We're going to begin in 1 Timothy chapter 3. And we're going to read verses 1 through 7. And this is an extremely important passage. It's about the qualifications of an elder. And so let's read 1 Timothy 3, 1. It is a trustworthy statement. If any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God? and not a new convert so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, I thank you for this day. I thank you for your kindness and your mercy that you've shown us. Already in this day and throughout our lives, the mercy that you've shown this world, Lord, the kindness, the benevolence, sending rain and sun, causing things to grow, giving us sustenance, providing for us joy. Thank you most of all, Father, for your Son, Jesus Christ. I pray, Father, that you would help us That you would strengthen us, that you would make us something more than what we would be apart from you. Especially in this day, Father, as we teach your word and then as we go about our ministries, please help us. Give us wisdom. Self-control. Lord, not a spirit of timidity, but of power. Father, I ask all this in Jesus name. Amen. Well, in this text, we have, of course, the qualifications of an elder, and I'm going to teach on this, but I'm also going to add into the mix of Titus chapter one, where we have an additional set of qualifications. Now, the first thing that I need you to see is that these are serious and they're non-negotiable. They are serious and non-negotiable. Now, I don't need a raising of the hands, but I might want to ask this question. How much time in your seminary training did you study these? Did you exegete these? How much time in your life have you sat looking at these qualifications to ask yourself, Do you qualify as an elder? Or to ask yourself, qualifying, where can you improve in these characteristics? One of the reasons why character qualifications are given for an elder, most of them are obvious, but there's one in particular that I want to point out, and it's this. There are so many decisions you're going to have to make, so many applications of scripture. Not everything, not every detailed problem that is presented before you is laid out in detail in the scriptures with an answer. And so you're going to have to draw upon the principles of scripture to make application of scripture into the life of the church and the life of individuals into your own life. And it's not just wisdom that's necessary. It's godliness. It's character. It's self-control. It's selflessness. Most elders who end up disqualifying themselves do so not because they're not the greatest preacher in the world, but because of character or a lack thereof. We should be looking at these character qualifications over and over and over and over again. If we are able to serve with other elders, with equal authority, we should be asking them to observe our life. And because sometimes, you know, we can be self-deceived. These are serious, man. And if someone has a defect, a real defect in one of these areas, then he does not qualify. Now, that doesn't mean that an elder has to live a perfect life, but it does mean that there must not be stumbling blocks in his life, particularly and strongholds in these areas that are mentioned. Now, another thing that I want you to see before we go on is that I've heard so many ministers like evangelists or missionaries or Bible teachers say, well, I'm not an elder and therefore these do not apply to me. That's simply not true. That is simply not true. What we have here in the descriptions in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1 are simply the descriptions of a mature Christian. What Paul is saying is that if someone's going to be an elder, he must be a mature Christian. Very, very important. Another thing is this. When you graduate from seminary, you can make straight A's. I mean, make perfect scores on all your tests, but probably Apart from some extraordinary sin, no one in seminary is going to recognize whether or not you have or do not have these character qualifications. And therefore, you must be examined in the church, in the local church. And that doesn't mean, my dear brothers and sisters, if there's sisters watching this, that does not mean that you appear one night and several people ask you questions and then you're ordained to be an elder. It means you live long enough among that people so that they can recognize these qualities in your life. It is extremely, extremely important. Jesus said in Matthew 7, 16 and 20, you will know them by their fruits. You will know them because you're able to judge them. One time when I was a young, very young pastor in Peru, these three men walked into church about 10 minutes before it started. And they were, you could tell they were domineering men. They were intimidating men. And they saw me as this young pastor, about 28 years old, and they said, we're prophets. And we're coming here where we need to prophesy to the church. And the way they said it kind of, I hope it was righteous anger, but it kind of turned me at that moment. And I said, oh, you're prophets. How wonderful that God would send prophets to my church. They said, well, can we speak? I said, absolutely. You can speak. I said, stay here somewhere around a year. Six months to a year, let us observe all your fruit. And if you demonstrate yourself to be godly, then yes, I'll let you speak to the church. They got very, very angry. And then I told them, I said, I'm just doing what scripture commands of me. It says you will know them by their fruits. I don't know your fruits, so I can't let you speak. And being biblical men as you are, you know, you must agree. Well, they got very, very angry and they left. And so I've been to ordinations where no one really knew the candidate because ministers were invited in from all over the place. They asked him a few theological questions and then they laid their hands on him. That is simply not appropriate. And so we're to know whether or not they have these character traits. Yes, we must concern ourselves with their doctrine. That is true. That