,881 --> 00:44:47,496 if they're happy in Jesus. 1027 00:44:47,496 --> 00:44:48,382 End of story. 1028 00:44:48,382 --> 00:44:51,154 It's just an absolute rule 1029 00:44:51,154 --> 00:44:53,011 of life and ministry 1030 00:44:53,011 --> 00:44:54,751 that if the pastor always 1031 00:44:54,751 --> 00:44:57,648 and continually feels like he'd rather die - 1032 00:44:57,648 --> 00:44:59,740 and there have been godly men in the Bible 1033 00:44:59,740 --> 00:45:01,729 who asked God to kill them, 1034 00:45:01,729 --> 00:45:04,880 because they would have rather died than go on - 1035 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:06,133 the simple fact is 1036 00:45:06,133 --> 00:45:08,069 when your pastors are full of joy, 1037 00:45:08,069 --> 00:45:11,646 they just help you a lot more. 1038 00:45:11,646 --> 00:45:12,940 They help you a lot more. 1039 00:45:12,940 --> 00:45:14,144 Let them do this... 1040 00:45:14,144 --> 00:45:16,484 Let them do this leading, 1041 00:45:16,484 --> 00:45:18,133 this watching over your souls, 1042 00:45:18,133 --> 00:45:19,543 this commanding you. 1043 00:45:19,543 --> 00:45:21,224 "Let them do this with joy 1044 00:45:21,224 --> 00:45:22,534 and not with groaning, 1045 00:45:22,534 --> 00:45:29,312 for that would be of no advantage to you." 1046 00:45:29,312 --> 00:45:31,955 I was walking with one of my co-pastors 1047 00:45:31,955 --> 00:45:34,562 through Home Depot 1048 00:45:34,562 --> 00:45:37,310 maybe 12 years ago. 1049 00:45:37,310 --> 00:45:39,613 He and his wife were struggling 1050 00:45:39,613 --> 00:45:41,561 with infertility. 1051 00:45:41,561 --> 00:45:43,440 It was not making them, at this point, 1052 00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:45,134 soft towards the Lord. 1053 00:45:45,134 --> 00:45:47,184 It was making them hard towards the Lord. 1054 00:45:47,184 --> 00:45:48,719 It was making them angry at God. 1055 00:45:48,719 --> 00:45:51,755 They couldn't understand why they wanted this good thing - children. 1056 00:45:51,755 --> 00:45:54,229 The Bible says, "be fruitful and multiply." 1057 00:45:54,229 --> 00:45:56,393 They wanted to be fruitful and multiply. 1058 00:45:56,393 --> 00:45:59,142 They couldn't multiply to save their lives. 1059 00:45:59,142 --> 00:46:01,982 And we're walking through Home Depot and he's basically telling me 1060 00:46:01,982 --> 00:46:05,142 I want to leave the faith; 1061 00:46:05,142 --> 00:46:06,208 I want to just go, 1062 00:46:06,208 --> 00:46:08,535 buy a house on the beach in Florida, 1063 00:46:08,535 --> 00:46:10,176 and just try to live a normal life 1064 00:46:10,176 --> 00:46:12,106 because this whole idea of following God 1065 00:46:12,106 --> 00:46:13,837 through difficult seasons like this 1066 00:46:13,837 --> 00:46:18,588 is doing me in. 1067 00:46:18,588 --> 00:46:20,455 Now what happens if at that moment, 1068 00:46:20,455 --> 00:46:25,991 I go, "me too?" 1069 00:46:25,991 --> 00:46:32,294 We may both be on the beach in Florida right now. 1070 00:46:32,294 --> 00:46:33,997 The simple fact is 1071 00:46:33,997 --> 00:46:36,191 we are all going to come to difficult moments 1072 00:46:36,191 --> 00:46:37,631 in our faith. 1073 00:46:37,631 --> 00:46:38,842 All of us. 1074 00:46:38,842 --> 00:46:40,649 And one of the most precious gifts 1075 00:46:40,649 --> 00:46:42,624 God can ever give to us in that moment 1076 00:46:42,624 --> 00:46:45,908 is a pastor who is full of joy, 1077 00:46:45,908 --> 00:46:48,029 who says, no, no, no, no... 1078 00:46:48,029 --> 00:46:52,254 At His right hand are pleasures forevermore. 