Well, they're in first Peter chapter five, and I've been doing a series on submission.
Okay.
We went to, we were looking at, uh, you know, obviously submitting to God and then, uh,
submitting one to another in context of church and then wives submitting to their
own husbands, and now we're up to the fourth part in this mini-series and we look at
first Peter chapter five and verse number five, it says, likewise, the younger submit
yourselves unto the elder and the elder there is a reference to the pastor.
So the title for the sermon this morning is submit to the pastor, submit to the
pastor.
It's not really the one that I want to preach the most, to be honest with you.
And it's not like, do we have any major issues?
Not that we have any issues, to be honest with you.
I can't really sit here at New Life Baptist Church and say, man, there is
brother so-and-so or sister or family so-and-so that is not submissive to their
pastor.
And for that Brevin, I really appreciate making this church easy.
Okay.
Obviously when wives are submitted to their husbands, it makes the family life
easier.
Obviously when employees are submitted to their employers, it makes the work life
easier.
You know, when we're submitting ourselves to God, it just makes our general life
easier.
You know, when we submit one to another in this church and we're not filled with
pride and, and we're, we're willing to serve and to love another makes church
easier.
And, you know, it makes my life easier as a pastor when my church is willing to
submit under the pastor.
And so this is obviously an important part of submission.
And again, we, I want to remind you that the challenges exist is because no pastor
is perfect.
Every, every pastor has weaknesses and, uh, no pastor a hundred percent reflects
Jesus Christ.
Uh, you know, pastors have weaknesses and, uh, and, uh, you know, sin, you know,
we're all sinful creatures and, uh, you know, pastors don't have all knowledge.
They're not infallible.
Uh, sometimes they're going to make decisions and I'm sure I've made decisions
or said things that were not the best or whatever it is.
Right.
Uh, but it's important that even though we understand and reflect that the
commandment that God gives us to be submitted to the past is that God's put
over churches.
So I'm going to start there in verse number one, first Peter chapter five verse
number one, it says the elders, which are among you, I exhort also who also am an
elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed.
And so we start with Peter.
He himself addresses himself as an elder.
And you know, in the Bible, you're going to notice that the term part, in fact,
the term pastor, you need to remember is the Latin term for the word shepherd.
Okay.
So when it comes to shepherd or pastor, elder and Bishop, these are all roles of
the same office, the office, and you know, in our modern day, we just, we're used to
calling the man of the church, the pastor.
I'm fine with it.
I don't care.
Okay.
It's fine.
Cause we do have that reflected in the term shepherd.
And so it's the same office, but different roles that the office holds.
And so Peter is here, exhorting other elders.
He says, I'm also an elder.
Why?
Because look, pastors sometimes need to be exhorted.
Pastors sometimes need to be encouraged.
And so Peter comes along and wants to encourage other pastors.
You know, I have no problem meeting with other pastors, even though they may not
see eye to eye with me on every issue and every doctrine, as long as I know they're
saved and they, they're seeking to serve the Lord and they're, you know, King James
only, and they got the right, you know, fundamental doctrines in place.
I love to come alongside other pastors and exhort them, you know, to, to encourage
them, to motivate them if I can.
And if other pastors can do the same for me, I'd love to receive that.
Uh, because that's, it's just something that is nice to be shared
amongst other, uh, other elders.
And then it says in verse number two, and I've said this, I've said this
many times, I believe what we're about to read here is the primary role
of the elder or the pastor.
It says, feed the flock of God, which is among you.
Okay.
So again, there's a reference.
If we're feeding the flock of God, which is among you, what does that make you?
The shepherd, right?
If you're feeding the flock in that term, in that, you know, metaphor of
sheep and, and the one that leaves a sheep to green pastures, it's the,
it's the shepherd.
So I want to show you how elder and the shepherd, uh, are the same person.
That's the role of the elder to feed the flock of God, which is among you.
Then it says this, take in the oversight thereof.
Now the word Bishop means what?
Overseer.
That's what it means.
Bishop means overseer.
The one that is like, like today we use the term supervisor.
You got to work.
You might have a supervisor.
His vision is higher.
Uh, overseer, the vision is higher.
And so the idea there is that, you know, we're looking out for the best of the
church, we're looking at the best for the best, we don't want to just feed the flock.
Here's some doctrine, but we want to have the best and, and, uh, be sober and
vigilant and, and understand there are adversaries as a devil, and we're trying
to keep this church clean and holy and pure before the Lord God.
So it's not just a one-on-one individual basis, but the, the big picture is what
the pastors or the overseas responsibility is.
Then it says not by constraints or willingly, not for filthy
Luca, but of a ready mind.
So like if you look at that, of course is monetary gain.
You know, if you have a heart to be a pastor, don't do it for monetary gain.
You know, you know, this is why I wouldn't have a church of, uh, I wouldn't
have mega church of 3000, 5,000 mega church where I'm flying in, in private
jets, so that'd be nice sometimes.
Cause I do get around.
I did travel a lot, so it wouldn't be bad to have a private chair, but that's not
why, why I got into this position and they're looking for those luxuries.
Uh, that's not obviously the, the, the heart that a shepherd or
an overseer or an elder should have.
And it's so important that we read verse number three very quickly.
And because, like I said, you know, we are instructed to
submit ourselves to the older.
We are instructed to submit and you are instructed to
submit yourselves to me, brethren.
But before we read verse number four, the submission, we have verse number three,
the instruction to the elders, neither as being Lords over God's heritage, but
being ensembles to the flock.
Okay.
So I'm not a Lord.
I'm a pastor.
I'm an elder.
I'm a Bishop.
Right.
But I'm not your Lord.
Okay.
I'm not your, your master.
Like, you know, when it comes to obviously church service is when the
pastor obviously has a rule in that regard when the congregation comes together.
But it's not my job to tell you how to run your life, you
know, after service is done.
Even during service, I'm not here to tell you how to run your life.
My goal is just to feed you.
And what am I trying to feed you?
I'm feeding you God's word.
And then as the flock, as a sheep consume God's word, then there's
time for you to digest God's word.
Right.
And as you digest God's word, you start to, as you consume God's word, you
start to understand what is it that I need to do in my life aligned with God's
word and how do I be a doer and not a hero only, but it's not for you to come
up to me and say, pastor, I've got to, you know, God's, you know, open the door
for me to, to either choose a profession.
Pastor, do you want, should I be working at Hungry Jack's or do I
need to be working at Red Rooster?
What does God want in my life?
I'm like, man, just get to work.
Six days, shut up that labour says God, I'll feed you God's word, but then you
digest and you make those decisions based on what you've consumed.
I'm not here to tell you every little thing in life and how to run.
I don't want to, I don't want to.
I don't even know how to make decisions for my own life.
