Reasons Why We Ought to Obey, Part 1

Introduction: The Duty to Obey Spiritual Leaders and the Dangers of Tyranny and Anarchy

0:02 Pivotal duty of the people of God, namely their responsibility to their constituted spiritual leaders and overseers. I shall read verses 7 and 17, the first and last statements in what forms a paragraph of exhortation. Hebrews 13, 7, And remember them that had the rule over you, men that spake unto you the word of God, and, considering the issue of their life, imitate their faith. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them, for they watch in behalf of your souls as they that shall give account, that they may do this with joy and not with grief, for this were unprofitable for you.

0:58 Tyranny and anarchy are two words which ought to strike fear to the heart of every man, woman, and child.

1:08 Tyranny and anarchy, whether conceived of as operative in society or in the church, I say we ought to fear those words and what they convey. And yet history teaches us that these twin evils, tyranny and anarchy, have not only done great harm in society, in the social structure, in the cultures of the world, but in the visible church of Christ throughout the centuries of its history. And so if we value our souls, we must seek by the grace of God to be preserved from tyranny and from anarchy, not only within society, but also, and more importantly, within the church of Christ. Now one of the best ways to be preserved is to see these vicious evils, as deflections from the clear teaching of the word of God written. And I'm concerned, of course, with reference to these matters as they touch the church of Christ. Only as those who lead within the church understand the boundaries of their rule will they be kept from anarchy, and only as those whom they are leading understand the measure of submission required of them will they be kept from anarchy.

2:35 And so we... we are considering in some detail the directives of the word of God, particularly Hebrews 13, 17, with reference to this whole matter of the relationship of elders and the flock of God over which God has placed them.

Review of Previous Sermons: The Constituted Rule and Responsibility to It

2:54 If the church exists on earth to manifest the wisdom, power, and glory of Christ the head, it cannot manifest that glory unless the directives of the word of God in this regard, area are known and obeyed. And so the glory of Christ is at stake, and we must never detach any duty, no matter how detailed nor how mundane it may seem, from the glory of Christ in His church. For the directives have as their calculated end that unto principalities and powers might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God. Now I shall attempt in two minutes to review what we've covered in the previous two hours, and then move to the third area of concern. We have seen from Hebrews 13, 17 that there is a constituted rule in the visible church of Christ. The fact of it is set before us by the very use of the word, obey them that have the rule over you. There is a rule, a rule constituted in the church of Christ, which has as its origin, the sovereign will of Christ the head and the saving work of Christ the Redeemer of His people.

4:13 We understand something about that rule from verse 7, that its boundaries are the word of God. Remember them that have the rule over you, men that spake unto you the word of God. We saw from verse 7 that the context of that rule was the exemplary lives of those who had the rule. Remember, he says, their conversion.

4:36 Their conversation, their manner of life. Assuming then that the command to remember them and to obey them is not given indiscriminately to every man who calls himself a reverend or an elder, or anyone who has clerical standing or has a turned collar. It has reference only to such leaders as who themselves are exemplary in godliness and who seek to watch for the souls of those over whom they rule in the Lord. And then the second thing we saw from the text is that there is a clearly defined responsibility to that rule. Not only a constituted rule, but a clearly defined responsibility to the rule, and it's bound up in the two words, verse 17, obey them and submit to them. That's your present rulers. Your past rulers, your responsibility is remember them and imitate them. But we're dealing with your present rulers. Obey them and submit to them.

5:34 And so last week we considered, the essence of this responsibility as found in those two words, and then the objects of that responsibility, obey them who have the rule over you. That is, your appointed leaders. And I sought to lay before you the basic concept that lies behind the text, permeates all of its directives, is the biblical doctrine of divinely constituted authority, the delegated authority, Christ the head, appointing inferior men, appointing inferior magistrates to administer his rule, his order within the visible church. So much for the review. I've pretty much stuck to the two minutes, maybe drifted over into three. Now we begin this morning a consideration of what the writer to the Hebrews gives us in terms of reasons why we ought to obey that directive. The essence of the directive is, obey them, submit to them. The object, them that have the rule. Now what

The Three Reasons for Obedience in Hebrews 13:17

6:36 reasons are given to secure, to encourage this obedience and this submission? And the writer says, for they watch in behalf of your souls as they that shall give account that they may do this with joy and not with grief for this were unprofitable for you. You have then in the text three basic reasons as to why you ought to obey your constituted leaders. The first one is the nature of their rule.

