We come now, brethren, to the preaching of God's word, and I invite you to open your Bibles this morning to the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews and the 13th chapter. The book of Hebrews and the 13th chapter, and I'll be reading and then preaching this morning on verses 18 and 19. That's Hebrews chapter 13. verses 18 and 19, as we come to a close in this book very soon, let us focus on these final words of this 13th chapter over the next couple of weeks. And I invite you to read along silently as I read aloud this morning. Here beginning in verse 18 of Hebrews chapter 13, we find these words. Let's pray. Our God and Father, we thank you for your mercy and grace. We thank you for bringing us here in your kind providence to worship you in spirit and in truth today. And we would ask now for the work of the Holy Spirit as we come to the preached word, that he would be our teacher and guide, that he would fill our minds with your truth, that he would grant to us an understanding of this text and its application in such a way that our thinking is renewed, our lives are transformed, and our desires are directed in love to the Lord Jesus Christ. So bless us now as a congregation as we receive the word, for we ask these things in Jesus' blessed name. Amen. Brethren, last Sunday, we considered our responsibility to bring joy to our spiritual leaders by obeying and submitting to them whenever they lead us faithfully. And this week, we want to consider the flip side of this issue, which is the leader's responsibility before God to minister with integrity. the leader's responsibility to minister with integrity. And so following our text this morning, the spotlight now falls on the leader. and his responsibility. And as a leader, the writer to the Hebrews addresses this subject here in verses 18 and 19. And let us notice that before he addresses this topic of his own integrity and the integrity of those who ministered with him, the writer pleads with his readers for their prayers. Notice how this 18th verse begins with these simple words. Pray for us. Pray for us. And the fact that the writer pleads with his readers for their prayers here is significant for two reasons. First, it's significant because it reveals the writer's humility. It reveals the writer's humility, for by requesting prayer, the writer was acknowledging here his own need for grace, his own need for assistance in the task that had been entrusted to him. He was not ashamed to admit, he was not ashamed to confess that he was incapable of fulfilling his ministry unless God was pleased to give him that which he did not have in and of himself. For to seek prayer is to humbly recognize one's dependence upon God and His grace. And needless to say, this is why every leader within the church needs to understand and confess his own need for prayer. For any attempt to carry out the work of the ministry without prayer is arrogant. Any attempt to carry out the work of the ministry without prayer is foolish. And any leader who believes that he can handle the pressures of ministry without the empowerment that prayer brings is seriously underestimating his own weakness and needs. For seeking the power of God through prayer is essential for any leader who hopes to be fruitful in his labors in the Lord's vineyard. Then secondly, the fact that the writer to the Hebrews as a Christian leader asked for prayer here is significant because it reveals his need or his dependency upon the prayers of God's people in particular. the prayers of God's people in particular, for simply praying for his own success was not enough, simply the leader praying for himself was not enough, but rather he and his companions in ministry needed the collective prayers of the whole assembly. They needed all of God's people to join in prayer with them. And there's a lesson here for the leaders of the church. And that is that it's not enough to pray for ourselves. It's not enough for the leaders to gather and to pray for one another. It's essential that all the people of God pray together for the success of the ministry. And again, this speaks to the leader's need for humility. A humble leader recognizes that he not only needs to be a man of prayer himself, but he also needs the regular and the fervent prayers of other believers as well. And therefore, he is not hesitant to plead for prayer. to plead for prayer. He's not ashamed to admit openly that he will not succeed without prayer. His requests for prayer are something that he voices and pleads for often because he realizes his desperate need and dependence upon prayer from God's people, for the battles that he must engage in cannot be won if he ventures at these battles alone. The conflict that he must endure is not the kind of conflict that he can overcome through his own giftedness or his own ingenuity alone, but rather a Christian leader, if he is to accomplish what God has called him to do among the people, must seek after, he must plead for, He must rely upon the prayers of the same people that he ministers to if he wants to know God's blessings, if he wants to know and possess the power that God gives through believing prayer. Therefore, there needs to be humility on the part of a leader to ask for prayer from God's people. And I ask us as leaders this morning, men, are we asking God's people to pray for us? Are we pleading with them to pray for us on a regular basis? Are we asking for their partnership in prayer? Do we realize that without their regular prayers for us, our leadership, our ministry to them will be missing something that's very significant? Whereby interceding for one another, a spiritual bond develops between the leader and God's people that is good and encouraging and refreshing to both parties. And then not only does the writer to the Hebrews ask and plead earnestly for prayer, but he also reveals here in verse 18 what he needs prayer for, what he needs prayer for. And notice this, this is really interesting this morning. He needs prayer that he and his companions would minister with integrity. that they would minister with integrity. For he states here in verse 18, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all things. And by writing these words, the writer is not boasting, he's not bragging here. He's not saying that he had already arrived as a leader or that there was nothing that could be improved upon in terms of the outward exercise of his ministry before God and his