1079 00:46:52,254 --> 00:46:53,876 Yes, this is hard, 1080 00:46:53,876 --> 00:46:56,125 and weeping is going to last for a night, 1081 00:46:56,125 --> 00:46:58,812 but there is joy in the morning. 1082 00:46:58,812 --> 00:47:00,537 And there's just something about 1083 00:47:00,537 --> 00:47:04,926 somebody else believing it 1084 00:47:04,926 --> 00:47:07,253 that's like the four friends who 1085 00:47:07,253 --> 00:47:08,942 lowered their paralyzed friend 1086 00:47:08,942 --> 00:47:11,050 down into Jesus. 1087 00:47:11,050 --> 00:47:12,313 A joyful pastor - 1088 00:47:12,313 --> 00:47:13,981 you might not have faith right now, 1089 00:47:13,981 --> 00:47:16,111 but I'm taking you down through the roof 1090 00:47:16,111 --> 00:47:20,174 to Jesus to see Him. 1091 00:47:20,174 --> 00:47:21,636 But if you've done everything 1092 00:47:21,636 --> 00:47:23,519 to undermine your pastor's ministry - 1093 00:47:23,519 --> 00:47:25,486 everything to make sure there's a nice, 1094 00:47:25,486 --> 00:47:28,363 humbling email each Monday morning... 1095 00:47:28,363 --> 00:47:30,011 You know, the board of deacons 1096 00:47:30,011 --> 00:47:31,274 at the small town church. 1097 00:47:31,274 --> 00:47:32,967 Their motto was: 1098 00:47:32,967 --> 00:47:36,305 "Lord, You keep them humble, 1099 00:47:36,305 --> 00:47:39,934 and we'll keep them poor." 1100 00:47:39,934 --> 00:47:42,855 If you've done everything to undermine him 1101 00:47:42,855 --> 00:47:44,547 and hurt him, 1102 00:47:44,547 --> 00:47:47,466 and then all of a sudden you're hospitalized, 1103 00:47:47,466 --> 00:47:49,601 and the man who walks in to comfort you 1104 00:47:49,601 --> 00:47:54,496 has not got any comfort to bring, 1105 00:47:54,496 --> 00:47:57,583 you've hurt your own soul. 1106 00:47:57,583 --> 00:47:59,049 And many people have done that 1107 00:47:59,049 --> 00:48:01,855 to pastors in the name of biblical faithfulness. 1108 00:48:01,855 --> 00:48:04,130 They were just trying to help the pastor 1109 00:48:04,130 --> 00:48:05,685 be biblically faithful 1110 00:48:05,685 --> 00:48:11,324 by criticizing his every move 1111 00:48:11,324 --> 00:48:18,450 and making him of no advantage to them. 1112 00:48:18,450 --> 00:48:19,797 On the other hand, 1113 00:48:19,797 --> 00:48:21,839 you stoke the fires in your pastor; 1114 00:48:21,839 --> 00:48:23,077 you encourage your pastor; 1115 00:48:23,077 --> 00:48:25,258 you generally obey your pastor; 1116 00:48:25,258 --> 00:48:27,756 and follow along in his lead, 1117 00:48:27,756 --> 00:48:29,629 and you seek to obey the Word of God 1118 00:48:29,629 --> 00:48:31,499 that he preaches and you delight in it, 1119 00:48:31,499 --> 00:48:32,750 and you rejoice with him 1120 00:48:32,750 --> 00:48:34,122 on how God is using him, 1121 00:48:34,122 --> 00:48:36,110 and how the Spirit is helping the church. 1122 00:48:36,110 --> 00:48:38,319 You do that, and then you come into crisis, 1123 00:48:38,319 --> 00:48:39,957 and he will be right there 1124 00:48:39,957 --> 00:48:42,873 full of joy, 1125 00:48:42,873 --> 00:48:45,041 ready to help you out; 1126 00:48:45,041 --> 00:48:49,838 ready to encourage you. 1127 00:48:49,838 --> 00:48:53,176 Now, here's a few applications. 1128 00:48:53,176 --> 00:48:54,842 Here's a few applications, 1129 00:48:54,842 --> 00:48:58,715 and then I really am done. 1130 00:48:58,715 --> 00:49:01,843 And these range from the incredibly practical 1131 00:49:01,843 --> 00:49:06,507 to the deeply theological. 