“The Role of Elders
and the Congregation” By Associate General
Pastor Hubert Ulysse June 10th, 2018
Amen, amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you very much; you may be
seated. Good
morning, everyone. I'm glad to be back with you. And, as you know, it
is a special
day. It's a very, very special day. It's a day you should put in your
calendar,
because, you may want to refer back to it. Because, I believe, like
Pastor
Taylor says, there will be change, there will be change, and then you
will see it’s
a change for the good. And, this change, it's not us who came up with
it. It
was there, way over two thousand years ago. Way over two thousand years
ago,
the Lord sent his Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, sent Him. And,
He came
and preached, and performed miracles, and He had a multitude of
disciples after
Him. A multitude. But, He had a mission, right? He had a mission. He
didn't
come to live forever, here. He came to accomplish something specific.
And, you
remember at one point, where He told the disciples, when He sent them
Himself, He
told them, “As I was sent, now I send you.” (John 4:34-38) So, you were
sent
with a mission, and then He sent us with a mission, too. But, in Luke,
chapter six,
verses twelve to thirteen, which, I don't think we have it. Do we have
it up
there? I don't think I gave it to you. This is where—it's there? This
is where
Jesus gets to a point in his ministry where He says, “Well, there must
be a
change. The mission that I came for must continue, but it has to last
for a
long, long time. It's not going—I'm not here forever. But, My mission,
My work
must remain.” So, what He did? Luke 6:12
And it came to
pass in those
days, that he went out into a mountain to [do
what?] pray, and continued all night in prayer to
God. If you can do it, as a homework for yourself, find every
time that
Jesus went to the mountain and spent the night to pray, He had an
important
decision to make. All the time. I remember that one time, He went and
prayed,
and His disciples were seeking for Him everywhere, because people were
coming
from everywhere to be healed and to—and then He went out and they were
looking
for Him; they could not find Him. And, when, finally, Peter and the
other
disciples found Him, they said, “Jesus where have You been? We have
been
looking for You. There are so many people waiting for You to be healed,
and to
hear from You, or whatever.” and Jesus, “You know what, let's go to
another
town.” Say, “What? They're waiting for us!” “No, let's go to another
town,
because they also need to hear the Word. So, you would think He would
say, no,
after praying, the decision came, He needs to leave. Go somewhere else.
So,
after He prayed, in verse thirteen, the Bible says: Luke 6:13
And when it was
day, he called
unto him his disciples: [all who were
following Him] and of them he chose twelve, whom also he
named
apostles; Among all of them, He picked twelve. Because He was going to
go to the Father,
and the work had to continue on. He chose these twelve, He called them
Apostles,
and, the Apostles, they are the ones to establish the church, as we
know. And, we
have the Acts of the Apostles. That's where we find everything they
did. And, when
we study the Word, we see that they established elders in every Church.
They
established elders, and you have right now, you have the churches, you
have
elders and deacons, because, as they were doing their work, and then,
you know,
trouble started. They felt like, “Okay, there must be somebody else to
serve
tables, so they could stay in prayer and ministering of the Word.” So
they have
the deacons to help them out. It's the same thing we're doing today.
That's
what's going on. That's what is going on. But, I know there is even as
of last
week, when we made the announcement that we were coming here to ordain
Parrish
and Andy, we were asked by members, faithful members in our
congregation in
Norfolk, “Okay, are they going to be pastors, or elders?” I'm talking
about
people that you would say, “Really?” You still don't get it.” But, I
know it's
here, it's everywhere. What we say elders, bishops, pastors it's the
same
thing. Okay? It's the same thing. You want to call them elder, call
them. You
want to call them pastor. But, I want to make a difference for you.
Like, when
you say elder, keep in mind you're talking to—you see the person. When
you say
elder, you see the person. When you say Bishop, you see the office, the
position. He is an overseer. So, the elder is an overseer. Okay? And,
then,
when you say a pastor, when you call him a pastor, that's his job, what
he
does. He is to shepherd, to feed, okay? He is to shepherd, to feed. So,
it's
like when you say pastor so and so, it's like you're calling him
shepherd.
Somebody who takes care of sheep. That's what the person does. But,
when you
say Bishop, you're talking about the office. He is an overseer. He
oversees
stuff. And, when you say elder so on so, you see the person. We find
that in
Acts, chapter twenty, verse twenty-eight. I'm sure Pete has that, too.
Paul was
heading to Jerusalem, and he stopped, he stopped somewhere, in
Ephesus—close to
Ephesus. And, then, the Bible says he called the elders of the church.