7:15 For they watch for your souls. Secondly, he gives the effect of your response to their rule upon your leaders that they may do this with joy and not with grief. And thirdly, he states as the final reason, the effect of your response upon yourself. For this were unprofitable for you.

Why God Gives Reasons for Obedience

7:35 So there are three reasons given to support the admonition to obey and submit to your constituted rulers. Time will only permit us to treat the first this morning. And even before I seek to open up the words, I want to address myself to a question that you may be thinking. If Almighty God has said, obey them and submit to them, if he has clearly defined our responsibility, and if he is God, and we claim to be his children who want to obey him, why does he need to give us reasons at all?

8:14 Isn't it enough reason that God is God and we are his children? Why give us reasons at all? Why not simply end the verse, obey them that have the rule over you and submit to them? Why follow it with a four and begin to lay out reasons? Well, my answer to that is twofold. Firstly, because of what we are as men and women made in the image of God, and secondly, because of what we are as imperfectly sanctified saints, both of which demand this element of reasons to support our obedience. Let me open up what I mean by that. In working upon men and women, God works sovereignly, graciously, and efficaciously.

8:58 To use the words of the Apostle Paul, he works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

9:07 But you see, though God works graciously, sovereignly, and efficaciously, he does not work with us and upon us as though we were sticks or stones or blocks of wood. He works upon us, with us, and in us in terms of what we are, image-bearers of God. As image-bearers, we have a rational faculty. We can think.

9:33 At least we're supposed to be able to think. We can reason. Our wills are influenced by motives. Our affections are swayed by the judgments of the mind and vice versa. So when God deals with men, even sinful men, men who are dead in trespasses and sins, he doesn't deal with them like blocks of wood or hunks of stone or lead. And it is because we are image-bearers of God who have a reasoning faculty that God graciously comes to us, not only telling us what to do, obey them and submit to them, but he seeks to persuade us to a pervasive obedience by telling us why he has required this of us. Obey them, submit to them, for because, let me present reasons to you. God is

10:33 saying to his people, I'm not an unreasonable tyrant when I say obey them and submit to them that have the rule over you. He's treating me as one who bears his image, one who is a reasoning creature. For instance, a parent may say to a young child, now Johnny, you must not touch the knobs on the gas stove. Now that should be reason enough to have Johnny keep his hands off the gas stove. But if you're a parent, you know that oft times sheer naked commandment only provokes to disobedience unless it is supported with rational arguments. And so you say to the child, now Johnny, the reason daddy is telling you, mommy's telling you, don't touch the knobs on the gas stove is this. Number one, if you turn them, the gas that comes out, that stuff that smells funny, if enough of it gets in the house, Johnny's going to die. We have a funeral for little Johnny.

11:31 If someone should light a match, we could have a big boom in the house. The roof could go off. People could be hurt. And furthermore, if I find you doing it, I'm going to spank your bottom.

11:43 Now you see, mommy's gone outside to work in the garden after spring comes, and little Johnny's in the house, and those knobs just look so fascinating. And he hears mommy's command, Johnny, don't turn the knobs, but oh, it'd just be so nice to turn the knobs. Then he begins to think, wait a minute, Johnny could die. Johnny could cause a big boom. And Johnny could have some boom boom on his backside. You see? Now sometimes even those reasons don't prevail. The perversity of his own heart will drive him over all those reasons. Granted, but you see, the parent has a responsibility, not only to speak with authority to the child, but where possible without undercutting that authority to show the rational basis which lies behind those requirements. Now God comes to us in the same way, and he says, now my children, obey them that have the rule over you. Submit to them. And I tell you to do this not simply in a sheer exercise of my own prerogatives as God, but for the following reasons. The

12:54 nature of their rule makes it reasonable that you do so. The effect of your obedience or disobedience upon them makes it reasonable, and the effect of your obedience upon yourself makes it reasonable. And he lays these reasons out because we are image-bearers of God, but secondly, because of what we are as imperfectly sanctified saints. Now follow me closely.

