1 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,720 You're listening to Key Life Fellowships Pulpit ministry 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:08,920 podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,280 learn from God's Word together. If you would like more 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,760 information regarding Key Life or to speak with one of our 5 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:20,960 pastors, please visit us at keylifefellow-ship.com. 6 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:29,200 Amen. So good to be back with our 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:31,680 students again. I got to spend the weekend 8 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,720 praising the Lord with them. I know that many of you are 9 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,560 thankful that you're here today. I told the early service and 10 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,080 some people in the early service that they missed out because 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,240 they didn't come to the. Late service today because our 12 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:50,640 students have been learning about how worthy Christ is. 13 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,480 How worthless they are and how undone they are apart from his 14 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,960 grace and His mercy. Is he worthy? 15 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:03,040 He's worthy and he's worthy of. All of our praise and honor and 16 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:04,920 adoration. He's worthy of all glory and 17 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,440 honor and power and dominion, forever and forever. 18 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:13,080 Amen. We spent the weekend focusing on 19 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:17,360 Christ, taking journeys into heaven and seeing His worth, 20 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:20,840 which I'm very thankful that we did. 21 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:26,560 It's always good to be reminded of how worthy he is, and I know 22 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,400 that these students are going to go back into the world. 23 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:32,800 The different perspective on Christ. 24 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,520 That's what we prayed for. That's what we hoped for. 25 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,560 Today as we open our Bibles, we will be in First Timothy chapter 26 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,920 3 as we continue our study looking at the Pastoral 27 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,840 Epistles. Biblical Ministers and Biblical 28 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:53,760 ministry. Looking at Part 2 of this 29 00:01:54,000 --> 00:02:00,720 section on the role of church leaders and how we are called by 30 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:07,800 God to be above reproach, we'll talk much about what that means 31 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,240 to be above reproach. But let me just make that very 32 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,880 clear right off the bat. That doesn't mean sinless 33 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,920 perfection. I say that because if it meant 34 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:18,880 sinless perfection, no one would ever be qualified for ministry. 35 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:25,680 What it does for us point to what we as leaders in the church 36 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,520 and those who may aspire to be leaders in the church one day. 37 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:32,640 Should aim for. It should be what they're 38 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:34,360 striving for. I know I've got all the 39 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,200 students, the junior high high school students sitting in front 40 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,760 of me, right, who could easily turn me off and say, you know 41 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:40,960 what? It doesn't really matter. 42 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:47,920 We're tired because we stayed up most of this weekend and we're 43 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:50,880 not church leaders. And so let's just turn Kirk off 44 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,920 this morning because this. Doesn't apply to us. 45 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:56,000 I I told many of them out there a moment ago. 46 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:01,040 The at least the males who were there at our men's prayer don't 47 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:02,760 turn me off. Because you know what? 48 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,360 One day you could be a leader in the church. 49 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,120 One day you could be a pastor. One day you could be a 50 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:12,920 missionary on the mission field. One day. 51 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,480 You could be a staff pastor in a church. 52 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:22,880 I know to you right now that is a crazy impossibility. 53 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:31,560 God does crazy things with us. I remember not too terribly long 54 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:41,880 ago, two young men we serve as pastors on the staff here at Key 55 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:48,320 Life Fellowship who are leaders in this church who were sitting 56 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,040 out there as students. You know Jake, of course, and 57 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,600 you know Jacob Carroll, both pastors here at this church who 58 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,960 grew up through our youth ministry learning the Word of 59 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,920 God, being taught sound doctrine, being taught what it 60 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:08,880 means to be a leader, fulfilling those qualifications as God 61 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,600 placed on their heart a calling to follow him. 62 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:18,720 And yet we won't be long if God is consistent to what I have 63 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:23,960 seen for some of you will be used in that same capacity. 64 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:27,600 And So what we talked about today in regard to the role of 65 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:33,400 church leaders, it may not apply to you right now, but it could 66 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:35,720 apply to you soon. It could apply to you at some 67 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:38,120 point in time. So pay attention. 68 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,240 Maybe you're here today and you say I'm never going to be a 69 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:42,560 church leader. That's OK. 70 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:51,200 Can you do something for those of us that are for those of us 71 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,240 that will be can you hold us accountable? 72 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:58,640 Can you pray for us? Can you hold us accountable 73 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,880 based on not what you think or what your expectations of a 74 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:07,720 pastor are, but what we're going to see today that a. 75 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,520 Pastor, an elder, a leader in the church ought to strive to 76 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:12,720 be. Can you hold us to that? 77 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:15,000 We ask that you would. We ask that you would petition 78 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,320 God on our behalf, that you would intercede for us, that you 79 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,440 would pray for the strength that we need? 80 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,960 Because you're going to see this is a very daunting task to live 81 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:30,440 your life above reproach, to live in a fishbowl, to be 82 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:36,280 examined at every turn, and to see that it is very important 83 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:38,880 that we see the responsibility that we have been called to. 84 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,360 And so much of today I will be preaching to myself as I did 85 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:46,080 last week when we began this in the first part, looking at verse 86 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:50,040 one, we're talked about if anyone sets his heart on being 87 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,200 an overseer, he desires a noble task. 88 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:54,480 And we talked about that overseer and that noble task 89 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,880 that he has. But this week Paul's going to 90 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,800 lay down some specifics. He's going to lay down specifics 91 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,520 for those who are aspiring to be leaders in the church, those who 92 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,120 are in leadership in the church, those who may perhaps one day be 93 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:09,720 leaders in his church. He's. 94 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,840 Going to give us great detail on what kind of. 95 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:21,160 Lives they should live, how they should continue always as a 96 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:25,240 leader to strive to be above reproach in every area of their 97 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,120 life and ministry. We begin here first Timothy 98 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:33,920 chapter 3 verse two. He says now the overseer must be 99 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:37,240 above reproach. He says that statement and he's 100 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,880 going to go on and tell us what that is, the details of it. 101 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:44,520 The husband of but one wife, temperate, self controlled, 102 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:51,080 respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, 103 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,360 not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of 104 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,560 money. He must manage his own family 105 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:03,680 well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 106 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,400 If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can 107 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:13,960 he take care of God's church? He must not be a recent convert, 108 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:19,040 or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as 109 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,720 the devil. He must also have a good 110 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,080 reputation with outsiders so that he will not fall into 111 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:29,800 disgrace and into the devil's trap. 112 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:31,560 Let's pray together, Father, in the name of. 113 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:34,240 Jesus, we come to you, thanking you for your word, thanking you. 114 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,000 And you have instructed us in your Word everything that we 115 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,040 need for life and godliness. You have instructed us in your 116 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,520 Word everything that we as leaders need to know and to be 117 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,640 equipped with. To serve you and to serve you 118 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:54,280 well, to serve your church well. God, I pray that you would use 119 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:57,200 this, this passage of Scripture once again. 120 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,200 Call all of those in leadership and all of those who aspire to 121 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:06,200 be leaders in the church to do a strict inventory in their lives 122 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,680 and to see to it that they are striving to be above reproach in 123 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,000 all of the areas that we will examine today. 124 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:17,560 We ask that you would be glorified in their life and 125 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,240 their ministry. God, I pray for the soul who's 126 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,480 here today who does not know Christ, who has heard the gospel 127 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:28,840 over and over and over again, but as yet to surrender to 128 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:32,159 Christ. I pray today that this be the 129 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:35,799 day that you regenerate them to a place that they can truly 130 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:38,159 believe and surrender to Christ, repenting of their sin and 131 00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:40,280 turning to Helm and Him alone, that you would save the lost 132 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,880 soul by your mercy. Today we'll give you all the 133 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:46,560 praise for it. We pray these things in Christ's 134 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:50,720 name, Amen. So we see here, as we look at 135 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,320 the role of the church leader, what is the standard? 136 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:57,680 Paul makes it very clear very quickly. 137 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:01,320 The standard is what he calls above. 138 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:04,560 Reproach. Again, I want to remind you, 139 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:06,960 this is not a sinless perfection. 140 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:12,760 This is not being whatever everyone else wants you to be as 141 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,040 a leader. This is being exactly what God 142 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,160 has called you to be as a leader above reproach. 143 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:24,000 And this means to be free from any current or continual 144 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,520 accusation in your life. It means to literally be 145 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:30,680 blameless. That's what it means that no one 146 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,720 can bring a charge or a valid charge against you that would 147 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:38,520 stand up in court. John Calvin described above 148 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:43,840 reproach like this. He called it to be not marred by 149 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:48,680 disgrace, meaning that you are not living a life that is 150 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:52,200 disgraceful. You're not proclaiming to be a 151 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:56,360 leader in the church, in one aspect an area of your life, and 152 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:01,040 in the other areas of your life being a disgrace to that which 153 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:03,960 you are called or say that you were called. 