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Hebrews 13:17-19 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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  If you will please take your copy of God's Word and turn to Hebrews chapter 13.
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  In our verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Hebrews, we have been in chapter 11.
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  ! However, this morning we are going to formally install two elders, and as such, it seemed fitting
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  to us to jump ahead to these verses in chapter 13. I apologize if that drives you crazy, taking
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  it out of order. Next week, we will return our attention to chapter 11. In Hebrews chapter 13,
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  verses 17 through 19, the author of Hebrews gives instruction as to how to relate to your leaders.
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  Now, we do not know the specific men that our author is referring to. He doesn't give them
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  names here in the text. But I propose to you that he is referring to the elders or
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  pastors of this church. We will see that he includes himself in that number, verse 18.
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  I want to tell you why I draw this conclusion. It's because of the preceding verse found in Hebrews 13
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  and verse 7. Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the Word of God, consider the outcome of their
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  way of life and imitate their faith. So he's previously referenced your leaders. And these are leaders
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  that taught this church sound doctrine. And these are leaders that lived among them. Otherwise, how could
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  the church consider and imitate their lives? So there's a relationship that's happening here. These
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  men seem to be in place to do this very work. I also draw this conclusion because this letter,
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  by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was not only pinned for its original audience, but also for us.
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  As a church of Christ, we are ordered by the Bible with elders giving leadership to it. Beloved, elders
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  are a gift to the church. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd, has gifted the church
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  with undershepherds. Remember that this letter written to the Hebrews is about them persevering
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  in faith to their great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to not be tempted to go back to Judaism
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  and neglect pressing on in this salvation that they had received. So because of what Christ has done,
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  what he has accomplished, he has saved for himself a church that meets and is expressed in local
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  congregations. And to help place that in order and to help give guidance to that, he gives to it
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  undershepherds, gifts to the church. Do you believe this to be true?
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  We live in a day when all positions of authority seem suspect. And it would seem even in our day that
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  the position of pastor can bear with it much shame. There have been so many nefarious things done by men
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  who claim that title. It's difficult for me with much pride at all to claim that I am a pastor because
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  I kind of want to go, but not like those pastors. Let me tell you what that means. We are a people
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  who are slow to believe that anyone is seeking our good at great expense to themselves. We just tend to
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  think that somebody is seeking their own good if they're doing anything at all good for us. I can attest
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  to you, though, that the elders of Christ's Family Church share the sentiment expressed by Paul
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  in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 15 where he wrote,
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  I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. Do you believe that God-ordered authority
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  is good for you? God has given to us governments, husbands, parents, and the church with its leaders
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  to help order our lives. None of these authorities govern perfectly, but they are
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  gifts. I am grateful for the authority figures in my life. I am grateful that we have elders. I'm not
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  the only one that serves in this role, but there is authority placed over me, especially when they
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  direct my steps under the perfect rule of our Heavenly Father. I'm grateful that our church presently has
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  a congregation. And that congregation has authority and that congregation has ordered that we would have
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  elders to help us all pursue the way of God. My prayer this morning has been that each of you would feel
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  the same and would respond accordingly. So our text for today is Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17
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  through 19. Let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us written for his glory and our good.
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  We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
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  Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have
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  to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage
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  to you. Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all
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  things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.
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  My greatest difficulty in preparing to preach this text was to consider how to work out the negative
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  implications of its commands without being condemning, right? To consider that maybe not all of you do
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  this well, right? But to not make you think that we as elders are ungrateful for this fellowship.
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  I want to be very careful at this point. All of your elders, and I can say this especially of myself,
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  are glad to be of service to you. We love what we get to do because we love Jesus Christ,
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  and we love his church, and we love you. Additionally, you all are a generally pleasant
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  group of people to serve. You should be encouraged this morning that there is very little groaning
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  in our care for you, and there is very much joy. So, keep doing what you're doing, right?
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  Find some encouragement in the text this morning, even as you may find some areas of conviction.
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  This may not be the last fellowship that you're part of, and you may go on from here, right?
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  Carry the lessons of this text with you wherever you might go. Now, that said, I have done a number
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  of jobs in my life, right? Blue collar and white collar, paid and unpaid. Never have I done a job
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  as difficult as that of shepherding God's people. It is a glorious work, but it's a laborious work.
