But we've been looking at the area of a pastor for many reasons. One, I believe, obviously, in just studying it, the benefit it would be, as the Lord speaks to my heart, and Brother Solis shared these things, that we would be the pastor that God would want us to be. And, you know, have you ever sat in church and thought someone's preaching at you? How would you like to be me and Brother Salida last month, right? I am preaching at us. That's the only people I'm preaching at right now. But another good reason we're doing that is because obviously should the church need to find another pastor in the days ahead, that the church understand biblically the responsibilities, the role, the qualifications of the pastor. It's vital. I don't care how great a church people may have, you are one wrong person behind the pulpit away from losing everything. And it's important that we understand biblically what a pastor is and his responsibilities, how he becomes a pastor, what the church's responsibilities are, how that man is qualified. We've been looking at different things about the pastor, and we have been here about a week and a half on the marks of a pastor. This is kind of where we left off, and I made all new sheets for everybody to start off right where we are tonight. but the marks of a pastor. In dreaming, I would love to get through all this tonight, but we'll see how that goes. We looked at some scriptural qualifications and looked through Timothy and Titus. Then we looked at some spiritual qualifications. And then we're going to look tonight at some service qualifications. Now again, I said this last week, so we'll see if we remember. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 real quick. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And in verse number 31, 1 Corinthians 12 and verse number 31 says this, but covet earnestly the best gifts and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. Chapter 13, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understanding all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." We made this statement, it's kind of where we left off. What is it that church members are looking for the most in their pastors? And the answer to that was? love, right? You don't have to sound depressed when you say it, right? Love, right? We're all sick of Valentine's Day, that's what it is, right? We're so tired of this. 75% off, that's all we look at, right? Reesey eggs, 75% off, that's awesome, right? But what is it that they're looking for? And that, of course, is love. made the statement when God's people know in their hearts that their pastor loves them and they'll follow him just about anywhere and he'll be able to reprove, rebuke, and exhort them without fear or hesitation. You know, in this passage of scripture we just read, somebody can be a great orator, someone can have a whole lot of gifts, but if they do all those things without love in their heart, it's useless. Love's important. It's one of the best gifts, as we just read. It's something that your pastor needs to have and ought to have, and you ought to know that he loves you. And now we need to describe that love, alright? Because the world portrays one picture of love, and what real love is, alright? What does it mean to love your people? We can use Christ's example, but I'll just give you a couple things real quick. Number one, love means losing. A pastor will lose his life for the sake of others. Now again, we're using the Lord Jesus Christ as the example, and the first pastor of the first church there, but a pastor will lose his life for the sake of others. And I'm not necessarily meaning going and dying, though if that need be, I would hope I would be willing to do that. But I'm just saying being willing to invest in the lives of others. Being a self-giving love requires the personal sacrifice of a pastor's time and tears. and treasure, just willing to give himself, to lose what he has for the sake of the ministry. And I think we'll balance that before we get done with tonight. I don't mean, and Melissa and I mean this, and hopefully we'll get to it tonight, I don't think a pastor needs to throw away his family just to pastor a church. That's wrong. I don't think a pastor ought to throw away his health to pastor a church. I don't think a pastor ought to throw away, you know, but he ought to be willing to give himself. Be willing, and the way to show that love is that he's willing to invest in others, give to others his time if they call. They'll go, but it means losing. Loving also means liking. Now, you know, you might get mad at this, but it's just a fact. At some point, every pastor has to deal with a person who is obnoxious. and gets on his nerves. Someone who is stiff-necked and rebellious. I'm thankful that's not here, amen? But some pastors have to deal with that, all right? People that, honestly, I know a pastor that deals with this every week. He's talked to me about it a couple times, that no matter what he preaches on, there's a man in his church who gets up afterwards, walks straight up to him, and tries to argue points that he made. Every sermon. Now, it's hard to love that man. It's hard when anytime you have an idea, he wants to have a better idea. It's hard to love that man. It's hard when you preach and pour your heart out to people and they just look at you and say, no, it's hard to love that. You know, someone who demands time, you know, that person who, you know, they'll call you five times a day, you know, want to talk to you for an hour every time. And they, you know, when they're at church, they, you know, maybe would always want to be there. You know, I don't we could describe someone that complains a complainer. I mean everything. Oh All right, you know they walk in I don't like this. I don't like that I don't like this you preach too long. You preach too short. You preach too loud. Yeah, I can't hear you, right? You know, it's just always complaining. All right, we could throw all kinds of different examples But the fact is this probably there's always going to be around at some point and I'm thankful I really don't feel that way about anybody. All right, God knows I'm telling the truth there, right and But you know, I I do know that at times and it has been at times before that there I have been challenged To love some people you can say well, you're wicked I know all right, but it I don't care who you are. You face the same challenges All right, there's people sometimes that you have a hard time loving too. All right, don't smile at me acting like I'm wicked All right, you're the same way, but but the fact is this a pastor cannot act in the flesh But a pastor needs to let everyone know that he's ready to help them. And they're there when they need that help. So to love means to like. To love means to lose at times. Loving means lowliness. A pastor, his love is demonstrated by serving. Turn over to Matthew chapter 20 real quick. We'll see a picture of this in Christ. Most of you know this passage. Matthew chapter number 20. Matthew 20 verse number 26 Matthew 20 verse number 26 says this, But it shall not be so among you, Jesus is speaking here, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Loving means lowliness. A pastor should love his people to where he knows and understands and desires to serve his people. That respect, you know, we've talked about that and honoring a pastor, respecting a pastor, but that's