is so true. But it's not just doctrine. It's character. Now, let's look at the first thing that a man must have. First thing that a man must demonstrate. before he can be an elder. The first one is verse one. It is a trustworthy statement. If any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. Now, I'm just going to read from my notes and then we'll discuss it. The word aspire comes from a Greek verb, orego. which in the middle voice means to stretch oneself or to reach forward to something. Figuratively, it means to desire something earnestly, to aspire to something. This desire or aspiration is more than a feeling. It will be validated by action. No one should be considered for the office of elder who is not already demonstrating a genuine concern for the church's welfare. No one should be prodded or coerced into the office of elder. In 1 Peter 5, 2, we learn that an elder is to serve not under compulsion, but voluntarily and according to the will of God. Now, sometimes I have a boy that's 20 and another that is 18, and they've asked me in the last few years, Dad, what should I do? I don't know what I should do with my life. And my first question is always, well, what do you desire to do? And they say, well, it can't be that easy. I said, well, probably not, but at least that's a good place to start. As God has formed you, as he has reformed you in your conversion, as he has worked in your heart, what do you aspire to do? Do you aspire to be a welder or a plumber? Do you enjoy working with computers? Do you think about preaching? What do you aspire desire long earnestly for. And that's where we start. Now, I want you to see something that the aspiration of a man is validated by his actions. So you see a man in your congregation who is not usurping authority, is not standing in the place where only an elder should stand, but you see in him a pastor's heart. You see in him the heart of a minister. Now his giftings, because within the body of elders, giftings can be quite different. You can have elders that are given primarily to proclamation. Those who have more of a ministry of individual pastoring. Maybe you can have elders who are more evangelistic going outward or even elders who are concerning themselves with the mission outreach of the church, whether domestic or foreign. You see, so. The question is, do they aspire and then do you see them actually doing things? Are they voluntary or are they? voluntarily giving up their time? Do you see them caring for people? Do you see them talking to you a lot about, I met this person the other day in our church and they're hurting. Can I go minister to them? Can I talk to them? Is there anything you need me to do? You see that they're honestly, genuinely concerned. For example, in the book of Second Corinthians, chapter eight, it says that God put an earnestness in Titus's heart. And Titus wanted to go to Corinth. Apollos didn't want to go, and that doesn't make him bad. God hadn't put a desire in his heart to go, but God had put a desire in the heart, an earnestness in the heart of Titus. Is there evidence that God has put an earnestness in the heart of the person who desires, of course, to be an elder? Now, another thing that you need to see is that Desiring something is not enough, you know. My daughter saw someone singing on a stage the other night, an absolutely amazing voice, well-trained, extraordinary, extraordinary young person singing on a stage. And she said, Dad, I want to sing on that stage tomorrow night. And I said, well, you need to practice. And she said, oh, I have already done that. And then I said, well, you need to practice more before you can go on a stage like that. She said, well, I'll tell you what, I'll practice for five days and then you take me to that place with that big stage. You see, she aspires to it. Does she qualify for it? No. And just because you long to be something doesn't make you that something. You know, I could long to be a brain surgeon and buy one of those brain surgery for dummies books and read it for about four days. But you probably wouldn't let me pick up a drill and start operating on your head. You see, so it's more than just desire. It's qualifications. And most of these qualifications, have to do with character. And in every case where I have seen men ruin themselves, it's always with regard, almost always with regard to character. And so we really need to put a lot of attention here. Now, in our circles, where do men put the great emphasis? Well, they put the great emphasis on doctrine, don't they? Are you confessional? Do you agree with these historical doctrines of the faith? And that is extremely important. And yes, I put that first because without good doctrine, good character means nothing. But I don't think we put enough emphasis on character, on virtue. You know, oftentimes in a seminary, and I appreciate good seminaries, I really do. But oftentimes in a seminary, so you have a young man who goes to Bible college and he makes straight A's. Then you put him in the master's program and he makes straight A's. Then you put him in the PhD program, he's the top of his class. And then soon as he graduates, you give him a professorship. That's one of the things that's probably wrong with seminaries. Because the question is not just is he intelligent, but is he godly? And not only that, does he know how to function not just in academic circles, but does he know how to function in the church? Does he know how to function in the church? Okay. Let's look at what he says. So he goes on and he says in verse two, an overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable and able to teach. We'll take the first one and that is must be above reproach. That's also found in Titus 1, 6 and 7. And so let's look at it. In 1st Timothy 3.2, the word is translated above reproach from a Greek adjective, which literally means not to be laid hold of, not to be laid hold of. It denotes someone who is without blame or undeserving of criticism. In Titus 1.6, the phrase above reproach is translated from the Greek