Beloved, I wouldn't be telling you anything that would be a shock to you to say that at times it appears the church has deaf ears to her Lord. As an example, I just want to read Matthew 7 15, which says this. Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Jesus says you will know them by their fruits. But there are just so many examples today of the church being undiscerning in regards to false teachers and commenting on this passage. One pastor noted, and I quote, he says, The people of God in every age must be on guard against imposters. Jesus warns that imposters disguise themselves in order to be heard, to gain trust, to find entrance into the sheepfold. They look like the shepherd, but they are more like the wolf. False teachers may appear to be genuine, but they are not. They are not in the church to feed and to protect the sheep, but to devour them. They come to satisfy their own selfish appetites. Their inward motives are in conflict with their outward appearances. For this reason, Jesus explains that we must not judge by mere appearances, but with righteous judgment. We must be alert. We're to look past appearances and judge fruits. The appetite of a wolf cannot be hidden. Materialism and greed are common characteristics of wolves. Also, their teaching will not be accord with the sound doctrine. A true shepherd will be like Christ. He will be temperate and free of the love of money. He will not teach of his own authority, but will be faithful to the word of God. And with those words, we just want to view the whole issue of identifying elders in part as keeping the wolves out of the flock, keeping the wolves from being labeled as shepherds. I've told you in the past that part of the reasons for the qualifications of an elder is so that you get mature men who are able to help others grow in maturity. And that's one of the goals of these qualifications is to identify those who can help the church mature and to grow. Part of it is also so that the church, the name of Christ is glorified in the church and the name of Christ isn't disdained because of how one of the leaders lives, that's the goal and intention. But another intention of these qualifications is to keep men who are really wolves from being identified as shepherds. A lot of harm comes when men who look like the sheep are identified as shepherds when they're really wolves. And that in part is why Paul gives us, ultimately God gives us qualifications of an elder. Before we kind of dig in and look at those more of the qualifications, I just want to read that passage of scripture to you. So if you haven't already done so, please turn to Titus chapter one. And we'll be reading from verses five to nine. For this reason, I left you in Crete that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you. Namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion, for the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable. loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. Beloved, we are to use this scripture, these passages, along with the parallel passage in 1 Timothy 3 to identify men who are qualified to be elders. And just as a quick review of things we've looked at in the past, when we go to look for a man, to look for, identify elders, what do we look for? The first thing you look for is desire. We look for men who desire that work. And we saw that from Titus 1.5, 1 Timothy 3.1, and 1 Peter 5.2. There, in 1 Titus 3.1, Paul says it is a trustworthy thing if, sorry, start over. It is a trustworthy statement if any man aspires to the office of overseer. It is a fine work he desires to do." Now, that means we're looking for the men who want to do the work, but that doesn't mean that we put a table in the back and put a sign up and say, anybody who wants to be an elder, come apply here. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about that desire. It's an internal driven desire. It's the Holy Spirit who makes a man an overseer, so we're looking for those who are already engaged. To a certain extent, they're already engaged in doing the work of a shepherd, even on a small, limited basis, because they don't have the authority of an elder yet, but they're doing what they can. They're concerned about people. They're helping people, shepherding them through issues and difficulties that they're facing. So we look for men who desire the work. We look for men who are above reproach. That's the overall category that are qualification of a man who is an elder. The word means that there's no legitimate accusations that can can be thrown at the man and therefore stick on him. So we know that leaders are often subject to false accusations. We're not talking about that. We're talking about legitimate accusations that accusations that have truth behind them. There's none of that. And what the word above reproach means is fleshed out by the remaining of the passage. First of all, we're to look for men who are above reproach in their family leadership. So a man is to be above reproach in his family leadership, or he is above reproach in his family leadership. When he is a one woman man, he's dedicated, he's loyal, he's faithful, whether he's married or not, that, that, that describes who, who he is, uh, above reproach man is, uh, is, uh, is a man who is faithfully managing his household, his household, meaning everything connected related to his house, not just the actual house, but but the management of the people that he has charge over. He leads his family, cares for them. And that management, we're told, must be done well, must be done well. In addition to that, a man is above reproach in his family leadership when he faithfully uh, manages his children. That is, he has children who are, who are faithful. He keeps them under control, uh, with all excellence, with all dignity, is what the scriptures call us. So, so, uh, he has children who are generally submissive to his leadership. The children, they were not accused of dissipation or rebellion. This is the type of man who we would, who is qualified to be a shepherd and elder. And just as a reminder, why are these family qualifications necessary? Well, we're told in 1 Timothy 3, 5, but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God? You see, men can be, it's probably true of all sinners, but particularly men can be very good compartmentalizers. So you can be really good at your business and your business can just be flying and taking off, but all the while when you go home, it's just a mess, right? So even