1 Timothy chapter 3. I'm convinced that a church will not rise above its spiritual leaders, nor its pulpit ministry. And these spiritual leaders are called in the Word of God elders, or pastors, or in some cases bishops. But what is the scriptural structure of the local church? What is the role of an elder and what responsibilities does this involve? And what exactly are the qualifications to serve the Lord and his church as an elder or as a pastor? And what difference does it make in the life of a local church or in your lives as believers in Christ? For some of you who have had poor spiritual leadership, perhaps in your past, where you feel like you were taught wrongly the word of God, or lack a godly example, maybe a pastor with a moral failure or such, you've already felt the sting of the importance of spiritual leadership. And so, as we think of 1 Timothy 3 this morning, of our study, we're reminded that 1 Timothy is written to a believer regarding pastoral ministry and giving to Timothy instructions concerning false doctrine and church discipline. We observe that in chapter 1. We then moved on to instructions regarding public worship and potential leaders. And this began with an examination of the practice and priority of prayer in the local church in chapter two, verses one through seven, followed by the practice of men leading in prayer in the local church in verse eight. And then the practice and place of women in the local church in verses nine through 15, which was extremely helpful as we studied this last Wednesday night in light of the day in which we live. Now beginning in chapter three, we see the importance and biblical qualifications of an elder or a pastor or a bishop. And so let's begin by just reading the text before we break it down. Verse one, this is a faithful saying. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop, an overseer, then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach. but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the Church of God? Not a novice. he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Now if you notice closely in verse 1 we read, if a man desires the position of a bishop, in verse 2 a bishop then must be blameless. You see, these first seven verses are about a bishop, as we're going to see. A pastor, an elder, a bishop. The word bishop is episkopos, in which we get the word episcopalian. Now this is to be distinguished from verse 8, likewise deacons, diakonos. And so we see there are two the pastors, the elders, and then there are the deacons. And why is this important to understand? Chapter 3, verse 14 says, These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Dear believers, the local church is where it's at. It's the pillar. It's the ground of the truth. And again, it's critical in this present dispensation of grace of what God is doing here on planet Earth. Now, to put these verses in their theological context, it's important to understand the scriptural structure of the local church. When fully developed, consists of the deacons. Philippians 1.1 says Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, now watch this, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and the deacons. And so again we see this structure. Now, we keep in mind the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church. He is the chief shepherd. No pope, no priest, no pastor is to ever usurp that authority, or at least trying to. Furthermore, there's no such thing as denominations in the Word of God with its unbiblical hierarchy, as each local church gives an account to the Lord, as demonstrated in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 of the seven churches in Asia Minor. Under the chief shepherd are elders, or shepherds, or leaders, or pastors, who serve the Lord and serve the local church, along with the deacons, who also are servants under the authority of those elders, and they minister again to the spiritually gifted congregation. And this is it in its simplicity. In fact, in the Schofield Study Bible, we read this, a footnote in Philippians 1.1, a local church is an assembly of professed believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, living for the most part in one locality, who assemble themselves together in his name for the breaking of bread, worship, praise, prayer, testimony, such a church exists where two or three are thus gathered. Every such local church has Christ in the midst, is a temple of God, and dwelt by the Holy Spirit. When perfected in organization, a local church consists of saints, with the bishops, and the deacons. And so, again, that is the scriptural structure. Now turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter Chapter 5. But now that we know the structure of the local church, let's observe the role of the elders in a local church. You know what's amazing is when God wants to summarize the role of the elder, he uses just one word. Shepherd. Shepherd the flock of God. Look with me beginning in verse one. The elders, the presbuteroi, who are among you I exhort, I, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God. Now let me point out for a minute, the word shepherd here is poimano, and it's the word for pastor. You see, a pastor is a shepherd. And notice, it's the flock of God. The church doesn't belong to the pastor. Remember, Jesus said, I will build my church. And we must never lose sight of that. Shepherd the flock of God, which is among you. This is a local church. Serving as overseers, that's the word for bishops. Not by compulsion. I gotta do it. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it. No. But willingly. not for dishonest gain, gotta make a buck, no, but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, instead pointing people to Christ, but being examples to the flock, and when the chief shepherd appears, the Lord Jesus Christ, you elders will receive the crown of glory, a special reward for faithful elders that does not fade away. And so the role of the elders or pastors or overseers is to shepherd who? The flock of God. So now that we know the role of the pastor is to shepherd God's flock, what are the responsibilities of the elders? involved in doing this. And each of these I'm going to highlight with the word P. And you see, I believe the reason Paul didn't lay this out for Timothy in 1st Timothy is because he already knew this. He had been along with Paul in many journeys. He had seen local churches planted. He had seen spiritual leadership selected. And so let's just pull together some verses as we search from memory's sake. Responsibility number one is we're gonna call provision, provision, as the pastors to feed the flock of God, some biblical doctrine with application. And as we go back to 1 Timothy, I invite you to turn to chapter four with me. 1 Timothy chapter four. You see, one of the very major responsibilities of every pastor is to feed the church of God, the word of God. And we see this highlighted several times in 1 and 2 Timothy, but for our purposes, we look at chapter four now and verse six. If you instruct the brethren Notice the word instruction. In these things you will be a good minister. Not just a minister, but a good one. And a minister of who? Of Jesus Christ. And what will be true of them? Nourished in the words of faith and the good doctrine, which you have carefully followed. Good doctrine. You see, If you're gonna grow in grace, you've gotta take in the milk of the word to grow thereby. You need the milk of the word, you need the meat of the word, and one of the primary responsibilities as the pastor is provision to feed the church the word of God. Look at chapter four, verse 13. Till I come, give attention to reading, reading the scriptures to exhortation and to doctrine. Again, we call this expository preaching. When you read the text, you explain the text, you apply the text. This isn't clinical, it's pastoral. In light of the passage at hand and the needs of the congregation, there is the appropriate applications that are to be made. For that to happen, look at verse 16. Take heed to yourself, your own walk with the Lord, Timothy, and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. But notice the word save here isn't talking about his past salvation, when he put his faith in Christ and was saved from the presence of sin, but his present salvation, more like Christ in view of one day being saved from the very presence of sin when he goes home to be with the Lord. And that's only going to happen in second tense if you take heed to yourself and to the Word of God. It doesn't happen any other way. And Paul reiterates the importance of the preaching of the Word of God again to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, where he says, I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom, preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all on suffering and teaching. Why? For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they'll heap up for themselves teachers, they'll turn away their ears from the truth, and will be turned aside to fables. But Paul, you told me that already in 1 Timothy, you're right. There's great value in repetition, in repeating things over and over again. Don't you do that with your kids? Now drive safely, huh? Have you told your kids that? But why do you remind them so it's on the forefront of their thinking? Timothy, you need to preach the word, not Hallmark cards. Not reading one text with three stories and a poem. Not drama. Preach the word. And I said before, and I'll say again, the weakness of the Church of Jesus Christ around the world is not due to poor programming, but a failure to follow this apostolic command to preach the word from a grace orientation. And that is why as we study the word of God, even in our Grace Institute of Biblical Studies, we try to use what we call the CAPS approach. We want to be clear. We want to be accurate. We want to be practical. We want to be simple in how we explain it. The issue is not, did we say it? The issue is, did they get it? And as we do this, at times, you may feel great conviction in your life. It's like the man who was here one day a number of years ago, and he said to me, you were looking at me the entire message. And I said to him at the door, I said, you know, actually, I never even knew you were here. You see, when I look out at you, I never focus on individuals. Once I do, it's like I get off track. And remember, I'm always preaching to the person next to you, never to you. Pastors must be intensely involved in providing sound biblical doctrine for the sheep of God to grow and to be equal. The second thing you need to be aware of is that pastors need to be involved in protection. Protection. As a pastor, you must carefully guard and watch over the flock of God for those dangerous predators that would harm them spiritually. And that is why when Paul met with the Ephesian elders at Miletus, and giving them some important last instructions he says this, 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. See