adjective, which denotes someone who is without accusation, irreproachable or blameless. Now, I want to read something that's very important. This requirement does not mean that the elder must be sinless, but that he must not have any outstanding character flaw or reoccurring sin that would disqualify him for the office of elder, especially with regard to the other qualifications that follow in the text. So he must be above reproach in the sense that you can't just point out and see in his life this is a stumbling block. It is truly a stumbling block. It doesn't mean that he may sin in this area once or twice or something like that. Periodically would be better, but that it is not something that is laid hold of him and has become a character trait in his life. OK, this does not mean that the elder must be sinless, but that he must not have any outstanding character flaw or reoccurring sin that would disqualify him from the office of elder, especially with regard to the other qualifications that follow in the text. Now, in First Timothy seven, it says above reproach as God's steward. It's not just that he's above reproach with regard to his character, but his handling of his stewardship. No, the thing that has been entrusted to him, how does he handle the ministry? The word steward is translated from a Greek noun, which literally means something like a house manager, a manager of a household who is required to carry out faithfully the law or will of his master. For example, someone may appear to have acceptable character traits, but in the ministry, there's very little zeal. Or in the ministry, they simply cannot lead. They just do certain things, leaving out many other things, or maybe even just there's very little passion. Or maybe they know all the right things, but they simply cannot work with people. They cannot lead. You see, one of the things that you've got to see is it's not just the man himself, but how does that man relate to other people? How are other people motivated by him and by his example? How can he think through the problems, not just to allow the church to cope, but to actually go forward in ministry? That there's actual fruit in what he's doing, not just coping, not just getting by. But there's fruit. Now, we need to be careful when we say that because all ministries have a time of apparent fruitfulness and times where there's apparent barrenness. Both of those things are necessary and occurs in all our lives. But when you look at his ministry, his stewardship as an elder, what is happening in the church? Is the church becoming more and more healthy or is the church becoming More and more full of ailment and sickness. Very important. And it can be a very sincere man. And yet. He's showing by his fruit or lack thereof, this is really not where he belongs. Now, let's go on. The elder as a faithful steward of God is wonderfully illustrated in Luke 12, 42. And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and sensible steward whom his master will put in charge of his servants to give them their rations at the proper time? You see that our job as stewards is not to be kings as elders. It's not for everyone to serve us. It's the very opposite. It's for us to serve everyone, to give them their rations, what they need, not only to survive, but to grow and to grow in health. Very, very important. So I think from this also in the context of the pastoral ministry, that what do your people need more than anything else? They need the word of God. And not just Ephesians 1 or Romans 9. They need all the Word of God. Now, I love Ephesians 1 and Ephesians 9. But never forget, Paul, who wrote Ephesians 1, 2, and 3, the deepest theology maybe in the whole Bible, also wrote Ephesians 4, 5, and 6 on how to live the Christian life. The apostle Paul, who wrote Romans 1 through 11, also wrote 12 through 16. Again, it talks about practical aspects of the Christian life. Are your people healthy? Not just in the way they worship, not just in the way they listen to your sermons. Are they becoming healthy in every aspect of their life? And with regard to rations, this is so very important because when I study, gentlemen, listen very, very carefully. When I study, I don't just study for me. This is one of my motivations for studying. When I was in Peru. There was really no, very few men entered into what was called a part time ministry. Do you want to know why? Because most men in Peru had to work 14 hours a day just to bring home enough food to take care of their family. So let's say I've got a welder in my church who works 10, 11, 12 hours a day in a very difficult place with other very, sometimes very rough men. Not at all a Christian atmosphere. And he's got to come home to his family. He's wore out. Is he required to study his Bible and pray? Yes, he is. But is he going to be able to study hours and hours a day as a way of life? Absolutely not. Even if he's a much better man than all the elders. And so we study for him. We study for him. We prepare rations for him. Yes, he must learn to eat from the scriptures himself. We do not need to create a codependent church. And that's what some pastors, I think, actually want to do. They want to be the center of everything and everybody needs them. That is not healthy. Yet at the same time, we must recognize that even our strongest, most mature congregants If they're still having to work in this world, it is very difficult for them to put the hours in. And that's why we put in hours for them. And that's why we should recognize that our ministry is such a privilege, such an extraordinary privilege, brothers. I mean, how many welders and even doctors or homemakers would love to be able to have it as their job? the study of God's word. So when we neglect that, whether it's intentionally because we're lazy or we're just distracted, that's not a good thing. It's not a good thing at all. Now, the elder has been put in charge to administrate God's resources according to God's will and for the spiritual well-being of God's people. Now, There's a hint of authority