Being a Leader in God’s House - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I think before we jump into our main text, it would be appropriate to say something about the events of this past week, would you say? I only have one thing to say. In Isaiah chapter three, that's not our text, but I just wanna make a comment. You get a description of Israel's leadership and government that was chaotic, confusing, disappointing. Let me give you an example.

In verse 12, it says, my people, of Isaiah three, infants are their oppressors and women rule over them. Oh, my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths. It says that they've become like Sodom. It says like sin was being paraded in the streets. So what we're experiencing today is not unique to our day.

This is not shocking. This is not new, and it's certainly not new to God. But in the midst of all these things, these descriptions of what Israel's political and societal condition was, there's one verse tucked in Isaiah three that I want to give to you. It's found in verse 10. Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them.

That's all I have to say to you this morning. Tell the righteous it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. God will deal with this culture. God will deal with this leadership. God will deal with this government.

But for the righteous, it will be well with you. If you're in Christ, if you're following him, if you long to advance his kingdom, there is nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. Consider yourself from this moment on like Goshen, in the land of Egypt, where there is light and life, when there is plagues and judgment all around them. That is the church of Jesus Christ. With that being said, that is why we're choosing to move on.

We're moving on. We're moving on with the plans of this church, the plan for the church at large, what God's instructions are for us as a people, because we are distinct. We're not tied into what's happening to this world. Do we want to promote righteousness? Do we want the right leadership?

Absolutely. But if it doesn't come or if we're not in agreement with what's happening, that doesn't matter. We move on because we have a different mission and we have a different leader in our lives, King Jesus. And so with that being said, because the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, we move on to see what God's plan is for his church. So meet me in first Timothy chapter three, please.

First Timothy chapter three. If the world wants to do what they want to do apart from God, the church will do what God wants them to do. And here's where we're at in this chapter. The Holy Spirit has been instructing what God's intentions and instructions are for men and women in the church, and he's continuing with that thought. And now, he hones in on a specific role in the church that we covered last week, and that is the role of a pastor, an elder.

And we already discussed that God made it clear that this role is reserved for men. Now, if you're hearing that for the first time this morning, I encourage you to hear and listen to last week's message and to understand what that really means. But here's where it's important. We might think that this role is reserved just for men and men alone, which is true. But God is not just qualifying men alone for this role.

There's a certain type of man. There's a certain type of caliber and character that God looks for in order to occupy this place of pastor and leader. And that's exactly what he's gonna get into. So just to be a man alone doesn't qualify you or certify you. There's a certain type of heart posture, attitude, mindset that makes you a possible candidate for this specific leadership position.

Now, in even preparing this, the thought ran through my mind that perhaps many in this place will be tempted to tune out to say, okay, this is this is something you preach to pastors. This is something you tell the people who might think that they're called to the pastorate, and so this has nothing to do with me. Thank you very much. I'm gonna start planning my lunch while you preach. Listen.

This is more important for you than you might think. To understand why this is here is not just for leadership and those who might think, is this is this for me? If that was the case, Paul would have made the the argument, by the way, average Christian, this isn't for you. This is not for people who think that they want to be pastors or who are pastors. So just tune out and come back in chapter four.

That's not what he's doing. You and I need to understand what it is that God's trying to say here. And here are at least three simple reasons why the person who may not feel called to the pastor or is not a pastor, why this is relative to them. Number one, every believer, every single Christian born again child of God must submit to spiritual leadership. In other words, if you're a serious Christian, you are able in your life to identify who your spiritual leaders are.

And every single one of us should have someone over us in the sense of leading us and guiding us and mentoring us to a certain degree. That's not my opinion. You know this verse very well in Hebrews thirteen seventeen. Obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls. Is there anything more precious to you than your soul?

Matter if you gain the whole world but forfeit your soul? It's the most valuable thing to you. And yes, we ultimately give our souls to Jesus Christ when we surrender to his lordship. But what is being said here is that the direction in which your soul grows and is headed towards is dependent upon who you allow to lead your life. So my question is, who are you submitting your soul to?

Jesus Christ. Sure. But for your sanctification, and for your edification, and for your growth, who is it that you're choosing to say, I am trusting this leadership to watch over the well-being of my spirit man. And I wanna speak directly to men. Men, this isn't just true for your own soul, but for the souls that God has called you to watch over in your life.

Who are you allowing to speak into the life of your wife and of your children? This is not a light thing at all. This this is a thing where you have to question when you consider a body to be a part of. Is this leadership serious about doctrine? Is this leadership passionate about the Great Commission?

Are the pastors of this church, do do they take on this this position because it's a job to them or do they really walk with God? And do they care about my walk with God? Do I see the vision that these leaders have and do I agree with it to the point of willing to partner with them? So every Christian who is considering a local church to be a part of, it is not wrong for you to determine that choice based on the leadership of that church. In fact, it's absolutely necessary.

It's absolutely necessary. Oftentimes we look at other things to qualify whether we should give ourselves to a local church, and that's fine. You should consider different facts, but ultimately, the the crucial role of the elder directs the church altogether. Secondly, every believer is not just called to submit to spiritual leadership, every believer is called to imitate their spiritual leadership. So not in Hebrews thirteen seventeen, but in Hebrews thirteen seven, we are told, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.

Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. For anybody to say, don't follow me, but follow Jesus, sounds humbling, but on a leadership level, that is not entirely true. Follow Jesus, but don't follow me. That sounds that sounds very pious. Doesn't it?

