WEBVTT 00:00:01.451 --> 00:00:03.741 I've had some neat opportunities in my life 00:00:03.741 --> 00:00:08.078 to preach in some different places, 00:00:08.078 --> 00:00:10.034 different countries, 00:00:10.034 --> 00:00:12.120 different venues. 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:14.278 I regard getting to be here 00:00:14.278 --> 00:00:15.623 for the weekend as perhaps 00:00:15.623 --> 00:00:18.139 the highest honor of my life 00:00:18.139 --> 00:00:21.847 to get to participate and have this pulpit 00:00:21.847 --> 00:00:26.052 to proclaim God's Word to a church 00:00:26.052 --> 00:00:30.156 that has been so massively influential 00:00:30.156 --> 00:00:32.036 in my life. 00:00:32.036 --> 00:00:35.809 And so I thank God deeply 00:00:35.809 --> 00:00:37.655 for the privilege of getting to open 00:00:37.655 --> 00:00:40.675 God's Word to you this morning. 00:00:40.675 --> 00:00:42.523 And I thank you specifically Garrett, 00:00:42.523 --> 00:00:46.502 for giving me this opportunity. 00:00:46.502 --> 00:00:49.764 I hope it won't be one that you regret. 00:00:49.764 --> 00:00:51.229 And you'll know whether it is 00:00:51.229 --> 00:00:55.815 in just a short hour. 00:00:55.815 --> 00:00:58.927 Yesterday, I found myself "amen-ing" 00:00:58.927 --> 00:01:02.730 the faithfulness of Charles and Dick; 00:01:02.730 --> 00:01:05.325 that God had given grace to them 00:01:05.325 --> 00:01:08.382 to keep them faithful all of these years, 00:01:08.382 --> 00:01:10.789 and I found myself filled with tears. 00:01:10.789 --> 00:01:12.424 I have a 13 year old daughter, 00:01:12.424 --> 00:01:14.455 so she kept giving that embarrassed look, 00:01:14.455 --> 00:01:21.573 like would you stop gulping back those sobs? 00:01:21.573 --> 00:01:24.508 But I've pastored the church I pastor now 00:01:24.508 --> 00:01:26.851 for twelve years, 00:01:26.851 --> 00:01:30.273 so I've gone a quarter of the distance 00:01:30.273 --> 00:01:32.800 of these men. 00:01:32.800 --> 00:01:37.037 And I suspect that the next three legs, 00:01:37.037 --> 00:01:38.866 the next three decades 00:01:38.866 --> 00:01:41.380 are harder, not easier. 00:01:41.380 --> 00:01:43.639 And when I just amass and think 00:01:43.639 --> 00:01:46.990 about all the difficulties 00:01:46.990 --> 00:01:49.637 that a person goes through in the course of a year, 00:01:49.637 --> 00:01:51.183 just to keep preaching the Word 00:01:51.183 --> 00:01:53.461 and keep loving the people, 00:01:53.461 --> 00:01:55.979 it just gives me tremendous 00:01:55.979 --> 00:01:59.580 respect and love for Charles and Dick. 00:01:59.580 --> 00:02:01.049 Where is Dick this morning? 00:02:01.049 --> 00:02:02.816 I want to be able to look at him. 00:02:02.816 --> 00:02:07.676 There you are. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:07.676 --> 00:02:10.495 I have the privilege of having served - 00:02:10.495 --> 00:02:12.025 I have a number of co-pastors, 00:02:12.025 --> 00:02:13.808 but I have the privilege of serving 00:02:13.808 --> 00:02:15.717 beside one co-pastor in particular, 00:02:15.717 --> 00:02:18.875 Jeff King, who is one of my dearest friends 00:02:18.875 --> 00:02:20.316 on the planet 00:02:20.316 --> 00:02:23.795 who is the opposite of me in every way. 00:02:23.795 --> 00:02:25.391 And Steve Welch, who's a friend 00:02:25.391 --> 00:02:26.822 of this congregation says that 00:02:26.822 --> 00:02:28.038 he looks like Dick. 00:02:28.038 --> 00:02:29.646 I don't look like Charles, 00:02:29.646 --> 00:02:34.725 but that's where the similarities end. 00:02:34.725 --> 00:02:40.784 And I know what it takes to put up with me 00:02:40.784 --> 00:02:43.083 in the course of a week or a year. 00:02:43.083 --> 00:02:44.671 I think if he were here would say 00:02:44.671 --> 00:02:48.202 he knows what it takes to put up with him. 00:02:48.202 --> 00:02:52.453 It's a miracle when people can stay friends 00:02:52.453 --> 00:02:57.013 and stay side-by-side in the ministry, 00:02:57.013 --> 00:03:00.923 and when Mack Tomlinson got up yesterday 00:03:00.923 --> 00:03:04.119 and said: think about church history. 00:03:04.119 --> 00:03:05.910 How many have labored side by side 00:03:05.910 --> 00:03:06.813 for forty years. 00:03:06.813 --> 00:03:08.591 And I'm not expert in church history, 00:03:08.591 --> 00:03:09.832 but I kind of thought - 00:03:09.832 --> 00:03:11.782 my first initial reaction was, well Mack, 00:03:11.782 --> 00:03:17.200 that's easy - there must be a lot. 00:03:17.200 --> 00:03:19.183 And then I couldn't think of any. 00:03:19.183 --> 00:03:24.588 And so, no small task. 00:03:24.588 --> 00:03:28.681 And you ought to pray fervently 00:03:28.681 --> 00:03:30.964 and in an informed way 00:03:30.964 --> 00:03:33.279 for the four men who are graced 00:03:33.279 --> 00:03:34.342 to be your elders, 00:03:34.342 --> 00:03:35.761 that the Lord would give them 00:03:35.761 --> 00:03:38.064 a supernatural unity. 00:03:38.064 --> 00:03:40.090 I have the privilege of laboring aside 00:03:40.090 --> 00:03:41.525 some very faithful brothers, 00:03:41.525 --> 00:03:43.911 but I know that unity among the pastors - 00:03:43.911 --> 00:03:45.387 even pastors as like-minded 00:03:45.387 --> 00:03:47.760 and as godly as the ones I serve alongside of - 00:03:47.760 --> 00:03:51.289 it takes work. 00:03:51.289 --> 00:03:53.344 Nothing short of work. 00:03:53.344 --> 00:03:55.624 I have spent way more time in Denny's 00:03:55.624 --> 00:03:59.775 than I ever wanted to working 00:03:59.775 --> 00:04:02.597 to keep that unity at times. 00:04:02.597 --> 00:04:06.931 And it's a miracle that it's kept. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:06.931 --> 00:04:08.808 I was delighted to be here yesterday 00:04:08.808 --> 00:04:11.111 just because what you did yesterday 00:04:11.111 --> 00:04:14.006 for your pastors was right. 00:04:14.006 --> 00:04:16.423 It was just right at so many levels. 00:04:16.423 --> 00:04:19.765 We're to respect those who labor among us 00:04:19.765 --> 00:04:21.399 and are over us in the Lord 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:23.977 and admonish us and esteem them 00:04:23.977 --> 00:04:26.886 very highly because of their work. 00:04:26.886 --> 00:04:29.290 And people are afraid of doing things like you did yesterday 00:04:29.290 --> 00:04:31.769 because it might make the pastor proud. 00:04:31.769 --> 00:04:33.950 And I'm not denying that there are proud pastors, 00:04:33.950 --> 00:04:35.327 but I'll be honest with you, 00:04:35.327 --> 00:04:37.648 I think the general tendency of pastors 00:04:37.648 --> 00:04:39.350 is not to be proud, 00:04:39.350 --> 00:04:42.434 but to be discouraged. 00:04:42.434 --> 00:04:44.381 Most of the pastors I meet 00:04:44.381 --> 00:04:48.986 are mildly to severely depressed 00:04:48.986 --> 00:04:52.149 about who they are. 00:04:52.149 --> 00:04:53.675 And so for them to get a season 00:04:53.675 --> 00:04:55.532 where they get to hear what God's grace 00:04:55.532 --> 00:04:56.639 is doing in their life, 00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:59.015 it is a sweet, sweet thing. 00:04:59.015 --> 00:05:00.394 Don't make it every Sunday. 00:05:00.394 --> 00:05:01.433 You'll spoil them, 00:05:01.433 --> 00:05:03.401 but it can be a really great treat, 00:05:03.401 --> 00:05:16.708 say, every forty years or so. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:16.708 --> 00:05:21.450 The gift I want to give you 00:05:21.450 --> 00:05:25.682 this morning is a text. 00:05:25.682 --> 00:05:28.024 And it's a text that I believe 00:05:28.024 --> 00:05:34.347 that if it's heard and obeyed, 00:05:34.347 --> 00:05:36.471 will give, I hope, another forty years 00:05:36.471 --> 00:05:42.028 of tremendous blessing to the church. 00:05:42.028 --> 00:05:44.115 Dick and Charles are probably not hoping 00:05:44.115 --> 00:05:46.970 for another forty years, 00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:53.163 so I'm talking about even beyond them. 00:05:53.163 --> 00:05:54.837 I'm hoping that this passage 00:05:54.837 --> 00:05:56.799 that I'm going to share with you 00:05:56.799 --> 00:06:00.470 becomes a catalyst; 00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:03.350 becomes a spur; 00:06:03.350 --> 00:06:05.658 becomes an encouragement 00:06:05.658 --> 00:06:07.986 that sets a culture 00:06:07.986 --> 00:06:11.809 where the pastors of Lake Road Chapel 00:06:11.809 --> 00:06:15.038 are full of joy, 00:06:15.038 --> 00:06:18.002 and where the people of Lake Road Chapel 00:06:18.002 --> 00:06:20.178 are benefiting from them 00:06:20.178 --> 00:06:22.058 and profiting from them 00:06:22.058 --> 00:06:26.406 for a very, very long time. 00:06:26.406 --> 00:06:29.376 And then I'm aware that whenever I speak at Lake Road Chapel, 00:06:29.376 --> 00:06:31.478 that James Jennings is going to make sure 00:06:31.478 --> 00:06:32.965 it goes all over the planet. 00:06:32.965 --> 00:06:37.113 So let me just say it's my hope 00:06:37.113 --> 00:06:38.917 that this message, this verse, 00:06:38.917 --> 00:06:41.291 would be used by God 00:06:41.291 --> 00:06:45.655 to fill more and more pastor's lives with joy, 00:06:45.655 --> 00:06:47.571 and to see more and more people 00:06:47.571 --> 00:06:50.034 profiting, taking advantage of, 00:06:50.034 --> 00:06:55.321 reaping a harvest from their pastors. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:55.321 --> 00:07:00.052 Would you open your Bibles to Hebrews 13:17? 00:07:00.052 --> 00:07:04.647 Hebrews 13:17 00:07:04.647 --> 00:07:05.758 Like most of you, 00:07:05.758 --> 00:07:10.346 I knew nothing about what was going to unfold yesterday. 00:07:10.346 --> 00:07:13.950 I just got the emails that promised me 00:07:13.950 --> 00:07:19.691 I wouldn't get any more emails. 00:07:19.691 --> 00:07:21.956 And so I had no idea this was going to be 00:07:21.956 --> 00:07:25.562 a theme verse yesterday. 00:07:25.562 --> 00:07:28.001 But I think it's a good verse 00:07:28.001 --> 00:07:30.797 for an occasion like this. 00:07:30.797 --> 00:07:32.363 It comes in the book of Hebrews. 00:07:32.363 --> 00:07:33.819 It comes in the last chapter, 00:07:33.819 --> 00:07:35.487 which is the chapter that covers 00:07:35.487 --> 00:07:37.647 all kinds of exhortations 00:07:37.647 --> 00:07:39.620 from not being covetous, 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:42.777 to not letting your marriage bed by defiled, 00:07:42.777 --> 00:07:45.546 to remembering past leaders, 00:07:45.546 --> 00:07:47.307 and in the midst of all these 00:07:47.307 --> 00:07:50.585 various exhortations in the book of Hebrews, 00:07:50.585 --> 00:07:52.474 the author to the book of Hebrews 00:07:52.474 --> 00:07:53.974 says these words, 00:07:53.974 --> 00:07:56.900 "Obey your leaders and submit to them, 00:07:56.900 --> 00:07:59.925 for they are keeping watch over your souls 00:07:59.925 --> 00:08:02.320 as those who will have to give an account. 00:08:02.320 --> 00:08:04.078 Let them do this with joy 00:08:04.078 --> 00:08:10.206 and not with groaning, 00:08:10.206 --> 00:08:16.913 for that would be of no advantage to you." NOTE Paragraph 00:08:16.913 --> 00:08:18.895 Let's pray. 00:08:18.895 --> 00:08:21.428 Father, we want to ask You that this one verse 00:08:21.428 --> 00:08:23.955 would be impressed; 00:08:23.955 --> 00:08:25.132 would be branded; 00:08:25.132 --> 00:08:26.235 would be tattooed; 00:08:26.235 --> 00:08:28.827 would be glued to the very fabric 00:08:28.827 --> 00:08:30.406 of our souls, Lord God. 00:08:30.406 --> 00:08:33.651 That You'd shed light on this Word 00:08:33.651 --> 00:08:35.784 so that it sticks with us through life 00:08:35.784 --> 00:08:38.838 and Lord, that even pastors who are not here 00:08:38.838 --> 00:08:40.796 this morning, but who may pastor 00:08:40.796 --> 00:08:42.413 Lake Road in the future, 00:08:42.413 --> 00:08:44.165 or maybe children in this very room 00:08:44.165 --> 00:08:46.867 who may grow up to be some of the future shepherds, 00:08:46.867 --> 00:08:48.502 that they would inherit a culture 00:08:48.502 --> 00:08:51.462 of joyful pastoring. 