the word shepherd again? Now why is this needed? For I know this. What did you know? That after my departure, savage wolves will come in from the outside in among you, false teachers, not sparing the flock. And even worse, from among yourselves, men will arise from within, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore, you need to watch, be on the alert, pastors, and you need to remember, that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone, night and day with tears." Notice again the value, repetition. So now brethren, I commend you to God, that's prayer, and to the word of his grace, that's the word of God, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. You know, using again the figure of speech employed here, believers are likened to sheep and pastors are likened to shepherds again. Now, what's true of sheep? Any of you ever worked with sheep? Any of you ever had sheep? Then you know, sheep are very helpless creatures. They have no horns to bite invaders like goats. They have no claws to rip predators with like mountain lions. In fact, they possess no putrid gases to emit like skunks. Sheep are basically unable to protect themselves. And that's why God has provided Ephesians the armor of God that you need to put on. And he's provided doctrinally sound elders to protect you from false teachers. And indeed, that was the very reason underlying why, again, Timothy was left in Ephesus, chapter one, verses three through five. That's why Jude writes, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once and for all delivered to the saints. And to contend earnestly for the faith is not inconsistent with grace and love, but is actually the loving thing to do when the truth of the word of God is under attack. You must contend for it. Stand for it. That's why books like the Book of Galatians was written, not to explain the gospel, but to defend the gospel as it was under attack. So here's an axiom to remember. That truth cannot be perpetuated by compromise, and compromise cannot be avoided without vigilance and separation. And it's interesting to note, while you're in 1 Timothy, go to chapter 6 with me, and verse 20, and see how Paul ends this epistle. O Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust, namely the word of God, avoiding the provain and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, the false teachings, by professing it some, have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen. Pastors must not only feed the sheep, but they must protect God's sheep from spiritual predators from without and within. And so we've seen provision. We've seen protection. Now here's the third P regarding the responsibilities of pastors, namely prayer. Prayer. As a pastor needs to engage in a ministry of intercessory prayer for people's needs. And we have this exemplified by the apostles in Acts 6, where they devoted themselves to the word of God and prayer. Prayer for the needs of their local church. Prayer for the people of the local church. Prayer for the direction of the local church. In fact, prayer in all of our lives is so important. There are many verses to encourage us of the extreme value of prayer in the Word of God. Like James 5, 16. Let's say it all together. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Or Jeremiah 33, 3. Let's say it again. Call to me, and I will answer you. Or one of my favorites, John 15, 7, let's say it again. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. And then in the context of spiritual warfare, Ephesians 6, 18, once again. praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." And who is a wonderful example of this? A pastor. A pastor by the name of Epaphras. Colossians 4, 12, and 13. Who is one of you? Paul writes, a bondservant of Christ greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayer. that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, for I bear witness that it is a great zeal for you and those who are in Laodicea and those in Heropolis. Thus elders must be men of prayer, as they depend upon the Lord with the needs, the people, and the direction of the local church, and there are many. A fourth P you need to be reminded of regarding the responsibility of a pastor is not only provision, protection, and prayer, but number four, personal example. Personal example. That the pastor must personally model the biblical truth he publicly teaches. While you're in 1 Timothy, go to chapter four with me. And verse 12. Paul writes again to a pastor, let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. If the pastor's example contradicts his preaching, this dichotomy will cause him to lack credibility with his local church. And that's one of the reasons why There are biblical qualifications for being a pastor that revolve around his character and relationships, because a pastor is to be a personal example to God's flock of the truth of the Word of God. The fifth P underscores the importance of pastoral care. Pastoral care, as a pastor must be involved in personal contact in addressing people's needs. This is the responsibility I love, for the most part, because I love you as brothers and sisters in Christ. It's an area of ministry that each of the elders at DBC are involved in to some capacity in which we desire to become even more effective in as spiritual leaders. And Paul set a tremendous example of this in 1 Thessalonians 2, verses 7 through 12. You know, it's through that personal contact, oftentimes, that the pastor gets to know your needs and know you