But the reality is, although Jesus Christ is the ultimate example, and it should be, because men will fail. God has called under shepherds to be displayed before a local body of believers in order to show them practically what it means to be like Jesus. And so the question is, am I looking at my leadership and do I see something in their lives that caused me to want to imitate them? Now, with that being said, the church cannot raise up sinless perfect leaders. But what the church can do is raise up leaders that strive for perfection.

That are serious about holiness, that are serious about being like Jesus, that are serious about being spirit filled. And the Christian who is not in that place of leadership should ask themselves, am I looking at a man that really, really wants to imitate Christ? And in God's wisdom, what he does is he takes a band of men, puts them in different local churches, and shows them and expose them to the world to say, this is your inspiration. This is your inspiration. So this teaching is not just important if you think you might be a pastor or you are a pastor.

This is vital for those who long to discern the type of leadership they will allow to govern and guide their spiritual life to a certain degree. And not only that, but once you identify that leadership to prayfully say, oh God, would you preserve the the quality of this leadership? This text here in first Timothy three is gonna keep pastors accountable. And studying this alone is a humbling experience, which comes to the third point. This list of qualifications here is not merely for people who are considering this position to examine themselves.

Is it not true that elders, pastors, bishops, overseers, all the same word describing the same idea, the same role. Is it not true that they are set to model what it means to be spiritually mature? And so, what that means is to a certain degree, you should be able to look at this text and realize that this is not just required of my leaders, but required of me. And that there are things here because God here is clearly showing in a comprehensive way what it means to be spiritually healthy. You wanna know what God has in mind for a spiritually mature and healthy Christian?

Look here. You know, we know that verse, right? Where Paul says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. And we go, that's wonderful. We kind of just shrug it off and say, that's Paul.

Paul was like, he was a super Christian. Paul had a measure of the Holy Spirit that none of us could attain to. He he had an experience that I can. So that makes sense. Paul can say, imitate me as I imitate Christ.

And we we we kind of think that that's the only place where he said that in first Corinthians eleven one. But listen to this verse and never forget it I pray. Philippians three seventeen. Philippians three seventeen, Paul says it with a different insight. Brothers, join in imitating me.

So he's saying it again, but he adds a thought, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. What a profound thing. You know what he's saying? Join in imitating me, and he doesn't stop it there. He goes, also, let your eyes, let them be kept on those who chose to imitate me and are walking in the same example.

Meaning, there are others who chose to imitate Paul. And Paul had the joy of not just saying, look at me, but look at so and so, and look at so and so, and look how they're walking in the same direction that I'm walking into. That's what we should all strive for. And we should be a church where we say, that just don't imitate just the leadership, but look at our congregation, and imitate our congregation. Look look at the fathers of our congregation.

Look at the wives of our congregation. Look at the single people in the congregation, and join in imitating them, and not just the leadership. That's what we should strive for as a church. And so with that being said, let's read verse one of first Timothy three. The saying is trustworthy.

There must have been a saying in the early church. There must have been a common phrase, just like what we say, God is good all the time. All the time God is good. We have a saying here that was common, that was known and this was the saying, if anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. A noble task.

So here's a question for us this morning, what does it mean to occupy the office of an overseer? That's a healthy question. And I think the best way to answer is to answer what it's not first. Overseer, pastor, elder, same thing. Different terms describing the same role.

And I want to tell you this morning what a pastor of a church is not. Number one, the pastor of a church is not a motivational speaker or entertainer. Okay? The goal of the pastor is not to come up every week with the sole aim of finding a way to make people feel better than when they came in. His job is not to make people laugh.

His job is not to make people emotionally stirred up so that they can escape some turmoil. His job is not to give tips and hints, so that you can live your life less turbulent and less uneasy. The reason why I say that is because more and more it's becoming popular, and it's becoming a trend for pastors to look more like life coaches. To come up and to be charismatic in their personality but have little substance of scripture, but offering the same ideas and the same practicalities that the world would give in their pep talks. And so we have to understand that though the pastor is called to encourage, and to build up, and to edify, and to make sure that you do have hope and faith, with that, he's also prayfully called to rebuke, and teach, and correct, and call out sin when he needs to, and bring the things that are necessary for sin to be less evident in your life, and holiness to be a greater joy in your life.

So a man of God who is called to the pastor is not called to come up and to make people simply feel better about themselves. That is becoming increasingly demanded for, which I would say is a require for itching ears to be itched. Secondly, a pastor is not a social club manager. A pastor is not to occupy his time overseeing a group of people, working to create events, and times together of fellowship that have little to nothing to do with spirituality. A pastor must avoid the temptation to do what?

Making the church about something to draw people in so that they can find other people to walk this life with. That is a small fraction of what it means to be a Christian, but when a church leadership makes it their aim to make people come in so that they can feel less lonely in life, they will frame their ministries in such a way where they will compromise on a lot. And what will begin to happen is that they will draw people to themselves, they will draw people to another group of people, and they will fail to draw them to Jesus Christ. This is especially true for ethnic churches. Ethnic churches that have immigrated to The United States fall into the temptation of orchestrating their church in a way to make the atmosphere feel like as much as back home as they can.

And so what happens is, ministry becomes all about food, Nothing wrong with food. But it becomes about food and social events and all these things so that we don't feel like we're that far off from where we came from. And in that pursuit, we compromise true worship, true discipleship, true devotion. And so a pastor is not a social club organizer. He's a shepherd.

