46) Pray for Your Leaders
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Today we come to the second to the last sermon on the book of Hebrews. As we have walked through the book verse by verse we have come to see the details of what he spoke of in the intro to this written sermon.
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
With great care for the readers, the christian believers under his care he has shown how God is speaking to his children, his people, through the Son. Through Jesus. God has appointed Jesus to be the heir of all things in the universe including ourselves. That Jesus reveals God’s Glory and his nature. Those that have seen Jesus have seen the Father. Seen God.
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
He made the perfect sacrifice of himself on the cross. To willingly dies for the sins of man and now sits in heaven mediating for his people. As he has spoken of who Jesus is and what has been accomplished he comes to the end of his sermon. Chapter 13 is written instruction of the obligations and christian behaviors that should be in the church, that should grow in the church, and that should continue till the end in the church.
This group was struggling to continue in their beliefs. There had been persecution and challenges. Time was taking its toll and they are being encouraged to stand fast on the promises of God. To live in the reality of their faith. God’s righteous one will live by faith.
35 So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised. 37 For yet in a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith; and if he draws back, I have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved.
Isn’t it true that there are times that we waver in our confidence. Time where we take our focus off of Jesus and we start to put our trust in other things and other people and we find that in the end those things do not prove to be a solid place to put our trust. It is only Jesus who is the solid cornerstone that we are to fix our eyes to and to put our trust in him and him alone.
1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
As God people, the church fix their eyes on Jesus, the church will exhibit certain behaviors.
In this final chapter we have been instructed to live in brotherly love. To treat each other with the affection and love of actual brothers and sisters, not just acquaintances that meet once a week in a building to listen to a man speak some words and sing some songs.
We were also instructed on how we are to show hospitality, and care for other people. And we are not to neglect the simple tasks of doing good and sharing.
16 Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
Why? for no other reason that God is pleased with these sacrifices.
Last week we looked at the relationship between leaders of the church and the church.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
This is one of those verses that brings up a lot of different feelings and reactions but we look at the responsibility of the leaders to care for the souls of the people. To be shepherds and watchmen for the people that God has put in their care. This is to be a good and God honoring relationship that should bring blessing and praise to God. When church leaders keep watch and the church yield to their direction it is beneficial to the church people.
The leaders are still fellow believers themselves so they are be following and submitting to Jesus. The author continues with this final instruction on Christian behavior. Prayer.
Prayer
Prayer
18 Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything. 19 And I urge you all the more to pray that I may be restored to you very soon.
The writer gives his final instruction to the believers. After all of the instruction given so far he ends fittingly with prayer. Prayer such an intrical part of the life of a christian and I find many times it is one of our weakest disciplines. When I read about some of the people that God has done great things through and many times the only thing that is special about the person is their devotion to prayer and their trust that God answers those prayers.
The story of one man has always caught my attention as I think about prayer and a life devoted to prayer. That is
George Muller
This man was born in 1805. The son of a tax collector he lived lived a comfortable life. However by age 10 he was a thief and a lier. He would steal from the funds his father had collected and would spend it for his own personal pleasures. It is recorded that at age 14 he was drunk on the night of his mothers death. His life would continue down a path of loose living.
At that time to be a clergy man in the church that was run by the state would would mean a comfortable life with state housing. So his father put him in Christian schools and under the different religious leaders in order for him to gain the benefits of the clergy for himself later on in life.
He would continue down the road of self even end up in jail but something in his 20s started to open his eyes. His friend took him to a Christian home where they would gather to sing, pray and read sermons. But the thing that caught his attention was the prayers. They pray humbly to the Lord.
He went home and prayed the way they did and each week he would expectantly wait for the meeting to come. The open arms and community welcomed him in each week. He turned to the word dug into it to see what God would say and he would pray. One day he came to John 3:16
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
With that verse, the Gospel penetrated his heart and he saw God’s love for him, that Jesus came and died for him, to pay the penalty of sin that he deserved and that he had been given eternal life. After this moment he started to become a different man. He came to believe that God wanted him to be an evangelist he commited to sharing the good news that save him to other people.