154 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:11,280 To do above reproach means to be. 155 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:17,880 Striving for holiness and righteousness and did not 156 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:24,480 tolerate open and willful wickedness and sin in any area 157 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:30,960 of your life and to do this willingly. 158 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,160 And so Paul says that the standard is above reproach. 159 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,680 But what does he mean by this? As we looked at it a moment ago, 160 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:41,360 I said, he says to be above reproach. 161 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:45,000 And then he's going to tell us what that looks like. 162 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:47,680 Where are we to be above reproach? 163 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:55,400 How are we to be above reproach? How do we implement this way of 164 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:59,880 thinking as leaders? He begins in verse 2. 165 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,240 And he says now the overseer must be above reproach. 166 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,560 The husband of but one life, temperate, self controlled, 167 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:11,960 respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, 168 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:16,680 not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of 169 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:20,200 money. Paul begins with those who may 170 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,640 be aspiring to be a leader in the church. 171 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:25,480 And you know what he says. Take inventory of your life. 172 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:32,440 Check and see if you are blameless in these specific 173 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,040 areas. Can we all agree that an 174 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,880 overseer ought to be serving as an example to? 175 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:43,680 The Church to Christ's flock. And so if he's serving as an 176 00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:50,400 example to Christ's flock, he needs to be above reproach as he 177 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:55,800 examines his own life. It's very clear in Scripture 178 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,040 that that is what we are called to do. 179 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:05,640 An overseer is called to be striving to be above reproach 180 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:11,400 first and foremost in his personal and internal 181 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:16,240 convictions. We all agree that if a person is 182 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:20,080 not first internally convicted by the Holy Spirit through the 183 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:23,200 Word of God to be holy, that they're never going to be holy 184 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:27,120 on the outside. And so Paul starts with this, 185 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:28,400 and I don't want you to miss this. 186 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,040 I don't want you to lose sight of how he breaks this down. 187 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:39,120 Then the overseer is to be above reproach regarding himself, his 188 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:45,760 relationship to yours truly. In his personal internal 189 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,960 convictions. He begins with this statement, 190 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:55,600 the husband of but one wife. Now let me just go ahead and say 191 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:57,600 this. This statement has not been 192 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,560 without controversy throughout church history. 193 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,440 What does this mean? Now I can tell you this in the 194 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:07,440 first service I took probably a little too much time and telling 195 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,400 them what this means. But I want you to understand it 196 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:13,760 clearly because it doesn't mean what so many people have made it 197 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:18,160 out to mean based on what their preconceived notions were 198 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:22,800 because of the church that they attended as a child, the husband 199 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:30,080 of but one wife. Does that mean, and is he 200 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:38,240 talking about that the overseer can never have been divorced and 201 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,280 remarried? Is that what he's talking about? 202 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,760 And then there are the other schools of thought, one being 203 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:50,200 this, perhaps he's talking about polygamy, multiple wives. 204 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,840 Now, many would immediately jump on this and they would say this 205 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,600 very quickly, but but the Roman culture did not believe in 206 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,400 polygamy. Yes, but we're not only dealing 207 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:00,480 with the Roman culture here. We're also dealing with the 208 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:06,440 Jewish culture. The Jewish culture actually saw 209 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:10,400 multiple wives. As a status symbol and continued 210 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:14,360 to carry that tradition. Could they be talking about, 211 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:16,600 could Paul be talking about polygamy? 212 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:21,760 Multiple wives and saying that we have to abstain from that and 213 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:24,760 be the husband of just one wife. Did you know this? 214 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:28,080 John Calvin thought that many don't understand that. 215 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:32,600 John Calvin actually interpreted this as talking about polygamy 216 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:35,560 because it was though not prominent in Roman culture, it 217 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:37,640 was still prominent in Jewish culture. 218 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:46,400 There are the others who say this when he says the husband of 219 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:53,440 but one wife, he is meaning to be faithful to his one wife. 220 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,760 Is that a pretty good answer? Yeah. 221 00:14:57,560 --> 00:14:59,440 It is a pretty good answer. In fact, it's a pretty good 222 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:03,600 expectation, not only indeed, but also in thought. 223 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,080 And many people have through the years had their own idea of what 224 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:12,760 this means, right? We've all seen where no one can 225 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,040 be considered as leadership in the church because they had a 226 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:23,440 divorce 20 years before they were ever saved or they can't be 227 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:27,840 a minister in the church because they were married when they're 228 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:30,120 they were young and yes, they were a believer and then their 229 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,880 unbelieving wife actually left them from for another man. 230 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:36,400 Many people would say, well, he's still bound to that 231 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:38,080 relationship. God's word says he's not bound 232 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,160 to that relationship anymore. He's free to remarry. 233 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:43,560 So if he were to remarry, he would only have one. 234 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,960 Why? What about this? 235 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,080 The pastor was married and unfortunately his wife became 236 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:57,200 sick with cancer and she died. I have a pastor, though it 237 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,000 wasn't cancer. I served under a pastor whose 238 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:01,480 wife had passed away. And you know what? 239 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:05,240 The critics came at him because he remarried. 240 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:08,720 Is he free to remarry? Yes, Paul says that he is. 241 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:10,440 He's not bound by that relationship anymore. 242 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:11,480 Why? Death cancelled it. 243 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,440 So when he remarried his second wife, he still only had one 244 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,520 wife. And this has been an argument 245 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:19,960 back and forth throughout the ages because you know what they 246 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,840 do? They say, here's what I think 247 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:24,920 this means. Why do that? 248 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,680 Why don't we actually look at what does Scripture say that 249 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:31,600 this means? And then when we say this, what 250 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:33,160 does Scripture say that this means? 251 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:37,840 We're going to see that all of these ideas are right because 252 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,160 what Scripture says that this mean in the original language it 253 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:44,280 means as a one woman man. You know what that tells me? 254 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,200 If a person has an unbiblical divorce, he's not a one woman 255 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,880 man. He's still married to his first 256 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:53,880 wife. According to God, he violates 257 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,040 this. But if a person does have a 258 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,080 biblical divorce, he's no longer held and no. 259 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,640 Longer bound by that, so he is now a candidate because he is a 260 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,040 one woman man when he marries his second wife. 261 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,960 When we look at this term, a one woman man again, that's what it 262 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,280 means in the Greek we can say this polygamy is out of the 263 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:15,000 question, right? Can't have multiple wives. 264 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:17,760 I scratch my head and say, man, why would you? 265 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:27,359 Wow Sir, how could you handle such a blessing? 266 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:38,760 What did y'all think I meant? So polygamy's out of the 267 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,880 question. So what he's saying here, he's 268 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:48,080 saying a one woman man is a man who is faithful to his wife unto 269 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,440 God. This is what he is striving for. 270 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:59,480 One who is not, is not fit. He is saying this, that a man 271 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,960 internally, we'll be faithful to his wife and that will come out 272 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:06,320 externally, but he's addressing the internal first. 273 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,880 How many of you, we're not going to be faithful to anything 274 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:11,760 outwardly until we're faithful to that thing inwardly. 275 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:14,520 That includes your relationship to God. 276 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,000 You students have learned this week God has done a work in your 277 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:18,360 life. You know what, He didn't start 278 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:20,600 the work on the outside, He started the work on the inside. 279 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,200 If you're going to live as if Christ is worthy, you're going 280 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,160 to realize that he's worthy internally. 281 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:32,520 You're going to bow and worship him before that ever manifest to 282 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,800 anything external. So what is he saying here? 283 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:38,720 He's saying that the candidate for leadership in the church 284 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,880 will have a desire and will aim to be faithful to his one wife 285 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:47,320 for his entire lifetime. And so no matter how you want to 286 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,040 twist this, no matter how you want to improperly interpret 287 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:54,760 this, what it is saying is this. It is saying that the the leader 288 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:59,120 in the Church who is above reproach will be striving for 289 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:05,000 faithful. In his marriage again, beginning 290 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,320 internally and working toward the external. 291 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:13,320 That means this. A man who is constantly in his 292 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:18,720 struggle with pornography. He's not a candidate. 