something that's earned. That's something that pastors should, you know, it should be given. and just for the position, but at the same time a pastor should be someone who also earns that love and respect and honor because he wants to serve. He wants to do things for you. If you need him, he'll try to be there. They'll go out of their way to try to help people. And it should be a desire of the pastor's heart to serve. We do not believe, and I believe it's anti-Bible, when you have, and it happens in churches today, and unfortunately, a lot of Baptist churches, a pastor who thinks he's a dictator, or he's, you know, if you don't follow him, he'll kick you out, or my way or the highway. Well, it's God's way or the highway, all right? It's the Bible, that's what matters. But we don't serve man, we serve God. And a pastor ought to not be looking at himself as someone who should be followed and worshipped no matter what. A pastor should be someone who serves his people because he loves his people and his people will love him. Loving, expressing this love. How does someone express this love? Turn over to 1 John chapter number 3 real quick. 1 John chapter 3. And in verse number 18, I'm going to jump right in it, for time's sake. 1 John 3, and in verse number 18, it says, My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Expressing this love, a pastor's love is expressed by his actions. Not just heard in his words, but it should be heard in his words. You know, I think it's good. A pastor should. And I do. And I mean it. I'm not doing it for show. And I think if you've been around any time at all, you know this is a true statement. I enjoy looking at our church on Sunday nights before we leave and head out into the world and saying I love you. Because I do. And I think sometimes, because the world's rubbed us the wrong way, that we don't know how to respond sometimes when a brother or sister looks at us and says, we love you. I have to admit, sometimes I laugh at some of you. Because I'll talk to you on the phone, and I'll say, all right, I love you. And you'll be like, bye. And some of you panic. You think I'm asking you to marry me or something. I love you, and that's the truth. And you're allowed to say to brothers and sisters in Christ that you love them. That's OK to do. Love you, Brother Davis. See? It's all good, all right? All right? You know, it's a good thing to do. And you ought to tell people that you love them. You say, well, you know, I heard one guy say it one time. I told him I loved him. If it ever changes, I'll tell him, all right? I'm glad you're not like, I'm glad God's not like you, all right? God tells us every day he loves us. All you gotta do is open the Bible. All you gotta do is look around you. Constantly reminding of that love. Now, letter B, love, but letter B, the opposite of loving pastor is the hireling. You don't want a hireling standing behind your pulpit. Now, that, the opposite of loving pastor is the hireling, he sees his ministry as a job. If your pastor just looks at his ministry as a job, you're destined for some problems pretty quick. Look over in John, the book of John, chapter number 10, real quick, John chapter 10. I wish we had time to read all these scriptures, but again, I give these notes to you so you can study it with me at home. Maybe look up some of these scriptures on your own. In John chapter number 10, verse number 12, Says this, it's talking about the shepherd watching the sheep. It says, but he that is a hireling and not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is a hireling and careth not for the sheep. You know how you can tell a hireling? When the going gets rough, they leave. Whenever there's a little problem in the church, they're out of here. When someone challenges doctrine or something and they want to, maybe there's, you know, it looks like there may be some confrontation, the hireling flees. You don't want a hireling. You need a pastor who fulfills the role of a pastor who watches the sheep, watches God's sheep, and does his best to protect. A hireling will flee when the danger comes. A good illustration of a hireling is Gehazi. Remember Elisha's servant, Gehazi? Look at this real quick with me, because it's all pretty close in one passage. Turn over to 2 Kings, chapter 4. Remember, he's the joker that whenever Namin went and wanted healed from leprosy, And then he came back. He finally listened to Elisha. And Elisha, he said, I'll give you whatever you want. He wanted to give Elisha a bunch of treasures and gold. Elisha said, no, no, it's for the glory of God. And then Gehazi, as soon as he took off, Gehazi was like, I'm going to go talk to Naaman myself. And he went to go get him some money, right? He was a hireling. He saw his position as a way of getting personal gain. Look in 2 Kings 4 and in verse number 27, you'll notice this. This will be some signs of a hireling. Verse number 27, who have no time for people. And when she came to the man of God, to the hill, she caught him by the feet. But Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, let her alone, for her soul is vexed within her. And the Lord hath hid it from me and hath not told me. Gehazi, someone came to the man of God and said, wanted wisdom, wanted help. And Gehazi said, ah, get away. A hireling will have no time for people. You'll need their help and they just will never have time. Someone called me recently and asked me to do a funeral for him because their pastor just couldn't clear his schedule and couldn't go. And they knew it wasn't anything really important and it really hurt them. And that's sad. A pastor should have time for his people. 2 Kings 4.31, you see, is ineffective in spiritual work. Verse number 31, it says, And Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff upon the face of the child, but there was neither voice nor hearing. He tried to do the work of God, tried to do, you know, the spiritual work, but it was ineffective. Nothing happened. Hireling will be someone who doesn't have time for his people. Hireling will be someone who maybe is busy and looking like he's doing things, but God, there's no blessing of God upon it. Nothing is being blessed and going well in the right direction. There'll be no understanding of God's power, verse number 43 of chapter number 4. It says, And his servitor said, What should I set this before a hundred men? He said, give the people and they may eat, for thus saith the Lord, they shall eat and they shall leave thereof. He had no understanding. If you read that passage, it'll make a little bit more sense there, but he had no understanding of what God was doing, how God was working. He sees people as an opportunity for personal gain. In chapter number five, and in verse number 20 to 22, that's when all we just talked about, he Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman the Syrian, and not receiving at his hands that which he brought. But as the Lord liveth, I will run after him and take somewhat of him. He decided to use the people, and this time Naaman, for his own personal gain. That's what a hireling does. And then in verse number 25, but he went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. You know, Elisha knew what Gehazi had done. He said, Where have you been? I don't know where. He shows up for work as if nothing's wrong. I'm just throwing this at you so you'll be alert and know what to look for in a hireling. Because that's what