13:19 In all unregenerate people, those who've never been born of the Spirit, there is a positive and prevailing rejection of the authority of God and his holy law. Romans 8, 7. The carnal mind is enmity against God. He doesn't say it has, it is.

13:38 There is a positive and prevailing rejection of the authority of God as the dominant disposition of every unregenerate man. The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God. Neither, indeed, can it be.

13:54 But now follow. In all regenerate people, there is a positive and prevailing acceptance of the authority and law of God. Oh, how love I thy law. Yea.

14:06 Oh, how love I thy law. Thy. Oh, how love I thy law. It's my meditation all the day. I'm thinking of Psalm 40, verse. I delight to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. He are my friends if he do whatsoever I command you. Hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. See the contrast? In the unregenerate, a positive and prevailing rejection of the authority of God.

14:35 In the regenerate, a positive and prevailing acceptance of that authority. But, now follow closely. We have something the unregenerate man doesn't have. He is enmity itself.

14:49 And there is no element of subjection against God. Subjection to God. But the believer not only has a prevailing bent in the direction of submission to God, he has the remains of corruption which still oppose God. Galatians 5, 17.

15:05 The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary the one to the other. So we have the remains of this disinclination where once there was nothing but a positive and prevailing enmity against God and his law, now blessed be his name for the work of grace. There is a positive and prevailing affinity for God and his law, but there is this remaining corruption in itself. It is just as opposed to God as it ever was. It is not qualitatively different. Thank God quantitatively, yes. It no longer reigns, but it remains. Now it's because of that that God deals with us with reasons. Because

15:52 this remaining corruption has a disinclination to the law of God so that when you hear a text like this, though something in you says yes, Lord, it is right that I obey, it is right that I submit, something else in you says, don't put the screws on me. I'm free in Christ. It's that element, you see. Now what is that?

16:16 That's your remaining corruption.

16:19 That's your, the residual elements of unpurged sin. Now God graciously comes with reasons. He comes to us and says, now my child, listen to me. I understand your state, but now listen. When I tell you obey and submit, I'm not out to get you. I'm not out to get you. This is for your good. And so he gives us reasons because he understands the actings of our remaining corruption. So then, let us come into this blessed part of the text, blessing God that he treats us as image bearers and treats us as imperfect saints. He treats us just for what we are. Because he made us, he's working with us and upon us, and he never works in an unreal world. He knows our frame.

Exposition of the First Reason: The Nature of Their Rule – Watching for Souls

17:08 He remembers that we are dust. And so he comes to us with reasons. All right? Now then, having given the reasons for the reasons, now let's look at reason number one. The nature of that rule which you are commanded to obey demands that obedience and submission. Look at the key word in the text, the word for. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit. The words to them are in italics. If you have a 1901 edition, they're not there in the original. They are supplied to give good sentence structure. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit for. Here's a reason.

17:50 I'm commanding you to do this because of, in the light of, against the backdrop of. And what does he give as the primary reason? For they watch in behalf of your souls as they that shall give account. Summarizing it, this is what the writer is saying, then we'll expound it in detail.

18:13 Obey and submit to your constituted rulers because the rule is established and administered for the well-being of your highest and eternal interests. Let me give it to you again. Obey and submit because the rule is one established and administered for the well-being of your highest and eternal interests. Now let me expound the phrase word by word.

