Does everyone have one of these sheets? All right. Well, this morning we're continuing to think about manhood and womanhood and their respective roles in the home, church, and society. And hopefully before the Sunday school season wraps up, I want to consider some of the sins that tend to impact men more, and again, some of the sins that also tend to impact women more. So why don't we go ahead and ask for the Lord's help, and we'll get to work this morning. Again, O God, we thank you for your word. We're thankful that it is authoritative over every area to which it speaks, and it speaks to every area of life. We're thankful that it gives us a true blueprint for masculinity and femininity, and it explains not only what that looks like, but how those roles work themselves out for the glory of Jesus Christ. To that end, O God, teach us wonderful things from your word this morning, great principles to implement in our lives, that our lives might be a pleasing aroma to you. And we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, on the previous Lord's Day, I wanted to stress that God not only made men and women physically different, he actually hardwired our personalities and dispositions to be different as well. In other words, God created men to be leaders in the home, the church, and society, and he's hardwired men with a nature suitable for that task. And God's created woman to support that work, to be the nurturers in that work, to be beautifiers within that work, as we learned. And He's hardwired women with a suitable nature for that task. And the reason I was making much of this last week, and I'm going to make more of it this week, is that within the broader evangelical world there's a view that thinks the roles that God's ascribed in His Word, especially male rule in the home church and society, is primarily or really exclusively decretal. That is, there are many who think the roles God gives men and women are a little more in God's way of dividing labor. It was sort of like God flipping a coin. Men do this, women do that. And they don't see or significantly downplay that the roles God's given men and women actually flow out of their God-given natures. And here's why that's such a big problem. You see, if the roles of men and women are nothing more than a division of labor, disconnected from their created nature, then all one has to do is to point to a biblical passage and say, yes, but that was a different culture and a different time. And that's exactly what's happened. And that mindset has been a major contributor to the encroachment of egalitarianism within the church. So we looked at 1 Timothy 2 and Genesis chapter 1 and 2 to sort of reinforce our thinking that the roles God has assigned correspond to the way He's created us, right? So when we say it's a man's role to rule in the home, the church, and society, and it's a woman's role to support and help and nurture and beautify, they're not just God-given tasks. They're tasks that flow out of their God-created natures. That's where we pick up this morning. But let me pause. Are there any questions or comments before we move forward? You just used an 89-cent word, egalitarianism. I don't know that everybody knows what that means. When I use the word egalitarianism in terms of church offices and the role of women in those offices, it really means kind of hyper-equality. Whatever men can do, women can do. So it's a complete flattening of the playing field, so to speak, as though there's no difference, right? Pure egalitarianism would be transgender boys girls or whatever, I don't even classify it, playing in girls sports. We're just not going to make distinctions, right? And again, my point is we're not just physically different, our personalities, our dispositions are different. Thank you. And always ask questions. And I appreciate Paul, Todd reminding me to work that through. Any other questions or comments about this connection between sort of our natures and how we're created? All right. Everybody have one of these? I asked this before, but a couple others, okay, showed up. Well, this morning we're gonna continue to think about the role of men as leaders, particularly in the church. And again, I want to come at this in a slightly different way than normal. And I'm coming at it a different way because, again, I want to emphasize that the biblically defined tasks that are given to church leaders are distinct in such a way that God's given men the kind of nature they need to perform those tasks, right? Again, it gets back to, it's not just a willy-nilly division of labor. There's something about masculinity, I'm going to argue, that God wants men to have an exercise in church leadership. So here's what we're going to do. I'm going to set the stage with a New Testament passage, spend a few minutes there. Then we're going to go back to Genesis, followed by a very brief survey of a couple of other Old Testament events. And my hope, again, is to help us see that leaders in Christ's church are called to possess some distinct masculine traits. You can read about the qualifications and responsibilities for elders in places like Titus 1, 1 Peter 5, 1 Timothy 3, among other places. But I want to begin this morning with Paul as an example of a faithful shepherd. Not just as one who teaches us what they look like, but one who has modeled it for us. Glanserid Acts 20 on your handout. Paul is having a final meeting with the elders of the church in Ephesus, a church where he ministered around two and a half to three years, and a church that was remarkably precious to the apostles. Somebody want to read this passage? It's a little bit longer, but I'll ask one of you guys to read it. You know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility and many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to 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. For I know this, that after my departure savage woes