We're opening our Bibles this evening to Titus, the book of Titus and the first chapter, Titus chapter one. Titus, of course, one of the three pastoral epistles, the other two being first and second Timothy. Timothy is pastoring in the port city of Ephesus, a very difficult place in which to serve. Titus is on the Isle of Crete. The Isle of Crete is a beautiful island. It's rather a paradise in the Aegean embayment of the Mediterranean Sea. Long, the Isle of Crete has been connected to the Grecian culture and to the Grecian government. It is even today. But for a time, it was part, of course, of the Roman Empire, having entered into the Roman Empire about 700 BC. Philo and Josephus, two of the Jewish historians in the times of the Lord, said that this island, the Isle of Crete, was an island that abounded with Jewish wealth and abounded with Jewish influence during the times of the apostles. It's likely that the gospel came to the island of Crete after Pentecost in Acts chapter two when one who was a Cretan I was there at Pentecost and heard the gospel and brought the gospel back to this island, and from there it began to spread, and the Apostle Paul, it seems, visited there in one of his journeys. Paul was so moved by the condition of the churches on the Isle of Crete that he left Titus there to, according to verse 5, set in order the things that are wanting. It's interesting, the word left that's found there in verse 5, for this cause I left thee in Crete, means to leave on a short-term assignment. It wasn't expected that Titus would be there long-term, and so he had to hurry up about his work. And even so, the Apostle Paul is very clear and precise in the instructions that he gives to Titus as to how to improve the churches on the Isle of Crete. And two themes just jump off the page as we read this short book of Titus, this pastoral epistle. The first theme that you're going to discover is the theme of sound doctrine that begins to be initiated in chapter 1 and verse 9, holding fast the faithful word, as he might have been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Sound doctrine is a first theme, the first one introduced and one that's going to be repeated. throughout the verses that we find in the book of Titus, and the second theme grows out of the first. The second theme is the theme of good works. It begins to be introduced in chapter 2 and verse 2, where the grace of God in verse 11, that bringeth salvation at the period to all men, teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust, and live soberly, justly, and godly, godly in this present age. And so the idea of good works is being developed. Good works should always be the result of sound doctrine. Paul wanted the Christians, listen, Paul wanted the Christians, the spirit of God wanted the Christians to impact the culture of Crete. He did not want the culture of Crete to impact the Christians who made that place their home. The spirit of God is very aware and we should be as well. Evil communications will corrupt good manners. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 33. Who you hang with is who you'll become. And the word of God does not want us to go around as sheep wearing wolves clothing. There ought to be a difference in the life of the believer and it ought to be evident in everything we do. It ought to be evident, of course, in our works. Now, we're opening this evening to Titus chapter one, and often people will come to me after the service and say, Pastor, you must have been a fly on the wall in our home, because you preach right to where we are living right now. Or, thanks a lot, Pastor Phelps, you really bloodied my toes with that message. Well, this evening I'm gonna bloody my own toes, all right? Because when we come to Titus chapter one and we look at verses five to nine, we have a catalog of the characteristics which were essential to those who would be godly leaders. Godly leadership, it seems, in the mind of the Apostle Paul, by the power of the Spirit of God, is the first essential. The first essential for making a difference in the churches there in Crete. Godly leaders needed to be selected. And so we read, beginning in verse five, for this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou should have set in order the things that are wanting, and ordained elders in every city as I appointed thee. If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly, for a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre. but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. I'd like to speak this evening on these characteristics of godly leadership that are discovered in Titus chapter one. Let's ask the Lord to bless us as we look into his word. Father, give us wisdom now and help us as a church family together to want to align ourselves with expectation that these characteristics can be lived out in our generation, making room for no compromise, Lord. Help us to be very careful. And Lord, I would pray that you'd help me to bring this message with the right spirit, filled with your spirit. And Lord, for everyone in this service tonight who's both serving in pastoral ministry or who aspire to do so, may this message be crucial to who we desire to be, only by your grace and by your power, we'll thank you for it in Christ's name, amen. A little boy was seen taking a test in school. He was doing something rather unusual. He had his test in front of him, grabbed a coin out of his pocket, He flipped