a hireling does. No time for people, ineffective in spiritual work, no understanding of God's power, sees people as an opportunity for personal gain, and he'll just keep on showing up for work like nothing's wrong. That's a hireling. We'll look at number four now, specific qualifications. I'm literally just gonna run through these, all right? Because it's more just something that you, you know, I guess I have the ABC blocks, because we're gonna go through the alphabet. And these are just looking at specific things that you ought to see in a pastor. All right, we're not gonna look at these scriptures. I encourage you, maybe if you'd like to on your own, but we'll go A through Z real quick. A, a pastor should be appreciative. A pastor should be someone who will say thank you. A pastor should be one of the most gracious men that you'll meet. Should always be very thankful for when something's done for him or because. Letter B needs to be balanced. Needs to be balanced. Can I tell you that's something that's very difficult? It's extremely difficult. I threw some things up there just to think about. A pastor needs to study and I say that, number one, because that's what the Bible does and that's what the Bible says. You remember in the book of Acts that it became necessary for deacons because they were being pulled away from the studying and praying over God's Word. That should be number one. A pastor should be there to know the Word of God, to be able to lead and teach the people. But he has to study, there's service, there's supplication, there's speaking, just like we're doing tonight. There's a sweetheart, he needs to take care of his wife. There's the slanders and those who are always criticizing. And to be quite honest, he's got to keep his sanity. He has to every once in a while, he needs to pull away. There's a lot of things you gotta balance. And if I was alliterating just for us, I'd probably throw in there school. It's hard to balance everything. And it's important, and I think we're gonna get there tonight, that a church has an understanding of the needs of the pastor and that they watch out for him. Because a pastor can get out of balance. And a church ought to watch for that and try to help out. Letter C, compassionate. He ought to love people lost and saved. He ought to be disciplined, Luke chapter number 9. He ought to be enduring, 2 Timothy 2. He ought to be focused, letter F. He ought to be G, generous. H, honest. I, innovative. never compromising or going against God's Word, but at the same time, you know, if we can find another way to get the Gospel out that is not against the Word of God, yes. I'm all for it, man. If we can start up a, you know, a new ministry or do something and, you know, like we now, you know, put some of our messages online for shut-ins and people that are sick and people that have been had to be home. It's been a blessing to a lot of people to be able to still be able to see that and things. And I get a report every month. You'd be amazed. Just our sermons online. You know, that's a newer ministry. Just putting recordings of our sermons online. Since we've been doing that, I did about I don't know, 2008, 2009, we put them on. We're close to 200,000 downloads from the sermons now. I mean, just think about that, from all over the world. See, has it made a difference? I've got emails of people that send in emails. I'll share something with you, all right? This is just personal. You can think I'm wicked if you want, but it doesn't happen, all right? The other day, I get an email from this person in Abu Dhabi. You ever get those emails? Delete, right? But it caught my eye, because it wasn't normal, and I opened it and read the email, and they had been listening to our sermons online, and the man got right with God, and they've been listening to the sermons, they've joined a Baptist church in Abu Dhabi, and they're faithfully going, and they said, we just wanted to say thank you, and they said this, we sent you a gift through Western Union. And you're like, hmm, is it real, right? So I went down to Western Union. I never, I'm just like, I'm not ever giving any of my information, but could this be legitimate? They looked it up, it was. I was pretty cool, right? I was like, wow. But they were, you know, and I contacted, I actually believe this or not, have a friend I went to high school with, and her husband was in the Air Force, and now he's in Dubai, and they knew of the church where they go, and they actually looked him up and said, these people are really there. And it was encouraging. You know, and stopping to think, you know, I know it's a new ministry, I know it's something different, But it's working. That's a blessing. Letter J, judicious. A lot of decisions need to be made. K, kind. A pastor ought to be a gentleman. Gracious and sensitive. You ought to be kind. A pastor shouldn't have to be a jerk to be a pastor. Unfortunately, I've met some, right? How you doing? Don't ask, I hate my life. I just, okay. You ought to be kind. And when they go out in the world, the world ought to see them as being a kind person. Not the guy that's a grouch all the time, amen? That goes for all Christians. Letter L, they ought to be loyal. Pastor ought to be loyal to Jesus, obviously, to the Word, to his church, to his team, to those he's working with, to the cause of Christ. He ought to be manly. Amen. We don't want an effeminate pastor right get out of a pastor that that desires to be manly All right, it doesn't mean he's a brute. It doesn't mean he's unkind. All right, but he shouldn't be a wimp When he shakes your hand, you ought to know that he shook your hand, right? Not like a dead fish playing in your hand, right? You know, you know be a manly person Going gets tough there. They're gonna be a little try to be tougher. All right, let her in natural Pastor ought to be who they are, not somebody else. There's all kinds of great men that's been pastors and greater men than I will ever come close to being, but you know what? I'm not them. I don't need to dress like them. I don't need to cough during my sermon like them. I don't need to be like them. I need to be what God made me to be and not try to imitate whatever the newest trend is. Letter O, believe me, that goes on a lot, man. The letter O, it passed around to be observant. What do you mean observant? Some will take this as being judgmental, right? But a pastor, and understand, me and Brother Slee, every week, you just think we're smiling and looking at everybody? We are observing you, all right? Number one, we're looking for who's absent from church. We meet every Monday, all right? Who wasn't there, all right? Do we know why? What's going on, all right? And then we contact you, all right? Who's absent? We look around to see who's avoiding people. Because most people, when they're here, they get around and fellowship, but you know, that next time when you're sitting in your seat, and your head down, and everybody's shaking hands, and you're not looking to fellowship with anyone, there's something wrong. I'm not mad. No one's like, well, that person's insane. No, we know there's something wrong. We want to try to help. We begin to pray. We begin to watch. Number three, who seems to have been moved during the preaching? You know, if God begins to work on a heart and we see there's a need there, we'll begin to pray as a pastor. God, whatever's going on in their life, use your word to