Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews, chapter 13. Hebrews 13. I'd like to look at verses 18
and 19. Hebrews 13, verse 18. Pray for us. But we trust we have a good conscience
in all things, willing to live honestly. But I beseech you,
the rather, to do this, that I may be restored to you the
sooner." Let's pray together. Our Father again, we call upon
You in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, help
us this evening. Lord, make us to realize something
of the blessed privilege that we have to be here. Thank you
for a heart that would want to be here. Thank you for a heart
that would love to hear the gospel again. Lord, forgive us. I pray you'd have mercy on Katie.
Thank you. for raising up this assembly
and allowing it to be here all these years. Blessed tonight
we pray as we try to worship for Christ's sake. Amen. The Apostle had admonished the
people, the Hebrews that he wrote to and the Spirit of God even
now, taking the words and said in verse 17, Obey them that have
the rule. Obey those that guide you through
the Scriptures. Attend what he was saying to
what you hear. Hear. and pray for an ear to
hear. Be convinced of, trust, trust
and rely upon and have confidence in the counsel of those that
the Lord has raised up as pastors over God's flock as they search
the Scriptures, preach the Scriptures, set forth the Scriptures exactly
as the Spirit of God. Obey them. as they set forth
God's Word, as they set forth the truth, and submit yourselves. That is, surrender to God's leadership
through His appointed means of preaching. What we're doing here
tonight is God-ordained. This is not something that men
you know, got to thinking about it and say, you know, maybe we
ought to just have some meetings and maybe just have somebody
kind of moderate, kind of over, you know, kind of teach a few
things. This is the God-ordained means by which the Lord teaches
His flock. He instructs. And remember that
we stand as the ambassadors of Christ. We beseech you, Paul
says, as His ambassadors, we say what He says. And that's
all we say. Preaching is declaring what God
has set forth in His Word. That's it. The faithful expounding
of the Scriptures. That's how the Lord teaches,
comforts, enlightens, corrects, admonishes His flock. But why? Why are we to obey them,
submit themselves? Well, the Scripture says, here
again in 17, they watch for your souls. Willingly. I want you to hear. I want you to hear. I want to
hear. They are to willingly, faithfully,
vigilantly, and actually the word watch there means sleeplessly. They are to give their time faithfully,
preparing to set forth God's Word to God's people, praying
God's blessing. I was going over my notes today
and I was thinking, oh, that I might be found faithful here.
The importance of preparation to preach, the importance of
asking God's blessing Before you come, I say this to myself,
I say this to you. Before you come, ask the Lord's
blessing. Ask Him, Lord, speak to my heart
tonight. Speak to my heart today. While
we sit, ask Him, Lord, give me ears to hear. And then after
we've heard it, Lord, bring back to my memory. May I muse upon
that which I've heard. Watch for your souls as they
that, look at this word, that must give account. They must give account. Give
account, first of all, to their own conscience. I said a moment
ago, I want to be truthful. I want to be truthful to you. I don't want to be found trying
to, as I've said before so many times, rest the Scriptures and
try to make them say something, you know, just to suit my fancy
or your fancy. I want to be truthful. Give account
to myself. Give account to you. When you
hear the gospel of God's grace preached, you that know Him,
you know. You know whether that's the truth. The Spirit of God bears witness
to your spirit that that's the truth. The Lord bears witness
to you. You hear the Word of God. You
say, that rings true of the glory of Christ. I give account to
you when I preach. And of course, I give account
first, primarily, to the Lord Himself. I was thinking about
Acts 20. passage of Scripture that just
grips me when I read this. Acts 20, 28. Take heed. Here
is the Apostle Paul talking to preachers. Talking to preachers. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made
you overseers to feed the church of God And listen to this, to
feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with
His own blood. The blood of God purchased, redeemed
His church. Ministers, take heed. Take heed to the flock of which
the Holy Spirit has made you an overseer. Be diligent. Be diligent in preaching. Be
diligent in hearing. Be prayerful in hearing. Be prayerful
in preaching, in preparing. They may do it with joy. That's what, back in Hebrews
13, 17, they may do it with joy, with a calm delight. Not with grief. I looked that
word up again today, that they may do it with joy and not
groan and not sigh when the gospel is preached. I know this. You know this. The Lord is going
to save His people. You know that. You know that.
All that the Father has given me, the Lord Jesus Christ said,
they're going to come to me. He shall come to me. And him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. But you know,
as we preach, as we prepare, and as we desire God's blessing
upon the Word, it's natural to a new heart,
you want your family to be saved. You want your kids to know God. You want your kids to know who
the Lord is. You want your spouse to know
the Lord. And you pray for them. The Apostle
says, Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves,
for they watch for your souls as they that must give account,
that they may do it with joy and not with grief. For that is It's unprofitable. The word is gainless. That's
destructive. It's destructive. It's unprofitable
to you. And then this evening we begin,
the Apostle gives this exhortation. Pray for us. Pray for us. Remember us before the throne
of God. I told you this before, but I
remember talking to Doris Mahan. You can't talk to Henry. Henry
can't hear you. So you have to talk to Doris.
