1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,180 Well, I promise you, I promise you today for sure we're finishing our study of elders in 2 00:00:07,180 --> 00:00:08,660 the church. 3 00:00:08,660 --> 00:00:13,620 And if you're visiting with us, maybe you're here to witness a baptism or you're new here. 4 00:00:13,620 --> 00:00:16,900 Sorry, you've dropped in on the very end of a mini study here. 5 00:00:16,900 --> 00:00:22,140 We've been looking at the study of church elders, the importance of church elders over 6 00:00:22,140 --> 00:00:23,140 the last four weeks. 7 00:00:23,140 --> 00:00:28,660 We've only gotten through nine verses in these four weeks, but I think it's been really fruitful. 8 00:00:28,660 --> 00:00:32,660 And this is such an important topic, you guys, for us not to rush through. 9 00:00:32,660 --> 00:00:36,700 And I know that in the stage of life that you're in right now, maybe you don't understand 10 00:00:36,700 --> 00:00:41,940 that just yet, but trust me, at some point in your walk with Christ, at some point in 11 00:00:41,940 --> 00:00:48,020 your engagement with the local church, you will hopefully recall this series and it will 12 00:00:48,020 --> 00:00:49,260 bear fruit in your life. 13 00:00:49,260 --> 00:00:51,300 Will you trust me on that? 14 00:00:51,300 --> 00:00:56,900 Here's why I know that's true, because it's played out in my personal experience. 15 00:00:56,900 --> 00:00:58,900 Let me take you back just a little bit. 16 00:00:58,900 --> 00:01:06,380 For quite a few years, back when Tanya and I were young marrieds, back in the Stone Age, 17 00:01:06,380 --> 00:01:12,580 we really didn't understand the inner workings of what we call the backroom of the church. 18 00:01:12,580 --> 00:01:13,580 And that's a real thing. 19 00:01:13,580 --> 00:01:14,580 We didn't understand it. 20 00:01:14,580 --> 00:01:20,100 That place where church leaders operate and where decisions get made. 21 00:01:20,100 --> 00:01:23,700 We were pretty naive in our late 20s and early 30s. 22 00:01:23,700 --> 00:01:28,780 We expected that everybody that loves Jesus operates with integrity and that all leaders 23 00:01:28,780 --> 00:01:30,100 are fully trustworthy. 24 00:01:30,100 --> 00:01:31,740 That was never a question. 25 00:01:31,740 --> 00:01:37,220 And then the day came when that bubble got burst on us and we began to sort of peer into 26 00:01:37,220 --> 00:01:38,860 the backroom of the church. 27 00:01:38,860 --> 00:01:43,660 It started with the worship leader at the church we were attending when we were first 28 00:01:43,660 --> 00:01:44,980 married. 29 00:01:44,980 --> 00:01:51,120 He had an affair with a woman in the choir, which was then disclosed on a Sunday morning 30 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,180 and he had to step down. 31 00:01:53,180 --> 00:01:59,160 Then it was the senior pastor who was fired by the elder team because of pride issues. 32 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:04,260 And as the news of all that trickled out, it became clear to those of us in the congregation 33 00:02:04,260 --> 00:02:08,840 who couldn't see into the backroom that for a long, long time there had been a power struggle 34 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:13,920 behind the scenes between the senior pastor and the elder team. 35 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:18,720 And then once the elders finally moved to push him out, the entire mess just exploded 36 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:24,560 all over the church because you can only imagine the gossip began to fly and people began to 37 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:31,580 tell stories and there was whispering in the corners and everybody started picking sides. 38 00:02:31,580 --> 00:02:35,520 You either supported the pastor or you supported the elder team. 39 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,460 And people were then attacking one another and defending one side. 40 00:02:39,460 --> 00:02:42,420 It all depended on who you believe was telling the truth. 