will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from amongst yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone, night and day with tears. I only want to highlight a few things here. First, the task of elders begins with this. They have to guard and nourish their own spiritual lives so that they can be faithful overseers and shepherds of the church of God which was purchased by the blood of Christ, verse 28. And what does that shepherd look like? what shepherding looked like. Something you've undoubtedly heard me say over the years is, of course, there are various responsibilities and qualifications for an under-shepherd. But I think they can all really be distilled down into two main tasks, and both are done for the glory of Christ and for the benefit of God's people. Task one, A shepherd must feed the sheep. Again, there's a whole bunch of other qualifications under that, but that is a primary task. A shepherd must feed the sheep. Task two, the shepherd must protect the sheep. Again, a whole bunch of stuff under that, but he must protect the sheep. That can take a bunch of different shapes, but that's the gist of shepherding. It's feeding sheep, it's protecting sheep. And verses 26 and 27 we see Paul providing us an example of what feeding the sheep looks like. Therefore I testify to you this day that I'm innocent of the blood of all men for I've not shunned or I've not shrunk back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. So a faithful elder, a faithful under shepherd won't shrink back from teaching the the whole of scripture for the whole of life. And this is given in any context in history as an important qualification. Because it doesn't matter when and where you find yourself, in the fourth century, the tenth century, or today, there are going to be some teachings that are hard, and there are going to be teachings in this Bible that are remarkably unpopular in different eras. We can't skip over those, we can't apologize for them, we can't twist them to make them say something they don't mean. It takes courage to be faithful to Scripture and to be faithful in Scripture in every generation and every context. And the reason we have to do it is because the sheep need to be fed and nothing less than grazing on the full counsel of God can nourish and build up souls. with the first 26 I don't understand why he says I'm innocent of the blood of all men that's a great question He's using imagery here in part from Ezekiel where you see a watchman on the wall who's standing and he's warning, he's protecting, he's letting people know of dangers. In other words, he is not going to be guilty. No one in Paul's circle is going to stand before God and say, I never heard the gospel. I didn't know what God's Word required. No one's going to be able to do that who sat under Paul's ministry. Again, that's why it's incumbent for men to have that kind of courage. Good question. So the sheep need to be fed. The shepherds have to make sure the sheep have a well-balanced diet. And really that's from Genesis to Revelation. Any questions about that? Beyond what Riley asked? Shepherds also have to protect sheep. They have to protect sheep. And we're given the why and the how in verses 29 through, excuse me, beginning of verse 29. For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves, men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch. And remember that for three years, I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So this is the pattern. that exists, again, in every generation. When gospel communities are forming, there will be wolves who will see this as an opportunity for self-promotion and for profit. And Paul wants to make sure the church knows this will happen, that it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. And what they saw, what these Ephesians elders had witnessed in the apostle Paul was a willingness to warn them constantly and with great passion. And so his charge to these elder shepherds that have seen him do this work is to watch, to watch out for wolves. Again, this is more of that imagery of standing on the wall. I'm keeping my post. I'm standing guard. I'm looking to see if there are dangers that would come and hurt the precious flock. of Jesus Christ. That word watch is the Greek word gregoreo. It's where we get our English word gregarious. And what this means is the task of watching out for false teachers ought to be energetic and determined. And I believe this is one of the areas where the church has erred greatly. Where the elders have been called to stand guard as watchers on a wall diligently warning with a ferocious determination about false teaching and false teachers, we've been taught it's better to be passive. And what's happened is when some old heresy or some dangerous teaching is repackaged as theological novelty, there's a failure to warn. In many instances, it's because the person promoting it Well, he's a really nice guy if you only knew him. Or he's a former friend. Or he used to be in our camp. But that's precisely why Paul said some of these wolves will come in from among you. And shepherds have to protect the flock from external and internal threats. Again, where I'm going with this, just to kind of keep us on this trajectory, is to say this requires masculine virtue. Right? Absolutely. In fact, we're going to follow a very similar trajectory. Maybe next week, but yeah, absolutely. Right? Oh. So, this role, this task that God's given to men, it requires courage and backbone. And Paul models that too, as well as telling us where his gospel courage is grounded. Look there at verses 22 through 24. And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that change and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. So Paul knew from the Holy Spirit that hardship and persecution were awaiting him. But none of those fears moved him. They didn't make him pursue winsomeness and niceness at