18:48 The nature of that rule is bound up in this duty. They watch for your souls. The whole context or connotation of the word watch is one of imminent danger. The writer is probably thinking, consciously or unconsciously, of the perspectives set forth in Ezekiel chapter 33.

19:16 The Apostle Paul obviously thinks in these terms in Acts 20 as we shall see in a moment. But in Ezekiel chapter 33 the word of the Lord came to the prophet Ezekiel saying, verse 2, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people and say unto them, when I bring a sword upon the land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman, if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people, then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning, his blood shall be upon him. Whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, and the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. Now you notice when was the watchman appointed by the other members of the city?

20:24 When they saw the sword coming upon the land. When they realized that their political liberty was endangered by an approaching army, then they appointed a watchman, and they set him on the wall, and they said, you look, and when the danger is imminent, then send out the sound of the trumpet, that we may prepare for battle. So you see the context, the whole connotation of the concept of watch is that there is imminent danger, and one is appointed from among the endangered ones to be solicitous for their well-being in the face of that danger. Isn't that a beautiful and accurate picture of the people of God? What does God call us?

21:09 He says, you're a bunch of sheep in wolves' territory.

21:15 Now wolves don't go around just howling at the moon, you know, for the sake of something in a picture. They're hungry!

21:23 They're carnivorous animals!

21:26 They love to prey upon sheep and consume them. Jesus said, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Peter changes the figure and says, you're lambs in the lion's territory. Behold your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Paul has even a more graphic imagery in Ephesians chapter 4. He says, we are like little barks, little skiffs on an angry sea, and all around us are shoals and rocks and reeks of apostasy and error. And he says, I want you to be no longer little children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. That's the picture of God's people.

22:10 Sheep in the midst of wolves, lambs in the lion's territory, little skiffs and barks upon an angry sea. And now God says, because I love you, as the great shepherd of the sheep, I have died for you. I am committed in covenant faithfulness to preserve you, and part of my gracious preservation is to give you watchmen. To give you watchmen. Watchmen whom you yourselves, by your common suffrage, will set over you in the Lord. But once they are set over you, they are now charged with a divine charge. The Holy Ghost has made them overseers, and they now watch. They watch.

22:54 They are conscious of the danger. They are conscious of their responsibility to preserve and protect and defend the people of God. And now notice, if the activity is described as watch, notice what the primary concern of that activity is. They watch for your souls.

23:14 He doesn't say they watch for you as though every part of you had an equal claim to their spiritual watchfulness. He says they watch for your souls.

23:29 Now granted, the Bible does not picture the Christian as a disembodied spirit floating around, getting ready to go to glory with no body, with no physical needs. The Lord Jesus ministered to the whole man, and the church is to have benevolence. It is to care for her widows, to care for her poor. Granted,

23:49 I stand to bear witness against the increasing mentality that says there is no primacy of concern with reference to the totality of a man's being. There is a primacy of concern. Jesus said, don't be afraid of those that can kill the body, and after this have no more that they can do, but fear him which after he hath killed can cast both soul and body into hell. Watch shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own what? Soul. Paul says the outward man is perishing. The inward man is renewed day by day. They have a secondary concern. The elders do. The bishops, the overseers, the rulers, the governors within an assembly. They have a concern for the whole man. Yes, they cannot be indifferent to people's physical needs, people's economic needs, but notice what the text says. The nature of their rule is essentially and primarily one of watching for your soul. And then

24:56 thirdly, he says they do this as those that shall give an account. That's the climate within which they carry out the task. The task they watch. The primary concern in their watching your souls.

25:14 The climate in which they carry out that task with reference to that primary concern. What is it? As they that shall give an account. That is they realize they are stewards of the rule assigned to them.