Thirdly, a pastor is not God. A pastor is not God. Now that might sound like a bold statement, I don't mean to sound irreverent. But the reason why I make this point is because some can so uphold the role of pastor, some can so be be overtaken by a minister's life and ministry that they set unrealistic expectations on them. Unrealistic expectations.

And so, some people begin to think that pastors are omnipresent. That all people at the demand of their liking and their needs can have a pastor appear in their lives at any moment at any time. Are pastors called to be with their people? Sure. Are they called to smell like sheep?

Absolutely. Are they called to be with them in crisis moments? You better believe it. But pastors are not those that can appear in your life, in your situation by the snap of a finger, nor are they omniscient. For a pastor to think that he can know what people are feeling or thinking every time they come into the church, and for people to think that about their leader is setting themselves up for great disappointments in life.

Unless, I know this might be shocking, but unless you communicate what's going on in your life, pastors will have a very difficult task knowing what's happening in your life. But oftentimes, we expect the pastors to know exactly what to say or to reach out to us in the right moment and to to speak a right word, whether we communicate what we need or not. Nor are they omnipotent. Nor are they omnipotent. Pastors are not miracle workers.

Sometimes people want spiritual leaders who occupy a very important role in the church to to do something in their power for a loved one or for their own lives, whether that's a physical need, whether that's a spiritual need. And so we we we ask or we demand or we believe that a spiritual leader must somehow make something happen, and if they don't, they're not really fulfilling their role. We can't save a family member. We can't, all the time, think that the prayers of a leader will always bring healing. Expect is the partnership of a leader who has a walk with God, and he will be a voice in your life, and he will walk with you in this life, and he will bring your needs before God in love, and with a cry, trusting in partnership with your faith that it will come to pass.

A pastor is not these things. So then what does a pastor do? Look at chapter five of the same book, verse 17. Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. Two things described here.

An elder, a pastor is called to direct a body of believers into the will of God by way of example, by way of counsel, by way of oversight of administration, and ultimately, by giving his energy and his time to expounding the word of God. Now, every church should have a plurality of elders. You know what that means? There shouldn't be just a one pastor, one man show. Whenever you see the word elder in the New Testament, you will often see it in the plural.

There is a plurality of pastors. At least two, which is the case in our church right now, who are shepherding God's people. And if that is the case, you will not have every elder who will give their energy to the gifting that they might possess of preaching and teaching. That's why he says, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. That's why you might look at a church, and you'll see one pastor among other elders who is devoted to preach and teach, because we have that pattern in the New Testament.

Though all are called to have a knowledge of the word and to be able to communicate the word. Nonetheless, listen very carefully. Every pastor of a church is to be a man who walks with God, who has a prayer life, who has fellowship with the Lord on daily basis, who dedicates their time and their energy to digging into the word of God for the sole purpose that when they live their lives before others, they would be motivated to say, I want what he has. I want that walk with God. I want that knowledge of truth.

I want that sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. I love this text, in Malachi chapter two. Paul said in Romans 15 that he was as though he was a priest, a minister of the gospel serving as a priest. And so when you look at the old testament, you can draw principles of how a priest is like a pastor, and that's certainly true Malachi chapter two verse six. Listen to these verses here, About the priest in the Old Testament, true instruction was in his mouth and no wrong was found on his lips.

He walked with me. God says, he walked with me in peace and uprightness and he turned many from iniquity. Verse seven, we are told from that place, for the lips of a priest, for the lips of a pastor, for the lips of a leader of a church should guard knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Notice, if we go back to verse six, true instruction was found in his mouth, and his teaching was so clear, so convicting, that it brought what? Repentance in the lives of others.

It caused the people under the teaching of the priest to say, I don't want to live in the world. I don't want to live in sin anymore. I want righteousness. I want a walk with God. Now why would they desire a walk with God?

Because we're told here, he being the priest walked with me. So the pastorate is not some academic flex. It's not for intelligent people. It's not for theological individuals who who know how to retain information. It's for those who walk with God.

Your life is set apart to really know him, to sit at his feet, to commune with him, to worship him in private, to know his presence, and to know his word from cover to cover. A man who occupies the pulpit first knows how to remain in the closet of prayer. He walks with me in peace and uprightness. And then we go on here to what? Verse seven.

People who long to know more about God should have the confidence to say, I can go to pastor so and so, and ask this question and they will have an answer. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth. This is what a pastor is, in essence. In Acts six four, the apostles who are, you can arguably say pastors in the early church, especially as it was developing, saying, listen, we can't serve tables here. We can't do all these practical things.

We must dedicate our time to prayer and the ministry of the word. So you you know what's gonna occupy an elders life? You wanna know what he does between Monday and Saturday? I could tell you what's gonna take up most of his hours. Prayer and the Bible.

Prayer and the Bible. Knowing how to pray for God's people. Knowing how to petition on behalf of the church. Knowing how to commune with God, and then coming to the Word of God. Being exposed to truth.

Gathering in treasures from the old and the new, so that they have something to give to the people every single week. That is the call of a minister, and that is why in first Timothy three one, we are told it is a noble task. It is a noble task. It is a glorious work. It is an honorable duty.

It is a terrifying responsibility, but an incomparable calling. One minister that I know said it this way, I would not trade the ministry that I'm a part of to even be a king. And I agree with him. One Puritan said it this way, the Christian preacher Listen carefully. The Christian preacher is to restore the throne and dominion of God in the souls of men, and to attract the souls of men into a state of everlasting friendship with him.

