Younger Be Subject Unto the Elders, #2

In this part of the sermon: Martin begins by drawing an analogy between physical and spiritual health, emphasizing that just as a balanced diet is crucial for physical well-being, feeding on 'every word that…

Martin uses the analogy of a balanced diet for physical health to introduce the concept of a balanced spiritual diet from God's Word, arguing that preferences for certain foods (or spiritual topics) can lead to deficiencies.

Yea, all of you, gird yourselves with humility to serve one another. For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Now, I don't think there is anyone here who would argue with me were I to assert that God has made us in such a way that a balanced diet of food is a vital ingredient in the maintenance of good health. That's a truism accepted, I trust, by all of us sitting here.

1:34 - 2:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain the discipline of corporate, consecutive reading and exposition of the Word of God for the health of the congregation.

He illustrates food preferences with a story about children at a church fellowship supper gravitating to pizza despite other wholesome foods, highlighting how natural preferences can lead to an unbalanced diet, both physically and spiritually.

In our family fellowship supper, I moved around many of the tables and there were all kinds of wholesome, delicious, nourishing foods. There were few other things, but for the most part. But when someone came in with two of those square boxes with the red and white print and the smell of pizza immediately, it was as though some important personage had walked into our fellowship hall. The kids were lined up for half the length of that hall trying to get to their pizza.

2:46 - 3:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Be persuaded that submission to elders is the will of God and treat it as a matter of conscience before God.

An example of a man conscientiously following a doctor's advice for diet and exercise is used to explain what it means to do something 'conscientiously' – out of conviction, care, and diligence.

Therefore, we do it with care, with diligence, with precision. Here's someone who goes to his doctor for the annual checkup. The doctor says to him, now look, you're getting to that stage in life where you can't afford to be indifferent about your weight, about your exercise, about caloric intake, your cholesterol level is too high, your cardiovascular system is a mess, and look, you're a heart attack waiting to happen if you don't do something. Well, doc, what should I do?

16:53 - 17:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Be persuaded that submission to elders is the will of God and treat it as a matter of conscience before God.

The principle of cheerful giving from 2 Corinthians is used to illustrate that God desires not just external compliance but a willing embrace 'from the heart' in all duties, including submission to elders.

All mere external compliance is pleasing to God. Remember what we read a couple of weeks ago in 2 Corinthians about giving?

19:43 - 19:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Be present and active in eating and drinking the spiritual food provided by the elders, especially through regular attendance at public instruction.

Martin imagines a scenario where he, as pastor, repeatedly fails to preach due to minor ailments or preferences, asking the congregation what they would think of him as a shepherd. This highlights the expectation of shepherds to feed the flock and the sheep's corresponding duty to be present.

If you do not hear your own elders, how can you be taught by them so as to be obedient to the Lord? What would happen in this place? And I've thought of it over the years. I've had a number of fantasies that I've never pursued, that are not, I don't think, sinful in themselves.

28:30 - 28:48 Read in full sermon

Driving home: John Brown is bold enough to assert regular attendance on the public instruction of the teaching elders is the fundamental part of submission to them.

He describes the 'exquisite pain' of a shepherd who prepares a sermon with specific sheep in mind, only to find them absent due to non-providential reasons, emphasizing the emotional weight of the shepherd's duty and the sheep's responsibility.

You cannot imagine the exquisite pain of a shepherd, who when he's praying over the passage that he's going to preach, and he's thinking from the passage, out to the congregation, and the congregation back to the passage. And there are several sheep that he feels this will be a particular help to them in this area of need. This will be oil upon their wounds. This will be wine upon another wound that needs to be made, and needs the antiseptic and the astringent of the wine.

29:55 - 30:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: If elders are to guard and protect, the sheep's duty is to heed their warnings, both corporate and individual. Martin stresses that warnings are biblical fences that keep…

The shepherd's rod from Psalm 23 is described as a tool to beat away wolves and she-bears, illustrating the elder's duty to guard and protect the flock from external dangers.

We looked at Psalm 23. Thy rod and thy staff comfort me. What was the rod for? That was to beat on the head of wolves and she bears.