Doris relates to us. She said, Marvin, Henry and I
pray for you every day. We call your name every day before
the throne of God. And I told her, I said, Doris,
that means more to me than you'll ever know. To know that somebody,
I ask you, I ask you, pray for me. Pray for me. Call my name
before God's throne. And I strive to pray for you. I strive to call your names. In my mind, I try to go right
down to, you know, Start with Margaret. Calling your names
before the Lord. Pray for me. Pray for us. This
is an honorable request. This is an honorable exhortation. Pray for us. Call our names. Preachers are men. Men cut out of the same lump
as everybody else, called of God and given a divine calling,
made an overseer. And that work, the work of the
ministry, when you realize, you see the frailty of your flesh,
and you feel the burden, the burden of the Word of God, It
is a, I'm telling you, it is a labor. A labor. I remember Brother Scott said,
somebody asked him one time, said, you know, I'm thinking
about being a preacher, what do you think? Scott said, if
you can do anything else, do it. If you can do anything else,
do it. If you can do it, do it. Because
if God calls you, God calls you, you'll preach. You'll preach. If God calls you, that's your
calling. If God calls you, I'm telling
you, there will be a struggling within your heart to do nothing
else but that. That is your life. That's your
calling. Pray for us. Pray for us. The burden of this
calling, that's the constant request. If there was anything
I'd ask you to do for me, It would be that. Pray for me. Paul said in Romans 15-39, I
beseech you brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, now
listen, think of why we ask this and pray for us. Why? For the Lord Jesus Christ's sake.
And for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with
me in your prayers to God for me. Why is that? Strive your partner with me. Bind yourself with me. Pray for
me. Colossians 4.3, with all, praying
also for us. that God would open unto us a
door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for which I
am also in bonds, a bondsman, a willing bondsman, a bondsman
that is striving to be faithful, striving to do that which is
right in His sight. I know that The Scripture bears
out that God's preachers are often the objects of attacks. Not only by unbelievers, but
especially religious unbelievers. By Satan, by the old man. The old man. That old man that
strives against that new man. That old man that will tell me,
he tells you that, no, you know this. You really believe that? You really believe that? You
haven't been faithful? I know that. I know that. Pray for us. Pray for us. That flesh that would tempt God's
preachers to compromise, to withhold that which is needful. Let me
tell you a real struggle in preaching is coming across, coming to a
passage of Scripture. This is why a lot of times ignorance
is bliss. Ignorance is bliss, really, many
times. I'd a whole lot rather not know
something. I had somebody talking to me
the other day, one of my kids. And I could tell by the way the
conversation was going that there was probably going to be some
information that I didn't want to know. And so I just told him,
I said, listen, if I don't have to know that, I'd rather not
know that. That will cause me, it'll cause me to be prejudiced
toward that situation. I'd rather, don't tell me. Just
don't tell me. There's times that it'd be better. That flesh will struggle and
strive against that new man, and there's a tendency. You come
across something, you see something in the Word of God, and there's
a tendency to whip, you know, kind of whip you. I know you
hurt me. Ignorance would be best. Instead of watch on my tongue,
on my mouth, on my lips, pray for us. Pray for us. No greater service rendered than
that we pray one for another. You know, it's an amazing thing
when you think about prayer. God is sovereign. That's a fact. He said, My counsel is going
to stand. My counsel is going to stand.
All that I've ever purposed, I will do. And the flesh will
tell you, I pray. Since God is sovereign, And he's
going to do his counsel. Then what difference does it
make? He said to. It's not my place, your place,
to question why. In the divine providence of Almighty
God, we pray, we ask. The Lord said, You have not because
you ask not. Think of all these things in
Ezekiel chapter 36 that the Lord said He was going to do for His
people. The blessing. Go back and read Ezekiel 36 and
see all the things. It comes down to verse 27. I'll
read this. In Ezekiel 36-27, of all the
things, I will do this, I will do this, I will do this for you.
You shall and I will. Then he said in verse 37 of Ezekiel
36, Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired
of by the house of Israel to do it for him. He said, I'm going
to do it and you're going to ask for it. You're going to put
it on your heart and you're going to ask prayer This is prayer. Paul says, pray for us. Pray
for us. For we trust we have a good conscience
in all things willing to live honestly. That word trust there
doesn't mean we hope we do. The word trust there means assured
and we have confidence. Pray for us. For we are assured,
we confidently have a good conscience in all things willing to live
honestly." Have a good conscience to do what? To think what? Here
it is, that Almighty God has put away our sin by the precious
blood of His Savior. And that I have a new heart,
that conscience, that's sensitive To listen, to be listening for
and seeking after His will and His direction. That He would
guide me, direct my path through His Word, by His Spirit teaching
me. The Apostle says, we trust or
are assured that as God ministers to you, servants of the Most
High God, called by, kept by, instructed by, that we be found
faithful preaching God's Word without having a heart that regards
either the frowns or the smiles or the praises of men to not
be influenced. We desire to have God's Word
sent forth to God's people, trusting that we'd be found good and faithful
servants, stewards of the Gospel. That good conscience. Every man
is born with a conscience. Every man is born with that ability to know right from wrong. You know that. But this good
conscience, it's that new eye, that new ear, it's that new man
that's wrought by grace, imparted by the Spirit of God. It's that
sensitive ability to listen to that still, small voice of God's
Spirit as He directs. You hear the Word of God, and
the Spirit of God speaks. And you hear, you understand,
you're taught. It's a good conscience. It's a confidence in Almighty
God. Listen to the Apostle Paul, Acts
20. He was confident. He had this
confidence. when he was preaching. Acts 20
verse 25-27. Here's an assurance of good conscience. This is what I would desire to
have here at Katie. Acts 20-25, And now, behold,
I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom
of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to
record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men, For
I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God."