41 00:02:42,420 --> 00:02:46,480 And the communication from the elder team in that moment was not good. 42 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,040 It was not enough for those of us sitting in the chairs to understand what was going 43 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:52,040 on. 44 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,460 So by the time Tani and I left that church, we had been there for 10 years. 45 00:02:55,460 --> 00:02:58,380 It was just all so sad. 46 00:02:58,380 --> 00:02:59,380 It was just sad. 47 00:02:59,380 --> 00:03:02,120 We had grown up there as a married couple. 48 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,760 We had made lifelong friends in our Bible study. 49 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:11,480 We had dedicated both of our kids in that church and now it was tainted by the many, 50 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:16,060 many failures of the men in the leadership of that church. 51 00:03:16,060 --> 00:03:17,060 So here's why I tell you that. 52 00:03:17,060 --> 00:03:20,140 And I know I've already said this twice in the four weeks of the study, but I'm going 53 00:03:20,140 --> 00:03:21,700 to say it again. 54 00:03:21,700 --> 00:03:26,600 Almost certainly everybody in this room will at some point, hopefully not in the near future, 55 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,700 but at some point you will have to find another church home for whatever reason. 56 00:03:30,700 --> 00:03:36,400 You relocate, you move to another area, and I don't want you to be uninformed or naive 57 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:41,340 about that what you're actually searching for when you look for that church home. 58 00:03:41,340 --> 00:03:45,220 Listen, leadership is critical. 59 00:03:45,220 --> 00:03:46,220 It matters. 60 00:03:46,220 --> 00:03:49,640 Ecclesiology, how the church is structured matters. 61 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:56,080 The character and the integrity of the men who lead that church is going to matter. 62 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:01,300 So as we wrap up our study about elders this week, listen closely and try to make some 63 00:04:01,300 --> 00:04:05,860 mental notes for if that day comes in the future where you have to look again. 64 00:04:05,860 --> 00:04:07,340 So grab your Bibles. 65 00:04:07,340 --> 00:04:13,900 We're going to not Titus, believe it or not, we're going to 1 Timothy 3 again this week. 66 00:04:13,900 --> 00:04:14,900 Let's start there. 67 00:04:14,900 --> 00:04:19,500 We're going to forget to Titus, I promise, because that is the series, but we are going 68 00:04:19,500 --> 00:04:27,620 to start here and finish this section on elders in Paul's letter to Timothy. 69 00:04:27,620 --> 00:04:32,860 Remember we talked about this, about the context, in his final years Paul wrote two lists of 70 00:04:32,860 --> 00:04:39,340 elder qualifications to these young proteges of his, Timothy and Titus, so that they would 71 00:04:39,340 --> 00:04:46,500 carefully appoint elders in their respective cities, Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete. 72 00:04:46,500 --> 00:04:51,820 So Paul said, look guys, I know you're inexperienced, but I'm sending you out to be my representative 73 00:04:51,820 --> 00:04:57,620 in these cities to provide oversight to the churches, so here's what an elder must not 74 00:04:57,620 --> 00:04:59,780 be and what he must be. 75 00:04:59,780 --> 00:05:02,560 And the two lists that Paul gives are very similar. 76 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:10,420 By my count, Paul gives to Timothy 16 character qualifications and he gives to Titus 15 character 77 00:05:10,420 --> 00:05:13,380 qualifications and nine of them overlap. 78 00:05:13,380 --> 00:05:18,100 In fact, here's the list of the nine that are found in both of these letters. 79 00:05:18,100 --> 00:05:21,340 Above reproach is the overarching characteristic. 80 00:05:21,340 --> 00:05:23,640 We talked about that I believe two weeks ago. 81 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:28,500 In both lists, that is the overarching qualification, above reproach. 82 00:05:28,500 --> 00:05:33,100 Of one wife, we worked that through, go back online and listen if you need to understand 83 00:05:33,100 --> 00:05:34,620 what that means. 