1132 00:49:06,507 --> 00:49:10,361 Write notes 1133 00:49:10,361 --> 00:49:14,768 and give real substantive encouragements 1134 00:49:14,768 --> 00:49:16,947 to your pastor, 1135 00:49:16,947 --> 00:49:22,098 and "good message" doesn't count. 1136 00:49:22,098 --> 00:49:23,515 Ok? 1137 00:49:23,515 --> 00:49:24,831 "Good message" means 1138 00:49:24,831 --> 00:49:27,865 I cannot think a coherent sentence 1139 00:49:27,865 --> 00:49:30,074 that amounts to more than two words 1140 00:49:30,074 --> 00:49:33,809 about what you just said. 1141 00:49:33,809 --> 00:49:35,247 Not encouraging. 1142 00:49:35,247 --> 00:49:36,354 I always tell people, 1143 00:49:36,354 --> 00:49:38,372 "what was it that helped you?" 1144 00:49:38,372 --> 00:49:43,736 (unintelligible) 1145 00:49:43,736 --> 00:49:47,373 I'm glad that was helpful for you. 1146 00:49:47,373 --> 00:49:51,576 You've just had someone pour out 1147 00:49:51,576 --> 00:49:55,877 the studied Word of God onto your soul. 1148 00:49:55,877 --> 00:49:59,734 You can sit down for five seconds 1149 00:49:59,734 --> 00:50:02,386 and write an email that relates 1150 00:50:02,386 --> 00:50:07,087 something that was helpful. 1151 00:50:07,087 --> 00:50:08,984 Now, I tell you what, any pastor - 1152 00:50:08,984 --> 00:50:11,152 and don't ask twenty questions, 1153 00:50:11,152 --> 00:50:13,595 because if all of you ask twenty questions: 1154 00:50:13,595 --> 00:50:15,984 "here's something helpful and here's 20 questions," 1155 00:50:15,984 --> 00:50:17,890 Charles and Dick will die this Monday. 1156 00:50:17,890 --> 00:50:19,396 It will happen just like that. 1157 00:50:19,396 --> 00:50:22,978 Boom. Oh, no, I preached, so I'll die on Monday. 1158 00:50:22,978 --> 00:50:25,425 But a general attitude of I'm going to say 1159 00:50:25,425 --> 00:50:28,102 something substantive to let them know 1160 00:50:28,102 --> 00:50:30,389 that I was gleaning from the Word. 1161 00:50:30,389 --> 00:50:31,386 Some of you say, 1162 00:50:31,386 --> 00:50:32,928 well, that will make them proud. 1163 00:50:32,928 --> 00:50:34,398 It does not make you proud. 1164 00:50:34,398 --> 00:50:36,045 Listen, if you're a good pastor, 1165 00:50:36,045 --> 00:50:38,159 you're not preaching your own ideas. 1166 00:50:38,159 --> 00:50:39,639 So when someone comes to you 1167 00:50:39,639 --> 00:50:41,968 and says, hey, that idea that wasn't yours, 1168 00:50:41,968 --> 00:50:43,385 it was really helpful to you. 1169 00:50:43,385 --> 00:50:44,828 That's not making you proud. 1170 00:50:44,828 --> 00:50:47,292 It's making you rejoice that they love 1171 00:50:47,292 --> 00:50:52,393 God's Word. 1172 00:50:52,393 --> 00:50:54,490 Second, and I have not talked to any 1173 00:50:54,490 --> 00:50:56,067 single pastor about this. 1174 00:50:56,067 --> 00:50:59,211 No one has paid me to do this. 1175 00:50:59,211 --> 00:51:01,854 Pay your pastors. 1176 00:51:01,854 --> 00:51:02,797 Pay them. 1177 00:51:02,797 --> 00:51:04,473 Double honor in 1 Timothy 5 1178 00:51:04,473 --> 00:51:06,941 is a financial term 1179 00:51:06,941 --> 00:51:08,207 to care for your pastors. 1180 00:51:08,207 --> 00:51:09,754 They won't all be paid evenly. 1181 00:51:09,754 --> 00:51:11,743 There's all kinds of different factors. 1182 00:51:11,743 --> 00:51:14,680 But make sure they are cared for. 1183 00:51:14,680 --> 00:51:16,223 I know that you all find it easy 1184 00:51:16,223 --> 00:51:17,974 to keep your joy when you're broke, 1185 00:51:17,974 --> 00:51:21,918 but pastors are different. 