293 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,840 You're not a candidate until the Lord masters that in your life. 294 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:25,320 Why? Because you were constantly 295 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,720 being unfaithful to your one wife by committing adultery in 296 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,040 your heart with others. Is that not what Jesus said? 297 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:36,600 If you look lustfully at a woman, you've committed adultery 298 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,480 in your heart. We don't think about these 299 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:42,200 things. Remember, this is being written 300 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:46,120 to the pastor of this church. Paul is saying teach these 301 00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:49,080 leaders to take inventory internally. 302 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:53,480 Are they fit for this? Is there an ounce or there an 303 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:59,760 inclination in their heart to be unfaithful to their one wife and 304 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:01,480 there's a deficiency in them and they're not yet? 305 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,520 Ready for this role? They've lost sight of the 306 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:06,800 importance of this role, he says. 307 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,800 The husband of one wife. He next goes into this. 308 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:17,120 He says temperate above reproach looks like the husband of one 309 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:20,560 wife, one who desires inwardly to be faithful to his wife, and 310 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:25,040 that inward faithfulness then coming out externally. 311 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,120 But then he says also above reproach is temperate. 312 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,320 The Greek word and term for temperate here means to be sober 313 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:38,920 or to be sober minded, to be watchful, to be vigilant, not to 314 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,640 be lazy, not to be complacent, not to be apathetic. 315 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:47,960 In his spiritual life and in his ministry, spiritual apathy 316 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:54,200 begins internally long before you ever see it externally. 317 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,960 He's saying he can't be spiritually apathetic. 318 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:03,280 He must be sober, he must be awake, he must be vigilant, he 319 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:08,200 must be watchful. Watchfulness and sobriety as an 320 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,880 overseer is important. Why? 321 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:16,040 Because he is a watchman. He is a watchman for the 322 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,160 spiritual souls and lives of others. 323 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:23,520 And how can he be a watchman over others spiritually if he's 324 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:28,640 not first being a watchman over himself, guarding his heart, 325 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:33,680 guarding his mind in Christ Jesus, focusing on the things 326 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:38,160 that are pure and holy and right, taking his mind and his 327 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:43,040 thoughts off of the wicked things of this world. 328 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,920 He speaks here when he says tempered of being sober minded. 329 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:54,120 It is what Jesus speaks up in Matthew 2641 where he says this. 330 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:58,440 His disciples watch and pray so that you will not fall into 331 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:00,840 temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the 332 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,200 flesh is weak. What was he saying to his 333 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,800 disciples? Wake up, be sober minded. 334 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,520 Why? Because you might think you're 335 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:13,160 strong, but you're really weak and you need to watch and you 336 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:16,440 need to pray. Peter grabs a hold of this same 337 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:21,880 theme, knowing full well what it's like to ignore Jesus words, 338 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:28,000 to be sober and to be temperate sober minded, because he was one 339 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,520 of the ones who heard Jesus say to watch and pray, who did not 340 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,480 watch and pray so they didn't fall into temptation. 341 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:34,400 And you know what he did? He fell into temptation. 342 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:38,440 Peter learned his lesson, though. 343 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:43,120 First, Peter 580 says be alert. And a sober mind. 344 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:45,200 Why? Because your enemy, the devil, 345 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,800 prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to 346 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:49,800 devour. You say, well, Kirk, that's not 347 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,080 specifically talking to the pastors and the leaders. 348 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:53,640 No, it's not. It's actually talking to the 349 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:55,760 congregation. But if we don't give you an 350 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,720 example of that, how will you see what that looks like? 351 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:09,360 We're to be temperate, sober. Minded, Paul says those in 352 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:11,400 Thessalonikan, First Thessalonians 5-6. 353 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,480 So then let us not be like others who are asleep, but let 354 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:19,680 us be awake and sober minded. Let us be temperate. 355 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,080 Let us know what's going on. Let us pay attention to what's 356 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,680 going on. Let us keep our fingers on our 357 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:30,600 spiritual pulse. As leaders, where are we? 358 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:34,720 Have we spent enough time in prayer and we spent enough time 359 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:36,600 in devotional and personal Bible study? 360 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,320 Do we have anything to pour out? Do we need to go to the throne 361 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,240 and have our spiritual batteries? 362 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,880 If you would recharge just by communing with God. 363 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,040 For a little while. Do we know what's going on in 364 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,200 our lives? Because we can't help. 365 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,200 People with what's going on in their lives, if we don't pay 366 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:57,760 attention to what's going on in ours, begins with understanding 367 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:03,640 that you are a watchman and overseer, a leader who must be 368 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:09,120 temperate, sober of mind, vigilant in his thoughts. 369 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:14,160 Colossians 42, Paul says devote yourselves to prayer, being 370 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:21,800 watchful, sober minded, temperate, being watchful and 371 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,640 thankful. Why? 372 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:31,640 So that you don't become apathetic and lazy, complacent, 373 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,400 and then raise up disciples who are apathetic, lazy and 374 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,080 complacent. Because that's our job, isn't 375 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:40,840 it? As leaders to raise up others as 376 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,600 disciples. Be temperate, he goes on, and he 377 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,840 then uses the term self controlled. 378 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:50,920 What this really means is sensible and prudent. 379 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:54,960 Self-control is an English variation of this that a lot of 380 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:56,240 times we get confused about. What? 381 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,200 Isn't God supposed to be controlling us? 382 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:00,560 Yes, His Spirit is going to control self. 383 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:02,320 That is why it's called self-control. 384 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,400 Well, here's what it means so that we can understand it. 385 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,960 It means to be sensible and prudent. 386 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,560 It's a command for all believers, of course, but it's 387 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,720 especially for those of us who are in leadership or who are 388 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:18,880 aspiring to be in leadership. It begins with the pastors and 389 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:21,080 the elders. If we are not self controlled, 390 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,280 sensible and prudent, we can't expect to have others in the 391 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:29,760 church who are living lives that are sensible and prudent, self 392 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:38,640 controlled, internally, governed by the Spirit that then being 393 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:43,000 worked out externally in our lives. 394 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:48,080 He moves on and he says respectable, respectable. 395 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:53,480 This Greek word, though, it would connotate some type of 396 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:57,280 respect. This is internal, as I have 397 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,360 already told you and what he's saying here. 398 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:05,920 In the Greek it means orderly. It means that internally your 399 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,400 thoughts are ordered, your intentions are ordered, your 400 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:12,200 motives are ordered, and they are guided and ordered by 401 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:16,760 virtue, Virtue that only God Himself can teach you. 402 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:21,320 It requires spending time with the Lord in His Word and in 403 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:27,800 prayer, being respectable, being able to look yourself in the 404 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:34,480 mirror, eye to eye. And not turn away in shame. 405 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:37,760 Well, I can tell you there have been times in my life, 406 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:42,120 unfortunately, that I would admit I couldn't do that. 407 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,000 I would look at myself in the mirror, whether I was brushing 408 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:52,680 my teeth, shaving, combing my hair, and I couldn't look at 409 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,360 myself eye to eye. Why? 410 00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:58,360 Because internally I was not respectable. 411 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:03,800 I could not even respect myself. No, no, none of you have ever, 412 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,040 ever, ever struggled with anything like that. 413 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:11,800 But isn't that a reality? When our thoughts are not 414 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,280 ordered properly, when we're not being guided by virtue, when 415 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:17,800 we're not following the leadership of the Holy Spirit in 416 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:23,960 our life, We're called to be respectable, orderly in our 417 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,960 thoughts and in our mind, disciplined and organized in 418 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:32,600 that same mind. A well disciplined mind inwardly 419 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:37,000 will always lead to a well disciplined life outwardly. 420 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:42,920 But if you're not well disciplined in your mind through 421 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:47,000 the renewing of the mind as prescribed by the Word of God, 422 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,960 you can't even know the will of God, much less live the will of 423 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,720 God. He says to be respectable. 424 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:02,760 So the leader in his personal internal convictions regarding 425 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:06,760 himself, he is called to live above reproach, husband of one 426 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:09,480 wife, temperate, self controlled, respectable. 427 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:13,120 Now what Paul is going to do, he's going to move to the 428 00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:14,760 obvious, right? I've already been telling you 429 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,480 this it what you are inside is what is eventually going to come 430 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:21,360 out. And he moves to this, as he 431 00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:26,440 speaks about it, the overseer and his personal life as it 432 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,480 comes out. He has to be above reproach not 433 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,600 only in his personal internal convictions, he used to be above 434 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,760 reproach in his personal, external practices, what comes 435 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,040 out of his life. And he starts this section with 436 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,400 this hospitable. You know what this means? 437 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:49,800 It literally means loving of strangers to love others. 438 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,400 Strangers, people who are not of your group. 