Many times I've got to run to the Lord and say, Lord, what do I do in this
scenario, let alone trying to, uh, uh, um, you know, give you directions
for your own life and family.
This is why God's given us husbands as the head of the wife, you know, mother
and father as, uh, over the children, because God, every family has authority.
And obviously we need to obviously reflect and, um, uh, respect that we're
going to create clear boundaries.
Brethren, if I ever come into your life and I try to tell your family how it
should be committed, you'd say pastor shut up, it's none of your business.
Okay.
Cause God's made me the husband, the head, right?
I'm the head of my family.
I'm the head of my wife and yeah, you're right.
A hundred percent.
You are correct.
It's none of my business to get involved in your family life, but it is my
business to feed you God's word when you come to church.
So I don't want to be your Lord.
And some pastors make this mistake, you know, and I've seen it sometimes in,
in, uh, countries like the Philippines or even in South America, the pastor
is held way too high, too high.
And it's like, pastor, can I go on holidays?
You know, of course you can.
Like, don't ask me, just go on a holiday.
Like if there's a ministry in the church, if you're part of a ministry in the
church and you're going to, you're going to be away and you realize the
ministries aren't going to get done.
Yeah.
Then tell me so we can figure out a plan or whatever it is.
Right.
But you don't have to ask my permission to do anything in life.
Okay.
Uh, you know, it's, it's, it's not my responsibility.
And I don't want to be your Lord.
It's, that's destructive.
And some pastors, yeah.
You know what being in a position of authority and preaching God's word, you
know, we all have pride and pride can creep in and, and, uh, you know, some
pastors do overstep, you know, the boundary, overstep the mark there, but
then the congregation should not allow that either.
You know, I remember there was a, you know, I just think of a different
stories, different things that I've seen in my life where I, where a wife would
run to the pastor about everything.
It's like, go to your husband.
I, I, if I was the pastor, say, look, go to your husband, sort it out together.
That's the man that God's put over you.
So to run into the pastor and, uh, you know, destroying your, your, your
husband's authority in the home, it's, it's not good, but then it continues.
So we want that example.
Like we understand, look, pastors are not, that's not my Lord.
All right.
Uh, you know, a pastor is not going to control my life, but the pastor's
responsibility is to be, and samples to the flock.
Now, again, there's a difference between being an sample or an
example versus the standard.
All right.
I'm, I'm trying my best to be a good model Christian.
I'm trying my best to be a good Christian father and a good Christian
husband and, and someone that loves the Lord and is, you know, being led by
the Holy spirit, I want to set that example, but my life is not your standard.
Okay.
The standard is Christ.
You know, an example is just a small portion of a standard that that's kind
of, it's, it's just for testing purposes.
You take a sample of something, you're not taking the whole, you're just
taking a sample for testing purposes.
Okay.
But the standard is always Christ.
And again, it's something that I've observed over the years, uh, when a pastor
has been held too high in regard, then sometimes church members will look at
the pastor's family and say, I need to run my family like the pastor's family.
Wrong.
I'm just an example.
Other pastors are just an example, but your standard is always Christ.
You need to remember this.
You don't want to get to a point where you start worshiping a man, you know,
and not my wife has to be like the pastor's wife and my children have
to be like the pastor's children.
And I need to be, you know, like the pastor, God's given us a liberty.
You guys know, I teach that a lot.
The priesthood of the believer, you know, uh, you know, God's going to
hold you accountable for your life.
You know, um, so don't set the pastor like this.
Pastors, you know what?
Pastors have sin weaknesses, you know, aren't always right.
But yeah, I accept that.
I know that.
I know, I knew that very beginning from the time I started the church, that I am
not the most perfect man and where I'm imperfect, God, you got to help me to be
the leader you want me to be at New Life Baptist Church.
But it's important that you understand that, that you don't, you know, elevate
a man too highly and once you've understood that, then it says, uh, verse
number four, when the chief shepherd, so is the pastor a shepherd?
Yeah, but there's a chief shepherd.
Okay.
And sometimes people say, well, the pastor's got no one that holds him
accountable, the chief shepherd holds the pastor accountable.
Okay.
It's the chief shepherd.
And so if I am operating, you know, if I'm corrupt as a pastor, if I'm leading
this church to the destruction, guess who's going to correct me, the chief
shepherd, my boss, right, that is the one that we're seeking to follow the chief
shepherd, shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
And I'm not ashamed to tell you this.
I would love to earn that crown of glory.
This is something that the chief shepherd will give other shepherds,
other pastors, a crown of glory, you know, that fadeth not away, you know,
as long as I do things in the right manner, if I, if I conduct myself
correctly as a pastor, I'm not ashamed to say that I want that crown of glory.
Okay.
Not for my own glory, but it would give me confirmation that I did everything
I possibly could to serve the chief shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.
So help me, if you can help me get that crown of glory, you know, in
eternity, I'll give you a piece of a brick of gold.
For being submissive church members that love the pastor and are on board with the
direction of our church and all these things.
And that's why it says in verse number five, likewise ye younger, submit
yourselves unto the elder, but not just the elder.
It says, yay, all of you be subjects one to another.
And I've covered that earlier, that we all meant to be subject to one other
anyway, you know, that's why we serve one another, you know, that's why it doesn't
matter if it's a child, if we give a cup of cold water, you know,
to a child, we would not lose our rewards as the Lord God.
You know, just the servitude that we can have one for another is just amazing.
But of course, we don't want to lose sight of the fact that we ought to be submissive
unto the elder or the pastor.
It continues, yay, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with
humility, for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble.
So what is the key element to be submissive to one another or even to your
pastor?
Humility.
Now, over the years, you're going to start noticing the difference between
humility and feigned humility.
Right, if you've been in church long enough, you start to notice people,
there is humility, and there are people that would speak with humble words,
but you can actually tell with time, actually, they're not humble at all.
Okay, there's a lot of pride deep down and, you know, it sounds like humility,
but they're seeking to destroy the past or, you know, not be submissive to that
person in authority.
And that takes time, that takes a bit of experience.
But this is a very common thing within churches.
Some people truly have humility, and others just put the show of humility on,
but really full of pride and trying to, whatever goal they may have,
I'm not sure what always what someone's goal is,
but many times, it's obviously not to be submissive to the elder that God has
put over them.
That's why it continues there, verse number six, like if you have a trouble
with humility, and we all do, because we all have pride,
we all have ego, we all have times where we know we should be more humble,
and we're not able to do it.
And the instruction therefore is, verse number six, humble yourselves,
therefore, under the mighty hand of God.
You know, if you're having a hard time submitting yourself or being humble to this
pastor, humble yourself before the mighty hand of God,
that he makes of you in due time, cast in all your care upon him,
for he careth for you.
