God Says Follow the Leaders He Has Given

Transcript

GR 1730
7/31/2014
God Says to Follow the Leaders He Has Given
Hebrews 13:7, 17-19
Gil Rugh

We're studying the book of Hebrews and we are at the end of that book, the 13th chapter. So if you would turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 13. A very, very significant book in the unfolding of God's revelation because it more clearly than any other portion of Scripture unfolds the details of the significance of the high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ, of the finality of His sacrifice to pay the penalty for sin and settling that He is the only acceptable sacrifice that provides access into the presence of God. He is concluding the letter and it has been a detailed letter and it has had some serious challenges in it. The writer has been concerned about the evident desire on the part of some in this congregation of Jewish believers to possibly return to Judaism, its sacrificial system, its priestly system. And he has written to show the seriousness of the situation, the unacceptableness of such action before God. As he is concluding, he focuses on a variety of subjects.

One key point that he is going to emphasize before us today pulls together the section we have been looking into. It's the matter of leadership. Note verse 17, verses 17-19 pull a paragraph together as you will see in a moment. Verse 17 says, “obey your leaders and submit to them.” If you back up to Hebrews 13:7, “remember those who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you.” And verses 7-9 form an introduction to this paragraph and verses 17-19 form, if you will, a conclusion to it. So they sort of are the bookends to this paragraph, focusing on the past leaders and on the present leaders. And in the midst of that in verses 10-16 he reminds them in a summary fashion of the finality of the sacrificial work of Christ. And those who are partaking of other systems, particularly here the Levitical system, are excluded from the benefits of the sacrifice of Christ. And we noted this is no different than the other emphases of Scripture. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.” And the book of Hebrews has been unfolding the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God's final high priest who was anticipated with the Old Testament's high priestly system and sacrifices, but He offered the sacrifice which no other sacrifice could do.

And it's in this context he is talking about leadership. In verse 7 he talked about those who had led in the past who have since died. Remember those who led you and spoke the Word of God to you, considering the result of their conduct, the course of their life, remember. They were faithful to that Word. They taught you that Word. They lived in obedience to that Word. Imitate their faith. The leaders that God provided, the ministry they had, the truth they taught focused on the truth concerning Christ, verses 10-16. That is the pattern. Remember Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. There is no change. Those leaders have passed off the scene but the truth that they taught has been passed on and now this congregation has leaders presently. Verse 17, “obey your leaders and submit to them.” The whole issue of leadership becomes of prime importance and God has established leadership in all areas of His creation to bring order that they might function as He intends.
Just a word about leadership. Every area of God's creation has ordained leadership. Back up to Romans 13, we're just going to look at some examples and we'll see the church fits into this pattern. In Romans 13 you have governmental leadership, we've talked about these in other studies.

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and those who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” God has established governmental authority. In our country that runs from the President all the way down to local governmental officials, the governor of our state down to mayor of our city. It says be in subjection to the governing authorities. That means I recognize them as appointed by God and they are in position because He put them there. That doesn't mean you agree with everything they do, but unless it is in direct conflict to the Word of God, for example they would tell us as a church we are no longer allowed to teach the truth of God's Word, we would have to stand opposed to that. Otherwise we submit to them, we pay taxes to them. We don't like it, we think we should have less taxes. It was an issue in Jesus' day, it comes down to be an issue in our day. The point is, I cannot be a godly man, function as God intends me, if I don't respect and show honor to the governing authorities because they are God's appointed representatives. What we are going to see is God is sovereign over all. He appoints or delegates authority, here governmental authority. So it's like, if we use the example of younger children in your home. You are going out so you have a babysitter, so you tell the kids, you do what the babysitter tells you. I'm going to ask when I get home if you have. If you get home and the kids haven't obeyed the babysitter, they have disobeyed you. Right? And you have to deal with that because they had your delegated authority. That's the way the structure is and all kinds. Daniel tells us God puts sometimes the basest of men into governing positions. We need to be careful that we are respectful and show that we believe the Word of God. That doesn't mean that we are not free to vote and do whatever in our society. But we are never free to be disrespectful or disobedient because God put them in place. So that's governing authorities.