meet that need. Help us to be a blessing to them. We look for number four, who's not singing? Who doesn't open their Bible during the preaching? Because I got news for you, if you have no desire to sing the praises of God, and you don't care to bring a Bible or open it during church, there's something wrong in your heart. And no one's mad or anything, it's just we realize there's a need there. And as a pastor, I am responsible and give an account someday for souls. And so we look for these things to say, all right, you know, what is wrong? What can be done? We'll maybe stop and make a visit. We'll catch you and pull you aside and just have a conversation. Ask if you're doing all right, because we have to be observant. Pastor should be punctual if he makes an agreement to be somewhere and do something you should strive to do it Letter Q. You ought to be questioning another what I mean by that is constantly seeking the truth Searching the scriptures daily seeing if these things are so Letter R. You ought to be responsible follow through with what you said you do and if you fail don't blame other people. I Be responsible. Ought to be submissive. Submissive to each other, submissive to the church, submissive to the Word of God. Ought to be submissive. Ought to be letter T, teachable. As I have written here, if you have never arrived, you need to be willing to be taught. Submit to teachers and receive correction. Letter U, unmovable. A pastor should be someone who will not compromise. Letter V, a pastor should be valiant. Do not fear what God calls you to do. If it's right, it's in the book, to be willing to stand for it no matter what. Letter W, be willing, 1 Peter 5, 2. Be available, be adaptable, be approachable. I knew a pastor really well that he came in two minutes after the church service started and left during the invitation. And people never saw him. And a pastor, he ought to be someone who's approachable. A pastor ought to be someone who's available for his people. Letter X, I cheated a little bit, but exemplary in all these areas, and the Bible says in 1 Timothy 4.12, word, conversation, charity, spirit, faith, purity. But he ought to live that kind of life, we've talked about that already. Letter Y, a yoke fellow, be a team player. We're in this together. Serve the Lord together. Letter Z, ought to be zealous. zealous for the word of God, zealous in prayer, zealous for souls, zealous for good works, purity, zealous for his people. So these are the marks of a pastor. Some would say, you know, after looking, and we spent two and a half weeks looking at just the marks of a pastor, some would say, man, that's just, that's a lot too much for me. Well, if God calls you to do it, there's no greater work that could be done. It is a high office in the Lord's eyes, and so it comes with great responsibility. Luke 12 verse 48 says, For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. And to whom men have committed much of him, they will ask the more. To be a successful pastor, it will cost you everything, but the rewards are great. The Bible says, When the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. I hope you don't take this the wrong way and look at it like I'm trying to honk my own horn or lift myself up in pride in any way. My wife gave me a card not long ago, and she wrote something in the card, and it just really, and I sit there and I cried when I read it, but she just wrote in it, she said, growing up, I never understood why it was fair that a pastor would get a crown that no one else could get. And then she put semicolon, but now I do. And it's a work, but it's a great work. And if God would call one of our young men to be a pastor, I want that young man to know there's nothing greater you could ever do with your life but serve God. And if God wants you to do that, you're about to have the time of your life if you'll let God use you. I wouldn't trade anything for the life that God's given me. God is blessed. and I consider it a great privilege to serve the Lord in the office of a pastor. We looked at his marks. Now here comes a lot of practical things, like I said. His manners. His manners. You know, how should a pastor conduct himself in everyday life? So why are we studying this, right? Well, again, because, you know, I should be accountable to you. You know, it's for me as I studied it. And in the future, should the church need another pastor so we understand some of these things? Men also, so that I can look at you sometimes and say, give me a break, didn't you listen, all right? All right, here we go, ready? A pastor's clothing. How should a pastor dress? Does it really matter? Does he need a robe? You ever seen those guys in a robe, right? Or do I need a black shirt with a little white thing under my neck, right? What does the Bible say about the attire of a pastor? I mean, let's face it, most of the time, the other day, I forget when it was, about a year ago, and I came to something here at church, and I had a pair of jeans on, and the person looked at me and said, you wear jeans? Yes. I'm allowed to. I do every once in a while. I even own a pair of gym shoes. What's the Bible say about the attire of a pastor? There are principles. Letter A, how did the New Testament preachers dress? I mean, you can look at their lives, right? We do get a little picture. Basic statement is this, they wore standard clothing items. We know John the Baptist wore a cloak of camel's hair. It wasn't a soft garment. He wore a girdle, which is a belt. All right, of leather in Matthew chapter three, Peter wore sandals, also a girdle or a belt, and an inner and an outer tunic. Paul, he wore a coat, we know that, and a girdle and a garment. We know that Dorcas in the Bible made coats and garments for other believers. And so other believers and the pastors all wore basically the same thing, a cloak, they wore a cloak. They wore a girdle, they wore sandals out of their shoes, they wore an inner and an outer tunic, which was just, you know, basically the robe that they would put on over. They looked like everybody else. Now, we're gonna get into some things in a second, but they weren't wearing, my point is this, they weren't wearing stuff like that, all right? You know, you've seen the Pope. He's traveling around Mexico right now. You know, he's got an interesting outfit on. I mean, only the Pope wears those clothes. Then you see the guy with the big robe with the big crosses on it. Or you have the little fancy neck thing, alright. What they do, they're wearing things to be noticed as being clergy. We've already established this fact in our study. that clergy and laity are two things that uh... the catholics kinda came up with and uh... try try to make a hierarchy in the church and people wear certain these clothing and other religions and denominations and unfortunately even in baptist to try to make themselves seem as something you know super spiritual or something very special when that wasn't the way they dressed in the bible now let's put some principles with this Appearance tells a story. What you put on says a lot about you. Amen. When I say a painter's outfit, someone who paints for a living, if you've been around it at all, they had white pair of pants and a white shirt. That's what they wear, so they can tell what colors are colors. I never knew there was a reason until I met Brother Allen. He's like, we do this for a purpose. Oh, yeah. You know, you