Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. I'd like for us to look at one
verse of Scripture, verse 17. Hebrews 13, 17. The Apostle, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, 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 unprofitable for you. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You this
evening for this blessed time to meet together in the precious
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, thank You for Your
presence. Lord, as we consider Your Word,
would You bless it to our hearts We pray for the families that
are hurting this evening. Pray for the John Mitchells family,
for that church in Great Falls. Thank you for your faithfulness
to that assembly these years and to all the assemblies where
you've raised up the gospel and sent a pastor. Lord, I pray you
give us ears to hear. Comfort our hearts, we pray for
Christ's sake. Amen. There's one true and faithful
pastor. There's only one. And he set forth, well, in this
book right here, chapter 13 and verse 20, speaks of the faithful
pastor. It says, Now the God of peace
that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. He's the shepherd. And that's
the word shepherd when you look it up. That's what it means.
Pastor. He is our shepherd. Our great shepherd. In fact,
he's the one to whom we've returned, the scripture says, the shepherd
and bishop of our souls. Thanks be unto God that the Lord
would give his people a shepherd. Because we as sheep, and we wear
that name, that's the scriptural name for God's people, my sheep.
But when you look at the character of a sheep, they're ignorant
animals. They don't have any guidance. They need a shepherd. They'll
just wander off and just not even Think about it. A shepherd. We need a shepherd. The Lord is referred to in John
10-11 as the Good Shepherd that giveth His life for the sheep. Zechariah 13-7 calls Him Jehovah's
Shepherd. Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd. and against the man that is my
fellow, saith the Lord of hosts." So glorious is our Lord set forth
as the shepherd of the sheep that the Holy Spirit moved upon
the prophet Ezekiel to call him the one shepherd. I will set
up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant
David." That is, the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom David was a type,
came forth from the seed of David in natural lineage. The Lord
Jesus Christ came through the lineage, the family of David. He shall feed them, and he shall
be their shepherd. He's the way, the truth, the
life, he's the shepherd. The shepherd of the sheep. He
guides, he directs, he loves, he cares for, protects, he feeds
the shepherd. He's the one who stands for,
has redeemed, and continually guards, protects the people of
his heart. Now Peter refers to Him in 1
Peter 5.4 as the chief shepherd. When the chief shepherd shall
appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Knowing that there is the good
shepherd, the chief shepherd, the one shepherd, Jehovah's Shepherd,
we understand the importance of our Lord raising up under-shepherds,
pastors. Scripture sets forth that these
men are God-ordained ministers. They are the servants of God's
people. The servants of the Lord. Servants
of God's flock. And they are set up for the good
of God's sheep and for the glory of the one and true shepherd,
under-shepherds. Jeremiah 3.15, I will give you
pastors according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge
and understanding. So these under-shepherds that
are the Lord's, called by the Lord, placed by the Lord, kept
by the Lord, are set there for the good of God's sheep, for
the comfort of His church, and these shepherds are divinely
kept, maintained by the Lord. Revelation 1.20 says, "...the
mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand."
This is the Lord speaking to John on the Isle of Patmos. The
mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand,
the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou
sawest are the seven churches. So our Lord sets forth that He
holds within His hand, within His power, with His guidance,
under shepherds. He is the shepherd. We don't
refer to ourselves as shepherds. We are the under-shepherds. We
are the under-pastors. Men that are placed in this position,
they are highly esteemed by God, but they recognize their place. They know who they are. These
men are men that God qualifies. I want you to keep your place
right there. Turn with me to 1 Timothy 3,
verses 2-7. 1 Timothy 3. Verse 2-7. 1 Timothy 3. I'll begin reading in verse 1.
I'll read 1-7. This is a true saying. If a man
desired the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop,
a pastor, a preacher called of God. Must be. Now these next few things
that are listed are absolutely required. They're required. A bishop then must be, number
one, blameless. He's not without sin, but he's
without scandal. He's without scandal in the community. I've told you before, Brother
Henry said one time that he said, God's preachers in a community,
by and large, are not going to be believed. They don't believe,
by and large, in the community. The world doesn't believe what
they preach. But they should be the most respected men in
the community. Their word ought to be their
bond. Blameless. A bishop then must
be blameless. The husband of one wife. Vigilant. Watchful. watching over, aware
of what's going on. And pastors are a whole lot more
sensitive than people think they are to what's really going on.
A lot of times people think that they don't know, but a pastor
has a... Brother Scott was a master at
this, wasn't he Carl? He knew. He knew what was going
on. Vigilant. Sober. Of good behavior. given to hospitality,
apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy a filthy
lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth
well his own house, having his children in subjection with all
gravity. For if a man know not how to
rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of
God? Not a novice, Lest being lifted up with pride, he fall
into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have
a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach
and the snare of the devil." Our Lord qualifies under shepherds,
qualifies them, gifts them. These men that God raises up
are God's spokesmen. Now listen to the importance
of this verse of Scripture. 2 Corinthians 5.20. Now then, the Apostle Paul says
under the inspiration of God's Spirit. I want to say that often.