439 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:59,640 To be one who is welcoming and inviting to all, even those who 440 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,080 might be different, even those who might have just come in off 441 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,120 the street. Even those who it's their first 442 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:09,360 time to visit. This church, he's to be 443 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:15,840 hospitable. I've had critics in churches, 444 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:22,240 even in this church, throughout time, church members who should 445 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,240 have grown beyond this and their level of maturity, but yet they 446 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:32,280 just didn't. Who found themselves upset with 447 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,360 me as their pastor? You know why they were upset 448 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,000 with me? It was their charge against me. 449 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:42,920 All he's concerned about are the new people who were coming in. 450 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,280 Who aren't a part of our original group. 451 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:52,800 You bet. Because I'm called to be 452 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:54,800 hospitable to everybody who walks in the store. 453 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:55,920 I'm called to be hospitable. Why? 454 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:57,960 Because I'm going to have an opportunity to share the gospel 455 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,360 with that person who walked in the back door if I don't welcome 456 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:02,320 him as if he is my long lost cousin. 457 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,080 That may mean I walk past you and I don't get to say anything 458 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:09,520 to you that morning. I talk to you all the time and I 459 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:11,800 make the error of thinking this, that once I'm your friend, I'm 460 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:15,320 always your friend. So just know that there's 461 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:16,440 nothing you can do to change that. 462 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:23,040 But I go to that outsider. Refusing to stay in my little 463 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:28,040 group that you're in and I'm hospitable to them. 464 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:31,880 That better be what each and every one of our staff members 465 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,520 do. Anyone has ever worked under me 466 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,240 on the staff? Any type of children's ministry, 467 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:40,200 student ministry, You know, I, I tell them. 468 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:42,360 I've told them quite often. I'm thankful I don't have to. 469 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:46,280 Reiterate it anymore. Look for that young kid. 470 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,600 Who's got a bad home life? Well, you don't know he has a 471 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,480 bad long home life, but you can tell he needs love. 472 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:55,480 You know what you need to do in that situation? 473 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,200 Love him. Love him with all the energy and 474 00:30:58,200 --> 00:30:59,840 all the effort that you have. Look for that. 475 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:01,640 Student who comes in, they don't have a lot of friends. 476 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:03,480 In fact, they've never been to this church before. 477 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:10,080 Give them a reason to stay. Show them the love of Christ. 478 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:11,880 Can we be perfect in this? No. 479 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,960 This is what we're striving for. There's always going to be the 480 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:17,320 person who sits on the outside and hides from everybody and 481 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:18,960 then turns around and says, nobody talked to me. 482 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:20,000 We didn't even know you were there. 483 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:24,400 You were hiding. But we as leaders are to make 484 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:28,560 that effort to be hospitable, loving strangers doing what 485 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,760 James tells us to do in James Chapter 2 when he says this. 486 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:37,760 Verse one my brothers and sisters, believers in our 487 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:41,760 glorious Lord Jesus Christ, he must not show favoritism. 488 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,480 Suppose a man comes in into your meeting wearing a gold ring and 489 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,400 fine clothes, and poor man and filthy old clothes also comes 490 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,360 in. If you show special attention to 491 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,880 the man wearing fine clothes and say here's a good seat for you. 492 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,040 But say to the poor man, you stand there, sit on the floor by 493 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,360 my feet, have you not discriminated among yourselves 494 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:02,320 and become judges with evil thoughts? 495 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,560 He's saying his pastors as leaders, we can't do this. 496 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:06,840 Why? Because we need to raise up a 497 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:08,160 congregation who doesn't do. This. 498 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:12,040 And they're following our example. 499 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:14,920 It's by design. We saw that last week. 500 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:20,680 This is God's ordained design for the church, and he appoint 501 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,520 leaders. To equip you to do the work of 502 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,240 the ministry. Part of the work of the ministry 503 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:28,240 is to be hospitable. How can I ask you to be 504 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:29,800 hospitable? And I'm not hospitable. 505 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:36,680 How can I expect you to stay around in fellowship with other 506 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,200 believers if when I'm done preaching, I jump in my car and 507 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:44,920 go feed myself? I can't expect that of you 508 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,760 because I'm not living up to the expectations the Lord has for me 509 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,320 to be hospitable. Jesus. 510 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,120 And Matthew chapter 25 talks about this, and he talks about 511 00:32:57,120 --> 00:32:59,920 this in regard to people's eternal salvation. 512 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,000 Did you know this? At the end of days there will be 513 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,360 a judgement for the Sinner. This is what marks the Sinner. 514 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:12,840 Jesus judges them and cast them into hell. 515 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:17,520 And he says the reason for this is because when I was hungry, 516 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,520 you didn't feed me. When I was thirsty, you didn't 517 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,040 give me anything to drink. When I need to close, I was 518 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:24,560 naked. You gave me nothing to wear. 519 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,080 And they come back as if they could really talk back to Jesus. 520 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:30,160 And they said, when did we do this? 521 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:34,160 He said, if you've done it under the least of these, you've done 522 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:39,080 it unto me every time. You weren't hospitable to 523 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:41,320 others. You were not hospitable to 524 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:44,360 Christ. Those of you who are aspiring to 525 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,720 be ministers, those of you who are elders or leaders in His 526 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:50,600 church, pay attention to that because see the other side of 527 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:54,840 this coin where Jesus commenced those, I was thirsty, you gave 528 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:58,040 me something to drink, I was hungry, You gave me some food, I 529 00:33:58,040 --> 00:33:59,800 needed clothing. You provided clothing for me. 530 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:01,520 And you know what they did? They said, when did we do this? 531 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,640 Because they were unaware of it. Isn't it interesting how a true 532 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:06,360 Christian's unaware of that? He just does what he does 533 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:14,880 because he's saved and Jesus. Said because you fed, you gave 534 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,480 water and you clothed the least of these. 535 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,280 You did that for me. That's why we're called to be 536 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:28,159 hospitable as leaders, to teach the rest of the church that this 537 00:34:28,159 --> 00:34:33,560 is what we are to do, to reach out to the unreached and to love 538 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:39,400 the unlovable and. To show attention and compassion 539 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:45,320 to the stranger, welcoming them and inviting them to hear the 540 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:49,239 glorious good news of the Gospel and to be saved. 541 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:52,840 He's just hospitable and he's just able to teach. 542 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:55,440 Able to teach. Now what does that mean? 543 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,160 Does that mean that he can stand up and give a lesson? 544 00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:02,240 No, that's not what he's saying. Anybody could stand up and give 545 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:06,040 a lesson. Where does that lesson go? 546 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:10,800 Able to teach. You can't teach what you have 547 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:15,760 not lived. Now you can recite what you have 548 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:18,240 not lived. You can preach what you have not 549 00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:23,400 lived, you can orotate what you have not lived, but you can't 550 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:27,160 teach what you have not lived. So he's saying that this person 551 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:33,400 must be able or apartment to teach, to soundly teach others. 552 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:37,600 That comes with learning to rightly divide the word of 553 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:40,960 truth, to rightly divide the Scriptures, to be well trained 554 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:43,280 in the word. Second Timothy chapter 2, verse 555 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:44,920 15. Do your best to present yourself 556 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:47,160 to God as one approved. He's saying this to the pastor 557 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:50,320 Timothy. Do your best to present yourself 558 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:52,160 to God as one approved a worker who does. 559 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:54,920 Not need to be ashamed. And who correctly handles the 560 00:35:54,920 --> 00:36:00,000 word of truth? Who teaches rightly and 561 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:06,360 effectively person who can't teach rightly and effectively be 562 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:11,640 found in their doctrine. They have no place in a 563 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,680 leadership role in the church attempting to teach people. 564 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:17,240 Amen. I'll say it. 565 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,000 He must be able to teach and then he says not given to 566 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:27,200 drunkenness. This of course, at first glance 567 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,920 would be Speaking of he doesn't need to be addicted to alcohol. 568 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:35,000 That's true. In fact, my stance is I'm going 569 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:37,120 to leave it alone so that I don't fall into that danger. 570 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:45,080 Some of you, you're stronger than that, so you dabble in it. 571 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,280 That's between you and the Lord. And I pray that it doesn't grab 572 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:55,640 you and bring you down. But he says not given to 573 00:36:55,640 --> 00:37:00,160 drunkenness. He's talking about physical 574 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:03,760 sobriety, as he talked about a moment ago, internal and 575 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:09,200 spiritual sobriety. He talked about being temperate. 576 00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:13,400 He's now talking about external sobriety. 577 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:16,040 He's not just talking about being addicted to alcohol. 578 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:18,400 He's talking about being addicted to anything. 579 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:29,360 Food, love of money, sex. All the things that a person can 580 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:35,000 become addicted to gambling, he is saying don't be brought down 581 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:38,480 because you're given to some type of. 582 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:42,720 Addiction. Be very careful of that because 583 00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:48,120 I've seen preachers stand in the pulpit 150 a 160 lbs overweight, 584 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:50,960 beat the pulpit and rail people because they're addicted to 585 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:58,640 other thing. You're not above reproach. 586 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:04,640 You can't even walk away from the buffet line and you're 587 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:08,720 trying to tell people how they can overcome their addiction. 588 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:11,400 You can't even say no to a Twinkie. 