Come over to Ephesians 5. There is the family and we have been paralleling in 1 Timothy in our study that the church is the family of God. So this is parallel to God's family and the leadership there. In the home God has established authority. It's interesting that at the creation in Genesis 2 there are only two people—a man and a woman, a husband and a wife, Adam and Eve—there is no sin in the world and God puts one in charge because the New Testament tells us the man was created first, then the woman. That indicates that he was created to be the leader in the twosome. So you have in Ephesians 5, “wives be subject,” verse 22, “to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. But as the church is subject to Christ so also wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.” There is an order established in the home and there has to be a recognition of that to function as God intends us to function. It is contrary to the world. The world rejects this. As we are going to look at in a moment, the world is in a constant battle against the truth of God, against the plan of God, against the revelation of God. So there is order.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 11. I think this order in creation reflects the order within the Godhead. Order and structure, authority is not just a result of the fall and sin. Like I said it was there between the man and the woman in the Garden, it was among the angels, we'll note that in a moment. But in 1 Corinthians 11:3, “I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, the man is the head of a woman, God is the head of Christ,” referring to the Father. So you have an order—the Father, the Son, the man, the woman. And there is structure and order within the Godhead. Even in future eternity after the millennium, 1 Corinthians 15 says, the Son will turn the completed kingdom with sin finally dealt with over to the Father so that the Father may be all in all. Doesn't mean that Christ is less than God, but it does mean there is order within the Godhead. That's evidenced in other passages as well. And that order is passed down in His creation.

I want you to note, there is order in the angelic world as well and there was before the fall. Remember in the book of Jude the angel Michael who is called the archangel, which indicates he has something of a superior position, was in conflict with the devil but he would not speak disrespectfully to the devil because he at one time had been the anointed cherub that covered the throne of God. So he respects even that position he had, even after the fall. There is order among the angels and that's true among unfallen angels as well as among fallen angels.

So there is just order throughout God's creation. When God called the nation Israel for Himself, He provided a leader, Moses. And after Moses He provided Joshua. Then there were the judges, then kings were established. And so, when we come to the church, it is not surprising that God has established order, leadership. That does not mean these are spiritually superior people. As we have seen as we have moved through Hebrews, it doesn't mean that a leader has more access to the throne of God than another believer. But we need to be careful. We sometimes go from one extreme to another. I use Roman Catholicism because they have such a clear structure. They have the pope and he is the ultimate authority on earth for the Roman Catholic Church. And his authority is delegated to bishops and priests and out it goes. There is no support for that in Scripture. But we sometimes as Bible-believing Christians swing the other way and say, I have the Spirit, I'm a believer/priest, I have direct access to God. So we think we can function as an independent, private being without responsibility. But God has placed us into His family and in His family He has established order, just as He has in physical families. And He has provided those who would be leaders. Again, not spiritually superior beings people, but people who are godly and in whom He has delegated and appointed responsibility to provide leadership among His people.

Come back to Acts 20, and in Acts 20, a passage we go to often, Paul has called for a meeting with the elders, the leaders of the church at Ephesus. And they come and meet with him and he reminds them of their responsibility. Verse 17, “from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church,” plural elders of the church singular at Ephesus. There was a plurality of leadership, but they were a recognized group of men who had the responsibility of oversight in the church at Ephesus. And he reminds them of his ministry among them because he set a pattern for them that they should imitate and follow.

“He did not,” verse 20, “shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly from house to house and solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of the need of repentance and faith in Christ.” He was willing to sacrifice his life, verse 24, “I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus.” Remember Hebrews 13:7, “consider the former leaders and the course of their life. They were faithful to the truth that God had revealed to the end.” They lived that truth. So I was faithful. Down in verse 26, “I am innocent of the blood of all men because I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God”—the responsibility of the leaders to present the truth, the entire truth of God's revelation.

The he warns them, “be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” A balance here. This is God's church. He purchased it. The cost was the death of His Son so that He could gather a redeemed people to form the church. “The Holy Spirit,” verse 28, “made you overseers.” Now there are men whose position was recognized by other men. Their qualifications are set down in Scripture, we've looked at those in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1. But when we recognize these men for leadership, we are recognizing those that the Holy Spirit has appointed for leadership.

So you can see now we have leaders and the importance of responding to their leadership. To fail to do so is to disobey God. We need to see the significance of this. We make these things of the leadership that God has appointed as something. We sometimes show that in our disrespect for governmental leaders, our disrespect for leadership in the home, our disrespect for the leadership in the church. It is significant to God and important for things to be carried out according to His purposes.

You shepherd the church of God, you have the responsibility for His oversight. You are not the bosses of the church, you are not the lords of the church, but you are entrusted with shepherding responsibility of God's people.