Okay? It
says he called the elders of the church, and then this is what he told
the
elders; verse twenty-eight: Acts 20:28
Take heed
therefore unto
yourselves, [he's talking to who, now? The
elders.] and to all the flock, over the which the
Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, [who made them overseers? The
Holy Ghost.
So, the elders, they are the overseers. The word overseers, is the same
word
for Bishop. (G1985) so, when they say elder or Pastor don't look at it
as elder
or Pastor, the bishop is on top common the pastor comes after the
bishop, and
then elders come after. That's not the way it works. The elders were
made overseers,
bishops, by the Holy Spirit] to feed the
church of God… Feed is to pastor, to shepherd. Okay? So, they were the
elders, the
Holy Ghost established them, put them to be bishops, overseers, to do
what? To
feed the flock of God. So, an elder, a bishop, a pastor is the same
thing. Now,
the author of Hebrews wrote something very important and this is—I'm
going to
use a couple of verses to speak to the congregation and to know elders.
I don't
know how to title it. How did you title it, Pete? Pete titled it “The
Role of
Elders and the Congregation.” Oh, okay. Yeah. So, it's like, I'm going
to use
the Scriptures, and then I'm going to use that Scripture to see what’s
your
duty, what's your responsibility as a congregation, and what is the
responsibility is, of an elder. And, it's really, really going to be
just—I
believe you'll understand, that you're going to be blessed in it, but
you're
going to have to go through so many, many more studies on that. I'll
ask you,
if you don't mind, let us stand, and let’s read together, we want to
read
together this verse, these verses with me, Hebrews, thirteen, verses
seventeen and
eighteen: Hebrews 13:17-18
Obey them that
have the rule
over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they
that
must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief:
for that
is unprofitable for you. Pray for us: for we trust we have a good
conscience,
in all things willing to live honestly. May the Lord bless this portion of His Word, for the
edification of our
souls, and for His Glory. Thank you, you may be seated. From these verses I'm going to go over the three commands we
find:
command one is obey, command two is to submit, and the third one is to
pray.
The word “obey”—first of all, let's say it says obey them. Somehow, the
author
assumed they will be more than one person, and they assume that they
would be a
congregation with the structure that have leaders in it, there would be
more
than one, that the congregation will obey. So, that's part of plurality
of
eldership, of pastors. And, we see it's an imperative. It is a direct
command.
There's no way to confuse that. Okay? But, let me tell you this word,
there are
two words in Greek for “obey.” This is not the regular obedience, obey,
we
would see for the children, and for—what—this is different. this is a
word in
Greek (G3982). This is what it says: it means to suffer yourself to be
persuaded. Okay? To be won over as the result of persuasion. That's
what the
word means. So that means we hear the word of, the word is teach to us,
we get
persuaded. The word is taught unto us and we are we get persuaded. So,
what is
not the brutal and royal command. It's not like, “Okay, you do this,
and you
obey.” Okay? That's not what we're talking about, okay? So, it is—the
Word is
addressed to us, and we are engaged in God's Word, and then we follow.
Okay?
Also, it's not an outside obedience. It's not like, okay, you act like
you
obey, but you don't. You know? It's like—the way I can illustrate that
is,
there is a young boy, I read somewhere, he was jumping in an airplane.
He was
inside the airplane; he wouldn't sit down. He would jump back and
forth, and,
then, finally, they put him in a seat and tied him up. And, they said,
“You stay
here.” Yeah. He was there. He was obedient, right? But, he was smiling
and
happy. And, they said, “Why are you smiling?” And, he said, “I am still
jumping. I am still jumping. Inside, I am just jumping. Yeah, you tied
me down,
but I am still jumping.” So, there are people who will act as if they
obey the Word
of God, but they are not. It's like the obedience must be from the
heart. Okay?
The form—remember, God knows the heart. He knows if you are obeying. But, I must be honest with you. And, you need to be honest
with
yourself. There is something deep in our flesh that does not like what
we are
hearing right now. Very deep. Very deep. I don't like it; you don't
like it. We
would rather if it said, “When you are comfortable, when you are in the
mood,
consider what they are saying, and do it, if you want to, if you like
it.”.
That's our flesh. Now, you know why you must feel like that? And, it's
okay,
it's for all of us. Can this be abused by authority? It can? I believe
so. And,
it's—maybe you have been abused, already. Maybe you can't stand to read
that verse.
And, the sad reality is, every good thing of God's Word can be used
wrongfully,
you know. That's just the truth. The word says power corrupts, right?
