Two offices in the church. There is the elder and there is the deacon. The elder and the deacon. This should help us to understand more about what consists of an elder and how different it is than a deacon. The deacon is to deek. The deacon is to serve. And he has a servant's heart and so on and so forth. And we'll look at that as we get there. But let's go in and we'll try to get finished with the qualifications of a pastor tonight. This is part six. This and we'll be looking at here Let's look in verse 4 through 7 if y'all will please stand with me as we read the Word of God together 1st Timothy chapter 3 verse 4 The Bible says the one that ruleth the way of his own house having his children a subjection with all gravity For for man though not house rule his own house. How shall he take care of the Church of God? I? not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Lord, we must have a good report of them which are without lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Let's pray. Father, we are thankful that you've given us your word, that you've showed us through it, Lord, the qualifications for your elders. Lord, help us here to understand these qualifications. And Lord, we ask you for grace that we would never compromise your word. and may you receive honor and glory in all things. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Now, we'll look at some more of this next week as we'll kind of recap through this and go a little more into the responsibility of the church with dealing with elders. But it's the church's responsibility to make sure that the elders of the church are qualified. This is the church's responsibility. It is also the elder's responsibility to make sure the church knows the biblical qualifications of an elder. And the only reason an elder would not want the church to know about the qualifications of an elder is if he is not qualified. Now let's look at verses 4 through 7 tonight and hopefully again we'll finish looking at the qualifications of an elder. Verse 4 says, Walnut ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. This word ruleth is to stand before, in rank, to preside, to practice, maintain, be overruled. It's also in the present tense, which means it's continually and it's repeatedly. The elder is to rule his house continually and repeatedly. It's what the Bible is telling us here. He's to always rule his house. And there is a way he is to rule it. The Bible says he is to rule it well. We learn from the family conference that he is to love his wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. He is not to provoke his children to wrath but to bring them up in the care and the admonition of the Lord. He is to treat his servants with respect as a brother if he has servants. But here in 1 Timothy he is to rule well. The word well means an honesty to recover full well. This word house here is a household family, those who live together in a house, including the idea of house affairs. Now it's a little different for you and I today is that most of us in here that I know of, or no one in here that I know of, has hired servants in their home. Some of you ladies may feel like hired servants, and some of you kids may feel like hired servants at times, but you're not a hired servant. Amen. And we don't have slaves today as they did years ago. So when it's talking about house here, that is included there. But for you and I today, if we had that, that would be there. But this is mainly talking about for you and I as for our wife and our children. The elder is to preside, to maintain and rule his own house. This means he must be actively involved in his house. This also includes the idea of household affairs. He must be involved in leading the decisions that are being made in the home. Now it's very important that we hear this. And understand this, because this carries over into the care of the church, as we'll see here in just a little bit. He must be leading his home to become more like Jesus Christ. He must lead his home in biblical things, also in life in general. And he must do this well, or he must do this fully and honestly. Now understand that where an elder lacks in his home, he will also lack in the church. If he lacks in a certain area in leading his home, more than likely he'll lack in that area of taking care of the church of God. Let's look at some well-known scripture tonight. Let's go to 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter 1, verse 3. 1 Samuel 1, verse 3. There are many examples that we could pull from this, and we'll look at Eli as an elder tonight, though he is the priest, the high priest here. But more importantly, we'll look at, briefly, how he handled his home and how he handled his sons. Verse 3 says that this man went out of his city yearly to worship in a sacrifice, speaking of Elkanah, of the Lord of Hosts and Shallows. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there." Now, I want you to notice that his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, they were priests of the Lord. Look at verse 12, 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 12. 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 12. Now, the sons of Eli were sons of Valah. They knew not the Lord. Now skip over to verse 17. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. Now what these young men were doing, the sons of Eli, they were taking their position, the priesthood, and taking advantage of other people. But I want you to see something here is that they were young men. They were not, they were no longer, in the home of Eli. They were no longer there. Matter of fact, if you look in chapter 4, verse 19, you see that his son Phinehas was, or his son's wife was about to have a child. And of course she did have the child. In 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 29, says, Wherefore, I kick ye at my sacrifice, and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the cheapest of all the offerings of Israel my people." Now, this came about how Eli ruled his own home. His sons may have learned how to keep faith in front of others as they grew up as they would now just picture them coming to the house of God and all in a line like ducks in a row coming in Eli say boys be sure to sit down and be on your best behavior today. No doubt they learned how to do these things coming up how to keep faith in front of people. My dad's the priest so I got to live a certain way and and do these certain things and But what happened is as they grew up, what they did at home became the norm at the temple in Shiloh. But they did even worse. Look at verse 11 of chapter 4. And there's two end results here, and then we'll quickly get back to 1 Timothy. The ark of God was taken and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were slain. God killed them. Look in verse 22, and she said the glory is departed from Israel for the ark of God is taken. And the implication here is that the Lord was also departed from Israel. Now, a man not ruling well his own home affects more than Jesus' home. Now, we've got to understand in the context here of dealing with elders in the church, The elders are those who make the decisions of the church. They lead the church in a certain direction, and that direction should be closer to the Lord, not away from him. And we see the example here of the sons of Eli, how they led the people further and further away from the Lord, to the point where they was even having sexual orgies at the temple. That's how bad it had gotten. the stems from how they were raised at home. Go back to 1st Timothy, please. Look at verse 4 of chapter 3. 1st Timothy chapter 4, chapter 3, verse 4. one that ruleth well his own house. So the thing that's obvious from the example we see with Eli, the elder must rule well his own house. And we'll get further into that right here. It says, having his children in subjection with all gravity. Now I want to make this clear to you that once our children grow up and leave our homes, we can no longer rule over them. This is hard for some parents to let go. I'm not for sure where I'll be when I get there. I'm kind of looking forward to them growing up and leaving in a sense. And I don't mean that to be rude. But once they leave, once they grow up and leave, they are no longer under the authority of me in my home. When someone tries to continue to rule their children, after they are left at home, the end result is chaos. I know of a young man, a young man my age, I think he's on his fourth marriage now. His mom has never left him alone. Never. She's always continually, even to this day, trying to rule him and his home. And it's already costing three marriages. And I haven't heard in the past few years, he may be on number five now. I don't know. But it's chaos when you try to rule your children when they're grown. But while they are in the home, they are subject to the authority of the head of the home, which here would be the elder, which would be the father. Now, children's subjection is a state of being under control or governed. When I thought about this, I'm not good with motors. I understand very little about motors. But I do understand that you can put a governor on a motor. And what's it do? It restricts it. It restrains it. Amen? It keeps it from doing all that it could do. That's what a governor does. And the children in subjection are under the control of the parent here, the elder, and it's governed by him. Now, I think about a go-kart. How many of y'all ever rode a go-kart? How many of y'all ever flipped one? Erect one? Hit trees with it? Too fast, couldn't handle the power. I can remember those days when the parent would finally get mad and say, hey, I'm fixing to fix this problem. And they put a governor on it. Then it's no more fun to ride, right? Now, why is the governor there? Well, it's there to protect everyone, not just the child. But as you grow, And as you learn how to handle the power that's there, the freedom that's there with that power, you get more freedom. In other words, the governor, in a sense, is less governed over you, if that makes sense. And more freedom, it's the same thing with our children today. As they get older, they become more mature, right? And we understand they can do more, so we let them do more. I do understand that my wife has a serious problem with this, that she's so scared of death that they're going to hurt themselves. And I tell them, glory to God, every time they get hurt, that's battle wounds. Show it off. Amen. I wrecked my bicycle. That's good. That's a good bruise. I got a blackout. Great. Wonderful. That means that you was not inside on the couch with your head down looking at some kind of a game. About the only way you get hurt playing the game is you get blisters on your thumbs and you get a neck ache. But anyway, This is, children are to be in subjection, this means to be governed, watch this in verse 4, having children in subjection with all what? Gravity. This is with all honesty and being serious. This does not mean that his children will be perfect. We must understand that. No one's children is perfect. And if their children had to be perfect, then no one could be an elder. This means that children are fully governed. And if they transgress, we learned about transgress a few weeks ago when Brother Jeremy taught on Psalms 51. Transgress is to pick up the leg, right? To step over, knowingly step over. To rule them well, to have them in subjection with all gravity means that they know. that if they transgress, that if they step over the line, they know that there will be consequences. If you tell them don't do this and they do it, they understand, they know that the consequences will or won't be far behind. This means that they don't get timeouts. This also means that the father must follow through. He must stand behind what he says. This also means he must be careful with what he says. He