But the main thing that I wanted to take away from this brethren is that,
obviously, we are called, this is an order, this is a command by God,
to be submissive to the pastor.
And I hope for those of you that have been long enough under my leadership,
you realize, I don't want to be your Lord.
I don't want to make every decision of your life.
You know, in fact, many times I push back when I get those kinds of questions.
I'm like, look here, you're coming to the wrong person, you know.
And if you need help most, you know, of course, go to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the chief shepherd.
And let me encourage you, if you feel that I'm failing in my role as a pastor,
maybe I do, maybe I have, I don't care.
You know, I'm doing the best I can.
Maybe there are times that I failed in my role as a pastor.
You know who you need to go to?
The chief shepherd.
You know, you don't go amongst yourselves and go,
man, that pastor is failing here and there and let's, you know.
Go to the chief shepherd.
He's the boss.
And say, chief shepherd, can you help the under shepherd?
Can you help our pastor to be a better leader, to be a better teacher?
So whatever it is, whatever, you know, your heart desire is,
man, I need, I'm continually learning.
I'm still learning as a pastor.
You know, I'm still trying to be more holy.
I'm still trying to increase in my wisdom and the direction that I lead this church.
And also blessing of Baptist Church.
So we go to the chief shepherd all the time
when we need help with the authority that God has put over us.
Can you come with me to Hebrews 13?
Come with me to Hebrews 13 and verse number seven.
Hebrews 13 and verse number seven.
Hebrews 13, verse number seven.
There's a reason why God has put pastors in positions of authority in a church.
You know, before a man becomes a pastor, he's supposed to be proven.
There should be a track record of that person's performance.
You know, in the church that sent him out.
You know, in the churches that he's been part of in the past.
You know, in his workplace, in his conduct within society, within his own family.
The fact that that man is a good leader and a good father and a good husband.
Those things should be tested and proven before someone takes on the office.
And it's so important.
Like, it's not, you know, what you say, pastor, why did you come to the sunny coast?
Because honestly, there were sheep here kneading a shepherd.
That's it.
Really, there was a need, you know, and I had a heart and I had a desire one day for God to make me a pastor.
But I wasn't in some rush, you know, I was willing to be humble and submit myself to the pastors that God put over me.
I was willing to serve in the house of God however I need to serve, you know.
And I always say like, you know, I was willing to even just clean the toilets if I have to clean the toilets in the church.
I would do the lowest position because I know the Bible tells me if I humble myself, the Lord will exalt me in due time.
It's his business.
It's his timing.
It's not something we ought to force.
If it's the Lord's will, it's your desire, it's going to work out.
And God will show you the need of a church in a certain location.
But Hebrews 13 verse number seven, this is why it's so important that we have pastors.
It says, remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God,
whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
Remember them that have the rule over you.
I need you guys to remember me throughout the week.
I need you guys to sometimes remember, oh I better pray for my pastor.
He's going to get up this Sunday to preach for us and he's going to get up on a Wednesday to preach for us.
And he's going down to bless up Baptist search and minister to the saints.
Can you please remember me at least in prayer?
Lift me up please in prayer before God.
And those that have the rule over you, we know who they are.
It's who have spoken unto you the word of God.
Okay, remember the elder, the overseer, the shepherd's job is to feed the word of God
to the people of God.
The person that's doing that has the Bible says the rule over you.
Look, churches according to the Bible must be pastor led.
Churches, not congregational led churches.
You know, the one that has the rule in the house of God is the pastor.
Oh, but pastor Kevin, you don't understand.
Pastors get corrupt and they're wicked.
Yeah, they can be, but so can the congregation.
It doesn't matter who you're going to put as the rule, the congregation or the pastor.
If there's corruption, it's just going to go a bad way.
But why don't we just do it God's way?
He says it's the one that preaches and teaches and spoken unto you.
The word of God is the one who has the rule over you.
And this is why it's important because verse number eight continues.
Jesus Christ was saved yesterday, today and forever.
That is obviously about who our Lord God is.
That he never changes.
He's consistent.
Our Lord God is consistent.
And it's so important because if we understand that Jesus Christ never changes and is consistent
and God asks us to remember the one that has a rule that speaks the word to you.
This is why it's important because verse number nine says,
be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines.
For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats,
which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
You see, the reason we need someone that has the rule in the house of God
is because our Christ is consistent.
You're going to find when you remove yourself from the house of God, you're going to find,
you say, I don't like pastor Kevin anymore.
Okay, so and you just decide not to be under another pastor.
You decide not to be in a church setting.
You're going to start noticing diverse and strange doctrine starts creeping.
Strange ideas, strange issues.
And you start believing all kinds of weird things amongst weird people.
You know, church is a place that normalizes and stabilizes you in your faith and in your doctrine.
It's so important.
The house of God is so important, not just the house of God, but there is one that has the rule.
And of course, we're following the consistency of Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.
You know, I hope that if you go back and listen to my preaching seven years ago,
you'll say it's pretty much the same.
If anything, hopefully a pastor has improved in his ability to preach.
And I hope I've gotten better, not worse.
I hope there's that.
And maybe I've had to fix a few little things here and there.
Nothing major, but I hope that if you went back and listen to my preaching,
you'd say it's pretty consistent.
It's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
You know, that's the whole point of having some of that rules over you.
Otherwise, if it's the rule of the congregation, before you know it,
there's going to be all kinds of weird doctrines that creep in.
And just strange, strange things that starts creeping and destroy your faith.
Drop down to verse number 17 of the same chapter.
Obey them that have the rule over you.
I did not write that in the Bible there.
You know, that's what God says.
I'm not going to apologize for what God says.
You know, you're supposed to obey me.
In the house of the Lord, when we gather together in the church,
obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves.
There it is again, submit yourselves.
For they watch for your souls, the overseer, watching the bishop.
They watch for your souls.
Look at this, as they that must give account.
Brethren, this is why it's so important that the pastor is the ruler, has the authority.
Because the one that has authority also must be accountable to God for the church.
I don't know exactly when this is going to play out.
I assume it's going to be, because we'll soon see that.
It's probably got to do with rewards in heaven.
Maybe that crown of glory that I would love to have one day,
God will see me to be worthy of such an honor.
But I must give accounts.
You know, this has to do with anybody that has authority.
You know, husbands and fathers, you're accountable to God for your family.
Right?
The business owner, you know, if the business goes bad,
if the business collapses or whatever, you know, you can't just blame the employees.
You know, the business owner has to be accountable for that failing or for the success,
not just failing, but success.
You're accountable.
You're in charge.
You know, people want authority, but they don't want the accountability.
You know, it's both.
You have the accountability and the authority at the same time.
And man, like that makes me almost not want to be a pastor.
