[0:00] Hello, good morning. It is truly, oh, look at that, I'm not used to responses. I speak to teenagers, you say, and they don't say anything back. It's truly good to be with you this morning.
[0:11] I genuinely have a deep appreciation and love for this church. This is my third time getting to be with you in person, getting to preach to you, and just to have fellowship with you, and I am deeply indebted to you, more than you know.
[0:25] Your pastor has been a great friend, source of encouragement, and help to me in my own ministry and personal life. And Pastor BK filled me in that he had let you know as to what has happened in my life in the last few years, last year especially.
[0:39] In November, my wife and I living in the Sumas Prairie were part of that flood that took place, losing my vehicle and many, in fact, all of the belongings that were in our storage, including many of my pastoral and theological books and resources, my wife's work equipment, many of our baby belongings, and so we lost many of the valuables and treasures that we had here on this earth.
[1:04] After that, in April of this year, my father passed away before my eyes in the hospital, and then almost to the day, three months later, actually five weeks ago, my mother passed away in the hospital as well.
[1:18] And so this has been a summer of mourning, a summer of spending time with family, and I appreciate deeply, deeply I appreciate your prayers. So thank you for praying for myself, my wife, our daughter, and my extended family, my many siblings.
[1:32] We are very grateful to you. Chris had mentioned that there is a youth retreat coming up. I'm the youth pastor at Arnold Community Church in Abbotsford in the Sumas Prairie.
[1:43] We are putting on a youth retreat as we do every year, and there are other churches joining us this year. Yours is one of them. And for the parents who perhaps might be sending their kids to a retreat, it'll be biblical and there will be games.
[1:56] I'm currently on sabbatical, so I'm not doing any work right now, and so I haven't planned a single thing. So I can't really hype it up to you and get you all excited to get your kids excited, but we have a good retreat coming. You'll hear more about it when I start working again in just a couple of weeks.
[2:10] Today I'm going to be preaching out of 1 Thessalonians 5. I ask that you turn your Bibles there. And I believe it will be on the screen. I don't know, but if it's not, and even if it is, grab a Bible.
[2:23] I find it is so helpful to be looking at the words right in front of you. I will be preaching out of the NASB. I know that many of you are using ESV. This is very similar. I left my ESV Bible at the church, and again, I'm on sabbatical, so I haven't been back in a little while.
[2:38] And so NASB is very close and very similar and accurate, so it'll do us well. I want to give a little bit of a preface to this text.
[2:49] This is not continuing on with any series that you are doing. This is a one-off, and this is a text that I think is of critical importance today. All Scripture is God-breathed.
[3:00] It is all useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God, the person of God, may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. And this is God's will for your life, that you would do the good works that He has prepared in advance for you, every one of you as believers to do.
[3:17] So all Scripture is helpful. All Scripture is useful. All Scripture is relevant in every single moment, in every age and generation, epoch of time. All of Scripture is worthy and useful and mandatory.
[3:31] And yet there are times where because of what we see in our culture, because of the ideologies of our age, because of the trends and the fads and the fashions that we find in our midst, certain texts shine.
[3:46] Certain texts need to be really heard. They shine brighter because they stand in stark contrast to what we see in the world around us. And we are not immune to the influence of our society, to the ideas of our age.
[4:00] We are affected by them, and we bring them into our churches with us. And when we do that, we put ourselves in great danger. It's not that all the ideas are always wrong.
[4:10] Each in its own measure can have some goodness to it. But many of the ideas that are popular right now are seeping into the church, and it's subtle. And it poisons us from within.
[4:22] Now, I am convinced, and I think due to Scripture, that our greatest danger, our greatest concerns as the church is always from within. It is never from outside.
[4:33] Do you notice that in the New Testament, when Paul and others are warning the church, they don't warn them about all the different government agencies? They don't warn them against all of the different unbelievers? Sure, they persecute you, but what do you watch out for?
[4:47] The false teachers. Watch out for unrepentant sin within your own midst. Watch out for the corruption that happens from within. And today, we see all sorts of warning signs in the church.