say, you know, different police officer, you think of a certain uniform, a fireman, the president. There are certain attires that say and speak of the position that they have. By the way, you as a believer, your attire should speak who you are. Amen. People ought to look at you and know that you're a believer. Amen. You're about as quiet as the kids were in chapel a couple months ago when I preached on that, all right? Your clothing should say that. That's why our young men should dress like young men. Their pants should not be hanging down around their knees. They should have their pants where they should be and their shirt should look decent. He ought to have a proper haircut like a man has. It's a shame for a man to have long hair. He ought to not have a bunch of piercings all over his body. He ought to look like a Christian young man whose body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. He ought to look like a manly young man. A young lady should look like young ladies. They should dress modestly in clothing that does not accentuate parts of their body. They should wear clothing that is long and flowing. They should wear clothing that honors God. Now the world don't like that, but your clothing says a lot. And like it or not, you know this is true. No matter what you wear, you know this is true. That when you see people out dressed like that as a family or as a group walking around, you instantly think, they must be Christians. It always amazes me that people say that, but then they won't do that. Hey, look at that group. They must be a bunch of Christians. And those girls are all dressed in a pair of tight pants walking around. Their clothes just said something. Like it or not, you have to agree with that. That's the truth. You see that out in the world, you know that to be the truth. And our clothing says something about us. You know, everyone, I told the kids, you know, we're all like that. And then you always make that awkward, you know, feeling inside of you. Like if your family ever been out and you see another family dressed right, and you're not sure, should I say something or not, right? You're like, you know, you both keep looking at each other like. You might as well have told the kids, you just kind of be like, I hear you, right? You know, someone of those, you know, because you both are doing it, you know, but it stands out. Well, pastor, his dress should be something that doesn't try to put him in a clergy or think that he's better than someone or a matter of pride, but he ought to dress to please the Lord. Everyone should. Clothing should always be modest. Now I'm talking about a pastor, so you can amen it because I'm talking about me and Brother Sleater tonight, all right? Our clothing should be modest and all of you should amen that, all right? The way a pastor dresses sets the tone for the congregation. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 4.12 that a pastor should be an example of the believers. Now, is it in the Bible that I have to wear a tie to church? No, it isn't in the Bible that I need to wear a tie, but I'll tell you what I do. I should dress to set the tone for when we come to the house of God. You see, if I walked in in a pair of cut jeans, and I walked in in a shirt that's all raggedy, and I walked in with an outfit that's all wrinkled and destroyed with holes in it, or I just flat look like a punk, you know what happens to the service and the spirit of the church? Everything gets lowered. Everybody just starts to say yeah big deal and everything becomes very comfortable and about the flesh and if you don't believe me then go ahead and look up on the internet all these churches that that the pastors come in and in a pair of Bermuda shorts and they sit down or a little you know a little t-shirt with a little vest on them with tattoos on them and they sit down and have a little lesson and look at the life of the people in the church house that are sitting there and It lowers everything. So a pastor should dress to set the tone about way a pastor dresses conveys authority. Now again, it's not saying that the pastor is something special, but he ought to dress in a way because he is representing in what he is speaking right here in my hand is of great importance. And I ought to dress with the fat, let's face it, if you had some big time special guest coming in, you know, be it whoever it may be, and they were about to walk into your house, or you were going to meet them, you'd dress up for the occasion. And don't look at me like you wouldn't. I mean, we talk about, and I always kind of laugh at it, you know, we're going to a wedding, well I guess I better get a suit. Well, you know, good, fine, but guess what? A pastor, one of the reasons he wears a suit is because I'm representing the word of God and I'm standing on behalf of the King of Kings and with a message to share with the church and I ought to dress a part that shows that I believe what I'm saying is from God himself as a representative of God. So the way a pastor dresses conveys authority, reinforcing the authority of God's Word in the office of a pastor. You see principles, you see practices, you ought to be neat. Now these are just, I'll zoom through these things, alright? These, you know, if you think the Lord's calling you to preach, jot these things down, because you need to remember these things. But a pastor ought to be neat, he ought to match, don't look like a dork, alright? And I'll tell you why, because you get up and try to preach or teach, And just be quite honest, and it looks like you just twirled around five times in your closet and walked out and whatever, stuck, stuck. You are a constant distraction to the people. and in it they won't listen that's why i don't wear a giant ties with you some you know uh... big fancy thing on her you know i get uh... i'd like to since that he reads right uh... they're gonna be terrible this year uh... but you know you know i i don't i don't wear that kind of stuff i don't have a christmas time santa claus going on chimney right i don't even wear things like big fishing and stuff like that i don't try to do that my ties because i don't want to sit there going that's a good point what does he have on because then you lose you miss what should be being done. And so, you wear things that are neat and matching and appropriate for the setting. A pastor should be properly groomed. You ought to have his hair that is short, off the ears, off the neck. Amen. 1 Corinthians 11, 14, it's a shame for a man to have long hair. Nature teaches that. You know, God made man with a natural hairline. And he expects man to have enough common sense to keep it where God said you should. And it's a shame to let that hair grow and be over those ears and hanging down the neck. Yet in a lot of quote-unquote churches, men are getting up as pastors with their hair in ponytails, standing there. It's a shame. I'll throw in there too, I wouldn't go pay money to go to a concert with some long-haired people singing at me either. Oh, lost you, lost you there, all right? Good hygiene, all right? Shouldn't stink. should brush his teeth every once in a while, right? But they ought to have good hygiene, all right? You know what I mean there. Pastor's conditioning. Now, I want you to follow with me on this. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians 6. We're at about 10 more minutes. 