1186 00:51:21,918 --> 00:51:23,577 No, there is a sense in which 1187 00:51:23,577 --> 00:51:26,295 the people of God should be not 1188 00:51:26,295 --> 00:51:29,339 reviewing a pastor's salary every 25 years 1189 00:51:29,339 --> 00:51:32,709 whether he needs it or not. 1190 00:51:32,709 --> 00:51:35,254 But there should be a regular, constant care 1191 00:51:35,254 --> 00:51:41,610 to provide for God's man. 1192 00:51:41,610 --> 00:51:44,101 Now, I think I'm going to spend a little more time 1193 00:51:44,101 --> 00:51:46,345 on this next point. 1194 00:51:46,345 --> 00:51:47,875 And I had it in my notes, 1195 00:51:47,875 --> 00:51:50,301 but honestly, my wife wrote this point 1196 00:51:50,301 --> 00:51:52,530 during the songs this morning. 1197 00:51:52,530 --> 00:51:54,567 I believe that men only should preach, 1198 00:51:54,567 --> 00:51:56,694 but I believe the things my wife whispers 1199 00:51:56,694 --> 00:51:59,033 into my ear during some services 1200 00:51:59,033 --> 00:52:02,410 are some of the most spiritual things I've ever heard. 1201 00:52:02,410 --> 00:52:07,733 And so I'll preach them to you right now. 1202 00:52:07,733 --> 00:52:12,918 They are men. 1203 00:52:12,918 --> 00:52:14,801 One of the most significant things 1204 00:52:14,801 --> 00:52:17,237 you can do - and I'm talking to 1205 00:52:17,237 --> 00:52:18,403 children here, 1206 00:52:18,403 --> 00:52:20,809 I'm talking to those who have been here 40 years, 1207 00:52:20,809 --> 00:52:22,537 those who have been here 10 years - 1208 00:52:22,537 --> 00:52:25,288 one of the most significant things you can do with your pastor 1209 00:52:25,288 --> 00:52:32,433 is to realize that they are just a person; 1210 00:52:32,433 --> 00:52:35,140 that they are not cut from another cloth 1211 00:52:35,140 --> 00:52:37,269 of humanity, 1212 00:52:37,269 --> 00:52:42,556 but they are a finite, limited person. 1213 00:52:42,556 --> 00:52:46,363 And that has so many implications, 1214 00:52:46,363 --> 00:52:48,398 it's ridiculous. 1215 00:52:48,398 --> 00:52:51,868 It means that even if they could be with you 1216 00:52:51,868 --> 00:52:55,670 all the time every time you needed them, 1217 00:52:55,670 --> 00:52:58,116 they couldn't satisfy your soul. 1218 00:52:58,116 --> 00:53:00,744 It would not work. 1219 00:53:00,744 --> 00:53:02,036 Even if they could be there 1220 00:53:02,036 --> 00:53:03,769 as much as you wanted 1221 00:53:03,769 --> 00:53:05,452 as often as you wanted, 1222 00:53:05,452 --> 00:53:07,642 once they showed up that often, 1223 00:53:07,642 --> 00:53:12,061 they would turn out to be disappointing, 1224 00:53:12,061 --> 00:53:16,882 because they are only people. 1225 00:53:16,882 --> 00:53:20,065 And, it also means they can't 1226 00:53:20,065 --> 00:53:22,643 show up all the time every time 1227 00:53:22,643 --> 00:53:25,279 to be with everyone, 1228 00:53:25,279 --> 00:53:26,886 because they are people. 1229 00:53:26,886 --> 00:53:29,244 And this doesn't make them different than Jesus, 1230 00:53:29,244 --> 00:53:32,574 this makes them like Jesus, 1231 00:53:32,574 --> 00:53:34,550 who would get ministry opportunities 1232 00:53:34,550 --> 00:53:37,064 and would leave, 1233 00:53:37,064 --> 00:53:40,070 because He simply could not meet 1234 00:53:40,070 --> 00:53:43,299 all the needs - that's a stunning thing to say, isn't it? 1235 00:53:43,299 --> 00:53:45,363 Could not meet all the needs? 1236 00:53:45,363 --> 00:53:46,766 At one level, that's true. 1237 00:53:46,766 --> 00:53:49,029 He was a finite man. 1238 00:53:49,029 --> 00:53:51,416 He needed sleep. 1239 00:53:51,416 --> 00:53:53,491 He needed a break. 