the coin, answered the first question. He flipped the coin, answered the second question. So it went. His teacher watched with some amusement. He had turned his page over. He turned it back over to the start. He took out the coin again. He flipped the coin and looked at the answer and made an adjustment. The teacher said, what are you doing? And he said, well, teacher, you always told us that we're supposed to check our answers. He was checking his answer. When we open our Bibles this evening to Titus chapter one, we're not in the same situation as that little boy in his class who absolutely had no idea where he was going. When it comes to pastoral leadership in the church, it's not a flip of the coin. The word of God makes very clear the kind of person who's to be serving in the local church. Godly leaders must be faultless. Verse six begins with these words, if any, be blameless. The Spirit of God gives instructions for finding and selecting local church leaders in many different portions of God's Word. In Acts 6, when the first deacons were being selected, they were to be men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. In 1 Timothy 3, if any man desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work. and then a listing of the characteristics are put in place. In 1 Timothy chapter 5, we'll find another listing of the characteristics of those who were to serve in local church leadership. In 1 Peter chapter 5, Peter writes and he says, I'm writing to the elders who I'm also an elder, feed the flock, taking the oversight, not out of necessity, but willingly, and another listing, if you will, of what kind of men ought to be serving in local church leadership. Sometimes there's confusion as believers read the New Testament with regard to the kind of leaders who are to be selected in the church. After all, the New Testament uses three primary words to refer to the one that we well know as the pastor. There is the word elder which is used here at the end of verse five. He says, set in order the things that are wanting, ordaining elders in every city. The word elder is the Greek word presbuteros. we get the word Presbyterian. It has the idea of originally being a bearded one, so I guess I don't qualify, but it has the idea of being mature and demonstrating a maturity about one's faith. But we discover also another word is being used for the same office, and hence comes some of the confusion. Look at verse seven, for a bishop must be blameless. So he's talking about ordaining elders, and now, in verse seven, he calls them bishops. The Greek word bishop is the word episkopos. We get our word episkopalian. And the word bishop means one who's an overseer, one who's a supervisor, one who serves in administrative capacity. And so in 1 Timothy 3 1, you'll read, if any man desire the office of bishop, he desires a good work. It's been said the singular distinctive of the New Testament pastor is his willingness to oversee or to superintend. Often people in our generation think of the pastor as a preacher. In fact, I've had people affectionately call me preacher. It seems you know what kind of church you're in and even the region of America that you're in by the title that you're given. If you're in a contemporary church, you're probably brother. If you're in more of a formalized or Presbyterian or Bible church, you're probably elder. If you're in an African-American church, it may be well that you're called a bishop. If you're in the north, you might be called reverend or pastor. If you're in the south, you're preacher. But the bishop is the same office as this one who's called elder. And in 1 Peter 5, as Peter writes, he interchanges three words. He says, unto the elders I write who am also an elder. Feed the flock of God. Now that's the word poimain. And poimain means shepherd. And that's a wonderful word. So the word pastor means shepherd. You can hear the word pasteur. in the word pastor. And it's a very affectionate, it's a very personal word. And so as the Apostle Paul writes to Titus, just as he writes to Timothy, he speaks about the necessity of godly leaders. And he begins with this overarching word, that he's to be blameless, if any be blameless. And he actually repeats it in verse seven. For a bishop must be blameless. The word blameless here used in the Greek language is a legal word. It's a word that speaks of one against whom there is no legal indictment. More than that, it's one against whom there would be no legal indictment. It's important that we understand that blamelessness is not sinlessness. You'll notice this evening that my wife and Chase are about two rows back from the pulpit. If I stood before you to declare my sinlessness this evening, I might be in trouble with some witnesses who are here in front of us. They live in my home. We share our lives together. They know that this pastor is not sinless. But the idea of blameless means one against whom there is no indictment. To be blameless, then, is to live so that no charge would withstand an impartial examination. There are those who would think, well, the pastor should be someone who never has an accusation. Let me tell you, if you get involved in leadership and in public ministry, you can just about guarantee that there'll be accusations that will come. The point of fact is, the Apostle Paul received many accusations against him. Some of them from legal authorities, others who, according to Philippians chapter 1, with envy and strife, wanted to make his ministry difficult. Accusations come. That doesn't mean that a person has lost the ability to be blameless. But do the accusations stick? Or when it's broken down with impartial examination, do they discover that it's senseless or foolish to make such an accusation against that one? The word picture in the Greek language is that of a garment that has no pockets or no folds that a person can lay hold on and draw someone back. There are accusations that will come. And what happens when accusations come? Go back to another pastoral epistle for just a moment. 