though the guy could be a really good owner of a business and manages business very successfully, if he's not managing the home life, he should not be an elder. A man can be a very good general or a leader on the battlefield, but a disaster at home. So what we were looking for is the men who can manage the family well in a way that glorifies God with all dignity and with excellence. We're looking for men, in addition to that, who are above reproach in their character. And it is to this that we turn our attention this morning. Particularly, we're going to be looking at verse 7, the latter part. We've already looked at the first part of that, where it says that the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward. Paul uses the word elder, overseer in a synonymous way. So an overseer is the same person of an elder. It's just emphasizing a slightly different aspect of that role. So the overseer must be approached as God's steward. Remember, we talked about what a steward is, that he doesn't own it. It's not his church. He's just been handed responsibility to manage that church. And notice that there the overseer is God's steward, not the church's steward. So the ultimate ownership of this is of the church, of a local church, it's God's church, and elders are given the responsibility to manage that, and they're behold accountable as stewards to do that and to do it well. And to help identify men who, you know, are called by God to be an elder, they are identified by certain character traits. Some negative, meaning the characteristic must not be true of them, and other characteristics that must be true of them. And we're gonna look at those. So today we're just gonna really look at the ones in verse seven, and then we'll look at the ones in verse eight at a different message, the kind of positive ones. And again, like I've done before, I'm gonna try and dovetail in the qualifications that are listed in 1 Timothy 3 in this, so we get a more holistic look at the qualifications of an elder. So we need to study a man's character in order to know whether he is qualified to be an elder or not. And this kind of study isn't something like you just sit down and take a two-hour test. What I'm talking about is a life examination You know a person. You don't want to identify someone as an elder or appoint someone as an elder that you don't know. These are men that we need to know. And this kind of examination is best done in the context of life, that you've seen them when things don't go so well. How does he respond? You've seen the person when there's been someone that has been short-tempered with him. How does he respond? How does he respond when someone isn't so nice to him or mistreats him? So, as I mentioned, the list that we'll look at in verses seven and eight provide both negative and positive characteristics. and to the negative characteristics, the ones that must not characterize a man who is qualified to be an elder are ones we're going to look at today. The first one is that an elder must not be self-willed. An elder must not be self-willed. And I just want to say that as we talk about this, sometimes it's easy to think, well, I'm not an elder and I probably won't ever be an elder. And so you kind of check out. I don't want you to check out. You got to stay with me. And the reason I say that is, number one, because you guys have to help identify the elders. So you need to know what the qualifications are so you can help identify them. Secondly, all of these qualifications of an elder are basically characteristics of what it means to be holy. And I'll make the case as I go through here. So these are areas that all of us, every single Christian, is to grow in. And it's God's will that we grow in these areas. So just for example, like this first one, self-will, apply it to yourself. First and foremost, God wants you to be God driven, not self-willed, to serve others. And we'll see that as we go through this. So what does it mean to be a self-willed? Well, the adjective that's used there means, in addition to self-willed, it means stubborn or even arrogant. Stubborn or even arrogant. It's interesting that the unrighteous, that is unbelievers, and especially false teachers, are described as self-willed in 2 Peter 2.10. So the self-willed man shows himself to be an unbeliever at best. So I didn't say the self-willed man was an unbeliever. It's certainly possible for any Christian to sin and to sin even like with being self-willed. But what I'm saying is the self-willed man shows himself to be an unbeliever or shows himself to be like an unbeliever at best. It could be that the self-willed man is is a false teacher. We don't jump to those conclusions, but I'm just saying those are the things, the little caution flags that, again, you would want to raise in a man's life. And many of these characteristics that we're looking at today, they're not permanent disqualifications. So if you look at your life or a man looks at his life, he wants to be an elder. He looks at his life and he says, yeah, I'm convicted that that I'm not living my life for the glory of God. I'm not seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, but I'm living for myself. That's that's a sin that can be repented of. God can help him grow and and he could be qualified as an elder one day in the future. It's just not not right now. But understand, The self-willed man is the man who thinks too highly of himself. For example, in Philippians 2, 3 to 4, which has nothing to do with elders, but everything to do with humility that Christ offered to us, demonstrated to us. Philippians 2, 3 to 4 says, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. You see, that's it. It's the type of man, a self-willed man is just looking out basically for his own interest. One way or another, he's just looking out for himself. Whereas the man who is not self-willed is looking out for the interest of others. He is concerned about them. And in fact, he has a humility of mind to regard others as more important than himself. That's so key. Isn't that exactly how Christ came and lived the humble life, though he was Lord of lords and king of kings and had every right and authority to demand that people serve him, yet he came to serve, not to be served. Romans 12, three tells us this, but Paul says, for through the grace given to me, I say everyone among you, everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think. Everyone, everyone among you, that's all of us. We're not to think more