people, but rather he is simply stating here that to the best of his ability, he felt confident that his desire was to be a leader who possessed genuine spiritual integrity. And notice that they desired to possess genuine integrity in two ways, or we could say in two areas. First, they desired to have integrity internally, having a clear conscience, and integrity externally, acting honorably in all things. Notice both of these are mentioned. Internal integrity, and external integrity. Because true integrity in a leader consists of both of these things. An internal aspect which cannot be seen and which is only known between the leader and God. And then an external aspect of integrity that can be seen and that is openly expressed through a leader's outward actions either as honorable acts or not. Let us consider both of these aspects beginning this morning with the internal, the internal aspect of ministerial integrity. And the writer states here in verse 18 that he and his companions were sure, they were assured that they had a clear conscience. Notice that, a clear conscience. And of course, the conscience of a man is something that is unseen. You can't see my conscience, I can't see your conscience. but something which profoundly affects a person's walk with God as well as a person's spiritual state of mind. In fact, the conscience could be defined as that part of our God-given internal faculties that bear witness to what we already know regarding what is right or wrong. And our conscience can be a reliable guide to us as long as our conscience is informed and ruled by the word of God. Whereas our conscience can also condemn us if we disregard or deviate from what we know to be true from God's word, for the conscience can assure us or the conscience can condemn us. And here in verse 18, the writer to the Hebrews informs us that as leaders, he and his companions had examined their conscience or their consciences and that their consciences were clear. meaning that their consciences did not testify against them, nor were their consciences troubled over doubts or uncertainties regarding their choices or their actions. But rather, when it came to this important work of self-examination, the writer and his companions felt sure, they felt assured that their consciences were clear. And this could mean that they were clear with respect to what they had been taught and to what they were teaching God's people, or they were clear with respect to how they lived before God and His people. But in either case, the main point is that they did not attempt to labor or to minister with a guilty conscience, with a burdened conscience, with a conscience that troubled them or kept them ministering incorrectly, for there was too much at stake in their own lives. There was too much at stake in the church collectively to disregard their conscience. Needless to say, it is this kind of freedom from a troubled and guilty conscience that we should desire of our leaders today as well. We as leaders should desire to labor with a clear conscience, for to labor with a guilty or heavy or troubled conscience is a great burden to bear. And therefore we should pray that our leaders will always seek to possess and maintain a clear conscience between them and God, for it is a matter between them and God. And we need to pray that God would give them the grace to be faithful in this area. And how can we pray for our leaders in this regard? Well, the first thing we can do is pray that our leaders will be men of conscience, men of conscience, meaning that they will strive to live by the grace of God and by the things that they know to be scripturally true and right. men who are firm in their conscience, men who are not settled in their own conscience are not suited to be leaders within Christ's church. For what the church needs is leaders who are diligent in maintaining a clear conscience, leaders who are diligent and willing to stand upon conscience. Then secondly, we can pray that our leaders will be men whose consciences are held captive by the word of God. Whose consciences are held captive by the word of God, meaning that they are uncompromising in their loyalty and allegiance to the scriptures. They're uncompromising in what scripture teaches. In fact, an excellent role model for our church leaders today is Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer. For when Luther's opponents tried to force him to recant what he had written and the sermons that he had preached, Luther humbly declared that he was a man of conscience. In fact, you probably are familiar with the words. When confronted by his opponents, when they demanded that he recant, this is what Luther said. He said, unless I am convinced by scripture and plain reason, for I do not accept the authority of popes and councils because they have often contradicted one another, my conscience is captive or it is bound by the word of God. I cannot, I will not recant anything For to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me. Needless to say, our leaders should desire to have their consciences kept captive and bound by the word of God. For temptations will come to set the word of God aside. Temptations will come to leaders to take an easy path. Attacks will be launched against them in an effort to separate them from their settled convictions. And opponents will arise and accuse them of many things, accuse them of being unyielding, accuse them of being extreme in the way that they interpret and apply God's Word. And yet a leader whose conscience is well-informed and well-instructed in the word of God will not be able to recant. He will not be able to compromise what he knows is right and true. He will not be able to deny or to take back the things that are declared in God's inspired word, for his conscience is bound to the truth. This is what we need in church leaders today, a conscience that is shaped and directed by the word of God, which is a certain guide. May God bless us with such leaders here at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Bottom. I believe that he has already blessed us with such men, and we should pray daily that God will encourage these men and give them much grace. that they would be men of conscience, that they would stand on the word of God, be bound to it. Then thirdly, we should pray that our leaders will be men with tender consciences. Men with tender consciences And when I say tender consciences, I don't mean weak or