If I've got to be accountable to God for a church, it's like a huge responsibility.
You know, when we started looking at Blessed Up Baptist Church,
you know, this is fear in my heart.
It's like cannibal for another church part.
Lord, I don't know.
You know, and you know, the church there in Port Macquarie, Lord, if you would have me.
But I also have a heart of a shepherd.
That's the thing.
It's such a mixed bag.
Like all these responsibilities, the shepherd and the overseer.
You know, the shepherd leaves in 99 and goes for the one, doesn't he?
Like there's all these things.
But then you understand, well, you got the rule.
If you do that, yes, great.
But you're accountable to God.
So the Bible says, be not ye many masters.
You understand to take a position of authority comes with great accountability,
great responsibility.
And God's going to hold.
That's why I say, guys, you help me, please.
Don't make my life difficult.
You know, please don't be rebellious.
Obviously, if I'm teaching damnable heresies, kick me out.
All right, whatever.
Obviously, if I'm, you know, can, you know, done deep and horrible sins or something
that's just makes me unqualified, kick me out.
Well, do whatever you need to do.
I'll kick myself out before you can probably will do that.
Long before you decide to kick me out, probably kick myself out.
But there's true accountability that comes with being the ruler in the house of the Lord.
And so again, I'd please obey them to have the rule of you.
So can you obey this one?
Can you make my life easy at church?
Can we try to get along all the time and serve one another?
And, you know, when your past is not perfect, can you please oversee that and
remember the times that I have tried to be the best man that I can be
and try to lead you and to guide you in God's word and truth.
And, you know, if I preach something a little bit wrong,
can you please run the times where I 99.9 preach what is right and true, right?
And just not be that person or that group of people that makes it very difficult because,
man, I'm accountable to God for New Life Baptist Church.
And that's a serious business.
You know, if someone here wants to be a pastor one day, you need to understand the seriousness of
being held accountable for an entire church.
Wow, it's a scary thing.
It's a scary thing.
So anyway, I didn't finish in verse 17.
I'll read verse 17 again.
Hebrews 13, 17.
Obey them to have the rule of you and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls,
as they that must give account.
See, must.
I can't avoid it.
That they may do it with joy.
Yeah, that's what I want.
All right, whatever timing that is.
When God says, all right, Pastor Kevin, you're accountable for New Life Baptist Church.
Come up here and tell me about what's up.
I want to be like, oh, I can't wait to tell you about New Life Baptist Church, Lord.
I can't wait to say about this weekend when we went to Melbourne, we had 29 salvations.
I don't want to be like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna tell you about that church split.
Yeah, I'll tell you about that.
Oh, those rebellious people.
Oh, Lord, I gotta tell you about that time when I really messed up as a pastor.
I really destroyed our church.
I don't want that.
I want it with joy.
Oh, yeah, Lord.
I want to tell you all about our church and this family and this brother and this sister
and the help that they've been, Lord.
And I want to tell you all about the things we've done.
Why?
I want to do it with joy.
Because it says here, and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you.
Man, if you make my life hard, guys, and you rebel and all this, and I'm held accountable,
and I've got a given account and I do it with grief, it says it's unprofitable for you.
For you, for the church, you guys, as individuals.
We know that.
That's why I believe this has to do with rewards.
All right?
Because, you know, we're all going to one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ
and God's going to judge us for what we've done in our body.
And the gold, precious stones, gold, silver, precious stones, the great rewards,
the treasures in heaven, God's going to reward us for what we've done for him.
But not just what we've done individually, but what we've done within the church.
And so at some point, I believe God's going to call me up.
And I want to give brother Jason Park and lots of gold and silver and brother Callum,
lots of precious stones and brother, everyone, every brother and sister here in this church,
I want to add to your riches in heaven.
And so I want to be able to go to God and say,
yeah, man, let me tell you, let me exaggerate a little bit too, so you can give a little
bit extra about all the great works that we've done at New Life Baptist Church.
I want to do it with joy and not with grief.
I mean, look, the pastor's responsibility is something important, something major.
You know, please forgive me if I'm not the best pastor.
Please forgive me if I mess up sometimes.
But I want us to be able to all go before God one day and just rejoice and be rewarded
mightily and not to do it with grief because that's unprofitable for you.
Can you come with me to actually same chapter there?
Look at verse number 23.
I just want to show you this verse number 23, same chapter.
Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty?
I'll tell you what that means.
It means that Timothy is currently free.
Now, Timothy, we know the book of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy is known as pastoral epistles.
Timothy was a pastor, but many times he was a traveling pastor.
Okay.
He was sent to different churches at different times.
And it says here, know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty?
Then he says, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you.
Salute all them, look at this, they have the rule over you and all the saints.
They of Italy salute you.
So for the Hebrews here, I believe it's Paul.
I believe Paul is the writer of the book of Hebrews.
And he's sending, like he often does, he sends Timothy now to these Jews.
And he says, look, can you greet or salute them?
Salute all of them that have the rule over you.
And so brethren, you know, that's another command, right?
They're like, when Timothy comes, make sure you salute him.
Okay.
He's coming to help you guys out.
And please, you know, not that I think I'm special or amazing and you have to acknowledge,
like acknowledge me for my pride or something like that.
No, you don't have to, but you do it because the Lord commands to do such a thing.
If someone has the rule over you, you should honor him and, you know, respect him and greet him.
You know, if I've done something to upset you, don't ignore me.
Let's sort it out.
Come with me one-on-one.
If I've done something to upset you, let's just sort it out.
Let's get a bit, forget about it.
Let's not bring it up on the judgment seat of Christ, whatever it is, right?
Let's not have grief there.
Let's just do the rejoicing.
Let's sort out whatever issues we may have within ourselves right here on this earth.
So that when we stand before the Lord, it can be profitable for all of us.
But I just want to highlight the fact that, you know, I don't have this,
you know, I never intended to be a traveling pastor.
It's not really what I want.
I really want to be here at New Life all the time and I want to be with my family all the time.
But the Lord sometimes opens doors and sometimes people like,
someone like a Timothy needs to get around a bit.
You know, there are a lot of churches that don't have good pastors.
There are lost sheep out there that need to be gathered together.
And, you know, I don't do what I just want to do.
If the Lord opens a door, if he has a will, if he has guides and directs and makes the path easy,
then sometimes I need to be a little bit of a Timothy.
And I hate it because I am traveling and sometimes I get phone calls
and I'm like about to take off on the plane.
And it's like, oh man, I can't even answer my church member's call right now
because I'm about to take off.
And I feel horrible about that.
But I just want to show you that sometimes,
some pastors in different scenarios at different times
requires to get around and help other churches.
Can you come with me to First Timothy?
We're talking about Timothy, right?
