Obeying our Leaders

I'd invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the

New Testament book called Hebrews.

It's almost at the end of your Bibles, but not quite.

The page that we're going to be looking at today is printed for

you in the bulletin for the Red Bibles and the chairs around

you. We're going to be looking at

Hebrews chapter 13, verses 17 through 19.

Hebrews 13:17–19

Now we've got a lot of visitors here today.

So let me just explain a little bit.

You are visiting on a day and jumping into a kind of a mini

series that we're doing here at Trinity.

We are in the process of launching some elder LED

shepherding groups in our in our congregation.

And so as a result of that, we're taking last Sunday and

this Sunday before we jump back into our sermon series in the

book of Isaiah next Sunday to reflect on what shepherding is,

what it means, how, how it should be done, and those kinds

of things. Last Sunday we looked at first

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

Peter chapter 5, and there Peter gave instructions to elders on

shepherding the sheep, the flock of God, God's people.

Today we're looking at Hebrews chapter 13, verses 17 through

Hebrews 13:17–19

19, and there instructions are given not primarily to the

elders, but primarily to those who are being shepherded to

God's people, to the sheep, to God's people under their elders.

So let's look and see what the author of Hebrews has to say.

Chapter 13, beginning in verse 17.

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch

over your souls as those who will have to give an account.

Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that

would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure

that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all

things. I urge you the more earnestly to

do this in order that I may be restored to You the sooner.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you so much for

giving us this portion of Your word, and as we read it, we pray

that You would help us to meditate on it for these next

moments. And that You would, through the

work of the Holy Spirit, open our eyes and our hearts and our

minds, that we might understand and believe and be changed by

what you have to say to us. From the book of Hebrews.

And we ask it in Jesus name, Amen.

If you were here last Sunday, you heard me start the sermon by

saying there's no such thing as a perfect elder.

We could also say there's no such thing as a perfect church

member. It's interesting, and some of

you have experienced that first hand, whether here at Trinity or

at other churches that you have been a part of.

It's interesting that one of the most common descriptions of

God's people in the Bible is sheep.

That's God's choice in terms of using sheep as an illustration,

as a description of God's people.

Now, there are some positive connotations related to that

description, but not very many. Most of the connotations are

negative. Real life sheep tend to be dirty

and dumb and mean. They can bite, and they're

almost entirely dependent on their shepherd so so that they

won't die. Why would the Lord pick sheep to

describe his people? It's because He knows, like we

do, that there are no perfect church members we like.

Sheep go astray. God's people, His flock, His

sheep, exhibit many of the negative qualities of real life

sheep Often. And like real life sheep, we

need shepherds to help us and to guide us.

Now, as we discussed last week, in the Lord's Providence, He

created a structure for the church to care for and to serve

His sheep. We saw last week the Lord raises

up elders to be His under shepherds, to shepherd the sheep

of God's people. And in his kindness, the Lord

provided instruction for what elders are to do and how they

are to do it. And we looked at that last week

in first Peter chapter 5. But today we also see that in

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

his kindness, the Lord provides instruction for church members

as well, how they are to respond to their leaders.

So let's look at these verses and see what we're told about

how church members should respond to their leaders.

We'll see that he says that they should obey them, and he tells

them what that means and why. And then he also says that they

should pray for them. So first of all, right at the

beginning of verse 17, we see what the author of Hebrew

Hebrews says is that they should obey their leaders and submit to

them. Now the writer of Hebrews picked

a very unusual verb here for obey.

It's not the usual word we find for obey in the in the New

Testament. Now this verb does mean obey,

but it has a sense of being persuaded by of believing and

trusting. So this command that he's giving

to obey the elders has a sense of obedience that is earned as

the elders are loving and and serving and shepherding.

Well, it is to persuade us to obey them.

The writer here is probably specifically thinking about and

referring to the teaching of the elders.

As they're teaching, as they're, as they're leading biblically,

as they're leading in a good and healthy way, we are to be

persuaded to obey them. And it's not optional.

The verb here is an imperative. It's a command.

This is a we are to do this command.

But notice he also says that we should submit to our leaders.

It's another unusual verb that he uses.

It's used frequently in secular Greek, but only here in the in

the Bible is it used. It has the sense of regular

readiness to comply with someone who is in authority over us.

And that's not optional either. This is another imperative.

That's another command God's people are to obey and be in

submission to their elders, to their leaders.

Now obviously this is talking about obeying and submitting to

elders who are loving and serving and shepherding

according to the Lord's word and will.

We are to follow our elders as they are faithfully following

Jesus. This is not talking about

obeying and submitting to elders who are abusive or who use the

authority that has been given to them by Jesus to harm the sheep,

or who are teaching unbiblical things, or who are serving for

their own selfish gain. But when the elders are serving

the Lord according to His Word and according to His will, the

command for God's people is that we to we are to obey and submit

to them. Now I want you to notice here we

are given a number of reasons why this is the case.