00:08:51.462 --> 00:08:53.932 And Lord God, we pray for Charles and Dick 00:08:53.932 --> 00:08:57.655 that the gift that they receive from this congregation would not be 00:08:57.655 --> 00:09:02.111 a special day once every few decades, 00:09:02.111 --> 00:09:06.960 but a joyful congregation to pastor. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:09.243 We pray, Lord God, that You would create 00:09:09.243 --> 00:09:12.818 in Charles and in Dick 00:09:12.818 --> 00:09:15.847 and in Garrett and in Mason 00:09:15.847 --> 00:09:18.344 the kind of ministry that would be 00:09:18.344 --> 00:09:21.715 tremendously profitable - 00:09:21.715 --> 00:09:24.807 eternally profitable 00:09:24.807 --> 00:09:29.075 to Your people knowing Jesus. 00:09:29.075 --> 00:09:31.624 I pray this in Christ's name, 00:09:31.624 --> 00:09:33.410 Amen. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:33.410 --> 00:09:35.578 If you were going to give this sermon a name, 00:09:35.578 --> 00:09:36.455 you could call it: 00:09:36.455 --> 00:09:38.632 "How To Get the Most Out of Your Pastors." 00:09:38.632 --> 00:09:41.673 If you were going to give it a cynical name, you could call it: 00:09:41.673 --> 00:09:44.060 "How to Take Advantage of Them." 00:09:44.060 --> 00:09:46.395 And I say that because the word advantage 00:09:46.395 --> 00:09:47.993 is right there in the text. 00:09:47.993 --> 00:09:50.695 The whole idea is that the writer 00:09:50.695 --> 00:09:53.534 of the book of Hebrews wants you - 00:09:53.534 --> 00:09:56.059 each one of you individually - 00:09:56.059 --> 00:09:57.986 to get some advantage; 00:09:57.986 --> 00:10:00.320 to get some - the NASB translates it 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.423 some profit, from the men 00:10:03.423 --> 00:10:06.379 who God places over His church. 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:08.034 So it says, "obey your leaders 00:10:08.034 --> 00:10:09.169 and submit to them, 00:10:09.169 --> 00:10:11.347 for they are keeping watch over your souls 00:10:11.347 --> 00:10:13.232 as those who will have to give an account. 00:10:13.232 --> 00:10:15.799 Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.820 for that would be of no advantage to you." 00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:21.357 And so the very simple idea 00:10:21.357 --> 00:10:24.048 pulsing at the core of this passage 00:10:24.048 --> 00:10:27.319 is that when pastors are finding joy 00:10:27.319 --> 00:10:29.362 in their congregations; 00:10:29.362 --> 00:10:31.605 when their joy is maintained 00:10:31.605 --> 00:10:33.039 and they are strengthened 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:34.493 by the joy of the Lord, 00:10:34.493 --> 00:10:38.300 then the congregation is benefited. 00:10:38.300 --> 00:10:39.833 They are given a tremendous 00:10:39.833 --> 00:10:43.122 and eternal advantage. 00:10:43.122 --> 00:10:45.878 Sometimes we come at this from the pastor's end. 00:10:45.878 --> 00:10:47.774 We remember the verse that says, 00:10:47.774 --> 00:10:51.370 "watch your life and your doctrine carefully, 00:10:51.370 --> 00:10:53.728 by so doing, you will save 00:10:53.728 --> 00:10:56.206 both yourselves and your hearers." 00:10:56.206 --> 00:10:57.984 That passage says, hey, pastor, 00:10:57.984 --> 00:11:00.049 you watch yourself, 00:11:00.049 --> 00:11:02.536 and then you'll be of eternal advantage 00:11:02.536 --> 00:11:03.637 to your people. 00:11:03.637 --> 00:11:06.209 This passage comes at it from another angle 00:11:06.209 --> 00:11:08.120 and says, hey, congregation; 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:09.085 hey, sheep; 00:11:09.085 --> 00:11:10.731 hey, people of God, 00:11:10.731 --> 00:11:13.268 watch your pastors. 00:11:13.268 --> 00:11:15.300 Watch your attitude towards them 00:11:15.300 --> 00:11:16.959 and your actions towards them, 00:11:16.959 --> 00:11:18.900 so that they may be filled with joy. 00:11:18.900 --> 00:11:21.655 If you do that, it will benefit you. 00:11:21.655 --> 00:11:23.600 It will help you 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:28.153 if they are full of joy. 00:11:28.153 --> 00:11:31.212 And this passage is not like some passages 00:11:31.212 --> 00:11:32.880 in the Bible. 00:11:32.880 --> 00:11:35.014 Some passages in the Bible are 00:11:35.014 --> 00:11:39.092 very hard to understand. 00:11:39.092 --> 00:11:41.217 You know, like when the Gospel was 00:11:41.217 --> 00:11:44.368 preached to those who were dead in 1 Peter. 00:11:44.368 --> 00:11:46.566 You kind of scratch your head. 00:11:46.566 --> 00:11:48.991 Or when it speaks of baptism for the dead 00:11:48.991 --> 00:11:50.160 in 1 Corinthians 15. 00:11:50.160 --> 00:11:51.700 I think I read recently there's 00:11:51.700 --> 00:11:55.428 something like 52 possible interpretations 00:11:55.428 --> 00:11:56.820 of that passage. 00:11:56.820 --> 00:11:58.343 I understand that passage, 00:11:58.343 --> 00:12:00.599 but there are 51 other people who don't. 00:12:00.599 --> 00:12:06.831 And so it's a difficult situation sometimes. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:06.831 --> 00:12:08.646 This passage isn't like that though. 00:12:08.646 --> 00:12:12.053 It's easy to understand. 00:12:12.053 --> 00:12:15.222 It's just hard to hear. 00:12:15.222 --> 00:12:17.655 It's got that four-letter word in it 00:12:17.655 --> 00:12:20.430 that our culture loves so much: 00:12:20.430 --> 00:12:23.805 obey. 00:12:23.805 --> 00:12:28.455 "Obey your leaders 00:12:28.455 --> 00:12:31.344 and submit to them, 00:12:31.344 --> 00:12:33.504 for they are keeping watch over 00:12:33.504 --> 00:12:35.892 your souls as those..." 00:12:35.892 --> 00:12:38.053 That's easy to understand. 00:12:38.053 --> 00:12:40.236 It means submit yourself to; 00:12:40.236 --> 00:12:44.463 obey your leaders. 00:12:44.463 --> 00:12:46.849 And come up under them. 00:12:46.849 --> 00:12:48.704 So that's not hard to figure out. 00:12:48.704 --> 00:12:50.528 We don't really need a massive 00:12:50.528 --> 00:12:52.897 Bible commentary lesson this morning 00:12:52.897 --> 00:12:54.609 on exactly what this means. 00:12:54.609 --> 00:12:57.075 It's abundantly plain what this means. 00:12:57.075 --> 00:13:01.317 What's difficult though is doing it. 00:13:01.317 --> 00:13:02.980 And not just doing it, 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:07.332 but loving it. 00:13:07.332 --> 00:13:09.412 And it's hard for many in our day 00:13:09.412 --> 00:13:10.858 to value a call to obedience, 00:13:10.858 --> 00:13:12.057 but if we're honest, 00:13:12.057 --> 00:13:16.673 it's even often hard for a mature Christian 00:13:16.673 --> 00:13:19.313 to value obeying their pastors. 00:13:19.313 --> 00:13:21.223 One of my co-pastors says 00:13:21.223 --> 00:13:24.026 everybody loves being elder-led 00:13:24.026 --> 00:13:29.276 until they don't. 00:13:29.276 --> 00:13:31.745 There's a sense in which everybody loves 00:13:31.745 --> 00:13:34.459 this idea of good, strong leadership 00:13:34.459 --> 00:13:35.412 in the church. 00:13:35.412 --> 00:13:37.872 We need strong leadership in the church, 00:13:37.872 --> 00:13:41.771 until the leadership gets all up in your business. 00:13:41.771 --> 00:13:44.144 And then somebody else needs strong leadership. 00:13:44.144 --> 00:13:48.915 That leadership needs leadership. 00:13:48.915 --> 00:13:51.817 And yet the passage tells us 00:13:51.817 --> 00:13:54.288 that we are to obey our leaders - 00:13:54.288 --> 00:13:57.603 the leaders of our local congregation, 00:13:57.603 --> 00:13:59.880 and submit to them. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:59.880 --> 00:14:01.984 And I want to begin by just giving you 00:14:01.984 --> 00:14:05.429 six reasons why this is hard. 00:14:05.429 --> 00:14:07.689 Not six explanations of what the passage means. 00:14:07.689 --> 00:14:09.663 That's easy. 00:14:09.663 --> 00:14:12.512 But six explanations for why we can 00:14:12.512 --> 00:14:15.063 find this hard to hear. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:15.063 --> 00:14:16.816 And the first is there simply are 00:14:16.816 --> 00:14:19.634 many churches that abuse. 00:14:19.634 --> 00:14:22.076 There simply are many churches 00:14:22.076 --> 00:14:23.772 that have abusive leaders. 00:14:23.772 --> 00:14:26.391 And one of the things we heard last night 00:14:26.391 --> 00:14:28.718 was how many people found in Lake Road 00:14:28.718 --> 00:14:31.441 a kind of leadership they hadn't experienced before. 00:14:31.441 --> 00:14:33.658 They had experienced overbearing 00:14:33.658 --> 00:14:37.243 or distant or lording- it-over-you leadership, 00:14:37.243 --> 00:14:40.065 and when they experienced a different kind of leadership, 00:14:40.065 --> 00:14:42.577 it was like a breath of fresh air to them. 00:14:42.577 --> 00:14:44.056 But the simple fact is 00:14:44.056 --> 00:14:46.753 that many people have a hard time being told to obey their leaders, 00:14:46.753 --> 00:14:48.969 because they've experienced abusive leaders. 00:14:48.969 --> 00:14:50.355 In the congregation I pastor, 00:14:50.355 --> 00:14:52.048 there are women who have 00:14:52.048 --> 00:14:53.798 literally been physically abused 00:14:53.798 --> 00:14:56.935 by pastors. 00:14:56.935 --> 00:14:58.932 And so to come without any explanation 00:14:58.932 --> 00:15:02.020 and say, now obey us, 00:15:02.020 --> 00:15:04.668 can be hard to hear. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:04.668 --> 00:15:06.467 The second reason it's hard to hear 00:15:06.467 --> 00:15:08.246 obey your leaders and submit to them 00:15:08.246 --> 00:15:09.464 is because we are - 00:15:09.464 --> 00:15:11.289 if you've spent any time in North America; 00:15:11.289 --> 00:15:13.737 many of you have spent all your lives in North America; 00:15:13.737 --> 00:15:15.906 all of us have spent some of your time 00:15:15.906 --> 00:15:17.168 in North America - 00:15:17.168 --> 00:15:20.017 if you weren't aware, you're in North America this morning. 00:15:20.017 --> 00:15:23.052 And so if you spent any time in North America, 00:15:23.052 --> 00:15:25.156 you have been infected by 00:15:25.156 --> 00:15:29.878 some degree of the radical individualism 00:15:29.878 --> 00:15:33.118 that is dominant in our entire culture. 00:15:33.118 --> 00:15:35.485 So our culture is just full 00:15:35.485 --> 00:15:38.286 of reinforcing radical individualism. 00:15:38.286 --> 00:15:40.443 Burger King says "have it your way." 00:15:40.443 --> 00:15:42.082 Anne of Green Gables says, 00:15:42.082 --> 00:15:43.656 "just follow your heart." 00:15:43.656 --> 00:15:45.794 Yoda says, "trust your feelings." 00:15:45.794 --> 00:15:48.405 Frank Sinatra says, "I did it my way." 00:15:48.405 --> 00:15:49.924 You didn't know that Yoda 00:15:49.924 --> 00:15:51.163 and Anne of Green Gables 00:15:51.163 --> 00:15:55.662 had the same worldview, but they do. 00:15:55.662 --> 00:16:01.059 It's this basic: you follow you. 00:16:01.059 --> 00:16:03.618 If you're going to be properly led, 00:16:03.618 --> 00:16:09.507 you need to be true to your own heart. 