1240 00:53:53,491 --> 00:53:56,017 He needed to eat. 1241 00:53:56,017 --> 00:53:57,887 (incomplete thought) 1242 00:53:57,887 --> 00:54:01,583 Jesus ministered in one very limited 1243 00:54:01,583 --> 00:54:04,043 geographic area, and He moved 1244 00:54:04,043 --> 00:54:05,388 from town to town 1245 00:54:05,388 --> 00:54:07,277 and did not spend infinite time, 1246 00:54:07,277 --> 00:54:09,024 though there would have been many 1247 00:54:09,024 --> 00:54:10,700 who would have wished He'd stayed 1248 00:54:10,700 --> 00:54:14,028 one more day. 1249 00:54:14,028 --> 00:54:18,184 He was limited in that way. 1250 00:54:18,184 --> 00:54:20,960 Your pastors are limited in gifts. 1251 00:54:20,960 --> 00:54:23,571 I basically find that the longer I'm in ministry, 1252 00:54:23,571 --> 00:54:27,034 my tenure in ministry is the joyful discovery 1253 00:54:27,034 --> 00:54:30,391 of how many things I'm bad at. 1254 00:54:30,391 --> 00:54:32,339 Preaching - some gifts. 1255 00:54:32,339 --> 00:54:34,388 Administration - no gifts. 1256 00:54:34,388 --> 00:54:36,824 Counseling - moderate gifts. 1257 00:54:36,824 --> 00:54:39,650 Gifts of service - I hope I have a servant's heart. 1258 00:54:39,650 --> 00:54:41,674 Not particularly good at it. 1259 00:54:41,674 --> 00:54:43,604 There's just all kinds of things 1260 00:54:43,604 --> 00:54:46,498 that I am bad at. 1261 00:54:46,498 --> 00:54:48,095 You should expect your pastors 1262 00:54:48,095 --> 00:54:51,269 to not only be not excellent at everything, 1263 00:54:51,269 --> 00:54:54,299 but actually bad at some things. 1264 00:54:54,299 --> 00:54:55,960 And it will be good for you 1265 00:54:55,960 --> 00:55:01,245 to recognize their sanctified badness 1266 00:55:01,245 --> 00:55:02,655 at many, many things, 1267 00:55:02,655 --> 00:55:04,231 because you were not meant 1268 00:55:04,231 --> 00:55:05,981 to be built up by a pastor. 1269 00:55:05,981 --> 00:55:09,650 You were meant to be built up by a body. 1270 00:55:09,650 --> 00:55:12,013 A body that ministers the presence 1271 00:55:12,013 --> 00:55:14,957 and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1272 00:55:14,957 --> 00:55:17,542 Well, if only my pastor was as hospitable 1273 00:55:17,542 --> 00:55:18,684 as so-and-so. 1274 00:55:18,684 --> 00:55:20,815 And if only my pastor made as emotional 1275 00:55:20,815 --> 00:55:22,394 connections like so-and-so. 1276 00:55:22,394 --> 00:55:23,871 And if only my pastor could be 1277 00:55:23,871 --> 00:55:25,248 a mentor like so-and-so. 1278 00:55:25,248 --> 00:55:27,134 And if only my pastor could be there 1279 00:55:27,134 --> 00:55:28,103 like so-and-so. 1280 00:55:28,103 --> 00:55:29,871 And if only my pastor could duck down 1281 00:55:29,871 --> 00:55:31,267 in a phone booth and come up 1282 00:55:31,267 --> 00:55:32,702 with an "S" on his chest 1283 00:55:32,702 --> 00:55:34,380 and fly off into the sunset 1284 00:55:34,380 --> 00:55:39,261 with kryptonite in his hand. 1285 00:55:39,261 --> 00:55:43,088 It's not happening. 1286 00:55:43,088 --> 00:55:46,069 And the expectation actually diminishes 1287 00:55:46,069 --> 00:55:50,957 the effectiveness of your pastor. 1288 00:55:50,957 --> 00:55:53,719 You try living with the expectation 1289 00:55:53,719 --> 00:55:58,759 of super humanness for five minutes, 1290 00:55:58,759 --> 00:56:01,486 ten minutes, 1291 00:56:01,486 --> 00:56:04,173 ten years, 1292 00:56:04,173 --> 00:56:06,267 twenty years, 1293 00:56:06,267 --> 00:56:10,358 thirty years, 1294 00:56:10,358 --> 00:56:14,211 forty years. 