1 Timothy 5. 1 Timothy 5. Again, he addresses the elders in verse 17. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially them that labor in the word and doctrine. We're gonna come back to that passage. For the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the laborer is worthy of his reward. Against an elder, Receive not an accusation, but, here comes the methodology, before two or three witnesses, and them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear. Yes, accusations may come. They may come against members of our pastoral staff. They may come against pastors in other churches. This is an overarching rule of how to govern oneself when accusations are being made against a pastor, a bishop, an elder. How do we govern ourselves? Don't take the accusation. Don't listen to it without two or three witnesses. Why two or three witnesses? Well, that's the Old Testament standard for finding truth in a court of law. And so witnesses are required. And when it's seen that some wrongdoing has indeed happened, The Bible gives warning here that the whole congregation needs to be informed about it. The whole congregation needs to be informed about it. The rebuke comes before all so that others may fear. Sadly, there are churches that fail on both ends of this prescription. There are some who fail because gossip and often innuendo against the pastor is received a little bit too warmly. And then on the other end, if the accusation has been received, no warning to the flock by legitimately and openly sharing what the incident was so that others could be warned often fails to happen. God's prescription for those who stand in pastoral office, that they be blameless, does not mean without sin, but it certainly is a high responsibility. And there are some who will say, Well, I don't think I've met a pastor yet who so qualifies. I love the little article that says the perfect pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes. Don't say amen now. He condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone's feelings. He works from 8 a.m. until midnight. He's also the church janitor. He's 29 years old and has 40 years experience. Of course, we all qualify here on our pastoral staff. Above all, he has to be handsome. The perfect pastor has a burning desire to work with the teenagers and spends most of his time with the senior citizens. He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to the work of the church. The perfect pastor is always in the next church over. There are no perfect pastors, but God's word requires that the pastor be blameless. One against whom there is no indictment that would stick if observed by an impartial examination. He needs to be family focused in verse six. He's the husband of one wife. He has faithful children. The husband of one wife, he speaks here of marital devotion, marital devotion, the husband of one wife. Now, there are many opinions as to what it means to be the husband of one wife. Some say, well, that means he only has one wife at a time. But such a view will not hold up to what is told to us in 1 Corinthians 7. In 1 Corinthians 7, our view of marriage is shaped and we understand that divorce is a dreadful malady. So it doesn't mean one woman at a time. Some would suggest, well, he's writing to an island nation. Perhaps they were practicing polygamy. So the husband of one wife means he can't be a polygamist. But history doesn't bear out that the island of Crete was filled with polygamists. And there's no other New Testament passage that deals with polygamy at all. So there are some who will say, well, the husband of one wife means he can't ever have been divorced. And if he's ever been divorced, he can't be remarried. And that's an interesting perspective, especially because the idea of being blameless does mean that there's no indictment made against him that can stick and be legally considered in a public forum. Divorce papers can be. And so there are those who would say we need to be careful with the matter of divorcees in ministry. Some will say, well, it means he can't remarry after the death of his first wife. But that's not what's taught, again, in other passages of the New Testament. The Bible clearly says in 1 Corinthians 7, it's better to marry than to burn. Still others say the husband of one wife means he has to be married to be qualified. But the Apostle Paul went about without a wife, and yet he was qualified to be a church planter and minister in that way. And so there's a lot of conversation about what it means to be the husband of one wife, but there ought to be at least this understanding. It has the understanding that this person represents marital fidelity. and that this person representing marital fidelity, there's no room in his life for anything that would look like pastoral promiscuity. He needs to be known to have affections for one woman. Literally, the