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  It's a difficult work when you very rarely get to see the good result of the work that you're doing.
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  It seems that God most regularly changes us degree by degree by degree. It's pretty rare that you have a
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  breakthrough with an individual. So, the work of pastoring can often be described as a plotting work,
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  right? We just do the next right thing, step by step by step. Generally speaking, the pastors of our
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  churches, present company excluded, suffer much. A survey conducted by LifeWay Research in 2015 revealed
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  84% of pastors say they're on call 24 hours a day. 80% expect conflict in their church. Expect conflict
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  in their church. 54% find the role of pastor frequently overwhelming. 53% are often concerned about their
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  family's financial security. 48% often feel the demands of ministry are more than they can handle.
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  And 21% say their church has unrealistic expectations of them. The average tenure of a senior pastor at a
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  SBC church is 3.6 years. Now, I cannot speak much about such a complex issue of pastoral unpreparedness or
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  pressure or tenure. But what I can say with confidence is that God does not work in his church in 3.6 year
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  cycles. It's not part of the design. Something is very wrong here. Kent Hughes, after co-authoring a book
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  entitled Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome, was given opportunity to travel and speak and was
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  astounded by the number of hurting pastors who would open up to him about the difficulty of their work.
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  He states in his commentary on today's verses, pastors as a group are one of the most hurting and abused
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  segments of our society. It's an astounding statement, isn't it? This happens, I think, for a number of reasons.
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  I just want to share a few before we're setting up the problem so you'll see the solution found in our text
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  today. Number one, our modern media, both Christian or otherwise, we have an astounding access to really,
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  really good Christian teaching. It's just you couldn't spend enough time finding all of it. It is
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  deep and wide, and it is good. What a wonderful blessing it is to our age that we have such access to this
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  kind of media. However, it also creates the opportunity for the celebrity pastor. The one that always says
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  things just right is so phenomenally gifted. You can probably think of one in your own mind. This puts a lot
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  of pressure on the local pastor. I will never be John Piper. I'm just not going to be. By God's grace,
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  maybe someday, but give me another 40 years and I might pull it off. It's important to realize that a lot
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  of these pastors have massive staffs. A lot of these pastors have research teams. They seem so brilliant.
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  Do you know that a lot of these pastors pay a team of people to build background information for sermons?
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  Right? I don't have that. Right? Any help in that regard. Highly educated, extremely schooled,
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  extremely gifted men, and they are a blessing to us. Right? We should listen to them. We should
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  take them up and read them, and then we should not put undue pressure on our elders. I love John Piper.
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  I've benefited greatly from his teaching, but John Piper's not one of my elders. He will not show up
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  when I am in turmoil. He will not lovingly rebuke me when I err. Right? I am not placed under his care.
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  Right? I am not a member of his church. Right? John Piper is not my pastor. Additionally, media,
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  just information overloads us. Right? There are so many bits of information going around out there,
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  and sometimes people then expect their elders to be experts on everything. Right? To have something
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  to say about some concern for, they want their elders to be as concerned about their agenda as they are.
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  Right? What is the new thing happening in the political realm or otherwise? Right? No one is an expert in
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  that way. No one can possibly take in all the information and sift all the information and come out with
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  answers on the other end. Right? The solution is not that elders spend more time online. The solution
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  is that you spend less time online. Right? We would just faithfully open up God's Word and see what it
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  says day in and day out to all of the situations we may encounter in our life. Secondly, we live in a
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  culture that has a big business mentality. Right? We, as a society, have abandoned the mom and pop for big
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  business. We expect slick. Like, we want everything to be put together just so. And because of that,
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  little things who can't do that kind of work tend to get neglected. And big things and biggering things
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  tend to get paid extra careful attention to. Right? Our expectations generally as a consumer society
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  are way too high. We have a very, very high concern for felt needs. I expect stuff to happen just like
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  this. Just think about the last time you got on a website and you tried to navigate to a page and it
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  said, error, page not found. And how quickly you went, blah, and got off the page and went on to something
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  else altogether. Like, we don't have patience for server errors. How could it be? Right? And we apply
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  that kind of thinking to the local fellowship as well. Everything has to be just so. Thirdly, individualism
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  and, therefore, subjectivism. We, as a people, tend to not like authority. Right? The whole American
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  experiment is based on this very thing. Right? Throw off the oppressor and be liberated. That we
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  would be self-governing. Right? There's a lot of good in that. A lot to be valued in that kind
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  of thinking. However, when we apply that to the church, right? We think that our opinion is more
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  important than it frankly is. Right? Everyone has an opinion and a platform to share it from. Right?
