Priestly Duty of Prayer
0 Amens
Priestly Duty of Prayer
Hebrews 13:18-19
Series 3 Sermon 82
May 17, 2009
18Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Introduction
As we have made our way through Hebrews 13 we have had our eyes opened to some Scriptural truth that you probably have not come into contact with before. The beauty of systematic preaching is to teach us the whole counsel of God not just our favorite parts. Particularly the last sermon from Hebrews 13:17 in its call to obey the leaders of the church and submit to them could have been quite grating on some modern ears. But it is God’s command to us and we as His creatures have no right to pick and choose what we will obey. So what I would like to do this morning in the introduction is to answer a few objections and thoughts of my own since that sermon two weeks ago.
Those of you who may have missed the sermon and have not listened to it online let me bring you up to speed. From Hebrews 13:17 I showed that the call for the Christian from God is to not be disconnected from the local church but rather you are called to be an active committed member of a congregation because the leaders or elders keep watch over your souls. They do this because at a fixed point in the future they will give an account for how they did this and by your obedience and submission to them they will do this with joy which verse 17 says that will be greatly profitable to you. Look at verse 17.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Now your obedience and submission to the leaders of the church is not based upon the leader’s education or titles but rather on the message that they are preaching and teaching. Is their message biblical and correct? If they are preaching to you carefully the Word of God and the Gospel then because of the message preached you are to be obedient and submit to the message. You do this by being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
But let’s be honest with ourselves this morning. We live in a culture that has almost completely shunned this truth that the church actually has God given leaders that are to be obeyed and submitted to. The thought of a group of men overseeing the congregation is a foreign idea to most Americans. And furthermore these men keeping watch over our souls simply sounds strange. The exercising of church discipline, which is what these passages are about are foreign to our ears as well. But should this stop us from obeying the Word of the Lord? Just because we live in a foreign land should we now take on the customs of the Babylonians? And the answer to that question is obviously no.
Two weeks ago I showed you that if you are not under the authority of a plurality of elders who are striving to be obedient to the Word and leading a biblical church then you are outside of God’s plan for your spiritual protection. And if you stay there long enough then you are disobeying His commands and in sin. But we must go back to reality.
If you were a member of
So do we throw up our hands and say that we should not obey Scripture simply because no one else is obeying Scripture? Absolutely not. Regardless of what is going on in the culture we are called by God to obey His commands and to be faithful to His Word as He has revealed it to us and He is responsible for the rest.
Just because the rest of the world is plunging themselves headlong into the judgment of God does not mean that I should do the same. And neither should you. The Lord has called us to be a city set on a hill. We are light that is not hidden and when we follow the Lord in obedience it does not matter at all what the rest of the world is doing. We obey the Lord even when it is difficult and to the world it seems for no reason at all.
The reason we are obedient is that the Lord has called us to be faithful. Remember as New Covenant priests under the Lordship and authority of the Great High Priest we have been given God ordained tasks. If you look back at Hebrews 13:15 you see our commissioning to the service of God. Look at verse 15 with me.
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
This is our offering that is toward God. He is the ultimate and the immediate recipient of this offering from us. But the Lord has not only told us to direct offerings to Him but we also have obligations to our fellow man. Look at verse 16.
16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
These are offerings made to God where the immediate recipients are fellow Christians and unbelievers. And God is pleased with these offerings.
Verse 17 and following have to do with our priestly sacrifices directed to God that the recipients are the leaders of the church. Notice verse 17.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Bringing yourself under the authority of the local church leadership is a double edged sword and it is for your obedience to the Gospel and your protection as the Lord’s sheep. And two weeks ago we saw that the Lord was calling us to obey and submit to biblically qualified leaders. What qualified them was the message that they proclaim and the lifestyle that they lead. Notice Hebrews 13:7 and 8.
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Because Christ remains the same the leaders may change but the message will remain constant and so will the lifestyle of the men who follow Christ.
Now after you have located these leaders and have submitted to them in biblical church membership and are bringing yourself under the authority of the Word of God and becoming more and more obedient to the Gospel and living it out as a New Covenant priest the Lord has more for you to do.
There is another command for the New Covenant priest to offer to God that the leaders of the church are the recipients of. And it is in verse 18. Look at verse 18 with me.
18Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.
What the writer does is to put himself in with the group of leaders that he has been giving commands for the church to obey. What has he told them about the leaders? Hebrews 13:7 says to remember them and imitate their faith. Verse 17 says to obey and submit to them and their God given authority. Now verse 18 commands the church to pray for them.
It is very possible that there were some strained relationships in this church between those reading the letter and the one writing the letter. As we have seen in our study of Hebrews the writer has used strong language over the course of this letter. At one point he told the church that they had become dull of hearing. He told them of the judgment of God on those who did not remain faithful in chapter 10. He has both exhorted and rebuked and any time there is rebuke you can be sure that some will not like it. The reason I say that there could have been some problems going in here is because of what 18 and verse 19 tell us. Look at verse 18 again.
18Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.