That is true. And if you desire, as a man, this task, you desire a marvelous assignment. That's right. It's possible to have a desire for this ministry, but it must be for the right reasons. Unfortunately, some have approached the role of an elder for the sake of coveting the attention and the respect that an elder might have from a people.

Some think that the ministry is the best option for them in terms of vocation. They think this is a this is a secure income that I can have. This will this will keep me comfortable for the future. You don't think that's true? Let me shock you now, there are some pastors who are not even born again.

Others find themselves approaching this role because there's a need. There's a need for a group of people that want to become a church or want to gather together, and so this person is being encouraged by others to become an elder when they themselves don't have a compulsion or desire. So they're almost pressured into that role. But the desire for this ministry, if it's a true desire, will be spirit inspired. And it will be a driving compulsion to sacrifice anything and everything to walk in it.

The ministry and the pastor is not a option for a man who is truly called to that position. It's the only option. I remember first being saved and sensing that stirring in my own heart to to go into the ministry, and I had a young adult pastor in my life, and so I messaged him and says, how do you know if you're called to the ministry? And the way he answered seemed like he received this question all the time, especially with freshly saved people. But he said one thing that stuck with me then, and it still sticks with me today.

He says, listen to me. If you can do anything else in life, do it. But if you can't see yourself doing anything but serving God in this manner, that is a great indication that he is tugging on your heart. Even told me in a different setting, Listen brother, this is all that I have. If it's not this, I have nothing else to do in life.

Surely that is the language of somebody who is being prompted by the Holy Spirit. And oh yes, this might be disagreeable among you, but I believe it based on the scripture that a man who is called to the pastor, it must be called by God. I believe most of the mess that we're getting into with spiritual leadership is because many of them are not called by God. And if we want any proof for that, know this, it's not a seminary that makes you qualified. It's not even what other people say those spiritual leaders in a church do affirm what the Holy Spirit does in a man's heart.

But here's one verse, and we covered it last week in acts chapter 20 verse 28. What did he say to the overseers? The very same position that we're seeing here. Paul said to the Ephesian church, the same church that he's writing to here. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which who?

The Holy Spirit has made you overseers. The Spirit of God handpicked you. He spoke to your heart. He's making it more and more clear. He birthed that desire in you.

If it doesn't come from the Holy Spirit, who does it come from? And I could tell you this, there's a greater confidence when you know that it is the Holy Spirit who is leading you into this place. But listen, even if the desire is pure and in line with God's reasons for why somebody should approach this position, And even if you might possess the natural leadership abilities that others are praising, the apparent sense of calling that you might have might not be a reality if you do not have the necessary character traits that ultimately certify you. You know what's amazing is that when you look at the role of a pastor, there is a lot less information about what he is to do in detail. We have the main core thing, and that's preach and teach and counsel and govern, but you don't have all these details of the structure of the church and all that.

It's not as clear as people think it is. But you know what God is really concerned about? More than structure, and more than the details of the role of a pastor? Their character. Their character.

And that's exactly what the Holy Spirit gives attention to, and we're gonna touch on these things to understand what God looks for in a man's resume. And ultimately, what he does look for in us if we strive for spiritual maturity. He says here, the office of an overseer, he desires a noble task, and in verse two, therefore, an overseer must be one, first thing, above reproach. The original language there speaks of he cannot be apprehended. He cannot be arrested.

There is nothing in his life that you can take a hold of. That's what it's saying there. So essentially, from head to toe, a man who is to consider this position, who is in this position is totally blameless. You examine his life, you study every aspect of who he is, and you cannot find fault to bring accusation toward. You look at his finances, you think he is honorable and he is honest with his finances.

You look at the way he interacts with people especially the opposite sex, You go, he is blameless and he walks in integrity. You look at the way he treats his wife and his family. So here is a man who knows how to pastor his home before pastors a church. You look at what? His internet browser, and you can confidently know that he'll give your password and his password without any hesitation.

He's above reproach. And when you look at him, you realize there's no reason for me to disqualify him, and there's no reason for the world to attack him. There is no hypocrisy, and and there's no reason for the church to be in suspicion of his private or public life. He used to be like the Daniel of old, who when his foes tried to find any ground of complaint against them, they could not find any ground of complaint, and they could not find any fault. And so the only thing they can attack him with was his integrity and his devotion to the Word of God.

So you know what a pastor has to be like? He has to be extremely wise. Extremely wise, transparent, and careful making sure that he is blameless. If you're an individual that is inattentive or careless about what you think people perceive you as, you will not last in this ministry very long. Paul could have ended the qualification here because that kind of summarizes all that he's about to say, but what he's gonna do now is describe in detail what it means to be above reproach.

What does it mean to have a life in such a way where there is no evidence of compromise, no evidence of hypocrisy, no accusation made on this person? And the first thing that he says here in the ESV, is that he is the husband of one wife. He is the husband of one wife. This confirms what we learned last week that surely this is a role for men, or else we're in deep trouble here. If you want to be another, you have to be the husband of one wife.

So, that kind of eliminates a whole different gender. Right? But what Paul is not speaking here is about marital status. Some have taken this verse and saying, if you want to be an elder, you have to be married, and some churches operate that way. Is there wisdom in that?

Absolutely. But it does not eliminate singles from becoming and operating as a role of a pastor. What Paul is trying to say here and if you can summarize in a different way, is that he is to be a one woman man. It speaks about his moral and sexual purity. In essence, it says that this man, his love, his affection, his body, his mind, his eyes, his thoughts are solely given to one woman who is, in fact, his wife.

