We are right in the middle, looking at the pastor's biblical required qualifications. And in 1st Timothy, we've been studying this in chapter number 3, 1st Timothy chapter number 3. And we have been looking at verse number one, it says, this is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desire it through good work. We talked about the first qualification here given is that desire, a God-given desire that God would place in the man. A bishop then must be blameless. We talked about what that meant. Nobody's perfect, all right? And I know your pastor, he's not perfect either. But no one's perfect, but they should have a testimony where no one would say that person's known for this sin or known for that sin or they're a habitual liar or whatever the case may be. Says the husband of one wife, we talked about what that meant. Vigilant, always on guard for the sheep. Sober, controlling of his thoughts of good behavior. We talked about how he should act right and be able to behave himself in the church and outside the church. Given to hospitality and how Titus is a lover of hospitality. So a pastor should be someone who's given to hospitality, loves to be with the people, and strives to do so, apt to teach, because that's one of the great responsibilities of a pastor is to be a teacher, and then it says, not given to wine, which is where we are tonight. 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse number 3, it says again, it says, not given to wine. Now, again, that word means It means the fruit of the vine, grape juice, and it obviously is applicable, too, for strong drink. But understand, I think, I talked about this once before, that they were very careful because they weren't able to preserve like we can today and so pastors weren't even touch the stuff. It's just a good opinion. Paul says a pastor should stay away from it because the mind cannot take a chance on getting anything that would cause it to be clouded in any way because the position of a pastor is important. Position of a pastor someone that's on call 24 hours a day And it's important that he doesn't take chances on and we could apply that today not just obviously stay away from wine and alcohol But also other drugs anything else that would cloud the mind so they can't think right a pastor should stay away from those things That's why you know Regardless what the government decides your pastor won't be taking any marijuana I see if you're listening, alright? So you won't do that because you can't cloud the mind, alright? So we stay away from those things, which by the way is good advice for everybody. Amen. Stay away from those things that would cloud the mind. I promise you, you're not gonna control it. It will control you every time. And so, stay far from those things. And so, if you've been out to Colorado, you understand the results of that. And I just talk, I just look at it purely at a spiritual aspect, what I'm about to say. I've been there, I've been on the ground, some of you have too. When you talk to people and you meet these people that are on that, They don't understand one thing you're saying. They're out of it. And just spiritually speaking, it hinders the cause of Christ. If it was the devil's opinion, he'd have everybody on it so no one could hear the truth and understand the truth. And so it's important we don't give ourselves to those things. Bible says in 1 Timothy 3, 3, no striker. The word striker means to smite. A pastor should not resort to violence in order to get his way. A pastor should always conduct himself with restraint. In other words, if I'm going around and every time I get mad at you, I punch you in the face or throw something at you, or you get on my nerves so I pick up the offering plate and wing it at you, alright? You know, that man should be removed from the pulpit immediately. And you'd be surprised. You'd be surprised how anger is an issue in a whole lot of men behind pulpits today, and they just get mad and say things, do things. Unfortunately, I've seen it with my eyes, and some of you probably have, unfortunately, too. People have gotten fists raised in church, brother against brother, and what a sad, sad thing that is. and especially should never ever be from the pulpit. The pastor should not be a striker. That'd mean he doesn't stand for truth, but he ought to be able to stand for truth without having to punch his brothers and sisters over it, all right? And as someone who's always wanting to do that, there's something wrong there, all right? He ought to conduct himself with restraint. The Bible says next, again, trying to get as far as we can tonight, not greedy a filthy lucre. And again, that's talking about pastors should never use the ministry as a way to try to get rich. That's not the goal. That's not why a pastor should do what he does. And, you know, you look at a lot of today's modern televangelist and those out there, man, do they have some bucks, huh? I see their houses, and I know one of them that's got his own airport at his house and has four Jets he flies, and that's not what it's all about. And it shouldn't be, and you know it's become that when they're always selling you this or selling you that or asking you to send this donation, and if you think they really love you, call them when you go to the hospital. See who shows up. They just want your money, right? You need to be careful about those things. But a pastor should be someone, a filthy lucre. Again, I always say this every week, say, why are you studying these things, right? Because someday, if the Lord doesn't come back, you're going to have to find a pastor. I will die or the Lord will move. It's just something that could happen. I hope we all go up together. But if the Lord has another 60 years until he comes back, I don't think I'll be able to pastor 90, whatever I'll be, 100, whatever I'll be close to there. So you're gonna have to find a pastor. And it's important that you understand the biblical position of a pastor. All it takes, understand this, you can have an awesome church, and you can put the wrong man in the pastorate and the church is done. So it's important that you understand and know what to look for. Shouldn't be gritty of filthy lucre. They should be trustworthy in the area of finances. Pastors, I like this little quote I have on the screen behind me, pastors are paid so they can preach, not paid to preach. There's a difference there, alright? We pay that guy to preach, alright? Well, that means when he's not preaching good enough to your qualifications, you may quit paying him, alright? Understand what you're doing is paying them so they can preach. Spend the time in the Word of God. Be ready and prepared for the messages that God would have for the church. Pastors are the ones ultimately responsible for the oversight of the church finances. We talked about in our discipleship last night. We have a treasurer. We have Trustees we have all the church gets a report every month of the money that's spent And the church it decides those things but on the day-to-day the pastor, you know overseas you make sure it's done correctly And so, you know, he obviously needs to be trustworthy in this area A pastor should be, according to the verses there, also financially taken care of, and that's not been an issue with our church, and I praise the Lord for our church. But, you know, in the future, never get that mentality, you know, God will keep him poor, you keep him humble, alright? uh... that's not a good mentality all right to have for your pastor the bible says there is verses i have there that labor is worthy of his reward the bible says in that passage that uh... you know you ought to consider those who are laboring the word of double honor uh... it just in those verses just basically mean you ought to take care of the pastor financially so that they're able to do what god's called them to do And this church does just for future teaching, so we never forget that. And I also want our young men to know this too, that should God called you into the pastorate, you may be in a position someday where the church, you know, probably will be in a position. where the church can't fully take care of those needs. Maybe it's just getting on its legs and et cetera, et cetera. There's nothing wrong with working, Paul did, and he had his tent making. But as a church, we ought to have the goal. that they wouldn't have to do that. But understand that if that's what we have to do, then that's what you have to do. And since I graduated college, and I've been here ever since I graduated college, but I've delivered papers, I've had a few jobs that I've done to help meet the needs, not afraid to do those things, need to do those things before. And it's just, just don't get the mentality, well, if that church can't pay me, I'm not going. You need to pray and trust God. If God tells you to go, then you go. And God can take care of his man, I promise you that. We'll go on, must be patient. 1 Timothy 3, 3, it says, they're not greedy a filthy luger, but patient. Patient meaning this, allowing God to do His work in His time. You know, when we think of patience, we always think of, you know, somebody, you know, did something to me and I'm not getting them back. Well, that's patience. Or, you know, you're suffering and just enduring that. That's patience, absolutely. But it also patience in this, patience in people. Patience. That's the reason why that's a qualification. Pastors are given for the perfecting or the maturing of the saints. You know what that means? Ephesians 4, 11 to 12, you have been given pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints. You know what that means? That there's going to be people in your church, if you're doing your job as a church, you're always going to have immature people in your church. if we are doing our job, right? Because if we're doing our job, souls are being saved. If we're doing our job, there's going to be young Christians who don't know much. Amen? That's going to happen. So a pastor can't ever get flustered at somebody because they're not living the life that they think they should be living. The pastor's there for the perfecting or for the maturing. Therefore, the pastor has to understand that there must be patience there. Because I got news for the pastor. There's a God in heaven who's being awful patient with the pastor too, all right? It's every one of us are perfecting every one of us are maturing I've said this for many years if you think you've arrived spiritually you've never been farther from it We're all growing in the Lord and a pastor has to be patient because you know, it's just like a fruit You know, you have an apple tree. All right, it takes time If you go out and pick it when it's just a little bitty teeny little apple All right, you're not gonna get nothing out of that worth having. All right, but you show patience You water it, you nurture it, you protect it, and it will become a good fruit. So it has to be patience. Just as a husband waits for his fruit to mature, so pastoral ministry is a long-term proposition. Number three, be a pastor is to be patient toward all men, both saved and lost. Be patient with lost people. It's easy to get flustered sometimes at maybe the lying of lost people or they deceive you and things like that. What do you expect? We were the same way, hopefully not the same way. Hopefully the Lord's made that change and you've allowed it, but you gotta be patient towards all men. Patience springs from tribulations, Romans chapter five says. Which means this, as a pastor you're gonna go through tribulations. Because God's gonna teach you patience. And I ain't got time to go through them, but I know God's put me through some things because I needed to learn patience. They were hard things, but lessons I need to learn. The book of Titus expresses the same thought, it's almost the same word, when it says in Titus 1.7, it says, not soon angry. A pastor should be a gentleman, not harsh and arrogant. A pastor should be someone who treats everyone with love and respect, not angry at people and doesn't think he's better than other people. That's all patience. Letter M, a pastor must not be a brawler. First Timothy 3.3 says, but patient, not a brawler. That word means quarrelsome. It means always looking for a fight. Did you know if you want to find a fight, you'll find one every time? You could. I could find one tonight, you could too. And if we're looking for one, you're gonna find one. That's what I don't like. Some of you care less about what I'm about to say. Some of you will be like, oh yeah, it's so true. That's why I don't get involved on anything on the internet. There's people all the time debating things and talking about things, and I just stay from it. And people all the time ask me and say, what's your opinion? It doesn't matter. That's not the place to do that. You don't cast your pearls before the swine, the Bible says. You don't have those discussions. Why in the world would I want to have a spiritual debate where the whole world's watching? All they see is two Christians that can't get along and mad at each other. which is what a lot of time it ends up being. I use it as a means of being very sarcastic and funny. I like putting that stuff in pictures of my nice dog. That's great, all right? And I'll put out something to encourage people, a male verse, a scripture, but I'm not gonna get into debate. And there's some people that go on there just to have a debate. There are some people, me and Brother Grimm, Brother Jake, we're talking after discipleship, there are some, when pastors, some pastors get together, they go for the purpose of trying to cause a problem, just to try to challenge each other and get into an argument so they can win. That's not what the Bible says. I shouldn't walk around town and look at people trying to pick fights, and not necessarily fist, all right, but just saying things, statements I shouldn't be saying, or just things to make people mad. I may pass someone that holds up a sign that says Bernie Sanders is the greatest thing the world's ever seen. I don't agree with that, all right? I'll tell you that from the pulpit. I don't agree with that, all right? Twenty years ago, this country would have ran him out of the country for being a socialist, all right? I'll get off that. But, you know, I don't agree with him, but I'm not going to walk up to that person and tell them they're an idiot. That's being a brawler, all right? I may go up to that person and tell them about the Lord and invite them to church. Because the fact is, they're not gonna change unless they meet the Lord Jesus Christ. I just upset some of you burning people, didn't I? Hopefully not, all right? I didn't mean to, I was just saying I don't agree with him because he's a socialist. Anyways, our battle again, the Bible says it's not flesh and blood. I'm turning into a brawler from the pulpit. That's awful, all right? Don't be looking for fights. And a pastor shouldn't do that, and it's sad, you know, people that do. Pastor, they just put things on just to stir up problems. What are you thinking, right? Anyways, you can tell that bugs me. Pastor must not be covetous. 1 Timothy 3.3 says, not a brawler, not covetous. A pastor should be known for contentment. Pastor shouldn't be the guy that's always saying, boy, I wish I had this. Boy, I wish I had that. Everybody else has this. I wish I had a car like that one. I wish I had a house as big as theirs. I wish I had that much money as that guy has. I wish I had his nice clothes. Did you see that guy's shoes? He has better shoes than I do. And that guy ought to just step down and quit whining and grow up a little bit, all right? But a pastor shouldn't be covetous. Shouldn't be known for someone who's always desiring now the word covetous Deuteronomy 521 it talks about covetous A covetous person how we're not to be covetous and it says neighbors in Deuteronomy. I'm not changing the scripture I'm just trying to apply it to a pastor. All right, they understand that I'm in no way Trying to change scriptures. I got that I want you to go on home saying, he changed the King James. I'm not, the Bible says in Deuteronomy, thy neighbors, but for a pastor, I'm just kind of putting the word member there instead, because a pastor needs to watch out for the same areas. The same areas, because the Bible says in Deuteronomy, you know, thy neighbors, I'll say members, for the pastor, we should be coveting of our neighbor's wife, our member's wife, amen. And it's sad you even have to say that, but the Bible said it in Deuteronomy, and you got your head in the sand if you don't think that it's going on in the world today, that pastors have eyes towards people they have no business doing, and it's destroying churches because they can't control their own lust, and that's sad. thy member's house. This is thy neighbor's house in Deuteronomy, but pastor can't look at someone else in their church and think, wow, they got a nicer house. They got this and that. Why can't I have a house like that? That's what the Bible says they shouldn't covet. Thy member's field. Those are ways of making financial assets, all right? Shouldn't look at other people and be coveting and say, why don't I have the ways to make money or the money like they do? Thy member's man or maid servants. Those are things for comfort. You know, that's looking at the person that, you know, drives in. You know, I've always wanted a Dodge pickup that looked like Walker, Texas Rangers. That's always been my dream. Gray with dark gray interior with the big lights on the top. That's awesome. And you can crash it and it always never gets dented. That's awesome, all right? You know, I've always wanted a truck like that, all right? And if you drive one in next week, all right, if I'm sitting there saying, well, that's not fair, and I go home and whine about it, and I go tell everybody why did they get one, there's something wrong in my heart. You shouldn't covet things that are just for comfort. And members, neighbors, ox or ass, those are productive assets, things that, you know, they've been blessed with to use. And so, you know, you can't be covetous is the point. And a pastor that's covetous is a pastor that needs to change. He's losing his qualification. Letter O, a pastor must rule well his own house. This is one of great controversy, and it doesn't need to be. We'll just read what the Bible says. First Timothy chapter three, verse number four, one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Now it's important that a pastor, this qualification focuses on two different aspects of the pastor's home. It says, first of all, the way that he rules his own house. It says again in a verse, it says that ruleth well his own house. He should rule his own house well, that means in order and arrangement. He should have a home, what that, get in detail, he should have a home, you can see behind me, where his family serves with him. Joshua said in Joshua 24, because he was the leader of his home, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. A pastor ought to be able to lead his family in serving the Lord. His wife ought to be submitted to that leadership, because the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22 to 24, that the wife see that she submit in reverence to her husband. You see, if a pastor's family is not in order, how can he get up and preach these things? It doesn't mean they have a perfect marriage, right? There's never a problem. Hey, they're both human beings, all right? They're still gonna be in the flesh and have, you know, struggle in the same struggles that you struggle with. But the fact is, a rebellious wife that is known for the rebellion, or a pastor that will not lead his family and serve the Lord, or it says there, again, he must be raising his children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That's what Ephesians 6.4 says. Again, it doesn't mean the pastor's house is perfect and without problems. The same trials, stresses, and hard times will be faced by the pastor that you face in your home. What's important is how the pastor responds to and deals with these things to be an example to the church. Summary sentence, his family should prove that God's word works. His family should prove that. One that rules well his own house. As long as Alex and Grace and Hope And Stacy and Travis live under the same house. I should lead my home in an orderly way. I should be the spiritual leader in my home. My wife should reverence and submit to her husband and my children. They ought to be obedient. They ought to be learning and growing in the Lord. And we all ought to be serving God together. Now that should be something that's there. Now I understand this and I would have to add to scripture to say that this is adamant. I would hope and pray that my children would go on and serve the Lord all their life. That would break my heart if they did not. But we either believe in a free will or we don't. And those children have to make a decision someday. My son will serve the Lord if he lives in my home. But when he's 30, I can't go around and make him do things. But if I've done my part, he should have a desire to serve God. and that desire should be there. But God, he rules as well as his own house. And then it says in the book that his children behave. His children behave. It says, having his children in subjection with all gravity. Titus talks about the children that they're not accused of riot or unruly. In other words, they have to be in subjection to the parents and they should, you know, be obedient. So I have written there, a wise church will do all it can so a pastor can have a normal home life. Now I'm gonna stop there and let you meditate. If I was a psalmist, I would say sila. All right, stop and think about this for a second, all right? How can you expect a pastor to lead his home, teach his children, love his wife, nurture and admonition if the pastor never can be home to do those things? You know, you can't. Something's gonna give. Something's gotta give. You know, and I don't know if I'll get there this far tonight, but, you know, some things sometimes have to change. And so, you know, it's important, you know, to keep an equal balance there and understand that, you know what, he does need to be home. He does need to have that time too. I'll talk about that more later maybe. Letter P, the pastor must not be a novice in 1 Timothy 3.6. That word novice doesn't have anything to do with their age as it does being a new convert or an immature believer. Paul told Timothy not to let anyone despise his youth. It's not a matter of age. It's a matter of their maturity, a matter of them not, you know, if say there's a guy named Jedediah that comes to church Sunday and he gets saved Sunday morning, gets baptized Sunday night, all right, he's a long way from being a pastor of a church. He needs to learn and grow and mature. And whether he be 10 years old or whether he be 60 years old, he still needs to be maturing. It can't be a novice. Again, it's not necessarily the age, but they've proven themselves an example in word, conversation, charity, spirit, faith, and purity. Because the greatest danger of a novice is pride. I got that little guy, preacher, pointing at himself, right? Look at me, right? Gotta be careful there. Not a novice. He must be a pastor, must be someone of good report. 1 Timothy, again, chapter number 3, verse number 7 now, says, moreover, he must have a good report of them that are without. This has to do with his reputation among those without. That's outside the church. That's the lost world. He ought to have a good reputation. Now, take this and understand it in the right way. Doesn't mean the world's gonna love him because the Bible says those that live godly the world's gonna hate you all right Though but they'll not hate you for the wrong things you do. They're gonna hate you for the right things you do But a pastor should be someone of good report in other words for all the people about here in Goshen Milford Blanchester Travis Burke should be known Rick Salish should be known as someone who keeps their word and They should be known as someone who if they say they're gonna do it. They're going to do it They should be known as people that if they make a handshake deal you can count on that you know there is a recently went to a place and had a job done on one of the cars and and And I forgot my wallet Not terrible forgot it because I don't really carry a wallet anymore It's like a money clip on one side then to hold your driver's license on the other so much nicer But I you know, I just been carrying it and I always put it in the dashboard of the car and I forgot it and I was in the other car and This is true. All right, I was sitting I was like, oh no, you know and I and I needed to leave and and one of the guys and that were in there walked out His name's Roger And Henson, remember Roger Henson, lived in Blanchester. He had a bunch of brothers, rode the bus forever. Roger walked out and said, that's Brother Travis. He goes, how you doing? And we talked. He was like, yeah. And I was like, yeah, I forgot my wallet. He goes, ah, this guy's good. He said, he'll be back later. That was good. I'm glad the guy didn't say, well, you better not give him his car. I'm glad he was able to say that. And then, but the cool part was Roger wrote it off and said I didn't have to pay. Ching, right? That was awesome. It was $18, but still, this is great. But it's good to have a good report. You need to, because if a pastor has things in his life that allows a lost world to justify their sin, something bad wrong and the work of God's not going to be done. A pastor's letter R should not be self-willed. The Bible says there. Let's go over now to Titus, all right? That's all the ones in Timothy. Titus adds a few more. Like I said, I'm not, we didn't go back and forth and repeat the same ones, but in Titus chapter 1, verse number 7, Look at these with me real quick. And it says here, Titus 1-7, for a bishop must be blameless, I already talked about, as a steward of God, not self-willed. Now there's a new one, not self-willed. That word self-willed means self-pleasing or self-seeking. You know, the pastor should have a desire for the will of God. A pastor's attitude at all times should be, if the Lord will, then that's what we'll do. The pastor's heart should be something that is never about himself and what he wants, but what the Lord would want and what the Word of God desires. A pastor in Titus 1.8 should be a lover of good men. Titus 1.8, now some of them are repeated, but 1.8 says, a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men. In other words, a pastor keeps good company. Now, a pastor is going to be sitting, don't be alarmed if you see the pastor, you know, sitting. I met a couple months ago, we went to McDonald's after church on Sunday night, and there was a long-haired guy on a computer sitting in there, and I sit down and I just started talking to him, because I had spent that morning talking to him in there, right? Now, he looked rough. He was a rough looking dude. I don't know who all was with us, the Davises, I think the Roberts were even in town then or something. But we're all sitting there. When I just sat down and started talking to a guy who knew me, a couple, especially the kids were just like, who's he talking to? Who is this long haired guy that he knows? Now that's to be expected if you're doing your job as a Christian you ought to know people The Lord was always found with publicans and sinners, right? But what was he always doing pointing them to the to the right and to the Word of God, you know? but but you understand the difference between being a witness and having the company of wrong people if always the pastors hanging out with the shady crowd Well, there's something wrong with the pastor And so he should be a lover of good men. He should desire to be around good people. Pastor needs to be just, Titus 1 verse number eight. That means equitable. In other words, he has good judgment because there's gonna be many different matters that he's gonna have to deal with. And that demands that he's not a respecter of persons. Doesn't matter how much money you have, you should always choose what is right. It doesn't matter if it's family or whatever it may be. You should always just take a stand for what is right. You must exercise judgment based on wisdom, Proverbs 10, 31. And a pastor needs to continually ask God for wisdom, James 1, 5, because he has to be just. Decisions are made every day. And, you know, you need to have wisdom. Church people come with issues, you know, sometimes between each other. What should be done? Husbands and wives, what should be done? Matters of this or that. And there's so many different types of decisions to be made. A pastor needs to have the wisdom of God on his life. A pastor needs to be holy, Titus 1 and verse number 8. That means live, again, everybody knows what holiness is, but live a life that strives to be holy. Seeks holiness. Pastors should live a holy life. Again, you know, should strive to be like Christ. No one can be, but every one of us should strive to be. A pastor has to be temperate, Titus chapter 1 and verse number 8. That means power over himself. and areas that the Bible teaches about being temperate. Proverbs 23.2 tells us to put a knife to our throat when it comes to eating, when it comes to spending in Proverbs 21, when it comes to the use of our time, when it comes to sleeping, when it comes to speech. All these different things to be able to control yourself. And let's face it, most pastors don't have a time clock. They walk in and punch in and then punch out every night, all right? Although being paid by the hour is very intriguing to me. Nevermind, that was kind of a joke. But it's just a, there's a lot of trust there. I'm happy to tell you, if you come by here at 7.30 in the morning, I'll be here. And if you come by at 10.30 at night, I'll be here. That's not an issue with the pastors at your church, I promise you that. But I do know it has been an issue with people I've known in churches. You know, it's always kind of a joke, you know, a pastor only works three hours a week, right? You know, he shows up to preach his sermons, and I promise you that's not the truth around here. But a pastor needs to be temperate. A pastor has to be sound in doctrine, Titus 1.9. It says they're holding fast faithful word. His knowledge of and training in the Word of God needs to be sound. He has to be well studied. And there's several key words in this passage. I want us just to kind of pull out. Again, if you're looking at Titus 1 and in verse number nine, first the word holding. The word holding, a pastor has to do more than just know what the truth is. He has to have a strong heart's held conviction and be able to prove it. As a pastor, he ought to be able to prove, you know, if someone walks up here, let's say I do make it to 85 years old and you have to find a new pastor, right? And there's somebody who walks in and you say, do you believe in eternal security? That's a good question to ask somebody. Amen. Yes. All right. Do you believe, should you not ask your pastor, perspective pastor that question? Do you believe in eternal security? That's important. Don't let him say yes. If he says yes, keep staring at him, all right? Because that's a good answer. Why? Why do you believe that? Do you believe salvation by grace through faith alone? Yes. Then you stare at him. Why do you believe that? Because if a pastor can't prove doctrines, I'm not gonna say he's gonna know everything. But there are some basic things that he better be able to take the word of God and show you why he believes that. Because if there's no grounding there, they can be swept away with false doctrine. So it's important to be able to hold fast, hold the truth. The word fast is next, holding fast. That word means tightly, willing to defend the truth with his life if need be. Faithful word, holding fast to faithful word. A pastor must be mighty in scriptures. Your pastor ought to be able to get up and preach the scriptures. Jokes are fine, stories are okay, and a good personality is pretty sweet. But if all they are are jokes, stories, and personality, you're gonna have problems in your church. They need to be mighty in the word of God. They need to be taught. Titus 1.9 against this holding fast to faithful word is one, he hath been taught. There's no escaping the need for a sound bit Bible education. He should have been taught. You should ask where he's learned and where he's learned these things. He ought to be taught from his church. He ought to have been taught through faithful men. He ought to be taught through his own personal Bible study. And then the Bible says there in Titus 1.9, that he may be able, the word able, that means skillful in using the word of God. Again, I hope I made my point. Don't just let a pastor ever walk up and say, I believe in salvation by grace, through faith, eternal security, and the Lord's coming back someday. That's great. Can you explain to us why you believe that? Can you take the scriptures and show us? because it's important that they be grounded in the Word of God. So that's the scriptural qualifications. Now some spiritual qualifications. I'm gonna zoom through this. From Acts chapter six, verse number four, a pastor must be a man of prayer and a man of the book. If a pastor is to bring his members to the stature or fullness of Christ, then he has to be at that level. Listen to my next statements I have on the board there. If he wants his people to be grounded in the Word of God, then he must be grounded in the Word of God. If he expects his people to pray, then he should know how to pray. There should be something there. So there are some spiritual qualifications, some things that you ought to know that's in their life. They ought to be a spiritual giant in the church. That kind of goes without saying. I'm not saying that to say, you know, Travis Burke or Rick Slee think they're better than anybody, but your pastor ought to be a spiritual giant in your church. A pastor ought to be someone that you can know that they are grounded and rooted and strong in the Word of God. If you can't think that about your pastor, you ought to get a new pastor. So therefore, these spiritual qualifications, he must A, I'm just going to go through these, a personal knowledge of God. Obviously, he needs to have a salvation testimony. Obviously, he needs to know that he's saved. You know, again, 60 years from now, someone's standing here saying they would like to be the pastor because at a Baptist temple, Daniel and Sam Hall are sitting there leading an interrogation and they say this, are you saved? And he says, yes. Don't leave it at that. Tell me how you got saved, when you got saved. They should have a salvation testimony. They should have a personal walk with God. They ought to have evidence that they read their Bible, that they pray that the Spirit of God's in control of their life. They ought to be spiritually minded. Everything that comes their way ought to be processed through the mind of Christ, which is found in the Word of God, which means that they will have a heart for God. In other words, they'll always take God's side on the matter. That's not always easy. Sometimes people don't want God's side on the matter. I was telling Brother Roberts, he was dealing with a situation with some people in his church that, you know, they were doing what was wrong when it comes to marriage and divorce. And he told them he wouldn't support it. And they looked at him and said, well, if you don't agree with it, then, you know, we may have to leave. When you're a church just getting started and you have a couple people that's pretty been faithful, that's hard. But he said, I gotta take God's side on this. And that's the right thing to do. It means they can't be double-minded. A double-minded man is unstable. Double-minded in this, you can't be spiritually-minded and carnally-minded. Can't be worldly-minded, carnally-minded, and still try to be a spiritual leader in the church. There's some scriptural qualifications, spiritual qualifications, and service qualifications. Almost done, ready? What is it that the church members are looking for most in their pastors? Isn't that a good question? I mean, I'm not gonna have you answer that, because you'd really have to stop and think about that. I mean, obviously, salvation, we've talked about all kinds of different areas. And I'm not belittling anything that we've said. But once you know the person's saved and he's qualified, what is it that you're looking for the most? I think, I guess as a way of teaching maybe some young men who may be called into the ministry one day, maybe teaching in case there's ever a time when the church needs to find another pastor, there's one thing you should look for, and that is, ready for this? Have I built up the drama good enough, ready? That is, You ought to know He loves you. You ought to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, they may be a great orator. But Corinthians says they may be a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. They may have faith to move mountains. They may do this and that. But without charity, it's nothing. You ought to know your pastor loves you. Because that's truly, you picture the sheep and the shepherd. A shepherd loves his sheep. He'd be willing to die for his sheep, to protect his sheep. You ought to look for that love. When God's people know in their heart that their pastor loves them, they'll follow him just about anywhere. and he'll be able to reprove them, rebuke them, and exhort them without fear or hesitation. You know, if my children, if they do wrong, I'll get on to them. If my children do wrong, I'll discipline them. But I really believe this with all my heart, and I'm confident enough you can ask him after church if you want to, that they know even in the times of when I have to be the hardest on them, They know I love them. So they're able to receive that instruction. I've given an illustration before about when I was a youth pastor for a few years, and we had some pretty rough kids sometimes that came in. I remember sitting over there one time, and they were acting up, and a gray-headed man walked up to them and had never spoke to them a day in their life, grabbed the back of their neck and said, you boys better straighten up or else I'm gonna make you, and they just looked at him and rolled their eyes. And I saw it all happen. They laughed at the guy. I could tell the guy was getting mad. He turned red in the face. I made eye contact with the two boys. And I went, that's all it took. They looked at me and went. Because whenever they know that they're loved, it makes all the difference in the world. And a pastor ought to love his people And the people ought to love their pastors. And there ought to be a love there.