In verse 17, the writer gives us reasons for why the Lord's

people are to obey and submit. The first reason is in verse 17,

just the word leaders. We have leaders because that's

how the Lord decided to structure His church.

He set up a system of government for His people that involves

leaders, involves elders, and because God set it up that way,

we should abide by His plan. We should obey and submit

because this is the system that the Lord created for His church.

Jesus died for His church, and then He kindly created a

structure for it to exist and flourish.

So we should obey and submit to His leadership through His

elders. A second reason is here is

implied here in our text, but it's given more directly in

Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4, he says,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

and Christ gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,

the shepherds and teachers to equip the Saints for the work of

ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.

We should obey and submit to our leaders because their authority

isn't from them, it's from God himself.

It's from Jesus. Jesus is the one who has called

them, who has raised them up, and who has put them in the

place to lead. It's not by their own authority,

but by the authority of Jesus. And so we should obey and submit

to them because by doing so we're submitting to Jesus

authority through them. There's a third reason why we

should here in the middle of verse 17.

We should obey and submit to our leaders because they are keeping

watch over our souls. The writer says.

Now this word for soul that he uses has a sense of eternal

life. Our leaders are having the

responsibility to watch over our souls, to watch over our

professions of faith, to watch over our salvation.

And even this word keeping watch is interesting.

It has the sense of to lose sleep over.

The writer is saying that elders are to keep watch over.

They are to lose sleep over the care and the needs and the

salvation of the sheep. And if someone cares for and

loves us that much, we should follow them.

We should obey and submit to them.

A fourth reason why we should is also in the middle of verse 17.

We should obey and submit to our leaders because they will have

to give an account to the Lord. One day.

They will stand before the Lord to give an account of their

shepherding and their leading of the sheep.

That's part of the reason why they keep watch over the sheep,

because they know that they're going to have to give an account

one day. And we want them to be

commended, commended for their work and their service and their

care. So we should obey and submit to

them as they are teaching and leading us.

Well, there's a fifth reason why we should.

Toward the end of verse 17, the writer says we should obey and

submit to our leaders because it will it will bring them joy to

not follow and to not learn from and obey our leaders who are

serving the Lord well in their leading and shepherding can

become a great burden to the leaders, can become a heaviness.

It can weigh our leaders down. It can lead them to burning

themselves out, but to obey them, to submit to them, to

follow them, to listen to their teaching can bring joy.

It encourages them. It sustains them.

It spurs them on to greater service and love for the sheep.

Now, after Sunday school today, one of the elders in the first

service who heard the sermon brought to my attention that

there is a way that you might misunderstand what I just said.

Our elders don't want you not to bring the burdens that you have

to them because you feel like you'll be burdening them.

You, you won't steal their joy by sharing the pain and the

difficulties that you're having in your life.

They want you to bring those things to them.

But this first, I think in particular is talking about how

we are living among our elders. Are we living our lives in such

a way that we're bringing them joy or causing them to groan?

That's obeying them and submitting to them in a good way

will bring them joy, the writer says.

And there's a 6th and final reason, and that's at the end of

verse 17. To not obey, to not submit to

our leaders, to burden them rather than to bring them joy,

he says. That's of no advantage to anyone

in the church. Our elders shepherding and

leading with joy and encouragement and unity and

peace. That is a great blessing for all

of the sheep. So for all of these reasons and

for more, we are called as God's people, as God's sheep, to obey

our leaders and to submit to our leaders as they are loving and

serving and shepherding according to the Word and

according to the will of the Lord.

Now it makes a lot of sense. I think given the high calling

and the responsibilities of the elders, it makes sense that the

writer in the very next verse would call for prayer.

See what he says there in verse 18 after he talks about obeying

leaders and submitting to them and all of the things that

elders are going to have to do. He says pray for us in verse 18,

for we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act

honourably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to

do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

This is another thing that God's people are to do for their

leaders. They are, you are.

We are to pray for our elders. Now, the writer says these

leaders are sure they have a clear conscience that they are

leading according to how the Lord wants.

And he says they want to act honorably in all the ways that

they lead and shepherd and care for the sheep.

So they need the prayers of God's people.

It is a high and challenging calling to be a shepherd of the

sheep. It can be difficult to be in the

lives of God's people and to care for them.

It can be exciting and encourage, encouraging but also

wearying to see how God is at work in their lives.

It can be heavy to know and to carry the burdens of the sheep.

So pray for them. Pray for the under shepherds.

Do you pray for your elders? They want you to, they need you

to, they expect you to. And for the elders of this

church, you can find them all listed on the back of your

bulletins every Sunday. We have all of the elders listed

there. Now we have 3 elders who are

listed as emeritus. Now, it doesn't exactly mean

this, but emeritus kind of means they're retired, right?

They have all the blessings and the privileges of being elders,

but none of the responsibilities.

The other elders that you see listed on the back of the

bulletin are on the session or on sabbatical.