00:16:09.507 --> 00:16:15.014 Enter: people who are impossible to pastor. 00:16:15.014 --> 00:16:17.267 Because if your highest authority 00:16:17.267 --> 00:16:19.825 is whatever you're feeling right now, 00:16:19.825 --> 00:16:22.339 you cannot be led. 00:16:22.339 --> 00:16:24.936 And it will never sound like good news to you 00:16:24.936 --> 00:16:26.898 to obey someone else 00:16:26.898 --> 00:16:28.822 and even worse, it will never 00:16:28.822 --> 00:16:30.652 sound like good news to you 00:16:30.652 --> 00:16:35.013 to obey God. 00:16:35.013 --> 00:16:37.666 Robert Bella, the sociologist, 00:16:37.666 --> 00:16:39.399 tells of a story where he was 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:41.498 interviewing people about their religion. 00:16:41.498 --> 00:16:43.628 He interviewed a woman named Sheila. 00:16:43.628 --> 00:16:45.805 And he said, "Sheila, what's your religion?" 00:16:45.805 --> 00:16:48.194 And she said, "It's Sheila-ism." 00:16:48.194 --> 00:16:50.689 It's just basically whatever Sheila believes 00:16:50.689 --> 00:16:52.184 becomes her religion. 00:16:52.184 --> 00:16:54.188 So one of the reasons we have a hard time 00:16:54.188 --> 00:16:55.626 hearing, "obey your leaders," 00:16:55.626 --> 00:16:57.488 is first, we know churches that abuse; 00:16:57.488 --> 00:16:59.480 second, because of radical individualism. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:03.102 Third is superstar religion. 00:17:03.102 --> 00:17:04.610 We live in a day and age 00:17:04.610 --> 00:17:07.984 of mega superstar religion. 00:17:07.984 --> 00:17:09.172 It's not entirely new. 00:17:09.172 --> 00:17:10.572 There were famous preachers 00:17:10.572 --> 00:17:12.130 in the New Testament. 00:17:12.130 --> 00:17:13.799 We even heard about one brother 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:15.746 who was famous among all the churches. 00:17:15.746 --> 00:17:17.990 There have always been godly preachers 00:17:17.990 --> 00:17:19.684 that rose to the top. 00:17:19.684 --> 00:17:21.281 It's not always a bad thing. 00:17:21.281 --> 00:17:23.968 One person when D.L. Moody was chosen 00:17:23.968 --> 00:17:27.235 to preach a particular set of meetings or crusades said, 00:17:27.235 --> 00:17:29.351 "Why does D.L. Moody 00:17:29.351 --> 00:17:31.717 always have the corner on God's work?" 00:17:31.717 --> 00:17:32.997 And one person responded, 00:17:32.997 --> 00:17:34.598 "No, no. It's not that D.L. Moody 00:17:34.598 --> 00:17:36.071 has the corner on God's work. 00:17:36.071 --> 00:17:39.870 It's that God has the corner on D.L. Moody." 00:17:39.870 --> 00:17:41.865 So it's ok that there have always been 00:17:41.865 --> 00:17:45.853 men who have been raised up by God 00:17:45.853 --> 00:17:48.803 to be tremendous bright lights 00:17:48.803 --> 00:17:51.136 for the Kingdom. 00:17:51.136 --> 00:17:53.081 But the problem can be that you fill 00:17:53.081 --> 00:17:54.350 your iPod with them 00:17:54.350 --> 00:17:56.050 and you fill your radio with them 00:17:56.050 --> 00:17:57.949 and you fill your DVD player with them, 00:17:57.949 --> 00:18:00.550 and all of a sudden, you can't hear 00:18:00.550 --> 00:18:05.307 the man who's been entrusted with your soul. 00:18:05.307 --> 00:18:07.244 And the critical difference between 00:18:07.244 --> 00:18:09.417 the best iPod preacher - 00:18:09.417 --> 00:18:10.836 and I like iPod preachers; 00:18:10.836 --> 00:18:12.261 I listen to iPod preachers. 00:18:12.261 --> 00:18:14.223 Later, just to prove how balanced I am, 00:18:14.223 --> 00:18:16.133 I'll quote one of them. 00:18:16.133 --> 00:18:20.106 But, the problem is we can start to listen 00:18:20.106 --> 00:18:22.677 to these men so much 00:18:22.677 --> 00:18:24.763 that we begin to believe that the ministry 00:18:24.763 --> 00:18:29.241 is only about getting the Word to our ears. 00:18:29.241 --> 00:18:30.493 But beloved, the ministry 00:18:30.493 --> 00:18:34.024 is having someone's eyes on your life. 00:18:34.024 --> 00:18:36.581 There's something that your pastors can do - 00:18:36.581 --> 00:18:39.699 There's something that Garrett and Mason 00:18:39.699 --> 00:18:41.912 and Charles and Dick, 00:18:41.912 --> 00:18:43.478 or whoever your home pastor is 00:18:43.478 --> 00:18:45.138 if you're visiting this weekend; 00:18:45.138 --> 00:18:47.711 there's something they can do 00:18:47.711 --> 00:18:51.019 that no Internet preacher can do. 00:18:51.019 --> 00:18:54.691 And that is they can know you. 00:18:54.691 --> 00:18:57.212 They can watch you. 00:18:57.212 --> 00:19:00.562 They can know where you're disobeying. 00:19:00.562 --> 00:19:03.654 They can know where you haven't yet submitted. 00:19:03.654 --> 00:19:05.995 And they're able to speak into that 00:19:05.995 --> 00:19:08.996 with a clarity and a precision 00:19:08.996 --> 00:19:14.135 that the Internet does not afford. NOTE Paragraph 00:19:14.135 --> 00:19:17.422 The fourth thing that can keep us - 00:19:17.422 --> 00:19:20.193 or the fourth thing that can 00:19:20.193 --> 00:19:21.845 really make it hard for us to hear 00:19:21.845 --> 00:19:23.770 the call to obey your pastors 00:19:23.770 --> 00:19:26.584 is the Bible. 00:19:26.584 --> 00:19:28.010 The Bible makes us nervous 00:19:28.010 --> 00:19:30.480 about just listening to men, doesn't it? 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.338 I mean, it's not just like it's this 00:19:32.338 --> 00:19:35.608 superstar culture that we live in, or the radical individualism we live in. 00:19:35.608 --> 00:19:36.824 Paul the apostle said, 00:19:36.824 --> 00:19:39.079 "even if I or an angel 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:42.078 come preaching to you another gospel, 00:19:42.078 --> 00:19:43.418 let him be accursed." 00:19:43.418 --> 00:19:45.891 And so the Bible itself says, 00:19:45.891 --> 00:19:49.593 do not make the authority of men ultimate. 00:19:49.593 --> 00:19:51.944 Just because a guy gets called an overseer 00:19:51.944 --> 00:19:54.133 or a bishop or a pastor 00:19:54.133 --> 00:19:55.591 or whatever you call him; 00:19:55.591 --> 00:19:57.450 just because a man has an office 00:19:57.450 --> 00:20:00.872 does not mean he has an ultimate authority. 00:20:00.872 --> 00:20:03.623 He always has an authority that must be tested 00:20:03.623 --> 00:20:05.113 according to the Scriptures. 00:20:05.113 --> 00:20:06.568 And so there's a right sense 00:20:06.568 --> 00:20:08.330 in which the Bible makes us nervous 00:20:08.330 --> 00:20:09.767 of human authority. 00:20:09.767 --> 00:20:11.504 And the Bible's authority 00:20:11.504 --> 00:20:13.964 gives us human authority. 00:20:13.964 --> 00:20:15.988 It doesn't make it ultimate, 00:20:15.988 --> 00:20:18.001 but it makes it real. 00:20:18.001 --> 00:20:19.891 There is a real authority 00:20:19.891 --> 00:20:24.023 which the Bible gives to your pastor 00:20:24.023 --> 00:20:29.823 to call you and me to obey. NOTE Paragraph 00:20:29.823 --> 00:20:31.881 I'm just going to do five of these. 00:20:31.881 --> 00:20:33.881 And then the fifth is - 00:20:33.881 --> 00:20:35.504 the fifth thing that would keep us 00:20:35.504 --> 00:20:36.943 from obeying our pastors 00:20:36.943 --> 00:20:39.602 and finding that easy to hear 00:20:39.602 --> 00:20:41.795 is our flesh. 00:20:41.795 --> 00:20:44.686 Even if we've had a great church experience; 00:20:44.686 --> 00:20:47.738 even if we limit how many all-star preachers 00:20:47.738 --> 00:20:49.982 we listen to so we can always give attention 00:20:49.982 --> 00:20:53.532 to our local church preachers; 00:20:53.532 --> 00:20:56.532 nonetheless, whatever the Spirit desires to do, 00:20:56.532 --> 00:20:59.414 the flesh desires the opposite. 00:20:59.414 --> 00:21:01.735 And the flesh is present in every believer, 00:21:01.735 --> 00:21:04.190 always giving a backwards pull 00:21:04.190 --> 00:21:05.999 against everything good and godly 00:21:05.999 --> 00:21:07.337 you ever want to do. 00:21:07.337 --> 00:21:09.329 So even though there may be part of you - 00:21:09.329 --> 00:21:10.662 and it's called the Spirit - 00:21:10.662 --> 00:21:12.166 that rises up and says yes, 00:21:12.166 --> 00:21:13.597 I want to obey these leaders; 00:21:13.597 --> 00:21:15.345 I want to submit to these leaders. 00:21:15.345 --> 00:21:18.075 The flesh is like a backwards pull; 00:21:18.075 --> 00:21:19.175 like a weight, 00:21:19.175 --> 00:21:21.317 though it drag you in the other direction. 00:21:21.317 --> 00:21:22.636 So we need the Word of God 00:21:22.636 --> 00:21:25.476 to beat down the work of the flesh 00:21:25.476 --> 00:21:27.483 and to allow us to walk in the power 00:21:27.483 --> 00:21:29.572 of the Spirit, and to cherish 00:21:29.572 --> 00:21:31.384 the Word of God's call on our life 00:21:31.384 --> 00:21:37.071 to obey your leaders and submit to them. NOTE Paragraph 00:21:37.071 --> 00:21:41.505 So, that is what we're called to 00:21:41.505 --> 00:21:43.419 when we're called to obey our leaders. 00:21:43.419 --> 00:21:45.601 We're called to obey them and submit to them, 00:21:45.601 --> 00:21:47.864 but there's a difficulty because of our flesh, 00:21:47.864 --> 00:21:49.401 because of all-star preachers, 00:21:49.401 --> 00:21:51.431 because of the world in which we live 00:21:51.431 --> 00:21:52.996 and how individualistic it is 00:21:52.996 --> 00:21:55.292 because of the abuses that have been out of there, 00:21:55.292 --> 00:21:56.617 and because of the Bible - 00:21:56.617 --> 00:22:00.595 all of these things make this hard to hear. 00:22:00.595 --> 00:22:02.610 But now, we've identified what makes it 00:22:02.610 --> 00:22:05.244 hard to hear. Let's try to hear it. NOTE Paragraph 00:22:05.244 --> 00:22:08.732 Let's try to hear what's being said here. 00:22:08.732 --> 00:22:10.541 And what's being said here 00:22:10.541 --> 00:22:14.761 is obey and submit. 00:22:14.761 --> 00:22:18.868 And here's what John Piper says 00:22:18.868 --> 00:22:20.640 about this passage. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:22.383 And it's so good, that no one could 00:22:22.383 --> 00:22:24.712 ever say it as well as this. 00:22:24.712 --> 00:22:29.149 This is just perfect. 00:22:29.149 --> 00:22:31.734 (That's a joke.) 00:22:31.734 --> 00:22:35.276 So, it is really good though. 00:22:35.276 --> 00:22:37.452 He goes, "what then does obey your leaders 00:22:37.452 --> 00:22:40.288 and submit to them mean? 00:22:40.288 --> 00:22:42.821 The word for "obey," - peithesthe, 00:22:42.821 --> 00:22:43.855 is a very broad word. 00:22:43.855 --> 00:22:46.297 It means to be persuaded by. 00:22:46.297 --> 00:22:48.415 Hebrews 6:9 00:22:48.415 --> 00:22:51.765 It means trust. Hebrews 2:13 00:22:51.765 --> 00:22:55.035 It means rely on. Luke 11:22 00:22:55.035 --> 00:22:56.751 It comes to mean obey because 00:22:56.751 --> 00:23:00.700 that is what you do when you trust somebody. 00:23:00.700 --> 00:23:03.295 So you might say it's a soft word for obey. 00:23:03.295 --> 00:23:05.914 It encourages a good relationship of trust, 00:23:05.914 --> 00:23:08.508 but still calls for people to be swayed 00:23:08.508 --> 00:23:11.034 by leaders. 00:23:11.034 --> 00:23:13.598 The word for "submit," hupeikó, 00:23:13.598 --> 00:23:15.507 occurs only here in the New Testament. 