highly of himself or ourselves than we ought to, but to think so as to have sound judgment as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. That whole command there is given in the context of spiritual gifting. That God has given every single one of his children a spiritual gift in us, and we are not to look down. That's the context of it. We're not to look down on disdain with someone else and their gifting. All of us have gifting from the Lord, and we are to consider others. We're not to think that our gift is more important than someone else's. And again, the person who is self-willed is going to elevate himself and to think his gift is more important than others. All this leads to the issue of pride. Really, the self-willed person is a person who has an issue with pride. And we know from our reading Proverbs earlier today, Proverbs 16, 1, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling. Add to that Proverbs 20, 25, 27 says, it is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glory to search out one's own glory. That is, a self-willed man is seeking his own glory, and the scripture says that's not good. This whole issue, again, was just modeled perfectly by the Lord Jesus Christ, though God of very God. He said this. I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Ultimately, we want elders, and this is another way you can pray for elders. You want elders who are concerned about doing the will of God, who are concerned about the flock and living and making decisions that are best for the flock, not necessarily best for the shepherd. Jesus again models this in his statement in John 6, 38, where he says, for I've come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me just a time and time again, Jesus said, you know, that his food is to do the will of his father who sent him. Though, again, he was perfectly, perfectly equal as a member of the Godhead of the Trinity. He had an equal status, yet he submitted his will to the father voluntarily. The whole aspect of being an other's motivated person is modeled by Paul. 1 Corinthians 9, beginning of verse 19, listen as he as he exhorts the Corinthian church, he says, for though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all so that I may win more. So the apostle, he could have come in. He wouldn't have been faithful in doing so, but he could have come in and said, I'm the apostle. You guys serve me. And he could have structured it all around and and and wanted had the Corinthian church to do things for him. But that's not how he viewed things. He viewed himself as a slave. slave to all, and this is in the context of really being in evangelism. He says, to the Jews, I became a Jew. To the Jews, I became as a Jew so that I might win Jews. To those who are under the law, as under the law, as though not being myself under the law, so that I might win those who are under the law. To those who are without the law, as without the law. though not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it." So again, the self-willed man isn't going to have that attitude. He's going to be looking for what he can get out of it. Whereas the man who is really gospel-centered, who is other-centered, who is church-centered, who is seeking the glory of Christ. He's going to be doing everything for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the Lord's Church. And this whole concept is not only passed from Jesus to Paul, we see it modeled, but also from Paul to Timothy, right? We're told in Philippians 2, Verse beginning verse 19. Just listen as Paul talks about Timothy says, but I hope in the Lord I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly Why Paul? Why do you want to send Timothy? He says so that I may be encouraged when I learn of your condition He says for I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. I That describes the type of man that we want as an elder. We need to identify someone who would be genuinely concerned for the welfare of the church. And Paul continues there talking about Timothy, talking about really the others. He says, for they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. So Timothy proved himself faithful. He proved himself that he was not a self-willed man, and Paul sent him on many different missions trips and delegated responsibilities to him because of that faithfulness. So that, again, just reiterates that an elder must not be self-willed. Next, an elder must not be quick-tempered. An elder must not be quick-tempered. The word here is an adjective meaning easily angered. It derives from the word wrath, right? The man who is self-willed will very likely also be a man who is easily angered. Many of these characteristics go together and overlap a bit and feed into one another. Commentator John Kitchen explains that the word, not quick temper, describes one who is prone toward anger. That is, anger is the natural and usual response of such an individual to stress, conflict, and disagreement. Anger is the natural and usual response of such an individual to stress, conflict and disagreement. And again, we're looking for men who are above reproaching us. You're not looking for the perfect man because you won't find one. Nobody except our Lord Jesus Christ has handled stress, conflict and disagreement without suffering temptation to anger. We are looking for men who are not quickly tempered. The man who is easily angered. Is is not qualified to be an elder because that that being quick to anger is described as foolish, sinful and displeasing to God. For example, listen to Proverbs 22, 24. Do not associate with a man given to anger or go with a hot tempered man. You're not to be with him. And the reason is because you'll become like him. Proverbs 2922, an angry man stirs up strife. A hot tempered man abounds in transgression. Transgression is another word for sin. You stay around an angry man, you're going to become like him and you're going to fall into sin like he does. Proverbs 1518, a hot tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute that describes the type of man that we want as an elder when a dispute or conflict breaks out within the church and it does because just a bunch of sinners and it does that happens in every single church. When that happens, you want the man who can come in and be slow to anger and help calm things down. Proverbs 1632 says he was slow to anger is better than the mighty and he rules the spirit than he who captures a city. That's not how our society looks at things. Our