25:32 Therefore they are careful to administer that rule according to the dictates of the one to whom they are accountable. Their living God is given the stewardship and therefore they do not rule willy-nilly according to the whims and notions of their own minds and hearts. They rule by the word. Why? Because they shall give an account. And the awesome specter of that day hangs over them. That they will not stand only as private Christians to give an account. Every man shall give account of himself to God. But oh, the horror, at times the agonizing horror, that all of us who are elders shall not only stand to give account to God as private Christians but as public officers within his church. We shall give an account of those committed to our church. Oh, dear people, do you see why God calls you to obey and to submit? Behind the doctrines expounded, behind the exhortations given, behind the admonitions and reproofs administered, behind the discipline enacted, is the good of your soul.

26:47 We watch for your souls. Your soul's salvation from sin and its consequences, your soul's advancement in personal holiness, your increase in personal usefulness, your establishment in stability and steadfastness. We watch for your souls as individual men and women, boys and girls who with us are on your way to that awesome day. But now follow closely.

27:14 We not only watch for your souls as an aggregate of individuals but as a corporate body.

27:22 And in great measure your blessing as individuals will be in direct proportion to the maintenance of peace, order, and purity in the corporate life of the church.

27:35 And that's an element none knows but those who labor for the peace and purity and harmony of a mixed bunch such as we are. You see, if the unity of the church of God is disrupted, as we shall see more fully in our next exposition, and the heart of the overseers bleeds, and is grieved, what happens? They're not at liberty to be sensitive to individual needs. They're not at liberty to preach with joy and to lead you in worship with an unfettered spirit.

28:13 Heaviness, friction descends upon the congregation and you come dry to the public meetings and you go out drier yet. They watch for your souls. They are not only concerned with this individual and that and this and the other, but with the corporate life, the corporate peace, purity, unity, and usefulness. Therefore many of the directives and decisions made, the doctrines emphasized at any given point, the admonitions underscored are made in terms of the corporate good and the corporate blessing. Therefore God says, obey them that have the rule over you and submit to them for they watch for your souls as they that shall give an account. Now in the time remaining I want to take that basic exposition and build upon it four lines of pointed exhortation and application. First, a word of exhortation. Then a word of warning. Then a word of instruction.

Exhortation to the Congregation: Trust and Approach Your Elders

29:23 Then a word of admonition.

29:26 And that's what happens when I get a good night's sleep and get up early. I had fully planned to preach everything on this text, but my mind was too fertile this morning to allow me that luxury. First of all, then a word of exhortation. In all seriousness, I bring this exhortation first of all to the individuals within this flock of God.

29:51 Will you not pray that the truth of this text will be burnt into your heart as an individual Christian? When you're tempted to resist, to reject or to discorn the doctrines we seek to teach, the duties we seek to inculcate, the admonitions we lay upon your conscience, when you're tempted to balk at the personal inconvenience that will come from corporate decisions, corporate directives, when you're tempted to second-guess what the elders are doing, when you're tempted to pout and grumble and form a little society of the disgruntled, all my people remember. Obey and submit, for we watch for your souls as they that shall give an account.

30:41 Blessed is that body of elders who are privileged to rule in an assembly where the pervasive mentality is this, they have our good in heart. Who are we to second-guess this and that sitting off in the corner seeing only one little facet? Are these the most mature, godly men in the assembly, gifted to rule and administer the law of Christ that we have set over us? If so, then let us defer to their judgment, not blindly follow.

31:13 If we have areas of serious serious conscience reservation, let us approach them individually. Let us not go to other members of the flock and say, what do you feel about the decision the elders made? My friends, that's it.

31:28 One of my children should be heard saying to another of my children, what do you think about what dad and mom said? I would regard that as high-handed impudence. My dear friend, it's impudence when one member in a congregation seeks out another and tries to second-guess the elders. If you have an area of concern and you don't understand the rationale, I think we're approachable.

