A Word in Season: The Joy of the Overseers (Hebrews 13:17)

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It is my sincere hope that if you are a child of God listening to these words, that you either now or soon will belong to a true

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Church of Jesus Christ, a happy, a healthy, a holy place where God in his mercy has appointed those who will care for your soul as the under -shepherds of the sheep.

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That is God's design for his saints upon earth. And though there is now no perfect Church, nevertheless it is the environment that God himself has established and ordered for the well -being of his people, for the gathering in of the flock and their guiding and guarding so that they come to the fullness of the knowledge of Jesus Christ and that they grow in the grace and the knowledge of our

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Saviour. And what can you do with regard to those men whom the

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Lord has appointed for your care, the overseers, the pastors, the elders of the congregation, those who, though they have these various titles and labels, yet nevertheless have this one distinct function of caring as under -shepherds for the flock of Jesus Christ?

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While the writer to the Hebrews tells us in chapter 13 and verse 17 that God's people should obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account.

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Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

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The exhortation is clear, obey those who rule over you and be submissive.

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Embrace their authority readily. They are not perfect men, they are far from faultless.

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We do not have a monopoly on wisdom and understanding. Nevertheless, if we are

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Christ's true gifts to the church, then we have been equipped and enabled by his spirit and those gifts and graces have been recognised by the church for the work that we're given to do.

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If a faithful church is identifying men according to the biblical pattern, then they will by definition not be those who lord it over others.

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The tenderness and the kindness and the firmness that the apostles require of those who are going to do this work will already have been assessed and established.

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And so there ought to be a safety in submitting to those who bring the word of God to bear upon us, not overstepping those boundaries, but rather with the scriptures as their substance and with the spirit as their help, who bring both direct instruction from the scriptures and the wisdom that God has given to bear upon the lives of his people.

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And you're to do that understanding their work, that they watch out for your souls as those who must give account.

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These faithful men are conscious that they will answer to God for the way that they've taken care of his people.

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And so they are watching out for your souls. They're conscious of the typical diseases of God's flock and of the right remedies and cures.

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They understand the kind of enemies that the people of God will face, and they're ready to lay down their lives for the well -being of the saints.

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They are studying constantly what is best for your soul that you may be kept and brought safely to the presence of Jesus Christ.

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They are his appointed servants and instruments for that work, and they are profoundly aware of that weighty responsibility and that heavy privilege.

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And you should so respond to them. Your spirit should be such that they can do that work with joy and not with grief.

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Yes, for every faithful shepherd, there will be long days and perhaps longer nights. There will be blood and sweat and tears.

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But when the word of God is readily received and embraced and engaged with where you support and encourage and believe the best about your your ministers, then they will do so with joy.

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If they do it with grief, it will not be profitable for you. It will not prosper you.

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If they must go always striving uphill, if they must always contend with disdain or pressure or suspicion or a dismissive spirit.

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So receive these men as Christ's gifts. Esteem them for their work's sake.

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Understand that they're watching out for your souls and have toward them an attitude that enables them to serve with joy to your present and eternal gain.