Timothy who gets around.
And now we have First Timothy chapter two.
First Timothy chapter, First Timothy chapter two please.
First Timothy, sorry, chapter three, chapter three.
First Timothy chapter three.
We're going to look at the qualifications quickly of the pastor, okay?
First Timothy chapter three, verse number one.
This is a true saying.
If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desire a good work.
A bishop then must be blameless.
The husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior,
given to hospitality, apt to teach.
So we have all these qualities.
I'm not going to go through the qualifications right now.
But you know, if someone's going to be a leader, a pastor,
he has to be proven to be this person.
You know?
And one thing that we clearly see here,
and I just want to point out to the husband of one wife.
You know, the training ground of leadership
is being a good husband for the pastor.
Before I can pastor a church, I have to be able to lead my family.
I've got to have a wife who I'm the head of.
And my wife obviously ought to be in subjection to her husband.
And if my wife is not in subjection to me, then I should step down as the pastor.
Verse number three continues, not given to wine, no striker,
not greedy or filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous.
Verse number four is important, one that ruleth well.
Because the pastor is ruling on the house of the Lord, right?
Says here, one that ruleth well, his own house,
having his children in subjection with all gravity.
So if a man is going to be the ruler in the house of God,
where must he first be the ruler of?
His own house, his own family,
his children must be in subjection.
That's why it says in verse number five,
for if a man know not how to rule his own house,
how shall he take care of the church of God?
So your pastor must be proven, but also in his own family.
You know, are his children obedient?
Are they subject to their mum and dad, right?
Are they unruly?
Are they known for causing havoc and problems and complete rebellion and this and that?
But if I'm honest, I'll tell you the truth.
All my kids, and for all parents, you know, all your kids at some time have rebelled.
At some time they've been disobedient to mum and dad, at least once.
Parents know it's a lot more than once, pastor.
But obviously, as a whole, you know, over the years of parenting and,
and, you know, as the, you know, what is just of clarity,
obviously, children must be in subjection to their parents,
and in particular, their father in this scenario.
Ruling well the house of God really comes down to ruling well your own family.
You know, sometimes I have people say to me, would you teach me how to be a pastor?
I'm like, well, just the experience, it's been the father,
being the husband, do well in your family, serve your family, lead your family,
love your family, guide your family, be the rule, have the head.
You know, lead with love and show the right way to live a good and healthy life.
And when you've done that for several years,
and it's very clear that your family is subject unto your leadership,
not out of fear, but out of reverence and love,
a little bit of fear sometimes, nothing wrong with a little bit of fear.
Then that man is ready, if he has all the other qualifications,
he's ready if he has a desire to be a bishop, to take on that responsibility.
But the reason I want to say that is because sometimes people want congregational led churches.
Pastor, you need to be subject to the congregation.
You know, if we take a vote and 70% of the church says, nay, you can't be yay,
you've got to submit to the 70% of the church.
And yet, the qualification is how you rule your own house.
Do you guys really think when I'm making a decision for the family,
I'm like, all right, kids, 12 kids, you know, I've stacked that against me now, haven't I?
All right, we're going to cast the votes.
We're going to cast the vote.
Are we going to eat mum's home cooked healthy dinner?
Or are we going to get Pizza Hut?
Let's cast the vote.
I'm pretty sure we're gonna get more than 70 wanting Pizza Hut.
Right?
Is that how I leave the house?
No.
We say, hey, eat everything on the plates.
Eat your greens.
Eat your veggies.
They're good for you.
Right?
I mean, that's, I mean, you'd say it's ridiculous, Pastor,
if you would just cast the vote on your family.
And then that's how as a husband or father leaves his house.
That household is going to fall apart, isn't it?
It's going to create weak leadership, weak men.
Well, congregational led churches will create weak pastors.
You know, if it's a congregation led church, guess what you're going to be eating?
Pizza Hut.
You know, as the pastor gets up to preach God's Word,
I better make sure it's always tasty.
Okay, I gotta make sure it's always nice.
And, and, and let's not step on anyone's toes.
I better avoid the truth because it's too, it's good for you.
The truth is good for you, but it's not tasty.
Let me just feed you junk food all the time.
That's what's going to result in a congregational led church.
I don't know why people want that.
It's a recipe for disaster.
It continues here, verse number six.
First Timothy three, verse number six.
Not a novice.
Not someone that's new to the faith or new to leadership or something.
Less being lifted up with pride.
He fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without,
lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
You know, the devil wants to destroy our church.
The devil's our enemy.
He doesn't want good churches.
He doesn't want pastor led churches.
He doesn't want the truth being taught.
He wants the pastor to be led about by his congregation and not by the chief shepherd.
Can you come with me to the book of Acts?
Come with me to the book of Acts.
I better hurry up.
Acts chapter seven.
Acts chapter seven, please.
Acts chapter seven.
Because the idea that pastor, if you're just submissive to the...
Look, I'm willing to accept I'm the dictator.
At church for an hour.
Okay, you got the other 23 hours of your life where I'm not your dictator.
Okay, it's pastor led for a reason.
Right, like I don't have to go to Congress to pass a bill or something like that, right?
I'm a dictator as far as, you know, we're governance, the idea goes.
And dads, you're a dictator in your family, but it's out of love and service, is it not?
The responsibility of being accountable to God for your successes and your failings.
It brings great humility in the heart of the leader.
And the reason I want to turn to Acts seven, I want to show you the problem.
Oh, let's go.
Let's look at Acts seven.
Because the idea is, well, surely, if the pastor submits to the congregation, that's better.
You know, that's going to cause less corruption.
Look, I'm not going to say here that if every church is just passed away,
there'll never be corruption.
Because every pastor is a sin.
There's going to be some level of mistakes being made at certain points in time.
And so the thought is, well, to combat that, to stop that from happening,
let's make sure the congregation is in charge
and the pastor submits it to the congregation.
And so if the majority of the congregation wants something, the pastor has to submit to it.
Even if he feels by his conscience that that's not what the chief shepherd wants.
But again, is that how we run our household?
You think our houses will be run better if we just let the kids be in charge, the majority?
And parents, you just do whatever your kids want?
I mean, we kind of live in that society today.
And I don't see society getting any better.
I don't see families getting any better.
So we have Acts 7, verse number 34.
It says here, God says,
I have seen and have seen the affliction of my people, which is in Egypt.
And I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them.
And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
God says, I've seen my people.
And so I'm going to send you Moses into Egypt.
One man, right?
This Moses, whom they refused.
Saying, who made thee a ruler and a judge?
Did God make Moses the ruler and the judge?
What did the congregation want?
Who made you the ruler and the judge?
This is what happens with a congregation led church.
You're the ruler, pastor.