better, and you get to know him. I remember one time, a number of years ago, I was walking out of a grocery store in Duluth, and it was summer, and I had shorts on, and I saw somebody who I don't think has ever seen me outside of church. And I could see they were looking at me like, you wear shorts like the rest of us? I mean, do you think I wear a suit 24-7? Can I go to bed in a suit? But I remember one time where I had to ask someone to come see me in order to correct a serious issue in his life. And I said, were you afraid to come in? And he said, no, not really, because I've met with you before, and I know how you have manners over the pulpit is different than when you are in person. You speak over the pulpit with authority and so forth and so forth, but in person you're very gracious and gentle and so forth and I thought, well, praise the Lord. Though unfortunately he didn't take my correction anyway. Pastoral care, so very, very important. And then lastly, not only are the responsibility of the elders to involve provision, protection, prayer, personal example and pastoral care, but number six, presiding. Last but not least, presiding. As a pastor must exercise oversight, leadership as it relates to the needs of ministry and direction of the church. And I want you to see this for yourself. So go with me to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Now what's interesting is Hebrews 13 is one of, not only application, but one of the greatest passages in the New Testament regarding the priesthood of the believer. Where we see God has not set up some nickel laity system of clergy and laity, as if the clergy has something going for them, the laity doesn't. For in Christ we are equally possessed in Christ, but functioning differently. There's different functions. And we see this in Hebrews 13 and verse 7. It says, remember those, now note this, who rule over you, presiding, functionally. And what have they done? They've spoken the word of God to you. That's what a pastor is to do. whose faith follow, he should be an example. Considering the outcome of their conduct, and who does their conduct point you to? Jesus Christ. The same yesterday, today, and forever. But notice again the phrase, who rule over you. Now look at verse 17, 17. It says, obey those, again, here's the phrase, who rule over you. And I think obeying is directly tied to the word of God that's taught. and be submissive in light of the functional decisions they have to make. Why? For they watch out for your souls. That's protection again. As those who must give an account, let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. You see, elders are not to pontificate their authority, remembering that the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church, nor are they to lord it over God's sheep, grabbing and exercising spiritual authority they don't have. On the other hand, while they are not to be domineering diatrophies, neither are they to be gasp or melt-toast patsies, so that they are spiritual weather vanes which turn upon the whims of people. Instead, they're to lead and feed according to the Word of God. In fact, the elder's responsibility to exercise authority within the local church has been delegated by Christ as the head of the church and must be within the parameters and principles of the Scriptures. which are the final authority for all faith and practice. If I ever ask you to do something contrary to the will of God, you must obey God rather than men. If I ever teach you something not true to the word of God, again, be and beree and like, you're to search the scriptures to make sure those things are so. And though the elders have the position of spiritual leadership in an assembly, they must have the mental posture of being the servants of all. Now, I say this because there's a dim view of authority in our country. When it comes to the government, there's great distrust due to corruption and immorality. When it comes to the home, every week we read about horrific stories of parents that have physically or sexually abused their children or school teachers. or others in authority, even on the job, there's the whole Me Too movement. Why? Because someone abused their authority and took advantage of someone. But the answer is not to reject all authority, but to ultimately trust the sovereignty and grace of God and follow his blueprint in these divine institutions. You see, the Bible clearly teaches that the church is to be led by Christ through the elders within the principles and parameters of the Word of God. Now, that is not to suggest that there's no place for congregational input and feedback. There absolutely is. In fact, I listen very carefully to the feedback I receive from believers here, filtering it through a biblical grid, combined with my personal knowledge of the facts or needs of the saints at BBC. There are times when a congregation may be asked to vote or give feedback in making an important decision, like the selection of an elder or deacon, or a large financial decision, or a locational building move and such. But keep in mind, again, as we think of a pastor, again, he's to function within the parameters of sound doctrine, as well as personal morality, as we're going to see. And inside of this box, there's different personalities. Inside of this box, there's different styles. Inside of this box, there's different preferences. Inside of this box, there's a lot of different things. That's why different pastors may function in different ways. Even here at Duluth