1 Corinthians 6. I will warn you next week while you're turning there, the lesson that I plan, if the Lord changes my heart, the lesson that I'm going to plan, I put together a few months ago, and it's actually a lesson that I went up and when I was asked to go up where I went to college and I taught their pastoral theology class, I taught that lesson up there while I was up there. And they recorded it. because they want to use it for the future. So future classes would have it on video to watch. They would use it in the classroom as a required thing. And when they recorded it, they forgot to turn on the microphone. So it has me in my. which does no good whatsoever. So they asked me to re-record that. So I probably will have someone who is sitting here recording it. I just ignore them, but they really would like that lesson to be available for the young men training up there. So just so you know what's going on next week when that happens. 1 Corinthians 6, verse number 19, it says, What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you? which ye have of God, and ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Pastor's conditioning. A, the physical dangers for a pastor. The two main physical dangers for a pastor is a sedentary life, which means this, he spends a lot of time sitting down. And a pastor does spend a lot of time sitting down. in the studying and praying and visiting and you know, there's a whole lot of sitting down. And then the other danger is that of overeating. Why? Well, because it's not as active as maybe some vocations. And then also everywhere he goes, every place he walks in, hey, have a piece of pie and two pieces of pie with ice cream and do this. And then, you know, and you say no, but at the same time, you can see, I promise you don't understand. Sometimes you're like, oh, no, thank you. And you see this, look, It's just like, I made this and I can't believe you're not, you know. So I'm saying that for two reasons. One, you know, understand if I say no, that it's not you, all right. And two, you know, maybe just take that in consideration so you're not upset, all right. But that is something that I have to watch, something that has to, they're dangers. They're just legitimate dangers. that a pastor has to watch for. The physical duties of the pastor. What should he do? He should diet and exercise. And a church should really encourage that and help that and be understanding if he's doing that. And don't be like, oh yeah, I saw you weren't in here at 6 a.m. in the morning. out there walking two miles or three miles, you need to get to work. Well, this is part of it, and you need to understand that too, all right? And a diet, and you know, that's a good thing. I'm excited about the direction that I've been able to go. You know, so far I've lost 40 pounds, so I'm excited about that. And still want to double that, but we're heading in the right direction. Pastor needs sufficient sleep. And some people take this as, you know, he's such a cush position, right? It's already joked about before church, right? You know, never have to do anything, right? You know, but the reality is this. Pastor's always on call. Always. Two in the morning, three in the morning, three in the afternoon, nine in the morning. At any time, the phone can ring. And the pastor will go, because he loves his people. But a pastor has to be careful to make sure he gets that sleep. Now it doesn't happen often, but I promise if I'm in the bed at noon, it's because I was at a hospital till eight in the morning, from eight at night to eight in the morning, because I would never do that. But if I am, which doesn't happen much, understand a pastor does need to rest. A pastor needs time off. In Exodus chapter 20, verse number 9, and just the fact of creation, right? God, God doesn't get tired. He's God. He's all-powerful. But in setting an example, after working six days, the seventh day, He rested. Man was not made to work seven days a week. It will eventually catch up to you. Sometimes you have to. The stress is very real, and too much of it for too long is known to affect one's health. When I first became pastor in 2004, I went up and saw my grandpa, and I said, all right. The church voted yes. And he's like, well, that's wonderful. I said, I want to know. If you can give me any advice, I want to know what it is. He sat there and thought about it. He looked at me and said, I got two things to tell you. He said, don't forget them. And I haven't. He said, number one, never help people do wrong, but always help people do right. I didn't think, I didn't really realize how awesome a statement that was until after pastoring some time. And you're confronted with so many situations where that has been such great wisdom. Never help people do wrong, but always help people do right. And then he said, the second thing is this. take a day off every week. And you have to understand, before that, since the time I graduated college, I didn't take a day off. I don't think I had hardly any at all. We were just constant, constant, constant. And I looked at him, I thought, oh, you know, I'll fall behind. And he could tell I didn't really like that council. And he told me, he said, son, I've pastored at this church now for 53 years. I know what I'm talking about. He said, you have to have time for you to get yourself in order. And now, it can't happen every week. Things happen, you know, at whatever it may be. But generally speaking, I have tried to do that. And generally speaking, I feel great. I've not really had many issues. We've gone through a lot of trials and God's got us through it. I've not been overstressed and threw my hands up and quit. And I think there's something to it. Right now, just during the school year, I take Saturdays off. I take Saturdays off because that's the only day of the week I can take off. I take it, I'm able to spend it with my family, which is vitally important. I'll be honest, if I took another day off, you could just get other people to teach classes, but I wouldn't be able to see my family if I took another day off. My kids are all at school, and I desire that time with them. And we'll get to that in a minute, too. But it's important to take a day off, if possible. Sometimes it isn't, but generally speaking, it's a good thing to do. Again, you say, well, I do this and that. Praise the Lord. I'm just saying this. It's not uncommon. And I mean this, you can follow me around this week if you like to, and next week. It is not uncommon to work 70 hours in a week, just with everything going on, especially the way our ministries are set up. That is not uncommon at all. And I need that time. I have learned to realize what I'm getting at my end, and I realize that. The other day, I asked Brother Davis, I said, can you drive the bus for this activity? I said, because I'm too tired. And I knew I was. And I didn't want in any way to put anybody at danger. Probably would have been okay, but I knew I was getting tired. And he graciously did that. But you need that time. Letter B, it's important a pastor take a vacation each year. And listen, go and be preached to. Away from his normal surroundings. Now I would love, you know, my vacation to go and preach somewhere, because I love preaching. But I need to be preached to. And it's good to get away, because if I take a week off and I stay at my house, I won't stay at my house. I'll be here, I'll be going and seeing somebody, heard something this happened or that, you