there, but let me just share with you something. Not only do you need to go to God primarily to find out what God's people need. Since you're not omniscient and you're not receiving visions every day, I hope it would also be helpful to go to your congregation and ask them what do they need? Where are they hurting? What don't they understand? I've never really understood that, why so few ministers actually ask people where they're struggling. Usually when I go before, well, this weekend, I was standing before a group of about 15 men who were all going to go into the ministry. And I asked them, everyone else just got up and lectured. I got up and I said, before I give my lecture or whatever you call it, may I ask you a question? Do you have any questions about anything? Are you struggling in any area? Because I probably don't need to lecture on brain surgery if the man in front of me has his leg half cut off. I probably need to go sew up his leg. You say, well, we just can't constantly respond. No, we can't. But we still need to know the heart of the congregation and what's going on in the congregation so that we can help, so that we can help. So now we go from there, an overseer must be above reproach. And now look at the first qualification. Now, later on, he's going to hit family, but just immediately he's going to talk about faithfulness and marriage, the husband of one wife. the husband of one wife. Now, literally, he must be a one woman man. That's what literally it means, he must be a one woman man. This does not mean that an elder must be married. But if he is married, he must be an example of marital faithfulness to his wife. before the congregation and before the world. Do you understand that? He must be. When you see him, you see a man faithful. I always tell young men this. On your marriage, your wedding day, when you look into the eyes of that girl and you tell her, yes. When you say yes to her, you're saying no to every other woman on the planet. including to some degree, your mother. The most important person now in your life, not to the neglect of your mother or your sister, but the most important woman in your life at that moment is your bride. Your bride. All conservative Bible students agree that this phrase prohibits ordaining a man who's a fornicator, an adulterer, or a polygamist. However, and I want to be honest here, it is debated as to whether or not this phrase prohibits a divorced man from ever being ordained. Now, some affirm that a divorced man cannot hold the office of elder because he cannot be an example of marital faithfulness. Others argue that a divorced man may be ordained if he has repented and reestablished his testimony before the church and the unbelieving world, 1 Timothy 3, 7, by living an exemplary life for a reasonable period of time. Now, I have known godly men who have fallen down on each side of that equation. I know godly men that hold to both opinions, so I'm not going to come here today to fight about this matter. I will say this to those who would allow it. that there must be extreme caution to some man who has been divorced and aspires to the work of an overseer. There must be, if it is to be allowed, It must be with extreme caution and over an extended period of time. This is not like we see with some TV evangelist or something who falls into adultery and then a year later is back preaching to tens of thousands. That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about a man who may have been divorced because his own wife was an unbeliever and left him. Then he remarries and over years, Years, he reestablishes his testimony before God's people so that when you look at him, when anyone looks at him, they see an example of marital faithfulness. Anyone who would just brush by this, as I have seen so many men do over the last nearly 40 years, they just brush by it and think in a few months they've got everything right again, they can be an elder. Boy, that is extremely wrong. That is not what this text is allowing. But here's what I want to talk about here is that husband of one wife or one woman man. Brothers, it means more. Let's forget about the idea of divorce right now and look at something else. This means more than simply you're not divorced. This means far more than you tolerate your wife and she tolerates you. I guess we could look at it this way, and this is a caution to all of us. If someone did a reality TV program of our homes, of our relationship with our wife, would it be a model of a Christian husband? So we're striving here for more than just, I didn't get a divorce, or we tolerate one another for the sake of a greater good, the children or the ministry. And I think we can all grow in that area. I mean, the only one who ever loved their wife perfectly has been Christ, and we need to take this with a great deal of seriousness. So let's go on to the next. An overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife. Temperate is the next word. It's from a Greek adjective, which in the early Greek meant not mixed with wine or sober. In time, it came to denote a man that was sober minded. I mean, there was some seriousness to him. He wasn't silly. Now, he could be absolutely funny, winsome, fun to be around, but not silly, not absurd, not ridiculous, not a clown. Not a clown. A man that is sober minded, rational. He thinks through situations. Now, all of us at times will move out of the realm of rationality, especially when we're in times of severe trial. You know, a lot of fighters have said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. How many times have you gone into a situation where you prayed, Lord, give me wisdom, help me with self-control, everything else, but the situation was so dire you found yourself getting angry pretty quick. Now, if that happens sometimes, it needs to be repented of, but it doesn't disqualify. But if our life is not marked by being sober minded, rational, circumspect, that means carefully looking where we step, self-controlled, restrained and orderly. If our life is not that way, then there are problems. I