WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.519 A couple of weeks ago in my local Tesco, I watched a man walk in, help himself to a box 00:00:10.519 --> 00:00:16.679 ! of beers that was by the window, by the door, and turn and walk back out. 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:26.280 And the security guard who was there, a security guard in a local convenience store, wearing 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:35.280 a stab vest and a body camera, said to him something along the lines of, you can't do 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:46.439 that. To which he replied with a version of says who, and stepped past the guard and left. 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:52.579 He then stood at the bus stop right outside the shop and waited for several minutes for 00:00:52.579 --> 00:01:01.579 his bus to arrive. Brazen as you like. A few days ago at the other end of my street, I 00:01:01.579 --> 00:01:07.259 was waiting in a long line of traffic at a set of traffic lights and a car drove up. I was 00:01:07.259 --> 00:01:12.299 two lanes heading in this direction and I'm wanting to turn right and I can see in the 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:19.579 side mirror a car comes up the outside and goes right all the way up to the end and just 00:01:19.579 --> 00:01:25.579 moves in, people beeping their horns, flashing their lights. He moves in, I say he, may have 00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:32.579 been a she, and he just edges forward into the junction. People move, they all have to 00:01:32.579 --> 00:01:39.579 stop and he turns and drives off. I'm thinking to myself, you can't do that. To which he probably 00:01:39.579 --> 00:01:47.579 would have replied says who? I just did. Now these are pretty obvious examples, but the 00:01:47.579 --> 00:01:54.579 spirit of the idea of the rules don't apply to me is rife in our culture. Right across 00:01:54.579 --> 00:01:59.579 the board, respect for authority is evaporating. If anything, you are your own authority and 00:01:59.579 --> 00:02:08.579 anybody who tries to tell you otherwise is wrong. Just did it. Says who? Now there are 00:02:08.579 --> 00:02:12.579 probably lots of reasons for this. For one, I think it's encouraged by our advertisers. 00:02:12.579 --> 00:02:19.579 For years, Nike have been telling us to just do it. You're in control. And all kinds of 00:02:19.579 --> 00:02:25.579 brands and companies push us to think that no rules and no boundaries is the way to go. 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:32.580 The CEO of Netflix has recently written a book called No Rules Rules, laying out his 00:02:32.580 --> 00:02:41.580 supposed work for us on your own terms approach to staffing. The rules are there are no rules. 00:02:41.580 --> 00:02:47.580 But it's incoherent. It's nonsense. And actually, they don't really mean it, do they? 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:51.580 Imagine how it would go if you went down to Nighttown and Oxford Circus and you went in, 00:02:51.580 --> 00:02:56.580 could I have these in a size 9, please? Tried them on, yep, I like those, great. No, you can 00:02:56.580 --> 00:03:01.580 keep those dirty old ones, I'm off. And you walk out the door. The security guard comes and he says 00:03:01.580 --> 00:03:05.580 to you, excuse me, sir, you haven't paid for those. And you say, no, you're right, I haven't paid for 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:10.580 them. But I was pondering whether or not I should leave without paying. And I turned around and I saw on 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:23.580 wall some inspiration. And I thought, I'll just do it. It's nonsense. And yet, it is the rhetoric that is in the air that we breathe. 00:03:23.580 --> 00:03:29.580 You make the rules. You're the authority. Don't let anyone tell you what to do. 00:03:29.580 --> 00:03:36.580 Now, of course, it's not just the advertisers that have trained us to reject authority. We have, in many cases, good reasons to be suspicious. 00:03:36.580 --> 00:03:46.580 Because our leaders have let us down. Whether that's in government or even closer to home, we have to be honest, in the wider church, we have seen authority misused. 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:52.580 And so, when the topic comes up, we're already a bit suspicious. We're already thinking negatively. We're on the back foot. 00:03:53.580 --> 00:03:55.580 Which is why we need to talk about it. 00:03:57.580 --> 00:04:07.580 And that's especially the case for us as a church because we are hoping to appoint new leaders, new elders at the church here in the coming months. 