the expense of truth. He was singularly focused to finish the race with joy and complete the ministry that God had called him to. That's what gave Paul courage in the face of terrible opposition and real and present dangers that his master had given him a task and his master had given him the authority to carry it out and nothing else mattered for the apostle. And it's the same courage that was behind his commitment to feed the flock at Ephesus and to protect them from all dangers, right? In other words, what motivated What motivated Paul was simply the knowledge that God had called him to that task, and he wanted to please his God. And that's ultimately where gospel courage comes from. Because there is a kind of worldly courage that's grounded in bravado and brutality, and that's something different. This is a gospel courage that knows Jesus is Lord, I have authority, and he's given me a mission to do. Everybody tracking with me? Any questions, comments? All right. Was somebody going to say something? Okay. Just Uriah. Yeah. I think I heard him cry out, giboreem. I mean, that means mighty man of God, mighty man of God. And since his name is Uriah, that's why I call him a little gibbereme. Anyway. You mentioned about the job is to protect from internal and external threats. And to me, and you've said it before, one of the biggest threats to the church and society is this idolatry of niceness. That is the biggest crime and sin that anybody could, that's why people hate Trump, because he's not nice. And they hate pastors that preach the word and take a stand. That has become the new idol worship. And we're actually going to get, eventually, hopefully, we're going to get to a place where we see how that mindset just doesn't function for church leaders. He's got to have another side. Well, as I said, I want to go back to Genesis and consider Adam, who was given a couple specific tasks in the garden. Now, last week, we looked at Genesis 1 and 2, and we're going to pick up there this morning. Glance here at your handout to Genesis 2. Verses 15 through 17. Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. This passage is distinctly religious. And I've shared this before. But we want to remember that Adam was created to serve with a priestly function. He was made to reflect God's image so he could offer worship and praise to his creator. And we actually get all kinds of little hints that this initial paradise where God placed him was actually a model of the tabernacle under Moses and then later the temple under Solomon. Paradise is laid out as a kind of garden temple where intimate communion and worship could take place. And it was Adam's task as God's first priest to subdue the whole world to be worshipers, right? And it began with the call to tend and keep the garden. Now we often translate tend and keep to mean cultivate and work, and that's a perfectly fine translation. But it also has the idea of cultivating and protecting or safeguarding, right? So you can begin to hear a bit of an echo of a shepherd's call to feed and protect. Can you hear some of that? See, it's worth pointing out that every other time those two words are used in the first five books of the Bible, it's describing a priestly work in the tabernacle. Every time you see tend and keep in the first five books of the Bible together, it's describing a priestly work in the tabernacle. You find that in Numbers 3, 7, and 8, Numbers 8, 25, and 26. And those combination of words are also used to describe the priestly work in Solomon's temple and even the end times temple laid out in Ezekiel 44. So again, this indicates that Adam has this priestly function. Again, he's to care for and protect. Another place we see Adam's priesthood, or get a hint of it, is in the language there, Genesis 3.8. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Now, the word there, they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, is the same Hebrew word and the same Hebrew tense that describes God's presence in the tabernacle in Leviticus 26 and 2 Samuel 7 and I think also somewhere in 2 Chronicles. I can't remember off the top of my head. My point is this. Adam has a priestly role to cultivate or grow the garden. and he has a priestly role to tend to it, to protect it, to safeguard it. Again, that's not that different of the shepherd's call in the New Testament, is it? Is everybody tracking with me so far? I know this might be some new stuff for folks. I laid this out in this way. Because I wanted us to see that from the New Testament shepherd, we can go all the way back to the Garden of Eden and get a picture of what church leadership ought to look like. In this case, what Adam represented in the garden anticipated a priesthood. Again, pause me if you're not tracking with me. But that begs a question. Who would God choose to be priest And what traits would God deem important and necessary to serve as a priest? Well, let's look to the Exodus account to answer that question, and specifically the golden calf incident. I'm trusting most of you are pretty familiar with that story. It's well known. God has delivered his people out of Egyptian bondage. He's brought them to Mount Sinai. He's made a covenant with them at the mountain. And after the covenant ceremony, Moses goes up on the mountain to get specific instructions about the tabernacle and about worship. And at about the 40-day mark, while Moses is up getting this information from Yahweh, Israel got impatient and they insisted that Aaron make them a golden calf. And the whole affair, you'll remember, turned into a kind of drunken frenzy. And when Moses came down from the mountain, there are going to be consequences. And I want you to track with me here. Look there at Exodus 32, beginning of verse 25. Again, it's printed for you. Aaron had not restrained them to their shame among their enemies. Then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and he said, Whoever's