words break down that way. He's a one-woman kind of guy. He doesn't demonstrate a roving eye. He's certainly no flirt. He's careful about his moral purity. He's loving to his wife. He's a one-woman kind of man. Take your Bibles and put a mark here in Titus and come back with me to Proverbs chapter six. Proverbs chapter six for just a moment. Proverbs chapter six. There are many debates as to what it means to be the husband of one wife. And sadly, in the generation which we're living, It seems that there are many who are becoming more and more lax on the matter of who should be pastoring in the church. Proverbs 6, verse 30, gives us a general principle that applies to all times and it applies to our times. In verse 30, men do not despise a thief if he steal to satisfy his soul when he's hungry. But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold. He shall give all the substance of his house. But whoso commiteth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding. He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get. His reproach shall not be wiped away. His reproach shall not be wiped away. Whether it be through divorce or through moral failure. The man who has found himself compromised in the home is a man who finds himself with a scar that often is never erased. And so as we come back to Titus chapter one and we ask, who will serve in the church? Well, he's dealing with the question of being a family man. His marital union is considered and his parental discipline is also considered. In verse six, Having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly. The children are to be believers, and the children are also to be behavers. Parental discipline. Having faithful children. They're literally to be in the faith. They are to be believers. They're to be professing believers. The literal understanding of this verse would be that his children have come to proclaim their faith. The ancient church council at Carthage, in meeting together, put forward this statement. Bishops, elders, and deacons shall not be ordained to office before they've made all of their own households members of the church. William Barclay, in his commentary, says Christianity begins at home. It's no virtue for any man to be so engaged in public work that he neglects his own home. All the church service in the world will not atone for neglect of a man's own family. There are some who would look at this passage and ask an appropriate question. What about when they're out of the house? It says having faithful children. Doesn't that mean like when they're under the authority of the home? I wish it were that easy. The word that's being used here is not the word for infant. It's not the word for small child. It's simply the word for one's offspring. And I think there's a case that can be made that when a child goes out of the pastor's home and enters into adulthood and makes his or her own decisions, the church ought to measure some grace in that matter. But I do think there ought to be caution that's given. And the caution that's given is this. If those children from the pastor's home seem to be following the same trajectory one after another in denying the faith, in leaving the pathway of the Lord, then there ought to be some question within the congregation with regard to the pastoral fitness for the office. He is, after all, according to God's Word, to have children who are in the faith. And more than that, they're under control. They're not accused of riot or unruly. The word riot that's used there is the same word that's found in Ephesians chapter five and verse 18, and be not drunk with wine wherein is excess. There's the word. It's the word here translated riot. It's the same word that's used in Luke chapter 15 when the prodigal son takes his inheritance and goes out and spends it all in riotous living. That unruliness, that word means to be one who is not willing to submit to authority. And so speaking of the pastor's family, there's a high bar that's being set. The young person ought to be a believer. The young person ought to be a behavior. Now I'm very sensitive when I come into this text. Remember I was gonna be stepping on my own toes? I'm the father of six. And all of our children have taken after their mother. Not in their physical appearance, but in their spiritual deportment. David, after all, said in Psalm 51, in sin did my mother conceive me. So when they get in trouble, it's obviously their mother's fault. You know I'm teasing. I expect my children to get in trouble. And I appreciate the church family who willingly lets me know when my children are stepping over lines. And I want always to have the kind of spirit that is appreciative of those who not only pray for our family, but also hold us accountable. And when being held accountable, I always want to have the spirit that says, thank you to the one who points something out and responds by honestly saying, we'll work on that. Every pastor's family will find itself having challenges from time to time. You don't judge the pastor by the challenge he faces. You judge the pastor by how he faces his challenges. And so this passage points out that the children need to be cooperating in the home, being very transparent this evening. I'm a second-generation pastor. I grew up in a pastor's home. It wasn't a perfect home, but it was a good home. I never doubted my parents' love for me. I never once heard my parents ever say two things to me. One, they never said, you