Tackling Ten Timeless Truths, Part 10

Take your Bible and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13 as we continue to tackle ten timeless truths And as you're turning there, I just want to remind you that when I was growing up I had a mother and a father my father was a military man.

My mother was a farmer and so everything about their lives screamed discipline in fact they had Big D's printed on their chest because they were all about discipline in the family And one year my mother and father had this brilliant idea, which they thought it was brilliant I didn't think it was brilliant at all that I was supposed to take piano lessons And I thought to myself I don't want to take piano lessons But for three years my parents made me take piano lessons For three years. I loathed the piano Didn't like anything about the piano About halfway through that three-year period I went to my father's a dead.

Why are you doing this? Why are you making me practice and play the piano? I hate the piano My father said simply these words his son The reason you're doing this is for one reason and one reason only And that's because you have to learn to do What you don't like to do? Because life is about doing the things you don't like to do most of the time But you still have to follow directions The second thing you're gonna learn is that you're gonna learn discipline Because you have to discipline yourself to do the things you don't like to do even though you don't want to do them Because that's what life is all about So yes, you will continue to practice the piano.

Yes, you continue to play the piano even though you're not even very good at the piano You're going to learn Discipline and this is one of the ways your mother and I have decided to teach you How to do things you don't want to do you don't like to do but you're gonna have to do them Anyway, because life is all about that well today I Can play two songs on the piano? One is a theme song for the Pink Panther and The other is Oh happy day Outside of that I can't play a thing But you know what? I learned I learned a lot about discipline.

I Learned a lot about submission to authority Life is about submitting to authority Learning to follow directions with the right kind of attitude That is so important to understand you learn it first at home, right?

with your mother and your father and Then you get older and you go to school and you learn it at school Then you learn it when you when you get out and get a job and you got to follow directions and submit to authority All those things are are very important, but it's learned primarily at home First of all, but when you go through life You're always accountable to somebody over you learning to submit to that authority and follow them But yet it's a very difficult truth to tackle Because we don't like to submit We want to be our own boss We want to do what we want to do when we want to do it and how we want to do it but life doesn't function that way and God has designed authority structures the home government the church That we might learn to follow his ordained Leaders And so in Hebrews chapter 13 the writer of Hebrews Is going to give us a truth that needs to be tackled and once tackled it will be treasured Because there's great treasure in learning to submit to those Who are an authority over you?

Right if Hebrew says it this way Hebrews 13 verse number 17 obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch Over your souls as those who will give an account Let them do this with joy And not with grief for this Would be unprofitable Not for them But for you now, why would the right of Hebrews include this in the conclusion of his? epistle dealing with the sufficiency and supremacy of Jesus Christ the Messiah It's simply the fact that he realizes that These Hebrews who have given their lives to the Lord and They want to follow him God has ordained leaders over them That will direct them Help them Because they watch out for their souls.

And so they need to understand That there is someone there That will direct them into the ways of God and they need to follow their leadership The Bible is filled with this People always ask about finding the will of God. I Want to know God's will And yet they can't find it Yes, not hard to find But So they have difficulty discerning the will of God in their lives It's simply because they are disobeying one aspect of the desire that God has for them when God says That he wants you to submit to those in authority like he does in first Peter chapter First Peter chapter 2 When he says these words First Peter 2 verse number 13 submit yourselves to the Lord's sake to every human institution whether to a king as the one in authority or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right for such is the will of God God's will for you is to submit to those in authority over you Ephesians chapter 6 Paul says it this way verse number 5 slaves be obedient to those who are your masters According to the flesh with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ Not by way of eye service as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart again Obedience to those authority over you You do it as unto Christ And it's God's will that you do from the heart the inner man the passion of a man You follow what God says from your heart And of course the submission to authority always implies that you have been controlled by the Spirit of God Because in Ephesians chapter 5 verse number 18 in the chapter before that he says and do not get drunk with wine for that is Anticipation but be filled or controlled By the Spirit and when you're controlled by the Spirit verse 21 says you'll be subject to one another in the fear of Christ Submission to authority Has less to do with those in authority than those who are under the authority in their attitude Because those who are spirit-filled controlled by the Spirit of God Willingly placed themselves under authority That's one of the marks of being controlled by God's Spirit He is moving you to understand the will of God and to do the will of God And so when you find someone who is not Submissive to authority whether it be the family whether it be the government whether it be the church Ask yourself the question does this man does this woman have a spirit-controlled life?