And, absolute
power corrupts absolutely. This is one more reason why, when you have
plurality
of elders, you know, if it's done right, the proper way, and, like Paul
says,
to watch each other, they will watch over themselves. Because, they
have to
watch over themselves first, before they can watch over the flock. If
it's done
right, and then they say, “Oh, no, no, no. that's not abuse of power
here, or
this or that.” So, that's the way it works. That is why, also, because the Word is the power. That is
why, also,
the elder must be apt to teach. Because, everything—because, obedience
is the
response to the Word of God. Obedience is the persuasion. You are
persuaded by
the Word of God. Then, the Word of God must be taught, in order to be
obedient,
in order to be obey, in order to be persuaded. So, the elders are to be
apt to
teach, and to feed, and encourage the sheep. Because, the authority is
not the
elder, really, the authority is the Word of God. The church is not the
authority. You know that, because, the Word was there first. Doesn't
the Bible
say, at the beginning was the Word? The church came after. So, it is
not the
church that is the authority, it is the Word of God that is the
authority. So,
it's not to be enslaved by man, but it is, rather, walking in the
liberty of
God's Word. Okay? So, it's understandable, I mean, why our flesh would
not want
to hear that. Okay? But, even though we feel like that, even though
there are
cases, even though men will abuse the Word of God, if we have the
mindset that
we don't like it, we're not going to obey, we're not going to follow
the
instructions; this mindset can lead us to something that is counter to
the Gospel.
It can be counter to our spiritual good. So, our fearfulness about
abuse of
leadership must be tempered by two considerations, two things.
Regardless
what's going on, where have you been, what you were thinking right now,
there
are two things that you need to consider: the first one is: Being a
Christian
necessarily requires self-denial and cross bearing. Isn't that true? If
you
want to come after Me sure, deny yourself, take up your cross, and
follow Me.
Those two things must exist. To die to self and live to Christ.
Obviously, it's
not hard to obey elders when they tell you to do what you want, or what
you
want to hear. It's harder when they ask you to stop something we would
rather
do. That's just the way the flesh works. The second thing we need to
consider
is that Christian leadership is servant leadership. All the elders are,
sad to
say, they are your servants, servants to the congregation. That’s all
they are. And it says, obey them that have the rule over you. Oh,
that's even
harder. They have the rule over you. “Ruling over” is potentially
offensive to
most modern hearers. I mean, it is offensive. We are raised in an
egalitarian
culture, we have our rights, the autonomy, and personal liberty are
stressed.
After all, we are American. We are told millions of ways that no one
has any
right over us. What does it say, “Don't tread on me,” something like
that?
That's it. No one could rule over us, could correct us, admonish us,
and it's a
sad thing too, even parents don't have as much right as they used to.
Yeah. The
teachers, some of you may be as old as I am, or raised a culture where
I was
raised, if you do something, the whole village has power over you. Oh,
yeah.
You get caught doing something—first of all, everybody knew who you
were. You
may not even know them; they know your parents or whatever. They'll fix
you up,
and then you're praying that they won't go home and tell your parents.
Because,
you're going to get a second… Our teachers, even in our school in
Haiti—Now, I
am begging the school administration not to use the—yeah, I'm begging
them, the
last trip, the very last trip I made, I went to visit the class, the
fifth
grade class, and the teacher was not in class, because, I told them,
“No, no,
no, the way I grew up, they need to start changing, stop beating the
kids.” You
know? And, I went to a parents’ reunion, the parents are begging the
school to
beat their kids to help them out. And, I said, “No, no, no, we have to
change.
We cannot continue like that.” So I went to that fifth grade class, and
I saw
rods, you know, that long (gesturing about a three-foot distance with
his
hands). Big stuff. I thought they were rulers for—so, I said, “What are
these,
guys?” They were happy, they said, “Yeah, these are to correct us.” and
they
said, “Oh, we have more, look at this,” and they opened a little door,
and they
were full of them. I told the administration, “No, we don't want that,”
but
that's the way it still is. It still is. So, and, also, what makes it
even
sadder, we do have abuse going on. And, the reason why we get where we
are,
that's because the kids get abused, and women get abused, and so things
are
changing. And, also, don't men love ruling over other others? You know,
don't
you want to be the boss, and you want to, you know, “No, you listen to
me!”
right? And, it's not us here. It's not something new. Because, Peter,
if we go
to First Peter, five, one through four, we're going, you can take from
it, it
existed a long time ago. Verse one: 1 Peter 5:1
The elders
which are among you
I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of
Christ, and
also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: This is what he told them to do: 1 Peter 5:2
Feed the flock
of God which is
among you, taking the oversight thereof [be
a bishop], not by constraint, but willingly; not for
filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Verse
3: 1 Peter 5:3
Neither as
being lords over
God's heritage… That's the key, right there. Even the lord is not a capital
“L,” even
the little lords, you cannot be over. But, what you need to be is, be
an
example to the flock. That's what it is. Elders are just people who are
willing—really,
when you look at the qualifications of for an elder, that's a
qualification for
any Christian. Any Christian should be that. But, when you take
responsibility
to be recognized, and be ordained as an elder, you say, “You know what?