know men that are like this in the ministry, but with their finances and home, they're not like this at all. You see? So it's not just about being temperate within the body of Christ, but being temperate in your home, being temperate in your diversions, your entertainment, your hobbies. being temperate in the way you spend your time, temperate in the way that you spend your money. This is a man who is controlled, in control of himself, a man that is able to bridle his thoughts and tongue and actions. Now, bridle the tongue and bridle the actions. A lot is said about that, but bridle the thoughts. That's something that isn't preached enough. You know, a lot of great counselors have said to people, I don't know who first came up with this phrase. It definitely wasn't me. But you need to stop allowing your heart to preach to you. And you need to preach to your heart. We need to be very careful about being controlled by thoughts that are not according to the Word of God or not according to reality or thoughts about something that could be, but there's no certainty that it is. Do you see? This is very, very important. A man must also control his thoughts. For example, let's say that you're working at church and some of the other elders or workers or somebody in the church meets with someone and they go in a room and it seems like it's secretive and immediately the thought is going to cross your mind is the thought that crosses your mind is not going to be. They must be in there secretly desiring to pray for me. or planning a surprise party for me because they appreciate me so much. No, you're going to watch them go in that room and the thing whispered in your ear is going to be, what are they doing? Why did they leave you out? Something's going on. Do you see? So not only controlling our tongue and our actions, but controlling our thoughts because they can get carried away. We all know that. We've all probably experienced that. Now, the opposite of being temperate is a man driven by passions to be irrational, immoderate or extreme. Now, here's the thing you need to understand, and this is pretty much in church history, you can see it, men who are extreme In their devotion to Christ, you need to be very careful because your passion can be turned into something negative. It can be turned into something negative. When you see, for example, that some man is acting in a way that's doing great harm to the body of Christ, you can turn to an extreme temperament, come against him. You must be very, very cautious, very cautious. Now, the next thing after temperate is prudent. Prudent. First Timothy 3.2 and Titus 1.8. It's from a Greek adjective, which literally means it's the combination of two words, the idea of being safe and the idea of the mind. A safe mind. It denotes someone who is safe or sound of mind. I know people who are dangerous in their thinking. I mean, in one second, they will jump off into something that is just they're going down the wrong road. They're going down a rabbit hole. I mean, I've seen men do that theologically. I've seen them do it in their daily life. in situations of counseling, all sorts of things. They take action far too quick. They're willing to jump down a rabbit hole far too quick. Or they're able to, for example, if I sat down with some of you, if I knew you really, really well, like I know David or some of you, I could sit down and talk about all things about eschatology. I could throw out just wild ideas, you know, things that have crossed my mind as I've been studying scripture and things like that. Why? Because I know with whom I am speaking. Another mature believer who knows that I'm speaking, as we say in English, with a grain of salt. I'm just sharing ideas, possibilities. But I would never get up in a pulpit and do the same thing. Or be with a young believer, I wouldn't say, hey, what do you think about this matter in eschatology? I was thinking the other day, wouldn't it be amazing if? You see, that's not prudent. That's not prudent. Or to see everything in an exaggerated way, you know, like. Well, there's just so many, so many ways, you know, you find out that one thing's going on, but you exaggerate it to the point where it turns into something else. Absolutely not. Need to be prudent, prudent. Now, it's a man who is sane, sensible, well-balanced and moderate in his thinking and behavior. In Titus 1.8, the word is translated sensible, sensible. Other adjectives that are helpful? He's a reasonable man, a rational man, a well-balanced man, a well-grounded man. His feet are on the ground, we say. Or he's level-headed. He's not turned one way or the other. There's not an inclination. He's neutral. He looks at the facts. Now, in verse two, an overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, it says. Now, this is from a Greek word, kosmos, which is related to the word cosmos. which denotes an orderly arrangement as in the order of the universe. The word came to mean someone who is orderly in their personal conduct and management and thus worthy of respect and confidence. It is the very opposite of a disorderly person who mismanages private and public affairs. So you're worthy of respect because of your personal conduct and your management or stewardship of that which has been placed under your authority. Do you see that? Now, I'm really hoping that those of you who are elders, I'm hoping that you're not getting a false sense of condemnation where you think, oh, my, I need to leave the leave the ministry. But I am hoping that like me, when you read these things, you're going, wow, I need to improve in this area. You know, there's a reason I don't know how the French do it, but there's a reason I don't even know how the Americans do it now, but used to be in the in the military. You had to make your bed in such a way as a soldier that when they threw a coin down on it, that coin would pop back off the bed. Everything had to be tucked in perfectly. Every button had to be perfect. When you cleaned your gun, you had to do it the exact correct way and everything had