84 00:05:34,620 --> 00:05:42,540 To Titus, he says, children who are faithful, to Timothy, he manages his own household well. 85 00:05:42,540 --> 00:05:46,020 Then not addicted to wine, no substance abuse, that's the same. 86 00:05:46,020 --> 00:05:48,660 Not pugnacious is the same. 87 00:05:48,660 --> 00:05:53,900 To Titus, he says, not fond of sordid gain and to Timothy, he says, free from the love 88 00:05:53,900 --> 00:05:56,100 of money, very similar. 89 00:05:56,100 --> 00:06:01,940 Same word hospitable in both lists and then to Titus, sensible or prudent to Timothy, 90 00:06:01,940 --> 00:06:06,860 self-controlled in Titus and temperate in Timothy. 91 00:06:06,860 --> 00:06:10,700 Now there's a handful of qualifications in Paul's letter to Timothy that are not found 92 00:06:10,700 --> 00:06:11,740 in Titus. 93 00:06:11,740 --> 00:06:15,820 And so I thought I'd touch briefly on those this morning so we can get the full picture 94 00:06:15,820 --> 00:06:18,140 of what Paul requires. 95 00:06:18,140 --> 00:06:21,340 If you look at your text here in 1 Timothy 3, everybody there? 96 00:06:21,340 --> 00:06:25,740 You'll find the first one that's not found in Titus in the middle of verse 3, it says 97 00:06:25,740 --> 00:06:28,260 an elder must be gentle. 98 00:06:28,260 --> 00:06:30,580 He must be gentle. 99 00:06:30,580 --> 00:06:37,100 And what that means is an elder has to patiently make allowances for the weakness and the fallen 100 00:06:37,100 --> 00:06:39,660 nature of the sheep that he shepherds. 101 00:06:39,660 --> 00:06:41,060 I mentioned this last week. 102 00:06:41,060 --> 00:06:44,180 An elder can't get frustrated and angry at the sheep. 103 00:06:44,180 --> 00:06:46,620 He has to be gentle with them. 104 00:06:46,620 --> 00:06:48,900 Make allowances for their weakness. 105 00:06:48,900 --> 00:06:51,020 Give them room and time to grow. 106 00:06:51,020 --> 00:06:56,940 He has to be careful not to squash their spirit, but to teach them and correct them and exhort 107 00:06:56,940 --> 00:07:01,820 them and encourage them with great tenderness and care. 108 00:07:01,820 --> 00:07:02,860 That's critically important. 109 00:07:02,860 --> 00:07:07,500 The second thing you see, and it follows right after gentle in verse 3, an elder must be 110 00:07:07,500 --> 00:07:09,220 peaceable. 111 00:07:09,220 --> 00:07:14,060 Now interestingly, that's a word in the Greek, amachas, which is found only two times in 112 00:07:14,060 --> 00:07:17,820 the entire New Testament, both in the pastoral letters. 113 00:07:17,820 --> 00:07:22,780 And what it tells us is that God does not want his under shepherds to be contentious 114 00:07:22,780 --> 00:07:27,340 men, quarrelsome men, who are constantly at odds with the flock. 115 00:07:27,340 --> 00:07:31,780 They can't be men who are at the center of every controversy, always looking to stir 116 00:07:31,780 --> 00:07:33,620 up a theological fight. 117 00:07:33,620 --> 00:07:39,340 Instead, they have to be seeking paths of peace, which allows the sheep to sort of rest 118 00:07:39,340 --> 00:07:43,700 under their leadership and to feel a sense of calm and peace. 119 00:07:43,700 --> 00:07:47,660 So those are two beautiful character traits of a church leader. 120 00:07:47,660 --> 00:07:52,300 But there's also a caution that goes with these two words. 121 00:07:52,300 --> 00:07:58,140 I think a necessary balance, because if you just isolate those two terms by themselves 122 00:07:58,140 --> 00:08:03,260 without taking in the entirety of the pastoral letters, it might lead you to believe in looking 123 00:08:03,260 --> 00:08:07,460 at those words that elders should be passive. 124 00:08:07,460 --> 00:08:09,660 And I don't want you to get that idea. 125 00:08:09,660 --> 00:08:14,260 In other words, they might end up being so gentle that they don't step in when a confrontation 126 00:08:14,260 --> 00:08:16,760 over sin is required. 127 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,540 And I've seen that happen in churches where elders are like, well, you know what, I'm 128 00:08:20,540 --> 00:08:21,540 just going to step back. 129 00:08:21,540 --> 00:08:23,060 I'm not going to deal with that. 130 00:08:23,060 --> 00:08:24,060 And what happens? 