[5:01] There's two main reasons, essentially, that I chose this text for today. It's important also that you know that this text was not a sign. Pastor BK didn't even know until recently what text I was going to preach.
[5:13] This is not something he asked me to come and preach to you because you are poor at doing this. In fact, I've legitimately heard that you are actually exceptional at this.
[5:24] My encouragement to you would be 1 Thessalonians 4, where Paul says to the people, he says, you ought to walk and please God. He says this at the end of the first verse.
[5:35] And then he says, just as you actually do walk, and my hope is that you would excel still more in this. You are actually an example of faithfulness in the very thing we're going to preach on today.
[5:48] And I would like to encourage you in this and remind you of this, but also to remind you to be weary. Not weary, wary. That you not slip.
[6:03] And there's two reasons why. First, there are many churches today with poor leadership. There are many churches today that have decided to relinquish the biblical model of leadership and have instead chosen to go their own way.
[6:20] And whenever we abdicate the teachings of Scripture for a different model or a different methodology, what we often find is that those churches begin to deviate from other things that Scripture teaches.
[6:33] When we don't have biblical leadership, we are led into all sorts of areas that God has not called us into. And we find ourselves distracted. We find ourselves making mistakes.
[6:45] I think of my hometown, Abbotsford, which has more churches or religious sites of worship per capita than any other city in Canada, perhaps even North America.
[6:56] I'm not sure about that stat. And yet how many of these churches do not have elders? How many of these churches have hired or brought on leaders who are vision-casting leaders, who are more CEOs and encouragers of people but are not willing to handle and proclaim the Scriptures rightly?
[7:16] Unfortunately, too many. And I'm sure if you drive around even in Squamish and Whistler and the surrounding areas, you'll see churches that have strayed away from the biblical model of leadership.
[7:27] And secondly, because of what we've seen in our culture and the attitudes and the themes that are taking place coming out of COVID. Now, I don't want to speak much on COVID.
[7:39] This is not a COVID message by any means. But there is a lot that has happened in the last few years. And there is a lot of influence and themes that are coming from our culture into the church.
[7:52] We have noticed a rise in criticism, sharp criticism. I feel for Pastor BK and other pastors. I'm a youth pastor. The criticism for me is generally much less.
[8:05] Parents want their kids to have fun when they come home without a concussion. Most don't even care too much what we teach on. But as pastors leading through COVID, if you enforced masks, well, you just weren't having enough faith in God.
[8:20] But then if you don't enforce masks, you don't love your neighbor. And seemingly, no matter what decisions you make, you were in the line of fire of increased criticism that is becoming more commonplace in our culture.
[8:32] There's a distrust and a dislike for authority today. Submission is something that in society we want to repel from. It's almost as if we have an allergic reaction to the idea of submission.
[8:46] It's something that we read about today in 1 Peter 5, and you'll see here and in other passages today. There is disunity that is just ripe in our society, and we would be ignorant to think that that hasn't come into the church.
[9:00] How many families, I'm sure you are aware, or maybe it's your own, unfortunately, or others, where they can't even have civil conversations or gatherings of families because of what has taken place in the last few years and the responses of different members of family or society or governmental or businesses.
[9:19] And these attitudes, they trickle into the church. And yet scripture is very clear how leadership is to be done in the church. And it is also clear about how we are to respond to that leadership.
[9:31] I'll admit, it is easier to come and preach this message in this church than it is my own. Because to preach this text in your own church can seem almost self-serving, especially if you pick it out on its own.
[9:44] But again, Pastor BK didn't ask me to preach this, so I don't want any emails coming in this week of how dare you tell this kid to come and tell him to teach us this. It's not his fault.
[9:54] Our text is 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 12 and 13. Let's read it and then pray. But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.
[10:20] Live in peace with one another. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we are now looking, reflecting, and pondering on your great word. Help us, Father, to have our hearts open to be receptive to what it is that you would like to teach us through your word.