00:04:07.580 --> 00:04:12.580 As a Presbyterian church, we are under the oversight of a body of elders, presbyters. 00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:17.580 And those men collectively, as a group, possess authority to lead the church. 00:04:17.580 --> 00:04:23.580 And our focus this morning is on one verse in the reading, which makes it very clear that they have real authority. 00:04:23.580 --> 00:04:29.580 If you could turn it up again. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17. It's on page 1010. 00:04:29.580 --> 00:04:35.580 Obey your leaders and submit to them. 00:04:35.579 --> 00:04:42.579 That sounds incredibly counter-cultural, doesn't it? 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:46.579 But God has established three governments in His world. 00:04:46.579 --> 00:04:49.579 He has established the state, the family, and the church. 00:04:49.579 --> 00:04:53.579 And each one is structured with those who lead and those who are led. 00:04:53.579 --> 00:05:03.579 And in the same way that the magistrate or the government or fathers, parents at home, have authority that is real, that is given by God in their respective spheres. 00:05:03.579 --> 00:05:05.579 So it is in the church. 00:05:05.579 --> 00:05:10.579 The Lord Jesus, the one who possesses all authority in heaven and on earth. 00:05:10.579 --> 00:05:12.579 Matthew 28, 20. 00:05:12.579 --> 00:05:20.579 He sends out those first disciples into the world to go and make more disciples, to go and disciple the nations. 00:05:20.579 --> 00:05:22.579 He gets this order in place. 00:05:22.579 --> 00:05:27.579 He says, I have all authority and I'm giving it to you to go and do these things. 00:05:27.579 --> 00:05:34.579 The Lord Jesus, with all authority, rules His church through the collective oversight of elders. 00:05:34.579 --> 00:05:39.579 And Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 12, that those men are over you in the Lord. 00:05:39.579 --> 00:05:40.579 They have authority. 00:05:40.579 --> 00:05:41.579 It is real. 00:05:41.579 --> 00:05:51.579 So it naturally follows that if they have been given this authority, words like obey and submit naturally follow when it comes to their leadership. 00:05:51.579 --> 00:05:55.579 That's not easy to do. 00:05:55.579 --> 00:06:07.579 That's not easy to embrace when the cultural air that we breathe is so anti-authority, when the message is in our world that you make the rules around here. 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:18.579 And it's especially difficult if we have experienced the misuse of authority in our lives at some point, whether that's in one of those spheres, the state, the family or the church. 00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:24.579 So, I want us to take time in this verse this morning. 00:06:24.579 --> 00:06:30.579 Because here the author gives us two reasons why we can confidently lean into the authority of elders. 00:06:30.579 --> 00:06:36.579 Two perspectives, you might say, that should help us follow their lead, embrace their leadership as a good thing. 00:06:36.579 --> 00:06:46.579 And that is because elder authority is directed towards the good of those under their care, and those elders are answerable to God for how they use it. 00:06:46.579 --> 00:06:48.579 If you want a summary of the sermon, that's it. 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:54.579 Elder authority is good because it is directed to those under their care, and it is accountable to God. 00:06:54.579 --> 00:07:09.579 When we consider authority along these lines, I hope this morning it will both encourage us all and challenge those of us who are elders and or aspiring elders concerning the nature of authority. 00:07:09.579 --> 00:07:14.579 So, point number one, elder authority is advantageous for you. 00:07:14.579 --> 00:07:16.579 It is advantageous for you. 00:07:16.579 --> 00:07:18.579 Obey your leaders and submit to them. 00:07:18.579 --> 00:07:22.579 Four, here's the reason why, they keep watch over your souls. 00:07:22.579 --> 00:07:28.579 Then he says later, let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. 00:07:28.579 --> 00:07:39.579 In your elders, you have a group of people who are keeping watch over your soul. 00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:46.579 A group of men who have accepted responsibility to provide spiritual nurture while you are under their care. 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:49.579 That is why their authority is a good thing. 00:07:49.579 --> 00:07:56.579 They direct it towards your spiritual growth, your spiritual betterment, maturity. 00:07:56.579 --> 00:08:00.579 I want to suggest they do this in at least six ways. 00:08:00.579 --> 00:08:01.579 Six ways. 00:08:01.579 --> 00:08:05.579 Number one, they attend to their own spiritual health. 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:15.579 When Paul wrote to Timothy to tell him how to lead in pastoral ministry, he told him, he said, watch your own life and doctrine closely. 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:21.579 In order to use their authority well, elders first need to ensure that they are spiritually healthy. 00:08:21.579 --> 00:08:24.579 Sick people can't lead sick people into health. 00:08:24.579 --> 00:08:28.579 So, they need to work on their own spiritual health. 00:08:28.579 --> 00:08:30.579 It's the old airplane illustration. 00:08:30.579 --> 00:08:32.579 In the event of an emergency, what do they say? 00:08:32.579 --> 00:08:36.579 The mask will fall down and you put your own mask on first. 00:08:36.579 --> 00:08:37.579 Why do you do that? 00:08:37.579 --> 00:08:40.579 You're no help to somebody if you can't breathe. 00:08:40.579 --> 00:08:43.579 Same in church leadership. 00:08:43.579 --> 00:08:50.579 Elders stay close to Christ, not just for their own sake, but so that they can provide an example for others to follow. 00:08:50.579 --> 00:08:59.579 They stay close to Christ that they might be spiritually alive in order that they can bring that life to others. 00:08:59.580 --> 00:09:05.580 Paul could say to the Corinthians, follow me as I follow Christ. 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:06.580 Same for elders. 00:09:06.580 --> 00:09:12.580 Following their example as they follow Christ will be good for your soul. 00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:20.580 Elders, the challenge for us is to look at our lives as sober judgment and ask the question, 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:31.580 if people followed my example in my devotional life, in my family, in my priorities, in my giving, how healthy would the church that I lead be? 00:09:31.580 --> 00:09:38.580 If we don't like the answer, we need to make the necessary changes. 00:09:38.580 --> 00:09:42.580 Point number one, they attend to their own spiritual health. 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:45.580 Number two, they get to know you. 00:09:45.580 --> 00:09:46.580 They get to know you. 00:09:46.580 --> 00:09:49.580 At a high level, this means they define the membership of the church. 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:52.580 Elders, don't keep watch over everyone's soul. 00:09:52.580 --> 00:10:01.580 Every Christian in this country is not under the spiritual oversight and care of the session of elders here. 00:10:01.580 --> 00:10:07.580 They do this with a group of people that have freely and willingly chosen to submit to their oversight. 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:18.580 The elders here, shepherd, we shepherd the flock that is under our care, to use Peter's words from 1 Peter 5. 00:10:18.580 --> 00:10:21.580 And to do that, we need to know who you are. 00:10:21.580 --> 00:10:25.580 Your part in that then is to formally join the church. 00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:26.580 One author has said this, 00:10:26.580 --> 00:10:29.580 It is not enough to say that we are part of the universal church. 00:10:29.580 --> 00:10:34.580 We must also commit ourselves to a local or visible group of God's people. 00:10:34.580 --> 00:10:44.580 The New Testament does not contain even a hint of someone who was truly saved, but not part of a local church. 00:10:44.580 --> 00:10:50.580 It couldn't be any less clear. 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:52.580 When you do this, the elders will get to know you. 00:10:52.580 --> 00:10:56.580 They'll ask you questions about your soul, about your spiritual life. 00:10:56.580 --> 00:10:58.580 They'll ask you how you're getting on as a Christian. 00:10:58.580 --> 00:10:59.580 They'll ask you about temptation. 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:03.580 They'll ask you about how you're getting on. 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:08.580 And while it's true that as the church grows, every elder can't know every member personally, 00:11:08.580 --> 00:11:13.580 it is the case that every member is under the care of an elder. 00:11:13.580 --> 00:11:19.580 Back in Acts chapter 20, when the Apostle Paul gives his charge to the Ephesian elders, 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:25.580 he understands the elders' work there to be marked by two qualities. 