Remember Your Leaders

Hebrews 13:7-8

We really only have about maybe 6 more weeks or so in Hebrews. And this is sort of a shock to me, because this is the book that I’ve wanted to preach through since a class I took about 14 years ago. Thankfully there is plenty more bible after this.

Chapter 13 is a strange chapter in some respects, because the book really reaches a high point and conclusion in Chapter 12. We end chapter 12 after this grand discussion of difficulties in life with the author grounding our hope in the reality that in Christ we have been given a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Well what do these past 6 verses we’ve been through have to do with an unshakeable kingdom? And what does this paragraph from 7 to 16 have to do with it?

Well, verse 1-6 have to do with life in the kingdom with one another. You’ve received an unshakable kingdom, so love one another, work hard at building relationships with those whom Christ has rescued out of the domain of darkness. Don’t try to shake this kingdom!

Verse 7-16 look at what is perhaps the most vicious and dangerous attack that tries to shake the kingdom from the outside. False teaching.

Now I’m sure there are many approaches that could have been taken here to battle against false teaching, but it is very interesting the tactic that the preacher here takes. He doesn’t name the false teachers, he doesn’t even really name the false teaching although perhaps he hints at it.

Instead what he does is he asks his readers, this church, and our church, to remember those leaders who spoke the word of God faithfully to us, to consider the outcome of their way of life, and to imitate their faith.

And we’ll look at this in those three points today.

Now he’s going to get to the church’s current leadership in verse 17ff and their role in caring for your soul. But those he has us remember here are those leaders who have served the church and gone on to be with Christ.

Now why would he do this? We have to consider this carefully because there is a right way to do this and a wrong way to do this. Think about the Corinthian problem for example. Well they had many problems, but one of the first is the way that they were moving into factions over who their favorite teacher was. We do this sometimes don’t we? I’m a John Macarthur guy or I’m a John Piper guy. He gets it right , he gets it wrong. I’m better on this issue because I listen to him… etc.

How interesting it is that these conversations always seem to be over guys in other pulpits. The reality is, these guys are not called to care for your souls the way that your pastors are. They haven’t lost sleep at night because of the way that you’re responding to an issue, they haven’t spent dozens of hours praying for your health. They don’t make decisions about what to preach and teach next for your spiritual health.

He tells us we should be remembering our leaders who have spent so much time speaking the word of God to us. Now you might say, “wouldn’t it be better just to remember what Christ said in his word, rather that to remember the one who spoke it to us?”

Way back in Hebrews 2:3 “3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,” See what they have heard from Christ they spoke to you. They were used by Christ.

We live in a time that wants to denigrate the local church, but our great salvation is wrapped up in the communication of the gospel by faithful leaders in the local church.

We are to remember them, bring them to mind. Now what exactly is the reason for this and how do we think through this?

Well next he says to consider the outcome of their way of life.

We can apply this principle to living active believers just as much as we should those who are no longer with us. There are movements in Christian social media circles, post-mil theobros, and anti-patriarchal egalitarians, I could go down the list but i’m encouraged by your faces that you don’t even know what i’m talking about. Many of these movements we don’t even have to consider the outcome of their way of life (meaning how it all ended up for them at the end of their life) but we can look at the effect it is having on them as those around them right now!

There’s no love there. These are bullies. That’s what Jesus said, didn’t he? They will know you by the bully rhetoric you use online and the way you cut people with your words. No he said they will know you by your love!

This is why this is so important. I was talking with a pastor once who has since gone to be with the Lord and he said, I thought I was ready to be a pastor when I was 30, then when I hit 40, I started to think maybe i’m not so ready for this, then 50 came and I wasn’t sure that anyone should be in the pulpit until at least 60, and then 60 came and I still didn’t feel sufficient for these things. He was encouraging me, that Christ alone is sufficient for these things and to lean on him.

But we do ourselves a great disservice when we look at just a few years window in time instead of saying “I wonder after the course of a lifetime how this was of thinking plays out in someone’s life?”

Here’s what he is encouraging us to do: If you find a faithful leader, who has spoken the word of God to you faithfully his whole life, consider the outcome of his life when it is all said and done.

You’re going to find a lot of lives out there that have been absolutely cratered because they didn’t keep their eyes on Christ.

Now he says, imitate their faith. Notice, very important… Don’t imitate them, imitate their faith. That’s the point of this whole verse, it’s the faith in Christ that he’s speaking about. Imitate their faith.

Now why is he using that word faith? He’s throwing us back to chapter 11, isn’t he? Do you ever feel a little ripped off reading chapter 11 wishing you had some of these people in your life?

This is what he’s doing, he’s saying, think back to Abel and Isaiah, yes… But GBF listen, and this is about as sweet of a gift as someone can have, you also have someone like Phil Storrer who is with us. I was trying to think of faithful men who have served in this pulpit for a long time, and Phil fits that bill.

Now we’re blessed because he’s still with us. I often think “now what would Phil do here?” Karla may advise me not to think like that. See this is why he exhorts us to remember them, consider the outcome of their lives, and imitate their faith. If you imitate Phil you’re going to start getting excited about taxes, that’s not good. We don’t want that. But imitate his faith.

Now here’ is where the author grounds everything, and where we’ll move into a defense against false teaching in the coming weeks. He says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

What on earth does that have to do with verse 7? Abel’s faith was in Jesus Christ, the same, he was the same. Abraham’s faith was in Jesus Christ, he’s never changed, he’s always been the same. The effects of faith in him has always been the same. He says in verse 7 that Noah became an heir of righteousness through faith. That is the righteousness of Christ is our inheritance in him through faith.

Phil’s faith is in the same Jesus Christ. His righteousness is Christ’s righteousness. Believer, listen, This Jesus is the same today as he was yesterday, and he will be the same tomorrow as he is today. That’s the best news in the world, isn’t it?

That’s horrible news if it’s about me. Because if i’m never changing, I am eternally in this sinful condition. But you can trust Jesus because he is ever present, ever faithful, never changing.

There isn’t a new gospel that’s going to come in, there’s not going to be new stipulations added to the gospel, there’s not going to be new works that we must do in order to enjoy fellowship with him. He never changes. How can we be sure of that? Remember your leaders, consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.