The reason this is important—“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. From among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things, seeking to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be on the alert.” Verse 32, “I commend you to God and the Word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among those who are sanctified.”

Serious matter, the responsibility of the leaders is to keep on course, to make sure the church stays true to the truth that God has revealed. That's the prime responsibility of the leaders, to be sure that the church is doctrinally true. And out of that will come lives that conform to the truth of God's Word. And there will be a battle going on. From within the church some will come up, and this has happened as we've looked in 1 Timothy at the church at Ephesus. Timothy had to be at Ephesus to command certain men not to teach different doctrines. What's going on in the letter to the Hebrews? Some are being lured by teachers that would say you ought to go back to Judaism. Judaism and perhaps a mixture of Judaism and Christianity is God's way. This was a battle at the Jerusalem Conference we saw in Acts 15. It's the responsibility of the leaders to say we stay on course, we stay true to the truth of Scripture. We are in a battle, an ongoing war.
Come over to Ephesians 6, the letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesian church. Ephesians 6:10, “finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” Why do you need to be strong? Because this is a battle. The church is not only God's family, it's God's military unit. “Put on the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” There is the problem. The devil is relentlessly opposed to the church of Jesus Christ, relentlessly opposed to the people of God. “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything to stand. Stand firm, therefore.” Repeated emphasis of standing true. “Take the helmet of salvation,” verse 17, “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” That relentless conflict. And doctrines of demons, the devil's representatives promote doctrines contrary to truth. And the church is always under attack.

Come over to 2 Timothy 2, Paul writes to Timothy and what does he have to say to Timothy? 2 Timothy 2:1, “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” You know the church gets lured into this thinking that the church is some kind of place for relaxation, place for entertainment, a place for enjoyment. This is a military unit—people that are strong, who are planted for the truth, who have military gear on and are ready for battle, whether it comes from within or without. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You see the pattern we've seen in Hebrews. Remember those who led you, who taught the Word of God to you. Then he is transferring to the present leaders who are continuing that pattern, the truth being passed on.

“Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” This is no relaxation place. We have the song the quartet sang a year ago, ‘this is not a recreation room, it's a battlefield.’ We lose sight of that, this is where the devil wants to marshal his forces to attack, to undermine the truth, to turn us aside. “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, that he may please the one who has enlisted him as a soldier.” You see when we were called to salvation in Christ, we were enlisted as a soldier in the army of Christ. He gathered us together in a local church, not only as His family unit, but as a military unit. And we come to be immersed in the Word of God, to fill our minds to understand and submit to this truth and be committed to give our lives for this truth.

So we come back to Hebrews 13. The instruction here in verse 17 is not to the leaders, it is to the followers. “Obey your leaders, submit to them.” You have to have confidence in them and submit to their leadership “for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.” We have a diversity of gifts in the body. Part of the gifts God has given is for leadership. The teaching of the Word of God, the oversight of God's people is given to leaders. This local congregation of believers is to recognize and submit to their leaders. The test always comes when the pressure is applied. Now an area of the truth is under attack. This is the disaster of congregational forms of government. Well, every believer is a believer/priest, every believer has an equal say so any issue comes up, every believer ought to address. I don't find that in the Scripture. He says here, “obey your leaders and submit to them, they keep watch over your souls.” It seems God has spoken. There are a variety of gifts, not everyone in a congregational government, and I've been a member of churches like that, I was baptized as a believer in a church like that. Every believer gets a say. The believer who knows the least about the Word of God, he could have been saved yesterday, he gets to vote. You have believers who haven't seriously studied the Word, they get to vote. Pretty soon you have all kinds of issues clouding the issue. What does God say? And we stand. God has blessed us with godly men as leaders, and over the years in various battles and conflicts we've had, I've appreciated the stand of the leaders God has given to keep their eyes focused on this is what the Scripture says, this is what it teaches, this is where we stand. It doesn't involve personalities, it doesn't involve maybe the leaders are in error. Have they held to truth? Some of the areas leaders get into and have to deal with that aren't particularly addressed—whether we're going to remodel or not. That is not the major issue. We follow the decision of the leaders because they have demonstrated their faithfulness to God and adhering to the truth. It is always difficult, when under pressure and under attack some decide that the leaders must no longer be trustworthy and they are off on their own.