589 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,440 I know I might offend some of you. 590 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:22,680 It's factual information. They're not to be given to 591 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:27,680 things that control us. Christ is to be our soul Lord, 592 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:32,680 not given to excessive overindulgences in this life. 593 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:34,720 And men aren't there, many of them. 594 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,400 He goes on. I'll leave that because you're 595 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,120 all questioning now. Is that true? 596 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:45,000 Yeah, it's true. It's offensive to God. 597 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:48,280 How can I preach self-control and have none? 598 00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:54,320 That's what above reproach is. He then goes on and he says not 599 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:58,120 violent but gentle. Not violent but gentle. 600 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:00,160 He's talking about being violent. 601 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:04,320 In our temper. It literally means to be a 602 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:08,360 striker, one who is quick to strike back. 603 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:11,000 It is that person, right? We've all learned this. 604 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:15,960 We all have a response to fear, and that's either fight, flight 605 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:19,840 or fright. He's talking about that person 606 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:23,440 who is naturally a fighter. I don't know anyone like that, 607 00:39:29,990 --> 00:39:31,910 and he's saying this. You can't be quick to strike. 608 00:39:31,910 --> 00:39:34,990 Back. Even if that's your natural 609 00:39:34,990 --> 00:39:39,190 propensity, 'cause I, I can tell you this, that is my natural 610 00:39:39,190 --> 00:39:42,510 propensity. If I'm overdoing something and 611 00:39:42,510 --> 00:39:46,150 you come up behind me and you scare me, prepare yourself. 612 00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:50,680 I don't think, I don't have time to think. 613 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:54,680 I react and my reaction is going to be violent and it's going to 614 00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:58,480 hurt you. And so I have to be aware of 615 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:01,160 that, don't I? Because this doesn't just 616 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:07,320 doesn't go for physical things. Not violent, but gentle. 617 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:11,920 One who is not quick to strike back or to throw a blow of any 618 00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:15,760 kind. Whether verbally or physically 619 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:22,280 in retaliation to someone, I will tell you this as a pastor, 620 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:24,280 that is difficult. It has been difficult and God 621 00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:31,800 has been so gracious to me to teach me a difficult lesson of 622 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:33,920 Kirk Hall. Don't try to defend yourself 623 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:37,080 because naturally I'm a defender. 624 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:42,240 I'm thinkable that he has called me to live beyond my natural 625 00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:47,680 self. Do not defend myself verbally or 626 00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:50,600 physically when the assaults come because in the role of 627 00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:55,120 leadership, those of you who are aspiring to be leaders just know 628 00:40:55,120 --> 00:41:03,240 this Unfair. Untrue, hateful, mean, awful 629 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,720 assaults will come at you from all directions all the time, 630 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:10,280 just like they did to Jesus. Just like they did to the 631 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:12,520 apostles. And what did Jesus do when they 632 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:14,200 came? He said nothing. 633 00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:15,480 Why? He didn't have to defend 634 00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:18,320 himself. He had to stand in truth. 635 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:19,400 You know what's good about truth? 636 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:24,520 Truth always defends. So God. 637 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:28,520 Has taught me to just trust in the truth, to not try to defend 638 00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:30,240 myself. And oh, in the age that we live 639 00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:32,720 in, right where all of the courageous people can get on 640 00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:40,320 that keyboard and just hack away trying to bring accusation 641 00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:42,680 against you, accusation against the body of Christ. 642 00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:49,440 All while they hide behind the screen, have people and they see 643 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:55,320 someone blast me on social media, or they see someone blast 644 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:59,200 the church on social media, or they hear about perhaps an 645 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:04,200 e-mail that I received those fun emails, and what are you going 646 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:08,240 to do about it Now? I'm going to go back to my 647 00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:10,840 office. I'm going to open up the word of 648 00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:13,400 God. I'm going to pray for those 649 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:17,400 people that God would have mercy on their soul because unless 650 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:19,600 they repent, they're going to answer to Him, not me. 651 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,280 I'm going to get back in the Word. 652 00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:24,080 I'm going to prepare for my message next time. 653 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:26,240 And I'm going to understand this, that when I get done, 654 00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:30,080 there may be critics, they may say untrue things about me, and 655 00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:31,640 that's fine, that's OK. You know what? 656 00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:35,360 Blessed is he when men say all kind of false things about Him. 657 00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:40,000 As long as I in my heart know that they're false things, I'm 658 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:41,360 going to rest in the truth of the Word of God. 659 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:42,720 I'm going to rest in the promises of God. 660 00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:46,040 I'm going to count on God to take care of any vengeance that 661 00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:50,640 needs to be had. Why? 662 00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:53,720 Because I'm not called to be a striker. 663 00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:58,520 I'm called to be meek. You know what meek means? 664 00:42:58,520 --> 00:42:59,800 It doesn't mean that you're weak. 665 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:05,520 It means that you choose not to use the resources that you have 666 00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:08,560 and you do it for the glory of God. 667 00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:11,680 I don't have to lash back at them. 668 00:43:13,240 --> 00:43:15,520 I can do exactly what James tells me to do. 669 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:18,200 In James chapter one verse 19 where he says, my dear brothers 670 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:21,680 and sisters, take note of this. Everyone should be quick to 671 00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:26,080 listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. 672 00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:27,080 Quick to listen. You know what? 673 00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:28,360 When the critics come, you know what I do? 674 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:32,480 I listen. Is what they're saying true most 675 00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:33,200 of the time? You know what? 676 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:36,120 I go, yeah, I guess there is some truth to that. 677 00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:39,240 And if they wanted it to be worse than what it is, I could 678 00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:42,720 probably give them worse things to say about me. 679 00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:51,520 Quick to listen, slow to speed, slow to become angry. 680 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:56,000 Why do I want to let people who are lying, people who are 681 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:58,880 stirring up strive, people who are being over critical? 682 00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:01,600 Why do I want to let them ruin my day? 683 00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:06,440 Why do I want to let them ruin all the good things that God is 684 00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:09,280 doing in this church? Why would I let them do that? 685 00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:11,360 You know you have to let them do it. 686 00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:15,320 You know what the Lord has taught me to do, And being above 687 00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:21,240 reproach, striving for that. Don't be violent, be gentle, and 688 00:44:21,240 --> 00:44:22,920 sometimes the best way to be gentle is this. 689 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:29,240 Don't say anything at all, just as Jesus did nothing at all. 690 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:33,720 Walk away from the situation and pray that God would do a work in 691 00:44:33,720 --> 00:44:34,600 their heart. He goes on. 692 00:44:34,600 --> 00:44:37,280 Then he says not quarrelsome. I get it guys, we're only on .1. 693 00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:42,840 You got nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, not quarrelsome. 694 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:46,320 What are you saying here? He's talking about, again, being 695 00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:48,600 peaceable and me not looking for fight. 696 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:51,480 Have you noticed there are a lot of preachers and a lot of 697 00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:54,200 theologians that just go around looking for a fight, right? 698 00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:56,480 If there are some theological persuasion, what they'll do is 699 00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:58,640 they'll get around other Christians and they'll start 700 00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:01,840 talking about the theological thing that they know that they 701 00:45:01,840 --> 00:45:06,080 don't agree with just so they can start a quarrel that's 702 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:08,560 quarrelsome. We as leaders ought not to be 703 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:09,480 that. We ought to be looking. 704 00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:12,120 For a fight. He goes on and says not a lover 705 00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:14,360 of money. What does that mean? 706 00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:18,040 And you're not prone to excessive wealth or lustful 707 00:45:18,040 --> 00:45:21,280 greed or unlawful or ungodly gain. 708 00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:27,000 You're not driven by money. First Timothy, chapter 6. 709 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:29,120 We'll get there eventually. But in verse 10, it says for the 710 00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:31,800 love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. 711 00:45:33,160 --> 00:45:35,840 He says some people eager for money have wandered from the 712 00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:38,200 faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 713 00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:41,840 Pay attention to that, those of you who aspire to be leaders. 714 00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:48,280 Money can distract you. The love of money can tear apart 715 00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:51,400 your ministry, what God has called you to do. 716 00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:56,120 You can't be concerned was that? Why are these? 717 00:45:56,120 --> 00:45:58,400 Things important. Why have we taken so much time 718 00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:00,280 this morning and breaking them down 1 by 1? 719 00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:04,400 Thomas Watson said this. He said the sins of of teachers 720 00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:07,440 are teachers of sin. Wow. 721 00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:12,920 If I don't live a pattern in a life that is above reproach, you 722 00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:14,760 know what I'm going to do for all of you. 723 00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:18,240 If our pastors in our church and our elders in our church don't 724 00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:20,000 live a life that is above reproach, you know what they're 725 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:22,320 going to do for all of you. They're going to give you an 726 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:24,920 example that says. It's OK for you to send, and 727 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:27,960 haven't we seen enough of that in the church as of late? 728 00:46:30,240 --> 00:46:32,880 It's not acceptable. We must be above reproach. 729 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:39,560 Overseers in the church, leaders, pastors, they're called 730 00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:42,040 to live a life that is above reproach, including both 731 00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:45,320 internal convictions and external practice practices. 732 00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:47,560 So we have to ask ourselves, does our life reflect that and. 733 00:46:48,040 --> 00:46:50,360 We're striving to live above reproach in these areas. 734 00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:55,080 Secondly, Paul says in verse four he must manage his own 735 00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:57,960 family well and see that his children obey him with proper 736 00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:01,160 respect. If anyone does not know how to 737 00:47:01,160 --> 00:47:05,440 manage his own family, how? Can he take care of God's 738 00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:07,280 church? Wow. 739 00:47:08,400 --> 00:47:13,240 Paul being so logical, so practical here, don't miss this. 740 00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:17,520 He asked that question. If this guy can't even manage 741 00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:22,960 his own wife and children, is that's what you as men are 742 00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:26,240 called to do. And because we are pastors, we 743 00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:28,000 don't get an exemption from that. 744 00:47:28,600 --> 00:47:31,640 In fact, we ought to do it, and do it well, so that others will 745 00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:35,800 see that example. We ought to be above reproach 746 00:47:35,800 --> 00:47:40,200 regarding not only ourselves but also our homes. 