I'll
serve as an example.” So, now, all fingers will be on you, all eyes
will be on
you, you, give permission for people—I love it when people about, they
have the
private life, or I am… You know what? once
you say I do, it's over. Yeah. It's like being married. You say you do,
think
about it before you say you do, young kids. Because, once you say you
do, it's
done. It's done. Or, you can say, “Well, if it doesn't work, I'll just
get the
divorce.” You have pain for your whole life. You need to do it once,
and keep
in mind it's for life. 1 Peter 5:4
And when the
chief Shepherd
shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. There is a Chief Shepherd. We are under shepherds, that's
what we are.
We are under shepherds. Now, how many we said Jesus chose as special?
How many?
You think He would choose the twelve perfect ones, right? That wouldn't
have
this mentality. Well, according to your verse, I see here this morning,
in Mark,
chapter nine, you see, you know, they were asking, who should be the
greatest?
That's the mentality. I know we are twelve, but one of them wants to be
the
greatest. One of them would like to lord over them. And, in Mark,
chapter ten,
the conversation continues, verse thirty-five: Mark 10:35
And James and
John, the sons
of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest
do for
us whatsoever we shall desire. And Jesus said, “Go ahead, make your request.” Mark 10:37
They said unto
him, Grant unto
us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left
hand, in
thy glory. We want to be the top guys. Mark 10:38
But Jesus said
unto them, Ye
know not what ye ask:… Which they did not really know. They asked to be crucified
with Christ,
without knowing. Do you know, even—let me continue with marriage, do
you know
many people want to be married, but they have no clue what being
married is?
They don't know. How do I know? Because I was the same. five years into
marriage, I had no clue what it was. And, no joke, the day I got
married, I was
driving to go to honeymoon, and, then, my wife was on my right, and I
was
driving. All of the sudden, my heart kept on beating. And, I looked at
her, you
know, and I said, “My goodness, what have I done?” I said, “Man,
that's…” and
now I'm thinking, “Now, her hunger is for me, her sick is for me,
everything is
for me,” would I think about that before, I probably would at least
delay that
thing, you know? That's what happened. They asked but they don't really
know
what they asked for. So Jesus said, “Can you guys drink the cup that
I'm going
to drink, I have to drink from, and, be baptized with the baptism?”
Even though,
they did not fully understand, they said yes. And, in verse
thirty-nine, Jesus
said, “Yeah, actually you will, oh, you will, regardless. You will go
through
it.” (Mark 10:39) Because they had a ready mind, and Jesus knew they
were going
to last, you know? But, Jesus said, “as far as sitting on my right hand
and on
my left hand, that is not mine to give, it's not mine to give, but it
shall be
given to them for whom it is prepared. It's not mine.” (Mark 10:40) Mark 10:41 And when the ten
heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. Can you imagine, there are twelve of you, as a team, and two
of them
just would go by night, and just ask to be the top guys.? That by
itself is
bad. And, then for the other ten to find out. So, big issue. Nowadays,
it's ten
against two, now. But, even those ten, they probably, you know, they
get mad,
because, “Why you left us here, and then you want that position, well,
I want
it, too. We all want it, so why you?” We don't have this mentality
here, do we?
Well, unfortunately, we have it everywhere. You just have to watch
yourself,
that you don't go by night to Jesus, and just pray, “Lord, make me the
top.
Make me this.” No, it's bad. Jesus will rebuke you oh, and you're going
to be
in trouble with everyone else when they find out. Okay? Mark 10:42-43 But Jesus called them to him,
and saith unto them, [all twelve of them,] Ye know that they which are accounted to rule
over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones
exercise
authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you… No, not among us. Not among Us. Actually, in one other place
it says “I
am the only Master here; we are all brethren.” (Matthew 23:8) That's
what it
said. Mark 10:43-45 But so shall it not be among
you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And
whosoever
of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son
of man [even the Son of God] came
not to
be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for
many. And He said, obviously, the same way He gives His life, He
wants you to
lay down your life for your brethren. And, in command number two, it says to submit. It says
submit
yourselves for they watch for your souls. as they that must give
account, that
they may do it with joy, and not with grief, for that is unprofitable
for you.
To submit means to comply with, to trust in, to have confidence in, do
not
resist, but give way, to yield to authority. Because, they watch for
your
souls. Now, you know, some people take—and I hope Andy and Parrish
don’t understand
it this way, they take it as, “Okay, once they're an elder everybody
will be
watching over them, protect them, and take care of them, and whatever.