We are the rulers.
We're the judge.
It says the same did God send to be the ruler
and a deliverer by the hand of the angel, which appeared to him in the bush.
Who made Moses the ruler?
The Lord.
Who made me the ruler at New Life Baptist Church?
The Lord.
Went for the right processes, the right systems that God has set up in his word
to establish churches, to ordain pastors.
You do it according to God's word, the Bible.
You do it in the right way.
It's the Lord then who sends that man to be the ruler and the judge.
Verse number 36, he brought them out.
After that he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt
and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness 40 years.
So even Moses was still the leader and the ruler there for 40 years, even in the wilderness.
This is that Moses which said unto the tomb of Israel,
a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you your brethren,
like unto me him shall ye hear.
Verse number 38 is important.
This is he that was in the church in the wilderness
with the angel which spake to him in the Mount Sinai
and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us.
So who led the church in the wilderness?
Moses did.
That's the idea.
There's the difference between the church and Israel.
Israel in the wilderness was the church.
It was a church in the wilderness and the one that God put as a ruler there was Moses.
And so the reason we have these stories and so then we can relate.
Okay well if this was what Moses experienced then we better take heed for our church, right?
That we don't become stiff-necked people against the leadership that God has appointed.
And again I'm not preaching this because I've got a problem.
I want you to know that.
I'm just going for the series of submission.
This is what we're up to.
But who knows?
Sometimes the Holy Spirit knows more than I do.
Maybe the Holy Spirit knows within the heart of someone right now
there's a bitterness toward the past and the Lord knows.
I don't know.
I don't care.
That's the Lord's business.
But we need to hear anyway what God has to say.
And it says in verse number 39 to whom our fathers would not obey.
The Jews did not want to obey Moses.
We know plenty of stories like that.
But thrust him from them and in their hearts
turned back again into Egypt saying unto Aaron,
make us gods to go before us.
And as for this Moses which brought us out of the land of Egypt,
we were not what has become of him.
You know Moses went to Mount Sinai.
He was gone for 40 days, all right?
He was there getting God's word, getting the commandments, okay?
Getting the words that God had for the children of Israel.
He was away for a period of time.
And guess how the congregation responds?
We don't know what happened to Moses.
He's left us.
He's trying to serve.
He's trying to learn from God.
He's trying to lead the people.
And the congregation is, where is he?
We don't know where he is.
Let's create a golden calf.
Congregational led churches.
Where's the golden calf is what's going to result out of it.
Strange doctrines being tossed to and fro.
Sometimes pastor has got to be away for whatever reason.
It's not like he wants to neglect the church.
He's doing the Lord's work.
He's learning from the Lord.
Got to be away sometimes.
Brevin, I know this is true because I've experienced it.
COVID days when I couldn't go down to Sydney.
And I was away for months, I think three or four months.
I mean, I could travel to New South Wales,
but if I came back to my family, I couldn't go down to Sydney.
But if I came back to my family,
I have to be in quarantine for two weeks.
Remember that those days?
So I'm like, I'm not going down to Sydney.
I want to be stuck in quarantine for two weeks,
whatever it is right in the hotel and then pay for it.
I don't know how much thousands of dollars.
We're not going to do that.
And I love blessing up at the church,
but you know what started to happen?
We don't know where this pastor Kevin is.
Where is he?
I don't think he wants to help us anymore.
I know it sounds ridiculous.
Just as ridiculous as this sounds, but it happens.
So let's find Aaron.
Aaron, look, we need to serve God one way or another.
Can you set up the golden calf?
Good intentions, but strange doctrines.
Weird doctrines and ultimately, obviously heresy creeping in.
And I just want to show you,
because we want to take the parallels that we read here
and apply it to us as a church.
Verse number 41,
and they made a calf in those days
and they offered sacrifice unto the idol
and rejoice in the works of their own hands.
Rejoice in the works of their own hands.
So come with me now to Numbers 13.
I want to show you something
because Acts 7 was there to just show you the connection
with leading a church
and how Moses led the Israelites in the wilderness.
But I want to show you a few things here in Numbers 13.
Let's start there.
Numbers 13, verse number one.
Numbers 13 and verse number one.
So this is after they've come out of Egypt, of course,
and the Lord's given them the new covenant
or the old covenant, obviously new covenant for them,
but the old covenant to us.
And it says here in Numbers 13, verse number one,
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Send thou men, they may search the land of Canaan,
and I will give unto the children of Israel.
Of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man,
every one a ruler among them.
And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them
from the wilderness of Paran.
All those men were heads of the children of Israel.
Now I just want to give you a quick,
I'm not going to continue reading,
but ultimately this is where Moses ends up sending,
you know, the spies, the, you know,
for one from every tribe into the land of promise,
into the promised land, into the land of Canaan, right?
And that's what, that was God's plan.
Once they came out of Egypt was accepting the covenant.
And now the next step was to go into the promised land.
And God had chosen Moses to lead the church in the wilderness
into the promised land.
All right.
That's Moses' goal to get there.
All right.
You guys know the story.
Come with me to Numbers 14, Numbers 14 and verse number one.
So they get a bad report from the 10 spies.
They get a bad report.
Oh, we can't do it.
They're too powerful.
We're too small in their sight.
And you know, this is just going to lead us to be
completely wiped out and destroyed if we follow the leading of Moses.
We'll look at Numbers 14 verse number one.
And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried.
And the people wept that night.
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron.
And the whole congregation said unto them,
would God that we had died in the land of Egypt?
Oh, would God we had died in this wilderness?
And wherefore have the Lord brought us into this land?
To fall by the sword and that our wives and our children should be a prey?
Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
And they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt.
What happens?
They don't like the direction of Moses.
Most like, hey guys, we're going to the promised land.
All right.
They don't like the direction of Moses.
Because to get to the promised land requires a bit of fighting.
Requires going to war against the Canaanites.
It's too hard.
We don't want it.
So what?
Instead of accepting the rule that God put over them,
what do they say amongst themselves, the congregation?
Let's choose the captain.
Let's get another man to be our leader.
And let's return back to Egypt.
Man, please church, don't be this way with me.
I want, my goal is to get us to the promised land.
Whatever that looks like as a church.
A place where a land flown with milk and honey, right?
A place of rejoice and a place of increase.
Help me on this journey.
But you know what?
To get to that place requires a bit of warfare.
Requires a bit of fighting.
Spiritually, of course.
I'm not trying to take down anyone physically,
but there's a spiritual battle to be had with any church.
And I want our church to grow, to increase, to do well,
to see wonderful souls saved.
We want to get to that promised land of increase,
but it requires a bit of hardship.
And when things are a little bit hard,
that's not the time to quit.
Like that's not the time to get another captain.