Do we wonder why Paul begins with this qualification? We shouldn't. Because it is often the reason why so many pastors fail. Fail to remain in that place. You're familiar enough with the the scandals that we've heard and the scandals unfortunately that still continue.

Sexual immorality, adultery, being a flirt, making inappropriate gestures or comments to others are unacceptable for a man who would consider to remain as a shepherd. And some might disagree with what I'm about to say, but I would say, how can you disagree with it? That includes pornography. That includes pornography. You are not a one woman man if you are watching other woman on a screen.

And I could tell you this, unfortunately, there are many who think they are qualified because they did four years of seminary, but throughout their entire seminary, they've been addicted to porn. You were not qualified according to the scriptures. Because if a man is not operating in the fear of God in this area, he is setting himself up, I'm telling you for disaster. A destruction of his testimony, ultimately the name of Christ. You know what Proverbs six says about the adulterer?

At the end of that chapter, we are told in Proverbs six thirty three, he will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away. Read that chapter. Read that chapter. His disgrace will not be wiped away. Thinking what?

Are we are we to say that God will not wipe away his disgrace? God will not forgive him? No. It's not talking about God. God will forgive.

God will restore your relationship. It's how others will view that man. There is a stain on that reputation and surely there's a stain on the reputation of a man of God who is not careful in how he interacts with others. What he does in private, what he does in public. We need the fear of God.

We need the fear of God. We need men that tremble, not just publicly, but privately, who are so acquainted with the presence of God, that would they would never do anything because they know God is right there with them. He used to be the husband of one wife, a one woman man, but then he goes on to say he must be sober minded. His thinking is clear. His mind is not clouded with extremes or with other things.

A sober minded person is not swayed and not moved by extremes in emotion and extremes in ambition and passions. They're stable. They're concrete. They they're dependable. They're not so easily moved around by some internal instabilities.

A sober minded person is also a person who is serious. Again, their mind is not so clouded with foolishness and silliness. It doesn't mean that a pastor doesn't have humor. Doesn't mean that a pastor doesn't laugh. Doesn't mean that he's somber and cheerless, and he walks around always as though he has sackcloth and ashes on him.

But he is a man who thinks about things seriously. And can I ask you a question? What can be more serious than being a spiritual leader in God's house? What can be more serious than dealing with the eternality of men's souls? What can be more serious than preaching the uncompromising Word of God that sets men free?

What can be more serious? Understanding that your life can have blood on it because of your lack of seriousness. So he used to be sober minded. Unfortunately, many people are just comfortable having a pastor as a job. They just preach message to message.

They wanna be liked, and people like him, and and he visits them, and and they're just a nice little fellowship, but there's no vision. There's no cry in their heart. They have their little hobbies, and they're entertained by the same thing that the world is entertained by. And let me just come up and give another message. Let me just come up and give another insight, and and that's it.

But there's no desire for greater things. There's no desire for multiplication of disciples. There's no desire for a revival. There's there's no desire for souls to come to Christ. They're just going along with the motion, so I can just get another check and be liked.

No impact. No spirit empowerment. No prophetic voice. Sober mindedness, and partner with that is to be self controlled. When We think of that word, we immediately think about sexual impulses.

It is much broader than that. When Paul says that a pastor or a man who considers the role of an elder, it means that he is all around disciplined. There's a sense of order in his personal activities and responsibilities. He has priorities. He knows when to say no, and he knows when to say yes.

He's not driven by pressures. He's not driven by the emotions of others. He's a man who has a track record of accomplishments to tasks. He's not recklessly spontaneous. He's calculated and controlled.

But not only that, he is respectable. Respectable. Other transitive says of good behavior. An elder is a gentleman. You should expect from his manner of actions, interactions, reactions that will not be intentionally offensive or impolite.

He'll be somebody that has well rounded social skills. He's approachable. When I read this word, I thought to myself that if a pastor could be and must be anything in terms of his behavior, he must be an approachable man. Do you know why that's important? Because some with good hearts, in their pursuit of spirituality, think that being spiritual means that you're untouchable and inaccessible.

They want people to think that once they preach a message, they they go underground and they prepare their message and then they come back the next Sunday morning and they preach their message and they go back underground or they go up on the mountain top like Moses did and there's no interaction with people. And people can't access them. And we just read about Jesus, did we not? That people felt so comfortable with him, they they allowed him to hold their children. You could reach him, you could talk to him, you could interrupt him, and he would give you his attention.

He would give you his counsel. He would give you a word of instruction or encouragement. I'm sure if we were to see Jesus in his day, we would be shocked to see how approachable he really was. I'll tell you what he didn't look like. He didn't look like a man with perfectly white adornment and a halo around his head, blinding people as he walked in the streets.

He was a normal looking Jew. But he magnetized people. He magnetized people. And that's what confused a lot of the spiritual leaders. How can this average looking man not just be a prophet, but claims to be God?

What a wonderful example. That if you wanna pursue leadership, your life is exposed and welcoming to others. And that's why he says the next point, he is to be respectable, but hospitable. Hospitable. A pastor is not a guest speaker at a church that makes his appearance again, just once or twice a week.

The people that he preaches to are the people that he is willing to be with and know. And so what is being said here is that his home is open. His home is open for others to come in and not just friends of the church, not just families of the church, but strangers even, the unbeliever to come into his home. And why is this important for the pastor? Because it's one thing to preach a message every week, but people need to see you live.