It's the very thing here. This Hebrew congregation is under attack. Some are trying to lure them away from the truth in Christ. They don't have to decide, maybe the leaders have been influenced, maybe they have ulterior . . . What do you do? Then the devil begins to fracture the army, divide this group. It's interesting he is going to conclude the letter, obey your leaders, submit to them. It's not so difficult. Various conflicts, I've had people come see me and say, we're leaving, we're going with so-and-so. We don't have any doctrinal issues. We don't have any doctrinal issues? What's the issue? If the Lord leads people to other places, that's fine. We need to be careful. When the truth is under attack we just decide, well, maybe . . . We have to be faithful.

That's what is going on here. He has warned them seriously about the danger of departing the truth and part of God's solution is follow the leaders I have given you. Remember the past leaders and sometimes it's easier to revere the past leaders than it is to give respect and obedience to the present leaders because we have to live under their leadership. Obey your leaders, submit to them. Why? They keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. God's plan.

Come to 1 Peter 5. We are going to be talking some about these matters with a little different emphasis tonight in our study in 1 Timothy. Like I say, I'm always a little concerned to where the Lord brings us. We have been for a long time in Hebrews and it just so happens we are coming today to the same portion, dealing with leaders that we will come to in our study of 1 Timothy tonight. We think maybe we are at a time where our congregation needs to be prepared to understand the importance of leadership.

“Therefore, I exhort the elders,” 1 Peter 5:1, “among you as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and partaker of the glory to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you.” That's their responsibility—shepherd the flock. What do the sheep do? They follow the shepherd. What does the shepherd do? Oversee the flock. We often say the test of leadership is when you disagree. Isn't that always in every area? When the President is doing exactly what we think he ought to do we’re behind him 100 %; the next week he does something we don't agree with—how did that bum get into office? It just goes that way. In the home, same thing; in the church, same thing. Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight. That's what they do. We are all spiritual equals, we have not all been given the same responsibility. And that's true. Doesn't mean the governmental leaders are our spiritual superiors, but they have been appointed. Doesn't mean the husband is more spiritual than the wife, but he has been appointed. Here the elders have been appointed, they are to be spiritual, godly men.

They are to take the oversight, not under compulsion. We never try to talk a man into taking a position to leadership. We talk about it as leaders here, as I've worked through with you how we do, the leaders that are presently appointed by God, when we are looking to add someone we talk about them. Then we work through the process and the qualifications. But one of the questions we ask is are you willing to serve? Is this something you would desire? If they say no, that's good enough, they don't have to give a reason why because they are not to do it under compulsion. We need some people in leadership, we hope you do it. No. If the Holy Spirit hasn't appointed you and if you are resisting the Holy Spirit we don't want you in leadership right now anyway. “So not under compulsion but voluntarily according to the will of God. Not for sordid gain but for eagerness, nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, proving to be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” So you see the chief shepherd is Jesus Christ, now He is appointed under shepherds, as we refer to them, to lead. And then his people are under those. So the response to the leadership is the response to Christ the shepherd. The idea that I can be a spiritual person and ignore or reject the leadership God has appointed just isn't so. It's an indication, no matter what area—government, family, church—of rebellion against God. How else can you say it? We've seen that in each area of leadership.

So come back to Hebrews 13:17, “they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.” They are not lords of the church, they are not the bosses of the church, they are the shepherds of the church to be acting for the good of the people. But not always doing what the people might want them to do. The problem in congregational
kinds of governments, if 52% of the people vote this, that must be what God wants. Not necessarily. What God wants is in His Word, He leads through His leaders.

“Let them do this with joy,” they are going to have to give you account. They have to lead you knowing that one day the chief shepherd will want an account of their leadership. That's the most fearful thing to me as a leader—I will give an account for faithfulness in leadership, along with other leaders. “Let them do this with joy and not with grief, this would be unprofitable for you.” You know it's hard to lead people who won't follow, it's difficult. What do we do if a large group of people in this congregation decide they are not going to follow the elders' leadership? What do the elders do? Say you can't be here anymore. This is what happens in many churches where leaders get voted out. I was talking to someone the last couple of weeks about a situation where the leadership got voted out, the leadership was biblical. The devil does his work well. It wouldn't be profitable for you not to follow the leaders. Lord, I tried to lead them in the truth, they wouldn't follow. That's not a good report. It's like you come home and the babysitter there, not that the leaders are babysitters but you get the picture, says, they just wouldn't do what I told them. Oh. Well, you weren't here, Dad, so I didn't think I had to listen to the babysitter. Didn't I tell you to listen to the babysitter? Yes, but I didn't think it was that important. Well, you are going to find out how important it is.