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:37.580 And then he talks later about his time with them and talks about how he had deep affection for them. 00:11:37.580 --> 00:11:40.580 He admonished them with tears. 00:11:40.580 --> 00:11:41.580 Those are the qualities. 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:44.580 Careful attention and deep affection. 00:11:44.580 --> 00:11:51.580 Those two are only possible if the elders know the people. 00:11:51.580 --> 00:11:56.580 Point number three, they pray for you. 00:11:56.580 --> 00:11:58.580 How do elders keep watch over your soul? 00:11:58.580 --> 00:12:00.580 They pray for you. 00:12:00.580 --> 00:12:13.580 When you belong to a church, you have a group of people who are invested in your spiritual growth such that they bring you by name to the Father regularly. 00:12:13.580 --> 00:12:16.580 I suspect in most cases it's daily. 00:12:16.580 --> 00:12:22.580 Often it's more than that when there's a particular need. 00:12:22.580 --> 00:12:26.580 This is surely one of the most significant blessings of belonging to a local church. 00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:28.580 Must be. 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:32.580 When you have needs, there are people praying for you. 00:12:32.580 --> 00:12:38.580 There are people who know the Lord and are spiritually healthy and they are bringing your name to the Father. 00:12:38.580 --> 00:12:42.580 When you wander off, they are praying for you that you come back. 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:48.580 When you thrive, they are giving thanks and enjoying that with you in the Lord. 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:55.580 The elders are committed to bringing your name into the heavenly courts to ask for the Lord to be active in your life. 00:12:55.580 --> 00:12:58.580 What a blessing. 00:12:58.580 --> 00:13:01.580 To have leaders that are doing that for you. 00:13:01.580 --> 00:13:06.580 Next, they feed you God's Word. 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:08.580 They don't just pray for you, they feed you God's Word. 00:13:08.580 --> 00:13:12.580 Ministers do this from the pulpit Sunday by Sunday. 00:13:12.580 --> 00:13:15.580 Along with prayer, this is the most important thing that ministers do. 00:13:15.580 --> 00:13:18.580 That's what they're set aside for, the Word and prayer. 00:13:18.580 --> 00:13:24.580 But every elder knows that what you need, what you really need, 00:13:24.580 --> 00:13:30.580 above everything else, when you struggle, when decisions have to be made, 00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:35.580 in the good times and in the bad, is encouragement and exhortation from God's Word. 00:13:35.580 --> 00:13:40.580 You should expect your elders to open the Bible with you, to speak Scripture to you, 00:13:40.580 --> 00:13:44.580 to bring you the encouragement and the exhortation from God's Word. 00:13:44.580 --> 00:13:46.580 Now, they do that in various contexts. 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:53.580 This is one of them, but one-to-one, personal meetings, home groups, pastoral meetings as well. 00:13:53.580 --> 00:13:59.580 If you meet with a number of elders, they will be seeking to hold Scripture out to you, 00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:01.580 seeking to apply Scripture into your life. 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:03.580 They'll be feeding you with God's Word. 00:14:03.580 --> 00:14:09.580 But they don't just teach you, they will also help you learn how to feed yourself, 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:12.580 how you can handle the Bible better for yourself, 00:14:12.580 --> 00:14:16.580 how you can read it in a way that is going to nourish your soul. 00:14:16.580 --> 00:14:22.580 If reading the Bible is a new thing to you, I know that we've seen some people come to faith in Christ recently in our congregation, 00:14:22.580 --> 00:14:28.580 a wonderful thing, if reading the Bible is a new thing to you, ask an elder how best to get going in that. 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:29.580 It's a big old book. 00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:30.580 Where do you start? 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:31.580 How do you get going? 00:14:31.580 --> 00:14:33.580 They'll instruct you in that. 00:14:33.580 --> 00:14:35.580 They'll help you feed yourself. 