better be careful, for after all, your dad's the pastor. Never. Now, I had other people in the church say that to me, but my dad and mom never did. And I'm thankful for that. They did not put an undue pressure on me as a child growing up. And they never once said, and when you grow up, you need to follow in your father's footsteps. In fact, I think they were about as shocked as I was when God called me into ministry. They prayed for that, they desired that, but there was no pressure to that end. I think the wise pastor understands that he has to exhibit enough firmness in the home that it's advisable for the child to obey. He needs to exercise enough wisdom in the home that it's natural for the child to obey. He needs to exercise enough love in the home that it's a pleasure for the child to obey. There are many pastors and many that you perhaps have met, who have been stretched so far in ministry that they've literally been stretched out of their home. John Corson makes a good observation when he says, their ministry may one day extend beyond the family, but not before it's established within the family. A faultless man, a family man, a forbearing man. In verse seven, this bishop who's blameless and the steward of God is not self-willed. And a whole series of negatives now begins. But I want you to notice the word blameless there. Again, not meaning there's no accusation. This one is a steward of God. Years ago, I had a fellow come up to me, wagging his finger at me in the foyer. He was upset about something that had happened in the church. And he said something like this, well, I know you're deacons. And I said, well, time out just a moment. I have no deacons. I don't even vote for who the deacons will be. I do that out of conscience. Acts chapter 6 says the apostle said, choose you out from among you seven men of honest report. But I'm thankful for our deacons. Our church has deacons. I don't have deacons. In fact, I don't have a church other than the church in which I serve with the rest of the congregation. There are certain words that I hope you'll never hear me say. I never say our church, our deacons. No, I say our, take that back. I never say my church, my deacons. It's not my church. I'm a steward. As a steward, that means we're overseeing something and working with something that's not our own. I try not to say my secretary or my staff. I try to always say our, to remind myself in my own heart that the work that God has given me to do here is his work, first of all, and I'm a steward in it. A bishop must be blameless, the steward of God, not self-willed, not self-willed. The word that's used here means to please oneself. without any consideration to others. Trench says, the self-willed person is one who obstinately maintains his own opinion or asserts his own rights while reckless to the rights and opinions and interests of others. Eudemus the Greek said, a self-willed person is one who lives his life with no respect for others. He's obstinate. He's filled with contempt toward others. When does this ever happen? Folks, I wish I could tell you I've never seen this happen, but I've seen this happen frequently in pastoral ministry. Often the self-will of the pastor comes to bear in times of change. When there's a matter in the church that he obstinately believes must be changed, He values nothing of the opinion of others, even the opinion of those who have been in the ministry for quite some time. And walking past their counsel, he often finds himself in great harm. It may happen on little things. Shall we or shall we not broadcast hymns on PowerPoints? Being facetious here, but there are conversations like that that have destroyed churches. Will we always use the hymnal and reference the hymnal number or not? Ooh, there's a tough one. Shall we or shall we not have? This happened early on in my ministry, a children's church ministry. My wife and I, having spent many years in children's church ministry, believed in the value of it. Seeing our own children coming along, we thought, we need to have a children's church ministry. Want to pitch the idea, if you will, to the church leadership? The thought was, no, we want to stay in a pew together with our family. I had to be sensitive to that, not walk past that as a pastor. I had to slow down. It's not, after all, my church, it's our church together. Not self-willed, not soon angry. There are two words for anger in the Greek New Testament. One means an outburst. The other means to be slowly seething like a hot pot. That's the word that's being used here. He's not a person who is slowly seething with a deep down anger that explodes from time to time. He's not soon angry. He's not given to wine. Now the focus of this admonition, of course, is on the matter of temperance with regard to alcohol. But the phrase being used here, not given to wine, is broad enough for us to understand. He's one that has no measure of intemperance. His appetites are under control. He's not overindulging, whether it be with wine or any other type of overindulgence. He's not given to wine. He's no striker. He's not given to violence. And the word here is broad enough to understand, not just with his fists. But even with his words, he's not verbally abusive. Proverbs says in chapter 20 and verse 3, it's an honor for a man to cease from strife, but every fool will be meddling. He's not given to filthy lucre, not given to filthy lucre. He's not materialistic. He's not greedy. Polybius