Who Do You Think You Are?

Take your Bibles and let's turn to Numbers 12. Numbers chapter 12. Let's pray. Let's pray. Father, we come to you now with our hearts opened and ready to listen to you speak to us in your word. You've told us that this is not merely the words of men, but you used men to record your word, that you are the one who breathed these out for our profit. would you help us then now to listen carefully and to do what it says father i pray that there's any way i have misinterpreted or misunderstood and misspeak any of this that that that would fall on deaf ears nothing would come of it but i pray father that which is yours would find residence in our hearts and move us to change.

Thank you now for your word. In Jesus' name, amen. You know, as Americans, we have made a virtue of something that probably isn't a good thing. We have made a virtue of rebellion. part of our American DNA is all about I got rights and you can't tell me what to do and if you try to trample on me you won't get away with it rebellion is just in our hearts and it's exacerbated it's it's made worse by the fact that that frankly we're Americans and and sadly some of that American and independent, rebellious way of thinking has made its way into the church.

And we have this distrust of authority. We have this always this tiny bit of suspicion that someone in authority is trying to pull something over on us. And sadly again I say that has infiltrated too much into the church Now as we look at Numbers chapter 12 we going to see what God says about spiritual leadership and what happens when you rebel against that leadership Already, you Americans out there, already you're thinking, I know, I know it's going through your head, right?

In the back of your mind is still, so is he saying that we have to accept everything that our spiritual leaders tell us without questioning it? already that's in your mind. I know it. See? We'll get to that. But let's see what God has to say here about spiritual leadership and what happens when rebellion rears its ugly head. Numbers chapter 12.

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also? And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.

And the three of them came out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both came forward and he said, hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make myself known to him in a vision. I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses.

He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth clearly, and not in riddles. And he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed. When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous like snow. and Aaron turned toward Miriam and behold she was leprous and Aaron said to Moses oh my lord do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned let her not be as one dead whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother womb and Moses cried to the Lord oh God please heal her please but the Lord said to Moses if her father had but spit in her face should she not be shamed seven days Let her be shut outside the camp seven days and after that she may be brought in again.

So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. After that the people set out from Hazaroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran. there's the story Moses had married another woman quite possibly Zipporah his first wife had died this is seized upon by his brother and sister Cushite would be someone who's from the east of Egypt probably a a black woman and they began to complain they began to complain and say has the Lord only spoken through him hasn't he also spoken through us he's not only spoken to Moses and thereby beginning to undercut his authority Moses didn't make any issue of it he's a meek man which by the way I think that verse by the spirit of God was an editorial comment that was written sometime soon after this was written I don't think Moses says claims for himself he's the meekest man in the world that'd be self-contradictory, wouldn't it? Someone else added that.

I believe under the Spirit's direction. Nevertheless, Moses did not make an issue of it because he is a meek man, and God calls for hearing at the tabernacle. As the three go into the court and they stand, the great pillar of cloud descends, and from it a voice says, Aaron, Miriam, I want you to step forward. And they do. the voice then clearly speaks to them of the obvious signs that God has given as tokens of Moses' authority and as Yahuwah ascends his anger obvious in his voice Miriam breaks out into white scales called leprosy Aaron cries out in confession and concern pleading with Moses to intercede with God on her behalf I believe his conscience is so stricken that because of his sin that he doesn't think he has any place to intercede for his sister.

And so Moses does. And Miriam is healed but she has to stay outside the camp for seven days before she allowed back into the people of God community God does not allow grumbling against those he has chosen to lead his people So let's talk about that. Let's look at what we can learn from this chapter from numbers as we continue our little mini-series in this book of not boring numbers but rather some interesting stories.

First, we have to understand what kind of leadership God's talking about here. God invests authority in men of evident character. Now notice in verse 3, Moses is a humble leader. And when you read the story of Moses, you do see his humility. He's never one who's stomping his foot and saying to the people, listen to me, I am the boss. Don't you get it?

God made me the lead guy here would you start getting in line you never read that about Moses certainly as we saw last week he gets discouraged certainly that happens but he's never the kind of guy that insists that everybody listen to him because he's the boss he is a humble leader notice that God was not moved by any complaint from Moses Moses didn't say anything what does it say he says the lord heard it wasn't like moses went scurrying off to god and saying those people my brother and my sister would you please deal with them they're not listening to me right he doesn't do that moses seems to have submitted in silence to this indignity he was not after making a reputation for himself he is long-suffering he does not retaliate he does not say, Lord, show them who's the boss here, would you? You don't see any record of that. What you see is a leader who is humble, a leader that the kind that God looks for, leaders who are humble, who are more concerned with the well-being of God's people than their own interests, their own ambitions, their own reputation.