That is why I'm very very very weary of this idea of a pastor being on a screen. I mean, yes, you're being blessed by somebody's teaching gift, but it goes beyond that. There needs to be touch, there needs to be observation, there needs to there needs to be the the the the studying, the examination of how this person lives. Some of us has fallen into that trap. I can tell you this of myself, that there are ministers that I've seen on YouTube and I've been blessed by them, and then when I met them in person and I've gone out with them, it's almost like threw me off.

Because in my mind, I think they just preach. That's all they do. They just study and preach again. And there's like this mechanism where they go down under the pulpit and they come back up every single week. And and they they don't go out into the world.

Like, they don't eat food and they don't eat ice cream and they don't have people, and they don't laugh, and they don't question it. They just preach. Right? No. They're human.

They're human. And people need to realize that you're human. You you you do things. You actually have a different outfit than a suit. And so he is to open his home, and as long as that time does not compromise in his ultimate task of prayer and preparing the message that God wants him to preach, he must give his energy and time and resources and space to be available to others.

From that point, we see that he's also somebody who's able to teach, the bible says. Now, this is important, because this is the only qualification in this entire list that deals with giftedness, that deals with ability. Every single other thing deals with character. But Paul here pulls out one strength that a leader must have of a church, and that is his ability to communicate truth. Now, why would he say this?

Is it divorced from the other principles? No. Because we all know that if you're called to preach and if you're able to teach that you must have a life that backs up the sermon. That's why it's connected here. But it's not just that, he actually has to have a gift.

It's possible to know a lot, it's possible to to retain a lot, to be well studied, but you can't deliver those truths. And the concern here is that you have to be able to speak whether it's before two or 200 or 2,000, there needs to be a confidence and the ability to structure truth in a way that people understand it and they are fed by it. And that is crucial because if a man doesn't have that qualification, then he might be able to serve God in different ways, but not as an elder. But not just being able to communicate the truth, he must be a protector of the truth. So in Titus one, which is another list of qualifications of an elder, we read here in Titus one nine, he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction and sound doctrine, and listen, and also rebuke those who contradict it.

It's not comforting to be confrontational. It's not a it's not a experience that anybody should strive for or look forward to, but it is a necessary thing for a person who is in this place. He must be able to guard it, protect it, defend it from opposing views. If somebody comes with a different thought and you're not able to defend it, and you're not able to object it, then you're in a dangerous place. That's important because in Titus's case, when he was being told about this, Paul was saying in verse 11, those who would come with different opposing theological views, they must be silenced since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

So you want to see in a visual sense what a pastor is to do, he's to be like a shepherd with a rod and that rod is the scriptures. And when wolves come in with different ideas, he is to fight them off. So this is where this is where some people may misinterpret how a shepherd should be kind and gentle. True, but when it comes to truth, being tampered with and attacked, he steps in in self defense mode. He steps in to protect the people, and he argues, and he rebukes, and he corrects.

Listen, not just unbelievers, not just false teachers, but even believers who are unlearned or misinformed. That's possible. A genuine believer can come in and begin to spread a doctrine that is contrary to what is true, and this pastor has to step in and and be able to do what he's called to do. But listen, I wanna make this final point in terms of teaching. If a pastor or a leader should have any ability to teach, if there's anything that should be woven in that gifting, if there's anything that is crucial and important is the need for overwhelming humility.

A man who wants to be this kind of a a leader cannot come up and teach to impress others, but to bless others. Always. His gift has been given and deposit by the Holy Spirit for one sole purpose, that in this moment, in this transaction, you are hearing the voice of Jesus Christ, and you are hearing truth and that man more and more as he prays disappears behind that microphone and you are hearing from heaven. And that you leave here built up and encouraged and and a greater desire and stirring to be at the feet of Jesus for yourself. Now, this is what we've done.

This is what we've done. Many people have elected and hired and pursued teachers because they are gifted in communication. But this gifted teaching is sandwiched by character. It's sandwiched by character. I'm telling you there are many people who are gifted teachers, but disqualify themselves from any authoritative place in the church because they do not have one or many of these things that Paul says you have to have.

Does that mean that every single elder within a church or across the church is gonna be amazing and and super talented as they communicate? Not necessarily so. I love the body of Christ. I love the different preachers I listen to that have different styles and formats and emphasis. That's the beauty of the body of Christ.

But one thing is true of all of them, they must be spirit empowered. And when people hear them, they hear Christ, and they feel fed. Let me go to verse three. He can't be a drunkard. I hope I don't have to explain this one.

He can't be a drunkard. He he can't abuse substances that deal with his sobriety. I'm not even gonna And that's it. I'm moving on from there. He's not to be a drunkard, not violent, but gentle.

Not violent, but gentle. A man of God cannot handle circumstances or situations that are unfavorable to him or to his church in a manner where he is uncontrolled, Even to the point of physical altercation. He is a man who understands this one thing, God fights my battles. God will fight the battles of this church. Even in the face of threats, he knows how to depend upon God's intervention.

And so he remains gentle, he remains soft, he remains calm, even in the face of pure chaos. And this is why it's important because we think that being violent but not gentle means that you're physically a threat. No, there's such thing as spiritual violence by the way. Have you heard the term spiritual abuse? Do you know what that looks like?

It looks like a man who is power hungry, so he uses his authority to humiliate, dominate, and ultimately come to a place of intimidating others. Bullying them into different task and bullying them into different places emotionally, so that they can look superior and that you can feel inferior. It's possible to be violent spiritually and emotionally, and you cannot be a shepherd if you're that way. And not just that way, but quarrelsome. What does he say?