to be perfect. Now, why would a bunch of generals or sergeants or colonels or captains worry about how someone made their bed? Well, they needed men who were orderly and who followed orders. You see, in Hollywood, it's always the slob who never keeps the rules, who breaks all the rules, who's untidy, uncouthed, who ends up saving the universe. In reality, that's not the way it goes. It's the guy who makes his bed. And I want to tell you, there is also levels of the way a person, a minister may dress, but we need to be careful. I was at a church a while back and the sermon was really, really good, but everything was just the preacher's shirts hanging out because it looks cool, all these different things. It was just, you know, people up there and flip flops and all kinds of things. And maybe that's wonderful for some people, but we are to demonstrate order, not just in our management of things, but in our dress, in every part of us. It doesn't mean everybody has to wear a tie or this or that, but we need to see order. There's a religious group that is famous for making furniture and things like that, building barns and stuff. And I wouldn't agree with part of their theology, that's for sure. But there is something interesting. Their furniture, their farms, everything reflect an order because they believe God has ordered the world. Their furniture has beauty to it, but simplicity. What they do, they want it to reflect God. Now, be very, very careful when everything you do reflects culture, that you change like the wind, you see. Now, a lot of the rules I grew up with, I guess no one even thinks they apply anymore. But I remember when we were, I studied at the University of Texas and I graduated from the business school there. You know, we were even told there that the way you dress, that there is, you know, the cutting edge fashion, even in the business world. But that doesn't instill as much confidence as the classical way of business dress. Classical, traditional, not flashy. Straight up, always the same. You see? Now, I'm not going to tell you how to dress, but I am going to tell you, you need to figure out a way that your conduct, your speech, the way you dress, the way you make your bed, the way your office looks, ought to reflect something orderly. Orderly. There's actually a famous motivational speech out there by a military man who is highly respected. And basically the title of the speech, or you can find it online, it's Make Your Bed. Because he talks about if you get up in the morning and make your bed, no matter what happens during the day, how bad the day is, no matter what a disaster, whatever, you're always going to come back to a bed that was made. the sense of being orderly. You see, because of movies, literature, but especially movies, have you ever noticed that the guy who seeks to do everything right and be proper and orderly and everything always ends up not being the hero, but the problem? And the slob who's a drunk, who doesn't keep any of the rules, who hates kids, has been divorced four times, always ends up saving the world. That's intentional, not necessarily by the filmmaker, but I believe it's demonic. It's just constantly chipping away at what God has determined. You see, if you want to There is a form of Chinese fighting that was developed. Tradition says it was developed by a woman who had to fight a man. It was a challenge. If she lost, she would have to marry him and had to fight this man. Now, whether it's true or not, I don't know. And she realized, I can't hit as hard as he can. So instead of having one big hit, I've got to hit one place. over and over and over and over again. Now, the devil, he doesn't come in and just literally just throw everything down. So imagine that you had a huge building and you had a foundation like this. You're not going to be able to knock out that foundation or knock out the building in one fell swoop. He'd chip here. Chip here, chip here, chip here. And eventually what happens? It may take millennium, but it's going to crash. When I was in Peru, even when I would travel up into villages and stuff, sometimes the authorities of the village would make everybody do roadwork. And I would have to do road work with everyone else. That meant picks and shovels and pikes. And you would go out there and work on the road. You had to. And I would be out there working on the road and you would see these big boulders. I mean, you know, two meters in diameter. How are you going to move that? The men were no good at getting those out of the way. They'd always bring in the women to do that because men would take their pickaxes and their pikes and just hit it as hard as they could over and over and half kill themselves. Those women would stand up on that boulder. I've seen it so many times. They'd lift up a metal rod with a point at the end of it that was heavy. They would lift it up and let it go. And it would just. Tap. They lift it up, let it go. Tap. And they do it over and over and over again. And you would think that literally nothing was going to happen. And then all of a sudden the boulder would split. And then they would do it again. And you need to see that this is happening all throughout culture, all throughout Western culture. And when the church just goes along with it and doesn't stand against it, you're going with the flow. The church, if it's going to be effective, cannot say, look, we're just like the world, just nicer and cleaner. That doesn't work. So respectable. Now, 1st Timothy 3, 2 and Titus 1, 8, it also says hospitable, respectable, hospitable and able to teach. Hospitable comes from the Greek word philos meaning friend and xenos meaning stranger. An elder must literally be a friend to strangers. Now, he must open his home to others, especially to those of the faith. Now, this does not mean when I was a young Christian, I wanted to just, you know, do everything without much sense. And I remember I came across these two street guys living on the street and I took them back to my apartment and let them live there. And every morning I