society tends to glorify that mighty warrior who is the angry man who can kind of capture a city, but God's word says something different. We need to rule, be the one who are in rule over our anger, our emotions. Proverbs 19, 11 says, a man's discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression. So if you can identify a man who is slow to anger, there's a man who has discretion. He has discernment. And all this Old Testament text flow in even to the New Testament, James chapter one, verses 20 and 21 says, tell us this, this, you know, my beloved brethren, but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. So an elder must be slow to anger, not quick-tempered. And quick-tempered could very well be related to the word peaceable, which you find in 1 Timothy 3, one of the positive qualifications we'll talk more about in another message. But here's maybe a little, we'll go on a little rabbit trail for just a minute. Why is it that God wants a man to be slow-tempered, not quick to get anger? Well, one is, Being quick to anger is foolish. We talked about it from the Proverbs, just foolish. It tends to escalate issues, make conflict worse. But there's even a more profound reason for it. And that is this. Being slow to anger is one of the key characteristics of God. It's one of the key characteristics of God. You might think of God as forgiving and you would be right. You might think of God as loving and you would be right. But did you know that God also describes himself multiple times scripture as a God who is slow to anger and this is an area where God wants his people to be like him when he says to be holy be holy commands us be holy for I am holy right the holiness just doesn't mean without sin it certainly does mean that it means so much more we are to be like him in these characteristics we call the communicable characteristics of God things that The areas where we can be like him, there's plenty of areas where we can't be like him. We'll never be like demigods, which is a good thing. There's only one God, right? And that's Yahweh, our God. But there are ways we are called to mimic and reflect the characteristics of our God. Just listen to some of these. Exodus 34, 3, sorry, 34, 6. Then the Lord passed by in front of him. So Lord, just revealing himself to Moses. The Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding and loving kindness and truth. Numbers 14, 18. The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Nehemiah nine or 17. They refused to listen and did not remember your wondrous deeds, which you have performed among them, so they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. And you did not forsake them. Do you see the connection? The whole reason that you're saved today is because God's slow to anger. He wasn't slow to anger. We'd all be judged and be done with and we'd be in we'd be in hell for eternity. That's how important it is that God is slow to anger. And he wants us to be like that. Psalm 86 15. But you, O Lord, are a merciful and gracious Here you are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth. Psalm 103 verse eight. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. Psalm 145, verse eight. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and great in loving kindness. And then in Joel chapter two, verse six, 13, rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and relenting of evil. Jonah. chapter 4 verse 2. This is when Jonah was saying when Nineveh repented, Jonah was like, I knew that was going to happen. I knew you were going to say, and listen to him. He says he prayed to the Lord and said, please, Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore, in order to forestall this, I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, Abundant, loving kindness and one who relents concerning calamity. Jonah didn't want that city to be saved. But again, he describes God as slow to anger, Nahum one three, the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. So I read all of these to help emphasize how much the Lord tells us or describes himself as slow to anger. It's not the only characteristic, but it's one we probably overlook because we're so unlike him in this area. We're so prone because of our sinfulness, the fact that we think of ourselves, we tend to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. And we tend to think of ourselves as being in control of everything, so we're very prone to get angry when others mistreat us, or when we think we're mistreated. It might just be a misunderstanding, but we think we're mistreated. Or when things don't go the way we think they should go, or the way things, you know, we planned it to go one way, and it didn't go that way, and so we tend to be quick to anger. We're not to be that way. And this whole aspect is perfectly This whole aspect of being slow to anger is perfectly modeled by our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2, in verse 19, he tells us this, but if when you do what is right and suffer for it, and you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. While being reviled, he did not revile and return. You see that while being reviled, he did not revile and return. That's slow to anger, amongst other things in there. While suffering, he uttered no threats. And here's the key. But kept us entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. That is the father, kept submitting himself to the father's will. And that is one of the keys of being slow to anger is remembering who's in control. It's not me. It's not you. It's God. And just meditating upon how he is slow to anger, how he is patient. And that tends to make us slow to anger and patient as well with him. And that same passage talks about that. that though Christ was mistreated, so he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross. So we might die to sin and live to righteousness. And in that context, he says, for by your by his wounds, you were healed. And those wounds, though, though the atonement does provide for physical healing, the context is talking about sin. Even in verse 25, he says, for you are continually straying like sheep, and now you've returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. So the whole aspect of, yes, the natural tendency of a sinful person is to be quick to be angry. But we don't have to be because Christ has provided a way where our sins can be forgiven and his power can transform us. Beloved, an elder must not be quick tempered or easily, easily angered. The