He's looking for men that are like Jesus. now God gives tokens of leadership so that God's people can recognize God's leader you see that in verses four through eight as God talks to them about the the things that are true of Moses it's not true of them right he says look you got prophets in fact Miriam in Exodus 15, is identified as a prophetess, as one who gets a word from God. But notice what God says here. And suddenly the Lord said to Moses, verse 4, to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, come out, you three to the tent of meeting.

Three of them came out. And the Lord came down a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make myself known to him in a vision. I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses.

He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth clearly and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then are you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? He says, look, Moses isn't like a normal prophet. Has the Lord only, you say, has the Lord only spoken through Moses? No, he hasn't just spoken through Moses.

But I'll tell you what, I've entrusted more to Him than to anyone else. When I talk to Him, I don't give Him a vision. I don't give Him something to interpret. I talk to Him straight, face to face. He's seen my form. He's seen the glory of the Lord.

He has seen things none of you have seen. I've entrusted Him not just with messages from me. I've entrusted Him with the whole house of Israel. No. You knew all that. You saw those special tokens of authority, and yet you were not afraid to speak against him.

God had obviously gifted him with these special tokens of his authority, so there would be no doubt that he was the one who was to lead. Now, God does the same thing today with those who would lead his people. There are tokens, there are signs that show that they ought to exercise authority among the people of God. Let's look at that just for a moment.

Look at 1 Timothy for a moment. Again, we're all familiar with this. but we need to be reminded. By the way, some of you have been complaining that the sermons from this pulpit have been horribly convicting and I need to leave you alone. And my only response to that is, sorry, it's not me. And I want to be careful here. I want to be really, really careful here.

I think, knowing this congregation as I do, I don think many of you are going to walk out of here just licking your wounds as if you these horrible rebellious people okay So maybe this will be a break for you but if you are a rebellious person I just hope God just leans on you okay 1 Timothy 3, verse 1, the saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, New Testament, these are the men, overseer, elder, pastor, these terms are used of those who are to lead the flock of God. He desires a noble task, therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife or a one-woman man, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive, for someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

We could go on with the second tier leadership, the deacons and the deaconesses and so forth. All these particular qualifications are laid out. In Titus chapter 1, many of the same things are mentioned. in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 4 through 8 which we heard in our New Testament reading you hear of those who are gentle with God's people yet speak with authority are not afraid to speak with authority in Acts chapter 20 the apostle Paul talking to the elders says you know how I was I went house to house I spoke publicly I came alongside you I shepherded you along I persevered and I protected God's flock all those are true second second Timothy chapter 2 the leader has to be one who can correct without quarreling he can't be a someone who fights and quarrels all the time but by dependence upon God seek to convince those who are opposed now look here's something we need to think about and that you need to keep in mind when we vote for elders here we are not electing someone to office I think sometimes that's a misconception We not doing like Americans do and voting to put someone into office What that is supposed to do is to see do you recognize in those who have been proposed as your leaders do you recognize the tokens of God work in their lives Do you see God hand on them in their character you see It's not electing someone to office.

It's determining whether or not everyone can see those characteristics. That's why our nomination process sometimes gets a little tedious. checking off every quality signing the the nomination papers the point is not that we're wanting to elect someone to office the the point is do you see the tokens of god's appointment to leadership in this person you see and so god gives tokens character tokens It's things that are necessary. By the way, do you notice that the only skill requirement for an elder is just one, and that's able to teach?

Well, there are two, and Titus is able to refute those who don't believe. So all the rest are character. It's all about character. It's God's hand on this person. so authority over God's people is entrusted to those who have particular characteristics qualities Moses had the tokens of God's hand upon him your leaders ought to have the same ought to have tokens of God's work in their lives as well now someone might say what is this authority business what is this authority business God invests authority in men of particular character what do you mean by authority what is that all about look at Hebrews 13 17 Hebrews 13 17 is a verse I never heard growing up never I've never heard any reference to it I never heard any sermons on it I remember sometime and this says something about my high school reading habits as well but I think it was about college when I first was brought face to face with this Hebrews 13 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.

There is real authority invested. You are told to obey, and if that's not enough, to submit to those whom God has placed over you. You know what I was taught? In typical American fashion here what I was taught Oh no no no I mean the flow chart in the church that I grew up with had authority congregation and under them pastors That's what I grew up with.

Right? That's not what I read in the Bible here. That's not what I read. That's wonderful American constitutionalism. Institutionalism, it's not real good kingdom of God kind of leadership. It says to submit.

It says to obey. You might ask, what kind of authority is that? And that's a legitimate question. That's a good question. What kind of authority? It's not like Moses' authority where we can come off of the mountain and make infallible pronouncements to you.

Here's what God says. Now do it. And Moses could say, look, I got these tablets. They're right there, okay? I'm telling you, do that. I'm telling you what God's told me.

But like Moses, it is an authority exercised for the good of God's people. It has to be an authority exercised for the good of God's people. One of the most telling verses about this is found in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 1 listen to how the apostle Paul speaks about his authority as an apostle he says this for I feel a divine jealousy for you since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ wow that should be the heart of every shepherd of God's flock that when Jesus returns we will be able to say to the Lord Jesus we protected your bride she's pure Okay?

He says, I have this divine jealousy. I want your purity so I can give you to Jesus when he shows up as pure. How do you achieve that goal? It's exercised by ministering the word of God. It's not exercised by making pronouncements. It's exercised by ministering the word of God.

I think it was probably within the first year of ministry here. that Colossians 129 just hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm sorry, Colossians 128 hit me like a ton of bricks. And this has been, for me, the job description that God has given me as one of the shepherds here. In those days, the only shepherd. But the shepherd, what he gave me as my goal, it is this.

We proclaim him. Who is that? It's Jesus. We make it a habit of talking about Jesus. we proclaim Jesus admonishing, that's the term for counseling, for face-to-face ministry, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. When I get into this pulpit, or when Greg is preaching or teaching, and Dan is teaching to his flock, and whatever we're doing to minister the Word of God, here is what God tells us is our goal. every time I get into this pulpit, I want to speak to you in such a way that you will hear the Word of God, you will change, so that you'll be able to give a good account of yourself to Jesus when you stand before Him.

Whenever I open the Word of God to God's people, that's always in my head. I've got to minister in such a way that you'll be able to give a good account. So this isn't time for fooling around. It's not a time for jokes and stories. it's not even a time to be academic it's a time to minister in such a way that it hits you where you're living so that you will change and be able to give a good account that's the kind of authority that the shepherds have why do they have that kind of authority why look at Acts chapter 20 verse 28 Acts 20 verse 28 the apostle Paul by the way if you really really want to see what it means to shepherd the flock of God.

Acts 20 is the place to go as the Apostle Paul is saying goodbye to his friends in Ephesus, the elders, the shepherds of that church. And he says to them in the closing words of his sermon to them, Acts 20, 28, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers By the way note that it the Holy Spirit that makes you overseers To care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood That is a verse that ought to shake us to the very roots. Because it says, Jesus bought you with his blood. and I left you in charge to take care of that group of people that I bought at such a tremendous price that's your job you take care of them you take care of God's blood bought sheep why do we exercise that kind of authority because Jesus shed his blood Jesus claimed sinners he came and he shed his blood to pay for their sins and to buy them to be his own possession.

You belong to him. And so therefore he gives you shepherds to take care of you because you belong to him. That's a solemn responsibility. He's left shepherds behind to work and to take care of his prized possession. Do you see then as with Moses, God puts over you men who have proven evident character. It's up to you to recognize it, by the way.

If you don't recognize it, then you need to say something or you need to make that known. But God invests authority in men of proven, evident character, men of humility who care for the welfare of God's people. But also in Numbers 12, you see that God warns you of improper opposition to your leaders. God warns you against improper opposition to your leaders all right watch carefully how grumbling how complaining and opposition play out what's fascinating about this again is the fact that the more we change the more we remain the same what I mean by that is when I read what goes on in the scriptures here, it plays out on the stage of the 21st century.

The more things change, the more they remain the same. You know why? Because we're still working with the same material. That is people, right? And so I see this played out, this very opposition, this attack is played out all the time even today And this is a very relevant passage to teach us that there is this improper rebellion against God leaders that we have to be warned against For one, that opposition often flows from wicked motives.

Why did Aaron and Miriam bring this accusation against Moses? all both of them already had positions of honor Aaron is the high priest and Miriam as I mentioned earlier in Exodus 15 is identified as one of God's spokespersons right she is a prophetess God speaks through her she was held in high esteem because of her position you can see that because when she's outside the camp, they don't move. For the seven days she's outside the camp, they stick around. They're not going to move.

They're not going to make her follow way out there behind the camp. They're going to wait for her. All right? They both have positions of high honor. But they are not satisfied with the roles that God has assigned them. They were motivated by ambition and jealousy. again again note the alternative reality the desire for something we don't have is what drives our complaining the same motive drives people today there is a spirit of rebellion a spirit of independence a you don't have the right to tell me anything kind of an attitude that motivates many today there is dissatisfaction with the roles that God has assigned whatever it may be improper desires again let me say again desires are behind all sin and they're behind these attacks on god's delegated authority to moses that desire leads to an attack has the lord only spoken through moses right undercutting his authority?

First of all, it's an attack on the authority that God has given. It's an attack on the authority that God has given. Did they approach Moses privately and say, Moses do you think it wise to marry this woman No The attack was centered on his very position It was an attempt to undercut his authority So that the first thing It's an attack on authority.

Second thing to notice is that, listen, the attack on authority often uses a trivial matter or incident. it's not a full front it's usually not a full front attack it uses other means to get there were they really concerned about moses marriage arrangements was that really what bothered them evidently it wasn't because they say has the lord only spoken through moses now listen there's a common misconception that the israelites were only allowed to marry those within Israelite community, and that's not true. They were forbidden to marry anybody from Canaan. They were off limits.

The Canaanite women were off limits, and men. It was not wrong for him to marry a Cushite woman. They don't have any grounds here for this complaint, All right. Now, how do you see that? I know of a church several years ago called the pastor. Very familiar with this church.

They called a new pastor. And right away, the pastor got off on the wrong foot. He did some things that they weren't used to. Right. And some people got really ticked off about that. and pretty soon there was this whole group of people that were against that pastor they were against him now he was not taking them in any wrong direction in fact i would say he was a breath of fresh air he was taking them in much more biblical direction they'd ever been before and so the attack was launched but do you think they got up and said our pastor is being unbiblical you know what they said things like this do you know what our pastor does he puts his hat on in the foyer before he gets to the door he doesn't wait until he's outside before he puts his hat on Right?

You know, he uses the credit card in the wrong way. okay so just tell them hey look there's a procedure for using that okay but no another friend of mine a minister in a church very faithfully a great shepherd for seven years in a church and while he was there uncovered these incredible instances of immorality and perversion and he led the church in dealing with those things in a very biblical way. Discipline was exercised. Repentance was called for.

It was no longer covered up. It was uncovered. And they dealt with those. And for seven years, he led faithfully. And then at one point, his leadership started saying, we don't want to do this anymore. This is too painful.

Right? Well, guess what happened? Suddenly, suddenly, you know, your wife is unfriendly. Someone stopped to talk to her the other day, and she wouldn't even come out and stand on the porch and talk to him. And you, you don't visit me as much as you should. And in fact, you visit unsaved people too much.

Right? The attack was all about, we don't want you, we don't want your authority, we don't want to hear what you have to say, but the attack is never frontal, it always comes in the back door. You follow? And that's what's happening here. You see that played out all the time. The attack also uses grumbling and complaining, talking to everyone else.

Who do you think they're talking to? Do you think they're just standing in their tents and shouting this thing? No, they're talking to other people about this. Hey, what do you think? Do you think that God's only spoken through Moses, right? Grumbling and complaining, talking to other people.

Has that ever happened to you, by the way? Sure it has. You know what that's like. now some might say by the way I think this is motivated I'm praying it's motivated by biblical thinking and not American DNA but pastor spiritual leaders are not infallible sometimes they are wrong now I wish I knew what that was I mean always remember there is a world of difference between complaining and correcting there is a world of difference between complaining and correcting complaining is all about taking you down Correcting says I love you and I want the best for you.

Right? You want to see a really, really, really good example of correcting a spiritual leader. In fact, one that had a lot of credibility, but he's making some mistakes. turn to Acts chapter 18. Acts chapter 18. Verse 24. Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus.

He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. So let's put a name on him. Let's call him Apollos MacArthur. Okay? All right? Eloquent.

He knows the Word of God. Right? He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. So evidently, he had got the information about Jesus pre-resurrection. He didn't know all that Jesus had taught, like go out and baptize in my name.

He hadn't got that far yet. But what he knew, he spoke well and he spoke accurately. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

Now, isn't that interesting? This couple took him aside. you know. Hey Apollos, hey that was a great sermon today. Look, what are you doing on Tuesday? Come on over for some brownies, okay. Let's have some coffee together.

And they sat down and they explained to him things he didn know alright They corrected him How do you correct a spiritual leader Well first of all you got to have the proper motive Do you want what best for the leader or are you after something else? You don't want to undercut his authority, but you do want to help him. Are you willing to help for the sake of others?

And then there's the proper method. They went to him privately. Do you notice that? They approached him privately. They showed him from the word of God. This wasn't about personal preference.

It was about there are some things lacking in your doctrine that you need to understand. And that could be doctrine of practice as well, not just doctrine as we think of it, but even practice from the word of God. I would suggest to you some things like go in asking questions. I always find it easier to confront if you go in asking questions because you don't know the whole story.

You say, did you, okay, did you mean to say that? What did you mean by that? Because it's entirely possible that you're misunderstanding. What did you mean by that? And you communicate biblically. Now, in that church I was talking to you about where the pastor came and, you know, He was not putting his hat on.

He was putting his hat on in the church and all this sort of thing. The habit of this group of people was, every month at the church business meeting, they would stand up and tear them to pieces. Right? Well, of course, that's the democratic way, isn't it? Right? Speak your mind.

Freedom of speech. And the point is, no. That's not how you do it. That's not how you do it. You do like Priscilla and Aquila. Right?

You say, well, what if we don't get anywhere? That's the beauty of biblical church government. There are other leaders who are equal in authority that you can go to then and make your case. Nevertheless, you use the proper method. Why be so careful about this? Why be so careful about this?

Because notice what Hebrews 13 17 said they keep watch over you as men who must give an account Do you really want And by the way he goes on to say it no advantage to you to make life hard for your leaders It just no advantage to you for that The point is, they must give an account. They must give an account for you. They have great responsibility laid on them.

You know, because of the cross of Jesus, I don't shudder anymore. But I still do think carefully about the fact that someday, and I don't know how this is going to work. I'm not exactly sure. Maybe I've got to do more study on this. But there seems to be more than one judgment. There seems to be like, okay, all you guys who are shepherds, over here.

You've got another judgment that you've got to talk to God about. All going to give an account, right? That's why you're careful. You know, I remember when I was a young guy, a seminary student, back in the days when you know everything, I was going to teach something in my Sunday school class that was not going to be the Baptist way. But I thought it was biblical.

But I went to my pastor, and I said, Pastor Markin, this is what I'm going to say unless you tell me not to. and I had a whole other Sunday school lesson waiting. If he said, no, no, I don't want you doing that, I would have to say, okay, then I won't teach that this Sunday. I'll teach this other thing. You say, well, why would you do that? You have biblical truth on your side.

Well, maybe I do. He's the one who's going to have to answer for it. He's the one who's going to have to answer to Christ for how he took care of the sheep. That's on his shoulders. It's not mine. it's on his if he's gonna shut down biblical truth he'll have to answer for that point is he's he was the one responsible you know i remember pastor good one of the guys who brought me up in biblical counseling this is kind of like a sideline okay i can't remember what the occasion was we were talking he says i'm not going to have to answer for them.

They didn't let me be their shepherd. They didn't let me be their shepherd. I won't have to answer for them. Right? Here's the point. The authority they have is to keep watch over your soul, so you want to be very careful.

Now, let me say this. As I look at this chapter, I see people who openly, blatantly go after their spiritual leader's authority, and God hates that. But it doesn't mean that they're above correction. I can look at this I can look at your faces all your faces here today and I can pick out a few who over the years of my ministry I hear a knock on my door and that person comes in and says pastor I want to talk to you about something and I thank God for the fact that they turned my course and I didn't continue down the young foolish way that I was going as men who are a little older than me in the faith would come in and talk to me and say, I not sure not just men I not sure this is right Right I appreciate that I appreciated that Here the point Judgment results when we oppose those whom God trusts with caring for his people For Aaron and Miriam, it was humiliation, leprosy, and disgrace.

For many today, it's God withholds his blessing. And the worst thing that can happen to a church is it becomes ineffective. I can't think of any worse judgment than becoming ineffective. And God will do that. God will do that if we're not careful with how we approach the leadership that he has placed over us. Now I hope that as we've looked at Numbers 12, and I think I've grabbed, I think I've understood what that's about, what Numbers 12 is about.

I hope you don't see this as a defense of Tim and Greg and Dan and all the deacons and just shut up and do what we say Okay I hope you haven heard that I hope you have not heard that What I hope you have heard is God cares for His people and He gives them people that will help them and keep watch over their souls because they love Jesus. And you can talk to them. And you can come alongside and you can say, I'm not sure that's the right way.

But be very careful about rebellious ways. Be very careful about that. God hates rebellion. God hates rebellion. God says, don't grumble against those whom God has placed before you for your good. There's much more joy and effectiveness found as we submit to those who've been given for our spiritual well-being.

Father thank you for your word Lord my earnest prayer is that self has been taken out of this equation this morning I pray, Father, that your people here would think carefully about what's said, that they would compare it to Scripture, and I pray, Father, you would give us all a sense of responsibility to those that you have placed over us. Father, help us to be joyful, submissive, humble people. Not just because it's right, but because it shows the reality of what Jesus has done.

The humble, the humble Son of God who came to serve. Help us to be like Him, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.