talks about the Cretans and he says, they're so given to making gain in disgraceful acquisitive ways that among the Cretans alone of all men, no gain is counted as disgraceful. So they were covetous people. Plutarch says, they stuck to money like bees stuck to honey. Now the Bible says the pastor is not to be muzzled. He's the ox that treads the corn, but this passage says be careful. He needs to be careful not to be covetous. I remember when I was in college we were told, be careful young man when you go into ministry, don't be looking for favors and be willing always to pay whatever the charge might be, not looking for a pastoral discount. There are ways that pastors can line their pockets. And the pastor needs to be careful. I heard a story of a barber who opened up his barbershop one day and a Presbyterian minister came in and got his hair cut. The Presbyterian minister, after having finished his haircut, the barber said, oh, no charge, you're a pastor. Presbyterian left and the next morning the barber came to the barbershop to open up and there was a loaf of bread there at the door with a thank you note. He thought that's really nice. Well, a Catholic priest came that day, same deal. Oh, no charge, you're a Catholic priest. The next day he came to the door and there was a bottle of wine at the door with a thank you note. That day, a Baptist pastor sat down in the barber's chair. And the barber did the same thing. Oh, you're a pastor, no charge. Next morning, he came to the barbershop to open up. There were 30 Baptist pastors out in front of that door. We need to be admonished to be careful, not looking for discounts or advantage financially. He's a friendly man, a friendly man. Now the Apostle Paul, by the power of the Spirit of God, references some positive attributes of this person. He's a lover of hospitality, unselfish, sacrificial, and being hospitable to others. I'm so thankful that I grew up in a home where while we had little, it was always available. When I was in about third grade, I graduated from a roll-away bed to a double bed, even with a dresser. My parents had gone to the store and bought a bedroom set. This was a big deal in our home. They explained to me when they gave me the bedroom set that this was also the guest room and that I was to take care of things. And so I did. I took care of things. I can't tell you how many times in elementary school I'd go to bed at night and wake up in the morning in a different place. I was occupying the guest room and some guests had come by. My room was the room where the evangelists stayed and the missionaries stayed, and I was taught along the way, and I'm so thankful also that God gave me a wife who likes to practice hospitality. Now in the New Testament times, hospitality was necessary because the inns were rather run down, places often of ill repute, and so the pastor was one who demonstrates a love of hospitality, a lover of good men. He commends those who are doing well. He finds himself encouraged by their lives. He's sober. This means to be in control of his desires. His desires don't control him, Trent says. He has entire command over passions and desires so that they receive no further allowance than that which the law and right reason might admit and approve. He's just. In other words, he gives others their due. He seeks to be impartial. He shows respect to other men and reverence to God. There's a holiness about him. He maintains a spirit of reverent devotion, and he's temperate, again, demonstrating self-control. Finally, this passage says he's to be faithful, holding fast the faithful word as he's been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayer. Faithful to the word, Faithful to the Word. It ought to be the expectation. It ought to be the prayer. It ought to be the blessing of every New Testament believer. To not know what the pastor's opinion is, but to know what God's Word says. To come to a service where God's Word is being opened, where the focus of the attention of the congregation is God's Word. Faithful to the Word, and then faithful to the work. one who is able by sound doctrine to exhort and to convince the gainsayers," John Stott said. Expository preaching. What's expository preaching? Expository preaching is exposing the text so that the text becomes the message. by opening up the Word so that God's people can understand it. In a technical sense, an expository message finds its main points, its sub-points even, within the text that's being addressed, typically a paragraph. But by opening up that text, the hearts of believers come to understand that text as the Spirit of God enlightens their hearts. John Stott makes reference to expository preaching and says it's the most exacting discipline. Perhaps that's why it's so rare. Only those who will undertake it, only those will undertake it, rather, who are prepared to follow the example of the apostles and say, it's not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. We'll devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. The systematic preaching, says Stott, of the word is impossible without the systematic study of it. It will not be enough to skim through a few verses in a daily Bible reading, nor to study a passage only when we have to preach from it. No, we must soak ourselves in the Scriptures. We must not just study as through a microscope the linguistic minutia of a few verses, but take our telescope and scan the wide expanse of God's Word. I