131 00:08:24,060 --> 00:08:26,180 Sin runs rampant in that body and it spreads. 132 00:08:26,180 --> 00:08:27,380 Not good. 133 00:08:27,380 --> 00:08:31,740 Or they're so peaceable that they don't take a stand on doctrinal issues. 134 00:08:31,740 --> 00:08:34,580 Choosing to look the other way, and what happens then? 135 00:08:34,580 --> 00:08:38,500 You see heresy begin to spread and poison the body. 136 00:08:38,500 --> 00:08:44,020 So while most of the time elders have to be gentle and peaceable with the sheep, as men 137 00:08:44,020 --> 00:08:49,580 who are tasked to oversee the body and shepherd the flock, we cannot hesitate or be afraid 138 00:08:49,580 --> 00:08:52,580 when confrontational issues come up. 139 00:08:52,580 --> 00:08:56,180 And we should keep in mind that Christ himself modeled this, right? 140 00:08:56,180 --> 00:08:57,820 Remember how Jesus describes himself. 141 00:08:57,820 --> 00:08:59,660 I believe it's Matthew 11. 142 00:08:59,660 --> 00:09:03,380 He describes himself as gentle or meek. 143 00:09:03,380 --> 00:09:08,940 But at times we also see Jesus being very confrontational and actually drawing lines 144 00:09:08,940 --> 00:09:10,080 of division, right? 145 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:13,640 We see him physically turning tables over in the temple. 146 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:19,180 We see him chasing out the wicked money changers with a whip in his hand. 147 00:09:19,180 --> 00:09:24,460 We see him being incensed when the Pharisees accuse him of breaking the Sabbath when all 148 00:09:24,460 --> 00:09:26,820 he's doing is healing people. 149 00:09:26,820 --> 00:09:29,420 We see him get indignant. 150 00:09:29,420 --> 00:09:34,300 That's the word that Mark uses when his disciples try to prevent the children from coming to 151 00:09:34,300 --> 00:09:35,300 him. 152 00:09:35,300 --> 00:09:38,720 He's indignant that his disciples would be so cold. 153 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,980 And of course, most of all, we see Jesus striding through the temple courts towards the end 154 00:09:42,980 --> 00:09:48,740 of his life, condemning the scribes and the Pharisees with some of the most confrontational 155 00:09:48,740 --> 00:09:50,100 language you can imagine. 156 00:09:50,100 --> 00:09:54,760 Woe to you, teachers of the law, you hypocrites, he says. 157 00:09:54,760 --> 00:10:00,700 You whitewash tombs filled with dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 158 00:10:00,700 --> 00:10:05,380 Now do those things nullify the fact that Jesus is gentle and peaceable? 159 00:10:05,380 --> 00:10:07,280 Of course not. 160 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:11,440 Because sometimes righteous anger and confrontation are required. 161 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,980 And on some occasions, that is true for church leaders as well. 162 00:10:14,980 --> 00:10:19,720 Now when an elder does this, we're not Jesus, we're not perfect. 163 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:25,100 We have to be careful to guard our hearts as we confront sin because being an authority 164 00:10:25,100 --> 00:10:29,980 in a church does not give us permission or license to sin in our anger. 165 00:10:29,980 --> 00:10:32,180 So we have to guard our hearts very carefully. 166 00:10:32,180 --> 00:10:33,180 But listen, this is true. 167 00:10:33,180 --> 00:10:35,980 If you've been around Oak Hill for a long time, you know this. 168 00:10:35,980 --> 00:10:41,300 In the 18 years that we've been gathered as a church, our elders have had to step in and 169 00:10:41,300 --> 00:10:48,180 confront heretical ideas that came from men within our body. 170 00:10:48,180 --> 00:10:49,820 That's happened multiple times. 171 00:10:49,820 --> 00:10:57,300 Everything from just crazy wild eschatology to a man who denied the trinitarian nature 172 00:10:57,300 --> 00:10:59,700 of God and was teaching that to others in the body. 173 00:10:59,700 --> 00:11:03,700 And we had to step in, we couldn't be passive in those moments. 174 00:11:03,700 --> 00:11:06,620 Other times we've had to initiate church discipline. 