Because he's just going to lead you back to Egypt.
And let's drop down to verse number seven.
And now Moses and Aaron responds to the congregation.
And they spake unto all the company
of the children of Israel, saying,
the land which we passed through to search it
is an exceeding good land.
That's like, look, where I want to lead you is a good land.
It's a good place to go, right?
Compared to Egypt, like this is a good place to go.
Verse number eight,
if the Lord delighted us, then he will bring us into this land
and give it to us a land which flows with milk and honey.
Only rebel not ye against the Lord,
neither fear ye the people of the land.
I want to stop there.
Only rebel not ye against the Lord.
But notice they're actually rebelling against Moses.
They're rebelling against the leadership
that God put over them.
And Moses says, look, don't rebel against the Lord.
He wants us.
Let's delight in him.
You know, if we delight him,
he's going to lead us to this land.
It's not the time to quit.
Moses is doing the best he can to lead these people
in a wonderful way.
Verse number nine,
only rebel not ye against the Lord,
neither fear ye the people of the land.
For they are bred for us.
Their defense is parted from us.
And the Lord is with us, fear them not.
But all the congregation, look at this,
all the congregation bade stone them with stone.
And the glory of the Lord appeared
in the tabernacle of the congregation
before all the children of Israel.
All the congregation bade stone them with stones.
Say, Pastor Kevin, 100% of New Life Baptist Church
rebels against you.
Not just the majority, all the congregation.
That must be the right way to go then.
Because all the congregations on the same page here.
And I'm not saying that, I'm not saying,
I'm just, I want to warn.
I hope I never have to deal with anything like this massive.
The whole congregation is upset with you, Pastor.
We don't like the direction that you're leading us
to the promised land.
It's too hard.
We want to go back to Egypt.
So let's stone him and get another captain.
Let's get rid of the pastor.
Who's in the right though?
Is Moses in the right or is all the congregation,
maybe three million people, who knows?
Three million!
Surely a congregational led church is better
because we have the direction of three million people,
let's say, whatever.
People say between one and a half to three million people
at this time.
Or Moses.
Obviously, we know Moses is the right one.
He's the one following the chief shepherd.
He's trying to lead them to the promised land.
But the congregation is not.
Don't want to do it.
Look, what's going to hinder,
what's going to stop our church growth
is when the congregation is not on board.
Look, if I do something horrible,
just say, pastor, can you step down and leave?
Don't stone me, stone.
So just let me go.
Let me go in peace.
But of course, that's a metaphor.
Stoning stones is the hatred, the bitterness,
the vitriol that you might have toward your pastor.
Just those, you know, we say sticks and stones
will not hurt your bones.
There's a go.
No, sticks and stones will hurt your bones,
but words will never hurt you.
Words hurt.
They still hurt, you know?
And anyway, this is what the congregation wants.
They want to go back to it.
Let's drop down to verse number 29.
And we know the story.
God says to them in verse number 29 through Moses,
your carcasses shall fall in the wilderness
and all that were numbered of you
according to your whole number from 20 years old and upward,
which have murmured against me.
Doubtless, you shall not come into the land
concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein,
save Caleb or accept Caleb, the son of Jephunne
and Joshua, the son of Nun.
But your little ones, which you said should be a prey.
Then will I bring and they shall know the land
which you have despised.
But as for you, your carcasses,
they shall fall in this wilderness
and your children shall wander in the wilderness 40 years
and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses
be wasted in the wilderness.
That's the judgment, 40 years in the wilderness.
The church, the congregation could have said,
promised land, God says,
not you rebelled against me, wilderness for 40 years.
Now, look, I know Moses is accountable.
He's a leader.
We're not removing him from the equation,
but you notice what happens
when the congregation is not on board?
Everyone suffers.
It's what we saw earlier, unprofitable for you.
And I want this church to do great things.
And I want this congregation to be on board.
And as we add to the church, let's welcome people
and encourage people and make friends
and not ignore one another and serve one another
and show the love of Christ that we have here.
But if we refuse to follow the directions
and the commands that God has given us,
we might be New Life Baptist Church
in the wilderness for 40 years.
I mean, it's hard to say,
Sunny Coast is not really the wilderness,
but maybe a spiritual wilderness, right?
That's the idea that I'm trying.
I'm not saying we're in the wilderness.
I'm just saying, look,
I want to be in the promised land.
It requires a bit of hardship.
It requires a bit of work.
It requires a bit of fighting,
but we want to get there to the promised land.
And so we can say, ah, Moses, you're the leader.
It's all your fault.
We're in the wilderness for 40 years.
But was it really Moses' fault?
It's not his fault.
It's the congregation's fault.
But Moses is still accountable.
He still leads.
Like Moses did not go, ah, I quit.
I'm done.
You guys can go in the wilderness.
I'm going to the promised land.
You know, something like that, right?
No, he still led.
He still was faithful.
He was still humble.
He still loved the congregation.
He even loved the church.
He loved the congregation, even when the congregation
were rebellious to the ways and direction of Moses.
So I don't want to be the church in the wilderness
for 40 years.
You know, I want us to be the promised land.
And I'm not saying that is necessarily high numbers,
but definitely the quality of our spiritual life,
the quality of a happy house and happy families
rejoicing in the Spirit and serving the Lord,
laying up treasures in heaven,
doing wonderful works for God,
going to the Melbourne's and doing the works
and seeing souls saved and encouraging the brethren.
These are wonderful things.
This is promised land work that we're doing
for the Lord God.
Let's not go back to Egypt.
Let's not go back to the wilderness.
Let's continue marching on for the cause of Christ.
Can you come with me to Numbers 16?
Numbers 16, we're going to look quickly at this
because I'm coming to an hour now.
But the rebellion of Korah, okay.
Korah in the New Testament, Korah in the Old Testament,
the rebellion that takes place, takes place in Numbers 16.
And it says in Numbers 16, verse number one,
Now Korah, the son of Isha, the son of Kohath,
the son of Levi.
The son of Levi is important because he's part of the
lyrical tribe, okay.
He's someone that is supposed to serve in the tabernacle,
okay.
He's been utilized by God.
He's got positions of servitude.
It's important to remember that.
It says, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab,
and on the son of Pilaf, the sons of Reuben, took men.
And they rose up before Moses.
We said on the tomb of Israel, 250 princes,
people of authority of the assembly,
famous in the congregation, men of renown.
Korah sets up a rebellion.
He gets as many men as possible,
even those that are respected in the community, all right.
And they rise up before Moses.
Verse number three,
And they gathered together, sorry,
They gathered themselves together against Moses,
and against Aaron, and said unto them,
Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy,
every one of them, and the Lord is among them,
wherefore then lift up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord.
Korah says, why are you lifting yourself up?