third one we wanna look at this morning is that an elder must not be addicted to wine. And this characteristic is found not only in Titus, but also in 1 Timothy 3.3. And the word that is used here is a noun meaning drunkard. The word describes one who sits long at his wine. So there's the word for drunk, which is the normal word. This word is a synonym, which basically means somebody who's sitting a long time over the wine. It refers to a heavy drinker. In Titus 2.3, which we'll get to in our study of Titus eventually, tells us that older women are not to be enslaved to much wine. And a general command, believers are commanded not to get drunk with wine. Ephesians 5.18 says, do not get drunk with the wine, for that is dissipation. And rather than being controlled by that wine, or really controlled by the spirit, be filled by the spirit. Those who are drunkards are included in the list of the unrighteous, the unbelievers in 1 Corinthians 6.10, who will not inherit the kingdom of God. So amongst other sins, a drunkard will not inherit the kingdom of God. So if that's characteristic, if drunkenness is characteristic of an unbeliever who will not inherit the kingdom of God, it has no place in the life of a believer, and it has absolutely no place in the life of an elder. That kind of drunkenness disqualifies a man from being an elder. Now, beloved, I do want to say that this issue of wine is not a strict prohibition against drinking wine. So this isn't a qualification that a man can't have a sip of wine. Jesus, I guess the support for that would be that Jesus turned water into wine in John 2, 3. We know that Jesus, and Jesus did this without sin. He was without sin, and he wouldn't have caused others to sin. Jesus and the disciples likely used wine with their water, mixed it in with their water, in celebrating the Passover. One of the Passover cups, the Lord turned into a commemoration for us of the new covenant, and we celebrate that at least the first Sunday of every month. it is likely that cup contained wine. So just taking wine in and of itself is not sinful. And in fact, Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 5.23, he says, no longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. But what we need to take note of is the fact that the wine today that we have today is not like the wine of Jesus' day. And Pastor John MacArthur explains this. He says, the wine most commonly drunk in Paul's day, as well as in Old Testament times, was either non-alcoholic or had a very low alcohol content. Fermented juice was mixed with water, as much as eight or ten parts water to one part wine, to lessen its power to intoxicate, particularly when the weather was hot and much fluid was consumed. Because water was frequently contaminated as it is today in many third world countries, the slight alcohol content of common wine acted as a disinfectant and had certain other health benefits." So that's likely why Paul instructed Timothy to use wine with his water was because the issue he wasn't and the water was contaminated and was causing stomach problems for Timothy. But all that to say is that the wine that we have today is much stronger than even the wine in Jesus' day. As an example, take how we have improved, for example, marijuana production. That's a controversial topic, but it's related to the issue of drunkenness. So the marijuana of the 60s is not the marijuana of today. The marijuana of today is much more potent much more damaging, much more likely to cause mental hallucinations and mental damage than the marijuana of the 1960s. So there is just much more potent. And so in the same way, alcohol today is much more potent. All that to say is believers must be wise if we choose to imbibe in alcohol. Wine or told in Proverbs 20 verse 1 wine is a mocker strong drink a brawler. Whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise So a person who is drunk not only are they sinning but it's showing themselves to be unwise Proverbs 23 verse 20 says do not be with heavy drinkers of wine or gluttonous eaters of meat Why because you become like them is that influencing? So we also need to take stock of the fact that scriptures tell us that believers must not cause others to stumble into sin through the exercise of their liberty. So while you might have a liberty to drink wine, we need to be careful how we do that we don't tear our brother or sister in Christ down. Romans 14 verses 20 and 21 give us this instruction. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything by which your brother stumbles." So again, if drinking wine in and of itself were a sin, Paul would have not put it in this whole category, in this whole discussion about whether to eat meat, sacrifice to idols or not. Elders must think very carefully about their use of wine since they not only need to avoid drunkenness but are also set an example example for others to follow. So understand that, for example, I make a preference. I've chosen to abstain totally from alcohol with rare exceptions. If I'm at a church in Europe and they're having communion and there's they're using wine as the communion element, then I'm going to partake of that with the body of Christ. But with that rare exception, I don't drink alcohol. That's by choice because I want to set an example. I've seen drunkenness. And I don't want to encourage that in any, within the flock. So I just want to set a high road example with that area. I don't need it. So, but that is a, that I think is the high road and set an example. But I just want to say that it's not a requirement of an elder not to have any. We just need to be very careful in what we do with that. And also I want to add that the prohibition against being a drunkard should not be defined too narrowly. It would include any intoxicating drink. This isn't just about wine. It's any intoxicating drink. And for that matter, would it also include, you know, drugs as drug use as well. So it's anything that, that impairs clear thinking, anything that lowers inhibitions towards sinful actions, like being boisterous or a brawler, or those things that lower inhibitions towards a host of immoralities. Those things need to be avoided in our lives. They have no place in the life of a believer. And this prohibition against drunkenness helps us to understand drunkenness from a biblical mindset. So while not directly related to being an elder, I wanted to point out that the Bible calls drunkenness a sin and not a disease. So the sin of drunkenness can lead to