"18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. 19 And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner. 20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."
Good Morning my beloved,
In our society today, we have a defiant spirit that exalts individual rights. In many ways modern culture is an elevated, sophisticated one,
containing a great variety of precious anthropological insights and
strengths, with a surprising adaptability and openness to absorb, and to
clarify. However, we are a fragile culture, willfully disconnected from the faith that gave us life in the first place.
As a faithless generation, we live in isolation, connected by social media, yet disconnected from our fellow man, unprepared to recognize the world we live in and the privileges we enjoy as God’s gifts. I believe that we desperately need to broaden the scope of our human rationality, ultimately toward God, Who is the source of all goodness and truth. And toward others. We must understand the relationship between Christian faith and the modern culture, in terms of the influence faith has on the culture.
Culture is not about a man on his own but in being together with others, culture is the total, shared, learned behavior of a society.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You as always for Your Word. Lord, we give You thanks for all of those who You have chosen to gather with us today, it is always such a joy and privilege for us to be together, to study Your rich and wonderful truths, we ask that You would bind them to our hearts, help us to make the application of what we've learned to our lives, that we would bring glory to Your holy name.
Thank You for revealing so much about us through Your Spirit, that we would see ourselves as we truly are, not as we believe ourselves to be. Help us that we would not think higher of ourselves than ought. Remind us that sin is always the result of us before You, dethroning You and enthroning ourselves. This is certainly a violation of Your commands, if we love You the way that we profess, we will keep Your commandments. Continue to teach us Lord, for the more we know about You and about Christ, the more we will love You and the more willingly we will submit.
We pray in Christ's name
Amen
Today's Message: Pray For Us
God isn’t satisfied with our words alone, true thankfulness begins in the heart and is expressed through our lives. It is that this is a difficult time to be a pastor in America. Anytime the pastor preaches on a passage of Scripture on sin and immorality, Christian ethics and behavior, anything that convicts the hearer, he is accused of being mean spirited, out of touch with the culture and intolerant. Even in a church where the Bible is being preached, I believe that is right to examine the Scriptures to see if the teaching is sound. I am not infallible, I welcome comments and interacting with others about my sermons, as long as the goal is to be faithful and submissive to the Word of God. I believe the greatest need of any pastor is a people on their knees, praying for him.
Furthermore, I believe that in any area where godly Christians may disagree, we must give grace to one another to differ. Responsible teaching is a difficult matter, because there are always going to be those in the church who have emotional ties to their sin. To be effective, obedience and discipline must be uniformly enforced according to God's Word. God designed authority to bless and protect. We must learn to see sin for what it is, a manifestation of self-worship and rebellion against God.
For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned. As Christians, we need to speak what is edifying, what is
comforting, what is encouraging, what is virtuous, what is godly. However, if
there is deep rooted anger smoldering in our hearts, it’ll erupt into
wrath. The result will be evil, which reveals itself in slander and blasphemy of
others.
Lies are protectors of self-worship. Satan lied to Eve, Adam and Eve lied to God. Cain lied to God about Able. Abraham lied to Sarah. Sarah lied to king Gerar. Isaac lied when he denying Rebekah was his wife. Rebekah lied in the conspiracy against Esau. And, we're still in the book of Genesis. Everybody is a liar because Satan is the "father of lies."
I believe our entire Christian life has been treated with disdain and indifference by this current generation of Christians and even preachers. We are to live lives that are increasingly like Christ, seeking the things above. Lives that essentially manifest all the virtues that belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Though we live in the world, we are called to be separated unto God.
Open your Bibles with me please to the book of Hebrews, the thirteenth chapter. As you know, we have been studying this very instructional, which is in many cases, difficult to understand. It's not been an easy road for many of you, however, I pray that, like myself, your lives have been enriched and are better for it.
I invite you to follow along with me as I read, to set the text in our minds, as we prepare our hearts for a Word from the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 13:18-19.
"Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner."