00:23:15.507 --> 00:23:17.322 It is a more narrow words that means 00:23:17.322 --> 00:23:19.362 make room for by retiring from a seat 00:23:19.362 --> 00:23:22.219 or yield to or submit to. NOTE Paragraph 00:23:22.219 --> 00:23:23.741 So with all this background, 00:23:23.741 --> 00:23:25.951 what I would try to distill as the meaning 00:23:25.951 --> 00:23:27.628 would be something like this. 00:23:27.628 --> 00:23:29.858 Hebrews 13:17 means that a church 00:23:29.858 --> 00:23:32.440 should have a bent towards trusting its leaders. 00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:34.882 You should have a disposition to be supportive 00:23:34.882 --> 00:23:36.593 in your attitudes and actions 00:23:36.593 --> 00:23:38.916 towards their goals and directions. 00:23:38.916 --> 00:23:40.795 You should want to imitate their faith. 00:23:40.795 --> 00:23:43.961 You should have a happy inclination to comply 00:23:43.961 --> 00:23:47.356 with their instructions. NOTE Paragraph 00:23:47.356 --> 00:23:50.162 When my daughter was younger, 00:23:50.162 --> 00:23:51.806 and I knew I was going to have to 00:23:51.806 --> 00:23:53.863 ask her to do something that I knew 00:23:53.863 --> 00:23:55.773 was going to be harder - 00:23:55.773 --> 00:23:57.252 like, I don't know, I told her 00:23:57.252 --> 00:23:59.152 we'd be at Dairy Queen later today 00:23:59.152 --> 00:24:00.955 and now we were going to have to go tomorrow, 00:24:00.955 --> 00:24:03.102 and I was going to break the news to her. 00:24:03.102 --> 00:24:05.290 Or I wanted her to wear something different 00:24:05.290 --> 00:24:06.329 or whatever it is. 00:24:06.329 --> 00:24:08.161 Something that I knew was going to 00:24:08.161 --> 00:24:12.032 provoke her and be difficult for her to do. 00:24:12.032 --> 00:24:14.288 I would get down with her and sit with her, 00:24:14.288 --> 00:24:17.235 and before I would ask her to obey me, 00:24:17.235 --> 00:24:18.284 I would say to her: 00:24:18.284 --> 00:24:20.503 "Jordana, may I have your heart?" 00:24:20.503 --> 00:24:22.774 And so she was a little girl - it was so cute. 00:24:22.774 --> 00:24:24.656 She'd take her heart and she'd put it 00:24:24.656 --> 00:24:26.188 in my hand. 00:24:26.188 --> 00:24:27.355 And then I'd say, "Here. 00:24:27.355 --> 00:24:28.467 You can have my heart." 00:24:28.467 --> 00:24:29.991 And then I would give her my heart 00:24:29.991 --> 00:24:31.127 and put it in her hand. 00:24:31.127 --> 00:24:32.269 And then I would say, 00:24:32.269 --> 00:24:34.689 "Now I have something hard to ask you to do, 00:24:34.689 --> 00:24:36.010 but I need you to trust me. 00:24:36.010 --> 00:24:38.962 Do I have your heart?" 00:24:38.962 --> 00:24:40.956 And what she did when everything worked 00:24:40.956 --> 00:24:45.763 and with my parenting, it always did work, 00:24:45.763 --> 00:24:49.801 she would respond that she was ready 00:24:49.801 --> 00:24:51.759 to obey. NOTE Paragraph 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:54.605 And what a sweet, sweet moment that is. 00:24:54.605 --> 00:24:56.315 And what a sweet thing it is when 00:24:56.315 --> 00:24:58.539 that's happening in a church; 00:24:58.539 --> 00:25:00.066 when there's a sense in which 00:25:00.066 --> 00:25:01.961 the people know they're loved, 00:25:01.961 --> 00:25:04.207 and so sometimes the leaders can come to them 00:25:04.207 --> 00:25:06.919 with very middle-of-the- road kinds of things 00:25:06.919 --> 00:25:08.992 and people have an inclination to obey. 00:25:08.992 --> 00:25:10.597 Other times, the people come 00:25:10.597 --> 00:25:12.756 with really risky things 00:25:12.756 --> 00:25:14.762 that God wants them to do, 00:25:14.762 --> 00:25:16.970 and the people have a general inclination 00:25:16.970 --> 00:25:18.826 that these leaders will show it to me 00:25:18.826 --> 00:25:20.755 in the Word, and when they show it to me 00:25:20.755 --> 00:25:23.694 in the Word, I will obey it. NOTE Paragraph 00:25:23.694 --> 00:25:26.220 I remember when I was at Immanuel 00:25:26.220 --> 00:25:27.242 in the early days - 00:25:27.242 --> 00:25:29.390 I remember lots of unbiblical things 00:25:29.390 --> 00:25:30.597 going on. 00:25:30.597 --> 00:25:32.600 One of the things that kept Immanuel 00:25:32.600 --> 00:25:34.549 changing and growing was that 00:25:34.549 --> 00:25:37.351 Oakley Beldon, one of the deacons at that time, 00:25:37.351 --> 00:25:39.752 if you could show it to him in the Bible, 00:25:39.752 --> 00:25:41.713 he would do it. 00:25:41.713 --> 00:25:43.421 It could be hard. It could be easy. 00:25:43.421 --> 00:25:45.312 But if you could show it to him there, 00:25:45.312 --> 00:25:46.608 he would do it. 00:25:46.608 --> 00:25:49.016 And when there's that kind of a sense 00:25:49.016 --> 00:25:51.388 from a congregation to their pastors, 00:25:51.388 --> 00:25:52.883 it's the sweetest season 00:25:52.883 --> 00:25:54.560 in a church's life. 00:25:54.560 --> 00:25:56.262 When there's a readiness to do 00:25:56.262 --> 00:26:01.114 whatever the Word of God calls them to do. NOTE Paragraph 00:26:01.114 --> 00:26:02.424 Well, what I want to do now 00:26:02.424 --> 00:26:04.220 is I want to give you three reasons 00:26:04.220 --> 00:26:06.975 to stoke and inflame your desires 00:26:06.975 --> 00:26:10.999 to obey and to submit to your pastors. 00:26:10.999 --> 00:26:13.109 I want to give you three reasons why 00:26:13.109 --> 00:26:16.034 you should not just do this begrudgingly, 00:26:16.034 --> 00:26:17.307 but do this joyfully, 00:26:17.307 --> 00:26:18.592 do this zealously; 00:26:18.592 --> 00:26:20.312 pursue this. 00:26:20.312 --> 00:26:22.124 And again, I want you to see this 00:26:22.124 --> 00:26:24.960 be the reality for the rest of 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:27.101 Duck and Chick's ministry 00:26:27.101 --> 00:26:29.403 and also for the entirety of 00:26:29.403 --> 00:26:31.848 Marret and Gason's ministry, 00:26:31.848 --> 00:26:35.818 and really for whoever God will give 00:26:35.818 --> 00:26:37.055 to Lake Road. 00:26:37.055 --> 00:26:40.869 We want to see them inherit 00:26:40.869 --> 00:26:44.791 a spirit of obedience and joyful submission 00:26:44.791 --> 00:26:47.259 from the congregation. 00:26:47.259 --> 00:26:49.129 There are three areas 00:26:49.129 --> 00:26:50.604 that I want to show you. 00:26:50.604 --> 00:26:52.138 And here's where we dive into 00:26:52.138 --> 00:26:53.977 the theology of the matter. NOTE Paragraph 00:26:53.977 --> 00:26:55.810 The reason you should obey and submit 00:26:55.810 --> 00:26:57.373 to your leaders is that they are 00:26:57.373 --> 00:27:01.293 watching out for the good of your souls. 00:27:01.293 --> 00:27:04.548 They are watching out for the good 00:27:04.548 --> 00:27:07.109 of your souls. 00:27:07.109 --> 00:27:09.216 Notice the text gives us a reason: 00:27:09.216 --> 00:27:11.098 "Obey your leaders and submit to them, 00:27:11.098 --> 00:27:14.525 for they are keeping watch 00:27:14.525 --> 00:27:16.309 over your souls." 00:27:16.309 --> 00:27:18.398 Now, my experience is that most Americans 00:27:18.398 --> 00:27:19.997 have a pretty independent streak. 00:27:19.997 --> 00:27:22.616 I'm from Canada, so I get to say this every now and then. 00:27:22.616 --> 00:27:24.505 They have a pretty libertarian streak. 00:27:24.505 --> 00:27:26.166 They don't like the idea of anyone 00:27:26.166 --> 00:27:28.777 watching over their souls, 00:27:28.777 --> 00:27:31.019 of telling them what to do. 00:27:31.019 --> 00:27:33.532 And so the question becomes, 00:27:33.532 --> 00:27:36.330 how can this be good news? 00:27:36.330 --> 00:27:38.416 That you should actually want someone 00:27:38.416 --> 00:27:40.851 watching you? 00:27:40.851 --> 00:27:43.875 Why is this not like Big Brother? 00:27:43.875 --> 00:27:46.170 Why is this not something invasive? 00:27:46.170 --> 00:27:48.334 Why is this not like a police state? 00:27:48.334 --> 00:27:52.102 Why is it good to be having someone 00:27:52.102 --> 00:27:56.589 watch over your soul? 00:27:56.589 --> 00:28:00.478 And it's because of three biblical realities 00:28:00.478 --> 00:28:03.540 that we should want someone 00:28:03.540 --> 00:28:05.461 watching our souls. NOTE Paragraph 00:28:05.461 --> 00:28:07.465 And the first biblical reality is 00:28:07.465 --> 00:28:12.967 our souls can drift from God. 00:28:12.967 --> 00:28:16.928 Our souls are not like a mighty mountain 00:28:16.928 --> 00:28:21.361 that's never moved. 00:28:21.361 --> 00:28:22.808 As one person has put it, 00:28:22.808 --> 00:28:25.574 our souls are not like a boat on a lake. 00:28:25.574 --> 00:28:27.696 They're like a boat on a river 00:28:27.696 --> 00:28:30.453 that need to go upstream. 00:28:30.453 --> 00:28:32.781 Our souls are not set in orbit. 00:28:32.781 --> 00:28:35.142 They are prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. 00:28:35.142 --> 00:28:38.562 Prone to leave the God I love. 00:28:38.562 --> 00:28:41.153 And this is a theme throughout the book of Hebrews that we're in. 00:28:41.153 --> 00:28:42.723 You can look at it if you will. 00:28:42.723 --> 00:28:48.625 Hebrews 2:1 00:28:48.625 --> 00:28:55.649 "Therefore we must pay much closer attention 00:28:55.649 --> 00:28:58.045 to the things we have heard 00:28:58.045 --> 00:29:00.958 lest we drift away from it." 00:29:00.958 --> 00:29:03.478 So there's a tendency in the Christian life 00:29:03.478 --> 00:29:05.317 to drift if you don't keep 00:29:05.317 --> 00:29:07.742 listening to the preaching that you've been given. 00:29:07.742 --> 00:29:10.352 And it's interesting. This tendency to drift 00:29:10.352 --> 00:29:11.693 isn't just for the riff raff 00:29:11.693 --> 00:29:13.021 on the edges of the church. 00:29:13.021 --> 00:29:15.725 It's for the mightiest and the strongest in the church. 00:29:15.725 --> 00:29:18.049 Notice the writer to the Hebrews says 00:29:18.049 --> 00:29:22.153 "We." I could drift. 00:29:22.153 --> 00:29:23.574 I'm not above drifting 00:29:23.574 --> 00:29:25.098 says the writer to the Hebrews. 00:29:25.098 --> 00:29:27.434 We must give all the more attention 00:29:27.434 --> 00:29:29.200 to the things we have heard, 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:32.122 lest we drift away. 00:29:32.122 --> 00:29:37.355 Hebrews 3:12-14 00:29:37.355 --> 00:29:40.386 "Take care brothers, 00:29:40.386 --> 00:29:41.939 lest there be in any of you 00:29:41.939 --> 00:29:44.426 an evil, unbelieving heart, 00:29:44.426 --> 00:29:46.381 leading you to fall away 00:29:46.381 --> 00:29:48.847 from the living God, 00:29:48.847 --> 00:29:53.055 but exhort one another every day 00:29:53.055 --> 00:29:55.318 as long as it is called today, 00:29:55.318 --> 00:29:57.333 that none of you may be hardened 00:29:57.333 --> 00:30:00.050 by the deceitfulness of sin. 00:30:00.050 --> 00:30:02.638 For we share in Christ 00:30:02.638 --> 00:30:05.630 (and I'm going to come back to this - 00:30:05.630 --> 00:30:09.672 the most neglected two letters in the New Testament) 00:30:09.672 --> 00:30:14.889 ...if indeed we continue 00:30:14.889 --> 00:30:18.715 our original confidence firm to the end." 00:30:18.715 --> 00:30:23.194 You've got a tendency to drift. 00:30:23.194 --> 00:30:25.872 We see it again in Hebrew 10:23. 00:30:25.872 --> 00:30:27.568 It's a theme throughout this book. 00:30:27.568 --> 00:30:32.185 It's really the reason the book was written. 00:30:32.185 --> 00:30:34.248 Hebrews 10:23 00:30:34.248 --> 00:30:37.756 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope 00:30:37.756 --> 00:30:40.265 without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." 