medical issues. The sin of drunkenness can lead to medical issues. But understand that the whole issue of drunkenness is a sin. So our world calls it alcoholism and talks about it in that sense as more of a systemic health problem. We need to just realize that when the Bible calls something a sin, we must not ever call it anything but a sin. So like the term alcoholism implies that they can't really control it and it's a disease. All of that runs contrary to what the Bible tells us. So again, I'm not saying that there aren't medical issues related to being a drunkard. There are, and some of those run within families and make people more prone to certain sins. All that to say is the Bible calls drunkenness a sin. Why is that important? Does that seem harsh? I'm not trying to be harsh. I'm trying to be truthful and faithful to scriptures. The reason that we want to call it a sin or we need to call it a sin is for this one reason. If you call alcoholism, drunkenness, alcoholism, and say it's a disease, what hope is there? What hope? What's the world got? 10-step program or 12-step? Maybe that helps. Maybe it doesn't. You're gonna give them some other kind of drug and get them addicted to something else. What I'm saying is the world doesn't have really a solution for this. What does the Bible say about it? If the Bible calls it a sin, guess what? There's no hope. There's hope for forgiveness and a solid hope, a sure hope, and that's Christ. He'll not only forgive sins, But he removes us from those sins. You see, Christ didn't just die to forgive us our sins. He died to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So for the drunkard, you preach the gospel and tell them that there's hope. He didn't have to be a drunkard. He doesn't have self-control. But if he confesses his sins, repents of his sin, confesses Christ and trusts in Christ, there's hope for change. Christ can change that man. So all that flows out of a passage like we'll look at later in Titus 2, 11 to 14, where it says, the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness, worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds. So elders must not be addicted to wine. They must not be drunkards at all. Next, fourth, we'll see an elder must not be pugnacious. An elder must not be pugnacious. And again, this negative qualification is also listed in 1 Timothy 3.3. The word pugnacious is a noun which indicates a violent person, someone who is a bully, The pugnacious person is a bruiser, we might call him, someone who readily comes to blows. And the word that's used here means a striker. So when you think of the word pugnacious, formulate the idea of a boxer. He's a boxer, he's a fighter. Commentator John Kitchen explains that the word describes one who wants to settle disagreements by physical force. The application need not be limited to merely hitting, but to any form of physical intimidation or violence employed to win an argument, make a point, or manipulate others. So it's not, it is, it does relate to physical hitting, but it's so much more than that. It's the characteristic of that. Remember as we, one of the messages where we started talking about others, I gave you an example of how a pastor was challenging one of his leaders in the church to settle the dispute like men outside. A pastor of a church? He's disqualified, but he doesn't even know it because he hasn't read his Bible. How can you read? It's not complicated. This is where I talk about how the church at times is just deaf. to her Lord's ear, to her Lord's instructions. Her ears are deaf. Paul instructs elders in 1 Timothy 2, 24 to 26, he says, the Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome. That's not a difficult passage to interpret. He said he must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wrong, with gentleness, correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth. And they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. So we must not be quarrelsome, and with that, not a fighter. James confronts this kind of fighting attitude. He says in James 4.2, you lust and do not have, so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. So it's a whole aspect of a fighter that the Lord wants to confront. An elder must not be a fighter. And again, the whole issue of fighting isn't just the fisticuffs with your hands, it can also be done with words. As John MacArthur explains, that pugnacious can refer to verbal as well as physical fighting and quarreling. It's possible to hurt a person more deeply and permanently with cruel words than with a fist or a club. An elder should have no pardon, meanness, abusiveness, or retaliation, no matter how cruelly provoked," unquote. Elders must be an example of living peaceably for the honor of Jesus Christ and the sake of the gospel, as outlined in Romans 12. In Romans 12, talking about some of the implications of and applications of what Paul has laid out in chapters 1 through 11 of Romans. In Romans 12, he says there, beginning at verse 18, if possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head." And he ends with this, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. That's what the Lord's will is for all of us, but it's absolutely mandated for an elder. What are some positive examples? Are there any examples of this in scripture? There are scriptures filled with examples of this. Think about Joseph. When he had the opportunity to get revenge on his brothers, did he do so? No. He saw the hand of God and all the evil that his brothers did to him. And he acknowledged they did it for evil, but God intended it. God allowed it for good. Think about Stephen when he was being stoned. Was he angry that he want to fight his attackers? Did he want to attack him back? No. No, he didn't. He just says, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And he where did he where did Stephen get such an idea from our Lord when our Lord was crucified? He said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing. Our Lord showed us the way to do this. Paul, another example is when Paul was, after Paul had been beaten, right? I don't think anybody in this room has been beaten for the gospel yet. We talk about persecution, but it's looming, but I don't think anybody in this room that I know of has been actually beaten for the gospel, but Paul was. He was beaten for the gospel, thrown into jail in Philippi, into the inner jail, and not just in jail, but in stocks, very uncomfortable, and there he was singing and praising Not because