I need to hear it. And remember that these Scriptures
are God-breathed. God Almighty breathed these words. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. And you remember, an ambassador
is not one that comes to give his opinion. He sets forth the
opinion, the thoughts, the will of those that send him. Now then,
we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you
by us. We must understand, when the
Scriptures are set forth, in the clarity and the truthfulness
as God Almighty sets them forth. This is God's Word spoken through
the mouth of an ambassador. God's preachers, God's pastors. We are ambassadors for Christ
as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's
stead, be you reconciled to God. Now, remembering, Those that
the Lord has raised up as pastors. And I'll be the first to admit,
I was talking to Brother Paul Mahan today, and we were talking
about where we were going to be preaching. I told him I was
going to be in Hebrews 13, 17. And he said, doesn't it make
it a little hard? He said, when you're the pastor
setting forth the responsibility of the pastor, to the people
who must hear the responsibility of the people to the pastor.
The pastor's responsibility and the people's. I said, yes, it
does. Seems like it would be a lot easier if somebody else
would say this, you know. But this is God's Word, and by
the grace of God, we bow to God's good will and good pleasure.
Now, remembering those that the Lord has raised up as pastors
in the assemblies, the Lord exhorts The people, the hearers in the
congregation, verse 17, obey them that have the rule over
you. Now this is what that means. Be convinced. Trust. Rely upon. Believe and have confidence in. In obeying, actually what they've
done is these men have been divinely raised up to instruct and lovingly
govern according to the Word of God, God's flock. These men are to preach the Word
of God. And what the apostle is saying
is, attend to the Word that these men preach. As pastors set forth
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace, hear it as God's
word, as God's message. Receive that message from the
Lord and respect the biblical counsel and advice and rebuke
for Christ's sake and for the good of God's flock. Obey them
that have the rule over you. Be convinced. I want you, when
you hear the gospel preached from this pulpit, I want you
to be convinced this is the truth. I want you to believe that this
is the Word of God. That I'm not trying to set forth
my opinion or my take on a scripture. I want to be able to sit down
And to look at these Scriptures and look it up and look up the
words and pray and ask the Spirit of God to give me some understanding. And then as the Word is preached,
bless it to your heart. Obey them. The obedience is unto
the Lord. We're ambassadors. We're spokesmen.
We're a voice. Submit yourselves. The Scripture
says, Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves. That is, surrender to the leadership
of God through God's spokesman by recognizing their authority
is actually from the Lord. Of ourselves, we have none. Remember,
we are ambassadors for Christ and no true pastor sets himself
up to be the Lord over God's sheep. I mean, you stand in this
pulpit, and it's with fear and trembling, realizing the One
in whose name we preach, the Ones that we're preaching to. I realize that I'm looking at
many here, I'm convinced, objects of God's mercy, Those that Almighty
God has everlastingly loved, those that the Lord Jesus Christ
laid down His life for, bore the guilt of His elect in His
own body, suffered humiliation while in this world at the hands
of men that hated Him, that had one desire to kill Him, and redeemed
His sheep, Now as I come to preach, I am to come to preach to God's
people, God's elect, with a spirit of submission unto Him and for
your good. Barely, barely. The Lord says,
I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth
me. That's a very humbling thought. God's pastors. are to be examples
to God's flock. Patterns. Examples of love, of
kindness, of honesty, and of doctrinal soundness. Men that
God raises up, I told you this one time. Brother Bob Coffey
told me. He said, you know, God's preachers
are sinners saved by the grace of God. They're men, frail men,
just like every other man. But he said, you're in a different
position. You're in a fishbowl. And he
said, you're the one that people look at. You're the one that
is the example. You're to be the one that is
to set forth the example. And I do try to remember that. I don't want to be one that... I'm going to say something about
this in a few minutes. I don't want to get ahead of
myself. I don't want to be one that sets forth our Lord's name,
our Lord's gospel, this church's name and reputation in a bad
light for people to look and say, well, that's the pastor
of Katie Baptist Church. Why don't you look at that? I
want to be one that is an example. Submit, Scripture says, yourself. Obey and submit. And here's the
reason. For they watch for your souls
as they that must give account. Boy, that's a big word. There's a bunch of big words
there. But that they must. They must give account. First of all, the Apostle says
they watch. God's pastors watch. I looked it up. I looked up that
word. They watch. This is what the word watch means. Sleepless. Sleepless. That is, not totally without
sleep. But they are vigilant. They're watchful for that which
would disrupt, would harm or disturb God's sheep. As a parent, you're watching
over your children. You don't want them to get hurt.