No, no,
no. The word watch means to stay awake, in order to stand watch. You
stay awake
in order to stand watch. You are a soldier. You are a shepherd. And,
you should
watch a lot of movies about shepherding to see how the shepherd—you
know, I
have my one thing, my brother, he has an animal. This guy will not come
to see
you, no vacation, because, he would put his animals to sleep, and then,
it's that
night, escape, do something, and then he has to come back by daylight.
And he just
cannot stay out for anything, because his mind is always thinking
about, “How,
how are they doing? Are they feeding?” And, to me, it's a pain, I say,
“Why would
anybody put themselves into this situation?” Because he would get up
early in
the morning, to take them out, so they can feed, and doing in the
middle of the
day, go ahead and put them in shade area, and get them something to
drink and
then in the afternoon, again, go back again to lock them up. I would
rather
have a car, or, I don't know. But, to me, it's just a pain. This is
what
watching for souls. And, you know what even is worse, being watching
for souls?
Let's say, do you know the difference between, you have somebody, your
friends,
your sister, your brother, or family drop their children in your house,
for you
to watch over them, comparing to your kids? Even though you think it's
hard
with your kids, have somebody else's kids, and see the difference.
You're so
careful, right? You don't want anything to happen. Even when you have
they
discipline, you're careful. Right? They're not your kids. And, their
parents
have a way to discipline their kids. You cannot discipline them the way
you
want. No, no, no, no. That's not the way. So, watching over them, you
need to
ask questions to the owners, to Jesus Christ, say, “Okay, how do you
want me
to?” One thing, I think pastors make great mistakes, really great
mistake, by
ruling, and then abusing the sheep, and making—if only they thought
about Jesus
died for the flock; Jesus gave his life. If He can die for the flock,
can you
imagine how much more patient He will be to save as many? it's like the
servant, when the master came, and said, “Okay, this fig tree, every
year I
come and nothing happens to it. Cut it off.” Don't be quick to cut it
off. And,
the real servant will say, “Well, sir, do you mind if we take one more
year?
This time I will do this and do that and if, after that, nothing
happens, we
will cut it off.” Even if the Lord tells you something like that,
“Well, sir,
you know, let's be more patient.” You cannot be faster than your
master, and
say, “No, this sheep, we need to eat it, no, we need to sell it, we
need to—”
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. They're not yours. They're not yours.
You're
watching them for Christ. And, Christ is the boss. He is the boss. And,
I have
a couple of Scriptures, or three, to show the example of watching for
the souls.
It's giving themselves to prayer. Because, when you see what the
Apostles did,
it gives me an idea, giving yourself to prayer, that might be a very,
very good
way. And, Acts chapter 6 verse 4, you know the story, but they say, “We
will
give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word.”
What was
happening, they were doing so many other things, people were calling
them back
and forth, dealing with this and that issues, and, and then said one of
them
said, “You know, this is not good. It’s is not good, because now we
feel like,
we're lacking in our prayer; we're lacking in the Word.” That's why
they came
up with the deacons. To help them out. So they can give themselves
continually
to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word. And, in Colossians, chapter
four, twelve: Colossians 4:12
Epaphras, who
is one of you, [Paul says] a
servant of Christ,
saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye
may stand
perfect and complete in all the will of God. Paul Vonn, in Norfolk, he did something for me in my office.
That's the
greatest thing I feel I have. I have a corner, we joke around with it,
that's
the corner confession booth. That's my confession booth. So, people
come to my
window, there, and I listen, stuff like that, and, well, anyway, we
have the
whole ministry, the whole ministry, he put it on a tree, a tree, right?
And,
then I put on top of it, feed my sheep. So, that's my job: feed God's
sheep.
You know, that visual helped me so much. I have the whole ministry in
front of
me, and I have the key leaders, for Norfolk, I have what we call the
community
groups, I have people there. It helped me so much. So, every day when I
come,
the first thing is, like looking there, and it helped me to pray for
everyone.
It helps me. It's easy to forget. It's easy to. But really, our job is
to
fervently pray that the people may stand perfect, and complete in all
the will
of God. I think that one of the greatest examples of watching for
souls, is the
example of Christ in Luke, chapter twenty-two. Jesus saw what will
happen to
Simon, and He said: Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as
wheat:
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren. Sometimes it's easy to just think you're just going to go
ahead. “I'm
going to go fix him, or either fix him, or kick him out, or whatever.”
But,
Jesus said, “I see what's going on. Peter, you are a great guy, but
Satan wants
to have you. Satan wants to have you. I'm going to pray; I have prayed
for you.