1295 00:56:14,211 --> 00:56:16,131 I preached at a women's ministry event 1296 00:56:16,131 --> 00:56:17,645 Friday night before I came, 1297 00:56:17,645 --> 00:56:19,493 and I said one of the traps I feel - 1298 00:56:19,493 --> 00:56:21,410 there's always two pushes to me: 1299 00:56:21,410 --> 00:56:22,978 We've got to grow. We've got to grow. 1300 00:56:22,978 --> 00:56:24,824 And it's not just like a church growth grow, 1301 00:56:24,824 --> 00:56:26,550 it's we want to see the lost saved; 1302 00:56:26,550 --> 00:56:27,802 we want to grow. 1303 00:56:27,802 --> 00:56:28,830 And then you've got, 1304 00:56:28,830 --> 00:56:30,820 we're getting big, and if you get real big 1305 00:56:30,820 --> 00:56:32,295 you can't disciple people. 1306 00:56:32,295 --> 00:56:34,317 And then the pastor's kind of in the middle like, 1307 00:56:34,317 --> 00:56:40,164 so what you're saying is it's failure either way. 1308 00:56:40,164 --> 00:56:43,547 If we grow, we get big. 1309 00:56:43,547 --> 00:56:46,951 That's what happens when you grow. 1310 00:56:46,951 --> 00:56:49,573 And when you get big, you have less time. 1311 00:56:49,573 --> 00:56:52,033 That's what happens when you grow. 1312 00:56:52,033 --> 00:56:54,553 And there's no way to keep it perfectly balanced. 1313 00:56:54,553 --> 00:56:56,660 They couldn't keep it perfectly balanced 1314 00:56:56,660 --> 00:56:59,435 when the Holy Spirit decided they would boost their church 1315 00:56:59,435 --> 00:57:02,484 from 120 to 3,000 on the first day. 1316 00:57:02,484 --> 00:57:04,020 You can see the people going, 1317 00:57:04,020 --> 00:57:10,388 I remember when we got more time with Peter. 1318 00:57:10,388 --> 00:57:14,229 He'd be there for the all night prayer meetings. 1319 00:57:14,229 --> 00:57:15,331 Now where is he? 1320 00:57:15,331 --> 00:57:22,175 Preaching all over. 1321 00:57:22,175 --> 00:57:23,947 At the end of the day, 1322 00:57:23,947 --> 00:57:29,608 your pastors will 100%, I guarantee it, 1323 00:57:29,608 --> 00:57:31,395 you can take it to the bank, 1324 00:57:31,395 --> 00:57:34,751 disappoint you. 1325 00:57:34,751 --> 00:57:36,110 And I'm not talking vague, 1326 00:57:36,110 --> 00:57:37,330 abstract disappoint you; 1327 00:57:37,330 --> 00:57:42,731 I'm talking like it-will- hurt disappoint you. 1328 00:57:42,731 --> 00:57:46,720 And that's because all pastors can do 1329 00:57:46,720 --> 00:57:48,279 if they're doing their job well 1330 00:57:48,279 --> 00:57:49,761 is to point you to the One 1331 00:57:49,761 --> 00:57:54,009 who will never disappoint you. 1332 00:57:54,009 --> 00:57:55,797 Paul helped the churches he pastored 1333 00:57:55,797 --> 00:57:57,936 rely on God 1334 00:57:57,936 --> 00:57:59,902 by preaching in the power of the Spirit 1335 00:57:59,902 --> 00:58:02,266 so their trust would not be in man, 1336 00:58:02,266 --> 00:58:04,066 but in the power of God, 1337 00:58:04,066 --> 00:58:05,528 because at the end of the day, 1338 00:58:05,528 --> 00:58:08,209 there's only One Man who can sustain 1339 00:58:08,209 --> 00:58:12,037 all the expectations of all of His children, 1340 00:58:12,037 --> 00:58:14,009 and that's the man Christ Jesus 1341 00:58:14,009 --> 00:58:16,708 who died on the cross to satisfy His children 1342 00:58:16,708 --> 00:58:19,175 with living water and living bread, 1343 00:58:19,175 --> 00:58:21,453 and who can feed their souls for eternity. 