Bible Church, among the elders, there's obviously those kind of differences. But they're all within the box. And therefore, we are to, again, function in a biblical way and respond in a biblical way to our leaders. Because all of them are fallible. They all have flaws. And if you're on a fault-finding mission, you'll be successful, at least in your own eyes. Now, in light of that, look at verse 18. He then says, pray for us. for we are confident that we have a good conscience in all things desiring to live on. One of the greatest things you can do for your pastors is pray for them. I just want you to know I appreciate, again, your prayers and your support so much. And also, the Bible says, and I didn't write this, okay? It says, we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you, that's presiding in the Lord, and they admonish you, they make applications, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. You know, pastoring can be a very difficult and thankless task, as we are in the heart of daily spiritual doubt. And you know, over the years, sometimes I've maybe led someone to the Lord, taught them the Word of God, prayed for them, helped them personally, so forth and so forth. And sometimes, in a relatively short time, you go from being the fourth member of Trinity to the Antichrist brother in about four months. And you become now the object of tremendous criticism. And it's not as though pastors are beyond being legitimately criticized, if indeed they're violating the word of God. On the other hand, it is important to follow what the word of God says here. And it's important that the elders are godly leaders, spiritually qualified leaders, fallible but leaders who are strong in doctrine, spiritual in character, and sweet in spirit. And that is why as we go back now to 1 Timothy chapter 3, we are prepared to look at the scriptural qualifications of an elder. What does it involve? What does the Word of God say? And keep in mind, we're looking at the biblical criteria, and I say that because there's a lot of criteria out there that isn't really rooted in the word of God. For the biblical criteria is not a person's popularity. He may have a magnetic personality, but is he qualified? Or he may be a godly leader like Jeremiah in the Old Testament, the weeping prophet, but disliked in his own country. The biblical criteria is not a person's past. We already saw in 1 Timothy 1, verse 12, that Paul said, I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has enabled me because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. But I attained mercy because I did it ignorantly and unwillingly. Are we not all products of grace? And are we not all works in progress when it comes to grace? Thirdly, the biblical criteria is not a person's politics. It's not an issue of knowing the right people, nor voting the right way, nor is it nepotism. I'm the pastor, therefore my son's gonna be the pastor. Nor is it a person's as oftentimes large contributors are put in positions of spiritual leadership, though they are totally unqualified, and sometimes being rich, they throw their weight around in unbiblical ways. Nor is it a person's position. They may have served on various boards, maybe they're successful in business, but that isn't the criteria. Neither is a person's previous education. You know, some churches demand that you have a seminary-trained pastor with a doctorate. Frankly, I can't find that in the Bible. They need to be sound in their doctrine, they need to know the Word of God, and they even need to be able to communicate it well, as we're going to see. But I don't read that kind of criteria in the word of God. In fact, if that was the case, C.I. Schofield, D.L. Moody, Harry Ironsides, Louis Barry Chafer, and many others would have never been qualified to be a pastor. Neither is it a person's performance. And by that I mean just being a good company man. You know, sometimes deacons are promoted to be elders, but sometimes deacons should never be promoted. because they're not the right person to be an elder. Maybe they're qualified, but not apt or able to teach in that kind of way. They serve well where they are, but you don't want to move them beyond where they are. And these exclusions are not intended to imply that pastors must be unpopular, inexperienced, ignorant, poor, unsuccessful, uneducated, unfaithful. but simply to distinguish between man-made requirements versus the Word of God. So what are the biblical requirements for an elder or a pastor? Well, first of all, some general observations. The qualifications apply to believers in Christ only who have been saved. Believers in Christ only who have been saved. Now this is assumed in 1 Timothy 3, that the person is not just religious, but truly regenerate. And in light of 1 Timothy 2, and I want you to go back there for a quick moment. We begin in verse 3. as we were encouraged to pray for all men, and all means all. Why? For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires, again, all men, anthroposphere, all mankind, unqualified, to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one meat-eater between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for who pair in the place of, as a substitute, for who? For all, all mankind, verse four, to be testified in due time. So you see, as we think of this, we recognize, again, there's one God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, who is holy, and there's one mediator between God and man, as we are all sinners, The penalty