I have prayed for you.” Obviously, Jesus’ prayer, you know, was taken
greatly
before the Lord, but, did every prayer that Jesus prayed get answered
the way He
wanted it to? He didn't want to go to the cross. He said, “Lord, if
it's Your will,
then let Your will be done, but really, I don't want to go.” But, He
prayed that
Peter be restored. He was so confident, He said when you are converted.
And,
it’s interesting, as you know, Peter was with Him during all that, but,
yet,
Peter needed so much prayer. So, people, in your midst, you see they
are
active, and strong, or whatever, but there will be a little attitude,
there
will be something that will give you a hint: Satan is working something
out. And,
sometimes you can't even point it out. You can't even tell him what it
is. You
don't even know it, but you know Satan is doing something. You pray
that the
Lord restore them, Because, once they are restored they will help the
other
ones. They will help the other ones. And, then the third command he
says, “Pray
for us. Pray for us, for we trust that we have a good conscience in all
things,
willing to live honestly.” Having the will is not enough, you need the
power,
right? How many of you, who would love to be the best Christian ever?
Wouldn't
you want to be the best Christian ever? But, you know you are not, and
you may
never be. Because, it's a struggle. It's a day-to-day—it’s a lifetime
struggle.
Today you're up, tomorrow you're down, but, keep going on until this
trumpet
sounds. Your elders need prayers, the prayers of God's people. They
need it. And,
we’re talking about whoever would write Hebrews, some assume it's Paul.
We're
talking about some great men, some great men! And, asking, pray for us.
They
are on the front lines of spiritual warfare. You know, when you have
two armies
fighting, you know, they, really, they could care less about the
soldiers if
they can get the officers. If they can get the king, if they can get
the
president, that would demoralize the troops. So, it's no surprise Satan
would
want you guys. And, you, as a congregation, you need to pray for them.
So,
priority, primarily, the responsibilities of the elders, role number
one is to
teach the Word of God. We should be men who know the Word of God,
because, they
need to be able to persuade the congregation in order for the
congregation to
obey. They should be apt to teach, obviously, some people may think,
because they
are apt to teach, they are suitable. They can teach, that means they
have all
the knowledge in the world. Some people also think because you are an
elder you
should, automatically, have all the answers to everything. I tell you
what, to
feed the flock of God is a hard work. I said it in Norfolk many, many
times,
“Norfolk, our ministry is the hardest flock to feed, because, we have
knowledge.
We have knowledge in this ministry. We grew up in the Word.” So, you
know, it's
come to be like when somebody comes up to teach, preach, and you find
more
critics. You find more people saying, “Ah, this,” and “Ah, this,”
instead of
getting edification, or, we repeat the same things over and over. It's
just… But,
you know, the elders, what they're supposed to do, it's different.
They're going
to spend time in study; they're apt to teach, but they have to study to
get the
knowledge to teach. I remember, two years ago, yeah, two years ago, I
had a
series of families, and I had to teach on homosexual in the Bible. What
do I know
about homosexuality? I cannot come, just take the Scriptures talking
for or
against something I don't know. So, I have to buy books; I have to read
about
what they believe, where do they come from, why, what do they use to
prove
their points, they should be accepted, they are accepted, or God is
happy, or
whatever? You know what? After I bought that book, okay, I understand.
I still
don't agree, but I understand. And, that’s the way you approach. It
took a few
weeks to study. But, you cannot come and just say whatever, okay? You
have to
speak with knowledge, with knowledge. And, knowledge, you don't just,
“I'm going
to pray, and the Holy ghost will tell me what to say.” No, that doesn't
work.
You study, and as you study, and then the Holy Ghost will tell you all
the
points you need to bring. That's the way. If you don't study, you stay
on your
knees, you come in here, everybody will see you are not prepared.
Everybody
will see it. I remember, in the Navy, brother Malcolm was on my ship,
and,
somehow from day one, I was studying, and Brother Malcolm left, and I
was continuing
studying. Every time I don't take time to prepare, to study, when I
come I
don't have much to say. I really don't. And, every time I take time to
study, I
have lots of stuff to say. And, people will see it. The people of God
is not
dumb. They know if you spent time or not. Okay? Nowadays, there is no
excuse
for being ignorant. No excuse. No excuse. The internet, whatever
subject you
want to search, even if you've never heard anything about it, all it
takes is
time. It does take time. Because, not only do you find—you get
everything you
find, but you have to make sure it's the right thing, you have to–-you
know,
it's a lot of work. A lot of work. When the Bible says my people perish
for
lack of knowledge, and they reject knowledge; it's even worse now,
because, I
don't think they have the internet back then. If you don't have
knowledge right
now, you'll perish. Right Parrish Lee? Oh, yeah, different perish? All
right.