mustn't make foolish vows. He must follow through. If I tell my son Jacob that if he does a certain thing one more time, and he does it, and I tell him if he does it, I'm going to put the rod to him, and if he doesn't, and I don't put the rod to him, guess what's going to happen? He's going to do it again. Then he's going to do it again. Also, more than that, he's going to lose respect for his dad because I'm not a man of my word. I do love him and therefore I do give the rod to him lovingly. If he does not follow through, they will not respect him and they will not submit to him. Something else is that he must be the parent, not the pal. This doesn't mean that he's not friendly. This doesn't mean that he does not play football with them, or baseball, or games. This does not mean that he doesn't joke with them. This does not mean that he doesn't play pranks on them, or with them on their mom, or so on and so forth. But this means that he is the parent, not the pal. Understand that if his children look at him as just another pal, they will not respect his authority. Something else is not just with the children, but all of his home. Now, I hope you I hope you're hearing this because in just a second, we're going to transfer this to verse five. With dealing with the church. But those in the household must know that the father can be trusted with things that no one else should know. They must know they can go to him with questions, and he won't bite their heads off for not knowing the answer, but he will take time to instruct them in those areas. They must know they can come to him and confess their mistakes to him without him beating them down or getting mad at them. They must also know he makes mistakes, and this means that he must confess these. Of course, there are those times when they will not come to him, And this is grievous. And as I've been looking at this for a few weeks now, and as I thought about this, I thought about why is it, let's pick on the why's for a second. Women, why's. Why is it, why is it that there are times that you don't want to go to your husband and ask him a question about something? Is it because your heart is already set on the answer? It's already set. And so you don't want to ask the question. Kids are the same way. My brother has the same, and I think I mentioned this last week and it's wrong, but he says that he'd rather, he says it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. Often your kids don't want to come to you because they know you're going to tell them what? No. They know you're going to tell them no. So I'm not going to go to daddy. Am I telling it right? Amen. But there's other times they come to him when they know that they'll get wise counsel, good biblical counsel. Now, all these things that we just looked at carry over to overseeing the church of God. What is the church? It's not this building. it is the people. Look at verse 5, 1 Timothy chapter 3. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Now again, let's carry over all that we just looked at, plus much more, we don't have time to cover tonight, and to looking at the pastor or the elder overseeing the church. The church must know that the elders will lead the church closer to the Lord. The church must know that the elders can be trusted, that the elders will give biblical counsel, that he is human, which means that he will also make mistakes, and that he will confess them. That he is the man of his word. And they must also know, as with children, when the children get in trouble, that if the sheep get into trouble, they know he'll come, not with a rod to beat them, but with the word of God to love on them and to instruct them and to encourage them to repent and be reconciled with the Lord and with the Lord's church. And this is part of holding each other accountable. Now, this may seem like a lot, and it is. Go back to verse 1. This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, He desires a good, what's that last word? Work. Good work. This word work is toil, an effort or occupation, an act, deed, doing, labor, work. You know, labor is usually the job no one wants. But what people do want is the credit for the job that the laborer does. Now, it's hard work, I think we can agree, at times, being a husband. Amen. It's hard work at times being a father. And it's also hard work at times being an elder in the Lord's church. This is one reason the pastor should never view where he is at as a stepping stone. He has to put his life's work into it. If he views it as a stepping stone, this is also how he will view the people as stepping stones. The church for the overseer that God has placed in the church is family. He sees the church as family. He rejoices with the church. He grieves with the church. second john one four says i rejoice greatly that i found about children walking in truth as we have received a commandment from the father he was joy he was joyful that he had seen those whom he had taught and groomed up walking in the truth still continually walking in the truth and this is joyous won't you agree that when you see your kids as they grow older and they those things that you've instructed them and train them on you see them Grow up and begin to apply those things in their lives. This is joyous When's it grievous When they're not doing those things they're not applying That's when it's not joyous as grievous The elder loves the church This means he won't flee when the wolves come He'll stand against heresies and false teachers. And as he is willing to give his life for his family, he is also willing to give his life for the church. He loves the church. Matter of fact, he loves the church so much that he's willing to stand against those in the church who are living in sin to go and confront him. Remember back in 1 Samuel how Eli handled his home? How he handled his sons? He didn't do it right. He let them do what they wanted to do, not just at home, but where else? At the temple. At the temple. How he conducted himself at home? It's how they conducted themselves at the temple. If the pastor's children run the home, they'll run the church. If his wife runs the home, she'll run the church. I'm not trying to be rude when I say that, but I think most of us can say we've seen that. Isaiah 312 says, For my people, children, are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. A man can be qualified in every area, but if he does not rule well his own home, he is disqualified according to the Bible, and he cannot be an elder in the Lord's church. His family, please hear me, can qualify, or his family can disqualify him. Which means the field is really narrowed down. Let me ask you this, who narrows it down? The Lord does, through his word. His wife was a big part in this. Because the children usually, not in every case, but usually follow her lead. If she's disrespectful, they'll be disrespectful. If she's domineering, they'll be domineering. If he's always being rebellious and questioning him about everything, they'll do the same thing. And when you see that, you'll find a man who is miserable. Look at verse 6. Not a novice lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. A novice is a young convert newly sprung up inexperience. I want you to notice that it doesn't say nothing about how old this person is. Look at it again. Not a novice that's being lifted up with pride and fallen under the condemnation of the devil. It speaks of a spiritual age. Some can be saved for 20 years. Some can be new converts in a sense of having just been saved. Some can be saved for 20 years and still be inexperienced. and the Christian faith. So the question would come up, why? If this person that just got saved seems to love the Lord and is on fire for Jesus, going around witnessing and preaching everybody, let him be an elder in the church if he wants to be. Why can't he be? Well, I'm glad that God gave us the reason why he can't be. Verse 6 says, lest being lifted up with pride He fall into the condemnation of the devil. If you put someone who is immature in a leadership role, he is asked to think more highly of himself than what he really is. What is this? This is pride. I'm using Bud Dustin as an example. New convert. Would y'all agree? All right, Bud Dustin. Been saved six months, maybe. Something like that. this is just an example somebody throw nothing at me let's say that we go ahead he's been witnessing everybody spreading the word that's great that's what we should all be doing but let's say that we go ahead and ordain him as an elder in the church right now what's going to happen well let me tell you he's going to view himself as higher than others. On a scale of 1 to 10, he's going to view himself as an 8. False ability. He really thinks he's a 10. Okay? Just for example. He's going to look down at Brother Pat and say, I'm an elder. You're not. He's going to look at Brother Jerome and say, I'm an elder. You're not. He's going to look at Brother Jeremy and say, I'm on the same level as him, maybe even more. If you're going to look at Brother Joseph, Brother Clint, say, yep, I'm better than them. I know they teach the Bible, but look, they chose me as an elder already. Obviously, they see something in me that is great. I am the man. What is that? It's pride. And God resisteth the proud. Pride is to be conceited, proud, arrogant, and to exalt self. Can you see that person? I should have just said person instead of using Rodustin to take me as an example. But can you see this person going around saying, I'm the man? He puts in the paper, I'm an elder in the church. He calls the radio station, I got a prayers report. The church finally saw something in me that was great. And carry on about himself for half an hour on the radio and say, I'm an elder in the church. Pride. Exalting self. Arrogant. Watch what it does. Not only is this being lifted up with pride, he falls into the condemnation of the devil. What's condemnation? Judgment given. Decision. Award. Not a good award. A sentence. The consequences of the sin of pride is punishment from God. So I had this question. What is the condemnation of the devil? Got to thinking about this. And I want to provoke you for a second as we go there. In your mind, what comes to mind when you think of the condemnation of the devil? Now let's turn to Isaiah chapter 14. Isaiah 14, verse 12. Isaiah 14, 12. It says, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, which gives weak in the nations? Now, I want you to notice verse 13. For thou hast said, where? In thine heart. I got this marked on the side of my Bible. He never performed where he thought in his heart. He simply thought it. For thou said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mountain of the congregation on the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. Watch verse 16. Very important we see verse 16 here. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee. And consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble and did shake kingdoms? Now go to Ezekiel 28 with me, please. Ezekiel chapter 28. It's right after Lamentations. Ezekiel 28 verse 12. The Bible says, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God, Thou sealest up the sun full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. It's not speaking of the king of Tyrus here. He's speaking about the devil, Satan, Lucifer. Look at verse 13. Thou hast been an Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was a covering, the sardis, topaz, And the diamond, the barrel, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold, the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day thou wast created." Now let me ask you this, how many of those things that we just looked at in verse 13, how many of those things did Lucifer pick out to place on him? None. How many of those things did He say, put here, put here, put here, put here? None. God did this. God made Him like this. Thou art the anointed chair of that cover. Now who put Him here? And I, God, have set thee so. Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God, thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. God put Him in this position. In other words, I'm saying that to say this, he had nothing to glory in whatsoever. He didn't make himself. Verse 15, Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, watch this, till iniquity was found in thee. And we just read that in the book of Isaiah. Where was it found at? In his heart. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence. And thou hast sinned, therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy rightness. I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee." Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic. Therefore will I bring forth a fire from midst of thee, and shall devour thee, and shall bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all men that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee. Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." We can agree that God went from being for Lucifer to being against Lucifer. Now understand, please hear me, this is a warning for the church. Remember, as we started a while ago, I mentioned that it is the church that elects and votes on the elders that will rule the church. First Peter 5, 5 says, Likewise the younger submit yourselves unto the elder, yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Who is it that resisteth the proud? It is God. He is the one who is against the one lifted up with pride. Now go back to 1 Timothy please. Let's look at verse 6 again. 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 6. Not a novice lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. What's going to happen here? This person will be lifted up with pride and as God cast down Lucifer, this young man will also be cast down and his weaknesses and his frailty will be made known to all. Let me say again, it's very important that the church understands this. The church are the ones that ordains against elders. It is a black eye on the church when this happens, when an elder falls because of pride. It also causes the enemies of God to blaspheme. I can't stress how important this is, folks. Listen, first of all people don't understand the differences between an elder and a deacon and the main reason that is because it's not taught. The second reason is because the people don't study either. Too often we see have seen, especially in the churches in our area, where they would take a young person who seems to be prominent, maybe in the community, maybe prominent in business, and take that person and make them an elder or a deacon in the church because of their prominence. That person might not have a lick of spirituality about them. Or it could be they are a young person. I've heard of many young pastors. I know I won't talk to them on a regular basis. A young man who Save their young age, on fire for God, preaching, and they put him to pastor in churches. Immediately. I mean, he wasn't saved six months and he's pastoring churches. It wasn't long and he was chewed up of himself and the wolves of the church. I should say the wolves inside of the church house. Chewed him up, spit him out, and he's just not pastoring anymore today. May not be a big deal to you. But it's a big deal if it's your son. It's a big deal if it happens here. Let's look at verse 7. Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. This word good here is honorable, distinguished. Report is honorable testimony, good report. Notice who is to give an honorable and a good report. Them which are without. Without is those on the outside. Simply these are those who are not involved in the church. Usually those, this is speaking of the lost. These are those whom he has business dealings with. He has business dealings with these people also. These are those he sees at the ballpark. These are those he sees in the grocery store. These are those he sees at a restaurant and also in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Who are these people? Well, they know how he is, away from church. Listen, folks, it's easy for all of us to come in here and keep face, to put on a show, to pretend that we are super spiritual. But those whom we deal with, would you agree that those whom you are around all the time on a regular basis You usually let your guard down around. You may say something that you wouldn't normally say. You may do something that you wouldn't normally do. In other words, they know the real you. Amen? These are those who he again has business dealings with. So I had a question here. My question was, why? Why is it, why does it matter what those outside the church say and think about the elders in the church? They're not a part of the church. Well, these people may not agree with him doctrinally, but they know the type of person that he is. They know him by his business dealings. They may say he's a religious fanatic, but they'll say he's honest. They'll say he's a man of his word, and they'll give him an honorable good report. Verse 7 says, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Snare is anything by which one is entangled and brought into trouble. That comes from the rest of the jurisdiction of the 1828 edition. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 9. Now remember what a snare is. Anything that by which one is entangled and brought into trouble. 3 verse 9 of 1 Timothy chapter 6, but they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare. It says, but they that what will be rich, not those that are rich, those that will be rich. These are those who think they are. How many of y'all ever heard of a subdivision, I'm probably getting in trouble here, called Beauchene? Have you ever talked to someone who lives in there? Now, there are some people in there that's got some money. I'm not saying they ain't. But there's a bunch of them in there that ain't got none. Am I telling it right? that ain't got none. But they think they do. They think they do. They're caught in a snare by what they think. Look at the rest of verse 9. But they that will be rich, watch what happens, fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts. was drowning and destruction and perdition. Now take this back and put it with the elder. To fall and to reproach in the snare of the devil. The snare of the devil. Think about it for a second. What does he want us to do? Be just like him. Think more highly of ourselves than what we are. Some of us, our heads can swell up real quick. Other people can, I guess, can handle it, or pretend they handle it. Be careful with your attaboys. Be careful how you take your attaboys. You think more highly than you are. You can fall into the snare of the devil. Look over in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 26. Verse 26 says, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. Look back at verse 22, flee also what? Youthful lust. You know, a young man thinks he can do it all. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. I am the man. An old man says, I know I can't do it all. Youthful lust is, and somewhat, to think more highly of yourself than what you really are. The word reproach, in 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 7, is that which is the cause of shame or disgrace. Now, folks, the church must listen to what those who are without say. In other words, this may sound a little crazy, but is it important before this church calls elders and ordains elders that they found out who that person has business dealings with? Is it important? Is it important for the church to, again this may sound crazy, but have you ever filled out an application and had to put down what? A resume? Is that what it's called? Reference. You make a resume. A little posture on the end of it always messes me up. But you make a resume. Call your previous employer. I know it sounds a little crazy, but is it biblical? Is it biblical to know how the elder does in his business dealings? Very biblical. I don't know of a church, and I'm not going to say the name of the church, that hired an associate pastor. And he wasn't there very long. And most of you know this church very well. And he left the church. He had some excuse for leaving. Well, come to find out, he had done run a big bill up at the hardware store. No one knew about it. But the folk at the hardware store knew about it. And they were not happy. Well, when the pastor of the church found out, he went up there and paid for it himself. Paid the debt off and apologized for the man. Why? Because he understood that that man had a bad business deal. which brought a black eye to the church, and allowed the enemies of God to blaspheme. Those on the outside know. If those on the outside of the church say the elder is not good, but those on the inside say he is good, then there is a conflict there. Now understand this, that there are those on the outside who will lie. Their goal is to destroy the man and destroy the ministry and destroy the church. So, no doubt, any kind of accusations must be investigated. And we'll see that, or you can see that in 1 Timothy chapter 5. There is a snare to think more highly of themselves than what He is. Let me close by saying this. Biblical elders always lead the church in the direction of being closer to God. They're not on an agenda. They're not out trying to make a name for themselves. Listen folks, one day you and I are going to pass off the scene. It's my prayer that Richard and Baptist Church will still be going strong. Stronger. Stronger. Stronger for the Lord. I pray that God will take these kids that's here, and those whom He's going to send, those whom He's going to raise up, and that these kids will be trained. They'll see how a church is supposed to be according to the Bible. They'll see how the elders of the church, the deacons of the church, the Sunday school teachers, the people of the church are supposed to be according to the Bible. They'll see this. And they'll know it's Bible. I pray for my kids. I pray for my two boys, Cody and Jacob, that the Lord would call them into the ministry. This may sound crazy, but I pray that it won't be here. I'm not being rude, but I pray that God will call them and move them. I pray that God will call them and move them to start a church somewhere. Start a church. There's something about that third generation that just runs on cruise control. I pray God to send all these kids out. Raise them up and use them. Biblical elders bring a good report also on the church and through this God is glorified. Amen. Now, we've learned a lot about elders in the past few months. Next week, we'll compile this together. We'll also look at the responsibility of the church and looking at elders. And this is the direction this church is presently going. And I am thankful for that. Ain't it good to want to be biblical? Amen. To want to be biblical. And have a plurality of elders and have deacons and to understand the role of deacons. Do you know what most people think a deacon is supposed to do? Y'all go ahead and tell me. Because y'all was raised in it too. What? Run the church. Run the church. Come in and tell the preacher he will and ain't gonna do this and can't wear this tie or this color shirt or he's gotta shave his beard and so on and so forth. I've heard people say I can't wait to be a deacon. I'm gonna tell that preacher how it is. Amen. It's not the place of a deacon. And the Bible says rebuke not an elder except with what? Two or more witnesses. And you better have a reason to rebuke him. Not that he's above rebuke. That's anybody. You don't rebuke anybody. Just to show off pride and show off your position. Amen. The Lord will and will be looking at these things coming up. Ain't you glad to be caught by His grace? Amen. Me too. Let's close in prayer. Father we are.