[10:36] In spirit of God, help me to accurately handle the text, knowing that I must give an account for each of these words. Father, help us to be attentive to your word, not easily distracted distracted by many fleeting thoughts that fill our minds, but now to put all things away and to focus on you that we would worship you in the study and the declaration and the reception for the receiving of your word.
[10:59] Help us now, Father, as we know that you have good things for us from your word. In your name, Jesus, we pray, and for your glory, we ask these things. Amen. Let's give you a little bit of context.
[11:11] I hate jumping into a passage without giving you the preceding context so you know what's going on. It also, whenever we look at context, it actually enriches our understanding of each and every text that we preach.
[11:23] Paul is writing to the Thessalonians. This is a young church. This letter was written in about A.D. 50, which is remarkably close to the death and resurrection of Jesus, around 20 years.
[11:36] That's very close. This is a church that was not born in the first couple years after the ascension of Jesus, but during one of Paul's missionary journeys, which comes years later.
[11:47] And Paul now writes this fledgling little church that he has come and preached the gospel to. Some of these people, he knows firsthand, face-to-face, likely most of them, many who have received the gospel from Paul's own lips.
[12:00] The conversion came under his own preaching. He is like a father to these people. And if you read 1 Thessalonians, which I encourage you to read in one sitting, it's very quick.
[12:10] He says in verse 2 of chapter 1, we give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.
[12:27] And he continues. You see, Paul is so grateful and he's affectionate in the way that he talks to the Thessalonians. This is in stark contrast to Galatians where he just scolds them and rakes them over the coals multiple times because of the errors in their midst and doctrinally what they're slipping into.
[12:45] But the Thessalonians is this lovely love letter of affection and tenderness towards these people. And he encourages them and he blesses them and he even includes little prayers in his letter.
[12:58] He talks about how he has missed them so severely that when they could bear it no longer, they decided it was better to be left alone and they sent away Timothy who was a blessing to them and sent Timothy to the Thessalonians in the city of Thessalonica to give back a progress report.
[13:16] How are our friends in Thessalonica doing? And Timothy comes back with this gleaming report, it seems, of the Thessalonians and Paul is encouraged. He is comforted by this.
[13:28] And so he teaches them after all this encouragement that they are to be sanctified, that they are to walk in holiness. And then he addresses an issue that seemingly has come up in the Thessalonian church.
[13:39] Likely Timothy has brought it back, perhaps with a letter or perhaps a letter has reached Paul. They are confused about if Jesus is coming back soon, well, what happens to all the brothers and sisters who have recently died?
[13:49] Did they miss it? Well, what happens to them? And so he deals with these eschatological, these end time themes and questions and he tells them to comfort one another with these words because even the teaching on the end times is a comfort and a blessing to them.
[14:03] And now, halfway through chapter 5, he begins to give them practical advice and lessons and this is where we pick up today. This affectionate, loving letter from a spiritual father to a church that he has planted and supported and preached to.
[14:21] But we request the best of you, brethren. Do you see even at the beginning as he transitions here the affection in these words? And the language here doesn't do it justice. This is one of those passages where there's so much more to more than meets the eye because the Greek here uses very rich and powerful words with grammar that is intricate and has all sorts of depth of meaning.
[14:44] This request is not a soft, simple ask. It is like a father asking a son, my son, whom I love, listen to me. It is no wonder that some translations will say, I beseech you or I urge you.
[14:58] You could even possibly use the word beg to get the attitude across. And when we hear that kind of language, our ears should perk up. This is important. This comes because of a loving desire for the people.
[15:11] Whatever is about to be said is for their own benefit. It is of high importance. And so he beseeches, he urges the brethren, the believers in Thessalonica, that they would appreciate those who diligently labor among them.
[15:27] Now there are two focuses that we're going to look at in this text. To whom Paul is talking to and about whom he is talking. That sounds a little bit confusing.
[15:38] He is talking to the congregation and he's telling them two actions that they are to do towards a certain group of people. We are first going to look at those people, those to whom this action must be done towards, what their work is, and then what are the two primary actions that Paul is calling the congregation to.