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  There's so much voice given to people in this day. And so, we can tend to believe that our
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  way is the best way and, in a lot of cases, the only way. That our perspective is the only
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  perspective. Right? Your perspective is valuable. Your opinion matters. But it's not the only one.
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  It must be considered in weight of other things that may be going on. And then, fourthly, and a bit in
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  contradiction to this idea of individualism, we, as a people, have a love of authoritarianism.
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  Not of authority, but of authoritarianism. Right? Our culture seems to love strong leadership.
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  Our current president is a case in point. Right? There are whole sectors of our society that love
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  that our current president says whatever on his mind. Right? Provided that they agree with what
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  he says. Many seek in a pastor someone who will say the things they want said at the volume they want it
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  said at. Right? That the pastor gives voice to their particular concerns and views. Right?
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  Elders are first and foremost servants. Right? They're not meant to be authoritarians. Right?
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  Giving strong and bold proclamation of things that aren't found in the text. Right? That's where we're
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  bold. That's where we speak with authority. But the things outside of it are not our concern.
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  So we don't want to be a part of this trend. Right? We, as a church, you, as individuals, don't want to be a
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  part of this trend of beating down and wearing out pastors. Right? I know this is true of you. You don't want to
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  wear out our elders. Right? So let's look at our text together. Right? I have the very simplest of
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  outlines for you this morning, which just goes like this. Number one, obey your elders. And number two,
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  pray for your elders. You should be able to remember that at least until dinner time.
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  Number one, obey your elders. Number two, pray for your elders. So number one, obey your elders. Found
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  in verse 17. And before we go on to talk about obeying and submitting to your leaders, I want to just
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  talk a little bit about this phrase, your leaders. The author of Hebrews have a specific group of men
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  in mind here. And his readers are aware of who he is talking about. For you, who is he talking about?
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  When you read this text, when you read Hebrews 13, 17, the author of Hebrews says, right, this holy writ
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  says, obey your leaders. Who pops into your mind? Who? Who? Who are you supposed to obey and submit to?
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  Anyone who says they're a leader? Who are your leaders? I often employ this verse to make the case
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  for church membership. Right? Somehow we need to formalize who your leaders are and your leaders
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  need to know for whom they will give an account. There should be at least a conversation about such a
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  thing. Now, this morning, I will be giving an account for everything that I say. If you're not a member
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  of our fellowship, I will be held accountable for my faithfulness in preaching God's word. But I don't
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  think I'm going to be held accountable for you, for your soul. These people that I have here folded up
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  on a list in the front of my Bible, these are 140 names, at least in this time period of the life of our
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  church. I think these are the ones that I'll stand before God and he'll say, hey, but how about so-and-so?
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  Did you follow up with them? Did you notice they weren't at church for a month? How is it that you
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  cared for their soul? Who are your leaders? You should have them. This is important. This is God
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  ordered. And when you know who they are, the author of Hebrews says that you should obey and submit to
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  them. Now, the Greek word here translated obey refers to, quite simply, hearing what they say
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  and following their guidance. And the word here translated submit has to do more with the office
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  that they hold. So think giving respect to the office that is held. So obey and submit to them.
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  But this is not blind, unqualified obedience and submission. This is not what the author of Hebrews
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  is doing here. The authority of church leaders is always subject to the authority of God's word.
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  Right? We are merely under shepherds. Note again the immediate context of Hebrews 13, verse 7. I read
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  to you already, but then following. So verse 7 says, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the
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  word of God, consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Verse 8, Jesus Christ is
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  the same yesterday and today and forever. And what he's talking about here, I believe, are fundamental
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  doctrines of who Christ is. And they're not changing. Right? Don't get off track. Right? Listen to
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  the word that was taught. Because then he says at the beginning of verse 9, do not be led away by diverse
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  and strange teachings. So these leaders that we're supposed to be obeying and submitting to, right, are
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  teachers of God's word. Elders are those who have to give an account. To whom and for what? What are we
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  accounting for? To God. For how faithfully they kept watch over your souls by the authoritative,
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  inerrant, sufficient word of God. Elders as under shepherds are to be ministers of God's truth.