unstable consciences, which only result in doubt, but consciences that are first and foremost sensitive and responsive to God's word and to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Or as Isaiah said, he needs to be a man who trembles under the word. who trembles under the Word, whose conscience is so sensitive and responsive to the Word of God and to the leading of the Holy Spirit that he must do what conscience says. For the last thing that the church needs is a man whose conscience is hardened or a man whose conscience is calloused. or a man whose conscience is unresponsive to the things of God and to the needs of others, but rather the church of Jesus Christ needs men whose consciences are easily moved to repent of every known sin, whose consciences are not indifferent, whose consciences are not unmoved by offenses that they may have caused others. No, we need men whose consciences are quick to promote love and forgiveness and biblical reconciliation where it's needed for a tender conscience, a conscience that is sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and to Holy Scripture should characterize a man who is called to lead God's people to maturity. So the first thing that the writer asserts here in our text with regard to his integrity in ministry is his internal commitment to being a man of conscience. For as I stated previously, a leader's conscience should not condemn him, and it is not safe for a leader to go against conscience, especially if and when that conscience is held captive by God's word. And then the second area of his integrity that the writer addresses here in our text is his external integrity, his external integrity. And that is the one which is expressed through his outward actions. For with respect to his own actions, with respect to the actions of his companions, the writer states here in verse 18, that their desire was to act honorably in all things. to act honorably in all things. What does this mean? Well, in view of the context here in Hebrews chapter 13, I would suggest that the writer is asserting several things about his motives and his actions. First, he's declaring that his ultimate desire and goal in everything that he did was to bring honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, he wanted to do things with honor, but all of the honor was to go first and foremost. to the Lord Jesus Christ. It was to Christ who made him a leader that his honor was pledged. It was to Christ that he would give an account. And needless to say, this should be the driving motivation behind every leader in ministry. For while we desire to be perceived as men of honor, while we desire to be acknowledged by other men as honorable men, The one that we ultimately want to honor is the Lord Jesus. For Christ is the one who suffered death and humiliation for us. Christ is the one who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven for our justification. Christ is the one who acted honorably on our behalf. Think of that. Christ was the model, the example of honorable behavior in what he did for us, in what he accomplished on the cross in order that we might receive forgiveness and pardon of our sin. And therefore, if we are to be honorable as men, if we are to act honorably as leaders, we must first recognize the debt of gratitude that we owe to Jesus Christ for the honor that he displayed towards us. for the honor that he has bestowed upon us, placing us in his service in the church. And then secondly, by this expression here in verse 18, desiring to act honorably in all things, the writer to the Hebrews is declaring that he and his companions were careful not to bring dishonor to the name of Christ or dishonor dishonor to the gospel, for the writer as a leader was mindful of his responsibility to behave honorably as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, as a chosen minister of the good news of salvation, which are high callings in the sight of God and his people. For to behave in a dishonorable way in a way that did not uphold the honor that is due to Christ and His people would be to misrepresent the Savior. would be to discredit the message that he has entrusted to his leaders to proclaim. And therefore, the writer based upon his own words here in verse 18 expresses his desire to uphold the honor that had been committed to his keeping, to guard the credibility of his ministry and his message by acting honorably as a good ambassador, by acting honorably as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Needless to say, every leader within Christ's church needs to express this same desire to act honorably. Why is it that we're willing to suffer? Why is it that we're willing to make sacrifices? Why is it that we're willing to take a stand against evil and against sin? Because to not do so would be to dishonor Christ. And we've been called to act honorably in his sight, to do what is honorable, to promote the honor of the one that we serve and to honor him who has called us to be his servants. May God give us honor in that sense. May God make us honorable men, honorable leaders in this sense. Then thirdly, the writer as a leader declares here in verse 18, that his commitment to being honorable as an expression again of his outward external integrity extended to all things. Notice this, all things, not just honorable in some things, not just honorable in a few things, not just honorable in many things, but honorable in all things. meaning that his sincere desire in every action he took was to do the right thing, to do the most honorable thing, the most Christ-honoring thing he possibly could. For the writer's concern as a Christian leader was not to, as I said, be honorable in just some things, but to live every aspect of his life, to live every aspect of his ministry with the same level of honesty and honorability. For this is what true integrity in the ministry involves. It involves a determination to act honorably in every situation and in every setting. regardless of the cost, regardless of the sacrifice that is involved. And of course, this is the kind of integrity that we should look for, that we should pray for when we think of our own leaders. We need leaders who act honorably. We need leaders who maintain the same level of honorability in whatever setting or situation that they find themselves in, for we need leaders who know how much is at stake. And what's at stake, leaders, is not just our personal honor, but the