[16:00] I hope you can wrap your head around that. I did not say that very well. First, those who diligently labor among them. We'll look at the appreciation in the other aspect afterwards.
[16:11] There are to be people in the church who diligently labor amongst the rest. While Paul does not outright state it, he is talking about the elders and the pastors.
[16:21] We know this because in the following verses he talks about having charge over them in the Lord and giving instruction. But first, let us look at their work or at least the manner of it.
[16:33] It is one that is to be done in diligence. The NASB actually adds the word diligence here. In the Greek, it's simply labor, but in English, the word labor, just meaning work, doesn't capture the sentiment here.
[16:47] And so the NASB translators add diligent. This is literally to grow weary. It is toil in which you exert yourself almost to exhaustion.
[16:58] This is physical work. This is emotional work. This is work that is spiritually draining. This kind of toil brings you to your knees in supplication asking God to help you.
[17:10] It is a toil that is exhausting. And the leaders in the church are to be diligently laboring in the midst of the people.
[17:21] Not simply for them in the sense that they are taskmasters where you must be people pleasers, but working in their midst on behalf of God as shepherds leading sheep and caring for them.
[17:34] You must diligently labor. And to Pastor BK and Pastor Dave and to the elders who are here today, you must again be reminded of this truth.
[17:44] Not because you are failing in doing so, but because of the critical importance of the Scripture's teaching to leaders. Your work must be diligent. If you are a sluggard, if you are lazy, if you would take the easy road, pastoral ministry, being a shepherd, an overseer, a bishop, a presbyter, this work is not for you.
[18:06] You must toil hard. When others will take it easy, you must study the Word. You must, when you come to teach, you must make sure that you are rightly teaching.
[18:17] You must make sure that you are dividing the Word, getting to the meaning. You must come here having worked hard before anybody sees. And then when you are here, you work hard in the midst of the people as well.
[18:32] And anybody who does hard work knows that it doesn't just end when the people go home, there is much work left to be done afterwards as you pray for fruit in their lives, as you think of and as you meditate ways to serve and continue to serve the people.
[18:47] We need diligent laborers today. It is why I'm so, I'm almost offended at times with the general perception of youth pastors even though there's often merit to it.
[19:00] Oh, you just are a glorified babysitter who orders pizza for kids. Yes, sort of. Sometimes. But nobody should be in pastoral ministry if they will not diligently labor to exhaustion.
[19:22] Young people don't need the same type of level of study when they hear the word of God preached to them as adults do. If anything, you might need more study to find a way to convey the word of God in a way that would make sense to them in their contextual climate.
[19:40] We need youth workers who will work hard. The children's ministers who will be devoted to toil. Elders and deacons and leaders in the church because there is a trickle down effect from the pastors and the elders to the rest of the volunteer and ministry leaders in the church.
[19:55] You must work hard. We must be reminded while we are a family and there is fellowship and there are good times together. We who lead must be devoted to putting our hand to the plow and working hard because this is the attitude, this is the mandate that God has given to us to have in leading his people.
[20:16] And notice this, that they diligently labor among you. What a shame it is that there are so many churches where these celebrity or big name pastors are untouchable, they are unreachable.
[20:27] There was a recent video I saw on Instagram, a joking video of this video producer in a mega church. He's acting out this role and he videotapes the pastor and he gets a great shot of his, the pastor's wife worshiping with her hand up while holding the newborn child.
[20:43] It's such a beautiful image that is then projected onto the jumbotron. And this videotaper, you know, media person says, man, maybe now after years of serving this church because I got this perfect shot, the pastor will so appreciate, maybe I can meet him.
[21:01] It's this idea of being far off from the leaders. No, the leaders, the elders, the pastors, they are to diligent labor in your midst. You should see them. You should see their effort in the way that they teach, their effort in the way that they strive to get to know you and be in your lives to a certain reasonable degree.