on the Lord's side, come to me. and all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to gather to him. And he said to them, thus says the Lord God of Israel, let every man put his sword on his side and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about 3,000 men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that he may bestow on you a blessing this day. For every man has opposed his son and his brother. That's powerful, isn't it? This is who God's calling to be priests. And you want to see that this wasn't Moses' idea. This command is from God. It comes with the full force of, thus says the Lord God of Israel. These men were to prepare for battle. They were to strap on their swords, go from one end of the camp to the other, kill those who were still engaged in idolatry, or perhaps those who were the ringleaders. Presumably, that's who the Levites were looking for and explains why it was a relatively small number of men who were killed. We're told it was only about 3,000. And that way, God was merciful, because we know there were some 600,000 men at that time. And of course, the calf at that point had been disintegrated. The people had been forced to drink down the ashes, all those things. And yet, there were still some who were running wild and engaging in this kind of orgiastic revelry. So the Levites are simply to go through the camp And whether the person's a friend, a family member, a neighbor, if they haven't ceased this false worship or continued in their open rebellion, they're to be killed. Now again, I know we have to apply this differently, and we will, but I suspect for some of us it's hard to take this in. It can offence our sensibilities. In large part that's because we don't see idolatry as God does, because often we don't really believe that God has the right to judge sinners. Of course he does. And listen, God chose the Levites and even Aaron knowing that they're going to be flawed men. In fact, who actually formed the golden calf? Aaron, right? There's that incredible blame shifting line, you know. And when Moses came down, he said, well, I just threw all this gold in the fire and out came this calf, like it just happened, you know. But look there at your handout, Exodus 28. Moses is on the mountain. So sometime while Moses is on the mountain, And they're down there at the foot of the mountain doing their thing, they're partying. God told Moses, now take Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from among the children of Israel that he may minister to me as priest, Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, right? It's amazing, isn't it? God was saying, I want men who can put on a sword. I want men who are decisive. I need men who have courage. I need men who are going to be loyal to me first and foremost. Now remember, Adam was to cultivate or grow the garden and he was to protect it. And as I said a few moments ago, that language is applied to priests. And these are the kind of men God chose to do that work. That's the kind of leadership that's required in the covenant community. It will require decisive masculine virtues, the kind of virtues that God has hardwired into men, men who are willing to act and be decisive. Let me pause there. Any questions, thoughts, comments? If you'll allow me to put on my Mr. Nasty hat, nasty mean reform guy hat. I think if Moses had been an evangelical and he'd come down the mountain, he would have said, let me look for some guys who resemble Mr. Rogers. Because those are the kind of leaders the church generally thinks they need. You guys don't know who Mr. Rogers is? Give him some credit. They've got reruns. Again, men who will put truth and duty at the front and act upon it, particularly when you're dealing with false doctrine and false worship, right? This is so important. And that's one of the things I've seen in the church, so many influences that aren't dealt with when they're in their infancy because someone's afraid it will hurt a feeling, rupture a relationship, and because they don't deal with it at that seed level. It blossoms into a poisonous plant that God's people end up eating from, and it goes out, and then it destroys whole churches and whole communities because we don't nip things in the bud when we should, right? Take your Mr. Rogers analogy a little further, for the guys that may not know, or people. Mr. Rogers went to seminary with R.C. Sproul. Look at the difference between the two. Yeah, they were together. Yeah, Fred Rogers, yeah. You see, R.C. Sproul in his later years was famous for saying, what's wrong with you people? And Mr. Rogers' whole life was based around, there's nothing wrong with you people. And that's the difference. Now, yeah, brother. I don't want to, if this is too big of an answer, we can talk about this later. But I guess then that, like dealing with it now, rooting it out before it gets big, I guess. I talked to you a couple weeks prior about churches that might be in the denomination that are promoting some unbiblical stuff that, and the process takes a long time, so how do you balance those two things? If that makes sense, I can talk more about it. Because that to me seems like, okay, it's not swift, strong action. And maybe that's different, I don't know how, but. Yeah, that's a good point. In Presbyterian circles, to make a decisive act, it's probably going to take a year. And I wish it was shorter. sometimes, but mostly I'm glad it isn't because the procedure and the process is to help keep us from being rash because we are sinners, right? And for example, there are different expressions of the Christian faith that are legitimate. I just think they're unhealthy or they're legitimate. I just don't think they're ideal. I'm not inclined to take out a sword and cut that guy's head off. There are some others. No, I'm just kidding. And so you want the denomination to be able to prosecute that slowly. And again, to do that, the