747 00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:46,280 The overseer should strive for this regarding his home. 748 00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:53,720 How does he do this? He does it through proper 749 00:47:53,720 --> 00:47:56,720 leadership. The leadership roles in the home 750 00:47:56,720 --> 00:48:02,920 being clearly defined and those roles being managed. 751 00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:10,000 He is a steward, a manager of his home, that means of his wife 752 00:48:10,560 --> 00:48:14,800 and of his children. He has to take that proper role 753 00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:16,720 of leadership. Why? 754 00:48:16,720 --> 00:48:22,040 Because a man who can't, he can't manage his home and his 755 00:48:22,040 --> 00:48:24,360 wife runs all over him and his kids disrespect him. 756 00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:28,080 They're rebellious and worldly. He's not fit to lead in the 757 00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:31,560 church. Now I know for a generation 758 00:48:31,560 --> 00:48:33,600 pastors have gotten the pass on this. 759 00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:35,920 They've been fired for things that aren't even on this list. 760 00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:38,960 But they get a pass for this. There is no pass. 761 00:48:39,720 --> 00:48:44,280 Passes are not handed out. Pay attention to what he says. 762 00:48:44,280 --> 00:48:48,920 He must manage his own family well and see that his children 763 00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:53,400 obey him with proper respect. And if he doesn't do this, he's 764 00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:59,320 not fit to even attempt to manage all the other families 765 00:48:59,440 --> 00:49:02,360 that he has been entrusted with in the church. 766 00:49:02,360 --> 00:49:09,640 He can't even manage his own. Can't take a mediocre, passive 767 00:49:09,640 --> 00:49:11,600 approach to leadership in the home. 768 00:49:13,080 --> 00:49:16,680 He's got to be a leader who leads well, who leads with 769 00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:21,520 tenacity, who leads properly. Who leads biblically? 770 00:49:21,520 --> 00:49:25,040 Who honors God by the way He leads first in his home and then 771 00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:33,080 in the church, in that order. You aspire to be a leader. 772 00:49:36,480 --> 00:49:40,680 Is your leadership properly displayed in the home? 773 00:49:42,360 --> 00:49:43,880 Proper leadership according to Scripture. 774 00:49:44,560 --> 00:49:45,720 Knowing what is. Required. 775 00:49:45,720 --> 00:49:47,960 That's where we start. What is required of me as a 776 00:49:47,960 --> 00:49:49,640 leader of my home? Get in the word and find out 777 00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:53,880 what is required of my life, my wife in the home. 778 00:49:54,400 --> 00:49:56,720 Get in the word, find out. Teach it to her. 779 00:49:57,520 --> 00:50:00,880 What is required of my children? Get in the word, find out, teach 780 00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:01,960 it to them. That's your job. 781 00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:06,640 Be a leader in your home to manage it well according to the 782 00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:08,320 scriptures. Knowing what is required and 783 00:50:08,320 --> 00:50:11,240 then aligning your home with those scriptures. 784 00:50:12,120 --> 00:50:16,560 Many of you know the right answer, but you're afraid to do 785 00:50:16,560 --> 00:50:19,640 it or you're not doing it. Or you're apathetic. 786 00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:21,240 Or you're lazy in regard to your home. 787 00:50:21,240 --> 00:50:26,240 Stop doing it. That as ministers, we can't 788 00:50:26,240 --> 00:50:29,320 afford to do it. In fact, we're not fit ministers 789 00:50:29,320 --> 00:50:34,720 if we do. We have to refuse to preach one 790 00:50:34,720 --> 00:50:39,840 thing in the pulpit and to live another thing in front of our 791 00:50:39,840 --> 00:50:43,480 family. It's essential, it has to be 792 00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:46,080 proper leadership, but not only does it have to be proper 793 00:50:46,080 --> 00:50:48,720 leadership in regard to the leadership and being above 794 00:50:48,720 --> 00:50:54,280 reproach and home, it has to be proven leadership. 795 00:50:56,600 --> 00:50:59,480 This is where it gets scary. It has to be proven. 796 00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:01,440 What's the proof here? He said he must manage his own 797 00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:04,480 family well and see that his children obey him with proper 798 00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:07,440 respect. And if anyone does not know how 799 00:51:07,440 --> 00:51:10,440 to manage his own family, how can he take care of Church of 800 00:51:10,440 --> 00:51:14,840 God's church? What does proven leadership look 801 00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:16,720 like? According to Paul, proven 802 00:51:16,720 --> 00:51:22,160 leadership looks like his children obey him with proper 803 00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:24,840 respect. That doesn't say his children 804 00:51:24,840 --> 00:51:29,080 like everything that he does, that he doesn't get on their 805 00:51:29,080 --> 00:51:33,600 nerves because he will. He's a dad, but it says that 806 00:51:33,600 --> 00:51:37,600 they will respect him. What is Paul saying? 807 00:51:37,600 --> 00:51:39,320 Leadership in the home. The proof is in the pudding. 808 00:51:40,760 --> 00:51:43,160 You want to know if someone is leading their home properly. 809 00:51:43,160 --> 00:51:48,880 You know how to find out. Talk to their wife, talk to 810 00:51:48,880 --> 00:51:51,360 their children. You'll find out. 811 00:51:52,080 --> 00:51:54,080 And you'll find out very quickly that no, they're not leading 812 00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:58,240 their home perfectly. They can't. 813 00:51:59,360 --> 00:52:01,760 They're flawed. But they're going to be leading 814 00:52:01,760 --> 00:52:04,280 their home properly and attempting to do that and to be 815 00:52:04,280 --> 00:52:06,360 above. Reproach as the Word of God 816 00:52:06,360 --> 00:52:10,640 commands us to do here at Key Life Fellowship, before any of 817 00:52:10,640 --> 00:52:12,560 our pastors are ever hired. You know what happens? 818 00:52:14,120 --> 00:52:18,880 Our elders interview them and their wives. 819 00:52:19,920 --> 00:52:23,280 You know what we do? We read these things from First 820 00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:26,960 Timothy chapter 3, and we ask the wife. 821 00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:28,880 We don't ask the husband. He wants a job. 822 00:52:28,880 --> 00:52:36,360 He could lie to us. We ask the wife, does he meet 823 00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:39,320 these requirements? Is he fit for ministry? 824 00:52:41,320 --> 00:52:46,120 We don't look for her answer. We look at her face. 825 00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:51,520 We discern the situation. If she's confident in her 826 00:52:51,520 --> 00:52:55,560 husband's leadership, You know what she does smile on her face. 827 00:52:55,560 --> 00:52:59,520 She looks, she's square in the eyes and says, Oh yeah, my man 828 00:53:00,240 --> 00:53:03,240 is a candidate to lead in God's church. 829 00:53:04,440 --> 00:53:05,680 If he's not, you know what she's going to do. 830 00:53:05,680 --> 00:53:07,040 She's going to put her. Yeah, I guess he's OK. 831 00:53:10,400 --> 00:53:11,760 You know what? Because ladies, I mean, correct 832 00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:18,160 me if I'm wrong, there's nothing that thrills you more as a 833 00:53:18,160 --> 00:53:22,520 Christian woman and to see your husband being exactly what God 834 00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:27,480 wants him to be. It means something and it means 835 00:53:27,480 --> 00:53:29,800 something to us and it means something to us as leaders of 836 00:53:29,800 --> 00:53:31,520 the church. Why? 837 00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:33,200 Because we don't see if there's proven leadership in the home. 838 00:53:33,200 --> 00:53:34,880 Because if there's not proven leadership in the home, there's 839 00:53:34,880 --> 00:53:36,400 going to be a train wreck in the church. 840 00:53:37,520 --> 00:53:40,080 You'll never be able to teach anyone how to be a good father. 841 00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:44,400 You'll never be able to teach anyone how to be a good husband. 842 00:53:44,400 --> 00:53:46,680 You'll never be able to teach anyone how to discipline their 843 00:53:46,680 --> 00:53:48,800 children, to love their children, to minister to their 844 00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:50,880 children. You'll never be. 845 00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:52,640 Able to teach these things because you don't practice these 846 00:53:52,640 --> 00:53:57,800 things. It's proven leadership. 847 00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:01,200 Titus, 16, takes it a little step further. 848 00:54:01,240 --> 00:54:02,640 A little more clarity shed on this. 849 00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:06,160 He says an elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife. 850 00:54:06,360 --> 00:54:08,600 That's why I told you. That's why I leaned toward the 851 00:54:08,600 --> 00:54:12,520 faithful to the wife. And Paul says here in Timothy, 852 00:54:13,720 --> 00:54:18,040 he says, a man whose children. Believe and are not open to the 853 00:54:18,040 --> 00:54:19,720 charge of being wild and disobedient. 854 00:54:19,720 --> 00:54:21,520 Haven't we in the past just tolerated it? 855 00:54:21,520 --> 00:54:25,560 In fact, we expect it. That was the greatest insult to 856 00:54:25,560 --> 00:54:28,400 me that I could hear as a pastor when my kids were growing up in 857 00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:30,680 my home, for people just to expect that they were 858 00:54:30,680 --> 00:54:33,000 rebellious. What do you have no confidence 859 00:54:33,120 --> 00:54:35,000 that I'm striving to live above reproach? 860 00:54:35,120 --> 00:54:39,880 That I will not let my children be rebellious, you say? 861 00:54:39,880 --> 00:54:43,560 How do you stop your children from being rebellious parents? 862 00:54:43,560 --> 00:54:47,400 You don't let them rebel. You take every avenue of 863 00:54:47,400 --> 00:54:50,760 rebellion away from them. You actually act like a father. 864 00:54:50,760 --> 00:54:54,080 You actually discipline them. Your wife actually backs you up 865 00:54:54,200 --> 00:54:56,640 and doesn't sneak around your back and give them what they 866 00:54:56,640 --> 00:55:02,320 want anyway. You have to be above reproach 867 00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:07,960 and how you lead your family so that your children will believe, 868 00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:13,200 not be open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 869 00:55:13,200 --> 00:55:15,600 Let me just tell you something. I won't even look their way 870 00:55:15,680 --> 00:55:21,240 because I can't. That chapter of my life is 871 00:55:21,240 --> 00:55:25,640 closed to which I'm very thankful for. 872 00:55:25,640 --> 00:55:28,280 Now I just get to be a diesel. There are no rules. 873 00:55:43,120 --> 00:55:50,760 I listen to critic after critic after endless critic trying to 874 00:55:50,760 --> 00:55:54,360 tell me how I was supposed to raise my children, knowing full 875 00:55:54,360 --> 00:55:56,600 well exactly how God said to do it. 876 00:55:59,240 --> 00:56:02,600 And I made-up my mind that I am not going to listen to them. 877 00:56:02,600 --> 00:56:05,200 I am going to listen to my heavenly Father and I'm going to 878 00:56:05,200 --> 00:56:08,880 listen to His Word. And He is faithful to do that. 879 00:56:09,080 --> 00:56:21,200 But she said that He will do. I don't say this to highlight my 880 00:56:21,200 --> 00:56:27,440 grown children, my godly wife, or myself. 881 00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:36,880 God is faithful to His Word. Just this weekend I got to 882 00:56:36,880 --> 00:56:40,320 witness one of the greatest blessings that I've had and will 883 00:56:40,320 --> 00:56:48,160 have this side of heaven. Brandy and I got to keep our 884 00:56:48,160 --> 00:56:50,120 grandbabies both together for the first time. 885 00:56:50,120 --> 00:56:55,960 Boy, it's been a long time since we've had kids, but what a 886 00:56:55,960 --> 00:57:04,560 blessing, what a joy I got to see my adult children but their 887 00:57:04,560 --> 00:57:10,320 God honoring and God loving spouses lead students lead 888 00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:13,320 adults by their example. Love Jesus. 889 00:57:15,120 --> 00:57:20,840 Never one time in my life did I ever lay my head on a pillow at 890 00:57:20,840 --> 00:57:25,680 night and wonder what my children were going to do that 891 00:57:25,680 --> 00:57:27,840 would cause me grief and heartache. 892 00:57:30,880 --> 00:57:33,560 I can remember the day that I found out that I was going to be 893 00:57:33,560 --> 00:57:38,920 a father. I had very few, if any, good 894 00:57:38,920 --> 00:57:42,920 examples of what a godly family looks like. 895 00:57:42,920 --> 00:57:45,680 It wasn't until later in life that God began to put people 896 00:57:45,680 --> 00:57:51,120 into my life who love Christ and live for Him, which I'm very 897 00:57:51,120 --> 00:57:56,760 thankful. I remember that desperate prayer 898 00:57:56,760 --> 00:58:01,840 where I said, Lord, I don't know anything about raising kids. 899 00:58:04,120 --> 00:58:05,640 I don't know anything about being a dad. 900 00:58:06,920 --> 00:58:08,760 Truth be told, I don't know anything about anything. 901 00:58:12,040 --> 00:58:13,280 And I said, Lord, will you help me? 902 00:58:15,360 --> 00:58:16,760 Will you help me? Because I don't know. 903 00:58:18,080 --> 00:58:24,560 But I know that you are a good and glorious, loving and kind 904 00:58:24,560 --> 00:58:28,000 father. It was all at the same time. 905 00:58:28,040 --> 00:58:34,680 Endless love, fierce discipline. Teach me to be that, so that my 906 00:58:34,680 --> 00:58:36,240 children will turn out to serve you. 907 00:58:36,240 --> 00:58:39,360 That was my only prayer. They will know you and that they 908 00:58:39,360 --> 00:58:42,080 will serve you. I'm thankful. 909 00:58:43,040 --> 00:58:46,000 And for whatever reason, He has spared me long enough to get to 910 00:58:46,000 --> 00:58:53,600 see that I'm thankful for. We must be proven in our 911 00:58:53,600 --> 00:59:03,400 leadership that proof will be in our homes, our wives, and our 912 00:59:03,400 --> 00:59:06,920 children. Ephesians 6 forces fathers, do 913 00:59:06,920 --> 00:59:09,480 not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up in the 914 00:59:09,480 --> 00:59:11,840 training and the instruction of the Lord's, the best of my 915 00:59:11,840 --> 00:59:19,240 ability, with the wisdom that God has given me that I could 916 00:59:19,520 --> 00:59:27,920 even obtain. That's what I did as a leader. 917 00:59:28,040 --> 00:59:33,080 We did as parents and proofs in the pudding. 918 00:59:34,360 --> 00:59:36,040 That's what we ought to strive for. 919 00:59:36,040 --> 00:59:41,040 We ought to strive to live lives so that our children respect us. 920 00:59:41,040 --> 00:59:44,320 And what I mean by that, they respect Christ in US. 921 00:59:46,840 --> 00:59:50,400 I'm not going to ask my children they respect me. 922 00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:56,720 I don't have to. They show it by how they honor 923 00:59:57,360 --> 01:00:00,880 their mother and father and how that is important to them. 924 01:00:01,800 --> 01:00:07,120 Proven leadership above reproach regarding the home. 925 01:00:08,800 --> 01:00:10,640 Thirdly, I'll move fast, I promise. 