[21:20] They are to diligently labor among you. That's the attitude of their work. But now let's look at the two specifics. What exactly is their work? The first he says of them that they have charge over you in the Lord.
[21:37] This could be translated, preside over, care for you, have leadership. And it captures all of that. In their leadership, they are supposed to be caring for you as a shepherd cares or presides over his sheep.
[21:51] And not with a staff that beats them because he is not authoritative. He is not a leader who rules with an iron fist, but rather the word conveys the idea of a good reputation, one with integrity who by influence and examples models the way and leads for the people of God to follow.
[22:12] And in our cultural climate today, there's this repulsion to authority. There's this repulsion to submission and following. And yet scripture teaches that the leaders in the church must diligently labor and they must diligently labor in leading the people of God.
[22:28] The leadership is a good gift from God. God has led his people through the ages. Look through the Old Testament. Look through the New. God himself leads his people and he leads his people through servants.
[22:44] Moses, Joshua. You have the judges. You have kings, though fallen and making all sorts of mistakes. They give leadership and a good king who listens to the Lord knows his precepts and leads the people in them, leads to the success of the people.
[23:04] In the New Testament, there are apostles. There are leaders established in the churches. And this is remarkable. In a time where so many churches will ignore the biblical model of leadership, we have a church within 20 years of the death and resurrection of Jesus that has elders.
[23:22] While not stated, their work is to give instruction and to have charge over the people, to lead and to teach. Those are the primary ideas or works of the elders and pastors as we see in the pastoral epistles.
[23:36] As we see in 1 Peter's text, chapter 5 today. They're to lead and to teach. And how great a shame is it that today in so many churches, you cannot find a man who is qualified to be an elder.
[23:52] And yet in Thessalonica, they are able to have a few, though they are a young church. The leaders are to have charge over the people.
[24:04] Leaders of this church, may you lead well through diligent labor, understanding that God's people need to be led, that these are confusing and trying times.
[24:16] The scriptures, admittedly, it can be difficult to understand. And we need people to guide us as to how we are to live with wisdom and prudence and discernment and knowledge in times such as these.
[24:30] How do we reach a growing apathetic audience with the gospel? How do we minister to those who have money and more leisurely time than ever before in history who see no real need for God?
[24:44] How do we bring the gospel to those who are really hurting and are angry at God because of the death of their loved ones? How do we raise godly children when the biggest influencers in their lives nowadays are less and less their parents but more their phones and their social media and the perceptions of other people?
[25:02] These are hard things to navigate and we need leaders who will walk us through these things. They are to have charge over, to preside over the people of God.
[25:12] And third, they are to give them instruction. Your ESV Bibles that you have before you will say admonish and that more properly captures what is actually meant here. They are to admonish and this is the idea of an instruction, a message that carries a warning, counsel that tells you do what is right.
[25:32] Turn from what is wrong. And this is done primarily in preaching. We see admonishment almost always tied in the New Testament with preaching and teaching. This is the work of the elders and the pastors.
[25:48] They are to give instruction. They are to admonish you. Do you understand that a pastor who will not teach you the hard truths of scripture is a failed shepherd?
[26:00] They are a coward. They care more about being your friend and liked by you than the very soul that you have which is eternal or that you are.
[26:13] Do you understand? We need leaders today. Leaders who will actually lead the people of God. Leaders who are going to teach the truth.
[26:24] Leaders who will give you the scripture as they are. Leaders who will stand on this truth and call your attention to it again and again and again that you would not drift to the left or to the right but that you would be on the straight and the narrow with your eyes fixated on Christ the author and perfecter of our faith and the very words that he has left behind for us.
[26:45] But we need leaders of integrity who will by their example live out the truth and show it to you. How you are to live. How you are to study the scriptures.
[26:56] How you are to pray. And they are to do this diligently. They are to work hard at this. For your benefit and for the glory of God. Notice this.
[27:10] When he says that they are to have charge over you. I just want to go back for a moment. Notice that the charge over you is in the Lord. This is a limited authority. This is a limited leadership.