have to get away. It's good a pastor has a friend. Again, wife will be the best friend, but sometimes you need someone else, because there's some things as a pastor, it's just best not to share with your wife that's going on. A mature pastor or a mature friend, Probably not a church member even. Someone where are you? Because sometimes, if you want to read Psalm 109, I'm going to preach on that in my Sunday school class Sunday, but Psalm 109, when David was stressed out, he said some things that only really him and God, he could really share with. But he was kind of at a point of breaking. It's good to have somebody. Letter D is something very controversial, sabbatical. It's a time away for health and for family. That's for a discussion later, I guess, but I do see profit in it. Not every year, not every two, but every once in a while. I remember as a teenager growing up with my grandfather, they gave him, every 10 years in his service, they gave him three months off. every 10 years. And he used that time to get away. And he always wrote a book during that time. But he just studied and just spent that time with his family. I don't know. But a lot of churches do that. And I I don't even know how I feel about it. Personal relationship, let's look at, real quick, his mutualities. All right, this should go quickly. A personal relationship, the pastor's gonna have a whole bunch of different types of relationships. First of all, his closest relationship. We'll look at these and then we'll call it quits for tonight. All right, his closest relationships. Serving the Lord requires that you have your priorities set in your life and ministry. Look in Luke chapter 14, real quick, Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14. and in verse number 26, Luke 14 and in verse number 26. Luke 14 and verse number 26 is this, if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, in his own life, also he cannot be my disciple. Now, that word hate is a relative word. Obviously, it doesn't mean to despise, all right? God's not saying, if you're gonna follow me, then you have to despise your wife and your family, all right? It's a relative term that means, basically, that there are relationships, and he's basically putting priority here. And what is that priority? Obviously, in this verse, what it's teaching is, not just for a pastor, but really for everybody, if you're gonna serve God, but your first priority must be God. It has to be the number one priority. I have a statement on a board, I don't think it's on your papers. It is not possible for human relationships to be what they should be if our relationship with Christ is not what it should be. I cannot have the right relationship with my church and my family and my wife if I do not have the right relationship with my God. A pastor has to have personal time of Bible reading, prayer, and spirit filling. One of the dangers being involved in the ministry for a pastor is that our time with God can be crowded out. That's the most awkward, ironic thing you could possibly say, but yet I know it's a great danger. that you get so busy, and it's been a challenge, and I've really had to be really careful in the last few weeks with Brother Salih not being there. The demand has gone up, a lot, lot more responsibilities, and I gotta be careful. I normally would get up about, I usually got up about 5.45 or 6, had my prayer Bible time, and then get here with my family at about 8 o'clock, Now, having to get up a lot earlier, and I set my clock for about 5.20 now, and I spend time with God, because if I'm not careful, if I didn't change that time, and it's easy to be so busy that you don't spend the time with God, and if you don't spend the time with God, you're putting yourself, your family, and your ministry in harm's way. Sometimes you have to take extraordinary measures to protect this time. You don't have to turn there, but in Matthew chapter 14, Jesus, early in the morning, went up on a mountain to spend time with God. He had to pull away from everyone. Sometimes, and more than once, and I've shared this a couple times, I have my study, or I can go in there and study and pray. Bi has got news for you sometimes. It's just too busy around here. The kids are all in the hallway. Kindergarten's doing ABCs. First and second grade's quoting verses and singing songs and all this stuff's going on. Bells are ringing. Sometimes I get in my car and I drive over and park behind Skyline and Goshen underneath a big tree. There's nothing going on. It's absolutely quiet and it's nice just to sit there and pray and read and talk to God. You need those times. His second priority, is his wife. The relationship with the wife comes before the ministry. Did you hear me on that? Before the ministry. I am a husband before I am a pastor. If you don't think that's true, well let me lose my wife and you have lost a pastor. My priority has to be with my wife. As a man, I need my wife. Ecclesiastes 9.9. She's my helpmate. She's my love. She's my lifelong companion. She's my best friend. I can confide in her. I can share my heart with her, laugh with her, cry with her. She's a sounding board. She's counsel. As the one who reverences you, and she reverences me, she is my number one cheerleader. I don't, even last week, we got in the car and headed back, and me and my wife were talking about something else after church Sunday night, and then we kinda had this little stop, no one was talking, and Grace said from the back seat, that was a good message, babe. And she was kidding, because my wife always says that in the car, every Sunday, no matter when I preach, she, well, I always get in the car, she goes, that was a good message, babe. Well, Grace said that to me, but now she probably, This is really upset I said that, but she was joking around because she knew, and I'm glad for this, she knows mom says that. And she is, she's my best cheerleader. And sometimes nobody cares, nobody likes me. I'm glad she still does. She's the keeper of my home. She needs me. She needs a husband. She's married to me, she needs me to be that husband to her. I need to be that counsel, that strength, that listening ear. I need to be that. I know a whole lot of other people have needs too, but if she needs me, I also need to be there for her too. As a pastor, I need my wife. She is a living example to other people. Her life should be an example, a godly example, and I'm thankful that she is that. She is my protection against a strange woman. Proverbs 5.15 talks about the strange woman, that who's not your wife. She is a protection. She watches out. She warns me. I remember one time she told me, she said, that lady's being way too friendly with you. I didn't understand, I was like, what? But, I'm thankful it wasn't me, but that lady eventually went off into sin with somebody else. And I'm thankful my wife was watching. Now listen, letter C, she does not need to be the church secretary, piano player, Sunday school teacher, nursery coordinator, ladies fellowship director, janitor, organizer of meals, church decorator, go on, go on, go on. She's not required to do any of those things. Everybody understand that? That's not a requirement in her life. Now, if she and the Lord, they believe that that's what she should be doing, some of those things, amen. But, you know, just keep in mind that, you know, just because it's the pastor's wife, doesn't mean she has a whole bunch of all these