175 00:11:06,620 --> 00:11:12,860 For those who were confronted over their obvious sin but refused to repent and return to us. 176 00:11:12,860 --> 00:11:17,860 And then there have also been less serious times, but important times, when elders have 177 00:11:17,860 --> 00:11:24,060 had to sit down with members and in love talk to them about sinful attitudes or actions 178 00:11:24,060 --> 00:11:28,080 that have come to our attention or that we've personally witnessed. 179 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:32,420 And even in that confrontation, we have to be gentle in the way we speak to our flock. 180 00:11:32,420 --> 00:11:37,220 Sometimes we have to step in and say, look, brother, you showed poor judgment there. 181 00:11:37,220 --> 00:11:40,900 Or that was not the most godly reaction, was it? 182 00:11:40,900 --> 00:11:46,020 Or to get involved in a marital relationship and say, look, you're not loving your wife 183 00:11:46,020 --> 00:11:47,300 as you're called to love her. 184 00:11:47,300 --> 00:11:49,940 Or you're not respecting your husband. 185 00:11:49,940 --> 00:11:51,340 Those things have to happen as well. 186 00:11:51,340 --> 00:11:55,220 Those are necessary functions of elder oversight. 187 00:11:55,220 --> 00:11:59,460 We're to be spiritually mature men that bring our Bible knowledge, our experience, and our 188 00:11:59,460 --> 00:12:06,580 wisdom to that situation in the hopes of producing in our members godly repentance and sanctification 189 00:12:06,580 --> 00:12:08,100 in their lives. 190 00:12:08,100 --> 00:12:09,940 We have to do that. 191 00:12:09,940 --> 00:12:15,820 So all that to say with these two characteristics, a proper balance is required. 192 00:12:15,820 --> 00:12:21,060 Striving to be gentle and peaceable but never passive in the face of sin or heresy. 193 00:12:21,060 --> 00:12:25,540 And maybe the best example of the balance that we find is from the scriptures themselves. 194 00:12:25,540 --> 00:12:31,660 In 2 Timothy 4, Paul tells Timothy to do these three things in the flock. 195 00:12:31,660 --> 00:12:35,100 Correct, rebuke, and exhort. 196 00:12:35,100 --> 00:12:36,460 We don't like that word rebuke. 197 00:12:36,460 --> 00:12:38,500 Correct, rebuke, and exhort. 198 00:12:38,500 --> 00:12:41,640 But then he says, do it this way with what? 199 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,020 Great patience and instruction. 200 00:12:44,020 --> 00:12:45,260 So that balance has to be found. 201 00:12:45,260 --> 00:12:48,820 Does that make sense? 202 00:12:48,820 --> 00:12:49,820 Make sounds, please. 203 00:12:49,820 --> 00:12:50,820 Yes. 204 00:12:50,820 --> 00:12:51,820 OK, sounds are good. 205 00:12:51,820 --> 00:12:53,460 It's OK to talk back in church. 206 00:12:53,460 --> 00:12:54,460 OK. 207 00:12:54,460 --> 00:12:59,220 The third qualification I'm going to look at this morning is back up in verse 2. 208 00:12:59,220 --> 00:13:03,300 Toward the end of the verse, Paul says an elder must be respectable. 209 00:13:03,300 --> 00:13:05,300 Respectable. 210 00:13:05,300 --> 00:13:08,820 Now this connects back to the very end of the message from last Sunday. 211 00:13:08,820 --> 00:13:14,460 I talked about how the congregation ought to honor and respect their elders. 212 00:13:14,460 --> 00:13:17,260 And we talked about reciprocal relationships. 213 00:13:17,260 --> 00:13:19,360 Shepherds do this and sheep respond this way. 214 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,580 And it's a beautiful synergy when both are doing those things. 215 00:13:22,580 --> 00:13:26,740 Now Christ calls his church to respect its leaders. 216 00:13:26,740 --> 00:13:31,120 And at the same time, he calls the leaders to be respectable. 217 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:32,120 And that's important. 218 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:33,940 Both sides are important. 219 00:13:33,940 --> 00:13:38,700 What he means is elders live your lives as an example to the flock. 