926 01:00:12,760 --> 01:00:17,920 Regarding the church. Who must be above reproach 927 01:00:17,920 --> 01:00:19,680 regarding the Church? He says he must not be a recent 928 01:00:19,680 --> 01:00:21,600 convert. He may become conceited and fall 929 01:00:21,600 --> 01:00:23,120 under the same judgment as the devil. 930 01:00:23,320 --> 01:00:26,200 He's warning that this is not a job for someone who's only been 931 01:00:26,200 --> 01:00:28,960 saved for a little while, a short time, who has not grown 932 01:00:28,960 --> 01:00:31,440 and who has not matured and is maturing in Christ. 933 01:00:33,080 --> 01:00:35,200 He's letting us know that if someone aspires to be a leader 934 01:00:35,200 --> 01:00:39,600 in the Church, he must be securely vetted, not a recent 935 01:00:39,600 --> 01:00:41,480 convert. Isn't it interesting? 936 01:00:41,480 --> 01:00:43,640 We've all been in churches where they do this, right? 937 01:00:44,080 --> 01:00:46,680 Someone gets saved, they need a leadership role filled. 938 01:00:46,680 --> 01:00:48,880 We need a Sunday school teacher. Hey, man, can you teach Sunday 939 01:00:48,880 --> 01:00:49,480 school? I don't know. 940 01:00:49,480 --> 01:00:53,120 I'll try, man. The guy's been saved. 15 941 01:00:53,120 --> 01:00:57,160 minutes. You're not going to vet him at 942 01:00:57,160 --> 01:01:00,520 all. Can I tell you this? 943 01:01:00,520 --> 01:01:04,080 Here at Key Life Fellowship, I spoke about two of our pastors 944 01:01:04,080 --> 01:01:06,200 who grew up in our youth group. They've been being vetted for 945 01:01:06,200 --> 01:01:09,480 years. Another one who was saved here 946 01:01:09,480 --> 01:01:12,560 in this church, actually in the building next door many years 947 01:01:12,560 --> 01:01:14,920 ago, who was vetted for years before. 948 01:01:15,440 --> 01:01:19,560 Another who was here serving as an elder, who is vetted and now 949 01:01:19,560 --> 01:01:22,320 a staff pastor. All of our elders vetted for 950 01:01:22,320 --> 01:01:25,080 years before they're even considered for a leadership 951 01:01:25,080 --> 01:01:27,400 role. It's a serious business. 952 01:01:27,400 --> 01:01:29,680 This is not to be some recent convert. 953 01:01:30,440 --> 01:01:34,160 This is not to say because we think we're high and mighty 954 01:01:34,240 --> 01:01:35,720 because we're more spiritually mature. 955 01:01:35,720 --> 01:01:38,360 No, it is to protect them from a fall. 956 01:01:39,760 --> 01:01:42,800 It is to keep them from becoming conceited and to fall under the 957 01:01:42,800 --> 01:01:45,920 same judgement as the devil. Wasn't it the devil's pride that 958 01:01:45,920 --> 01:01:49,440 got him? How many of you were raised 959 01:01:49,440 --> 01:01:50,800 Southern Baptist? Just raise your hand. 960 01:01:50,800 --> 01:01:52,400 You only have to admit it quickly, then put it down so 961 01:01:52,400 --> 01:01:53,800 that you're not embarrassed all morning. 962 01:01:58,080 --> 01:01:59,960 How many of you remember 5th Sunday singings? 963 01:02:01,280 --> 01:02:07,360 Not singing, singing. Now I'm going to disclose some 964 01:02:07,360 --> 01:02:11,440 information that many of you are not Privy to. 5th Sunday 965 01:02:11,440 --> 01:02:14,040 singings were for the people who couldn't sing, that wanted to 966 01:02:14,040 --> 01:02:16,800 sing, but they were no way ever going to be trusted to sing on a 967 01:02:16,800 --> 01:02:20,840 Sunday morning. True story. 968 01:02:23,080 --> 01:02:26,520 They would just sign up to sing. Now here's what would happen if 969 01:02:26,520 --> 01:02:30,080 this Sunday's singing is when we would trust a novice with this 970 01:02:30,080 --> 01:02:34,320 position who couldn't sing, who couldn't play, who was tone 971 01:02:34,320 --> 01:02:37,360 deaf, who couldn't hear the melody of a song. 972 01:02:38,320 --> 01:02:43,440 They would get up and they would sing and then. 973 01:02:43,440 --> 01:02:47,600 After the service. All the well meaning. 974 01:02:47,880 --> 01:02:52,360 People would say, oh that, bless my heart. 975 01:02:53,480 --> 01:02:54,880 Yeah, but what to do to your ears? 976 01:02:59,120 --> 01:03:01,640 They didn't even know if this person was a Christian. 977 01:03:01,640 --> 01:03:03,880 They just wanted to sing. So I put him on stage. 978 01:03:05,160 --> 01:03:07,760 Now what happens is they say that, bless my heart, you ought 979 01:03:07,760 --> 01:03:13,440 to sing more. I'm good. 980 01:03:15,200 --> 01:03:17,000 You're going. No, you're not. 981 01:03:20,040 --> 01:03:22,440 And before you know it, at the end of. 982 01:03:22,440 --> 01:03:25,080 One of the services, they got the worship pastor back in the 983 01:03:25,080 --> 01:03:26,440 corner. They got him pegged up. 984 01:03:27,160 --> 01:03:30,400 It is fifth Sunday singer and all of her family. 985 01:03:31,840 --> 01:03:33,480 You need to let her sing on a Sunday morning. 986 01:03:33,680 --> 01:03:35,520 Why do you let other people sing on a Sunday morning? 987 01:03:35,520 --> 01:03:36,840 You don't let her sing on a Sunday morning. 988 01:03:39,280 --> 01:03:42,400 She's not ready. She #1 Can't Sing #2 we don't 989 01:03:42,400 --> 01:03:46,320 even know if she's a Christian. Yeah, we're pressured to put 990 01:03:46,320 --> 01:03:48,440 people in these roles. We can't be pressured to put 991 01:03:48,440 --> 01:03:51,480 those people in these roles. Why? 992 01:03:51,600 --> 01:03:54,400 Because they're going to think that they're ready to stand when 993 01:03:54,400 --> 01:03:56,200 they're not like the 5th Sunday singer. 994 01:03:56,280 --> 01:03:57,960 They're going to think they're good when they're not really 995 01:03:57,960 --> 01:04:01,720 good. You don't just throw a person 996 01:04:01,840 --> 01:04:04,440 that the day that they say I feel like God's calling me to 997 01:04:04,440 --> 01:04:06,240 preach, well, jump up there, bud. 998 01:04:07,680 --> 01:04:09,480 Why? Because at the end, they're 999 01:04:09,480 --> 01:04:11,160 going to be people at the back of the door and you know what 1000 01:04:11,160 --> 01:04:13,360 they're going to say. Man, that was some good 1001 01:04:13,360 --> 01:04:16,520 preaching. I'm sitting there going exegesis 1002 01:04:16,520 --> 01:04:21,400 horrible, outline horrible. He didn't hold people's 1003 01:04:21,400 --> 01:04:22,560 attention. He didn't make any sense. 1004 01:04:22,560 --> 01:04:24,080 He knows nothing about the word of God. 1005 01:04:24,080 --> 01:04:28,120 His exposition was awful. Everybody else is going to say, 1006 01:04:28,120 --> 01:04:30,320 man, that's a good job. And pat him on the back. 1007 01:04:30,320 --> 01:04:32,120 They're going to ingratiate him. They're going to tell him things 1008 01:04:32,120 --> 01:04:34,240 like this won't be long. You'll be having your own 1009 01:04:34,240 --> 01:04:37,840 church. It better be long. 1010 01:04:39,560 --> 01:04:42,000 It better take some time. This guy's got to grow up. 1011 01:04:42,840 --> 01:04:45,560 He's still wet behind the ears. He needs nurturing. 1012 01:04:45,560 --> 01:04:48,160 He needs maturing. He needs discipleship. 1013 01:04:48,960 --> 01:04:50,960 What do they do? Throw him to the wolves? 1014 01:04:52,520 --> 01:04:57,200 Next thing you know, months later, he's pastoring the 1015 01:04:57,200 --> 01:04:58,600 Antioch Baptist. Church. 1016 01:05:03,200 --> 01:05:05,440 Before you know it, you get news that he's quit ministry. 1017 01:05:05,440 --> 01:05:08,280 He's never going back to church. Those people are mean and awful 1018 01:05:08,280 --> 01:05:11,400 to him. He thought he was something, but 1019 01:05:11,400 --> 01:05:17,800 he realized he's nothing and all came crashing down upon him. 1020 01:05:19,040 --> 01:05:22,480 We do people an injustice when we don't securely vet them. 1021 01:05:22,480 --> 01:05:25,440 I'm not saying this to say, oh, I'm mature, you're not. 1022 01:05:25,640 --> 01:05:28,600 I'm saying we have to make sure that leaders are vetted. 1023 01:05:29,160 --> 01:05:31,640 We know it in today's society, right? 1024 01:05:31,640 --> 01:05:34,120 Anybody can get on social media and pretend to be a preacher or 1025 01:05:34,120 --> 01:05:35,760 a theologian. That's why you have all the mess 1026 01:05:35,760 --> 01:05:38,360 that you have. I told the men just the other 1027 01:05:38,360 --> 01:05:41,320 night with social media we are seeing the revival of. 1028 01:05:41,320 --> 01:05:43,720 So many ancient heresies. Why? 1029 01:05:43,720 --> 01:05:45,760 Because these people haven't been vetted. 1030 01:05:47,880 --> 01:05:50,440 Again, an audience. Just because you have an 1031 01:05:50,440 --> 01:05:52,800 audience doesn't mean that you've been vetted. 1032 01:05:52,800 --> 01:05:55,000 You haven't grown spiritually to the point where you should be 1033 01:05:55,000 --> 01:05:57,120 trusted in any kind of leadership. 1034 01:06:00,120 --> 01:06:03,600 Recent convert hasn't grown to the point where he's ready for 1035 01:06:03,600 --> 01:06:05,480 that fact. James says in James chapter 3 1036 01:06:05,480 --> 01:06:09,560 verse one, not many of you should become teachers, my 1037 01:06:09,560 --> 01:06:12,480 fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be 1038 01:06:12,480 --> 01:06:15,600 judged more strictly. We got to teach this young man 1039 01:06:15,600 --> 01:06:17,040 every word that comes out of your mouth. 1040 01:06:17,040 --> 01:06:18,960 When you stand there with that Bible open, you're going to give 1041 01:06:18,960 --> 01:06:21,800 an answer for it. You better take this seriously. 1042 01:06:23,000 --> 01:06:25,440 Now we throw him in the pulpit and say say whatever you want to 1043 01:06:25,440 --> 01:06:29,360 say. Heresy and false teaching, 1044 01:06:30,360 --> 01:06:32,920 unbiblical things spew from their mouth, causing confusion, 1045 01:06:32,920 --> 01:06:35,520 leading people down the wrong path and leading them to a fall. 1046 01:06:35,520 --> 01:06:40,760 They have to be securely vetted. I'll harp on this no longer, but 1047 01:06:40,760 --> 01:06:43,280 even secular companies vet their people, don't they? 1048 01:06:44,400 --> 01:06:46,440 The company you work for. They're not going to hire a new 1049 01:06:46,440 --> 01:06:52,040 CEO who has zero experience, 0 expertise, 0. 1050 01:06:52,040 --> 01:06:56,080 Knowledge of the industry. They're going to hire somebody 1051 01:06:56,080 --> 01:06:57,880 who's been vetted, somebody who's mature in the industry, 1052 01:06:57,880 --> 01:06:59,480 somebody who knows it backward and forward. 1053 01:06:59,480 --> 01:07:00,920 That's what they're paying him to do. 1054 01:07:02,160 --> 01:07:03,800 Even the secular world knows this. 1055 01:07:05,240 --> 01:07:08,600 Leaders have to be vetted. I know it's hard for you guys. 1056 01:07:08,600 --> 01:07:10,080 You young people pay attention to this. 1057 01:07:10,080 --> 01:07:14,360 It's hard for you to be vetted. Even microwave waving your food 1058 01:07:14,360 --> 01:07:16,920 since you were born, you have a meal at McDonald's in 32 1059 01:07:16,920 --> 01:07:19,000 seconds. Chick-fil-A, you got it in a 1060 01:07:19,000 --> 01:07:20,600 minute. And they even say, my pleasure, 1061 01:07:23,520 --> 01:07:24,920 you're not used to waiting on something. 1062 01:07:24,920 --> 01:07:28,480 You're not used to being vetted. Please know in the church, just 1063 01:07:28,480 --> 01:07:30,360 because that's not what you're used to doesn't mean that's what 1064 01:07:30,360 --> 01:07:33,520 we have to do. You have to be approved. 1065 01:07:33,840 --> 01:07:37,160 A Workman who rightly divides the word truth so that you don't 1066 01:07:37,160 --> 01:07:42,760 fall to your own pride, so you don't fall to promoting yourself 1067 01:07:42,760 --> 01:07:45,680 and your own agenda so that you realize that it's Christ and 1068 01:07:45,680 --> 01:07:49,280 Christ alone whom we serve. You do nothing out of selfish 1069 01:07:49,280 --> 01:07:52,000 ambition or vain conceit. As Paul says in Philippians 1070 01:07:52,000 --> 01:07:58,640 chapter 2, shoot all for the glory of God above reproach 1071 01:07:58,640 --> 01:08:01,920 regarding the church securely vetted striving then towards 1072 01:08:01,920 --> 01:08:03,840 humility. We got to leave pride. 1073 01:08:04,400 --> 01:08:06,760 We have to strive towards humility, he said. 1074 01:08:06,760 --> 01:08:10,800 Or you may be come conceited and fall under the same judgement as 1075 01:08:10,800 --> 01:08:15,640 the devil without humility. Please know this, without 1076 01:08:15,640 --> 01:08:18,160 humility, you'll never be effective as a leader. 1077 01:08:18,840 --> 01:08:22,080 Without humility, without humility walking in your pride 1078 01:08:22,479 --> 01:08:25,000 as a leader, you were headed toward a fall. 1079 01:08:25,000 --> 01:08:26,240 Why? Because the word of God is true. 1080 01:08:26,240 --> 01:08:28,680 Proverbs 1618 You know what pride goes before destruction? 1081 01:08:28,680 --> 01:08:32,000 The haughty spirit before fall 19 says better to be lowly in 1082 01:08:32,000 --> 01:08:35,359 spirit along with the oppressed and to share the plunder with 1083 01:08:35,359 --> 01:08:38,680 the proud. We have to strive as leaders for 1084 01:08:38,680 --> 01:08:40,200 humility. That's what I want to see. 1085 01:08:40,200 --> 01:08:43,000 You know what I want to see in our staff more than anything? 1086 01:08:44,640 --> 01:08:48,760 That's not about us, about Christ. 1087 01:08:50,319 --> 01:08:54,200 Christ alone and nothing else, nothing more. 1088 01:08:54,200 --> 01:08:55,600 Because He's everything. Isn't he right? 1089 01:08:55,880 --> 01:09:01,600 Rightly students worthy. He is seen so many times in the 1090 01:09:01,600 --> 01:09:05,319 church though, where we puff people up and build their pride 1091 01:09:07,439 --> 01:09:09,279 instead of praying that God would tear that down. 1092 01:09:11,520 --> 01:09:17,399 Jesus made it very clear, Matthew's Gospel also in Mark's 1093 01:09:17,399 --> 01:09:21,960 Gospel, Matthew's Gospel, he says this in 2027. 1094 01:09:21,960 --> 01:09:24,359 Whoever wants to be first must be your slave. 1095 01:09:25,160 --> 01:09:27,840 Just the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and 1096 01:09:27,840 --> 01:09:29,399 to give his life as a ransom for many. 1097 01:09:29,399 --> 01:09:31,120 He must be brought low. He must be humble. 1098 01:09:31,720 --> 01:09:34,479 Mark 9 verse 35. He says anyone who wants to be 1099 01:09:34,479 --> 01:09:37,600 first must be the very last in the servant of all. 1100 01:09:41,200 --> 01:09:48,920 You know, I look for in a good minister, a good leader, when we 1101 01:09:48,920 --> 01:09:55,240 have a meal at church, is he at the front of the line, driven by 1102 01:09:55,240 --> 01:09:58,840 selfish ambition to get all the good stuff? 1103 01:10:00,320 --> 01:10:02,160 Or will he wait and be at the end of the line and get up the 1104 01:10:02,160 --> 01:10:05,440 scraps, eat those things and be thankful that he has them, that 1105 01:10:05,440 --> 01:10:09,840 he gets to lead God's people? It's important, isn't it 1106 01:10:09,840 --> 01:10:12,320 humility? Because the opposite of that is 1107 01:10:12,320 --> 01:10:16,520 pride, and a good leader who leads only by his pride is 1108 01:10:16,520 --> 01:10:21,040 destined for a fall. Lastly, any of y'all still here? 1109 01:10:25,400 --> 01:10:27,320 You just thought I'd preached a long time to you. 1110 01:10:27,320 --> 01:10:33,360 I told you I'm preaching to myself above reproach. 1111 01:10:33,920 --> 01:10:36,800 Regarding himself, regarding his home, regarding the church, and 1112 01:10:36,800 --> 01:10:38,200 I'll make this as quickly as possible. 1113 01:10:38,200 --> 01:10:41,000 Regarding the community, I'll make it quickly because. 1114 01:10:41,720 --> 01:10:45,160 Very simply, he must also have a good reputation with outsiders, 1115 01:10:45,320 --> 01:10:46,960 he said. You must have a good reputation 1116 01:10:47,040 --> 01:10:52,800 within yourself, your character, within your home, within the. 1117 01:10:52,800 --> 01:10:58,320 Church Now he says within the community, the world, he says he 1118 01:10:58,320 --> 01:11:00,800 must have a good reputation with outsiders so that he will not 1119 01:11:00,800 --> 01:11:03,080 fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. 1120 01:11:03,080 --> 01:11:05,440 The devil wants to trap you. And how does he trap you? 1121 01:11:06,400 --> 01:11:10,600 By you not taking your testimony of Christ seriously as a leader. 1122 01:11:11,800 --> 01:11:14,560 And then allowing reproach to be brought upon your name and the 1123 01:11:14,560 --> 01:11:17,560 name of Christ and the name of the church that you serve at. 1124 01:11:18,800 --> 01:11:22,040 Paul now shifts the fact that the overseer not only should be 1125 01:11:22,040 --> 01:11:27,200 above reproach as he relates to himself, his home, the church. 