Whatever it is that has caused the strain here the writer says that he and the other leaders have a clear conscience and that in everything they have done their desire has been to act honorably. Their intentions may have been questioned by the church but before God their desire was to act honorably. Verse 19 shows that the writer has been separated from this group of people that he loves dearly and asks for them to pray diligently for him so that he can be restored to them. Look at verse 19.
19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Did you notice the switch from plural in verse 18 (we) to the singular in verse 19 (I)? How many times have we seen the commands of Hebrews voiced this way; let us? It has been numerous times. But now at the end of the epistle he finishes up his final exhortations by using this personal pronoun “I.” Look at verses 22-23.
22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon.
What we are able to see is the love and compassion that this writer had for the church that he was sending this letter to. He cared deeply for them and longed to be restored to them as they read this word of exhortation and obeyed the commands. He loved them enough to instruct them in righteousness and to rebuke the sinfulness among them. And the final command that he gives them is to pray for him and the other church leaders.
Why does he do this? Because the writer understands that one of the mightiest weapons in the arsenal of the New Covenant priest is usually the most neglected. This weapon is usually picked up as the last resort after we have tried and failed over and over again. We have dealt with a situation over and over and we have not been able to overcome it so for the last resort we decide that maybe we should pray. But prayer is not merely a privilege but a duty as an offering that is pleasing to the Lord. Look at the beginning of verse 18.
18Pray for us…
The writer uses the imperative mood for the verb “to pray.” It is also in the present tense which says to pray and do so now. As New Covenant priests we are commanded to pray. And this is not the first time in Hebrews that we have been commanded to pray. Remember Hebrews 4:16 where we have another command?
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
So in verse 18 we are commanded to pray for our leaders. These are the leaders in the church. So what requests should we take before the throne of grace on behalf of those who keep watch over our souls?
PNP
This morning from our text and the previous texts I want you to see three specific requests that we should bring before the throne of grace on behalf of our leaders.
1. We should pray that our leaders will proclaim to us the full counsel of God.
2. We should pray that our leaders will live lives that are worthy of imitation.
3. We should pray that our leaders will keep close watch over our souls.
Purpose
My purpose in preaching this passage is to not just remind you that you are to pray for the church leaders but to show you specifically what you should be praying for. We want to pray but we also want to pray according to God’s will.
I believe that every Christian wants and desires to pray. But most of us fall short in our prayer lives because often we just don’t know what to pray. We start off praying for someone and then end up with our minds wandering in a hundred different directions. It does take discipline to pray but we also need to pray with knowledge. Plus it is a great privilege to come before the throne of grace and we don’t do it often enough.
RPNP
So let’s look together at these three specific requests that we should bring before the throne of grace on behalf of our leaders.
1. We should pray that our leaders will proclaim to us the full counsel of God.
Look back at verse 7.
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.
So many in our day are more concerned with the eloquence of the preacher and even whether or not they are entertained by what is spoken. They are more concerned with having their ears tickled than with having their souls fed.
Let me give you a quote from one of the most eloquent men to ever stand in a pulpit. Charles Spurgeon said this:
“Fine language amuses the ear, as the tinkling of their little bells pleases the continental coach-horses, but it cannot satisfy the soul any more than the aforesaid tintinabulations can supply the place of corn and hay.”
What we all must have as believers is not entertainment but a full course feeding on the meat and milk of God’s Word. And we should be praying that our leaders would lead us into the green pastures of God’s Word and let us feed on it. The Lord Jesus reminded us that man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He also told us that the Father would sanctify His children by the truth and the truth was His Word. So it is of the utmost importance in the Christian life that all of us feed on the proclaimed Word of God.
I have been reading a book on the English Puritans and when Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne of
History tells and shows that when the Lord is moving among His people that there will always be a renewed zeal and desire for the preaching of the Word of God. In many places where the Lord was reviving His people the pastors would preach and the people would cry out, “More, more. We need more preaching.”
And you need more preaching as well. And better preaching. Not better eloquence but more of the Word of God and that is what you should be praying for. Pray for your leaders that the Lord would give us unction and time and discipline and desire and drive to dive deeper into His Word and proclaim to you the whole counsel of God and when you finish praying for that then pray that the Lord would make your hearts soft to receive that Word and integrate it into your lives and walk in it by faith.
Let me give you some passages about this type of prayer. Listen to Ephesians 6:18-20.
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and 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, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Listen to Colossians 4:2-4.
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.
Listen to 2 Thessalonians 3:1.
1 Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you;
We should pray that our leaders will proclaim to us the full counsel of God. And while you are praying for that pray that the Lord would give you listening ears and a soft heart to receive the truth, believe it, and then live it.
Listen to James 1:18-22.
18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. 19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
Here is some spiritual preparation for hearing the Word proclaimed. First understand that it was by the proclamation of the Word that you were regenerated and called to repentance and faith. Listen to James 1:18 again.
18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
Then there is the correct attitude of receiving the Word proclaimed. Listen to verse 19 and 20.
19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
James also gives us spiritual preparations as well for hearing the Word. Listen to verse 21.
21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
And finally what the Word says to do we obey. Listen to verse 22.