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  He cares for your souls in part through the careful work of your leaders. Right? So it's a qualified
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  leadership. Right? Your obedience to and submission to is qualified on obedience to God's word. And this is
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  why you should obey and submit to them. Right? They are working to keep watch over your souls. Right?
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  Caring for you. Caring for you. Meeting your real needs and not your felt needs as directed by God's word. Right?
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  If they lead by God's word, then they do so for your good. And secondly, because they do so as those
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  who will have to give an account. If they lead by God's word for your good, they do so with the weight
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  that they will one day be judged for that leadership. Right? One day all of us will stand before
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  the throne of Christ. Right? And if we're in Christ, we will not be cast away. Right? Our final judgment
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  is secure in him. We are his. We belong to him. But all of the works will be laid bare. Right?
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  I'm going to stand quivering one day before God as he talks about the work that I've done
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  at Christ's family church. Right? That's that shows itself to be faithful and that that shows itself
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  to be unfaithful. Right? Biblical elders are leading you in this way. Right? For your good
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  and submission to God. Right? We have a weighty task in front of us. And the author, aware of the
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  weightiness of this task, instructs us to let them do this with joy and not with groaning.
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  Don't be one who always critiques and always criticizes, whether face-to-face or behind the
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  back of the leadership of your church, but one who encourages and supports. And you should definitely
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  do that face-to-face. You can encourage and support behind the back, but face-to-face is so much better.
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  Right? And so I want to share with you a few of my thoughts on how to mitigate groaning
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  and how to maximize joy. What could that look like in the life of our church and in a church you may be a
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  member of or going on from here to be a member of. So a few things on this point. Number one,
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  don't assume the worst of their actions and intentions. Don't assume the worst. And we,
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  as a people, just tend to do this. Right? We tend to assume the worst. Consider the men that lead your
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  church are doing so for the sake of your soul. At least they ought to be. As those who will have to
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  give an account that this kind of weightiness is brought to the tasks at hand. And don't assume
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  the worst of their actions and intentions. Where clarity is lacking, I'm fully aware of this, where
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  clarity is lacking, negative assumptions reign. But don't let that be true amongst us. Instead,
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  assume the best. It's a novel idea. Just think, it seemed like he said, but surely that's not what he
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  meant. He wouldn't have meant such a thing. I have on many occasions made a statement and then followed
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  it by, I don't mean this. And then sometime later that week, I'll have an hour-long meeting with
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  somebody where they accuse me of saying the thing that I said I didn't say. And I'll spend all that
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  time going, oh, but remember, I said right after, because they just stopped listening. Right? As if,
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  as if they feel like their job is to be critical. Right? Is to find the little nuance that could be
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  taken wrong and to pounce on such a thing. Right? Don't assume the worst. Now, we're going to err.
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  As people, we're going to err. And we need correction. But times where I thought, yep, that was unclear.
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  You're right. I need to correct it. Absolutely. And I'm very thankful for that.
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  I would rather be true than consistent. You've heard me say. Right? When people come to me assuming
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  the best, I really, really appreciate that kind of correction. Get to know the hearts of your leaders.
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  To know what makes our hearts beat. What we really care about. Then when we seem to say something in
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  contradiction to that, you can just ask questions. Hey, when you said, I wasn't sure what you meant.
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  These are wonderful types of things to ask of leaders of the church. Right? Recognize that there is a
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  larger picture at play. That you have no idea all of the things that may have come one of your elders'
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  way in that particular week. That the big picture of how the life of the fellowship is going might be
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  lost on you. Your perspective may not take in to totality all that is going on. So don't assume the
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  worst of your elders' actions and intentions. Secondly, don't assume the best of their humanity.
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  Your leaders are men. We are human men. We also are affected by the fall. Did you know that we
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  didn't get all new bodies when we were found in Christ? We get sick. We get tired. We feel stress.