00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:41.580 If you're wanting to grow in a particular area, ask an elder to help you. 00:14:41.580 --> 00:14:44.580 You know the old, if you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:49.580 If you give him a fishing rod, he'll sell it on eBay or whatever the thing is, you know. 00:14:49.580 --> 00:14:52.580 He'll feed others for life, whatever. 00:14:52.580 --> 00:14:55.580 Elders provide the fish and the fishing seminars. 00:14:55.580 --> 00:14:58.580 So they give you the food, they help you to find food yourself. 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:00.580 They feed you God's Word. 00:15:00.580 --> 00:15:05.580 Number five, they lead you. 00:15:05.580 --> 00:15:08.580 They lead you. 00:15:08.580 --> 00:15:11.580 How do they keep watch over your soul? 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:12.580 They lead you. 00:15:12.580 --> 00:15:16.580 Just as the Lord leads His people beside quiet waters, Psalm 23, 00:15:16.580 --> 00:15:22.580 just as He guides us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake, Psalm 23, again. 00:15:22.580 --> 00:15:24.580 Just as the Lord Jesus is the one who says, 00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:26.580 My sheep hear my voice. 00:15:26.580 --> 00:15:30.580 I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them, in John 10. 00:15:30.580 --> 00:15:33.580 So it is for the under-shepherds of the church. 00:15:33.580 --> 00:15:37.580 Elders are shepherd leaders after the example of Christ. 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:44.580 Now, it's worth saying that the shepherd image, I've heard this recently. 00:15:44.580 --> 00:15:51.580 If I heard it here, it does no harm to reiterate it to you, but I heard it recently that, you know, the shepherd image is all over the Bible. 00:15:51.580 --> 00:15:58.580 And I think in the West we can often misunderstand it because we're familiar with the idea of watching a shepherd. 00:15:58.580 --> 00:16:01.580 Maybe we've seen those series of one man and his dog or something like that. 00:16:01.580 --> 00:16:04.580 The shepherd's at the back, he whistles a bit and the dog follows. 00:16:04.580 --> 00:16:08.580 Or nowadays, maybe on a quad bike riding behind his flock. 00:16:08.580 --> 00:16:10.580 So the flock are out front and he's behind. 00:16:10.580 --> 00:16:15.580 But in the time of the Bible, the image in the Bible, the shepherd leads from the front. 00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:18.580 That's true in the Middle East today. 00:16:18.580 --> 00:16:20.580 That's the biblical image. 00:16:20.580 --> 00:16:23.580 What that means is, very different perspective. 00:16:23.580 --> 00:16:27.580 The shepherd out front, he's the first to encounter danger. 00:16:27.580 --> 00:16:33.580 And the shepherd is the one who provides the path for the sheep to follow. 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:35.580 So it's dangerous. 00:16:35.580 --> 00:16:39.580 It's a selfless task then, because it's more concern for the sheep than for themselves. 00:16:39.580 --> 00:16:44.580 You're going to walk into danger for the sake of this group behind. 00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:49.580 But that means that when elders meet to make decisions that concern the congregation, 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:53.580 in session meetings, elders meetings, presbytery or synod, 00:16:53.580 --> 00:16:59.580 they are leading in the broad purposes of the church, but they are doing so not for their own benefit. 00:16:59.580 --> 00:17:04.579 But as Paul says in Ephesians 5, they're doing it to equip the saints for the works of service, 00:17:04.579 --> 00:17:08.579 to the up-building of the church, Christ's body. 00:17:08.579 --> 00:17:15.579 They are leading with those behind them, as it were, to use the shepherd imagery, with their good in view. 00:17:15.579 --> 00:17:18.579 They're providing a path that they will follow in safety. 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:25.579 As elders follow Christ, we lead the way. 00:17:25.579 --> 00:17:27.579 We provide a path for those who follow. 00:17:27.579 --> 00:17:33.579 Number six, the sixth quality, keeping watch over your souls. 00:17:33.579 --> 00:17:35.579 They protect you. 00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:37.579 Elders protect you. 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:40.579 Now again, our protection ultimately comes from the Lord, 00:17:40.579 --> 00:17:43.579 the one who, again, the imagery of Psalm 23, 00:17:43.579 --> 00:17:46.579 He shepherds us with His rod and His staff. 