32:25 - 32:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't get irritated or resentful when shepherds lovingly warn you about dangers in your life; receive it as God's gracious means to keep you.

The shepherd's staff is described as being used to pull back a straying sheep, illustrating that a 'well-timed warning' from an elder is a gracious means to keep a believer on the right path.

A well-timed warning is like the shepherd's staff. The staff was not to club the predatory animals. It was to put around the neck of a sheep that was straying to bring it back. When you feel the shepherd's staff around your neck pulling you back, be thankful someone cares enough to put the staff around your neck.

37:06 - 37:34 Read in full sermon

The point: When the shepherd comes with medicine (corrective care) or seeks to remove 'burrs and ticks' (sin), do not run and hide, but welcome it for your good.

Martin uses the analogy of sheep receiving unpleasant medicine for intestinal parasites or having burrs and ticks removed from their fleece to illustrate that believers should welcome corrective care from their elders, even if it's uncomfortable.

We looked at Ezekiel 34 where God condemns the shepherds of Israel that they did not deal in mercy and peace and pity with the sick and they did not seek out the straying. Well, you see, if that's the duty of shepherds to heal the sick sheep and to seek out the straying sheep, what's the duty of the sheep? When the shepherd comes with his medicine, you don't run and hide, whether publicly or privately. When the shepherd comes to sheep that have some kind of intestinal parasite and they've got to drink down something that doesn't taste like the sweet, refreshing

43:41 - 44:26 Read in full sermon

The point: When the shepherd comes with medicine (corrective care) or seeks to remove 'burrs and ticks' (sin), do not run and hide, but welcome it for your good.

He quotes Solomon's proverb, 'Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful,' to underscore the value of a shepherd's loving, even painful, intervention.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. That's what Solomon said. That's a wonderful thing. I can honestly say this of many of you.

45:19 - 45:32 Read in full sermon

The point: If approached by an elder about declining prayer meeting attendance, don't get defensive; act like a sheep, not a billy goat, and welcome the inquiry.

Martin recounts an anecdote about a woman at a conference who believed a vicious lie that Trinity elders made members show their checkbooks to ensure tithing. This illustrates the kind of false accusations elders face and the importance of sheep trusting their shepherds.

I've had the indignity at a large Midwest conference some years ago. A dear Saint came up to me. I could tell she was quite agitated in her spirit. And finally, I said, look, what's troubling?

47:58 - 48:09 Read in full sermon

The point: If you believe lies about your elders, confront them directly; if you refuse, put yourself under another eldership, as the current one cannot do you good.

He shares another absurd lie about Trinity elders showing up unannounced at homes on Sunday afternoons to check on married couples, further illustrating the ungodly reproaches elders endure and why they must not be deterred from their duty.

The deacons have said, well, let's sit down and look at your financial picture. That's the only thing that could remotely approach such a vicious lie. Again, it was someone that said, I'm loath to believe this, but it was recorded to me on good authority that the elders of Trinity go around Sunday afternoons unannounced showing up at the homes of the members to make sure that married couples aren't having happy nappies on Sunday afternoon. They asked me with a straight face.

49:27 - 50:09 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: If elders are to make themselves examples to the flock, the sheep's duty is to imitate their godly lives. Martin emphasizes the awesome responsibility of elders to live…

Martin shares a personal resolve that threats and bullying only cause him to be more 'riveted' to God's path, illustrating the determination and principled leadership expected of elders.

You are to see in us that determination that when God marks out a path, nothing will move us from that path. I told someone recently, those who beat on us in recent months, thinking they'd drive us from our post. They have no idea who we are. I said everything God made me as a man and as a new man in Christ, when you push me and try to bully me by threats, you cause me to be so riveted you'll not only have to shoot me, you'll have to hack me up.

54:14 - 54:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin briefly recaps what submission does and does not mean, reiterating the specific duties of the sheep. He concludes by stating that this kind of relationship can only…

He uses the analogy of someone who claims to love humanity but can't get along with individual people to expose the hypocrisy of those who claim to love God's authority but have problems with the authority of elders.

A lot of people say, like the one who said, You know, I love humanity. My only problem is I can't get along with people.

57:16 - 57:22 Read in full sermon