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  There are times that your elders' hearts are drifting spiritually and we don't know why. What's
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  happening here? Right? I feel my affections waning. I don't have time to figure it out because it's Sunday
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  again. You need to recognize that we, like you, do that. Right? Have to take time to figure out what's
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  happening in my soul and how do I give it care. We may err. Right? God forbid, but we may err. Right? We have
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  bad weeks just like you. We are not Jesus. Praise God. Good elders do the work of taking you to Jesus,
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  even in our failings. Right? We say, look, I'm not a perfect man. Let me show you how I repent.
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  Let me show you how I flee to the cross of Christ. Let me show you how I ground my identity in him and
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  his perfect life because I am not perfect. Right? Certainly, we should be out ahead, right? Pursuing
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  holiness. Certainly, we should be modeling that for you. You should be able to imitate our way of life,
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  but never think for a moment that we are perfect. Our culture tends to take leaders in general, and they
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  do this in church, and they take pastors and they put them on pedestals. I think good pastors hop off the
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  pedestal and kick it over. Right? But then we'll find ourselves getting put back up
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  on that pedestal. So we hop off and we kick it over once again. So don't assume the best
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  of their humanity. Right? Our calendars also have seven days, 24 hours. We are not superhuman. We are not
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  Jesus. Third, don't expect too much of their knowledge and skill sets. Don't expect too much of their
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  knowledge and skill sets. We will not always have all the answers to your questions or answer your
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  questions in a satisfactory way. Right? It's frankly just not possible. Are we laboring to do so?
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  Absolutely. Right? I want to know this book backwards and forwards and inside out. Right? I want to be able
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  to give you hallway answers to every question you would possibly have. I want to text respond to your long
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  questions. Right? With the perfect sentence that answers your question. But it just may not happen.
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  There are just so much. The depths of God's word. Right? To be plumbed and for us to be working it out
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  and figuring it out together. Should elders know sound doctrine? Absolutely. Right? We should be able to
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  teach and contend for those things that are primary. Those things that make us Christian. But the nuances
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  out on the edges. Right? Don't expect too much for knowledge and skill sets. Don't expect that your
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  elders know everything there is to know about the administration of a church. There's so much. We
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  have to keep in good standing with the IRS. I spent a bunch of my first years as a full-time pastor here
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  making sure that we had all of the T's crossed and all of the I's dotted. And I didn't have this as a
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  skill set. I'm not a CPA. Surprise. Right? I had to go and do a lot of work to learn how to do these
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  kinds of things. And it was arduous. And it was difficult. And it took up frankly too much of my
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  time. Don't expect that I know anything about how to build a retaining wall. I have no idea. I don't
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  know how to build a retaining wall. Clue whatsoever how to do such a thing. There are two items on the job
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  description of your elders. Two. Prayer. Ministry of the Word. Those are the two things. That is a lot
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  to be done. Right? There is so very much to be done in those two categories of work in the church. So
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  don't expect too much of your elders' knowledge and skill sets. Lastly, don't expect too little
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  of their knowledge and skill sets. Right? As elders, we care about your whole person. We care about
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  every single bit of you. We are shepherding your souls. But we want to be aware of and we want to be
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  involved in the periphery circumstances of your life because they have a bearing on your soul. We want
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  to help you not make dumb decisions for your life that add unnecessary stress to your life. Young
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  people, I'm talking to you. I know I look 25, but at the end of this month I'll turn 40. And I've
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  learned a lot in my living. And we have elders who are older than me, praise God, who have learned even
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  more about this type of thing. Did you know that Doug Hitchcock used to be a financial advisor?
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  Father, don't make dumb financial decisions. Let us be of some help to you and service to you as a
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  whole person. Right? Recognize that you can do that. You can ask questions. You can seek counsel and you
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  can seek wisdom. And every one of us will be so careful to say to you, this advice I'm giving you is
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  thus saith the Lord. Right? This is what you ought to do to be obedient to God versus I think this is
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  what I would do in that situation. Right? But both can be ones of superior value. The other can be of
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  value as well. Right? Here's what I've seen work well in my life and what hasn't gone so well in my life.