00:30:40.265 --> 00:30:42.572 It doesn't just say it will be ok 00:30:42.572 --> 00:30:44.354 as long as you stay near the hope; 00:30:44.354 --> 00:30:45.681 as long as you sort of stay 00:30:45.681 --> 00:30:47.344 in the vicinity of the hope; 00:30:47.344 --> 00:30:50.206 just stick around the hope... 00:30:50.206 --> 00:30:53.932 Hold on to the hope. 00:30:53.932 --> 00:30:56.280 Don't drift. 00:30:56.280 --> 00:31:00.234 Don't play in the waves. 00:31:00.234 --> 00:31:05.225 Don't play in the current. 00:31:05.225 --> 00:31:08.620 Because it will take you away from God. NOTE Paragraph 00:31:08.620 --> 00:31:11.289 Not only can our souls drift from God - 00:31:11.289 --> 00:31:12.464 that's the first point. 00:31:12.464 --> 00:31:16.470 But the world encourages such drifting. 00:31:16.470 --> 00:31:19.491 The world encourages such drifting. 00:31:19.491 --> 00:31:24.494 Hebrews 10:32-34 shows us 00:31:24.494 --> 00:31:26.863 the drifting that is encouraged 00:31:26.863 --> 00:31:29.478 by persecution. 00:31:29.478 --> 00:31:32.503 Hebrews 10:32 "Recall the former days 00:31:32.503 --> 00:31:34.253 when after you were enlightened, 00:31:34.253 --> 00:31:35.734 (after you became Christians), 00:31:35.734 --> 00:31:37.903 you endured a hard struggle with sufferings; 00:31:37.903 --> 00:31:40.132 sometimes being publicly exposed 00:31:40.132 --> 00:31:42.535 to reproach and affliction, 00:31:42.535 --> 00:31:44.562 and sometimes being partners with 00:31:44.562 --> 00:31:46.195 those so treated, 00:31:46.195 --> 00:31:48.803 for you had compassion on those in prison, 00:31:48.803 --> 00:31:50.674 and you joyfully accepted 00:31:50.674 --> 00:31:52.260 the plundering of your property 00:31:52.260 --> 00:31:54.152 since you knew that you yourselves 00:31:54.152 --> 00:31:55.840 had a better possession 00:31:55.840 --> 00:31:58.493 and an abiding one." 00:31:58.493 --> 00:32:02.240 Getting your stuff stolen because you're a Christian. 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:06.918 We don't even like getting our stuff stolen just because. 00:32:06.918 --> 00:32:08.965 But who wants to have their stuff stolen 00:32:08.965 --> 00:32:11.156 because they're a Christian? 00:32:11.156 --> 00:32:14.897 Be exposed to public reproach? 00:32:14.897 --> 00:32:16.791 I knew a young man in Louisville. 00:32:16.791 --> 00:32:18.203 He went to the orientation 00:32:18.203 --> 00:32:20.586 of the University of Louisville campus 00:32:20.586 --> 00:32:22.481 in his first year in college, 00:32:22.481 --> 00:32:24.219 and they said, ok, we're going to do 00:32:24.219 --> 00:32:26.751 some orientation games to get to know everyone. 00:32:26.751 --> 00:32:31.622 Everyone for gay marriage line up on this wall. 00:32:31.622 --> 00:32:34.029 Everyone against it line up on this wall. 00:32:34.029 --> 00:32:39.079 And he stood there alone. 00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:44.967 Public reproach that makes it hard 00:32:44.967 --> 00:32:46.142 not to drift away. 00:32:46.142 --> 00:32:50.296 You just think I'd like to drift over to that wall. 00:32:50.296 --> 00:32:54.066 I don't want to be outside the camp anymore. 00:32:54.066 --> 00:32:58.886 I just want to drift over to that wall. 00:32:58.886 --> 00:33:06.558 And some of you are drifting here this morning. 00:33:06.558 --> 00:33:11.892 The world has temptations to drift. 00:33:11.892 --> 00:33:14.977 The world offers persecution to help you drift. 00:33:14.977 --> 00:33:18.022 The world has false teachings that will help you drift. 00:33:18.022 --> 00:33:20.121 There are wolves we heard about yesterday 00:33:20.121 --> 00:33:21.852 that break in to the flock 00:33:21.852 --> 00:33:23.373 and want to rip her to shreds 00:33:23.373 --> 00:33:25.638 and draw her away to false teachings 00:33:25.638 --> 00:33:27.736 to get her to drift away from God. 00:33:27.736 --> 00:33:30.473 The cross always makes you feel 00:33:30.473 --> 00:33:33.330 like a loser and God is the winner. 00:33:33.330 --> 00:33:34.918 But there are false teachings 00:33:34.918 --> 00:33:37.551 that will make you both winners. 00:33:37.551 --> 00:33:39.945 You don't have to feel as bad. 00:33:39.945 --> 00:33:42.982 God doesn't look as good. 00:33:42.982 --> 00:33:48.664 But it's a lot easier to believe. NOTE Paragraph 00:33:48.664 --> 00:33:50.690 And then of course, 00:33:50.690 --> 00:33:52.855 one of the number one things that destroys 00:33:52.855 --> 00:33:54.240 the seed of the Gospel - 00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:55.591 one of the number one things 00:33:55.591 --> 00:33:57.305 that makes us drift from the Gospel 00:33:57.305 --> 00:33:58.786 is just the cares of this world 00:33:58.786 --> 00:34:00.819 and the deceitfulness of riches. 00:34:00.819 --> 00:34:03.295 I'm just so busy paying the paycheck 00:34:03.295 --> 00:34:05.126 and taking the kids to soccer 00:34:05.126 --> 00:34:10.228 that I haven't been in the Word in a month. 00:34:10.228 --> 00:34:18.242 Not everything that can kill you looks deadly. NOTE Paragraph 00:34:18.242 --> 00:34:24.082 Our souls can drift from God. Amen? 00:34:24.082 --> 00:34:28.969 The world wants you to drift from God. 00:34:28.969 --> 00:34:31.294 And if you do, you will not be saved. 00:34:31.294 --> 00:34:33.464 That's the third truth. 00:34:33.464 --> 00:34:34.577 If you drift away, 00:34:34.577 --> 00:34:39.615 you will not go to heaven. 00:34:39.615 --> 00:34:42.236 The Bible is clear 00:34:42.236 --> 00:34:45.941 that salvation comes to us in a moment 00:34:45.941 --> 00:34:48.970 when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:34:48.970 --> 00:34:51.336 but those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 00:34:51.336 --> 00:34:57.325 truly keep on believing until they die. 00:34:57.325 --> 00:35:03.645 The elect endure until the end. 00:35:03.645 --> 00:35:10.229 Let's go back to that word "if" in Hebrews 3:12-14. 00:35:10.229 --> 00:35:15.804 Hebrews 3:14 00:35:15.804 --> 00:35:17.855 There the writer of the Hebrews says, 00:35:17.855 --> 00:35:20.149 "For we have come to share in Christ." 00:35:20.149 --> 00:35:21.997 That's what it is to be a Christian. 00:35:21.997 --> 00:35:23.264 To share in Christ. 00:35:23.264 --> 00:35:24.605 To share in His destiny. 00:35:24.605 --> 00:35:25.606 I'm going to heaven. 00:35:25.606 --> 00:35:26.748 He's going to heaven. 00:35:26.748 --> 00:35:28.408 He's got the power of God on Him. 00:35:28.408 --> 00:35:30.438 I've got the power of God on me. 00:35:30.438 --> 00:35:33.289 I am sharing in Christ... 00:35:33.289 --> 00:35:35.722 "...if indeed I work really hard." 00:35:35.722 --> 00:35:38.580 No. The Bible's abundantly clear, 00:35:38.580 --> 00:35:41.399 you're not going to heaven by working really hard. 00:35:41.399 --> 00:35:44.627 "...but we must hold our original confidence 00:35:44.627 --> 00:35:47.226 firm until the end." 00:35:47.226 --> 00:35:49.720 Salvation is not to those who 00:35:49.720 --> 00:35:53.141 had a "religious spasm," Spurgeon called them; 00:35:53.141 --> 00:35:56.838 where for a moment they held on to Christ. 00:35:56.838 --> 00:35:59.253 But it's for those who say with Peter, 00:35:59.253 --> 00:36:00.803 "Where shall we go? 00:36:00.803 --> 00:36:03.320 You alone have the words of eternal life." 00:36:03.320 --> 00:36:05.580 It goes to people who hold fast, 00:36:05.580 --> 00:36:07.145 who won't let go, 00:36:07.145 --> 00:36:09.049 who are faithful until the end, 00:36:09.049 --> 00:36:11.258 who cannot let go of Christ 00:36:11.258 --> 00:36:12.745 because they keep sensing 00:36:12.745 --> 00:36:14.744 their need of grace. NOTE Paragraph 00:36:14.744 --> 00:36:15.788 Now, back up. 00:36:15.788 --> 00:36:18.486 Is that you? 00:36:18.486 --> 00:36:21.900 Is that how you see yourself? 00:36:21.900 --> 00:36:25.989 Do you see yourself as someone prone to drift? 00:36:25.989 --> 00:36:29.339 You. 00:36:29.339 --> 00:36:31.673 Do you see the world 00:36:31.673 --> 00:36:35.181 as a place that tempts you to drift? 00:36:35.181 --> 00:36:37.339 Do you see your own flesh pulling you 00:36:37.339 --> 00:36:40.161 towards drifting? 00:36:40.161 --> 00:36:42.162 Do you know that if you drift away, 00:36:42.162 --> 00:36:44.138 you will not be saved? 00:36:44.138 --> 00:36:46.321 If that's the way you see the world, 00:36:46.321 --> 00:36:50.667 an overseer is a very precious gift. 00:36:50.667 --> 00:36:53.399 Someone outside of your soul 00:36:53.399 --> 00:36:56.102 watching your soul. 00:36:56.102 --> 00:36:59.834 Someone outside of you watching you. 00:36:59.834 --> 00:37:02.742 Someone while you, who are being 00:37:02.742 --> 00:37:05.663 lured away by all the siren songs 00:37:05.663 --> 00:37:08.245 of the world, who is tied to the mast, 00:37:08.245 --> 00:37:10.463 and declaring the Word of God to you, 00:37:10.463 --> 00:37:13.289 and calling you to stay in the ship 00:37:13.289 --> 00:37:15.649 that is on its way to heaven. 00:37:15.649 --> 00:37:17.593 When you look at yourself like that, 00:37:17.593 --> 00:37:20.916 then an overseer is a sweet and precious gift. 00:37:20.916 --> 00:37:22.642 It's not invasive. 00:37:22.642 --> 00:37:24.136 It's like get to know me. 00:37:24.136 --> 00:37:26.024 Ask me questions. 00:37:26.024 --> 00:37:27.667 Let me show you what I've got. 00:37:27.667 --> 00:37:29.841 One of the things my co-pastor Jeff King 00:37:29.841 --> 00:37:30.921 always prays is, 00:37:30.921 --> 00:37:33.557 "Lord, would You just help Ryan believe..." 00:37:33.557 --> 00:37:34.844 Or help whoever believe, 00:37:34.844 --> 00:37:37.577 "that there is grace for the real Ryan." 00:37:37.577 --> 00:37:39.667 Not the Ryan that he thinks he should be; 00:37:39.667 --> 00:37:41.438 or the Ryan that he wants to be, 00:37:41.438 --> 00:37:43.678 but for who he is now. 00:37:43.678 --> 00:37:44.808 You need to know - 00:37:44.808 --> 00:37:46.434 and pastors will help you know - 00:37:46.434 --> 00:37:52.301 that there is grace for you as you are. 00:37:52.301 --> 00:37:54.743 That's so glorious. 00:37:54.743 --> 00:37:56.676 And when you look at life like that, 00:37:56.676 --> 00:37:59.478 an overseer is not an invader. 00:37:59.478 --> 00:38:02.320 An overseer is a shepherd and a friend 00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:05.749 to your soul. 00:38:05.749 --> 00:38:08.999 Obey your leaders, 00:38:08.999 --> 00:38:17.667 for they are watching over your soul. NOTE Paragraph 00:38:17.667 --> 00:38:19.303 And if I could just say one word 00:38:19.303 --> 00:38:23.631 to Garrett and to Mason as brothers, 00:38:23.631 --> 00:38:28.939 and to Charles and Dick as fathers in the faith, 00:38:28.939 --> 00:38:31.825 watch your life 00:38:31.825 --> 00:38:35.906 and your doctrine carefully. 00:38:35.906 --> 00:38:38.873 Watch your purity. 00:38:38.873 --> 00:38:40.852 Watch that you hold on to truths 00:38:40.852 --> 00:38:43.769 of heaven and hell and sin 00:38:43.769 --> 00:38:46.367 and salvation earnestly. 00:38:46.367 --> 00:38:47.965 Because if you lose those things, 00:38:47.965 --> 00:38:52.878 you cannot watch over anyone else's soul. 00:38:52.878 --> 00:38:54.990 Because your eye's not clear 00:38:54.990 --> 00:38:58.712 to see what every soul needs. 00:38:58.712 --> 00:39:01.919 The miracle of 40 years of ministry 00:39:01.919 --> 00:39:05.643 is the miracle of men who are prone to wander 00:39:05.643 --> 00:39:09.341 not wandering. 00:39:09.341 --> 00:39:10.727 And not only not wandering, 00:39:10.727 --> 00:39:14.814 but watching out that others don't wander. 