Again, rebellion.
Moses is not lifting himself up.
God put him into that position.
The Bible says he was the most humble man on the earth.
And we know what happens when you humble yourself.
God exalts you.
And when you exalt yourself, God abases you.
So he gets all the best men of the congregation.
You do too much, Moses.
Was Moses busy?
He was busy.
And you know, I'm happy.
I've been criticized for being a busy pastor.
I'd rather be a busy pastor than a lazy pastor.
I'll tell you the truth.
Like I'd rather be that busy that I can't do all things,
than to be lazy and everything just gets,
you know, it's a smaller work, it's a smaller ministry.
You need to be busy, but then when you're busy,
and then obviously there are some things that can't always be done,
the criticism starts.
You're too busy, Moses.
We're all holy.
Why do you lift yourself up?
It's the same heart of the rebellion.
And again, they're angry because they're in the wilderness.
But it's not Moses' fault.
He did everything he could to get to the promised land as soon as possible.
But they're angry at him.
Right?
Drop down to verse number eight.
Number 16 verse number eight says now,
And Moses said unto Korah,
Here I pray you, ye sons of Levi,
Seemeth it but a small thing unto you,
that the God of Israel have separated you from the congregation of Israel,
to bring you near to himself and to do service of the tabernacle of the Lord,
and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?
He says to Korah and to the others,
Man, you're sons of Levi.
God's separated you to the service of the tabernacle and service of the people.
Is that too small for you?
Is that so insignificant to you that you want to raise yourself up?
Brethren, you know, whatever you serve in the house of the Lord,
don't let it be insignificant.
Whatever you do in the house of the Lord is so important.
Even if all you do is look around after service.
Oh, there's a few hymn books that are out of place.
Let me sort it out.
Let me tidy up.
It's not a small thing.
Serving the Lord God, we're doing great works.
Oh, but I should be doing more.
I should be the leader.
We're all holy.
We can all be lifted up.
Why do you lift yourself up, Pastor Kevin?
I didn't lift myself up.
It's the Lord God.
And I'm not saying anybody here wants, it has that heart.
Again, I'm just trying to be, you know.
But I've experienced that at Blessed Hope Baptist Church.
Honestly, and it breaks my heart.
Oh, you're lifting yourself up.
You're trying to be the one in charge.
I am in charge.
You should listen to the congregation.
Why?
So we can worship a golden calf?
And this was years ago.
It's nothing new.
Okay, Blessed Hope right now is doing better than it ever has.
Praise God.
It's in the promised land.
Doing well.
But I've experienced this and it's not uncommon.
It happens to me.
Many churches, many pastors experience this.
And you're like, man, I just want to serve the Lord.
I just love the brethren.
Just love the sheep.
Just want to feed people God's word.
I just want to do the best I can for his work and profitable for all of us.
Not just me, but I want to give an account to God with joy.
And say, man, the church is doing so well, Lord.
Thank you for equipping us of your work and abilities.
You know, that's what I want.
That's my heart.
Not to look at the past like the Lord over God's heritage.
I don't care for that.
I want us all to just go before God.
And like, man, that was so good at New Life.
Those years of serving at Sunshine Coast, doing things for the Lord.
You know, helping brethren down in Sydney and in Port Macquarie
and there in Melbourne and in WA and other things that we've done.
You know, there are people out soloing across Australia because of us.
Because we visited them, because we trained them, because we encouraged them,
because we got people together and they encouraged one another to get out there and see Saul saved.
I don't know how God's going to measure that for the service that we've all done together.
You know, you say, well, it wasn't really me, pastor.
You went out there.
Yeah, but you allowed me to get out there.
All right.
And if I'm going to be away for a period of time, you're like, pastor, I'll cover the preaching.
You know, I'll help out.
You know, I love that.
That's us serving each other, working together.
You know, I want it to be profitable for all of us when we stand before our Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at verse number 10.
So he says, I mean, a small thing to you.
Then he says, and he brought, and he have brought thee near to him.
So he's saying to Cora, look, God's brought you close, but close to him.
And all thy brethren are the sons of Levi with thee and seek ye the priesthood also.
You're looking for the priesthood?
We know the priesthood was Aaron and his sons.
That's the process that God had put in place.
You're also serving Cora, but you want the priesthood now?
You want a position of authority too?
Verse number 11, for which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together
against the Lord?
And what is Aaron that ye murmur against him?
Why are you upset with Aaron?
You're, you're murmuring against God.
God put Aaron in place and yet Aaron's not performing the way you think he should,
but you want the priesthood?
You're murmuring against God.
You're rebelling against God.
I'm not God.
I'm the under shepherd.
I'm just like you who met the qualifications and God saw fit to exalt me into this position.
But you rebel against the authority that God's put in place.
You rebel and you murmur against God.
Who is Aaron?
Aaron's just a servant.
Aaron's going to make mistakes.
He facilitated in the golden calf, didn't he?
Even then you're supposed to honor his office.
That's a pretty big mistake to facilitate the creation of that golden calf.
Aaron, I'm going to make mistakes guys.
I'm not going to make that mistake.
I'm pretty sure.
But I can make mistakes.
Are you going to murmur against me?
Not that you are.
Thank you.
Thank you church for not murmuring.
Thank you for being respectful and submissive and all that.
I appreciate it.
You make my life easy.
But anyway, this needs to be preached.
It's in God's word.
We need to hear it.
Okay.
And then look at, drop down to verse number 30.
Number 16, verse number 30.
And this is the end result of Korah and the rebellion.
But if the Lord make a new thing and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up,
with all that appertainment unto them, and they go down quick into the pit,
then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.
And it came to pass as he made an end of speaking all these words,
that the ground clave asunder that was under them,
and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up,
and their houses, and all the men that appertainment unto Korah and all their goods,
they and all that appertainment to them went down alive into the pit,
and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation.
That's the end result of rebellion.
They're going to be judged and destroyed by the Lord.
Brethren, title for the sermon was, you know, submit to the pastor.
You know, I didn't mean to make it like you're all going to die.
But you know, I just want to show you the importance.
The importance of the pastor, you know, I know I'm just like you.
I know. I'm really nothing. I'm just another man, a sinner saved by grace,
doing the best he can to serve the Lord with a clear conscience as much as possible.
As much as life in me, I'm trying to do my best, you know.
But I also recognize in my best is not perfect.
I know that I'm going to make mistakes, and you know,
if you start to murmur against me, please just come to me.
If you start to murmur against me, please just come to me.
The pastor, I just want to sort something out with you.
Let's sort it out, you know.
Let's make sure we go to the judgment seat of Christ with joy.
We want to make sure it's all profitable and not something that is grievous.
So, Brethren, anyway, submit to the pastor.
Okay, let's pray.