I mean, the Lord is serious about this. We believe the Bible, in fact I read it every day, it's important. Then we get under pressure and all of a sudden it's like God hasn't spoken. Well, this is an exceptional case. This is serious. Leadership and the instruction to the people, there are instructions to the leaders but this passage tells the people what to do. Evidently this writer is part of the leadership who is not there right now because he is going to talk about in the next verse, “pray for us.” And he's going to talk about their prayer, and then in verse 19 part of the prayer is that he might be restored to them sooner. The word to restore means to bring back. So he has been part of this congregation. So when he wrote this letter he is not writing it on the basis of just the information he has heard, he knows this congregation, he has been there, evidently served with them. Seems to identify himself with the leaders there. You see something of his concern. Whether he is a regular part of a leadership or he is one of the traveling leaders that characterized this time, we are not told.

But he says in verse 18, “pray for us.” And I take it that would include the leaders here. Pray for us. God's people, we all have this privilege. We have looked at this, we have access to the throne of God which for us is a throne of grace, a throne of mercy. And the congregation of believers is to be praying for the leaders. Pray for us, for we are sure we have a good conscience. First of all as pertains to the Word of God.

Come back to Hebrews 9, you'll see this word conscience, it is based on the finished work of Christ. The Old Testament sacrifices and that whole worship system were a symbol for the present time. Hebrews 9:9, “accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience,” on the inner person and his understanding that he now lives in accord with God's purposes, God's will he is acceptable. Verse 14, “how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” It is living in accord with the Word of God. We are being faithful with the truth, faithful to the truth. So pray for us. That includes the leaders there. He doesn't have to rebuke them, he encourages the body to respond to their leadership.

Down in Hebrews 10:2, the other sacrifices in the Old Testament didn't work “otherwise they would have ceased to be offered because the worshipers having been once cleansed would no longer have had the consciousness of sins.” That's what the work of Christ does—cleanse our conscience. Now are we living in accord with the truth of God as He would have us live? That's the test and the testimony. Verse 22, “we draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” We have been cleansed within.

So now the writer can say, back in Hebrews 13:18, “pray for us we have a good conscience,” we have come to the cleansing in Christ and now we are living faithfully to that truth. These leaders are holding to the truth, teaching the truth, living the truth. We desire to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. Being a leader doesn't mean I am not above being examined. Is my life being lived according to the truth of God's Word? You have a right to address that? Am I being faithful to the truth in my teaching and in my living? That should be addressed. That's true for all of us, true for the leaders here as they set a pattern. So “pray for us and I urge you all the more to do this that I may be restored to you sooner.”

You know it's amazing, I was talking this past week to someone and we were talking about the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. What can you say? I believe both. God is totally sovereign and man is fully responsible and I don't have to resolve it all. I fear that sometimes we as Christians think well, prayer, God is sovereign, He has it all under control. His will will be done in the heavens and on earth. So we take prayer lightly. I mean, God's will will be done. He doesn't need me to tell Him, doesn't need me to ask Him. I'll just accept what His will is. But He also tells me to pray. And here this writer used of God to write Scripture says, pray and pray more so that I can be restored to you sooner. Well how are you going to be restored sooner? God's will for you to come at this date, you'll come at this date. That's God's plan, just accept it. You don't have to pray about it. Jesus said, you don't have because you don't ask. Isn't it going to be a terrible thing to get to heaven, stand before the throne of God and He says, I wanted to do so much more for you, I wanted to give you greater blessings, I wanted to use you in greater ways, I wanted you to be an instrument to bring more people to salvation but you never asked me. Well, Lord, I didn't think that was important. Why do you think I told you to do it? And I'm going to give God a lecture on His sovereignty? I don't think so.

What does he say? Pray for me so that I can be restored to you sooner. Do you mean your prayers can be that effective that God's plan will be the result of me? We can talk it about theologically, and I can talk about how God's sovereign plan is included in my prayer and all that. The bottom line is I want to be diligent in prayer, I want to be coming before God with the desires of my heart because He said He will listen. Come to the throne, it's a throne of grace and mercy. You'll receive what you need in time of need. And we mope and we struggle and we fret. Come and ask.