00:17:46.579 --> 00:17:50.579 We are ultimately secure in the grip of the Lord Jesus, 00:17:50.579 --> 00:17:54.579 who assures us that no one can be lost out of His hand. 00:17:54.579 --> 00:17:56.579 John 10. 00:17:56.579 --> 00:18:01.579 But elders in Christ's church are called to protect the sheep. 00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:06.579 This is a vital element of watching over your souls. 00:18:06.579 --> 00:18:11.579 And it bears in mind the danger both from within and from without. 00:18:11.579 --> 00:18:17.579 The danger that exists within the human heart and outside the threats to the church. 00:18:17.579 --> 00:18:21.579 It bears in mind both how prone we are to wander 00:18:21.579 --> 00:18:25.579 and the threat of wolves coming in who seek to destroy the flock. 00:18:25.579 --> 00:18:31.579 And therefore, this protection requires both compassion and courage. 00:18:31.579 --> 00:18:34.579 Compassion and courage. 00:18:34.579 --> 00:18:41.579 Much of the protection that elders will provide comes in the form of warning from the Word of God. 00:18:41.579 --> 00:18:46.579 Warning about the dangers of choosing your own desires over God's Word. 00:18:46.579 --> 00:18:52.579 Choosing to go your way rather than to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience. 00:18:52.579 --> 00:18:57.579 The temptation that we feel to turn down the volume on the bits of Scripture 00:18:57.579 --> 00:19:01.579 that cut across what we want in the deep place of our heart of hearts. 00:19:01.579 --> 00:19:05.579 All of that is going on within. 00:19:05.579 --> 00:19:10.579 And out of compassion, faithful elders will have the hard conversations 00:19:10.579 --> 00:19:13.579 because they are watching over your soul and you're in danger. 00:19:13.579 --> 00:19:19.579 When we do that, when we choose our interests and our appetites and our desires over obedience, 00:19:19.579 --> 00:19:20.579 we are in danger. 00:19:20.579 --> 00:19:26.579 And we need elders who will have compassion to step in and tell us that. 00:19:26.579 --> 00:19:35.579 Then in terms of external threats, they'll warn about the sorts of things like the full-throated cultural opposition to our faith that we experience today. 00:19:35.579 --> 00:19:45.579 Whenever you face danger, opposition on opposition on opposition, because you're a Christian, 00:19:45.579 --> 00:19:50.579 the temptation then to compromise theologically because of that pressure is massive. 00:19:50.579 --> 00:19:58.579 The desire that we have just to live a quiet life, not to cause any fuss, just to go about our business. 00:19:58.579 --> 00:20:05.579 The temptation that we have to want to be respectable, to keep our reputation in the company. 00:20:05.579 --> 00:20:08.579 The temptation that we feel to want to be cool amongst our friends. 00:20:08.579 --> 00:20:14.579 Boys and girls, can I say to you, the pressure not to stand up for Christ in school is enormous. 00:20:14.579 --> 00:20:16.579 I know that. 00:20:16.579 --> 00:20:21.579 But faithful elders will summon the courage to sound the warning, to say, 00:20:21.579 --> 00:20:23.579 Stand, boys and girls. 00:20:23.579 --> 00:20:25.579 Name the name of Christ. 00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:28.579 Choose obedience over respectability. 00:20:28.579 --> 00:20:36.579 Choose, yes, I'm going to unshakably follow Jesus, no matter how uncool people think I am. 00:20:36.579 --> 00:20:41.579 Faithful elders will sound that warning. 00:20:41.579 --> 00:20:44.579 Compassion and courage. 00:20:45.579 --> 00:20:46.579 That's what it takes. 00:20:46.579 --> 00:20:47.579 And here's the thing. 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:48.579 Let me say this. 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:56.579 I have yet to meet a faithful shepherd, a faithful elder, who enjoys this element of their ministry. 00:20:56.579 --> 00:20:59.579 In many ways it would be easier to say nothing. 00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:04.579 In many ways it would be far easier just to pretend everything is great and to smile and crackle. 00:21:04.579 --> 00:21:06.579 Yeah, you do what you like. 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:07.579 It's okay. 00:21:07.579 --> 00:21:10.579 We'll all pretend everything is fine. 00:21:10.579 --> 00:21:15.579 But I've also yet to meet an elder who didn't warn the flock and who remained faithful to God. 00:21:15.579 --> 00:21:21.579 Elders who are faithful, who are keeping watch over your souls, do so because they've been called to protect you. 00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:23.579 That requires compassion and courage. 00:21:23.579 --> 00:21:25.579 It requires hard conversations. 00:21:25.579 --> 00:21:27.579 They're doing it because they love you. 00:21:27.579 --> 00:21:31.579 We were on the beach this summer. 00:21:31.579 --> 00:21:40.579 Those lifeguards on the beach, they don't blow their whistles and they don't yell down those megaphone things at you for their own good. 00:21:40.579 --> 00:21:49.579 They do it because if you go over there or if you keep going in that direction, you're going to get swept away. 00:21:49.579 --> 00:21:55.579 Elders who are keeping watch over the souls of the congregation warn the flock for exactly the same reason. 00:21:55.579 --> 00:21:59.579 Not for their own good, but because if you keep on that path, you're going to get swept away. 00:21:59.579 --> 00:22:06.579 So, can you see why those six things? 00:22:06.579 --> 00:22:13.579 Can you see why the sort of authority that the writer to the Hebrews has in mind is advantageous for us? 00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:26.579 When elders steward their authority, not for their own good, but towards the leading and the feeding and the protecting of those who have been placed under their care, it enables us to flourish. 00:22:26.579 --> 00:22:30.579 It is for our good. 00:22:30.579 --> 00:22:37.579 And so, when we read words like obey and submit to that kind of authority, we think, no problem. 00:22:37.579 --> 00:22:39.579 It is good for me to do that. 00:22:39.579 --> 00:22:44.579 I'm going to actually choose to do that. 00:22:44.579 --> 00:22:47.579 It is good to submit to that kind of rule. 00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:52.579 There's also a second reason that gives us confidence about this authority. 00:22:52.579 --> 00:22:57.579 And it's really like a guardrail, you could say, around the elder office. 00:22:57.579 --> 00:23:02.579 Because, secondly, elder authority is accountable to God. 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:04.579 It is advantageous for you. 00:23:04.579 --> 00:23:06.579 Secondly, it is accountable to God. 00:23:06.579 --> 00:23:19.579 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. 00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:26.579 One of the things that people were most upset about during COVID was the lack of accountability it seemed that there was in the government. 00:23:26.579 --> 00:23:35.579 It seemed that they used their authority to make decisions that affected lots of people and they didn't have to answer for any of the consequences. 00:23:35.579 --> 00:23:41.579 That's what stirred up a huge amount of the kind of anger that we came across in social media and so on. 00:23:41.579 --> 00:23:44.579 It's not like that in the church. 00:23:44.579 --> 00:23:47.579 Oh, and by the way, it's not like that in government either. 00:23:47.579 --> 00:23:48.579 Everybody will have to give an account. 00:23:48.579 --> 00:23:56.579 One day we will all stand before God, from the least to the greatest, to give an account for how we have lived our lives in His world. 00:23:56.579 --> 00:24:01.579 Give an account for what we have done with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:24:01.579 --> 00:24:13.579 However, those who have served the church as elders will have to give an account specifically for the way that we have stewarded this responsibility. 00:24:13.579 --> 00:24:24.579 I don't know what the voice will sound like, but the one who breathed the cosmos into existence will ask each one how they kept watch over the souls of those entrusted to their care. 00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:31.579 It is a terrifying thought. 00:24:31.579 --> 00:24:38.579 It is deeply sobering for elders and for those who aspire to the office. 00:24:38.579 --> 00:24:46.579 And I often wonder whether some of the people that I meet who believe themselves to be called to ministry have read this verse. 00:24:46.579 --> 00:24:52.579 But it's good that it's sobering for elders. 00:24:52.579 --> 00:24:53.579 It is good for you. 00:24:53.579 --> 00:25:02.579 It is good for all of us that it is sobering for elders, that they would take this seriously because it gives us confidence about their accountability. 00:25:02.579 --> 00:25:07.579 Good elders will always check their instincts by this fact. 00:25:07.579 --> 00:25:10.579 Now, not that they'll do everything perfectly. 00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:11.579 That is not what's intended. 00:25:11.579 --> 00:25:13.579 That's not what God expects. 00:25:13.579 --> 00:25:14.579 He knows our frame. 00:25:14.579 --> 00:25:17.579 He even knows the frame of sinful elders. 