would get up sometimes at five and six in the morning to do things, to go to school, come back, work, come home at 11. And they just stayed all day in my home doing nothing. I told the youth minister at my church what I was doing, and I thought he would say, Oh, Paul, you're so Christlike. He rebuked me and told me to get back to my apartment and kick them both out. He said, You're not doing righteousness. You're allowing them to commit unrighteousness. So set the parameters, and if they do not obey those parameters to look for a job, to work, to get help some way, then you should not be doing this. So we're not talking about just opening up your house, you know, to murderers. But we are talking about hospitality. In the first century, I have written here, hospitality was extremely important, especially during times of persecution. For example, what's going on in Ukraine? In the scriptures, hospitality is often seen as the evidence of one's love for God's people. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4, 8 and 9, Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. The writer of Hebrews admonished his readers, Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. For by this, some have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13, 1 and 2. In Christ's teaching on the final judgment during the division of the sheep and the goats, hospitality toward other Christians is seen as the evidence of genuine conversion. Then the king will say to those on his right, I was a stranger and you invited me in. Now, stranger there is definitely a brother or sister in Christ. It's Matthew 25, 34 through 35. Then lastly, In 3rd John 5 and 6, Gaius is set forth as a wonderful example of hospitality and of a hospitable elder. John writes, Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers, for they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. Now, I don't want you to run out right now and go try to find a stranger, force him to come live in your house. There are situations, for example, in Peru, when I was in Peru, I practiced hospitality a lot more than now. Why? Because if someone came, a pastor was coming through Lima from the jungle, Or someone was coming through and needed a place to stay. There weren't, you know, hotels were expensive, the jungle pastors or the mountain pastors are poor, you know, things like that. Or some Christian get removed from their home because they've been baptized outside of the Catholic Church or something like that. That last situation never happened with me, but it's happened with others. So there are certain situations where hospitality, right, is definitely must be practiced with greater frequency. But we should be hospitable. And it doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to spend the night. Could be just having people over to our home. And that's why marrying a godly woman is so very, very important. Why? Because it's hard work. And one thing, you know, if you as a pastor want to be all hospitable, then you probably need to do some dishes. You probably need to make some beds. And you need to clean the bathroom. This is not just your wife being hospitable and you sitting at the head of all her labor. This is you joining her and being hospitable. And it's part of just being a servant, just being a servant. Now, we're going to do one more and then in our next lesson, we'll come back and do others. But here we go, finally, after he must be hospitable, he must be able to teach, he must be able to teach First Timothy 3, 2, but also Titus 1, 9. It denotes one who is able. Not just willing, but able or qualified to teach. The elder must love the scriptures, study the scriptures, submit to the scriptures, and be able to communicate the truths of the scriptures to individual believers and congregations. Now, I think it's very important here. I believe in the scriptures. in a parody of elders. If you disagree with me here, that's fine. But I don't believe that there is a pastor and then elders. I don't believe that at all because there's nowhere that division is made in the New Testament. You're either an elder or you're not an elder. The word elder, pastor, overseer all apply to the same office. Now, I do believe that within the elders, there can be men of distinct gifts that help determine distinctions in ministry. But I don't think it's really probably good to put titles on that. For example, he's the elder of leadership. Does that mean he's the only one who leads? Because that's not biblical. Or he's the elder of teaching. Does that mean he's the only one that teaches? You see, I believe you're elders or you're not elders. And that's what I would call parody of elders. Yet within that organically, you recognize some men are more gifted in other areas. But elders are elders. And one of the things I think that young men have done in this drive for eldership has been very, very wrong. Prior to the last 10 or 15 years, talking about eldership, most churches were very congregational, but in a wrong way. First of all, the membership was oftentimes not fully converted, that's for sure, or not even majority converted. So carnal congregations, uninstructed, immature because of a lack of preaching, And then everything was kind of a democracy and usually the pastor had to do everything they said or everything the deacon said because the deacons have more authority than the pastor because in many churches pastors only last about 18 months where deacons are there for years. So that was wrong. But then what you have is the creation of elders where it's a lead elder who's the elder elder and around him are elders, but they're not quite on his level. And so when they say the elders have made a decision, really, it's this one man in the congregation doesn't even have a vote or a voice. That's not good either. I believe there ought to be a parody of elders. At the same time, I'm congregational. Who holds the elders accountable? The congregation. You see, I think it's very important to recognize because if not, you're going to end up having a congregation with