Those are the elders who are leading the shepherding groups.

What are some ways that you could remind yourself to pray

for them? Well, you could put the

bulletin, the back of the bulletin on your bedside table,

and each night before you go to sleep, you could pray for one of

the elders. Or you could put the bulletin in

your car and each day you're driving somewhere to the store

or to school or to to work, you could pray for one of the

elders. You could put a recurring

reminder on your calendar that pops up regularly, reminds you

to pray for your elders. You could put the bulletin in

the refrigerator and every time you open the refrigerator to

take something out, you could be reminded to pray for one of your

elders students. You could take the bulletin to

school and put it in your locker, and each day when you

first open your locker, you could pray for one of your

elders. Or if you don't have a locker,

you could put the bullets in with your school books to remind

you to pray for them as a family.

You could pray for an elder a couple times a week when you sit

down to eat dinner. There are all kinds of different

ways that you can remind yourself to pray for your elders

and you can think of even more. What are some things that you

can pray about for them? You could pray for their

faithfulness and their calling to shepherd the sheep.

You could pray that they wouldn't abuse the authority

that's been given to them by Jesus.

You could pray for them to have a great measure of wisdom and

discernment. You could pray for them to have

a lot of compassion and care and gentleness toward the sheep.

You could pray that they wouldn't become cynical or

impatient or angry. You can pray for them to have

strength to persevere in their calling to shepherd the sheep.

You could pray for them to have wisdom not just about

shepherding the sheep, but in things like adding on to our

building, planting a church, what should be preached and

taught on Sunday mornings, overseeing our Sunday school

program for our children. You could pray for the elders

themselves that they would have a great sense of unity with one

another, love for one another. You could pray that they would

have great joy and encouragement as in their work as an elder.

You could pray that they would preach and teach God's Word

faithfully according to what the word says.

You can pray that they would grow in their relationship with

Jesus and living holy lives. Godly examples.

Or you could just ask them. You could contact an elder and

ask them how you can be praying for them, what specific things

they would like for you to pray about, and one other final thing

that you could be praying for that's related for the Lord to

raise up more men to be elders in the future.

Right now, each of our elders who has a shepherding group has

about 15 family units in each group.

Realistically, that's the Max it should be.

Ideally it should be 11:50. If the Lord were to raise up

additional elders, it would lighten the load for everyone.

So you can pray for the Lord to raise up new elders.

Last week in first Peter chapter 5, Peter told us about what

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

under shepherds, what elders are to do.

He said they are to shepherd the sheep of God under their care.

He said that they are to remember that they're not their

sheep, that they're God's sheep, God's flock, God's people.

They belong to Him and they are just under shepherds of the

Chief Shepherd, Jesus. He told the elders that they are

to exercise oversight, not being compelled but doing so

willingly, not doing so for shameful gain, but eagerly, not

domineering but being examples for the flock.

And all of it was to be clothed in humility.

And he reminded them that their motivation was a crown of glory

that they would receive when Jesus returned.

A crown of glory they would get because Jesus wore a crown of

thorns for them. Today we see the writer to the

Hebrews showing us how God's people are to respond to their

elders. He says obey and submit to them

as they are following Jesus and leading as Jesus taught.

And why? Well, because the Lord

structured his church that way with elders.

That was his plan. They have given, they've been

given authority from Jesus himself.

They are keeping watch over your souls.

They they have to give an account one day to Jesus about

how they have done because it will bring joy to them rather

than groaning, and to not do so would be of no advantage to any

of us. We are to obey and submit to our

leaders and we are to pray for them.

We are to pray for them often and regularly.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for these

two weeks when we can reflect on the idea of shepherding this

incredible motif that runs throughout the Scriptures.

And what a humbling idea it is that you have set up your church

in such a way that under shepherds are to to care for

your sheep, your flock, your people.

We thank you, Father, that you have loved the church.

You've loved the church so much that you sent your Son, our

Savior, the Lord Jesus, to die for her.

And in your Providence, you have set up the structure of the

church and called men to be elders, leaders of the church.

I thank you for the ones who have served and are serving as

elders in our congregation today.

We thank you for their faithfulness and the ways that

they exhibit so many of the qualities we've already talked

about. We pray that you would be with

them, that you would strengthen them, that you would help them

not to grow weary. And, and what they are doing

that you would strengthen their faith and their relationship

with you, that you would bring them joy as they seek to serve

you and to serve the people that you've called to be a part of

this church family. We thank you for them and we

pray you would sustain them. Help us, Father, to treat them

well. Help us as they are leading us

to Jesus. Help us to obey and submit to

them. And Father, help us to be

reminded to pray for them. We know that prayer accomplishes

your purposes and will. And so we pray that you would

help us to remember to pray for them, Bring them to our minds

regularly. Help us to lift our voices up,

lift their names up that you would sustain and encourage

them. All this we pray in Jesus name,

Amen.