responsibilities. That's nowhere in the Bible. She should be an example. I believe she is, but it doesn't mean she has to do all these things. But a pastor must be given time to be with his wife. Because if a pastor loses his marriage, he's lost his ministry. His third priority is his family. Now listen real quick to this. This is where I plan to stop. I have it on the board. I don't know if it's on here. I think it's on your paper. Children who grow up in a preacher's home are privileged children. Well, hang on to me, all right? They get to grow up in the center of God's greatest work in the world. They will meet some of the finest men and women in the world. They will get to go to places, see places, and have experiences that many will not. And it's true. You're all staring at me. That's true, all right? And it's not, I'm not saying, you know, wow, you know, they are so much better than anybody else. No, I'm not saying that at all. You're about to read it, all right? But it is a privilege. right smack in the middle of the work of God I mean you know people we get to hang out with and we have guests come in they come to our house we go out deal with them spend time with them being able to hear these people talk to these people it's awesome to meet all these people you get to go places I went to Israel Greece Rome I went to Egypt I went to all kinds of places I would have never got to go to if my dad wasn't in the ministry just fact My children got to go with me when I've been asked to preach at different places, and they got to go with me and see things and experience things, and it's a privilege. You know, Ezra sitting over there, it's absolutely true, right brother? You know, growing up and that, that's a privilege, but, let's keep reading, children who grow up, children who grow up in this position in the world are also some of the most vulnerable children, as there's often an unrealistic, unfair expectation that can be placed on them. They'll face scrutiny from the church and community that other children will not. They can be in a place to get hurt more than most children. I mean, let's face it. Most people don't go home and talk bad about most of the kids' parents in this room. But sometimes a pastor gets picked apart. Not at this church, so praise the Lord, I'm glad it's not there. But in a lot of churches, and I grew up, and it happened at times too, me growing up in a preacher's home. You know, you go to church, people would have meetings about your parents. People would be standing in the foyer talking bad about your parents. That's not easy. And a child can get hurt. A child can become bitter. A child, if the parents aren't careful, because sometimes they go home and it's wrong, but sometimes they could go home and take those problems home and talk about other people in the church. And all it does is set up bitterness and bad thoughts in a child's heart. And it's not right. The importance of his children. 1 Timothy 3, 4, Titus 1, 6, a pastor should be a leader at his home. The dangers for his children are this, an inconsistent home life, In other words, getting up preaching one thing, going home and living another. Inadequate attention. So busy with everybody else that they never have time for their own children. Inordinate standards. In other words, what I mean by that is this. Now people are gonna be looking at you, make sure you do this. Or, you know, making them do things that is not biblical, but just trying to put pressure and put them in a position that's beyond reason. Improper attitudes are also dangerous for children. There's pride. The kid that says, well, I'm the preacher's kid, so you have to do what I say. If my kids ever said that, they'd have a hard time sitting down for a while. And if they've said that, come tell me. All of you are gonna come say it now. What a joke that is. But also, the opposite of that, pitiful. You know, the preacher's kid sits around, I've missed out on so much that all my other friends get to do because I'm the preacher's kid, right? Or just people. Life would be great without them, right? If you're not careful, if you do things wrong, that attitude can sink into a preacher's children. Inappropriate pressures. You know, my kid's three years old, he ought to be saved by now. They're a kid. Let God work and teach them the scriptures will make them wise to salvation. You don't push your kids into a ministry. You can ask, I say it in front of the church, in front of my own son. I've never in any way pushed my son to go into one direction in some ministry. I always tell him, you do what God tells you to do, but you be sensitive with God and do what he tells you to do. If the Lord wants him to do a ministry, amen. If the Lord doesn't, amen. I want him to be what God wants him to be. Helping his children. I just give this to you real quick. The pastor has to be their father, not just their pastor. The pastor needs to pray for his children and let them know that he prays for them. The pastor needs to love his children unconditionally. The pastor has to instruct his children and lead them. What can a church do for his children? Pray for them. I beg you to pray for my children. Because they have big targets on their back. Not by you. By the devil. The world. Just like their mom and dad has big targets on their back. I can tell you story after story after story. I just talked to a pastor the other day. He just resigned. He preached at our church about nine years ago. Good man, great work. He resigned because his son brought shame on his ministry. The devil can get in and destroy. Pray for his children. Praise them when they do right. Appreciate them. You say appreciate them, what do they do, right? You'd be surprised. A lot of times, let's just say the carpets don't get vacuumed just by anybody sometimes. We got here early tonight. I knew Brother Ezra was working. I said, we gotta get back early. I don't know what his schedule was. We may need to vacuum. I wasn't sure if it was gonna be done. And Alex and Grace were gonna be the vacuumers. Can't tell you how many times, guess what, the charity feast, They always talk friends into staying too, but guess who's going to be setting up tables with Dad? Guess who's here late when everybody else goes home? Guess who didn't get to go home after school today because we had to go do things for the church? I'm not saying poor kids. They have a great time. Daddy rewards them and takes care of them. But what I'm saying too is this, they have to do some things. And I hope they get joy in doing it. It's nice to hear somebody say, thanks for doing that every once in a while. Watch for them. And I mean this, if you see my children heading in the wrong direction, I want you to tell me immediately. If you see something in their life that's going the wrong way, I want to know. Don't be that person that says, oh, I didn't want to hurt the preacher. I want to know. I'm looking at the eyeball and tell you I want to know. I don't think you ought to judge him and put him on some pedestal that nobody else is on, but I think everybody in this church understands the difference. If someone's heading in the wrong direction and the devil's getting a foot place in their life, please tell me. Don't be that person that says 10 years from now I saw it coming. Watch for him. Encourage him. Because again, just like the wife of a pastor loses children, he'll lose his ministry. So I ask for your help there too.