For lack of knowledge, because they reject knowledge. So, they have to
put time
and effort; they have to know about the original languages. They need
to study
context, theology, doctrines, always learning, always. It's so
interesting; the
context will change everything. Things you've been saying for years,
you've
been fighting for, when you humble yourself and sit down, you
understand the
context, if you're truly humble, “Man, I had that wrong all those
years.”
Sunday, I preached about, we had a family series going on, and, somehow
I
taught about how the ladies, we had a Bible study, about the old elder,
about
the women who teach the younger women to love their husbands, to love
their
children, but, Paul, in Ephesians, said, “Husbands love your wives.”
Okay, but,
in English, Love is Love. When you read the Bible, it says, “Husbands
love your
wives” you read it in Titus, it says, “Wife love your husband.” To you,
it's
the same thing. But, the Bible wasn't written in English. As elders,
you have
to go to the word search and find the context it was used, and which
one is it.
Okay, then, when you go to Titus, Paul asked the wives to phileo their husband, but
He asked, in Ephesians, for the husbands to agape
their wives. It's
not love like we know it. It's different. It's different, so, what do
you ask
your wives are not to die for their husbands, the wives are not to
provide for
their husbands, they are not to be the caretaker, that's not their
responsibility.
Their responsibility is to be the friend of the house, the friend of
their
husband’s, and create the environment. But the husband, no condition.
It's the agape
love. You're ready to die, you're ready to provide with no conditions.
The fact
that saying, “Well, well, she did this, she did that, oh, God is not
going to
get that.” That love—no excuse, you just have to love, to love, like
Christ
loves us. And, he says to love your wife as Christ loved the church and
gave His
life for it, for the church. And, not only does he say that, not only
did
Christ died for the church, He's working to present the church before
the Lord.
So, just, I say that to let you know that context is important. The
words have
meanings. And, their true meanings is not in English; it's in the
original. You
need to always ask the question, what did they understand when this was
read to
them. We have our constitution, for example. You know there are a group
of
people who are there to interpret it, to make sure they have it right,
because
it was written long ago, contexts change. Like, if we're talking about
weapons,
now, they didn't have what we have now, they didn't have internet for
example.
So, you have to put everything into context. And, if we have to amend,
make
change, you have to make change according to time, but, you have to go
by what
they meant, the Spirit of the Lord. The spirit that was behind it. If
we don't
do that for the Bible, we will lead the people astray. The days of what
we call
concordance Bible studies are over. Tomorrow we're going to study on
baptism,
on faith, and whatever, and then just take the concordance and boom,
boom,
boom. That's not for you elders, anymore. Research, study, and then
present.
Going back twenty years ago when I listen to what I used to teach, I
say, “Oh, my
goodness, I cannot listen to myself.” and people were so happy, “Pastor
has
knowledge.” It's like a—I don't have too many more. I have—there is a
true
story, in Haiti, where some pastors were ignorant. They really don't
understand
the context, they read it and they take it. So, this pastor was
preaching about
Abraham who had 100 teeth. Because, the word in French, “deux cent
dents” it
pretty much means 200 teeth. So the guy was preaching about Abraham who
had 200
teeth, descendants, 200 teeth, descendants. “Oh, Abraham had 200 teeth.
In his days,
life was so great, and people lived a righteous life, and they used to
have 100
teeth, and now, because of sin, we sinned so much we end up with
thirty-two, now!
And, you only have thirty-two for so long, because you continue to sin,
maybe
before you die you have none!” And, the whole congregation, “Amen!
Hallelujah! Praise
the Lord.” This is what happened. This happens to us. We're saying
things, and
people who research are saying “Oh, my goodness, what is he saying?”
and it
doesn't look good. That’s why, before you say something, make sure you
listen
to enough people to make sure what you're saying is right. You have to
do that,
and, congregation, your pastors are not the only voice. What I say? I
am not
the only voice. Parrish and Andy are not the only voice. Don't be
afraid to do
your research, to study, don't be afraid to listen. They are fallible
men,
attempting the impossible job of bringing the infallible Word. That's
all it
is, and I hope they know that. If you heard something different, then
come and
sit down, and see where and why it's different. That's all it is. It
doesn't
have to be with an attitude. It doesn't have to be like, “No, no, no,
let's,
okay, lets…” Doesn't the Bible say that if in anything we be otherwise
minded,
God shall reveal even this unto you? But, where we're at, let's
continue. We
can still continue in walking, and we have things we don't see
together, but as
we know, we'll see; the Lord will reveal it. When there is humility
within the
leadership, and obedient, submissive congregation, amazing things
happen.