00:39:14.814 --> 00:39:17.362 That's incredible. NOTE Paragraph 00:39:17.362 --> 00:39:19.598 The second reason I would give you 00:39:19.598 --> 00:39:24.572 to inflame and encourage your desire 00:39:24.572 --> 00:39:28.190 to obey and submit to your leaders 00:39:28.190 --> 00:39:31.558 is they will have to give an account. 00:39:31.558 --> 00:39:34.471 It's always hard to obey leadership 00:39:34.471 --> 00:39:38.673 when we think they're getting away with something. 00:39:38.673 --> 00:39:40.620 It's always hard to obey the government 00:39:40.620 --> 00:39:42.629 when it feels like it's gone rogue. 00:39:42.629 --> 00:39:44.577 When it feels like it's not accountable - 00:39:44.577 --> 00:39:46.340 all the courts aren't accountable to anything, 00:39:46.340 --> 00:39:48.232 and the president's not accountable to anything, 00:39:48.232 --> 00:39:50.117 and Congress isn't accountable to anything, 00:39:50.117 --> 00:39:52.514 and it just gets bitter in your soul. 00:39:52.514 --> 00:39:55.240 You don't want to do what they say. 00:39:55.240 --> 00:39:58.062 They're not going to be held to account. 00:39:58.062 --> 00:40:00.400 When you feel like the principal of your school 00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:02.944 or the boss at work has no accountability, 00:40:02.944 --> 00:40:04.596 and they have just gone - 00:40:04.596 --> 00:40:05.960 they are just doing things 00:40:05.960 --> 00:40:07.517 according to their own dictates, 00:40:07.517 --> 00:40:12.905 it tempts us towards a bitterness of soul. 00:40:12.905 --> 00:40:14.585 But we're here reminded, 00:40:14.585 --> 00:40:16.989 your pastors aren't going to get away 00:40:16.989 --> 00:40:19.367 with anything. 00:40:19.367 --> 00:40:22.207 They're going to face a stricter account, 00:40:22.207 --> 00:40:25.125 James says. NOTE Paragraph 00:40:25.125 --> 00:40:27.548 I heard a pastor tell a story 00:40:27.548 --> 00:40:29.117 of one time at their church, 00:40:29.117 --> 00:40:30.980 they were starting some new initiatives; 00:40:30.980 --> 00:40:32.675 they were doing some new things, 00:40:32.675 --> 00:40:35.056 and they went to the congregation to talk to them about it, 00:40:35.056 --> 00:40:37.661 and I imagine a lot of people really liked these things, 00:40:37.661 --> 00:40:40.195 but one person was kind of nervous. 00:40:40.195 --> 00:40:41.898 And he walked up to the pastor 00:40:41.898 --> 00:40:46.786 and he said, "you know, I don't like what you're doing, 00:40:46.786 --> 00:40:50.341 but the Bible tells me to trust you, 00:40:50.341 --> 00:40:53.015 and you're going to be held to account 00:40:53.015 --> 00:40:56.749 so I'm going to completely submit to you and follow you." 00:40:56.749 --> 00:40:57.926 I don't know about you, 00:40:57.926 --> 00:40:59.946 but I've been a pastor - I am a pastor. 00:40:59.946 --> 00:41:02.993 When I hear that, I'm like, oh Lord, I want to do it right, now. 00:41:02.993 --> 00:41:05.434 I want to do it right. 00:41:05.434 --> 00:41:11.644 Because you're being given trust. 00:41:11.644 --> 00:41:15.190 You want to freak out your husband later today? 00:41:15.190 --> 00:41:17.337 Just tell him I am willing to follow you 00:41:17.337 --> 00:41:20.912 and submit to you in anything. 00:41:20.912 --> 00:41:23.767 You will watch him get more careful, 00:41:23.767 --> 00:41:31.461 if he's got any ounce of the Spirit of God in him. 00:41:31.461 --> 00:41:35.815 Same thing is true with leaders. 00:41:35.815 --> 00:41:37.648 The other thing about this idea 00:41:37.648 --> 00:41:39.664 of they're going to be held to account, 00:41:39.664 --> 00:41:43.605 is it sort of helps you understand pastors. 00:41:43.605 --> 00:41:47.382 Sometimes people don't really understand pastors. NOTE Paragraph 00:41:47.382 --> 00:41:49.365 I was driving in my truck the other day 00:41:49.365 --> 00:41:51.333 with a friend of ours from our church, 00:41:51.333 --> 00:41:53.619 and he was talking about one of the leaders of the church 00:41:53.619 --> 00:41:55.363 kept confronting him about something. 00:41:55.363 --> 00:41:56.496 Why does he keep doing that? 00:41:56.496 --> 00:41:58.921 He just keeps confronting me with this thing. 00:41:58.921 --> 00:42:01.235 You know, I've told him I'm going to deal with it, 00:42:01.235 --> 00:42:02.473 and I haven't dealt with it, 00:42:02.473 --> 00:42:03.943 but he keeps confronting me about it. 00:42:03.943 --> 00:42:06.357 Why does he keep doing this to me? 00:42:06.357 --> 00:42:09.459 He was quite distressed about this. 00:42:09.459 --> 00:42:10.968 And I said, 00:42:10.968 --> 00:42:14.372 "have you ever considered 00:42:14.372 --> 00:42:16.394 that he would probably like to stop 00:42:16.394 --> 00:42:18.696 confronting you about it? 00:42:18.696 --> 00:42:20.963 That it would certainly make his life easier 00:42:20.963 --> 00:42:23.931 to stop confronting you about it. 00:42:23.931 --> 00:42:25.832 But that he feels that he cannot 00:42:25.832 --> 00:42:27.868 stand before the Lord 00:42:27.868 --> 00:42:32.867 unless he keeps confronting you about it. 00:42:32.867 --> 00:42:35.027 And pretty soon my friend was on the phone 00:42:35.027 --> 00:42:37.566 apologizing to the leader in our church. 00:42:37.566 --> 00:42:43.351 And they were in the midst of reconciliation. 00:42:43.351 --> 00:42:45.200 But I tell you all this because 00:42:45.200 --> 00:42:46.521 sometimes people wonder, 00:42:46.521 --> 00:42:49.624 why do pastors have to get all up in my business? 00:42:49.624 --> 00:42:52.573 Why can't they just keep their distance? 00:42:52.573 --> 00:42:54.745 Why do they have to push into the details? 00:42:54.745 --> 00:42:56.406 Let's talk about modesty, 00:42:56.406 --> 00:42:58.686 and if we're going to be like Timothy and Peter 00:42:58.686 --> 00:43:01.581 we'll talk about it in detail. 00:43:01.581 --> 00:43:03.112 Let's talk about your finances. 00:43:03.112 --> 00:43:05.373 And since we're going to talk about them in a New Testament way, 00:43:05.373 --> 00:43:10.198 and that means we're going to talk about them a lot. 00:43:10.198 --> 00:43:12.080 Let's talk about secret sins 00:43:12.080 --> 00:43:15.141 and the motives of the heart. 00:43:15.141 --> 00:43:18.754 And let's press in on these things. NOTE Paragraph 00:43:18.754 --> 00:43:20.519 Pastors are not doing this - 00:43:20.519 --> 00:43:23.271 godly pastors are not doing this 00:43:23.271 --> 00:43:25.693 because they are arrogant, 00:43:25.693 --> 00:43:29.162 egotistical, pushy, power hungry men. 00:43:29.162 --> 00:43:31.388 Accountable pastors are not arrogant, 00:43:31.388 --> 00:43:33.979 but humble. 00:43:33.979 --> 00:43:36.396 Not egotistical, but loving. 00:43:36.396 --> 00:43:39.084 Not pushy, but obedient. 00:43:39.084 --> 00:43:41.374 They may look like what our culture says 00:43:41.374 --> 00:43:42.785 is arrogant and egotistical. 00:43:42.785 --> 00:43:44.151 Anyone who's got an opinion 00:43:44.151 --> 00:43:45.516 and want you to live by it, 00:43:45.516 --> 00:43:47.276 you know, in our culture, is called: 00:43:47.276 --> 00:43:48.710 arrogant. 00:43:48.710 --> 00:43:50.687 But what if you're a man who's going to 00:43:50.687 --> 00:43:52.412 be held accountable for enforcing 00:43:52.412 --> 00:43:54.690 God's opinions? 00:43:54.690 --> 00:43:58.326 And by the way, God doesn't have opinions. 00:43:58.326 --> 00:44:03.001 He's just got truth. 00:44:03.001 --> 00:44:04.589 Your pastors are those who are 00:44:04.589 --> 00:44:13.205 going to be held to an account. NOTE Paragraph 00:44:13.205 --> 00:44:15.455 Last point. 00:44:15.455 --> 00:44:17.349 But before you get your hopes up, 00:44:17.349 --> 00:44:18.806 there's a lot of applications 00:44:18.806 --> 00:44:20.080 which I don't call points, 00:44:20.080 --> 00:44:22.397 because then I have to say there's a lot more points. 00:44:22.397 --> 00:44:23.679 But there's a last point, 00:44:23.679 --> 00:44:30.297 and then there's applications. NOTE Paragraph 00:44:30.297 --> 00:44:32.283 Pastors are worth more to you 00:44:32.283 --> 00:44:36.210 when their joy is contagious. 00:44:36.210 --> 00:44:38.907 They're just worth more. 00:44:38.907 --> 00:44:41.931 They just get more done. 00:44:41.931 --> 00:44:43.566 They will help you more 00:44:43.566 --> 00:44:44.881 in your spiritual walk 00:44:44.881 --> 00:44:47.496 if they're happy in Jesus. 00:44:47.496 --> 00:44:48.382 End of story. 00:44:48.382 --> 00:44:51.154 It's just an absolute rule 00:44:51.154 --> 00:44:53.011 of life and ministry 00:44:53.011 --> 00:44:54.751 that if the pastor always 00:44:54.751 --> 00:44:57.648 and continually feels like he'd rather die - 00:44:57.648 --> 00:44:59.740 and there have been godly men in the Bible 00:44:59.740 --> 00:45:01.729 who asked God to kill them, 00:45:01.729 --> 00:45:04.880 because they would have rather died than go on - 00:45:04.880 --> 00:45:06.133 the simple fact is 00:45:06.133 --> 00:45:08.069 when your pastors are full of joy, 00:45:08.069 --> 00:45:11.646 they just help you a lot more. 00:45:11.646 --> 00:45:12.940 They help you a lot more. 00:45:12.940 --> 00:45:14.144 Let them do this... 00:45:14.144 --> 00:45:16.484 Let them do this leading, 00:45:16.484 --> 00:45:18.133 this watching over your souls, 00:45:18.133 --> 00:45:19.543 this commanding you. 00:45:19.543 --> 00:45:21.224 "Let them do this with joy 00:45:21.224 --> 00:45:22.534 and not with groaning, 00:45:22.534 --> 00:45:29.312 for that would be of no advantage to you." NOTE Paragraph 00:45:29.312 --> 00:45:31.955 I was walking with one of my co-pastors 00:45:31.955 --> 00:45:34.562 through Home Depot 00:45:34.562 --> 00:45:37.310 maybe 12 years ago. 00:45:37.310 --> 00:45:39.613 He and his wife were struggling 00:45:39.613 --> 00:45:41.561 with infertility. 00:45:41.561 --> 00:45:43.440 It was not making them, at this point, 00:45:43.440 --> 00:45:45.134 soft towards the Lord. 00:45:45.134 --> 00:45:47.184 It was making them hard towards the Lord. 00:45:47.184 --> 00:45:48.719 It was making them angry at God. 00:45:48.719 --> 00:45:51.755 They couldn't understand why they wanted this good thing - children. 00:45:51.755 --> 00:45:54.229 The Bible says, "be fruitful and multiply." 00:45:54.229 --> 00:45:56.393 They wanted to be fruitful and multiply. 00:45:56.393 --> 00:45:59.142 They couldn't multiply to save their lives. 00:45:59.142 --> 00:46:01.982 And we're walking through Home Depot and he's basically telling me 00:46:01.982 --> 00:46:05.142 I want to leave the faith; 00:46:05.142 --> 00:46:06.208 I want to just go, 00:46:06.208 --> 00:46:08.535 buy a house on the beach in Florida, 00:46:08.535 --> 00:46:10.176 and just try to live a normal life 00:46:10.176 --> 00:46:12.106 because this whole idea of following God 00:46:12.106 --> 00:46:13.837 through difficult seasons like this 00:46:13.837 --> 00:46:18.588 is doing me in. 00:46:18.588 --> 00:46:20.455 Now what happens if at that moment, 00:46:20.455 --> 00:46:25.991 I go, "me too?" 00:46:25.991 --> 00:46:32.294 We may both be on the beach in Florida right now. 00:46:32.294 --> 00:46:33.997 The simple fact is 00:46:33.997 --> 00:46:36.191 we are all going to come to difficult moments 00:46:36.191 --> 00:46:37.631 in our faith. 00:46:37.631 --> 00:46:38.842 All of us. 00:46:38.842 --> 00:46:40.649 And one of the most precious gifts 00:46:40.649 --> 00:46:42.624 God can ever give to us in that moment 00:46:42.624 --> 00:46:45.908 is a pastor who is full of joy, 00:46:45.908 --> 00:46:48.029 who says, no, no, no, no... 00:46:48.029 --> 00:46:52.254 At His right hand are pleasures forevermore. 