remember after a Sunday morning where I preached, and I made reference to when I was studying this passage this week, and there was a new believer, he'd only been saved a few weeks, who caught me at the door, and I was excited to have him come near, and he came near me, and he said, oh, Pastor Phelps, that was really interesting this morning. I've got a question, and I was really excited now. When a new believer comes with a question, that's exciting. He said, you said something really interesting in the message, and now I was flattered. I thought, wow, good. Norm was interested. He said, you said you studied for the message. You study for those? That was a humbling moment. A member of the pulpit committee wrote the following letter to a man who recommended a potential candidate for the pastor. We've not been able to find a suitable candidate for this church, though we have one promising prospect. Thank you for your suggestions. We followed up on each of them with interviews or by calling at least three references. The following is our report. Adam. Ancestry could not be confirmed, a good man but has problems with his wife. Noah, had former pastorate of 120 years with no converts except his family, prone to unrealistic building projects. Great animal lover but the last neighborhood received a flood of complaints. Moses, a modest and meek man but poor communicator, even stutters at times. Sometimes blows his stack and acts rashly at business meetings. History says he was a basket case from the beginning. David, the most promising leader of all until we discovered his immorality. Solomon, has had serious relationship problems, independently wealthy so the church could pay him less, we could take some of the pressures off. Elijah, prone to depression, collapses under pressure. John, says he's a Baptist, doesn't dress like one. Sleeps in the outdoors, has a weird diet, provokes denominational leaders. Peter, has a bad temper, Even said to have cursed on occasions, he's a loose cannon. Paul, powerful CEO type and fascinating preacher, but's been known to preach all night. Titus, too young and inexperienced. Jesus, has had popularity at times, occasionally, but once when his church grew overnight to about 5,000, he managed to offend all of them with too hard a message. Eventually, his flock dwindled down to 12 people, then finally to 11. Even the faithful finally left his team. Critics report he seldom stays in one place very long, is easily distracted by poor and sick and needy people, so he doesn't focus on ministry, spends too much time in meditation, needs to attend more of the organizational meetings without making a spectacle of himself and displaying his temper. Oh, he hangs around with sinners most of the time. Rumor has it he got crossed up with the government at one point and they buried him with accusations. He's not a quitter, however. He keeps popping up here and there. Summary, we intend to keep looking until we find the perfect pastor for our congregation. The focus of Titus chapter one is on the character of the local church leader. But other passages need to be considered as we close this evening. Take your Bibles and go with me to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter five. 1 Thessalonians chapter five. How should the congregation respond when the pastor steps on his toes? When the pastor looks in the mirror of God's word and exposes the image that God's word gives? The congregation should respond this way. 1 Thessalonians chapter five and verse 12. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. Show respect for those who are serving in pastoral ministry. Hebrews chapter 13 says, be submissive. In Hebrews 13 and verse 17 it says, obey them that have the rule over you. and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls as they who must give account in the day of judgment. And finally, if you're still open to 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 25, brethren, pray for us, pray for us. Let's stand together please as we pray. Father, this evening, we've looked at quite a catalog and quite a list. and we cry out with our spirit, no man is sufficient for this. And it's true. But Lord, thank you that for two millennia, as we await your coming, by your grace, you have allowed your spirit to work in the hearts of those who desire this good work. For if any man desire the office of bishop, he desires a good work. Thank you, Lord, for your promise that those who labor well in this work will one day receive a crown. Lord, until that day, thank you for a congregation who willingly gathers on a Sunday evening to carefully consider the characteristics of those who would serve in pastoral ministry. May we not compromise about these characteristics. And give us discernment, dear Lord, for we live in a generation of celebrity and superstar ministries where covetousness and adultery and abuse is increasing to abound. So Lord, help us with wisdom as a congregation together to pray that you'd send out more from our church young men who will serve in pastoral ministry young women who will let go of the things of the world to say yes to the call of God. Lord, find us faithful in this task. And Lord, may our congregation together, with respect and submission and godly prayer, make the ministry of God's men in this place to be a ministry that's enlarged and blessed. And we'll thank you for it, for it's in Christ's name we pray, amen. God bless you as you go this evening.