1344 00:58:21,453 --> 00:58:23,157 He can be there every moment 1345 00:58:23,157 --> 00:58:24,240 of every day, 1346 00:58:24,240 --> 00:58:26,333 and He can be infinitely interesting 1347 00:58:26,333 --> 00:58:29,059 and glorious every minute of every day 1348 00:58:29,059 --> 00:58:31,135 and now enthroned in Heaven, 1349 00:58:31,135 --> 00:58:32,604 He needs no sleep, 1350 00:58:32,604 --> 00:58:34,359 and He needs no rest, 1351 00:58:34,359 --> 00:58:36,551 and He lives to make intercession 1352 00:58:36,551 --> 00:58:38,012 for His people. 1353 00:58:38,012 --> 00:58:43,484 He is the Shepherd of the sheep. 1354 00:58:43,484 --> 00:58:45,421 But if you destroy your pastor's joy, 1355 00:58:45,421 --> 00:58:47,061 he won't even be able to point you 1356 00:58:47,061 --> 00:58:51,190 to that great Shepherd. 1357 00:58:51,190 --> 00:58:54,993 And so, it's a great thing to honor 1358 00:58:54,993 --> 00:58:59,692 Charles and Dick 1359 00:58:59,692 --> 00:59:01,633 and Garrett and Mason, 1360 00:59:01,633 --> 00:59:04,773 and whoever else God would make you. 1361 00:59:04,773 --> 00:59:06,842 It's also probably a really good thing 1362 00:59:06,842 --> 00:59:10,290 right now to acknowledge legitimate disappointments 1363 00:59:10,290 --> 00:59:18,607 that have accumulated over 40 years. 1364 00:59:18,607 --> 00:59:20,591 And to apply those beautiful words 1365 00:59:20,591 --> 00:59:23,246 in Ephesians that say that we are to be 1366 00:59:23,246 --> 00:59:25,860 forgiving one another 1367 00:59:25,860 --> 00:59:30,674 even as God in Christ forgave us. 1368 00:59:30,674 --> 00:59:32,287 To apply those beautiful words of 1369 00:59:32,287 --> 00:59:34,920 Ephesians 4:1 that says 1370 00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:37,338 that we are to bear with one another in love. 1371 00:59:37,338 --> 00:59:39,652 What does that mean? That means that other Christians 1372 00:59:39,652 --> 00:59:45,331 are the kind of people you have to bear with. 1373 00:59:45,331 --> 00:59:47,303 Some people get into their devotions; 1374 00:59:47,303 --> 00:59:49,645 they pray themselves up; they come up full of the Spirit, 1375 00:59:49,645 --> 00:59:52,128 and they actually rub you the wrong way. 1376 00:59:52,128 --> 00:59:53,706 Like when they're at their best, 1377 00:59:53,706 --> 00:59:56,609 they rub you the wrong way. 1378 00:59:56,609 --> 00:59:58,925 Then you need to be filled with the Spirit 1379 00:59:58,925 --> 01:00:02,403 and bear with them in love. 1380 01:00:02,403 --> 01:00:04,319 So now is probably a good time 1381 01:00:04,319 --> 01:00:06,263 at a forty year mark to say, ok, 1382 01:00:06,263 --> 01:00:08,129 what kind of baggage is there 1383 01:00:08,129 --> 01:00:10,136 that might really undermine the future 1384 01:00:10,136 --> 01:00:12,362 of Lake Road? 1385 01:00:12,362 --> 01:00:13,991 What's there? 1386 01:00:13,991 --> 01:00:15,936 How can I just lay that before the Lord 1387 01:00:15,936 --> 01:00:20,978 and ask for His forgiveness for me; 1388 01:00:20,978 --> 01:00:24,572 remember how He bears with me; 1389 01:00:24,572 --> 01:00:28,405 remember His kindness towards me, 1390 01:00:28,405 --> 01:00:31,045 and then to pray for yourself 1391 01:00:31,045 --> 01:00:32,549 that you'd be able to make 1392 01:00:32,549 --> 01:00:35,984 these men's ministry a joy; 1393 01:00:35,984 --> 01:00:37,042 to care for them, 1394 01:00:37,042 --> 01:00:39,163 to spur them on for the next five, 1395 01:00:39,163 --> 01:00:41,628 ten, fifteen years. 