31:50 That's been questioned as far as I'm concerned, as far as me personally, by people who don't know us, but I have some reason to believe that when I can't get to all of you that want to get to me, I must be somewhat approachable. I must not be the ugly tyrant I'm purported to be in certain circles, and I know concerning the other brethren who are on the board of elders, they're approachable men. Come to us. Come to us. The moment you try to seek out others and try to, as it were, infect them with your disgruntled attitude, you are rebelling against the constituted authority of the Word of God, of the elders and the clear teaching of the Word of God. I plead with you as God's people, obey and submit because we do, not with perfection, but with some measure of integrity. Watch for your souls. No man in his right mind becomes an elder of a congregation and takes on that awesome task unless in some measure he's motivated by your good, for your good, and God's glory. When we

33:02 come to you as individuals and admonish you about our concern that you're absent from prayer meeting, why is it? Is it because we're keeping a little record book and we're embarrassed to send in to the local denomination? No, no. You know what it is?

33:14 We've noticed that the first step in some people going clean out into the world and away from the Christian faith was when they began to neglect gathering with God's people. Start by saying, I'm going to hug you to the Christian faith. I'm going to deny it. Now they started. A little less frequent with the people of God. Conscience became a little less sensitive. Read the Bible a little less. Prayed a little less. And by degrees a hardening process set in until after six months or a year or five years they could do things and say things that even they themselves would not have believed possible when they first began to skip prayer meeting. You see, that's our concern. God knows our concern is not for statistics. It's not for saving faith.

34:13 It's God said forsake not the ascending of yourselves together. Why? Because he says the coming of the day of evil is upon us. There will be hardness of heart and an evil heart of unbelief.

34:28 And so when we admonish you, when we say as we had to at the congregational meeting last Sunday night that some of you are a bit unwise in your zeal, you're coming on like gangbusters with people. Is it that we want to kill zeal? No, it's that we're watching for the souls of men. Just when we're about to boat the fish, we don't want somebody coming along with an oar and whacking the fish off the end of the hook.

Exhortation to Elders and the Unsaved: Faithfulness and Repentance

34:55 We're concerned for the souls of men. Oh, congregation at Trinity, I plead with you by way of exhortation to pray that God will put this truth indelibly within your heart. And then I also exhort my fellow elders, how can I meditate upon a passage like this and not be prostrated before God and cry out, oh God have mercy for my unfaithfulness. Do I watch for the souls of my people? Do we watch for the souls of our people?

35:34 Are we more concerned that they might be miffed with us that we fail to give that word of exhortation? Are we more concerned that they think us nice gentlemen, as our fellow pastor would say, than that they know us to be genuinely concerned for their souls? My fellow elders, God calls upon us to watch as those that shall give an account. Once we've taken this office, we have no alternative. We shall give an account.

36:04 And an awesome responsibility is upon us. And I give a word of exhortation to the unsaved amongst us. For you see, as long as you are amongst the flock of God, we can't be content that you remain in your sins. You may put little value upon your soul.

36:21 You may squander your soul for the pittance of a few earthly pleasures, but we put God's value upon your soul. We know that the value of your soul is inestimable. It is incomprehensible. Jesus said it is of more value than the aggregate worth of the entire world. What shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world? Lose his soul. And if we seem to bother you by not letting you alone in your sins, you children, you visitors, you husbands, friends, unsaved people, if you seem to wonder why in the world don't they just go on and pray, just leave us alone. We cannot leave you alone because we know the awful worth of your soul, and we entreat you in Christ's name to repent and to believe the gospel.

37:16 Give yourself no rest until you rest in the Son of God. But not only would I present to you this morning a word of exhortation based upon the doctrine of the text, but secondly, it contains a very sober word of warning.

Warning: Criteria for Selecting Elders

37:36 And the warning is this. When you select elders, when you elect any man to that awful, awesome office,

37:53 you better make sure that he's someone that you believe will watch for your soul with an eye to that day when he'll give an account to God. In many churches, elders are elected and selected on the basis of business proficiency, pleasant personality, or other human fleshly criteria. But here's the question you as a congregation must ask. Do I want this man to be my watchman in the face of danger?

38:26 Do I want him to be? And I tell you, if I knew an army was advancing, I wouldn't be concerned as to whether or not the guy was too good-looking, whether he was too cultured or refined. I'd want to know one thing. That he knew who the enemy was.