However this put him at odds with his father that wanted him to be a clergyman for the benefits. In the end he choose to follow what God had called him to be and there is much to the story but God did some great things through this man.
It is reported that 5 orphanages were started by George. He would publish 65K copies of the bible and 85k copies of the new testament and supported of 150 missionaries. It is believed that he helped over 10k orphans. Established 117 schools that taught over 120K people.
What stand out about this man is not what was accomplished but he means in which it was accomplished. He choose to not take a salary for the work he was doing. He would just pray. He would sit before the Lord and would present his need and the need of 1500 to 2000 orphans at any one time.
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
He would come to the point in his life that I think he could honestly say that lived out what Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Prayer and the Word, not only would he pray for every need that his family of the orphanages would need but he would read the bible up to four times a year in order to know God and His will. He wrote a receipt for every gift ever given as he never wanted the ministry to be questioned. This was very prudent and wise as it is estimated that more 2.6 million dollars was donated to his ministry over his life. He never asked anyone but God to provide.
I share this story as an exhortation for us to see what prayer can look like in the life of a Christian. When a believer turns to the words of God to know how to speak to God.
To be able to Rejoice Always, pray constantly, and give thank in everything. For some here this seems so far out of reality for us. I am just trying to get out of bed some days how am I to be in constant prayer. It is not easy but it is necessary to start somewhere.
We can start by looking in his word and Jesus teaching. He teaches how not to pray first.
Matthew 6:5, 7
5 “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. ...
7 When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.
It is never the intent of prayer to elevate the person praying. The intent of prayer is to speak to the one that intercedes for us.
25 Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.
Prayer is to speak to God. To give him praise, to ask for aid, acknowledge the promises of his word. The life we still live in as believers is not a walk in the park. It is not easy but we are never alone and Jesus is always there to hear our prayers. He taught to pray like this:
6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.
Our prayers should life up and acknowledge his name as holy. As the creator of the universe, as the prefect good loving merciful and gracious God that he is.
They should request his will to be done. To call on his kingdom to be built here for this age. Our prayers should include our basic provisions as it is God who provides the little or the much.
The prayers of the saints will admit and repent of the sin in their lives and forgive those that have sinned aginst them.
We are to ask for deliverance from the schemes of the evil one of the devil that fill our world will all sorts of temptations to draw us away from our source of hope and life, Jesus.
We look to David who cried out to God for protection.
1 Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you. 2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides you.”
And he recognized that nothing is hidden from him. That he knows everything that is our hearts.
9 Lord, my every desire is in front of you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah that if we seek will all our heart we will find that God is there.
13 You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.
It is our hope to proclaim the testimony of answered prayers.
16 Come and listen, all who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me. 17 I cried out to him with my mouth, and praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had been aware of malice in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19 However, God has listened; he has paid attention to the sound of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God! He has not turned away my prayer or turned his faithful love from me.
What if you have never really prayed much. You find the word hard to come by or we feel that we are unable to or unworthy to pray. We can be comforted that it is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, that is there to help us.
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.
We are to pray at all times interceding for fellow bothers and sisters in Christ as well as for the gospel to go out to those that do not know God.
18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
John Bunyan the author of pilgrims progress gave this wonderful definition of prayer.
Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God hath promised, or according to the Word, for the good of the church, with submission, in faith, to the will of God. John Bunyan
As the author of Hebrews requests prayer for himself and others, this is what he was requesting.
18 Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything.
Pray for us with a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart. These prayers go through Jesus to God the father. These prayers are given through the strength of the Holy Spirit.
Clear Conscience
Clear Conscience
The author requests the prayers based on their clear conscience. These were not the words of an arrogant prideful people. As they examined their conduct, words, intent, motives, and actions, they found that there consciences were clean. They wanted to conduct themselves honorable and they believed that they were doing that.
The conscience it is that part of the mind that distinguishes from right and wrong. It afflicts or comforts the person depending upon their actions.
Some may remember the little Cricket named Jiminy that used to say “Let your conscience be your guide”. He was telling Pinocchio to follow that little voice that tells you what is write and wrong.
We all have this little voice or feeling that we get when we are convicted of doing wrong or affirmed when doing good. There is an issue with our conscience like our hearts is that is cannot always be trusted. The bible describes those that have weak consciences.
