Image: Scene from Lynchburg RB fellowship (8.28.16)
Note:
Devotion taken from last Sunday morning’s sermon from Hebrews 13:7-9.
Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken
the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct (Hebrews 13:7).
We begin with a command: “Remember (the verb mnemoneuo: to remember, to
be mindful of, to call to mind, to think of, to hold in memory, to keep in
mind) them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of
God” (v. 7a). Some interpreters have
suggested that this refers to remembering leaders who had died, perhaps as
martyrs. But it might also refer simply to
keeping in mind leaders of both past and present. One interpreter adds: “It apparently required some effort for the
Hebrews to respect their former leaders [he assumes they are dead], for
otherwise the exhortation would not have been necessary” (Guthrie, p. 270).
There is something that might be jarring about this command
for those of us living in our modern egalitarian, personal freedom culture. This is hierarchical language. The phrase “them which are over you” is from
the Greek verb hegeomai. It refers to those in leadership, those with
authority to command and rule. This verb is the root for the English word
“hegemony”: rule or dominance of one
over another. This English term has a
negative connotation that the Greek word does not.
Is it talking about civil rulers? No.
Clearly the reference here is to spiritual leaders, to church officers,
and especially to the elders. Why? Because they are the teachers, those “who
have spoken unto you the word of God.”
The elders must be “apt to teach (cf. 1 Tim 3:2). They are those who are
able “by sound doctrine” to exhort and convince (Titus 1:9). The elders do not bear the sword, like the
civil magistrate (cf. Romans 13:4).
Their only “weapon” is the word of God and their own words as they
exposit the Scriptures.
Hebrews
and the rest of the NT assume that Christians will be in churches where there
will be officers whose duty and responsibility it is to teach the word of God
and to exercise spiritual rule (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:15-16; 1 Thessalonians
5:12-13; Hebrews 13:17, 24).
Now,
this rule is not like secular rule. It
is not tyrannical rule. It is not authoritarian but authoritative. Consider Peter’s exhortation that the elders
not be “lords over God’s heritage” but “ensamples to the flock” (1 Peter
5:1-3).
That
same theme is struck in Hebrews 13:7b:
“whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.” The
verb rendered as “follow” is mimeo
from which we get “mimic” and “mimeograph.” The phrase could literally be rendered as
“imitate their faith.”
This
is another very Pauline sounding exhortation.
In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul exhorts, “Be ye followers [noun: mimetes]
of me, even as I also am of Christ” (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:6; 2
Thessalonians 3:7-9).
The
Christian faith is taught but it is
also caught. It is taken in through the mind and heart by
teaching. And it is taken in through the
ear and the eyes through watching and listening to examples.
So,
the inspired author adds, “considering the end [ekbasis: the outcome, the
result] of their conversation [anastrophe: manner of life, conduct, deportment]” (v. 7).
This
is why when Paul lists the qualifications for an overseer (elder or pastor) in 1
Timothy 3 there is so much stress on his life and the life of his family (1
Timothy 3:1-7). Does he manage his own
life and his own household well? Does he
have a good relationship with his wife and children? Are his children obedient? In this way being an elder is like being a politician. Not only does he have this calling but so
does his family.
The
key thing is that he be a model in his faith, in his fundamental trust and
confidence in the Lord.
Here
is the application: To be faithful to
the word of God means, in part, submitting yourself to the oversight and
shepherding of a local, visible church wherein there are elders who labor in
teaching and exhortation and who provide living examples of men who are
attempting, albeit always imperfectly but not with egregious failings, to live
out the Christian life before the body.
Every
Christian should be part of such a church and every church should have such elders
who teach the word and offer Christ-like rule within the body.
Consider
Spurgeon’s Baptist catechism:
Q.
79: What is the duty of such as are
rightly baptized?
A: It is the duty of such as are
righty baptized, to give up themselves to some particular and orderly Church of
Jesus Christ, that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the
Lord blameless.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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