00:25:17.579 --> 00:25:23.579 But this reality, the reality of this accountability will make us ask, 00:25:23.579 --> 00:25:28.579 Am I willing to answer to God for this decision? 00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:36.579 Any elder that consistently does that will use their authority very well. 00:25:36.579 --> 00:25:39.579 But what's equally encouraging? 00:25:39.579 --> 00:25:49.579 So, we are in a context where our leaders are ultimately accountable to God and are making decisions with that sober judgment and view. 00:25:49.579 --> 00:25:52.579 You think, well, that's good for me. 00:25:52.579 --> 00:26:06.579 But what's equally encouraging is that this accountability means that bad elders, manipulative, self-serving, negligent, harsh elders, and there are some out there, they won't get away with that behavior. 00:26:06.579 --> 00:26:10.579 And this is really good news for any of us who have suffered in this way. 00:26:10.579 --> 00:26:15.579 If you have suffered at the hands of that kind of manipulative leadership, the Lord knows. 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:19.579 And one day, those who did that will be called to account. 00:26:21.579 --> 00:26:24.579 And don't forget, this isn't an empty promise. 00:26:24.579 --> 00:26:26.579 Don't forget, He's done it before. 00:26:26.579 --> 00:26:30.579 Back in Ezekiel, Ezekiel prophesied about the ungodly shepherds of Israel. 00:26:30.579 --> 00:26:40.579 Ezekiel chapter 34, God's people have been exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness, and that unfaithfulness was in no small part because of the failure of the spiritual leaders of the day. 00:26:40.579 --> 00:26:44.579 And Ezekiel records how rather than serving the sheep, they served themselves. 00:26:44.579 --> 00:26:47.579 Rather than caring for the sheep, they were harsh with the sheep. 00:26:47.579 --> 00:26:51.579 Rather than protecting them, they allowed them to scatter and to be devoured. 00:26:51.579 --> 00:26:59.579 And Ezekiel details how the Lord will hold these false shepherds to account and will deal in judgment on them for that behavior. 00:26:59.579 --> 00:27:05.579 So, yes, this injunction in Hebrews 13, don't think that this is an empty promise from the Lord. 00:27:05.579 --> 00:27:12.579 Maybe because you've experienced some misuse of authority in your life, and the perpetrator you think, just seem to get away with it. 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:20.579 Allow Ezekiel 34 and how God has acted in history previously to remind you that just as He did it before, He will do it again. 00:27:20.579 --> 00:27:22.579 It's not an empty promise. 00:27:22.579 --> 00:27:52.579 Let's not desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde 00:27:52.579 --> 00:27:57.639 Stewardship, it is not a right. Stewards don't have ownership of the thing that they steward. 00:27:58.399 --> 00:28:03.559 They use it on another's behalf. For elders, this means our authority is always derived. 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:12.799 It flows down from the Lord Jesus, and it comes to us. The Lord Jesus is the one, as it were. In 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:19.480 fact, He is the one who Ezekiel prophesied would come. He is the good shepherd who Ezekiel looked 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:26.960 forward to, and the goal of the elder is to use that authority in such a way that points people 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:33.980 ultimately to Him. Elder authority should point people to the shepherd king and David's line, 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:41.059 the good shepherd, the one who handled his sheep with perfect care, the one who ultimately laid 00:28:41.059 --> 00:28:48.259 down his life for their salvation, the one who didn't think of his own good but gave it all up 00:28:48.259 --> 00:28:55.879 for the sake of those for whom He came. If you've put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:28:55.980 --> 00:29:01.099 you actually have a shepherd who brings you to God the Father. You have a shepherd who feeds you 00:29:01.099 --> 00:29:05.460 with His Word, and that is table. We're going to do that this evening. You have a shepherd who leads 00:29:05.460 --> 00:29:10.819 you and protects you through whatever trials or dark valleys you go through. In the end, 00:29:10.819 --> 00:29:19.039 that is what makes good elders good, and that is what makes their authority advantageous. 00:29:19.919 --> 00:29:28.859 They emulate the true shepherd through whom they bring His compassion and His care. Let's pray together. 00:29:28.859 --> 00:29:58.839 Let's pray together.