38:42 He had a good, loud voice. And he wasn't overly fastidious about waking me up at three o'clock in the morning if the enemy was coming. I want to know if it was a man of keen eye who knew what was enemy and what was friend. A man of untiring and unflagging commitment to his task who wouldn't nod and go to sleep in the middle of the night. He'd watch through the lonely, dark night hours. And I'd want to know that he wasn't overly scrupulous about getting me upset. He had a beller and holler and toot his trumpet at three in the morning. I'd want to know there was a man who'd toot his trumpet for my sake. And oh, dear flock of Trinity, listen. When it comes to selecting elders, let that be the criteria.

Instruction for Aspiring Elders: Cultivate a Watchman's Heart

39:30 Do we see in this man something that indicates the head of the church is giving him both the ability and the willingness to be a watchman of the souls of men? And then thirdly, the text contains a word of instruction. Among us are quite a few young men, some not so young, with varying degrees of aspiration to the office of an elder. Both as one who will labor in the word and in doctrine and one who will share with other elders in the general work of oversight. Now I address a word of instruction to you young men, to you men. How can you know that the head of the church is making you a bishop, an overseer, a ruler, a governor in the flock of God? Well, one great element of that very complex answer, and this is only one element, is this. The Lord will be giving you a watchman's heart now.

40:31 Now! He'll be giving you a watchman's heart now. That is, he'll be furnishing you with that patience, love, and self-denying concern to spend and be spent for the benefit of the people of God. You will have evidence that in spite of yourself you are being constrained to make other people's needs your concerns, and that beyond the call of duty.

41:10 You'll find yourself not able simply to be concerned with your wife and your children, which concerns are laid upon you explicitly, as we saw this morning in our reading from Ephesians. You'll find yourself unable simply to be concerned with your fellow workers in the place of business, your fellow students. There will be that growing sense of constraint and longing at great pain to yourself to serve God's people, to serve them with no return. To love them, though the more you love, the less you be loved.

41:47 Now, the head of the church never makes a watchman without giving him a heart for the task of a watchman.

41:55 Is he giving you that? I don't care what else you may think is an indication that the head of the church is fashioning you into a gift for his church, Ephesians 4. If he's not giving you a watchman's heart, the head of the church is not equipping you, or he's not yet gone to work in that area of equipage. And until he does, you better hang back. You better lay off from any present aspirations, or aspirations to present recognition in that office. And then I conclude with a word of admonition.

Admonition: The Danger of Being a Shepherdless Sheep

42:34 And this is where I must be faithful to the very things I've preached. I don't want to make this word of admonition. I'd love to avoid it, but I'm watching for your souls, so I must make it. Among us are some who give every evidence of being the Lord's sheep, but you have no understanding shepherds who recognize the brand mark of this particular flock upon you, or any particular flock. You are sheep without an under-shepherd charged for your oversight. There are among us in this building this morning men, women, fellows, girls, who are near the walls of the city, but the watchman is not sure whether you really belong to the city and are part of that which he is charged to guard. You are near the ranges of the flock of God, but the particular mark of that flock is not upon you. One of the things that was so interesting to us when we visited in Wales as a family was to notice that every shepherd marked his flock.

43:40 You don't brand sheep like you do cattle, but they put a certain colored dye upon the sheep on the back of the neck.

43:50 And every shepherd knows his sheep and identifies them. Those are my own. Those have come over from Brother So-and-So's flock. They belong over there.

44:02 And when the scripture says, Obey them that have the rule over you, for they watch for your souls, the assumption is that the rulers, the under-shepherds, know the souls for which they are distinctly accountable.

44:17 And I tell you, I know of no more dangerous place to be than to be exposed to the wolves, to the lion, to the angry seas, with no one charged with the care of my soul. I have thanked God again and again that there are three men who feel distinctly accountable before God for my soul. Mr. Blaze, Mr. Rogers, and Mr. Dixon.