You know, the old thing, you know, I don't want you to do
that. Why? The answer, I said so. I said
so. That's enough. Because I know
better. Don't go out in the street. You're
going to get hurt. You're vigilant. They watch. They're calling. is a calling
whereby they're willing to spend and to be spent for God's sheep. Number one, His honor demands
it. And secondly, you're worth it. You're worth it. You're the Lord's. And we're brethren. We're one
body. Almighty God sets up pastors
that are watchful. A true pastor does not want to
be a burden to God's people. But he wants to give all for
their welfare, for their welfare, for their good, for the Lord's
honor. They watch for your souls as
they that must give account. Our Lord, knowing that He called,
that's the foundation for watchfulness. Why do you watch? He called me. Why do you watch? He commissioned
me. Why do you watch? He gives me
a heart for His people. Why do you watch? I love them.
I love those that He loves. Romans 14.12 said, so then every
one of us shall give account of himself to God. Now you know, for the unbeliever,
he's going to try, he's going to attempt to justify himself
by whatever means he can. Now, again, Romans 14, 12, So
then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. An
unbeliever is going to plead his own wicked works. And actually,
he's going to plead his own wicked works to his own damnation. But
the believer, the one who knows that he has absolutely nothing
to plead in his own defense, This is His plea. It's all my
hope and all my plea. That when the Lord Jesus Christ
died, He died with this center on His heart. That He put away
my guilt, having everlastingly loved me. This is all my salvation,
David said, that He hath made with me. I didn't enter into
the agreement. He hath made with me. And then in time, calls me out
of darkness and tells me about it. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. Why? Because it pleased Him to
do so. Here's myself giving an account
of myself. Lord, I have nothing. Nothing in my hand I bring. Give an account. I have nothing.
Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. That's my account. I have nothing in myself to justify
myself before God. Here's all my justification before
God. He paid my debt. He rode me in
His righteousness. But even now, knowing that when
I stand before God Almighty and give an account, this is going
to be it. This is all my hope right here.
Lord, You've shown mercy and grace to this sinner. Lord, You
said You'd have mercy and compassion on whomsoever You will. Lord,
this is all my account right here. I am what I am by the grace
of God. But I'll tell you, having been
called out of darkness, regenerated by the grace of God, every believer
And especially God's pastors. That's who he's talking about.
But every believer, truly, gives account to his own conscience. The Lord has given us now, every
man is born with a conscience, but Paul said, we've got a good
conscience. We now have a good conscience. A man gives account to the Lord
according to that new man, that new spirit, that new mind. As
God's preachers and God's people that hear the preaching of the
gospel, as they study and pray and set forth the gospel and
you hear and ask for God's direction and guidance, I want to be faithful. I give an account to myself. I want to be faithful. And I see in me that is in my
flesh there dwells no good thing. But Paul says, to will is present
with me. But how to perform that which
I would, I find not. But I want to be. I want to be
consistent. Is there a believer here that
would not say that? I want to walk before Him honorably. And all the while, I have no
confidence whatsoever in my flesh. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians
9.27, But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection,
lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway, that is, a reprobate. What the
apostle was saying there, I don't think, a while ago when I said
I'm going to say something about this, here it is right here.
I strive to conduct myself in such a manner that my character,
my conduct, may not be inconsistent with my doctrine. I don't want to be. I don't want
to be. I want and desire to walk. what I truly believe. Our Lord
is deserving of faithfulness. Paul, if somebody reading what
I read about Paul, he said, I keep under my body and bring it into
subjection. Paul would have been one, if
somebody would have been watching him, they would have called him
a legalist. And Paul absolutely found no confidence. He was the
one who said that under the inspiration of God's Spirit. I have no confidence
in the flesh. But God's people do not have
that attitude of, well, listen, I'm saved by the grace of God
and it doesn't really matter and I don't really care what
you think. You ought to. You ought to care. You ought
to walk with some consistency and not trust one thing as you
did. Thriving after. You don't want to bring disgrace
upon those that you love. You don't want to disgrace your
wife. You don't want to disgrace your
husband. Believers don't want to disgrace their Lord. As watchmen,
we give account to our conscience. Secondly, we give account to
those to whom we preach. I want you to hear the Word of
God. I want you to. I desire that
you would be comforted and taught. I want you to grow in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. I desire, I ask the
Lord, as you come to my minds, I ask, Lord, just like that leper
that came to the Lord and he said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. I ask, Lord, if you will, you
can call sinners out of darkness. Lord, according to your everlasting
covenant. Lord, have mercy, I pray, according
to your will. I pray that you would enlarge
the borders of our assembly according to your good pleasure. Lord,
have mercy. We give account to those that
we preach, but especially I must give account unto the Lord who