7 However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
When a person lives in sin they find that their consciences will convict them falsely or affirm things it shouldn’t.
In other places it speaks of consciences that have been seared.
1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.
And to those that do not believe it says that their consciences are defiled.
15 To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience are defiled.
But to the pure everything is pure. The author of Hebrews referred to the readers conscience three other times so far. He spoke of the old testament sacrifices being ineffective at perfecting a worshipers conscience.
9 This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience.
In contrast to the old testament sacrifices is the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?
The perfect sacrifice of Jesus cleansed our conscience from dead works. This allowed for us to serve the living God.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus—20 he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh)—21 and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.
We get to draw near to God. The evil conscience that we once had, they one that told up that what ever we do for our selves is right. The one that never affirms right and wrong based on God’s standard. That has been removes and made clean. Those that believe in Jesus have the Spirit dwelling in them and through the one offering
14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after he says: 16 This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, the Lord says, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds, 17 and I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts. 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
The laws of God, his right and wrong have been written on the hearts of each and every believer and in their minds. We now know what it is God desires of us. We can still choose to live with knowing we are not conducting ourselves in ways that are honoring to God but our hearts tell us the truth.
The place we want to be is to have the same boast as this
12 Indeed, this is our boast: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with godly sincerity and purity, not by human wisdom but by God’s grace.
TO live free from guilt knowing that what you are doing is what God wants from you. We have all had mistakes, blunders, missteps. We have hurt people and ourselves. We have sinned against God but we don’t have to live in the past. God has promised to forgives of those past transgressions as we pray and confess them to him.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The writer is requesting prayer for them to be restored and they believe as they have examined their lives that there is nothing that they have done that would hinder the prayers of God’s saints.
18 Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything. 19 And I urge you all the more to pray that I may be restored to you very soon.
Prayer for Your Leaders
Prayer for Your Leaders
It is not uncommon for the leaders of the early church to call to the church to pray for them. Paul asked many times for prayer.
30 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayers to God on my behalf. 31 Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 and that, by God’s will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you.
Or
25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us also.
and
1 In addition, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you, 2 and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not all have faith.
The men in the bible that God used to lead his church we men of prayer. They were constantly in prayer interceding on the peoples behalf. I always pause when I read about Moses’ response when the people would sin against God and even rebel against him. He would turn to God and plead for God to spare them.
Or Jesus when he prayed.
34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes and cast lots.
The heart of these leaders was for the ones that were in their care. But as the new testament church was unfolding you see that the leaders routinely asked for the prayers of the people. They never believed that what they were accomplishing was due to themselves alone. They believed it was the work of God and his spirit in them.
Conclusion
Conclusion
When I look to scripture and the prayers and trust they had in God responding to these prayers, I find they seem to be much different than what I see today. Maybe it is my own heart that is being convicted of the lack of prayer in the church today. But I don’t believe that we should be content to stay where we are at.
Prayer has been on my mind for quite awhile. Questions run through my brain like
How do we grow in our commitment to seeking God in prayer?
Do we pray constantly?
What does corporate prayer look like?
Are we doing the work in our own strength or are we relying on God?
I am absolutely convinced that we need to be commited to prayer. To have a clear conscience that we are doing the will of God. To that end I will ask for your prayers. On June 16th, I am planning on our first Sunday Evening Service. I need your prayers as God reveals his will for this time we will spend together. I am not sure of all of the details but one thing is for sure is that it will be a time of prayer. The church at Dishman, the family of faith seeking God, lifting up our voices in praise, seeking intersession, looking to his word, and praying with one another.
I ask that you would pray for God’s hand to move here and that we would see him do great things for his name and his glory.
Pray for wisdom and discernment on the men God would have us appoint as Deacons.
Is your conscience revealing to you areas of your life that you need to change or move forward in. Baptism, reconciliation, leading, serving...
Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God hath promised, or according to the Word, for the good of the church, with submission, in faith, to the will of God. John Bunyan
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Communion
Warning
Children, Lost, Sin
19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Prayer
Song
Closing
Blessing/Benediction
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