1126 01:11:28,720 --> 01:11:30,960 He says we also have to consider those on the outside who are 1127 01:11:30,960 --> 01:11:33,400 watching us. Let me just tell you this, if 1128 01:11:33,400 --> 01:11:37,440 you aspire to be a leader in the church, you're going to live in 1129 01:11:37,440 --> 01:11:39,200 a fish bowl. Just get ready for. 1130 01:11:39,240 --> 01:11:45,080 It nothing you can do about it being the Aquarius that I am, 1131 01:11:45,120 --> 01:11:46,400 Yeah, Look it up. That's a real word. 1132 01:11:48,440 --> 01:11:53,240 Keep the tank clean. Manage the tank because once it 1133 01:11:53,240 --> 01:11:54,640 gets out of control, it's just out of control. 1134 01:11:54,640 --> 01:11:55,880 There's really nothing you can do about it. 1135 01:11:57,800 --> 01:12:00,400 Live your life to to where there is a clear difference. 1136 01:12:00,400 --> 01:12:03,040 The lost world should see a distinct difference between your 1137 01:12:03,040 --> 01:12:06,320 life and their life. You ought to shine like the 1138 01:12:06,320 --> 01:12:08,760 stars in the sky. That's what Paul says in 1139 01:12:08,760 --> 01:12:12,400 Philippians chapter 2, verse 14 and verse 15 as he describes 1140 01:12:12,400 --> 01:12:15,240 what we ought to be doing as believers living pure and 1141 01:12:15,240 --> 01:12:18,720 blameless lives, as children of God without fault and a warped 1142 01:12:18,720 --> 01:12:21,160 and crooked and perverse generation. 1143 01:12:21,240 --> 01:12:23,600 We ought to shine like stars among the darkness. 1144 01:12:26,240 --> 01:12:29,040 I once knew of a church with a pastor every single week, at the 1145 01:12:29,040 --> 01:12:31,840 risk of sounding like a broken record, would remind his 1146 01:12:31,840 --> 01:12:37,400 congregation that they are and that they are going out into 1147 01:12:39,120 --> 01:12:41,480 They need to go out and they need. 1148 01:12:42,040 --> 01:12:47,720 Shine the light, go be the light, shine like stars in the 1149 01:12:47,720 --> 01:12:51,440 sky, be that different that people take note of you. 1150 01:12:51,920 --> 01:12:56,280 Our lives should clearly stand out as Christians. 1151 01:12:56,400 --> 01:13:00,360 How much more so as leaders and pastors and elders in the 1152 01:13:00,360 --> 01:13:01,840 church. Because you know what the Lost 1153 01:13:01,840 --> 01:13:04,160 World loves to do more than anything? 1154 01:13:06,760 --> 01:13:11,080 When they see something in your life that could be seen as 1155 01:13:11,080 --> 01:13:18,400 reproach, they like to blast it everywhere because they love to. 1156 01:13:18,400 --> 01:13:20,920 Blast Christ. They love to blast Christ, 1157 01:13:20,920 --> 01:13:23,800 people. It's our job as ministers to 1158 01:13:23,800 --> 01:13:28,280 take their ammo away, living a life that clearly stands out as 1159 01:13:28,280 --> 01:13:33,040 light in the darkness, letting our light shine before others. 1160 01:13:33,040 --> 01:13:36,920 That they see our good deeds and they just can't help but glorify 1161 01:13:36,920 --> 01:13:41,240 our Father who is in heaven. They should notice a difference 1162 01:13:41,240 --> 01:13:42,320 in US and how we. Speak. 1163 01:13:42,360 --> 01:13:46,760 How we act, how we react, our convictions, the places that we 1164 01:13:46,760 --> 01:13:50,840 go, the things that we do, how we conduct our business. 1165 01:13:51,720 --> 01:13:53,240 You think they're not paying attention? 1166 01:13:54,000 --> 01:13:55,600 I'll tell you this, they're paying attention. 1167 01:13:55,720 --> 01:13:58,800 Not too long ago I sold a truck to a guy. 1168 01:14:02,200 --> 01:14:05,200 If I would have known how much trucks were going for these 1169 01:14:05,200 --> 01:14:07,040 days. Man I am clueless. 1170 01:14:08,120 --> 01:14:11,600 No wonder he brought me cash money envelope full of $100 1171 01:14:11,600 --> 01:14:17,400 bills. He came and he test drove the 1172 01:14:17,400 --> 01:14:18,960 truck. I'm over in the passenger seat. 1173 01:14:18,960 --> 01:14:20,760 He's driving the truck. We drive up the road, down the 1174 01:14:20,760 --> 01:14:23,640 road. He reaches into a backpack that 1175 01:14:23,640 --> 01:14:32,240 he brought with him, pulls out this envelope, $15,000 in $100 1176 01:14:32,240 --> 01:14:34,760 bills. You said, man, you sold your 1177 01:14:34,760 --> 01:14:36,600 truck that cheap? Yeah, sorry, I didn't sell it to 1178 01:14:36,600 --> 01:14:39,520 you. I didn't know I was trying to 1179 01:14:39,520 --> 01:14:40,960 make money. I just want to get somebody a 1180 01:14:40,960 --> 01:14:47,970 good deal. He gives me that envelope. 1181 01:14:47,970 --> 01:14:52,970 He said it all should be there, he said, but you can count it. 1182 01:14:52,970 --> 01:14:59,890 I said, OK, I counted. Going through those $100 bills 1183 01:14:59,890 --> 01:15:02,760 now, I understand it's not many times in my life where I had 1184 01:15:02,760 --> 01:15:08,160 $15,000 a $100 bills and in my hand I want to open up and fan 1185 01:15:08,160 --> 01:15:17,120 myself with it. I wasn't going to keep it long. 1186 01:15:20,120 --> 01:15:22,600 I'm counting. Something's not right. 1187 01:15:24,680 --> 01:15:26,280 I counted again. Still, something's not right. 1188 01:15:28,440 --> 01:15:32,360 I counted the third time and I looked over at him. 1189 01:15:32,360 --> 01:15:38,760 I said, hey, man, I think you've given me $100 too much. 1190 01:15:39,480 --> 01:15:40,320 He said. I sure did. 1191 01:15:42,200 --> 01:15:44,640 Said I stalked you on Facebook and I saw you were a pastor and 1192 01:15:44,640 --> 01:15:47,640 I was going to see if you'd be honest when you counted that 1193 01:15:47,640 --> 01:15:52,080 money and you were. I looked him right in the eyes 1194 01:15:52,080 --> 01:15:56,000 and said, let me tell you something son, I'm not going to 1195 01:15:56,000 --> 01:16:01,120 sell my soul for measly $100. He laughed. 1196 01:16:01,640 --> 01:16:04,800 He said thank you for being honest, Said you bet you think 1197 01:16:04,800 --> 01:16:10,040 they're not watching. We're to show a clear 1198 01:16:10,040 --> 01:16:12,560 difference. Everything we do and everything 1199 01:16:12,560 --> 01:16:15,800 that we say, how we handle, conduct our lives, how we love 1200 01:16:15,800 --> 01:16:21,080 people, how we love the Lord. Jesus said that's the thing 1201 01:16:21,080 --> 01:16:25,920 that's going to set us apart, our love for one another, our 1202 01:16:25,920 --> 01:16:31,880 love for him, clear difference regarding our relationship to 1203 01:16:31,880 --> 01:16:33,880 the community. They need to see that and a 1204 01:16:33,880 --> 01:16:37,280 clean testimony. I won't belabor this last one. 1205 01:16:37,680 --> 01:16:40,280 Leaders should strive for a holy life even before the launch to 1206 01:16:40,280 --> 01:16:42,920 people. We should take our testimony 1207 01:16:42,920 --> 01:16:46,600 seriously. I remember when I was coming up 1208 01:16:46,600 --> 01:16:48,680 in the church as a young believer, they talked about that 1209 01:16:48,680 --> 01:16:52,320 a lot, the importance of our Christian testimony, it seems. 1210 01:16:52,360 --> 01:16:55,200 It seems like like when you turn on church services or you watch 1211 01:16:55,200 --> 01:16:56,800 them online, nobody talks about that. 1212 01:16:56,880 --> 01:16:59,360 It's like it's not important. We're all trying to be cool and 1213 01:16:59,360 --> 01:17:01,520 worldly, so we're not really worried about our testimony. 1214 01:17:01,680 --> 01:17:04,400 But leaders in the church have to worry about their testimony. 1215 01:17:06,160 --> 01:17:07,520 Why? Because the Lost World's 1216 01:17:07,520 --> 01:17:12,800 watching on Peter says in chapter 2 of First Peter. 1217 01:17:12,800 --> 01:17:15,000 He says this in verse 12. Live such good lives among the 1218 01:17:15,000 --> 01:17:17,440 pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see 1219 01:17:17,440 --> 01:17:19,520 your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits. 1220 01:17:19,680 --> 01:17:21,600 He said live such a good life that though they want to say 1221 01:17:21,600 --> 01:17:23,920 something bad about you, they can't say anything bad about 1222 01:17:23,920 --> 01:17:25,320 you. They have to see that Christ is 1223 01:17:25,320 --> 01:17:26,800 real and they have to bow to His. 1224 01:17:26,800 --> 01:17:33,360 Glory that's above reproach. That's what we as leaders are 1225 01:17:33,360 --> 01:17:36,480 called to live so that we can be an example to you, because 1226 01:17:36,480 --> 01:17:38,360 you're called to live the same thing. 1227 01:17:40,720 --> 01:17:43,280 Peter keeps that theme, the 3rd chapter of the same letter. 1228 01:17:43,280 --> 01:17:45,120 He's just keeping a clear conscience so that those who 1229 01:17:45,120 --> 01:17:48,040 speak maliciously against you and your good behavior in Christ 1230 01:17:48,200 --> 01:17:52,840 may be ashamed of their slander. There's such a good life that 1231 01:17:52,840 --> 01:17:57,320 those who want to rail you will be ashamed of that. 1232 01:17:57,320 --> 01:17:59,680 Even the lost people in the world. 1233 01:18:00,920 --> 01:18:04,280 No, seemingly unimportant to keep clean testimony in the 1234 01:18:04,280 --> 01:18:08,440 church today. I think it's high time that we 1235 01:18:08,440 --> 01:18:11,280 as church leaders stand up and say no longer will we accept 1236 01:18:11,280 --> 01:18:13,400 this. Why? 1237 01:18:14,480 --> 01:18:18,280 Because he's called us to live a life that is above reproach. 1238 01:18:19,560 --> 01:18:23,040 A life that is above reproach regarding ourselves, regarding 1239 01:18:23,040 --> 01:18:26,640 our homes, regarding the church, regarding the community. 1240 01:18:28,000 --> 01:18:32,600 If you're not willing to do this, you're not able to lead in 1241 01:18:32,600 --> 01:18:35,680 the church. You're not qualified to lead. 1242 01:18:36,680 --> 01:18:38,280 You're not a candidate for leadership. 1243 01:18:38,840 --> 01:18:40,800 This is so important that we understand this. 1244 01:18:40,800 --> 01:18:41,960 Why? So that the leadership in the 1245 01:18:41,960 --> 01:18:43,440 church will be what it's supposed to be. 1246 01:18:43,600 --> 01:18:46,800 Why is that important? So the congregation will be what 1247 01:18:46,800 --> 01:18:49,480 they're supposed to be. May we lead? 1248 01:18:49,480 --> 01:18:53,840 May we lead? Well, seeking proper leadership 1249 01:18:53,840 --> 01:18:58,880 in the church or seeking to be a leader in the church should be 1250 01:18:58,880 --> 01:19:01,840 examined. We should examine ourselves. 1251 01:19:03,520 --> 01:19:08,680 Do I qualify as a candidate for leadership in the church as it 1252 01:19:08,680 --> 01:19:15,360 pertains to the Scriptures? Will my conscience verify that 1253 01:19:15,360 --> 01:19:17,400 I'm striving to live beyond reproach? 1254 01:19:18,240 --> 01:19:20,600 Will my family verify that I'm striving to live beyond 1255 01:19:20,600 --> 01:19:22,360 reproach? Would those in the church verify 1256 01:19:22,360 --> 01:19:24,040 that I'm striving to live beyond reproach? 1257 01:19:24,240 --> 01:19:26,880 I'm not talking about Would any of them say that I'm perfect? 1258 01:19:26,920 --> 01:19:32,080 I am not perfect. Whether we say, would they say 1259 01:19:32,080 --> 01:19:34,800 striving, would they say that about our other pastors and 1260 01:19:34,800 --> 01:19:41,680 elders, they better with the outside world testify that we're 1261 01:19:41,680 --> 01:19:45,320 different, that we're striving to live a godly life, even 1262 01:19:45,320 --> 01:19:47,200 though they don't even understand what that is. 1263 01:19:49,160 --> 01:19:51,760 So you do you desire to serve as a church leader? 1264 01:19:51,760 --> 01:19:52,880 That's what he's talking about here. 1265 01:19:52,880 --> 01:19:56,640 One who aspires to be a leader. Has God called you? 1266 01:19:57,640 --> 01:20:01,840 Is God calling you? Then examine yourself. 1267 01:20:02,720 --> 01:20:05,280 Examine yourself in the light of what we've seen today. 1268 01:20:07,640 --> 01:20:12,280 See if you meet the standard. These are not tests you pass. 1269 01:20:13,920 --> 01:20:15,760 You just simply never have to worry about again, right? 1270 01:20:15,760 --> 01:20:17,120 You don't just take this one time. 1271 01:20:17,120 --> 01:20:18,920 So I passed and I'm good. I'm certified. 1272 01:20:21,720 --> 01:20:24,360 This is the standard that we constantly strive for every 1273 01:20:24,360 --> 01:20:26,840 single day of the rest of our lives. 1274 01:20:27,960 --> 01:20:31,880 Lord, let me be above reproach. Believers, I know you've sat 1275 01:20:31,880 --> 01:20:34,040 here and you've listened to me, preached to myself for a very 1276 01:20:34,040 --> 01:20:38,320 long time today, and I would love to apologize to you, but I 1277 01:20:38,320 --> 01:20:42,720 couldn't sincerely do that. I need this. 1278 01:20:42,720 --> 01:20:45,240 I need this reminder. Our pastors, our elders need 1279 01:20:45,240 --> 01:20:46,280 this. They need this reminder. 1280 01:20:46,280 --> 01:20:48,320 And it doesn't really matter how long it takes because your 1281 01:20:48,320 --> 01:20:54,720 spiritual well-being is at hand. What can you do? 1282 01:20:55,880 --> 01:21:01,840 Pray for us as all hell comes against us and you don't even 1283 01:21:01,840 --> 01:21:08,160 know about it. Pray for us and no matter what 1284 01:21:08,160 --> 01:21:15,480 comes against us, we seek to live our lives above reproach so 1285 01:21:15,480 --> 01:21:18,920 that we don't bring harm upon the name of this church and 1286 01:21:18,920 --> 01:21:20,520 ultimately upon the name of Christ. 1287 01:21:23,720 --> 01:21:34,720 Hold us accountable as you pray for us, Love us as we lead you, 1288 01:21:34,720 --> 01:21:38,520 and we love you, the unbeliever. Just a moment. 1289 01:21:38,520 --> 01:21:40,600 There's going to be some people standing here to my right and to 1290 01:21:40,600 --> 01:21:43,560 my left. In fact, they're welcome. 1291 01:21:43,560 --> 01:21:48,160 Now, here are those who take part in our prayer and our 1292 01:21:48,160 --> 01:21:49,600 counseling time at the end of the service. 1293 01:21:49,600 --> 01:21:51,760 If you would come and just stand to my left and to my right. 1294 01:21:57,920 --> 01:21:59,080 These people are going to be here. 1295 01:21:59,080 --> 01:22:05,240 For those of you who might not be believers this morning, who 1296 01:22:05,240 --> 01:22:07,680 perhaps you've heard the gospel over and over and over and over 1297 01:22:07,680 --> 01:22:13,440 again, and today God is drawing you unto himself to be saved, I 1298 01:22:13,440 --> 01:22:15,200 would encourage you. We're going to dismiss in an 1299 01:22:15,200 --> 01:22:18,160 abnormal way today. But I would. 1300 01:22:18,160 --> 01:22:20,880 Encourage you after we dismiss, I would encourage you if you 1301 01:22:20,880 --> 01:22:23,120 need to talk to someone about what it means to truly know 1302 01:22:23,120 --> 01:22:24,920 Christ as your Savior. These folks are going to be 1303 01:22:24,920 --> 01:22:26,680 standing here until the building is empty. 1304 01:22:28,320 --> 01:22:31,280 He would come to them. All you have to do is simply 1305 01:22:31,280 --> 01:22:32,880 say, I need to know what it means to be saved. 1306 01:22:32,880 --> 01:22:34,520 And they're going to take the word of God and they're going to 1307 01:22:34,520 --> 01:22:35,920 show you what it means to know Christ. 1308 01:22:39,920 --> 01:22:41,280 Let's pray together and then we're dismissed. 1309 01:22:41,280 --> 01:22:42,360 Father, we thank you for this today. 1310 01:22:42,360 --> 01:22:50,000 We thank you for your word. May we live accordingly. 1311 01:22:50,400 --> 01:22:56,240 The things that we have seen today as leaders, may we lead 1312 01:22:56,240 --> 01:23:00,400 well within ourselves as we follow the leadership of your 1313 01:23:00,400 --> 01:23:03,400 spirit within our homes, within the church, within this world. 1314 01:23:06,320 --> 01:23:08,960 May we bring you glory and all that we do and all that we say 1315 01:23:08,960 --> 01:23:11,160 as we lead your people. What a responsibility that we 1316 01:23:11,160 --> 01:23:12,960 have. Let us never, ever, ever 1317 01:23:12,960 --> 01:23:18,440 discount that responsibility. But I pray for each and every 1318 01:23:18,440 --> 01:23:22,120 church member here today that they would see our willingness 1319 01:23:22,120 --> 01:23:25,240 to lead well. They would follow us as we 1320 01:23:25,240 --> 01:23:28,000 follow Christ. We'll give you all the glory for 1321 01:23:28,000 --> 01:23:32,200 it in Jesus name, Amen. You've been listening to Key 1322 01:23:32,200 --> 01:23:34,960 Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry podcast. 1323 01:23:35,320 --> 01:23:38,520 Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.