for sin is death. And that one mediator is the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself a ransom for all. When he died for our sins, past, present, and future, and rose again to provide salvation, not as a reward for the And the death of Jesus Christ is sufficient to save all, but is only applied to those who trust in Christ alone as Savior. The Bible does not teach universalism, that everyone one day is gonna go to heaven. It teaches salvation by grace. Now I say that because even as we think of this passage, there are those who view the death of Christ in an unlimited way, and those who view it in a limited way. Now I pointed this out in the past, but let me point it out again. You see, those with the unlimited view see the word all, and they believe it refers to all mankind. Now within that all, there are subsets, like the elect, and the non-elect, and the church, and Israel, or even as Paul said, Galatians 2.20, who loved me and gave himself for me. Where the limited view has it the other way around. They view the all as here, all elect. And in doing so, they think inside of all elect are some subsets as well. But only in reference to the elect, not for everyone. Now, the Bible's very clear that Christ is a propitiation for our sins, and not ours only, but the sins of the whole world, which is also used in 1 John 5, 19, that the whole world lies in the lap of the wicked one, and clearly that's beyond the elect. But I want you to just see which view is correct here in 1 Timothy chapter four, verses nine and 10. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end, we labor and suffer reproach. Why? Because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of, here's the phrase again, all men. Say it one. Especially of those who believe. Now think about this for a minute. He's the Savior of who? All men. Now, if this referred to the elect, then how could be especially to those who believe who are the elect? Doesn't make any sense. But if you understand all men, to mean just that, then elect, or in this case, a believer, as only believers are elect, is a subset of the all men. He's a Savior of all men. In what sense? Well, He's the only one who can save. He's the one who died for all our sins and rose again in order to provide salvation for all, but it's only received by those who believe. It's not a matter of asking or praying or submitting or committing or pledging or promising or giving. It's a matter of putting your faith, your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for your sins and rose again, so you rely on Him and Him alone in order to get to heaven. And you see, so salvation is available to all. No one will be in hell today because God wanted them there. He desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. In fact, if God holds you responsible for your unbelief, but he doesn't give you, quote, the gift of faith to believe, how can he hold you responsible for your rejection of Christ when he's the reason why you didn't get the gift? and that is very problematic. And so, the qualifications, as we go back to chapter three, apply to believers in Christ only who have been saved. Secondly, the qualifications apply to men only. To men only. And again, this is not archaic, this is not sexist, this is divine design. If you missed last Wednesday night, I'd encourage you to watch the video on YouTube or Sermon Audio. And in doing so, let me call your attention again to chapter 2, verse 11. Let a man learn in silence, excuse me, let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority, now watch this, over a man. That's the Greek word for an adult male. reasons for Adam was formed first, then Eve. That's creation. Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. That's the fall. Notice the reasons for this has nothing to do with the culture, has nothing to do with a particular situation at Ephesus. He goes back to Genesis 1 and 2 and 3 as to the reasons why. And that's why not only does this passage support this, but it's interesting to note there are no female apostles chosen by our Lord. There are no female writers of scripture. And in fact, look at 1 Timothy 3 and verse one. This is a faithful saying. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. Furthermore, the qualifications of the pastor, elder, or bishop of 1 Timothy 3 are all written in the masculine gender in the Greek. And again, Paul didn't have to do that, but let of the Holy Spirit he did. Not because he was some male chauvinist, but he was following the Holy Spirit and the divine design. And furthermore, certain of the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 would be impossible for a woman to fulfill, such as being the husband of one wife. And so the qualifications apply, number one, to believers in Christ, two, to men only. And again, I didn't write the Bible, I'm just teaching it to you. Number three, the qualifications are a must, not a maybe. Look at chapter three, verse two. A bishop then must be blameless. See that word must right there? It's the Greek word, gay, and it speaks of something that is essential, not optional, something that is necessary, not suggested, and God says so. You see, these qualifications should be true of all saved men, but they must be true of spiritual leaders. Furthermore, the qualifications stress maturity, not giftedness. Maturity, not giftedness. Of the 15 qualifications, there's only one possibly that implies giftedness. Look at chapter 3, verse 2. A bishop, then, must be blameless, a husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable. Now watch this. Able to. That's the one that implies, perhaps, giftedness. be able to teach, which, by the way, is one of the only differences of qualifications between an elder and a deacon. The remaining requirements emphasize character and Christ-likeness due to spiritual growth and doctrine applied in life over time. A fifth general observation is the qualifications' overriding requirement is blamelessness, not perfection. A bishop then must be blameless. Now what does that mean? It means that they have no legitimate handles to grab for people to discredit the ministry. Now I said legitimate handles, because a lot of times there's a lot of rumors. I've said before, if half the things that are said about me were true, I'd leave this church. Someone has said an unholy pastor is like a stained glass window, a religious symbol that keeps the light up. Furthermore, the qualifications evaluate the pastor's life presently, not where he may have been in the past. You see, the phrase must be is in the present tense denoting current or continual actions. We're not talking about his past before he was saved. We're not even talking about his past as a believer, perhaps, as even Paul became an apostle by God's grace, and Peter denied the Lord three times as a believer. And we've all had a maturation process. If you've been around long enough, you see where people have been. That's not the issue. The issue is, where are they now? Where are they now? And furthermore, the qualifications touch upon all areas of a potential elder's relationships and character. His marriage, his children, his family, his personal life, his relationships, his public teaching. Why? Like the Bible says in Hosea 4.9, like people, like priests. And as I've said before and I'll share again, dear friends, a church will never rise above its spiritual leadership nor its pulpit ministry. that's why these qualifications are here in the word of God and you know if you've been around here long enough you know the elders all you know they all have flaws they all have faults just like you but that doesn't mean they're not godly men that doesn't mean they're not Christ-corrected men that doesn't mean that though they're not perfect they're not progressing And you know, I can say by the grace of God, none of us have ever been guilty of, again, financial embezzlement, or sexual infidelity, or on and on we go. You know, we function as a group. In fact, there's great value and have a plurality of elders if you have qualified men. Because each of them give input and bring something else to the table in order to come up with the best and wisest decisions that are made. And you know, sometimes we look back and say, we could have handled that better. Or we look back and say, that was a swing and a miss functionally. Or I think we need to change this or that. We're always evaluating. But if you've been here for any period of time, again, you know we're not up to get anything out of you. We're here to point you to Christ, to point you to Christ as your Savior, and your Lord, and your life, and your hope, and your friend, and your all in all. And we do that by teaching you the word of God, praying for you, encouraging you, and seeking to make wise decisions on the Lord. And that's why leaders have to be qualified. And we've seen these general qualifications And this Wednesday night, as part of our family fellowship night, we'll look at the specific ones. So let's pray. Father, thank you again for your wonderful word and the privilege of studying the scriptures together. We covered a lot today. And yet, we thank you that you have spoken and you are not silent. You made it very clear in your word regarding the importance of spiritual leadership. about the responsibility of spiritual leaders, of the role of spiritual leaders, and even the qualifications of spiritual leaders. And so may we be biblical, but balanced. And I want to thank you for those elders who've served with me over the years. I thank you for the deacons who have served in so many ways and presently do. And I want to thank you for a spiritually gifted congregation, brothers and sisters in Christ, who, when we walk with you, when we hold to the truth, when we grow in grace, when we love one another, when we are a witness to the world that we can do more for Christ together than we could alone, within your biblical blueprint, we thank you for that. And Father, I want to pray also for anyone here today who's never been saved. They don't know for sure if they die they're going to heaven. Maybe they've asked Jesus into their heart, but never have understood the gospel. Maybe they've prayed the sinner's prayer, but never understood it's believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Maybe they've raised a hand or signed a card or walked an aisle, but have never understood not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to your mercy, you saved us. Maybe they've been raised in a Christian home, but have never personally responded to the gospel themselves. Maybe they've been wondering, am I elect or not elect? May they settle that question forever by realizing that the whosoever wills are the elect, and the whosoever won'ts are the non-elect. so that their faith would be in Christ alone. For these things have I written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life. So Father, thank you for this rich time of study in your Word. May again we be impacted by these truths. In Jesus' name.