has called me to this office. Mark 13, I'll tell you what I
mean. Just turn to Mark 13. Mark chapter 13. The apostle
is set forth that we must give account. Well, what's he talking
about? We give account to our conscience, we give account to
those we preach to, and we give account unto the Lord. Mark 13,
34-37. For the Son of Man, Mark 13, 34. For the Son of Man is as a man
taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority
to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the
porter to watch. Watch ye therefore, for you know
not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight,
or at the cock crowing in the morning, lest, coming suddenly,
he find you sleeping And what I say unto you, I say unto you
all. Watch. Watchful. We are called to be watchful. Giving account unto our Lord
by being watchful over God's flock. Faithful in the setting
forth of his gospel, faithful and watching, believing. And this is giving account unto
the great Shepherd of the sheep. Mindful and letting the people
know the Lord returns. He's coming back. Walk worthy
of His calling. He may return for me or for you
before this evening is over. Oh, may I be found faithful. giving account unto Him, ready,
prepared, asking, seeking for His mercy, striving after, seeking
after, praying after, asking Him. As pastors, not only do
we give account to ourselves, we give account for you that
hear in constant prayer, asking the Lord's blessing upon His
Word. We spread before Him His candlestick. Lord, these
are Your people. That's what Moses did. Think
about how Moses would approach the Lord. Lord, these are Your
people. These are Your objects of mercy. Lord, have mercy. Seeking ever mindful of His commission
concerning the responsibility to be entrusted toward you, to
myself. 1 Corinthians 4.2 says, moreover,
it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful. Faithful. As I close, I want
you to look at Ezekiel 3.17. Ezekiel 3.17. You know, it's
so easy because of the frailty of our flesh to become lax. We are prone,
believe me, we are prone to laxness. And here our Lord encourages
us, be watchful, be diligent. Always pray. Ezekiel 3.17, Son
of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore,
hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. That's faithfulness. Faithfulness
and giving account unto the Lord. Giving account unto the Lord
is to warn His people. Tell God's people what God Almighty
has said. Now, let me ask myself and ask
you these last closing questions concerning stewards. Stewards
of God's gospel. Hearers of God's gospel. Listen
to this question. that was asked those that were
indebted, and they had to give account. Luke 16, verse 5 says,
So he called every one of his Lord's debtors unto him, and
said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my Lord? As we consider giving account,
Every man must give account of himself. Here's the question. How much do I owe unto Him? Here's a sinner fallen in Adam. Born dead in trespasses and sins. Ruined in Adam's fall. One that is bankrupt in myself. But by the grace of God, according
to God's Word, being faithful to God's Word, God Almighty who
said that He has a people chosen in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ
who said, all that the Father has given me shall come to me. They shall hear. Paul has said,
he's not ashamed of the gospel of God, it is the power of God
unto salvation. You that have been called out
of darkness, who realize by the grace of God, your election of
God, redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
and regenerated by His Spirit, and made willing in the day of
His power to come to Him and to cry out for mercy, Mercy that
He's already given. Mercy that He's already shown.
Taught by the Spirit of God. Kept in a place where you can
hear the Gospel. Kept where you can hear the Gospel. Hear the message of life, the
messages of the Lord. How much do we owe? We owe all. All. May we truly, as watchmen,
continually give account to ourselves and to the flock, and especially
unto the Lord that has called us by His grace. And may we do
it with joy and not with grief. Paul says, for that is unprofitable
to you. Brother Henry made this statement. He said, if the message of the
gospel be received, and the fruit of God's Spirit be manifest."
The steward, the pastor, goes about his work with joy and not
with grief. Thankful. He gives account fully
to the Lord in the proclamation of the truth. That's giving account
unto the Lord. Lord, Your Word is worthy. Lord,
Your Word is life. Lord, Your Word is the bread
of heaven. Your Word. You. You are the manna. John 1-4 says, I have no greater
joy than to hear my children walk in truth. But, if they of
the Lord find us, and if I err not in this statement, I pray
I don't. If in that great day, An account
is given that day of accounting when men that have faithfully
preached the gospel, the Lord told Ezekiel, he said, you preach
to them. He said, now, you preach to them,
and he said, they're not going to hear. But he said, if you don't preach
to them, he said, I'm going to hold their blood at your hands. I want to tell you something.
I don't understand the fullness of that statement. I do know
this. God's preachers are going to
strive and long after be faithful. I don't want to be found unfaithful
in proclaiming the truth. May the Lord give us understanding
to bow to His Word, to bow to His good pleasure, to bow to
His direction. May I be found faithful, give
an account to myself and to you and to God Almighty to preach
the truth. And may God have mercy and bless
His Word to the calling out of His people. But if you hear the
truth and you refuse it, Paul says, he said, I've been faithful,
he said, Your blood is on your head now. I don't want to be
unfaithful. I don't want to be unfaithful. May God bless these words to
our heart. Amen.