RESPONSABLITE MANB LEGLIZ YO PART 2

E.     THE EXHORTATION TO CONTINUE IN OBEDIENCE AND IN SUBMISSION TO THEIR SPIRITUAL LEADERS (13:17)

Note three things concerning spiritual rulers (church elders):

1 They do have spiritual authority over the flock;

(2) they as good shepherds are to wakefully watch over the members of their flock to keep their souls from being damaged, 1 Pet. 5:2, 3; and

(3) they must someday give an account, Ezek. 33:7-9; 1 Cor. 4:1–5.

Note three things concerning spiritual followers:

(1) They are to obey and yield to their spiritual rulers (it appears that the readers’ spiritual guides were yet steadfast in the faith);

(2) they are to obey and yield to their spiritual leaders so promptly and so cheerfully that these leaders will have no grief but only joy in caring for the flock; and

(3) they are to obey and submit to their spiritual leaders that they may be profited in having these leaders (to disobey our spiritual leaders results

I. MINISTERIAL DUTY.

1. The objects of ministerial solicitude. “Your souls.”

(1) The origin of souls. God’s offspring. Immaterial, intellectual, immortal.

(2) The price at which they were redeemed. “Precious blood of Christ.”

(3) Their destiny. Eternal life or death.

2. The expression of ministerial solicitude. “They watch.” This includes love for immortal souls, manifested in a constant attention to their interests, and a devotedness to their welfare.

a. Obedience demanded

Those leaders who had spoken the Word of God in earlier days were no longer present.

They must be remembered for their conduct and faith, says the author of Hebrews (13:7).

Successive leaders have taken their place.

The writer is not interested in the status of these leaders—he gives no hint whether they were elders, overseers, preachers, or teachers.

Rather, he asks the reader to obey them.

A lack of obedience prevailed among some of the readers.

Note, for example, the author’s admonition not to “be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings” (13:9).

The leaders needed help and encouragement.

Thus the appeal to obey them and to submit to their authority is timely.

Of course, the readers could question whether this authority was self-imposed by the leaders or delegated to them by Christ.

If a leader is a dedicated minister of the Word of God, he proves thereby that Christ has given him authority. And if Christ has entrusted him with the task of assuming leadership, the people need not question his authority (Acts 20:28; Eph. 4:11; 1 Peter 5:1–3).

HEBREWS 13:17 Once again, the writer of Hebrews gives a call for Christ’s people to listen to and receive the teaching of those who are commissioned to teach. They are not instructed to do so because their leaders are smarter, but because God knows what his people need—teachers. For this reason, the church rightly sets apart and commissions those who are called and given this gift. We are reminded, however, that they will be held to a higher accountability (Jas 3:1). In this passage the author of Hebrews does not simply instruct his readers to receive the words of their leaders, but to obey and submit to them. He calls his readers to submit to what is taught—that is, to what the teacher teaches—not necessarily to the teacher. God has determined that his Word be conveyed by the human voice. Teachers are therefore just human instruments that set forth God’s divine Word. This instruction is not some obscure statement of cultic authority. Insofar as the leaders teach in accordance with God’s Word, they are to be obeyed and their teaching is to be taken seriously. Why? “They keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.” Becoming a pastor, elder, or teacher in the church is no small thing. It involves the care of souls. Pastors and elders watch over the spiritual lives of their people and exercise their ministry before God, to whom they will give an account—an extremely sobering reality. We are to let our leaders shepherd us with joy and not with groaning, otherwise their labors of love are of no advantage to us. Grudgingly obeying our leaders does not sharpen our hearts; it hardens them

1 (13:1) Love—Brotherhood: there is the mark of brotherly love. “Let brotherly love continue.”

1. Note that the love existing among believers is a special kind of love. It is a “brotherly love” (philadelphia), the very special love that exists between brothers and sisters within a loving family, brothers and sisters who truly cherish one another. It is the kind of love …

• that binds each other together as a family, as a brotherly clan.

• that binds each other in an unbreakable union.

• that holds each other ever so deeply within the heart.

• that knows deep affection for each other.

• that nourishes and nurtures each other.

• that shows concern and looks after the welfare of each other.

• that joins hands with each other in a common purpose under one father (Leon Morris. The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians. “Tyndale New Testament Commentary,” ed. by RVG Tasker. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1956, p. 80).

How can people possibly love one another like this when they are not true blood brothers and sisters? Here is how. The Greek word “brother” (adelphos) means from the same womb. The word used for “love” is phileo which means deepseated affection and care, deep and warm feelings within the heart. It is the kind of love that holds a person near and dear to one’s heart. Now note: the two Greek words are combined together by the writer to convey what he means by brotherly love.

⇒ People who have brotherly love have come from the same womb, that is, from the same source. They have been born again by the Spirit of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they receive this new birth, God gives them a new spirit—a spirit that melts and binds their hearts and lives in love for all the family of God.

Believers may not even know each other. They may even be from different parts of the world, but there is a brotherly love between them because they have been given a new birth and a new spirit of love by God. They are brothers and sisters in the family of God—the family of those who truly believe in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—the family who have received a new spirit that binds them together in brotherly love.

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (Jn. 13:34–35).

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved ..