REMEMBERING OUR LEADERS
[p. 558] REMEMBERING OUR LEADERS
1 Corinthians 11:1; Hebrews 13:7,8; Hebrews 13:17
This is the time for learning. There is much to be learned, and a great need for learning. There is also some ability to teach. It is also important that there should be examples from whom we may learn. The apostle Paul was an example as a leader. He enjoins us that we are to be followers of him, as he also was of Christ. And then, in Hebrews 13, we have the suggestion that leaders are to be remembered; that is to say, those who were here before us are to be remembered: “Remember your leaders”. No doubt it has reference to those who have gone to be with the Lord, or if they are still living, their past service is in mind. Then, in verse 17 it says, “Obey your leaders, and be submissive; for they watch over your souls as those that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not groaning, for this would be unprofitable for you”. The word, therefore, at this time is for the younger ones. Often, those who minister the word say that it is a word for the young, but in these scriptures the younger ones are particularly in mind, that they may learn. We can thank God for the many young men in this country who have ability to minister the truth. In this city I may say, there are a good many who are capable of serving in this way. It is of God that their spirits are to be in the service as well as their words and that the Holy Spirit may be availed of so that their ministry will influence others. We are to be influenced by what is said and the manner of those who say it.
So that the first passage I have read has in mind that the saints are to be imitators of Paul. Of course Paul has gone; centuries have elapsed since then, but his example is referred to here. The Spirit of [p. 559] God carries it down, letting us know what Paul was so that we may learn by example and by objective thought. And so it says, “Be my imitators, even as I also am of Christ”. So that our learning is to begin with divine Persons, not simply with any one of us, not even the greatest of us, such as Paul. The learning must begin from Christ: “as I also am of Christ”. But then we have this unique example in Paul, for the example is carried down through Paul from the Lord Jesus Himself. Paul learned from Christ.
Well now, as I said, it is the learning time, and that applies to every one of us here today. Presently the time will come when very bad things will be set out as doctrine, but we are to be prepared to overcome. The point is to be overcomers. Whatever may come, let us be overcomers! So that we are to learn from Paul, but through him we learn from Christ. That is what is in mind in this scripture.
Then, in Hebrews 13, we have the idea of leadership in those who have been before us. We might refer to the apostles, of course, for they have been. Paul has been, but the point is to remember our leaders. Paul was a great leader, and there have been many leaders since then. One might speak of the great servant of whom we often speak — Mr. Darby. We have learned much from him; not that any of us have seen him, but we have learned through having heard of him, and many accurate things have been said of him and of his ministry. So that the fact of an example is there for us. We may say that it is still here today as is also the example of Paul, for he enjoins that we should learn from his example. But the first thing in this passage is that we are to remember our leaders who have spoken to us the word of God. It says, “spoken to you”. It is not simply that it was spoken, but spoken to you. So that each of us is to be a learner. And not only so, but we are to consider “the issue of their conversation”. It is the issue of it, what issues out of it, what culminates from it. The leaders that have been before us have set us examples as to this; it is the kind of men they were; not only what they said, but what kind of men they were. I would like to have seen Mr. Darby, but I have learned much of his manner and ways and things that he said. One can thus speak of him in that way as one of the leaders who have spoken to us the word of God.
Further, it says, “Imitate their faith”. Now that is something specially interesting — to imitate faith. We may learn how to exercise faith as we see it in others. We may ask, What is faith? Or, What is your faith? but we are to learn what faith is and to imitate it as we see it in exercise. So that we are to “imitate their faith”. And then, further, it says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come”. We are directed to ancient things, in that sense, but things that have come within our range. And that is what is in mind, especially for the younger ones, that they may learn what to say, learn what deportment they are to have, what kind of spirit they are to display and learn how to set out the truth. They are to learn from others. We should not at all be ashamed to learn from our elder brethren. If they can set out the truth in a distinctive way, let us learn from them how to do it. We are to be teachers of one another and learners from one another. But then, we have not only the actual teaching, but the spirit of the teacher. And so the thought culminates in our Lord Jesus Christ Himself: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come”.
I have felt free to bring these thoughts before the dear brethren at this time so that we may be examples, that the young men may be learning how to do things, how to say things, and how to be things;
[p. 561] and this applies to the young women, too. The younger are to learn from the elder. There are a good many amongst us who are quite advanced in years, and the young ones do well to see what such do, and do as they do, because it is a learning time and the Spirit of God is here and will bring things to the attention of the younger.
And now, just a word as to the last scripture: “Obey your leaders”. In verse 7 it is, “Remember your leaders”, but here it is to obey your leaders. That is to say, on the one hand, we are to think before we do anything we have not done before; think of the leaders that have been before us and learn from them how to do things; and on the other hand we are to obey our leaders who are presently with us and be submissive to them. It is not that persons would rule over the faith of the brethren — surely not, far otherwise; but the word is to be submissive — to obey and be submissive, “for they watch over your souls as those that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not groaning, for this would be unprofitable for you”. So that the young people cannot afford to do unprofitable things, nor learn unprofitable things. We want to get things right, and to get the elders to know what they do. And, of course, the elders learn from those who go before; it may be those who have gone long before; it is a question of how they have done things.
Some of us were speaking on Lord’s day about the word, “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). That is, it is not simply being gathered, but being gathered together. It is a time for learning as together, not simply that we all come into the meeting room at a given time, but we are to be together in the spirit of what that means. It enters into the way we open the door and come into the room and hang up our [p. 562] hats and sit down; it is the spirit in which we do things, and the example we pass on to others.
Well, that is pretty much what I have to say, dear brethren; that we all may be learners, and especially the younger from the elder, in spirit and in manner, so that things are carried on and passed down to others. The things to be learned are amongst us. They have been set out in the Lord Jesus Himself: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come”. There is no change in Him.