Are they under the direct control of the Spirit of God that's moving in them through them for them for the sake of the glory of God because those who are controlled by the Spirit are Willing to place themselves under the authority that God has assigned Because it pleases him. This is his will This is what he wants for his people And the right of Hebrews touches on it when it comes to the church So I have four points I want to give you this morning very quickly the first point is this Their authority number one must be appreciated number two their accountability must be acknowledged number three your attitude must be appropriate or the aftermath will be agonizing Those are the four points first one is simply Their authority must be Appreciated in Fact it says over in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 verse number 12 Paul says but we request of you brethren that you appreciate those Who diligent labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction?

And that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work live in peace with one another In other words in order to live in peace with one another you must learn to appreciate those who instruct you in the word of the Lord Because they have authority over you and watch out for your soul first Peter 5 Peter says it this way to those who lead I exhort the elders among you as fellow as a fellow elder and Witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker also of the glory that has to be revealed Shepherd the flock of God among you exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily According to the will of God and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness Nor is yet lording it over those allotted to your charge But proving to be examples to the flock and when the chief shepherd appears you will receive the unfading crown of glory there is an attitude that everyone in the church needs to have It's an attitude of submission to authority Why because God has ordained that authority Romans 13 Verse number one God ordained those in government God ordains.

Who's president? Who's governor? Who's mayor? Who are city officials God ordains who your teacher is who your coach is Who your elders are God ordains all of that God's in charge of all of that and? So we learn we learn that their authority must be Appreciated why because he shepherded the flock of God They watch out for your souls If that Paul says it over in Acts chapter 20 in a very unique and special way When he says these words he says First number 28 of Acts 20 to the Ephesian elders Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers To shepherd the Church of God which he purchased with his own blood I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock and from among your own selves men will Arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them therefore be on the alert Remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears and I commend you to God in the word of his grace Which is able to build you up and to give you inheritance among all those who are sanctified Paul says I want I want you first of all to understand if you're going to shepherd the flock caringly You must scrutinize yourself consistently He says to the Ephesian elders be on guard for yourselves watch out for your own lives Solomon says guard your heart for I don't flow all the issues of life so as God Speaks through the Apostle Paul He helps the Apostle understand that those who lead Need to guard themselves Watch out for themselves first because if you can't watch or you can't watch over the flock of God if you're not watching out for your own heart significantly and primarily Because you must lead by example And you can't lead by example if you live in sin So be on guard for yourselves Scrutinize yourself continually I love what what Chaucer said in the Canterbury Tales when he said if gold should rust what would iron do?

For if a priest be fouled to whom we trust no wonder that the common man should rust So true like priests like people So Paul says make sure you scrutinize yourself consistently Because if you do now you can shepherd the flock Caringly He says shepherd the flock of God which which he's made you overseers in the word shepherd primarily means to feed and the one way you shepherd the flock of God is by providing for them and protecting them providing for them by by feeding and leading protecting them by watching and warning You provide for them because you feed them you give them the food that is necessary for their survival So you feed them the truth and then you lead by way of example I'm a Paul told Timothy in 1st Timothy 4 verse number 12 Timothy You need to be an example what in your speech in your life your faith your love your purity Why because leadership is about example?

And following the direction of those who who lead is very easy when they live out the principles That they are encouraging you to follow and serve in the church And so make sure that you Shepherd the sheep caringly But to do that You must feed them. You must lead them. That's the provision and Then you must watch over them and warn them. There's an admonition Paul says I admonish you for three years watch out for for savage wolves will come from within not from without and Good shepherds watch over the flock and warn the flock of impending impending difficulties that are that are right around the corner That they might learn to understand the truth of following the Lord So important, so that's why we appreciate those who?

Who lead us? Why? Because they they shepherd the flock in a very caring kind of way They watch over them. They protect them. They feed them. They lead them. That's what shepherds do Not dictators not tyrants They shepherd the flock of God and so the Bible is very clear that we are To understand that their authority must be appreciated obey those or She may obey your leaders and submit to them why? For they keep watch over your souls Leadership in the church is is So important that's what the Bible says don't many of you seek to become teachers for with it comes a stricter condemnation James 3 verse number 1 You just can't get up and just teach the Bible because you know the Bible You got to realize that there is a strict condemnation that comes to those who teach the Bible, but don't live the Bible, right?