44:45 And I said, Lord, I wouldn't feel safe one day without somebody caring for my soul. Now some of you in that dangerous place, oh, but you say, I feel like I am a...

45:01 My friend, it's not what you feel. It's what the Word of God says.

45:08 Suppose you needed a sharp reproof that was not heeded. And that reproof had to go to public censure, or even to church discipline. No one's authorized to discipline anyone who has not identified himself as a member of the flock. The shepherds just can't go around with their crook on any old thing that looks like a sheep. And I say that's a hard word of admonition, because you see, it puts me in the unenviable position of having my motives questioned. Oh, you're just out to get more members. No, my friend. I speak for your good. You're in a dangerous place to be a sheep without some shepherds to care for you.

45:55 So I lay before you from this text the first reason why you ought to obey and submit to your appointed leaders, because of the nature of their rule over you. What is their task? They watch. What is the primary concern in their watching? They watch for your souls. What is the context in which they watch? The day of judgment, when they'll give an account to God. And in the light of that simple but fundamental truth, may we receive and suffer the word of exhortation. May we heed the word of warning and never set over us as elders any but those who manifest that they have the watchman's heart. A word of instruction to you who aspire to the office of a pastor-teacher. Only silly, ignorant young men run into the ministry. Amen.

46:53 I say it again, only silly, ignorant young men run into the ministry.

46:59 I'm going to be a pitcher. Stand up and tell them like it is. They watch for your souls this day that you'll give an account.

47:11 To teach error is to damn souls. Anybody want to run to such an office? To fail to reprove when we ought is to jeopardize eternal destinies. To reprove too harshly is to wound those whom God has not wounded. To move too soon is to botch up the thing and run ahead of God. To wait a day too long may be wicked delay. Anybody want that job? Anyone want to run into it? Because you've got some glorious, glamorous idea of what it is to be a preacher? Well, if all you're going to do is stand in the pulpit and thrill yourself with the sound of your own voice, you may well run. If you're going to take the charge of men's souls, you'll run the other direction and it's only the constraining hand of God that gets you and says, come my son. And you say with Paul in the necessity is laid upon me. And it's only that necessity

48:15 that will corral a man who faces that this is the task of the ministry. And it's only that necessity that will keep him in it. More than once in our elders' meetings my fellow elders have said, in essence, we'd want out of this tomorrow if God would just let us out. Who wants to wrestle with things that determine eternal destinies from the human side? They determine the peace and the harmony and the unity of God's people. Which it fractured, brings a blight and a cloud upon the whole congregation. Who wants a task like that? And his letters and phone calls come to me literally from all over the country and letters from all over the world.

48:58 Churches where there's any semblance of wholesome, balanced teaching. Any semblance of open, shared life. Any semblance of unity and harmony. Oh my dear people, they are a precious rarity. And I have to say, Lord, why? And I'm convinced that one of the major reasons lies right here. That people are setting over them men who have no business to be set over them. And people are willing to be set over congregations who ought not. Men who don't have the wisdom sufficient to keep such a large family dwelling together in harmony. Men who aren't sufficiently grounded in doctrinal and experimental perspectives to guide the flock of God. Oh my dear men who aspire to this office. Make sure your aspirations face honestly this biblical concept.

50:01 And then there is that final word of admonition. Some of you are shepherdless sheep.

50:08 Now we're not looking for more work, but we want you to be healthy and safe. And we are willing to trust God for enlarged capacities, enlarged hearts. We seek not yours, but you. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them full reason number one.

50:33 They watch for your souls as they that shall give an account. Let us pray. The message that you have just heard was produced by the Trinity Pulpit in Essex Falls, New Jersey and distributed through the Mount Olive Presbyterian Church Tape Library in Bashfield, Mississippi with permission. Permission for the reproduction of this tape for the purpose of distribution should be requested from the Trinity Pulpit. The Trinity Pulpit, Post Office Box 277 Essex, that's E-S-S-E-X Essex, F-E-L-L-S New Jersey 070