[27:22] They are to lead you in spiritual matters in the Lord. They are not to have authority over all parts of your life. They are to have authority in that which pertains to spiritual matters within the church.
[27:36] God has limited this authority. He has limited their influence. And this is so important because it shows us that this is specifically talking about leaders within the church.
[27:47] Elders, pastors here and even to a degree ministry leaders. Your primary role is to lead the people of God and to teach them the word of God rightly.
[27:58] Calling them to obedience. Proclaiming the biblical gospel in a time when it is often compromised for the likings of our society to try and attract numbers.
[28:11] And we need godly leaders like this. And I've heard very good things about your leaders. I've heard good things about your elders and your pastors. And I'm grateful for that because I see less and less of that today.
[28:26] We need godly leaders like these. But now let's look at the two actions that Paul calls the congregation to. This is actually the primary focus of today's text.
[28:36] First, brethren, that you appreciate those types of people. That you would appreciate those who labor hard and lead and teach.
[28:47] This appreciate can be rightly translated honor, respect. Literally the idea behind it is to know them or acknowledge them. which does in some sense put an onus on you to know who your elders and your leaders are.
[29:02] It is wild to me that people can come and serve in churches for years not knowing who their elders are. Who are their pastors? How do you walk in the faith when you don't even know who the examples that God has given you to follow are?
[29:16] You should know your elders. And not just know them with a tip of the hat or a hello, but an appreciation. And I don't want to give you examples of how you should appreciate your pastor. I'm sure you know how to appreciate your leaders.
[29:30] If you are married, you know how to appreciate your spouse. You know how to appreciate those that you respect. You know how to appreciate others who have benefited you in this life. And God's word calls you to appreciate, to acknowledge and know them.
[29:45] And this goes beyond a simple high five or a pastor as you walk in. You are to appreciate them, honor, respect them, acknowledge them for the work that they do.
[29:59] And perhaps this isn't strong enough language. Let's continue on. Verse 13, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. This is where the English just doesn't do justice to the language that is used here.
[30:13] But what is the action you are called to? Esteem them. To what degree? Very highly. In the attitude or motivation of what? Love. You are to lovingly esteem them.
[30:27] You are to hold them high. G.G. Finley in his commentary writes that this is a triple Pauline intensive. Meaning beyond, exceedingly, abundantly.
[30:39] There are no reservations here. It does not say esteem them very highly if they diligently labor specifically for you the way that you ask or like.
[30:49] that you would esteem them highly if they lead you the way that you want to be led. You should respect and honor them because they teach the things that you like to hear.
[31:02] They make you feel good about yourself. No, you are to esteem them highly because of their work. And you are to do so with a nature, a posture, an attitude of love.
[31:17] You see, we've all, I'm sure, served different bosses where we've done the work simply because we have to. Begrudgingly. But that is not how we are to treat the leaders in the church. We are to esteem them very highly in love.
[31:32] I think back on the many years that growing up, my wife would argue and say that my mom didn't teach me very well how to clean the house. But I would argue she did a good job. I hated mopping, but my mom would bi-weekly either have to vacuum the house or I had to mop the house.
[31:47] My sister and I would switch and somehow it seems that I had always mopped the last week. So it was always my turn to vacuum. At least that's what my sister says. And I remember my mom would tell me to do this and I begrudgingly did it.
[32:01] I did the job because I had to. I didn't want to. My mom told me, yes, I love my mother, but she tells me to do the chore. I don't want to do the chore, but I do the chore because I have to. And often I am called to do the chore again, especially mopping because I've done a very poor job of it.
[32:17] I was a good vacuumer. The lines and the straightness, all that. But the mopping I was called back to. I did it begrudgingly. But there's a difference when you esteem someone highly and you love them.
[32:29] The way that you will work towards them. When my mother was dying in the hospital, unfortunately I'm on sabbatical right now, so I had no work commitments. I had nowhere to be but present.