he was comfortable, because he was just praising God. But then, you know the story, the Lord caused the doors to open, earthquake to happen, the stocks came off, and the jailer saw the doors open, he thought everybody escaped, what do you want to do? Philippians, I'm sorry, Acts 16 and 27 and 28. The jailer thought he, like all of them, escaped, so what is he going to do? He's gonna kill himself. And Paul said, stop. Why didn't Paul just say, yeah, he deserves it. Just let him, let him do it. No, he didn't. Was that jailer nice to Paul? Oh yeah, afterwards, but not before. Jailers aren't known for their niceness. That's why they're probably jailers. All I had to say is, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is able to make his people to be not pugnacious, not fighters, even when attacked. I'm not saying I'm not, this is not a case for pacifism. This isn't a case that many, you shouldn't protect your families. If you're, if, if they were attacked, that's, that's not what we're saying. We're just saying for the gospel sake, you're, you're, you're not prone to fight, right? You're not prone to get revenge. And that's hard. But that's what the Lord requires. An elder must not be a fighter, must not be pugnacious. Fifthly, an elder must not be fond of sordid gain. He must not be fond of sordid gain. What does sordid gain mean? It means a greedy for gain. That is the kind of gain that is shameful. It's not wrong to have money. It's not wrong to actually gain in money. But what's being prohibited here is that shameful gain, that kind of greediness for gain. So it would prohibit anyone from being an elder who has an unhealthy fixation on financial gain. Since leaders are in view, this prohibition might also apply, as John Kitchen notes, to people who bend their teaching or use their pastoral care to manipulate people. of means to give gifts to them." I wish that weren't true. But it was. You can read many accounts of it where men bend their teaching to influential people who have money and or try to manipulate them so the people who have money give them gifts. And all that is wrong. The Lord is the one who provides everything. And a pastor who is greedy is doing so for what the scripture calls filthy lucre. I think they use the King James Version. It's just filthy. It's detestable before God. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 3 that an elder must be free from the love of money, free from it. So obviously money is necessary for life. Money is a helpful tool, but it's a cruel master. And we are warned about the evils of the love of money. Ecclesiastes 5.10 says, he who loves money will not be satisfied with money. nor he who loves in abundance with its income. This too is vanity. Jesus warns us in Matthew 6, verse 24, that no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in wealth. God said you can't do it. So the reason you can't have an elder who's looking for that kind of financial gain, he's doing it for financial gain is because he's not serving God. He looks like he's serving God, but he's really just serving himself. And he's seeking after that money. That's a false teacher, beloved. That's the false teacher. The false teachers are known for going after the money. And so in this way, Paul is telling us, God is telling us that an elder must not be fond of this sordid gain. 1st Timothy 6 8 Paul goes builds on this whole concept it not just for for pastors but for all beloved he says for all of God's children he says if we have food and covering with these we shall be content but those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil." Notice he says, it's not money, it's the love of money. It's not wrong. If God gives you lots of wealth, thank God for it. He's done that for a reason, use it wisely, right? That's what scripture says, but it's that love of money that's being condemned. And in fact, he says, for the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grieves. But flee from these things, you men of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. And Paul continues to tell Timothy, I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate. that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the proper time. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to him be the honor and eternal To him be honor and eternal dominion. All that to say is a man must not be fixated on the money. God will provide what we need. But he must not be looking after that, that, that just, uh, um, kind of the, again, that shameful kind of gain where his focus is not on serving God, but on serving himself and serving money. And Paul ends that section in first Timothy six. In verse 17, he says, instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. So whether you have little, whether you have much, it's all supplied by God. Be a good steward of it. Hebrews 13 5 tells all believers to say, make sure that your character is free from the love of money. being content with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never desert you. I will never forsake you. So I know financial planners tell you to plan and have so much saved to retirement and all that's good planning. I'm not arguing against good planning, but I'm saying at the end of the day, don't be concerned about the money. Trust God. Do what you can to plan. At the end of the day, trust God. He'll supply. He's not going to leave you. He's not going to forsake you. And we're told in 1 John 2 15 to not love the world of the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. And that would include these issues of finances. But I understand the Pharisees were known or described in Luke 16 14 as those who were lovers of money. The Pharisees were lovers of money. Weren't they religious? Yeah, they were outwardly religious. But again, God calls them like whitewashed tombs. They look good on the outside, but inwardly they were full of dead man's bones. Unbelievers in second Timothy three, two are described as lovers of self and lovers of money. So an elder must demonstrate whether he has financial need or whether he has more than he needs. He must demonstrate how Christians are to live for the glory of God, not fixated on money, but just trusting God, seeking first the kingdom of God. And this adds in the passage in 1 Peter, 1 Peter 5, 2, where Peter tells elders to shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily according to the will of God and not for sordid gain. There it is again, that idea of sordid gain, that shameful