Can't be quarrelsome. You can't be an argumentative person. You can't be an individual that finds thrill and unhealthy debate. There's enough quarrelsomeness in the congregation. Okay?

There's enough disagreement. There's enough arguments. There's enough problems within the fold. You are setting yourself up for disaster when the leadership can't have control in this area either. When they argue with one another and when they argue with those of the flock, it is a setup for a very unpleasant experience in the church.

And so he's an individual that strives to make peace as soon as possible. That even in their heated disagreements, they long to make it as calm as quickly as they can. They don't find thrill, they don't find any joy in this kind of manner of interaction with others. They long to be peacemakers because they reflect their God. Not quarrelsome, nor they lovers of money.

You wanna know the three main downfalls for pastors? Ready? Sex, money, fame. Sex, money, fame. Paul says, a pastor cannot be financially ambitious in the sense that he loves wealth and longs to know greater possessions and experiences from that wealth.

I love what Paul says to those elders in Ephesus. Look at Acts 20 verse 33, one simple verse that means so much and there should be a banner over every pastor's life. He says, I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. Full stop. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.

What he's saying there? To open the cavity, my chest cavity, and look down deep into my heart, you would see no desire for the latest luxuries, no desire for the latest technologies, no desire for the latest fashion trends. I'm too caught up with spiritual pursuits. Health of the church, with my walk with God, with the the souls of men that are being damned because of their lack of trust in Christ. I'm I'm not caught up in all of this.

Important because one of the strongest motivations of false teachers is selfish gain. If there's anything the New Testament describes a false teacher is that they've entered the ministry or that they've been twisted within the ministry to make it all about how they can bleed the sheep, and make more for themselves. And this is a warning, not just for those who would consider the ministry. Listen. This is a warning to those who even in ministry, when the church begins to grow and the money starts coming in, begin to now covet and see how they can manipulate the offering and manipulate donations for them to know more of a comfortable life.

So Peter says in first Peter five verse two. Listen carefully. He's talking to elders, and he's saying, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you. Now look at this, not for shameful gain, but eagerly. Be careful pastors.

Be careful leaders. Don't be corrupted now. Don't preach a message with the the mindset that you wonder what the love offering is gonna be after you preach it. Don't offer your spiritual advice and help and attention because you're you're wanting to get something out of it from those that you are serving. So I wanna make this statement.

If you can't trust God with your money, don't come on the pulpit. If you can't trust God with your money and how he's gonna take care of you, don't enter the ministry. Do yourself a favor, and do the people a favor and stay far away. And we come to the last few points here in verse four. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive.

Now, general rule, again, doesn't eliminate single people from being in this ministry, but a family listen carefully. A family in a man's life that would be considered for eldership serves many purposes in his life, and here's one of them. It is a test to others to see his spiritual leadership skills. In other words, what people should do in order to assess a man, is look at their home and see, can he lead his family to salvation and can he lead them in greater sanctification? If not, what does it say here?

If he cannot know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? If the home is not put together, if the home wife and children don't honor the man, If children don't honor and respect their father, then how is that gonna work here? You know what that says about the church? It's a family. It's a family.

He didn't say, go look at a man's business. He didn't say, go look at a man's sports team, and how he coaches them in little league. He says, go look at their home. Go look at their family. Why?

Because this is a family. This is an extended family, a church build up of different families, and if he cannot again, be able to shepherd and lead and inspire his own blood, how is he going to do it in the church? This is so serious to God. So serious that after a wonderful manifestation of his glory to a man named Moses, to deliver an entire nation, and to bring them into the promised land. On his way to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, we are told that God was willing to kill the very man he just called one chapter ago.

Why? Because he did not even circumcise his own son. And so his wife circumcises the son, and intervenes on behalf of Moses and calls him. A name, bridegroom of blood. What does that mean?

God was not interested in recruiting a man like Moses to deliver a nation if he could not bring his own son into covenant. This is serious. Do you feel the weight of it? I do. And so the home is the determiner for people who would consider this ministry.

And then we come here in verse six. He must not be a recent convert or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. I was reading this and I was asking myself, why would a church be tempted to hire or elect a brand new born again believer into that position? I mean, clearly there has to be a temptation towards that for them to even consider it, for Paul to say, don't do that. And I think there's two reasons.

One, because there's something very attractive and inspiring about the zeal of a born again believer. It's contagious, it's powerful, it's fresh, it's inspiring. And sometimes there's a boldness and a courage and and a dedication to God in that season, and sometimes it can last years. And you kind of dismiss the lack of maturity and wisdom, but because you see the fire, you hope that that fire will will now be spread to others. And so you consider that person.

Or two, ready for this one? Sometimes there is such a need in a church that the temptation were to bring along and to hire somebody even if they were freshly saved, just to fulfill that position. So sometimes, the church can be growing and we realize that there needs to be more attention to others, and so, what do we do? We begin to let down the standards, so let's just bring on anybody. And when a leadership elects a person in such a way, they are irresponsible, and they're setting themselves up and for that young man to failure.

To failure. In fact, we are told here that if he is in that place, he's greatly tempted to be puffed up like Satan, and what? Fall into the combination of the devil. Think about that. Think about why in the same letter, Paul says, be very careful to lay hands on somebody.