If you don't live out the truths you're teaching there comes a stricter Condemnation a more difficult judgment upon you because God requires those who lead to teach the truth and live That truth. It's very important and so We understand by looking at the text that Their authority must be appreciated and number two their accountability Must be acknowledged in other words They acknowledge that they are accountable to the Lord Obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who would give an account They're going to give an account for your soul You know the the most incredible responsibility is to realize that that When I stand before the Lord I give an account for the souls of the people of this church That's an incredible responsibility Whenever the elders realize that we engage in people with with counseling situations and discipline situations We realize that we are accountable to God for what we say and what we do That's why we only operate based on the truth of God's Word We can only do what God says we can't do what God hasn't said We could do what God says Because they realize we're accountable to God for the policies that we make in the decisions that we that we that we make realizing that there is a higher accountability and God holds us to that the nation of Israel fell by the wayside Because their shepherds fell by the wayside Like priests like people book of Hosea tells us they followed the direction of their leaders and the Lord would condemn them For that in fact way back in the book of Ezekiel Ezekiel chapter 33 The Lord says this to Ezekiel Now as for you son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel Watchmen were were stationed on top of of of the city walls And they would watch for impending danger They would watch for the enemy to come and they would sound the alarm if there was there was Judgment or difficulty or a war about to happen and Ezekiel is a watchman He says this Now for you son of man I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel so that you will hear a message from my mouth and give them warning From me.

So as a watchman, you're gonna warn the people of Israel When I say to the wicked Oh wicked man, you will surely die and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way That wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require Ezekiel from your hand but If you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way He will die in his iniquity But you have delivered your life The responsibility is a watchman to warn of impending judgment And if you warn them and they decide not to follow It's on them But if you don't warn them and they fall by the wayside, it's on you and then over in chapter 34 The Lord says the Word of the Lord came to me saying verse 1 son of man prophesy against the shepherds of Israel prophesy and say To those shepherds thus says the Lord God woe shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves Should not the shepherds feed the flock you eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the Flock those who are sickly you have not strengthened the diseased you have not healed the broken You have not bound up the scattered you have not brought back nor have you sought for the loss But with force and with severity you have dominated them They were scattered for lack of a shepherd and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every hill My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth and there was no one to search or seek for them verse 10 behold I am against the shepherds and I will demand my sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I would deliver my flock from their mouth Tells them look you have responsibility And the shepherds of Israel did not fulfill that responsibility Because they didn't understand their accountability to the Lord Ezekiel was to warn them of that and warn the people of God's impending judgment so you realize that that The authority in which God places over you Needs to be appreciated by a willingness to obey and in to submit and to follow through their direction because God has ordained them But at the same time realize that their accountability Must be acknowledged They're accountable to the God of truth you know for years I've never Never gotten upset at the president of our country no matter who he is Or the governor of our state I Don't get mad at them Because I know they're accountable to the truth and God will hold them accountable My job is to live the truth, but God's gonna hold him accountable to that truth see And so I rest in that And the same is true for those in the church We realize that God holds your leaders accountable to the truth and God will deal with them in a way that he knows best And we trust the Lord to do so Point number three your attitude must be appropriate.

It says let them do this with joy and not With grief how is the leaders could leave without joy? But only with grief When those they lead decide they don't want to follow anymore Some selfish desire or some selfish will that they want to accomplish they become bitter angry rebellious Jeremiah faced this, right? Jeremiah realized the grief of those who are unwilling to submit to the authority of God's Word way back in Jeremiah chapter 9 verse number 1 Jeremiah says these words Oh that my head were waters in my eyes a fountain of tears That I might weep day and night for the slain and the daughter of my people Oh that I had the in the desert a wayfarers lodging place that I might leave my people and go from them For all of them are adulterers an assembly of treacherous men They bend their tongue like their bow lies and not truth prevail in the land For they proceed from evil to evil and they do not know me declares the Lord Jeremiah was known as a weeping prophet Because he was told by God to to go and and preach the truth to the to his people but no one would listen They wouldn't obey they wouldn't follow they wouldn't submit and Jeremiah found himself in all kinds of grief over that remember when our Lord wrote it to Jerusalem in Luke chapter 13 He sat and looked over city and began to weep over the city.

Oh Jerusalem Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets and stones those Who are sent to you? Our Lord would weep over Jerusalem why Because they would not submit to the authority of God's Word Jeremiah would weep over Israel because they became bitter and rebellious in their spirit against God Our attitude must be appropriate Our attitude must be one that says we want to make sure that those who lead lead with joy and not with grief It is so Grievous to realize that when you teach people the truth and you encourage them to walk in the truth and they say no I'm not interested in that anymore.