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
We should pray that our leaders will proclaim the whole counsel of God to us and second this morning:
2. We should pray that our leaders will live lives that are worthy of imitation.
Look at verse 18.
18Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.
Even though the writer is saying that he is sure that the leaders have acted worthy of the Lord whom they serve and that all that they have done has been with honorable intentions he is still asking for prayer in these matters. The leaders of
But not only in the matters of decision making do we need prayer but also we need prayer in how we live our daily lives. We need the Lord to guide us in our marriages, how we deal with our children, the way we manage our households, and the way in which we carry ourselves before unbelievers. Our lives need to be examples to the flock. Look back at verse 7.
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
You should be praying that the faith the leaders exhibit is a life of faith that is worthy of imitation. Would you want your children living like your leaders? Would you want to have that type of faith? Notice that verse 7 calls you to consider the outcome of the way of life of your leaders and then to imitate their faith.
So you should be praying for the moral and spiritual condition of your leaders. You should be praying that the Lord would protect their marriages and their children and that their wives would be submissive to the Word and their children would not be given over to debauchery but rather live as believers in Christ. You should be praying that their reputations among the outsiders would remain good as well. That not only would the leaders be good Christians but be men of honor in everything. And the leaders of this church need and desire your prayers.
- Third we need to see that:
3. We should pray that our leaders will keep close watch over our souls.
Notice verse 19.
19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.
The KJV says “I beseech thee..” The NKJV says “I especially urge you…” and the NIV says “I particularly urge you…” My translation says “I urge you the more earnestly…”
What is so urgent? The answer is in verse 19 and 18 and that is to pray. Particularly for the leaders and that the writer would be restored to them sooner than later. Look at verse 19 again.
19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Notice the love that the writer has for the people of this congregation. His longing and desire is to be restored to them. The word “restored” means to bring back to its previous situation. At one time this writer who is well known was assisting the church leadership in keeping watch over the souls of these Christians. All throughout the letter this writer has been exhorting the people to hold fast the faith. They were being encouraged even through tribulation and affliction to look forward to the inheritance that was theirs in Christ. Over and over from a distance he has exhorted his beloved fellow Christians to look to Christ and to keep the faith. Look down at verse 22.
22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.
The final command of the letter is in verse 22 and his command is to bear with or listen closely to this word of exhortation the writer has sent them. It is obvious that the writer would have rather delivered this message to the people in person and not had to write it down. And verse 19 says that his desire is to be restored to them soon. Why? Because this is very difficult with the distance between them. The writer longs to be with them in person to continue to lead them and teach them the Word of God. This is a pastor’s heart. A true pastor will always long to be with his people. And in a time of separation there will always be a turmoil and a struggle.
Listen to the pastor’s heart of the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:9-12.
9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established ; 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.
Why not just have church every Sunday from a computer monitor? Why don’t pastors avoid the trouble of driving to church and meeting with everyone and just preach a sermon every Sunday to a camera and then the members of the church can just watch it at their convenience? The reason for that is because you can not keep watch over the souls of the people and your souls can not be watched over from a distance. Look back at verse 17.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
I will admit that we have become very technologically advanced since this was written. But even in our day of electric fences and security cameras sheep still do not wander about open country without a shepherd. You don’t see in smaller more agricultural countries the shepherds just phoning in to check on the sheep once in a while. They are with the sheep and they guard the flock. And the writer understood that if he was going to keep watch over the souls of this group of people he needed to be a part of their lives.
I know we live in a “private life” culture. Most of us don’t really know our neighbors and if we tried to get to know our neighbors our neighbors would probably think we are weird. And if you asked your neighbor about their spiritual lives they would probably tell you that it was a private matter which would be a nice American way of saying mind your own business. But even though our culture is very private it does not mean that we in the church should be so private.
We should pray that our leaders would keep watch over our souls. They do this by proclaiming the Word of God to us and then watching over us with all diligence and correcting us when we need correcting. Shepherds never let sheep wander over to the wolves without at least trying to stop them. The writer understood that this group of believers needed him and he needed to be with them to watch over their souls. That is why in verse 19 he urged them to be even more diligent in prayer so that he could be restored to them sooner.
And like wise we should be more diligent in prayer for our leaders who keep watch over our souls.
Conclusion
We have seen this morning three specific requests that we should bring before the throne of grace on behalf of our leaders. We should pray that our leaders will proclaim to us the full counsel of God. We should pray that our leaders will live lives that are worthy of imitation. And we should pray that our leaders will keep close watch over our souls.
This is praying according to the will of God. You don’t have to wonder even for a second whether or not the Lord desires these requests to not only be made known but also you don’t have to worry whether or not the Lord will answer these in the affirmative. These three prayer requests are already answered yes and amen.
Remember it is not only a Christian duty to pray it is a Christian privilege to pray. Keep in mind what is happening in prayer. When you pray according to the will of God the Holy Spirit of God is assisting you and the Lord Jesus Christ takes those prayers to the Father and is our advocate before Him. So this is prayer that availeth much. So pray for your leaders. It is both your duty and your privilege as a believer in Christ and a New Covenant priest.
Let’s pray.
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