Amazing things happen. You, the congregation, God's people, you have
the
responsibility in your hearing. You are not robots. Are there any
robots here? You
are not robots who respond to whatever comes from the pulpit. You're
not. You
should not take yourself for that. Prove all things, and hold fast that
which
is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Prove all things. God's people are the
people
who listen, think, and examine the Scriptures. They listen, they think,
and
they examine the Scriptures. Obviously, by nature, the elders should
have more
time to study. This is why it's important that your elders, like the
Bible
says, to honor those who work—to give double honor to those who labor
in the
ministering of the Word (1 Thessalonians 5:17). So, now, if we have
five elders
in Norfolk, for example, not all of them are into the ministry of
preaching.
So, however many you have here, it doesn't mean that all of them will
have the
same capacity to teach. So, I think Scott is the primary person in our
congregation, so, it is expected more out of him. And, obviously,
Jonathan went
to seminary or whatever. They are really into it, so those two are the
main key
persons. We expect that they would be deeper, because they put more
time into
it, they searched, whatever, so it's important. And, by nature, they
will have
deeper understanding of some passages, of some whatever than the
congregation.
It's just natural. Because everybody else is doing their stuff,
day-to-day,
taking care of stuff, but the elders, whoever is responsible, the main
feeder
of the congregation, should know more about the subject because they
take more
time to dig. Okay? It's not because that person is smarter; it's not
because
that person is whatever. It's just because that person give himself
into it.
That's what it is. Okay? We do not have to obey them, if they ask you
to do
something unlawful. And, yesterday, I shared with Andy and Parrish
about
submission. When the Bible says wives submit to your husbands in what
things?
In what many things? In what many things? In all things (Colossians
3:18). So,
it's the same way, it says obey them; I don't want to give you the
impression
in all things. And, even in all things, the Bible says you need to use
wisdom.
If your husband is going to work, he is late, for whatever reason, he's
on the
highway--I'm not going to use 65 on 55--but she is doing 55 on 55,
speed limit,
and the husband says, “Whoa, whoa, I'm late, make it 75.” Should she
obey? But
the Bible says submit in all things. Something will tell you, “Well, I
know
you're my husband, and the Bible says to submit to you, but you are not
the
authority right here; the police is.” You see what I'm saying? The
police is
the authority. And, even when we are in church, if it's something to
have to do
with the church, guess who is in authority? No, the elders, the
leadership of
the church is in the authority. The church has its own ways of
functioning. The
church is an authority. Okay? Not over the Word of God, but it's an
authority.
Okay? What if she's at work? You think the husband is in authority? If
she's
supposed to be off, or whatever, can the husband say, “No, you're not
doing
this and this.” Who is the boss, when it comes to work? If you don't
want your
wife to get ordered from boss, just let her be a housewife. The minute
she
applies, and she has somebody to work for, you lose that authority. You
don't
have it. You cannot say, “You cannot work late today.” No, no, “That's
my boss
who tells me if I cannot work late or not, because she is my boss. If
you don't
like it, then, I guess I either don't have a job, or call my boss. But,
you're
not my boss.” We do not have to obey, if we are asked to do something
unlawful
or unbiblical, no. We should obey, if we are asked to do something
right. What
if we are asked to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength?
What if we
are asked to love our neighbor as ourselves? What if we are asked to
walk
humbly with our God? What if we are asked to confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord,
to deny ourself, and pick up our cross daily and follow Him? Not
forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together? What if the wives are asked to submit
to
their own husbands as unto the Lord? What if the husbands are asked to
love
their wives like Christ loved the church? Should we obey? What if the
children
are asked to obey their parents? Fathers, not to provoke their children
to
wrath? Should they obey? To live a life that is pleasing to God, to
bear one
another's burdens, to do good to all men as you have opportunity,
especially to
those of the household of God? What if you are asked to pray without
ceasing?
Not to be easily offended? What if you are asked to work out your own
salvation
with trembling and fear? Those are the things, in church, you should
obey, and,
I am confident, these are the kind of things your elders will ask you
to do.
That's all that is. That's all that is. But, it says knowing that, if
you don't
obey, they will do it, because they have no choice, but they will not
do it
with joy, right? Because, hey, what did they say? Again, if you have
somebody's
children in your house, and they're not behaving, don't you have to
endure? Can
you just kick them out, and say, “I'm sorry, when your parents come,
they can
find you wherever you go?” You have to endure. But, it's not with joy,
right? And,
the next time, you may even say, “Well, if you find somewhere else, I
would
rather not keep your children.” But, you know what the Bible says? It
will be
unprofitable for who? For the elders? (Hebrews 13:17) So, with this, I am bringing Pastor Taylor to continue for
us. May God
bless you and may you not be hearers, but doers of the Word.
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