[32:42] One of my brothers would sit all during the day with her and I would sit all during the night. And that way, 24 hours a day she had somebody with her and the rest of my siblings would come throughout the day or during parts of the night to sit with her.
[32:55] My mom, her body temperature was just skyrocketing. She was constantly so warm in her suffering. And I had brought some spare clothes that my wife had packed for me because I didn't know how long I was going to be there for.
[33:07] And I took out my Toronto Maple Leafs Phil Kessel t-shirt. I'm a Leafs fan. And I was fanning my mother because it's what she asked for. And I was able to serve her in this way and eventually my arms grow very tired but I want to continue because I want to serve her and bring this relief and this blessing to her because I recognize time is short and I love her and I want to bring this comfort to her.
[33:30] And I tried all sorts of different ways to wave her to keep this going. You see, when there's love behind your desires, you serve differently.
[33:42] You minister, you bless differently. When love is our motivator, it brings out the very best of us to the point of diligently suffering or toiling to exhaustion for them.
[33:55] The leaders are to serve their people in love. Scripture is very clear about that but the people of God are also to esteem their leaders very highly in love. And when love is your motivator, you will serve and treat people very differently.
[34:10] There was once where I would complain about my mom asking me to do the slightest, smallest little chore but at the end of her life, she could have asked for anything and I would have done it. Because the love, the understanding is different.
[34:25] See, we are to esteem our leaders very highly. There's no reservations here. Love your leaders. Jesus. Bring out the best in them by caring for them.
[34:37] And I've heard that you are. But Pastor BK speaks very fondly of this congregation. The love and support that has come to him, I actually haven't seen that much in other churches.
[34:48] You are the pinnacle right now. Now don't get cocky and arrogant. Obviously, that's not the goal of this. I'm not trying to pat you on the back and say you're the best. But continue in the good work that you are doing. You are in obedience but strive to be even better.
[35:01] I hope that you will care well for your elders and your leaders. You will bring out the best in them. Leon Morris says in his commentary that leaders can never do their best work when they are subject to carping criticism from those who should be their followers.
[35:19] Good leaders need good followers. And he's right. Musquamish Baptist Church, may you appreciate those whom God has given you in leadership, in his sovereignty, and in his providence.
[35:36] May you esteem them very highly with the attitude and the heart of love. Not because of who they are. It is not because Pastor BK, it's not because it's BK.
[35:48] A first name basis here. It's not because it's BK or Dave or Chris or whoever. It's not because they're so awesome or so handsome or so strong. It's because of their work.
[36:01] The scripture says that you would esteem them very highly in love because of their work. They work hard. They must lead when people don't always want to be led.
[36:13] They must admonish. Do you recognize that when you generally admonish people, they don't love it? It is no wonder that certain churches have thousands upon thousands of people and they fill arenas because the pastor is sitting there just encouraging them and blessing them with niceties but generally putting their souls in peril.
[36:32] But a pastor who will stand and say, you shall walk in these ways because God has authority over you. That you will give an account to the Lord. That each and every one of us will one day, even the young people here, you will stand before God and you will give an account for your answers.
[36:48] Your parents will not protect you. No matter how good your youth group or your church was, it will not be sufficient. Did you know? Did you submit? Did you believe? Did you repent in Christ?
[37:00] We need leaders who will call us to that, who will lead us in those charges that the Lord has given to us. And we must appreciate them for this work, this noble work.
[37:11] It is a noble thing to desire to be an elder, the scriptures say. It is a good thing. We should be aspiring towards that. They are the model that God has given for us to follow as they follow Christ so we follow them in that pattern.
[37:29] And it's not just this passage. We read 1 Peter chapter 5 today. It talks about them teaching and ruling and following them. In 1 Timothy chapter 5, 17, it says, the elder who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor.
[37:45] Now that doesn't mean that if you honor somebody, you give them a high five. But the elder and the pastor, you give them two high fives. Double the honor. This is talking about taking care of them, not only with respect, but financially.
[37:56] But it says, especially, there is emphasis out of here, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. Worthy of double honor, the scripture says.