I Don't want to do that. I Don't I don't want to do what God says That is so grievous It's so disheartening It brings such Such sadness like a parent right who teaches your children the ways of God your children walk up and say I don't wanna do that Anymore, I don't walk with God anymore.

I don't follow God. I won't do my own thing The pain in the parents heart is great. It's deep Same is true with those who lead in the church Because they care for your souls. They watch out for your souls and Realize that that you don't want to follow that What God has said his word? Is so grievous It's so sad Because you would encourage people to follow the Lord and serve him and honor him and so the Bible says Let this let them do this with joy and not with grief Paul found lots of joy in the church of Philippi in the church of Thessalonica He said you brought me great joy Great joy.

I rejoice over you. I give thanks to God for you Why because the church of Philippi the church of Thessalonica, they were people who wanted to follow the Lord They want to honor the Lord serve the Lord and with John when Paul gave him instruction They said yes, we'll do that. Yes, we'll follow. Yes. We understand what we need to do to get things, right? We'll do that that brought great joy to Paul's heart people's sin Does not grieve a heart people's continued rebellion Is what grieves the heart?

People are always going to sin right but we are forgiving kind of people but when people rebel against authority and They become bitter in their hearts That's what grieves those who lead Because they see an unwillingness to bend to the truth to follow God to honor God and to serve God and lastly the aftermath For those who Don't want to bring joy to those who lead Is agonizing he says For this would be unprofitable for you Isn't it interesting that when you don't bring joy to the leadership that greet to them It's not unprofitable for them But it is for you That's just a fascinating way to look at things Because we don't think of it that way When your children rebel against your authority, right and they walk away from the Lord It pains you but it will be unprofitable for them Maybe not today Maybe not tomorrow But ultimately There is no profit In rebellion against authority There never is It will always catch up to you It will always track you down For whatever man sows That's what he also reaps, right?

God says I will not be mocked If I designed authority structure for you to follow and you don't want to follow that I will not be mocked Whatever you so You also reap over the years.

I've I've told people Psalm 106 verse number 15 That God will grant you the desires of your heart But send a barren wasteland to your soul. I Said people look at me and say you don't know that I Said I didn't come up with that Those are not my words Those are God's words.

I Wasn't sitting in my office thinking of some fancy thing. I should say to you Those are God's words in Israel Israel wanted to get the desires of thought they wanted to do their own thing And Gus said, okay But their soul was laid waste It was barren Because there's never a fulfillment in rebellion There never is. Oh, you can enjoy the passing pleasures of sin for a season He was 11 talks about that And you can rebel for a season and enjoy doing it thinking it's okay and nothing's going to happen to you But sooner or later It will catch up to you It'll be completely and horribly unprofitable for you an agonizing experience If you don't bring joy to a situation You'll never find joy in that situation.

And so we need to realize how it is. We bring joy In our workplace our church our society By submitting to authority Obeying those that God has placed over us Submitting to their leadership And granted that leadership must be a godly leadership a God-fearing leadership for a spirit-controlled leadership and a submissive Church is the greatest place to be Because people are willing to follow those who honor the Lord and glorify his precious and glorious name And all said and done Loving obedience is the main thing I've been the pastor of the church for almost 29 years as long as it's been in existence And you know that myself and our elder board Have nothing but joy in this church you have Hardly at all ever brought grief to us Just have it Some have and that's unfortunate But for the most part the people of Christ Community Church Appreciate those who who lead them Acknowledge the fact that they're accountable to God Realize that their attitude must be appropriate Why because in the end the aftermath could be terribly agonizing But you've realized all that And as elders we've had the greatest joy of Serving you I Can tell you as Roger sits here and as as Bruce sits there and as I mean Thomas is there And Bruce is teaching our mercy class and Esteban is down there in our Spanish ministry We realize that there is such great joy in our church Because we have the privilege of leading people who really want to follow what the Word of the Lord says We don't have to twist your arm Coerce you Bang you over the head We don't have to do that In fact we never have Because you've come with a willing desire to submit to those over you and Follow the direction they give you through the instruction of the Word of God We have no authority outside of God's Word.