00:46:52.254 --> 00:46:53.876 Yes, this is hard, 00:46:53.876 --> 00:46:56.125 and weeping is going to last for a night, 00:46:56.125 --> 00:46:58.812 but there is joy in the morning. 00:46:58.812 --> 00:47:00.537 And there's just something about 00:47:00.537 --> 00:47:04.926 somebody else believing it 00:47:04.926 --> 00:47:07.253 that's like the four friends who 00:47:07.253 --> 00:47:08.942 lowered their paralyzed friend 00:47:08.942 --> 00:47:11.050 down into Jesus. 00:47:11.050 --> 00:47:12.313 A joyful pastor - 00:47:12.313 --> 00:47:13.981 you might not have faith right now, 00:47:13.981 --> 00:47:16.111 but I'm taking you down through the roof 00:47:16.111 --> 00:47:20.174 to Jesus to see Him. 00:47:20.174 --> 00:47:21.636 But if you've done everything 00:47:21.636 --> 00:47:23.519 to undermine your pastor's ministry - 00:47:23.519 --> 00:47:25.486 everything to make sure there's a nice, 00:47:25.486 --> 00:47:28.363 humbling email each Monday morning... 00:47:28.363 --> 00:47:30.011 You know, the board of deacons 00:47:30.011 --> 00:47:31.274 at the small town church. 00:47:31.274 --> 00:47:32.967 Their motto was: 00:47:32.967 --> 00:47:36.305 "Lord, You keep them humble, 00:47:36.305 --> 00:47:39.934 and we'll keep them poor." 00:47:39.934 --> 00:47:42.855 If you've done everything to undermine him 00:47:42.855 --> 00:47:44.547 and hurt him, 00:47:44.547 --> 00:47:47.466 and then all of a sudden you're hospitalized, 00:47:47.466 --> 00:47:49.601 and the man who walks in to comfort you 00:47:49.601 --> 00:47:54.496 has not got any comfort to bring, 00:47:54.496 --> 00:47:57.583 you've hurt your own soul. 00:47:57.583 --> 00:47:59.049 And many people have done that 00:47:59.049 --> 00:48:01.855 to pastors in the name of biblical faithfulness. 00:48:01.855 --> 00:48:04.130 They were just trying to help the pastor 00:48:04.130 --> 00:48:05.685 be biblically faithful 00:48:05.685 --> 00:48:11.324 by criticizing his every move 00:48:11.324 --> 00:48:18.450 and making him of no advantage to them. 00:48:18.450 --> 00:48:19.797 On the other hand, 00:48:19.797 --> 00:48:21.839 you stoke the fires in your pastor; 00:48:21.839 --> 00:48:23.077 you encourage your pastor; 00:48:23.077 --> 00:48:25.258 you generally obey your pastor; 00:48:25.258 --> 00:48:27.756 and follow along in his lead, 00:48:27.756 --> 00:48:29.629 and you seek to obey the Word of God 00:48:29.629 --> 00:48:31.499 that he preaches and you delight in it, 00:48:31.499 --> 00:48:32.750 and you rejoice with him 00:48:32.750 --> 00:48:34.122 on how God is using him, 00:48:34.122 --> 00:48:36.110 and how the Spirit is helping the church. 00:48:36.110 --> 00:48:38.319 You do that, and then you come into crisis, 00:48:38.319 --> 00:48:39.957 and he will be right there 00:48:39.957 --> 00:48:42.873 full of joy, 00:48:42.873 --> 00:48:45.041 ready to help you out; 00:48:45.041 --> 00:48:49.838 ready to encourage you. NOTE Paragraph 00:48:49.838 --> 00:48:53.176 Now, here's a few applications. 00:48:53.176 --> 00:48:54.842 Here's a few applications, 00:48:54.842 --> 00:48:58.715 and then I really am done. 00:48:58.715 --> 00:49:01.843 And these range from the incredibly practical 00:49:01.843 --> 00:49:06.507 to the deeply theological. 00:49:06.507 --> 00:49:10.361 Write notes 00:49:10.361 --> 00:49:14.768 and give real substantive encouragements 00:49:14.768 --> 00:49:16.947 to your pastor, 00:49:16.947 --> 00:49:22.098 and "good message" doesn't count. 00:49:22.098 --> 00:49:23.515 Ok? 00:49:23.515 --> 00:49:24.831 "Good message" means 00:49:24.831 --> 00:49:27.865 I cannot think a coherent sentence 00:49:27.865 --> 00:49:30.074 that amounts to more than two words 00:49:30.074 --> 00:49:33.809 about what you just said. 00:49:33.809 --> 00:49:35.247 Not encouraging. 00:49:35.247 --> 00:49:36.354 I always tell people, 00:49:36.354 --> 00:49:38.372 "what was it that helped you?" 00:49:38.372 --> 00:49:43.736 (unintelligible) 00:49:43.736 --> 00:49:47.373 I'm glad that was helpful for you. 00:49:47.373 --> 00:49:51.576 You've just had someone pour out 00:49:51.576 --> 00:49:55.877 the studied Word of God onto your soul. 00:49:55.877 --> 00:49:59.734 You can sit down for five seconds 00:49:59.734 --> 00:50:02.386 and write an email that relates 00:50:02.386 --> 00:50:07.087 something that was helpful. 00:50:07.087 --> 00:50:08.984 Now, I tell you what, any pastor - 00:50:08.984 --> 00:50:11.152 and don't ask twenty questions, 00:50:11.152 --> 00:50:13.595 because if all of you ask twenty questions: 00:50:13.595 --> 00:50:15.984 "here's something helpful and here's 20 questions," 00:50:15.984 --> 00:50:17.890 Charles and Dick will die this Monday. 00:50:17.890 --> 00:50:19.396 It will happen just like that. 00:50:19.396 --> 00:50:22.978 Boom. Oh, no, I preached, so I'll die on Monday. 00:50:22.978 --> 00:50:25.425 But a general attitude of I'm going to say 00:50:25.425 --> 00:50:28.102 something substantive to let them know 00:50:28.102 --> 00:50:30.389 that I was gleaning from the Word. 00:50:30.389 --> 00:50:31.386 Some of you say, 00:50:31.386 --> 00:50:32.928 well, that will make them proud. 00:50:32.928 --> 00:50:34.398 It does not make you proud. 00:50:34.398 --> 00:50:36.045 Listen, if you're a good pastor, 00:50:36.045 --> 00:50:38.159 you're not preaching your own ideas. 00:50:38.159 --> 00:50:39.639 So when someone comes to you 00:50:39.639 --> 00:50:41.968 and says, hey, that idea that wasn't yours, 00:50:41.968 --> 00:50:43.385 it was really helpful to you. 00:50:43.385 --> 00:50:44.828 That's not making you proud. 00:50:44.828 --> 00:50:47.292 It's making you rejoice that they love 00:50:47.292 --> 00:50:52.393 God's Word. NOTE Paragraph 00:50:52.393 --> 00:50:54.490 Second, and I have not talked to any 00:50:54.490 --> 00:50:56.067 single pastor about this. 00:50:56.067 --> 00:50:59.211 No one has paid me to do this. 00:50:59.211 --> 00:51:01.854 Pay your pastors. 00:51:01.854 --> 00:51:02.797 Pay them. 00:51:02.797 --> 00:51:04.473 Double honor in 1 Timothy 5 00:51:04.473 --> 00:51:06.941 is a financial term 00:51:06.941 --> 00:51:08.207 to care for your pastors. 00:51:08.207 --> 00:51:09.754 They won't all be paid evenly. 00:51:09.754 --> 00:51:11.743 There's all kinds of different factors. 00:51:11.743 --> 00:51:14.680 But make sure they are cared for. 00:51:14.680 --> 00:51:16.223 I know that you all find it easy 00:51:16.223 --> 00:51:17.974 to keep your joy when you're broke, 00:51:17.974 --> 00:51:21.918 but pastors are different. 00:51:21.918 --> 00:51:23.577 No, there is a sense in which 00:51:23.577 --> 00:51:26.295 the people of God should be not 00:51:26.295 --> 00:51:29.339 reviewing a pastor's salary every 25 years 00:51:29.339 --> 00:51:32.709 whether he needs it or not. 00:51:32.709 --> 00:51:35.254 But there should be a regular, constant care 00:51:35.254 --> 00:51:41.610 to provide for God's man. NOTE Paragraph 00:51:41.610 --> 00:51:44.101 Now, I think I'm going to spend a little more time 00:51:44.101 --> 00:51:46.345 on this next point. 00:51:46.345 --> 00:51:47.875 And I had it in my notes, 00:51:47.875 --> 00:51:50.301 but honestly, my wife wrote this point 00:51:50.301 --> 00:51:52.530 during the songs this morning. 00:51:52.530 --> 00:51:54.567 I believe that men only should preach, 00:51:54.567 --> 00:51:56.694 but I believe the things my wife whispers 00:51:56.694 --> 00:51:59.033 into my ear during some services 00:51:59.033 --> 00:52:02.410 are some of the most spiritual things I've ever heard. 00:52:02.410 --> 00:52:07.733 And so I'll preach them to you right now. NOTE Paragraph 00:52:07.733 --> 00:52:12.918 They are men. 00:52:12.918 --> 00:52:14.801 One of the most significant things 00:52:14.801 --> 00:52:17.237 you can do - and I'm talking to 00:52:17.237 --> 00:52:18.403 children here, 00:52:18.403 --> 00:52:20.809 I'm talking to those who have been here 40 years, 00:52:20.809 --> 00:52:22.537 those who have been here 10 years - 00:52:22.537 --> 00:52:25.288 one of the most significant things you can do with your pastor 00:52:25.288 --> 00:52:32.433 is to realize that they are just a person; 00:52:32.433 --> 00:52:35.140 that they are not cut from another cloth 00:52:35.140 --> 00:52:37.269 of humanity, 00:52:37.269 --> 00:52:42.556 but they are a finite, limited person. 00:52:42.556 --> 00:52:46.363 And that has so many implications, 00:52:46.363 --> 00:52:48.398 it's ridiculous. 00:52:48.398 --> 00:52:51.868 It means that even if they could be with you 00:52:51.868 --> 00:52:55.670 all the time every time you needed them, 00:52:55.670 --> 00:52:58.116 they couldn't satisfy your soul. 00:52:58.116 --> 00:53:00.744 It would not work. 00:53:00.744 --> 00:53:02.036 Even if they could be there 00:53:02.036 --> 00:53:03.769 as much as you wanted 00:53:03.769 --> 00:53:05.452 as often as you wanted, 00:53:05.452 --> 00:53:07.642 once they showed up that often, 00:53:07.642 --> 00:53:12.061 they would turn out to be disappointing, 00:53:12.061 --> 00:53:16.882 because they are only people. 00:53:16.882 --> 00:53:20.065 And, it also means they can't 00:53:20.065 --> 00:53:22.643 show up all the time every time 00:53:22.643 --> 00:53:25.279 to be with everyone, 00:53:25.279 --> 00:53:26.886 because they are people. 00:53:26.886 --> 00:53:29.244 And this doesn't make them different than Jesus, 00:53:29.244 --> 00:53:32.574 this makes them like Jesus, 00:53:32.574 --> 00:53:34.550 who would get ministry opportunities 00:53:34.550 --> 00:53:37.064 and would leave, 00:53:37.064 --> 00:53:40.070 because He simply could not meet 00:53:40.070 --> 00:53:43.299 all the needs - that's a stunning thing to say, isn't it? 00:53:43.299 --> 00:53:45.363 Could not meet all the needs? 00:53:45.363 --> 00:53:46.766 At one level, that's true. 00:53:46.766 --> 00:53:49.029 He was a finite man. 00:53:49.029 --> 00:53:51.416 He needed sleep. 00:53:51.416 --> 00:53:53.491 He needed a break. 00:53:53.491 --> 00:53:56.017 He needed to eat. 00:53:56.017 --> 00:53:57.887 (incomplete thought) 00:53:57.887 --> 00:54:01.583 Jesus ministered in one very limited 00:54:01.583 --> 00:54:04.043 geographic area, and He moved 00:54:04.043 --> 00:54:05.388 from town to town 00:54:05.388 --> 00:54:07.277 and did not spend infinite time, 00:54:07.277 --> 00:54:09.024 though there would have been many 00:54:09.024 --> 00:54:10.700 who would have wished He'd stayed 00:54:10.700 --> 00:54:14.028 one more day. 00:54:14.028 --> 00:54:18.184 He was limited in that way. 00:54:18.184 --> 00:54:20.960 Your pastors are limited in gifts. 00:54:20.960 --> 00:54:23.571 I basically find that the longer I'm in ministry, 00:54:23.571 --> 00:54:27.034 my tenure in ministry is the joyful discovery 00:54:27.034 --> 00:54:30.391 of how many things I'm bad at. 00:54:30.391 --> 00:54:32.339 Preaching - some gifts. 00:54:32.339 --> 00:54:34.388 Administration - no gifts. 00:54:34.388 --> 00:54:36.824 Counseling - moderate gifts. 00:54:36.824 --> 00:54:39.650 Gifts of service - I hope I have a servant's heart. 00:54:39.650 --> 00:54:41.674 Not particularly good at it. 00:54:41.674 --> 00:54:43.604 There's just all kinds of things 00:54:43.604 --> 00:54:46.498 that I am bad at. 00:54:46.498 --> 00:54:48.095 You should expect your pastors 00:54:48.095 --> 00:54:51.269 to not only be not excellent at everything, 00:54:51.269 --> 00:54:54.299 but actually bad at some things. 00:54:54.299 --> 00:54:55.960 And it will be good for you 00:54:55.960 --> 00:55:01.245 to recognize their sanctified badness 00:55:01.245 --> 00:55:02.655 at many, many things, 00:55:02.655 --> 00:55:04.231 because you were not meant 00:55:04.231 --> 00:55:05.981 to be built up by a pastor. 