honor of Christ's name, the honor of his gospel. the honor of his church. And then not only does the writer reveal his humility by asking for prayer and defend his integrity and ministry, but he also shares with his readers his desire to be restored to them shortly. His desire to be restored to them shortly. In fact, so intense is this spiritual desire within him that the writer urges them to greater intensity in their prayers in verse 19. Notice verse 19, for he states here in verse 19, I urge you, I plead with you, I exhort you, I beg you, he says, the more earnestly to do this. To do what? To pray. Going back to what he said in the beginning. in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. For clearly the writer is physically separated from his readers at this time that he's writing, and yet he longs to be restored to them. And he understands that unless God is pleased to restore him through the fervent effectual prayers of God's people, it may not happen for some time if it happens at all. And so here in verse 19, he expresses his concern for them and his willingness to resume his ministry among them if God so permits it. And this statement here in verse 19 is significant for several reasons as well. Notice this. First, it's significant because it reveals the writer's heart as a leader. It reveals the writer's heart as a leader which was fully in line with his humility, which was fully in line with his commitment to ministerial integrity. For all that a true leader does in terms of his ministry to others, he does from a heart of compassion and love for his brethren. For brotherly love is what drives him. Kind of goes back again to the first verse of this 13th chapter about letting brotherly love continue. It's not just love between the brethren. It's not just the love that men are to have for one another in leadership, but it's the love that a pastor has for his people as well. Love is the root of his humility. Love is the root of his ministerial integrity. In fact, without love for his brethren, his humility would be no more than a show. Without love for his brethren, his integrity would lack the credibility needed to convince them that he is a man who is truly concerned for them. And therefore, a leader, like the writer who wrote this epistle to the Hebrew readers, must be a man of love. He must be a man of genuine compassion. Men, you and I here in leadership, we're finding a definition here in this chapter of what a real leader is. He's a man of integrity. He's a man of love. He's a man of genuine compassion. And because he is a man of integrity, because he's a man of love, because he is a man of compassion, because he truly cares about the people of God and he wants to minister among them, it makes it easy for the people of God to pray for him. It makes it easy for the people of God to sit under his ministry. There's so much there that we should ponder. Do we as leaders Make it easy for God's people to pray for us, because we're the kind of men that we should be. We're honorable men. We're men of integrity. We're men of compassion. We're men of love. Do we make it easy for the people of God to follow our leading? Then lastly, This statement in verse 19 is significant because it points to the kind of relationship that should exist between a leader and the flock of God that he's called to lead. For the people should feel confident that their leaders care for them. The people should feel confident that the leaders desire to be among them. And for the leader, he should feel confident enough in the people's love and respect for him and in his integrity that he can lay out his needs, he can lay out his desires, he can lay out his heart, he can lay out his struggles and not feel alone and not feel unsupported. Isn't it amazing that the leader feels so comfortable with the people of God here toward the end of this 13th chapter of Hebrews that he just lays it out on the line. He tells them of his deep need for their prayers. He tells them of his internal and external integrity. He reveals his heart to them. He shares with them his love for them. He has that kind of relationship with them. He's earned that kind of response from them. They love him and he loves them. That's the kind of relationship. that exists between a godly honorable leader and the people that he ministers to. Oh, may God bless us with this kind of leader, these kinds of leaders. May God give us this kind of relationship between our leaders and our church body. May God do this here. for his own glory, for the honor of Christ, and for our spiritual good. Let us pray earnestly, brethren, that God would do all the things that we've read about today and more, and that this church would be blessed and strengthened by it. Let's pray. Our God and Father, we thank you for your word today and we would ask now that what has been spoken would be blessed, that your spirit would take the word preached today and apply it to each of our hearts in such a way that we would truly desire to pray for our leaders, that we would pray not just for their strength, but for their integrity, that they would be men of conscience, that they would be men with tender, responsive consciences, that they would be men who are willing to stand on their conscience, whose hearts and minds and consciences are bound and captive to the word of God, that we would have men who have the kind of compassion and concern for the people of God that we've read about in this passage. And we would ask that not only that you would grant us such men, that we would support them in our prayers, that we would love them and show them our support and encouragement. And for those of us who are in leadership, Father, may you use these words today to impress upon us the great importance there is of seeking the prayers of God's people. and the importance of being men of integrity, both internally and externally, and being men of love and compassion. There's so much here in these two brief verses. Father, we might be tempted to read these two verses toward the end of this epistle and think that there's not much here, but oh, there is so much here. There's so much in all of your word. And so take these truths, these principles, these commands, these precepts from your word and apply them to our hearts today that you might receive the honor and glory and that we might grow in grace and in the knowledge of your will. For we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.