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  So don't expect too little of their knowledge and skill sets. It causes groaning in me when I see people
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  put themselves in unnecessarily troubling situations. Right? Because I know I'm going to have to do a lot
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  of soul care to help them in the midst of that troubling situation. Just ask the question and
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  heed the advice. Don't do the opposite thing that you're told to do. Or don't go ask everybody you
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  know for advice and then pick your favorite of the options that are given to you. Heed the counsel.
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  See that there is some contained wisdom in the life of your elders. Right? Why? Why all of this? Why is it
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  important that there is joy in your elders as they're leading you and not groaning? Right? The author of
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  Hebrews says, for that would be of no advantage to you. Unhappy leaders will struggle to lead. How do you, I mean,
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  sheep are just naturally dumb. Right? I put myself in this category. I'm not without this. I've got elders
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  that pay attention to me as well. Naturally. But when a sheep has just flatly told you, I really don't
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  like being part of this flock. I really don't trust you as a shepherd. It is hard to lead that kind of
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  person. Right? How do I employ the staff and the rod for a person who said, hey, quit it. I don't want to be
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  part of the flock. Right? I'm around, but don't expect that I'm underneath your leadership. It's difficult
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  to do. Unhappy leaders will struggle to lead. Seek your good by seeking the good of your elders.
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  If you want your elders to shepherd you well, love them well. 1 Corinthians 13 7 says, love bears all
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  things. Is patient. Believes all things. Isn't hasty to see promises fulfilled. Hopes all things. Assumes
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  the very best. And endures all things. Is gracious toward failings. Recognize that your elders do not
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  ultimately lead for their gain, but for yours. Recognize that we carry a weight and we resonate
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  with Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 28 where after mentioning the many ways he had suffered for the
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  gospel, including but not limited to imprisonments, beatings, shipwrecks, and other dangers. He states
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  the following. When you read this, do you just think that sounds crazy? Well, I'm gonna tell you, your
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  elders go, yeah. I read that list of sufferings of Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 and when he gets to verse
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  28, I go, oh, I feel this one the most, right? I feel it. He says, and apart from other things,
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  there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Now, in our case, it's for
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  a church and the individuals of that church, right? We love you that way, right? We want your good to
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  the glory of God in that way. Don't make us do it with groaning. Help us to do it with joy as you
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  already do in large order. Secondly, pray for your elders and we'll cover this quick. I know I'm running
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  long. The author is confident of his work and the work of the leaders because he is sure that we have a
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  clear conscience. We see that and he knows that his desire, their desire as leaders is to act honorably
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  in all things. Now, it is because of his clean conscience that he asks for their prayers. He
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  recognizes his need of the intervening gracious work of God. He knows, right, that any good he's ever
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  accomplished, any proper desire is because God has worked graciously on his behalf and so he asks that
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  they would pray for him. He knows that having begun by grace, he is being sustained by grace.
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  He expresses the simple profundity of this faith in prayer. In verse 19, he says, I urge you, this is an
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  example, I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.
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  Him desiring to be back with them, he knows that this won't happen unless the church prays, believes that
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  it is by the prayers of this church that God will see fit to return him to them. So, do you pray for your
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  leaders? Not just in sentiment, praying for you, but in reality, do you really pray for the elders of your
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  church? Have you prayed for us today? Did you pray for our preparations this week and for the work of
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  delivery this morning? Charles Spurgeon, after delivering his sermon on May 27th, 1855, concluded with these
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  words. Just imagine Charles Spurgeon saying this to you. My people, shall I ever lose your prayers?
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  Will you ever cease your supplications? Will you then ever cease to pray? I fear you have not uttered so
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  many prayers this morning as you should have done. I fear there has not been so much earnest devotion as
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  might have been poured forth. For my own part, I have not felt the wondrous power I sometimes experience.
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  He gets done preaching a sermon and he goes, I didn't feel the power I normally feel. What's wrong with y'all?
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  Why are you not praying for me as I'm preaching for you?
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  In closing, do you desire to seek your growth in the Lord? Do you desire the holiness of his church for the praise of
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  his name? Then, in part, obey your elders and pray for your elders. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are
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  keeping watch over your souls as those who have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with
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  groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear
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  conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. Let's pray together.