little hope unless your elders are perfect, because every time someone comes to the elders with a problem, it gets solved behind closed doors with the elders. And if they're always right and everyone else is always wrong, pretty soon your congregation is going to lose hope. and be like sheep without a shepherd. And so it's complicated. I would suggest you look at the 1689 London Baptist Confession is very helpful. I would suggest that you read things done by Sam Waldron in this area. I think he's very, very helpful. Extremely so. So able to teach. A wonderful example of being able to teach is actually found in the Old Testament. Ezra. What an amazing, amazing passage. It says, Ezra, for Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it and to teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel. Now, look at that. It's not just teaching, he studied. I could teach on brain surgery. I could. I mean, so could you. But it wouldn't be worth hearing. As a matter of fact, it'd be dangerous, wouldn't it? Before someone ought to be teaching on brain surgery, they need to study it. They need to know it. I could practice brain surgery. Before I practice brain surgery or teach on brain surgery, I'm sorry, I should probably practice it. Remember what Jesus said? He didn't say, teach them everything I commanded them. He said, teach them everything I commanded you. And so with Ezra, this is the amazing thing, he studied the law, he practiced the law, so he's teaching the law verbally, orally, he's teaching the law by example, seeing how it is applied in one's daily life. OK, so he's studying the law. He's living the law, he's teaching the law. I'll never forget when the first times I walk, it was the first time I ever went to chapel at masters. Dr. MacArthur walked in and gave all the students a very solemn reminder. He said, men, you're here for two reasons. To study the Bible, to teach the Bible. Study the Bible, to teach the Bible. I talked to him one other time and I said, you know, with Ezra, we could put another thing in the middle there. Study the Bible. to live the Bible, to teach the Bible. That's what we do. And that is very humbling because I know myself look in the mirror of God's word and see where even sometimes the good things I've taught, I've not been the greatest example. Remember this, we always have to teach the word of God, but when we teach it, We must do so humbly because only Jesus Christ is the living example of the written word. Extremely important. Now, in Titus 1.9, the elders teaching ministry is further defined. It says, 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 to refute those who contradict. Now, look at what we got here. First of all, again, obedience, holding fast the faithful word. OK, what is the faithful word? The only faithful word is that word that is according to Scripture, according to the teaching, the tradition of the apostles. And I think this is very, very important. The traditions of the apostles in accordance with the teaching so that he will be able to both to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. So teaching is more than just communicating information. It's exhorting people to obey that information, and it's refuting those who are teaching something contrary to the apostolic message. I think it was Peter Masters, I read one time in one of his books, it was extraordinary about preaching the gospel. He said, you have not preached the gospel if you do not exhort people to repent and believe. If you just inform people theologically what the gospel is, you have not preached the gospel. Because in gospel preaching, there is also crying out for men to repent and believe. And that's a good word for reform guys, isn't it? Because they kind of inform everybody what the gospel is and then step off the stage. Whitfield wasn't that way. Spurgeon wasn't that way. Spurgeon said, you know, we ought to just fall on our knees, wrap our arms around someone's legs, and if they're going to go to hell, they're dragging us. So it's not just the transference of information, it's the call to obey that information. OK, now. Although it is clear that all elders must be able to teach, some elders will carry more of the teaching responsibilities than others. This is evidenced by Paul's instructions in 1st Timothy 5, 17. The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. I do not think here at all. And again, Sam Waldron's book on parody is absolutely wonderful. We need to get that translated into French. I do not believe at all that saying that there's some elders That all they do is make decisions. That not at all. Because we've already learned they have to be able to teach. They have to be apt, capable to teach. But there are some who are going to be given more the burden of teaching. But I don't feel comfortable putting them on the website and put under their name teaching elder. As though the others weren't teaching elders? Pastor, for one, and the rest, elders. Then the others don't pastor? Then why are they eldering? What are they doing? Making decisions? Or are they a buffer so you don't have to deal with the congregation and you can make every decision you want without talking to anybody? I may be hitting close to home. You need to think about these things. Very, very important. So we've gone on for almost an hour and 10 minutes, and I think that's enough, but I want to tell you something just going through this. These are notes I've written for a workbook in front and it's a two volume workbook on the church. And. I've been amazed at just reading through that again this morning, how convicting. How instructive. It has been and how much I need to give myself more to these quality characteristics. All right, let's go the Lord in prayer. Father, thank you for your word. And I pray, dear God, that you would use it in the life of these men for the glory of your son, for the good of the church. And even for the sake of these men, Lord, that on that final day they be found to be good stewards of their office. Father, I ask all this in Jesus name, Amen.