[38:09] Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17 adds, it says, obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls. Again, there's the leadership aspect, keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.
[38:25] Let them do this with joy and not with groaning. For that would be of no advantage to you. If you berate and constantly are critiquing and a thorn in the side of your pastor, do you think they are going to have joy in serving you?
[38:41] Generally not. Again, when you love somebody, you will serve them to a much greater capacity and measure and desire and seriousness. And think for them and for me and Pastor BK and Pastor Dave and your elders, we will have to stand and give an account.
[39:02] Do you recognize that I will have to give an account for this that I bring before you today? To say, behold, this is what the word of God speaks, that if I take this lightly, I will have to give an account.
[39:16] It is a frightful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And there will be many who will stand before God thinking, Lord, Lord, did we not do this and do this? Look at the sermons I preach.
[39:27] Look at how I encourage people. They'll say, away from me. I never knew you. Arguably the most terrifying words in Scripture. No. Squamish Baptist Church leaders lead well with diligent labor as you have charged, presiding over the people, leading them well by admonishing them, by teaching them the word of God rightly.
[39:51] And believers here today and those who are online listening, would you appreciate them, esteeming them very highly in the attitude of love, exceedingly abundantly, super, more and more so?
[40:07] And perhaps, perhaps you're thinking, well, what happens when they make mistakes? You don't know them that well. This guy's like this.
[40:19] He does this and they've got shortcomings and sure. But first, let me ask, why is it willing to come across passages like this that there is a little bit of a chafing within our own hearts at the language of exceedingly abundantly blessing our leaders?
[40:36] Why is there resistance, perhaps, in your heart to that message? The Bible does give us precepts and methodology for how we are to call a pastor and elder to account.
[40:48] And there are texts for that. But be not quick looking for how you are to hold your pastor to account faster than you are to bless and to love and to nurture and care for them as well.
[41:02] God calls us to that as his people. And when we do this, there is tremendous blessing for us. But we make our leaders better. We make it a joy for them to serve us.
[41:12] They are greater motivated and greater moved by passion for us to serve us. And that is to our benefit. Not only that, but we affirm the sovereignty and the providence of God who has given us our leaders.
[41:26] We glorify Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit who have given us this word by trusting in it. We stand in stark contrast to our society who pushes against leadership, who denounces submission, yet we model it because of a greater trust in God than the world's wisdom.
[41:46] You see, all of these things are good things that we benefit from when we obey this scripture. Your leaders will be better. And they will do better for you.
[41:57] And it will go better for you as well. Remember, these are people who represent and work hard for Christ who is the great shepherd.
[42:11] He cares for his shepherds as well. He gifts them. He convicts them. He presses them down. He breaks them and he remolds them and he shapes them so that they would be able to serve you well.
[42:26] May you treat them well in this church. Knowing that God has gifted you, your leaders, just as he has gifted you the great gift of salvation, which he sent his son to die on a cross bearing your shame, your wickedness, and your guilt.
[42:46] Dying in your place serving you to save you from the wrath of a holy and righteous God that was due you rightly. And that he takes all of that upon himself and he dies in your place.
[43:01] And any who hear that message and would repent, would turn from their sin, their unbelief, and trust in Jesus as the risen and resurrected Lord, the Son of God, the perfect sacrifice, the propitiation, the appeasing one who has appeased God's righteous demands.
[43:18] They will be saved. But God's good gifts don't stop there. He now gives you leaders to mature you, to shape you, to bless you, to grow you. May you honor and care for them well.
[43:31] And leaders, may you work diligently in your labor for the people of God, for they're valuable enough to him to die for, to lay down his life for it.
[43:43] May God bless you ever so richly as you grow in your obedience to him, as you grow in your knowledge to him, as you seek to find ways to bless your leaders and leaders as you work hard at leading and teaching the people of God.
[43:59] May God bless you. And soil. May God bless you. Thanks for joining us. May God bless you. Chair is now above her side of the dimensional particle.
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