gain. That is not to characterize an elder. And all these things, these negatives that we've looked at today are true to one extent or another. of all false teachers. And the one negative qualification that Titus does, or is not mentioned in Titus, that is mentioned in 1 Timothy 3, is that an elder must not be a new convert, as found in 1 Timothy 3, 6. So an elder should not be a new convert, so that he will not be conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. You know, sometimes when we think about the people in our culture who are like icons of the culture, or rock stars, or sports stars, or we think of those, and we think, oh, if they would just become a Christian, they could win so many people to Christ. And when you think that, you might think that, but don't, because so many new believers have been thrust into leadership position that should have never been there, and it leads to their downfall because of this passage, whether they're officially an elder or they're just like in an evangelist type position, being thrust by the church into concerts or whatever, it leads to their downfall because they just need the basics. They need to drop back and not have a public profile for a little while, build a good foundation in the scriptures. And if the Lord wants to use them on a broader scale, so be it. But that's after that they have a solid foundation. So elders must not be a new convert. So when we look for men whom the Holy Spirit has made overseers, has made elders to be elders over us, what sort of men are we to look for? Those who are, who desire the work, men who are above reproach, above reproach in their marital life, above reproach in their family life, who are managing their families well, and men who are above reproach in their character. They're not new converts. They're not self-will. They're not quick temper. They're not addicted to wine. They're not pugnacious. They're not fond of sordid gain. and understand, beloved, that there are times when a church identifies a man initially, everything they can tell, he looks qualified, but things appear later in the man's ministry that disqualify him from ministry, and it is one of the hardest things to do to remove a man from ministry, at least temporarily, when he's not qualified, but we must do it. So these qualifications aren't just like initial qualifications. when you earn your master divinity, you fulfill all the requirements, you get the degree, and then no matter what happens, you always have the degree, right? So being an elder is not like that. Being an elder, it's the idea of a continual pattern. Again, not perfection, but the pattern of being above reproach. And the reason is this, and this is described in Acts 28. In Acts 28, Paul tells the elders at Ephesus He says, be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Why? Why? Why do we need to be on on guard, Paul? He says, for I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you. So that's the false teachers. Of course, they're not going to be dressed as savage wolves. They're going to be dressed as as the sheep. They're just going to come in like they look like everybody else. But they're going to come in among you and they're not going to spare the flock. That is, they're they're coming after the flock. And he says this. And from among your own selves, men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. That is, from among the elders themselves, men will arise who seek to draw the church disciples away after themselves. So how are those men identified? They're identified by these characteristics. When a man either sins and disqualifies himself, perhaps temporarily, he should be removed from office. He should step down if he's being humble. If he doesn't see it, if you have to, the church needs to remove that man because he might just be a believer who's fallen into sin and he just needs some help. So we want to treat him very carefully, very kindly, very compassionately. But he could be a false teacher. And the danger, again, with the church today is the church today has just grown like deaf ears to our Lord's instructions. So many times when someone is brought in to like to be an elder, there are times where they've disqualified and yet the church refuses to remove them. And that's just so detrimental. That very thing is the reason why the word evangelical has no meaning today in society. You can be an evangelical and deny just about any of the main tenets of Christianity. Not it, not really, but that's what our culture defines it. The word evangelical, evangelical Christianity is meaningless today because people haven't guarded what it means. They haven't been willing to put people out of the label of evangelical. And beloved, it's a hard process, but it is one that we must do for the glory of our Lord to be obedient to our Lord. And that will help hold elders accountable to live the way that Lord calls us to live, but it also helps protect the church from false teachers who seek to lead it lead it astray. Ultimately, we just need to trust our Lord's wisdom and follow his leadership of his church. Let's pray together. Our Lord and our God, we just want to take your word with great seriousness. Lord, we we want to apply it. We we want to have sensitive sensitive hearts, Lord, ears that hear your word and obey it, even when it's difficult. Lord God, give us this strength and this fortitude to do your word, not just be listeners, but actually do it, apply it to our lives. Lord, these characteristics, I just ask that you would just grow these in us, Lord God. that you would help us to be not self-willed, that you would help us to not be quick-tempered and not addicted to wine, not fighters and pugnacious, and Lord, not seeking after sordid gain, that you would help us, Lord God, to be like Christ, to be faithful ambassadors of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. Help us to shine like lights in a dark world, Lord, knowing that the light that shines within us is not our own, but that of Christ. Oh Lord, do your work in our midst, build your church and draw sinners to yourself, Lord God, redeem them and save them. We just want to praise and exalt you and thank you for your work among us. It's the name of Jesus we pray, amen. Thanks for listening to Pastor Mark Rice from Medina Bible Church in Medina, Ohio. You can find church information, Mark's complete sermon library, and other helpful materials at MedinaBible.org. This message is copyrighted by Mark Rice. All rights reserved.