goal of the Presbyterian court is to implement the biblical standards of justice, having appropriate witnesses, shaping appropriate charges, and then having a body of men who debate and discuss the issues and then can act on it so that when they're done, they can say, you know, we and the Holy Spirit say, bop, bop, bop, bop, you know, with a clear conscience. Yeah. Well, in the Presbyterian circles, in most Reformed churches, you're dealing with people who have already been screened, if I can say that. They've already taken a vow to submit to the Westminster standards. So it's not like it's blatant heresy. But in other words, it's going to be littler, not littler, you know what I'm saying? I'm not saying it right. You know what I'm saying there. Part of the process, the ordination process, is you're qualifying men for service in God's church. And one of the challenges, and you probably know this, Thomas, is false teachers are not honest, right? They're very slippery. And that's something we see throughout scripture. So I'll go back to one of the cases we dealt with with Greg Johnson, right? He was the guy who was basically the gay Christian pastor in St. Louis. left the denomination, I don't know, a year and a half ago now. One of the reasons it was hard is because he would say something that would indicate he was a gay pastor and then someone would say, but you can't be a gay pastor because if you're identifying yourself with a sin, you demonstrate you're not suitable for the office. And then he would say, well, but I'm not practicing, or I'm actually a Christian first. Or he would come at it some way. And that went back and forth until he published an article in Christianity Today and basically said, yes, I am the gay Christian pastor. And then they did act on it. Again, I would say they didn't act well. They let him leave. They should have defrocked him. What that means is they should have taken his ministerial credentials. Because again, I don't mean to beat up on our denomination, but here's the problem. Now he wants to join the EPC and the EPC is having this big battle. That's Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Do they want a gay pastor in their denomination? And again, they're going to have to deal with it because We didn't have enough men who were willing to put on a sword and say, you can't serve as a pastor, period. And we're not going to pass this problem on to another denomination. And it doesn't just happen at denominational levels. It happens at a local level. It's what makes church discipline so hard. If you have a church that actually does do church discipline and gets to a place where they restrict a person from the Lord's table or even excommunicate that person, all they've got to do is walk next door to the other church. The other church doesn't care about church discipline. So, again, it's problematic, but again, we're trying to deal with it as sinners as best we can. That probably doesn't answer exactly to your satisfaction, but that's... Well, taking it slowly also gives that person an opportunity to repent. And, you know, you've got a year there that you could have repented and said, I'm wrong. I mean, Greg Johnson heard again and again where he was wrong and he never repented. So did these people have that opportunity? Say that again? In this passage, did these people have that opportunity? Or how quickly did this happen? In this passage? They could have gone with Moses. It seems quick to me. Again, when they came down, He came down. Remember, he's already come down. They've seen him. He's already spoken to them. He's already broken the tablets. They know they're in trouble. And I believe, as I said, the reason only 3,000 were killed is they're only killing those who are, again, either ringleaders or those who are still engaged in it, right? In other words, if there were people who had just stepped back, You know, again, they were probably freed from it, from the judge. If you're ever on the Lord's side, come with me. So it was a call. Right, yeah. Any other thoughts or comments? We're not done yet, so, well, we're getting close, but I don't want to end here, because this is an aspect of male leadership, again, but it's not the only aspect. male leadership. In other words, as I said before, men need a kind of decisive ability to act, but there also has to be a heart of genuine compassion among men of God, right? Again, if you go back to Acts 20 verse 18, Paul said, you know from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility and with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. The reason I'm pointing that out is while men have to be decisive and strong and courageous and willing to act, They also have to function in the realm of humility and kindness and thoughtfulness and do this work marked in every way by the fruit of the Spirit. And those things are not in contradiction. And again, one of the reasons this is important is it keeps us from being bullies. It keeps us from being brutal just because we like to be brutal, right? We're still called to exhibit godly Humility. I love the way Paul put this in Thessalonians. We studied this, I guess a year or two back. Listen to the language of Paul, the way he describes himself and his ministry team there at Thessalonica and their view of the church. We were gentle among you. just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So affectionately longing for you, we were all pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you'd become dear to us. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil, for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preach to you the gospel of God." You see, so this is the other side. You need a shepherd who loves the sheep, who's gonna be tender with the sheep, even exhibiting a kind of motherly affection toward the sheep, and yet, one who can pull out a sword. and fend off a wolf, right? And again, Calvin was using the imagery of David when he wrote this famous quote in his commentary on 1 Timothy. He said, a pastor needs two voices, one for gathering the sheep, another for driving away wolves and thieves. And he points out how lovingly David spoke of sheep, and yet he drove off the bear and the wolf. didn't have any hesitation doing that. And it's combining those two dispositions that makes a faithful elder. And particularly, because it requires strapping on a sword, this requires a disposition, a nature that God's given to men. Again, a nature that needs to be sanctified. but a nature of courage and bold action, right? And yeah, any questions? I better pause here. Well, I don't want to keep talking, but Thomas is right. Greg Johnson should have been kicked out quicker. I think that's fair. He should have been kicked out, period. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. He should have been defrocked. Because now, again, it's what I said, because a lot of people liked him, he was well-plugged. St. Louis is kind of the epicenter of the PCA for a host of reasons. He was there in the Missouri Presbytery, he was beloved, and a lot of those guys just didn't want to deal with it because he's their bud. Well, I think, too, we need to remember that we're created in the image of God and we were created sinless. When God gives His law and introduces it, every time He introduces His law, He says that He's slow to anger. and great in mercy. And that's what the court in those proceedings is. It's being slow to anger, to have everything, but eventually God's honor will be defended by whatever means are called for. These are all great points. Part of wisdom is figuring out how to balance them all, for sure. And if you even think about it, God created Adam knowing he would fall, and it was a part of his plan in his sobbing, because he was going to show his ability to show mercy and be a gracious God. When we think of excommunication, this was brought home to me, you and I, a few years back. What we seek is repentance. And that's what I think they wanted here from Greg Johnston. There are two things. always, church, I think I taught on this when we were going through this process, discipline is actually a part of discipleship. Every time the Word of God is taught or preached, you are under discipline. You're under the discipline of God's Word. And if you obey God's Word, you've been discipled. You were under discipline, you were discipled. If you don't obey God's word, that discipline moves to another level. So discipline advances because of rebellion in every case, right? So again, to Paul's point, there are two things you're doing with this discipline. One is certainly to bring the sinner, the wayward sinner, to draw him, to woo him, to repentance. That's the purpose of the various stages of discipline. But that's not the only purpose. The other purpose is the purity of Christ's church, right? And that's the aspect that gets lost. And here's how it gets lost. How can I talk about the purity of the church when I know I'm a sinner? but that's not how it works. Again, to Paul's point, God knew we would be sinners, and still he calls us to that task. It is a hard thing to balance. The issue with Greg Johnson, the problem with that is it was so clear to everyone, and it was so clear he should be defrocked, and we didn't, and I think we dropped the ball. And the other thing, too, is that that sin was an abomination. The Bible calls homosexuality an abomination. It's not like it was a debate over should infants take the Lord's Supper. This is a clear, there's like a no-brainer type of thing. Yeah. You know what, it was a test, to be sure. And I will tell you, again, it might have came about more slowly than we wanted. But in the span of two years, he left, and we changed our book of church order to make it crystal clear anyone identifying by any sin pattern is part of their ongoing life. In other words, I'm a gay Christian. That's one of the only sins. Nobody would say, well, I'm a thieving Christian, or I'm a lying Christian. But any sin pattern, it eliminates some possibility to serve in office. So again, it was changed. not as fast as we like. Was he allowed to preach when that discipline was going on? Well, what happened is there really wasn't discipline with him. As the case was proceeding, his church opted to leave. denomination and again we and I think for a lot of people they were tired of dealing with and they said let him go and I kind of get that but you know it's it's kicking the can down the road and now now another group's gonna have to deal with it the EPC well again they left in the process so no what they weren't formally under discipline but yeah Again, our General Assembly only meets once a year. Some of that's pragmatic. We've got too many churches to try to meet, you know, more than once a year. It's hard to do once a year. So, well, that's right. Well, the Presbytery should. And frankly, again, I don't want to go down history lane here too far, but this was the thing. A number of Presbyteries, ours included, petitioned the St. Louis Presbytery to deal with it. And they did. And they exonerated him. OK, so that was step one. Then it went to the General Assembly, right? So anyway. Well, let's pray. Father, we thank you and bless you for your kindness to us. So we pray that as we gather now before your throne of grace, that you will lift up our hearts to heaven, enable us to worship our great heavenly king. We ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen. I should have wrapped up with this. One of the reasons I went this route is we could have looked at 1 Timothy 3 or Titus 1, and there are passages that clearly say, a man must be, bop, bop, bop. But for me, those texts are so clear that it must be a man. What I really wanted to emphasize is it's a task that requires the nature God has given to man. In case I didn't wrap that up well, there you go.