We know that God's Word is our authority And if we submit that authority then we provide an example for you to submit that an authority That you might follow and honor the Lord and my prayer for every one of us Is that our attitude? Will be a humble submissive spirit That begins because we're controlled by the Spirit of God We want God's Spirit to to control every aspect of our mind our will our heart our soul that when we speak when we listen It's under the direction of the Spirit of God controlling our lives And so as we partake of the Lord's table this morning We are reminded of the Chief Shepherd Right He is the ultimate example The Chief Shepherd Jesus Christ our Lord who came to give his life for the sheep And Paul will go on to say in Acts 20 verse number 35 Remember the words of our Lord Jesus It's more blessed to give Than it is to receive That's so true When our Lord gave his life away That was the greatest blessing Because he received so much from that because he courageously and sacrificially gave his life for your sins and for mine and Today we gather together to celebrate that The Chief Shepherd who governs our lives.

Let's pray father Thank you for today the opportunity you give us to study your word and to Briefly look in terms of what our responsibility is to honor you Today as you partake of the Lord's table, we ask that Lord you would use this time To motivate us all the more to live for the glory of your name We ask in Jesus name. Amen as The ushers come down and we distribute the elements to you We'd ask that all of you would hold on to them until we've all been served If you're visiting with us, you are more than welcome to partake of the Lord's table The only requirement is that you know, Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior Our Lord on the eve of the crucifixion as he broke the bread and distributed to his men He told him that this this bread Was his body which was given for them Now in John 10 Christ says that he was the Good Shepherd And every astute Jew Will be taken back to the Old Testament Shepherdology and begin to understand the purpose of the chief shepherd if you go all the way back to the book of Genesis the 45th chapter as Jacob Israel begins to bless his sons He speaks to Joseph about the coming shepherd of Israel Who is the stone of Israel the mighty God in his prophecy?

He would foretell the first and second coming of the Messiah I'm not sure Jacob understood that I'm not sure that he was really understanding all that he was just speaking what God had told him to say and that's what he was doing And then all throughout the Old Testament the Lord said I'm gonna send my shepherd my shepherd Because the shepherds of Israel have done such a bad job of leading my people I'm gonna send my shepherd to them Of course that shepherd of course in Jeremiah 23 would be the branch the the Messiah right who would come Who would sit on the throne and rule his people?

He's called the Lord of hosts the Lord of righteousness and so when when Christ would break the bread with his men They understand that he said my sheep for my voice and they follow me they know me They would be taken all the way back to the Old Testament to understand the shepherd ology concept that God had given to them And Christ would go on to say in John 10 that I laid down my life for the sheep. I Give my life away. No one takes it from me You can't take Christ's life He gave it up his own initiative he says if I if I give it away, I'll take it up again Because he holds the keys of death and Hades and if he decides to give his life away He can raise it up again.

He does that he's God he can do anything he wants, right? And so to realize the authority of God as he began to break bread with his men And to realize the implications of that as the as the chief shepherd of Israel That one day he'd come again And he would tend to his flock and lead them to a place of righteousness Today as we partake of the Lord's table where we realize that the bread that is symbolic of our Lord's life Help us understand true shepherd ology The shepherd who gave his life for the sheep that we might experience his life Let's partake together Lord God.

We thank you for today We thank you for the joy you give to us The opportunity we have to fellowship around the table that speaks volumes About the death burial and resurrection of our Lord And for that we are grateful and thank you in Jesus name. Amen It is so great to understand that the shepherd of the sheep Is also the Lamb of God? Who would take away the sin of the world Who would through the shedding of his blood forgive your sins in mine And everything about the sacrifice of Christ screams forgiveness screams redemption It screams the opportunity to have new life And the only way to obtain new life is is to have your sins forgiven So he breaks the bread he he takes the third cup and he blesses that cup and says this cup is the new covenant in my blood In other words, I'm gonna ratify that new covenant right now to help you understand that what I'm about to do Is going to provide for you everything that was promised in the book of Ezekiel How he sprinkled clean water upon us that we might be cleansed from our sin It's so good to know that God doesn't hold any sin to our account they've been forgiven Because the shepherd can do that He's in charge And we thank the Lord for that.

So let's partake together at the cup father. We thank you for the forgiveness of sins What a blessing to know That you hold no sin to our account You've taken our sin You've put it on your son He bore our sins in his body that we might be partakers of his righteousness What a great place to be Thank you Lord for the forgiveness of sins Thank you for the Lord's table that reminds us as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup You proclaim the Lord's death Until he comes as he most surely will in Jesus name.

Amen