When things are not going well in a congregation, it is often too easy to blame
one another. And more often than not, the pastor gets the brutal edge of such verbal attacks. However, I believe it would behoove the body of Christ, if the congregation prayed for its leaders and the leaders prayed for the congregation. As a result, we would experience more Spirit-given power, if we prayed more and blamed less. Too often, the reason that congregations struggle, is because of the lack of genuine, heart felt prayer. Congregations that lack prayer, lack spiritual power.
The heart of the writer of Hebrews, is simply and yet passionately saying, "Please pray!" In a very real sense, there is power in prayer. May we learn this today. I believe Hebrews 13:15–19, to be a unified passage revealing what kind of sacrifices
please God under the new covenant: the sacrifice of praise, the sacrifice of submission and the sacrifice of supplication. While this may be the case, it is unclear as to whether or not this was the
author’s intention. What it is clear, is that these three areas,
when embraced and lived out by the Christian, will yield a life that honors
God and produces a healthy church.
I'm sure you will recall, in verse 17, we previously studied that both leader and congregation are to be submissive to the Lord, which result in a harvest of joyful growth to the glory of God. As we move forward in our study, to verses 18 and 19, it is quite possible that the author intended to connect what is being written
here with what was said in verse 17, exhorting the
congregation to pray for its pastors.
It is likely that the author may have had some enemies who had lied about him, his behavior, his honesty, and integrity. The implication is that there were unflattering suspicions that had raised about the author.
Verse 18, "Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things." He begins with the opening words, "Pray for us," perhaps, these are some of the most important words a pastor can say to his flock. I am a firm believer that every godly leader needs prayer, enabling us to be honest about it with ourselves and with others.
I believe that a good spiritual leader knows his limitations. We are not infallible, however, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, we are able to discern, distinguishing right from wrong, in ways that were never possible before. While the reasons for his usage of the majestic plural, has been the subject of debate, I suggest that his using the plural to make the point that all leaders, need the prayers of God's people, those for whom they will give an account. Rather than just himself.
The Apostle Paul frequently sought prayer from those he ministered to, in Romans15:30, " 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."
And in I Thessalonians 5:25, he says "Brethren, pray for us."
In II Thessalonians 3:1-2, he says "Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith."
I believe that a pastor who humbly seeks the prayers of others, realizes his dependency upon the Lord and is a leader worthy of being
followed.
In II Corinthians 2, Paul writes "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?" Any one who has been in ministry for any length of time understands pathos behind Paul's words, "Who is adequate for these things." I have often uttered those same words, realizing just how inadequate I am to communicate God's Word, yet He has in His grace, called me for such a task. It is in those times, I am reminded that it is in my weakness, I experience His greatest strength. Understanding all too well, the meaning behind the words "Without Me you can do nothing."
He goes on to say "For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God."
In verse 19, he says, "And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner." It is obvious that the writer was not with them, it has been suggested that he was one of the former leaders previously mentioned in verse 7, which says "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith."
No leader is perfect, the heart of author of Hebrews, desires that the congregation would believe the best about their leaders and therefore to pray for them. Furthermore, he has been faithful, loyal to the Lord and therefore to them, therefore, he is worthy of their prayers. I believe that these are not the words of a egotistical megalomaniac. Rather, they are the heartfelt
words of a passionate leader, who is deeply devoted to God and to His people.
In this age of universal access to preaching and
teaching, we must understand that there is no substitute for face to
face and personal proclamation of the Word of God. A true shepherd who is concerned for the spiritual condition of those in the congregation, desires to be with his flock. Please pray for us, that we remain approachable and accessible. I believe that this is important.
In Closing..
There are times when I am exhausted, impatient, my words can offend, I feel inadequate when I lack of wisdom, unable to articulate truth clearly. And, like many of you, I make bad decisions or wrong judgements, I am an imperfect human. More times than I can express, I feel so unworthy and it grieves me to feel as though I have not done enough to serve the Lord or His people. In spite of my failures, I strive to glorify the Lord, live an honorable life, that is pleasing to Him, and to be in holy service to all of you.
And, for that reason, I request your prayers, that my conscience will remain clear before God and before all of you. This does not mean that I will always be popular, but it does mean I will truthfully and faithfully teach the Word of God, for God's glory and your benefit, rather than to tickle your ears and mislead you. Because I must always do what is right before God.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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