00:55:05.981 --> 00:55:09.650 You were meant to be built up by a body. 00:55:09.650 --> 00:55:12.013 A body that ministers the presence 00:55:12.013 --> 00:55:14.957 and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:55:14.957 --> 00:55:17.542 Well, if only my pastor was as hospitable 00:55:17.542 --> 00:55:18.684 as so-and-so. 00:55:18.684 --> 00:55:20.815 And if only my pastor made as emotional 00:55:20.815 --> 00:55:22.394 connections like so-and-so. 00:55:22.394 --> 00:55:23.871 And if only my pastor could be 00:55:23.871 --> 00:55:25.248 a mentor like so-and-so. 00:55:25.248 --> 00:55:27.134 And if only my pastor could be there 00:55:27.134 --> 00:55:28.103 like so-and-so. 00:55:28.103 --> 00:55:29.871 And if only my pastor could duck down 00:55:29.871 --> 00:55:31.267 in a phone booth and come up 00:55:31.267 --> 00:55:32.702 with an "S" on his chest 00:55:32.702 --> 00:55:34.380 and fly off into the sunset 00:55:34.380 --> 00:55:39.261 with kryptonite in his hand. 00:55:39.261 --> 00:55:43.088 It's not happening. 00:55:43.088 --> 00:55:46.069 And the expectation actually diminishes 00:55:46.069 --> 00:55:50.957 the effectiveness of your pastor. 00:55:50.957 --> 00:55:53.719 You try living with the expectation 00:55:53.719 --> 00:55:58.759 of super humanness for five minutes, 00:55:58.759 --> 00:56:01.486 ten minutes, 00:56:01.486 --> 00:56:04.173 ten years, 00:56:04.173 --> 00:56:06.267 twenty years, 00:56:06.267 --> 00:56:10.358 thirty years, 00:56:10.358 --> 00:56:14.211 forty years. NOTE Paragraph 00:56:14.211 --> 00:56:16.131 I preached at a women's ministry event 00:56:16.131 --> 00:56:17.645 Friday night before I came, 00:56:17.645 --> 00:56:19.493 and I said one of the traps I feel - 00:56:19.493 --> 00:56:21.410 there's always two pushes to me: 00:56:21.410 --> 00:56:22.978 We've got to grow. We've got to grow. 00:56:22.978 --> 00:56:24.824 And it's not just like a church growth grow, 00:56:24.824 --> 00:56:26.550 it's we want to see the lost saved; 00:56:26.550 --> 00:56:27.802 we want to grow. 00:56:27.802 --> 00:56:28.830 And then you've got, 00:56:28.830 --> 00:56:30.820 we're getting big, and if you get real big 00:56:30.820 --> 00:56:32.295 you can't disciple people. 00:56:32.295 --> 00:56:34.317 And then the pastor's kind of in the middle like, 00:56:34.317 --> 00:56:40.164 so what you're saying is it's failure either way. 00:56:40.164 --> 00:56:43.547 If we grow, we get big. 00:56:43.547 --> 00:56:46.951 That's what happens when you grow. 00:56:46.951 --> 00:56:49.573 And when you get big, you have less time. 00:56:49.573 --> 00:56:52.033 That's what happens when you grow. 00:56:52.033 --> 00:56:54.553 And there's no way to keep it perfectly balanced. 00:56:54.553 --> 00:56:56.660 They couldn't keep it perfectly balanced 00:56:56.660 --> 00:56:59.435 when the Holy Spirit decided they would boost their church 00:56:59.435 --> 00:57:02.484 from 120 to 3,000 on the first day. 00:57:02.484 --> 00:57:04.020 You can see the people going, 00:57:04.020 --> 00:57:10.388 I remember when we got more time with Peter. 00:57:10.388 --> 00:57:14.229 He'd be there for the all night prayer meetings. 00:57:14.229 --> 00:57:15.331 Now where is he? 00:57:15.331 --> 00:57:22.175 Preaching all over. 00:57:22.175 --> 00:57:23.947 At the end of the day, 00:57:23.947 --> 00:57:29.608 your pastors will 100%, I guarantee it, 00:57:29.608 --> 00:57:31.395 you can take it to the bank, 00:57:31.395 --> 00:57:34.751 disappoint you. 00:57:34.751 --> 00:57:36.110 And I'm not talking vague, 00:57:36.110 --> 00:57:37.330 abstract disappoint you; 00:57:37.330 --> 00:57:42.731 I'm talking like it-will- hurt disappoint you. 00:57:42.731 --> 00:57:46.720 And that's because all pastors can do 00:57:46.720 --> 00:57:48.279 if they're doing their job well 00:57:48.279 --> 00:57:49.761 is to point you to the One 00:57:49.761 --> 00:57:54.009 who will never disappoint you. NOTE Paragraph 00:57:54.009 --> 00:57:55.797 Paul helped the churches he pastored 00:57:55.797 --> 00:57:57.936 rely on God 00:57:57.936 --> 00:57:59.902 by preaching in the power of the Spirit 00:57:59.902 --> 00:58:02.266 so their trust would not be in man, 00:58:02.266 --> 00:58:04.066 but in the power of God, 00:58:04.066 --> 00:58:05.528 because at the end of the day, 00:58:05.528 --> 00:58:08.209 there's only One Man who can sustain 00:58:08.209 --> 00:58:12.037 all the expectations of all of His children, 00:58:12.037 --> 00:58:14.009 and that's the man Christ Jesus 00:58:14.009 --> 00:58:16.708 who died on the cross to satisfy His children 00:58:16.708 --> 00:58:19.175 with living water and living bread, 00:58:19.175 --> 00:58:21.453 and who can feed their souls for eternity. 00:58:21.453 --> 00:58:23.157 He can be there every moment 00:58:23.157 --> 00:58:24.240 of every day, 00:58:24.240 --> 00:58:26.333 and He can be infinitely interesting 00:58:26.333 --> 00:58:29.059 and glorious every minute of every day 00:58:29.059 --> 00:58:31.135 and now enthroned in Heaven, 00:58:31.135 --> 00:58:32.604 He needs no sleep, 00:58:32.604 --> 00:58:34.359 and He needs no rest, 00:58:34.359 --> 00:58:36.551 and He lives to make intercession 00:58:36.551 --> 00:58:38.012 for His people. 00:58:38.012 --> 00:58:43.484 He is the Shepherd of the sheep. 00:58:43.484 --> 00:58:45.421 But if you destroy your pastor's joy, 00:58:45.421 --> 00:58:47.061 he won't even be able to point you 00:58:47.061 --> 00:58:51.190 to that great Shepherd. NOTE Paragraph 00:58:51.190 --> 00:58:54.993 And so, it's a great thing to honor 00:58:54.993 --> 00:58:59.692 Charles and Dick 00:58:59.692 --> 00:59:01.633 and Garrett and Mason, 00:59:01.633 --> 00:59:04.773 and whoever else God would make you. 00:59:04.773 --> 00:59:06.842 It's also probably a really good thing 00:59:06.842 --> 00:59:10.290 right now to acknowledge legitimate disappointments 00:59:10.290 --> 00:59:18.607 that have accumulated over 40 years. 00:59:18.607 --> 00:59:20.591 And to apply those beautiful words 00:59:20.591 --> 00:59:23.246 in Ephesians that say that we are to be 00:59:23.246 --> 00:59:25.860 forgiving one another 00:59:25.860 --> 00:59:30.674 even as God in Christ forgave us. 00:59:30.674 --> 00:59:32.287 To apply those beautiful words of 00:59:32.287 --> 00:59:34.920 Ephesians 4:1 that says 00:59:34.920 --> 00:59:37.338 that we are to bear with one another in love. 00:59:37.338 --> 00:59:39.652 What does that mean? That means that other Christians 00:59:39.652 --> 00:59:45.331 are the kind of people you have to bear with. 00:59:45.331 --> 00:59:47.303 Some people get into their devotions; 00:59:47.303 --> 00:59:49.645 they pray themselves up; they come up full of the Spirit, 00:59:49.645 --> 00:59:52.128 and they actually rub you the wrong way. 00:59:52.128 --> 00:59:53.706 Like when they're at their best, 00:59:53.706 --> 00:59:56.609 they rub you the wrong way. 00:59:56.609 --> 00:59:58.925 Then you need to be filled with the Spirit 00:59:58.925 --> 01:00:02.403 and bear with them in love. 01:00:02.403 --> 01:00:04.319 So now is probably a good time 01:00:04.319 --> 01:00:06.263 at a forty year mark to say, ok, 01:00:06.263 --> 01:00:08.129 what kind of baggage is there 01:00:08.129 --> 01:00:10.136 that might really undermine the future 01:00:10.136 --> 01:00:12.362 of Lake Road? 01:00:12.362 --> 01:00:13.991 What's there? 01:00:13.991 --> 01:00:15.936 How can I just lay that before the Lord 01:00:15.936 --> 01:00:20.978 and ask for His forgiveness for me; 01:00:20.978 --> 01:00:24.572 remember how He bears with me; 01:00:24.572 --> 01:00:28.405 remember His kindness towards me, 01:00:28.405 --> 01:00:31.045 and then to pray for yourself 01:00:31.045 --> 01:00:32.549 that you'd be able to make 01:00:32.549 --> 01:00:35.984 these men's ministry a joy; 01:00:35.984 --> 01:00:37.042 to care for them, 01:00:37.042 --> 01:00:39.163 to spur them on for the next five, 01:00:39.163 --> 01:00:41.628 ten, fifteen years. 01:00:41.628 --> 01:00:44.497 And then to pray to God 01:00:44.497 --> 01:00:46.012 that they would be 01:00:46.012 --> 01:00:48.096 all that God would have them to be. 01:00:48.096 --> 01:00:50.015 There may be legitimate disappointments, 01:00:50.015 --> 01:00:53.125 and you can pray for the growth in grace 01:00:53.125 --> 01:00:57.860 of all of those who are ministering to you. 01:00:57.860 --> 01:00:59.434 And my goal in all of this 01:00:59.434 --> 01:01:00.538 is that you would say, 01:01:00.538 --> 01:01:03.033 yes, I have a positive heart to obey 01:01:03.033 --> 01:01:05.900 these men and I want to make their job 01:01:05.900 --> 01:01:08.836 a joy so that they will be 01:01:08.836 --> 01:01:15.082 of great and eternal advantage to me. NOTE Paragraph 01:01:15.082 --> 01:01:40.793 Let's pray. 01:01:40.793 --> 01:01:47.447 Father, You alone can sustain the church. 01:01:47.447 --> 01:01:48.999 You alone by Your Word are able 01:01:48.999 --> 01:01:53.757 to build the church up. 01:01:53.757 --> 01:01:55.520 Lord God, You alone are able 01:01:55.520 --> 01:01:58.419 to keep the rifts and the difficulties 01:01:58.419 --> 01:02:00.360 and the troubles and the insufficiencies 01:02:00.360 --> 01:02:03.166 and inadequacies 01:02:03.166 --> 01:02:05.275 and the sins that we bring into the church - 01:02:05.275 --> 01:02:08.170 You alone are able to keep them at bay, 01:02:08.170 --> 01:02:10.011 cover them by Your blood, 01:02:10.011 --> 01:02:14.400 and build up the body of Christ. 01:02:14.400 --> 01:02:19.086 So we ask You to come today, Lord. 01:02:19.086 --> 01:02:23.270 We ask You, Lord, to fill Charles and Dick 01:02:23.270 --> 01:02:25.333 and Garrett and Mason afresh 01:02:25.333 --> 01:02:28.012 with the power of the Holy Spirit 01:02:28.012 --> 01:02:31.174 for another season of ministry. 01:02:31.174 --> 01:02:33.344 We ask You, Lord, to fill the congregation 01:02:33.344 --> 01:02:37.013 with a spirit of love, joy, forgiveness, 01:02:37.013 --> 01:02:41.367 patience, bearing with one another in love, 01:02:41.367 --> 01:02:43.916 and the Spirit's power for their ministry 01:02:43.916 --> 01:02:48.188 one to another and to their pastors. 01:02:48.188 --> 01:02:50.407 We ask You, Lord, that hordes of people 01:02:50.407 --> 01:02:53.698 in Kirksville would be saved this coming year. 01:02:53.698 --> 01:02:55.983 That those who don't know You would be saved. 01:02:55.983 --> 01:02:57.578 That more missionaries would be 01:02:57.578 --> 01:03:00.626 sent out from here. 01:03:00.626 --> 01:03:02.524 And we want to ask You, Lord, 01:03:02.524 --> 01:03:06.798 that You would get all the glory, 01:03:06.798 --> 01:03:11.279 first for being the great Shepherd of the sheep, 01:03:11.279 --> 01:03:14.116 and then for equipping Charles and Dick 01:03:14.116 --> 01:03:18.374 for 40 years along with their precious wives 01:03:18.374 --> 01:03:21.945 to shepherd the sheep. 01:03:21.945 --> 01:03:23.191 I want to pray finally 01:03:23.191 --> 01:03:24.994 for Garrett and Mason, Lord God, 01:03:24.994 --> 01:03:28.248 that You would give them grace 01:03:28.248 --> 01:03:30.751 to be good shepherds; 01:03:30.751 --> 01:03:34.581 to be like Timothy's who learn from Paul's. 01:03:34.581 --> 01:03:36.620 And that Father, You would just secure 01:03:36.620 --> 01:03:41.697 Lake Road in the arms of good, godly men 01:03:41.697 --> 01:03:43.960 for yet another generation 01:03:43.960 --> 01:03:46.366 to hear Your praise, 01:03:46.366 --> 01:03:48.767 and to see Your glory. 01:03:48.767 --> 01:03:50.319 We pray this in Jesus' name, 01:03:50.319 --> 01:03:51.737 Amen.