We need to look at a few verses on this. Come to Philemon, this is a prison letter of Paul, means he is in prison in Rome when he writes this. And in verse 22, “I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand,” he says in verse 19. And he says, I've been used in your life, you owe me your life. And then in verse 22, “at the same time also prepare me a lodging for I hope through your prayers I will be given to you.” You might say through the sovereign plan of God I might be given to you, in other words I'll be able to come to you. But he says, because you've been praying and asking God to release Paul and have him come to spend time with me, God is going to answer that prayer. No idea, it doesn't matter whether Philemon prays or not, Paul thinks, I pray so God hears my prayer. Paul understands that He is the one we go to find out about God's sovereignty and here he believes if Philemon really is praying for him, those prayers will be used and answered by God so Paul will come to him.

Come over to Romans 15:30, “now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” Join with me in an intense struggle. It's a conflict, it's a draining ministry, prayer. You know what that's like. We pray but something happens, seriously happens. Someone you love is diagnosed with a serious illness. All of a sudden now we pour ourselves into prayer. We are praying so intently it even is draining emotionally and physically. You note what Paul says, strive together. Not if you think of me, throw up a prayer, strive together with me in your prayers to God for me that I may be rescued from the enemies of the Gospel, to summarize it. Verse 32, “so that I may come to you by the will of God.” He doesn't think your prayers are going to change the will of God but they are part of the carrying out of the will of God for him. Pray for me. Does Paul need them to pray for him? Could there be any greater prayer than Paul? The Spirit of God has recorded his prayers so we can learn from them. But he thinks he benefits from the prayers of what we would say ordinary Christians. And God hears them and answers them on Paul's behalf.

Come over to 2 Corinthians 1. Paul talks about how God has faithfully delivered him and he is going to continue to deliver him. Verse 11, “you also joining in helping us through your prayers so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.” The most important thing we can do is pray for one another. You are not happy with the sermons, you mustn't be praying enough (a little bit of blame shifting). If you think they are too long, pray for shorter ones. Not every prayer gets answered the way you pray, remember. We need to pray for one another, pray for the ministry. Believers are going to benefit from Paul's ministry because they were praying with him, praying for him. How many people have prayed for me in my ministry? Some of those saints who are now with the Lord told me how they pray. This day I pray for these elders, this day I pray for this elder, this is my schedule. I pray for the leaders, and on this day I pray for this part of the ministry. What an impact! Not necessarily recognized, but before the throne. Yes, I did that in light of they were praying.

I think of our people out on Monday night as I was reading their report, going to homes, how many people are praying for them. Pray the Lord will prepare hearts, give open hearts, give them boldness and clarity to share the Gospel as they talk to people. Then share with them, strive with them in the ministry, praying for various aspects of the ministry all the time.

Come to Ephesians 6, we just read this portion about the war we are in, to “be strong,” to “put on the full armor of God.” We are in a battle not against physical enemies but against spiritual enemies. We often use physical people. The servants of the devil do the work of the devil. Then you come down to verse 18, “with all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit and with this in view be on alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” Keep praying for all the fellow believers. “Pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel.” We talk about the boldness of Paul and the courage of Paul, but how much of that can be credited to the faithfulness of people praying for Paul, and the Lord answering those prayers and giving Paul that supernatural courage and boldness to be faithful with the truth. “Pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.” Here he is in prison for the Gospel but he still realizes I can flag in my boldness. I need you to pray for me. How different the ministry is when people are faithful in upholding others in prayers.

There are other passages—Colossians 4:3, 2 Thessalonians 3:1. We want to be a godly people. That means we have to be, #1, faithful with the truth. God has given us leaders, given each of us the Spirit to study the Word, given us leaders who are faithful to the truth, who have the gift of discernment in teaching the truth. And they provide the leadership for the body. We follow that leadership, we pray for that leadership, we pray for one another. When the attacks come, we pull together to stand behind the leadership God has given, and thus the leadership He provides. We are faithful in praying for one another, in being obedient to the Word, in being faithful to the Word. Then we are a fellowship of believers that brings honor to God.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. How wonderful and marvelous it is that You sent Your Son to be our Savior, that we belong to You because He loved us and died for us and we have placed our faith in Him. We manifest that faith in our obedience to Him, our desire to honor You with our lives. Thank You for the church that You have established in this place, thank You for the leaders You have provided. Thank You, Father, for the support of the leaders, the prayers of Your people on behalf of those in leadership. Lord, may we be faithful to You, faithful to Your Word. May You use us in greater ways than we ever anticipated. We pray in Christ's name, amen.