1396 01:00:41,628 --> 01:00:44,497 And then to pray to God 1397 01:00:44,497 --> 01:00:46,012 that they would be 1398 01:00:46,012 --> 01:00:48,096 all that God would have them to be. 1399 01:00:48,096 --> 01:00:50,015 There may be legitimate disappointments, 1400 01:00:50,015 --> 01:00:53,125 and you can pray for the growth in grace 1401 01:00:53,125 --> 01:00:57,860 of all of those who are ministering to you. 1402 01:00:57,860 --> 01:00:59,434 And my goal in all of this 1403 01:00:59,434 --> 01:01:00,538 is that you would say, 1404 01:01:00,538 --> 01:01:03,033 yes, I have a positive heart to obey 1405 01:01:03,033 --> 01:01:05,900 these men and I want to make their job 1406 01:01:05,900 --> 01:01:08,836 a joy so that they will be 1407 01:01:08,836 --> 01:01:15,082 of great and eternal advantage to me. 1408 01:01:15,082 --> 01:01:40,793 Let's pray. 1409 01:01:40,793 --> 01:01:47,447 Father, You alone can sustain the church. 1410 01:01:47,447 --> 01:01:48,999 You alone by Your Word are able 1411 01:01:48,999 --> 01:01:53,757 to build the church up. 1412 01:01:53,757 --> 01:01:55,520 Lord God, You alone are able 1413 01:01:55,520 --> 01:01:58,419 to keep the rifts and the difficulties 1414 01:01:58,419 --> 01:02:00,360 and the troubles and the insufficiencies 1415 01:02:00,360 --> 01:02:03,166 and inadequacies 1416 01:02:03,166 --> 01:02:05,275 and the sins that we bring into the church - 1417 01:02:05,275 --> 01:02:08,170 You alone are able to keep them at bay, 1418 01:02:08,170 --> 01:02:10,011 cover them by Your blood, 1419 01:02:10,011 --> 01:02:14,400 and build up the body of Christ. 1420 01:02:14,400 --> 01:02:19,086 So we ask You to come today, Lord. 1421 01:02:19,086 --> 01:02:23,270 We ask You, Lord, to fill Charles and Dick 1422 01:02:23,270 --> 01:02:25,333 and Garrett and Mason afresh 1423 01:02:25,333 --> 01:02:28,012 with the power of the Holy Spirit 1424 01:02:28,012 --> 01:02:31,174 for another season of ministry. 1425 01:02:31,174 --> 01:02:33,344 We ask You, Lord, to fill the congregation 1426 01:02:33,344 --> 01:02:37,013 with a spirit of love, joy, forgiveness, 1427 01:02:37,013 --> 01:02:41,367 patience, bearing with one another in love, 1428 01:02:41,367 --> 01:02:43,916 and the Spirit's power for their ministry 1429 01:02:43,916 --> 01:02:48,188 one to another and to their pastors. 1430 01:02:48,188 --> 01:02:50,407 We ask You, Lord, that hordes of people 1431 01:02:50,407 --> 01:02:53,698 in Kirksville would be saved this coming year. 1432 01:02:53,698 --> 01:02:55,983 That those who don't know You would be saved. 1433 01:02:55,983 --> 01:02:57,578 That more missionaries would be 1434 01:02:57,578 --> 01:03:00,626 sent out from here. 1435 01:03:00,626 --> 01:03:02,524 And we want to ask You, Lord, 1436 01:03:02,524 --> 01:03:06,798 that You would get all the glory, 1437 01:03:06,798 --> 01:03:11,279 first for being the great Shepherd of the sheep, 1438 01:03:11,279 --> 01:03:14,116 and then for equipping Charles and Dick 1439 01:03:14,116 --> 01:03:18,374 for 40 years along with their precious wives 1440 01:03:18,374 --> 01:03:21,945 to shepherd the sheep. 1441 01:03:21,945 --> 01:03:23,191 I want to pray finally 1442 01:03:23,191 --> 01:03:24,994 for Garrett and Mason, Lord God, 1443 01:03:24,994 --> 01:03:28,248 that You would give them grace 1444 01:03:28,248 --> 01:03:30,751 to be good shepherds; 1445 01:03:30,751 --> 01:03:34,581 to be like Timothy's who learn from Paul's. 1446 01:03:34,581 --> 01:03:36,620 And that Father, You would just secure 1447 01:03:36,620 --> 01:03:41,697 Lake Road in the arms of good, godly men 1448 01:03:41,697 --> 01:03:43,960 for yet another generation 1449 01:03:43,960 --> 01:03:46,366 to hear Your praise, 1450 01:03:46,366 --> 01:03:48,767 and to see Your glory. 1451 01:03:48,767 --> 01:03:50,319 We pray this in Jesus' name, 1452 01:03:50,319 --> 01:03:51,737 Amen.