This is a good conscience. You've been truthful with God's
people. You've been truthful with them.
You've been truthful concerning who man is. You've been truthful
to declare that man by nature is fallen in Adam. as he is in Adam, is unable,
these dead in trespasses and sins, to not be found to be wishy-washy
on that and mealy-mouthed and just be truthful. All sin did come short of the
glory of God. You have been faithful concerning
God's sovereignty. That Almighty God, before the
foundation of the world, chose the people, chose them in Christ,
put them in Christ, kept them in Christ. That the Lord Jesus
Christ came to this world to save His people and died for
His elect, laid down His life for them. Who is going to be saved? All
that the Father giveth me. All power, the Lord said, heaven
and earth, given unto the Son, that He should give eternal life
to as many as the Father has given Him. When are they going to come?
In the day of His power. When it pleases God. Paul said,
Who separated me from my mother's womb, called me by His grace.
Reveal Christ in me. Is He going to keep them? He
said, I give unto them eternal life. You assure God's people
through the Word of God, teach them, and then you have a good
conscience. Be truthful. Truthful. I realize
this. Man by nature doesn't want to
hear what God's people do. God's people will. That's the desire of their heart.
We trust. Paul said that we've maintained
integrity. before you, faithfulness to the
Lord Himself. We trust that we have a good
conscience, one purged from dead works to serve the true and living
God, desiring God's will, and in all things, to live honestly. The word, honestly, there is
from the root word that means beautiful. Beautiful. That we've lived faithfully,
beautifully before you and before the Lord. And all the while,
putting no confidence whatsoever in our flesh. Struggling, striving,
seeking after the good of God's people and realizing if the Lord
Blessed as this Word is blessed. If the Lord withholds, understanding
is withheld. But we preach and we pray and
we ask. You speak to an unbeliever in
his natural conscience about faith in Christ and urge him
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and he doesn't hear you.
But you tell a believer, You look to the Lord, and the Spirit
of God blesses that to a believer's heart, and they look to the Lord.
They rest in Him. The man has got to be born again.
Except you be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
Life and light are given from above, and it's given through
the preaching of the gospel, preaching of Christ. But Paul
said in verse 19, But I beseech you, the rather, to do this,
that I may be restored to you the sooner. You know, what an
expression of love for the brethren. There are two things that are
taught in this. Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience
in all things, willing to live honestly before God and before
men. You want to be faithful to the
Lord in the proclamation of His gospel. You want to do so for
the good of God's people because you know this guy is going to
bless them, sustain them. And in that second verse, you
set forth the love that you have for them. I beseech you to rather
do this. What? Pray for us. Pray and ask
the Lord that I may be restored to you the sooner. Obviously,
He had been with them. And I was asking that they might
pray for him, that he might be with them again. You know, it's
always good to get away, isn't it? I think the older I get,
the more I realize how much I enjoy being with my kids. About twice
a year is an average for me to be able to go and see my kids. They're just kind of scattered
all over the place, you know. So we try to get together at
least once a year and go see them. I look forward to it. But do you know after I've seen
them, I'm ready to come home? I'm ready to come back to the
house. I miss you. I miss being here. I miss seeing
you. I miss the fellowship. Pray,
Paul said. I beseech you to rather do this
that I may be restored to you the sooner. I know this. Our Lord rules and reigns in
heaven and earth. It is God alone who directs His
people. It is the Lord alone who does
according to His will. But we are not fatalists. What
does that mean? We don't say, well, you know,
what will be, will be, and I know this. It will. What will be, will be. You know? If you want to know what the
Lord's will was, what happened today, that was the Lord's will. He doeth as He will. He works
all things, everything that happened today, Everything that happened
today in this world and tomorrow if the Lord tarries, you know
what it's going to be? The Lord's will. And whatever
it is, it's going to work together for good. It's going to work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. Whatever it is. But I can tell
you this. Pray for us. Pray for us. Pray that the evil that we see
in this world, and there is a lot of it. It's everywhere. It's
rampant. Pray that God sustain, withhold,
refrain the evil of men's wicked hearts that would desire to oppress
or kill God's people. Ask Him. Ask Him, Lord, order
my steps. Order this world. Lord, You're
God. Beseech Him. It is the right thing to do. Scripture says, pray without
ceasing. In all things give thanks. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus. concerning you. Brethren, pray
for me as I strive to pray for you. For Christ's sake, amen.