Meaning, to ordain somebody into the ministry, because what a tragedy it would be to bring somebody up to that place only for God to bring them down. Only for God to bring them down, which tells me something about the church. Does it not? Who's the ultimate boss? Jesus Christ.

He's the one that inspires our hearts for this role, and he's the one that's willing to fire them from this role. May we know the fear of God in that. He must not be a recent convert. He has to be examined. He has to be tested.

There needs to be a stretch of time that proves that he is eligible for this place. Now this is what it doesn't mean that he can't be young, because in the next couple of chapters, we are told that Timothy is encouraged not to be looked down upon because of his youth as an elder. So it's not about age, it's about maturity, and every different church will have the ability to assess every single person and how mature they are, whether they're 25 years old or 50 years old. There are some 20 years old that are much more spiritually mature than 50 years old. Lastly, moreover, Paul says, listen to me very carefully.

Verse seven, he must be well thought of by outsiders. He must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace into a snare of the devil. So you ready for this? He must not just have a good reputation in the church. He must not be an example in his own home.

Even the world to a certain degree must praise him for his character. So it doesn't mean this, that the world's gonna agree with the man especially if he stands for truth. It doesn't mean that the world will be not hostile against the man because he makes a stance for truth. What it does mean though is that, even an unbelieving world can look at such a person and say, at least he lives what he preaches. It should not be said of a man that when a name is brought up who is an elder or pastor to go, that person's in spiritual leadership?

That person's actually in leadership? That person actually preaches? He should be able to walk through the streets, be at the gym, go to the barbershop, interact at the grocery store, and people know that he is who he is behind that pulpit. He should have the respect of the community, he should be an individual that strives to be like Christ in the way he interacts with the unsaved, least what the world can save such a man is that he is honest, he is pure, and he has integrity. They may not agree with his theology.

They may not agree with what he preaches, but at least his character is as straight as a bullet. This is important. It was said of Robert Mary McShane, who was a minister himself, that he so won the heart of his town and his community, that even when he would walk on the street, and drunkards would be out sinning, they would take off their hats when he would pass by. And when others would ask them, why do you take off your hats? They would say, there goes a man who loves our souls.

So even the drunkards could affirm that this person really loved us and cared for our souls. He doesn't preach us for money. He doesn't preach us to be liked. He ministers and serves us because he actually cares for the well-being, even if I don't believe I have a soul. I believe it was said of Whitfield that a famous atheist went to go hear him preach, and somebody said, you don't even believe in God.

Why are you going to hear him preach? He goes, I don't believe in God, but he does. There's something compelling. There's something Even that the world has a realness detect detector when they see a man who actually has a conviction and takes their calling seriously. If you felt disconnected this entire message, this is where I hope you'll feel connected.

This is where the application lies for all of us and we're closing right here. Why must he have a good reputation for outsiders? So that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. So let me say it this way. I wanna address those who potentially in here feel a call for the ministry, or feel called to the pastor, hear me very carefully.

Satan has a lot of traps set up for your life. If you don't believe that there is a world of mine fields out there with your name on them, don't enter into the ministry. If you don't believe that there is an enemy who knows strategically that if he can take you out, and if he can destroy your faith, then he can more easily devour the flock that you are in charge of. If you don't believe that, reconsider. Because what will keep you in a place of holy trembling before God and dependency on him, is when you realize that there is a snare, there is a trap with my name on it.

And if you don't believe that, I believe you're already ensnared by the enemy. It's not to live in unnecessary fear, but a holy fear. It's to be careful, it's to be wise when you realize that there is somebody there, and you're on a hit list for some kind of demon. And now I flip it, to those who are not called to this ministry, who don't feel called to this ministry, which is fine, doesn't make you less spiritual, but consider this, Satan has traps for your pastor. Satan wants to take him out.

Because he knows that if I strike the shepherd, there goes the sheep. And he knows that this man who is called to such a task is a man. And so what does that require of the church? This isn't gonna be deep revelation. Pray for your pastors.

Pray for their children. Pray for their relationship with their wives. Pray that God would keep them prayerful. Pray that God would keep them hungry. Pray that they would walk in the fear of God, not just in the church, but in the home.

Not just in the home, but when they go out into the world. Because whether we like it or not, why Paul is saying this to a certain degree is because the face of a local church is often found in the lives of the leadership. If a people really wanna know what a church is like, what they will often do is see what kind of leadership they have to make that assessment. Whether we like it or not, that's true. And so what do the people of God do?

Oh, God, chief shepherd, here's my under shepherd. Here are the spiritual leaders in my life. Guard them and keep them and secure them. Fill them and empower them and lead them. And when there's that partnership, when you have a leader praying for the people and the people praying for that leader, we give little room for the snares of Satan.

Nothing to fear, but to be aware, and so we pray. Let's seek God together. Father, with this unique message, Lord, we still hear your voice. And we pray, God, that all across this land, you would raise up priests who walk with you in peace and uprightness. And that, Lord, you would recruit men who fear you in this next generation to be the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

We ask God that there would be a mutual respect and a partnership between leadership and layman to strive as a team and as a family for the glory of God. We pray, Lord, that from this place, whether these qualifications will be for future pastors or not, that it would be true for all of us, that we would be mature spiritually. God, we ask in petition that you would again raise up the true hope for this nation, and that is a church with God fearing leaders. And, Lord, we worship you, and we thank you that you are still electing and choosing overseers for your body. And Lord, we ask that you would be with this church from the leadership down, that we would all be filled with the Holy Spirit, longing to obey you in all matters.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Can we stand to worship God together?