220 00:13:38,700 --> 00:13:40,160 Let them see your life. 221 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:46,340 Live godly lives that put the sheep at ease under your care. 222 00:13:46,340 --> 00:13:47,340 Because they see your life. 223 00:13:47,340 --> 00:13:49,860 And they say, I can rest under his care. 224 00:13:49,860 --> 00:13:51,260 I can respect him. 225 00:13:51,260 --> 00:13:52,260 I can honor him. 226 00:13:52,260 --> 00:13:53,940 I can follow after him. 227 00:13:53,940 --> 00:13:59,800 Make it easy for the sheep to honor and respect and follow you, elders. 228 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:00,800 So it's beautiful, right? 229 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:02,440 Church, respect your elders. 230 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,340 Elders be respectable. 231 00:14:04,340 --> 00:14:06,340 Both are necessary. 232 00:14:06,340 --> 00:14:07,340 Amen? 233 00:14:07,340 --> 00:14:11,540 Finally, in the letter to Timothy, Paul gives two final requirements of an elder. 234 00:14:11,540 --> 00:14:14,580 And interestingly here, both are given in the context of a warning. 235 00:14:14,580 --> 00:14:16,900 Look at verse 6. 236 00:14:16,900 --> 00:14:20,420 He says an elder must not be a new convert. 237 00:14:20,420 --> 00:14:23,380 And here comes the warning. 238 00:14:23,380 --> 00:14:30,320 So that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. 239 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:34,220 So we should remember that, look, a spiritual realm exists. 240 00:14:34,220 --> 00:14:35,540 Let us not forget that. 241 00:14:35,540 --> 00:14:36,540 Right? 242 00:14:36,540 --> 00:14:37,540 It's not just this physical realm. 243 00:14:37,540 --> 00:14:39,160 But there is a spiritual realm. 244 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,060 And there is a spiritual enemy we know as the devil. 245 00:14:42,060 --> 00:14:44,820 And as James tells us, he is constantly on the prowl. 246 00:14:44,820 --> 00:14:47,560 He is seeking to devour. 247 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:53,420 And among his many targets that he has, leaders are the big game in the hunt. 248 00:14:53,420 --> 00:14:56,620 Because if he can bring down a leader, he can bring down a church. 249 00:14:56,620 --> 00:15:01,880 That's part of what Tanny and I experienced in our early 30s was this idea that leaders 250 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:03,060 were brought down. 251 00:15:03,060 --> 00:15:08,660 And for young believers, immature believers, it rocked them. 252 00:15:08,660 --> 00:15:09,660 You destroy a leader. 253 00:15:09,660 --> 00:15:13,720 If the enemy can do that, you have immature believers that suddenly lose confidence in 254 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:14,900 their assurance. 255 00:15:14,900 --> 00:15:19,980 You cause a leader to fall, and you can tear down the credibility of Christianity in the 256 00:15:19,980 --> 00:15:22,460 minds of the public. 257 00:15:22,460 --> 00:15:24,220 So leaders have a target on their back. 258 00:15:24,220 --> 00:15:25,920 So elders have to be on guard. 259 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:30,660 So Paul says here, because of that, they should not be new to the faith. 260 00:15:30,660 --> 00:15:32,300 Now that should be obvious, right? 261 00:15:32,300 --> 00:15:33,540 Most of us would think that, right? 262 00:15:33,540 --> 00:15:38,920 Even if you were running a business, you wouldn't hire some amateur to take on a heavy position. 263 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:42,500 But how many times have we seen churches blow this? 264 00:15:42,500 --> 00:15:44,620 That churches making really poor decisions. 265 00:15:44,620 --> 00:15:45,620 Why? 266 00:15:45,620 --> 00:15:50,500 Well, they see a man, and they're like, oh, this guy's got a real passion for the Lord, 267 00:15:50,500 --> 00:15:54,540 and he's super gifted, and maybe he's got a strength of personality. 268 00:15:54,540 --> 00:15:57,300 So let's go ahead and put him in leadership. 269 00:15:57,300 --> 00:15:58,660 But he's a new convert. 270 00:15:58,660 --> 00:16:00,660 Well, guess what? 271 00:16:00,660 --> 00:16:03,580 If he's a new convert, he cannot be spiritually mature. 272 00:16:03,580 --> 00:16:09,460 He can't be, because spiritual maturity takes time, and it takes experience, and it takes 273 00:16:09,460 --> 00:16:12,940 study over years and years and years. 274 00:16:12,940 --> 00:16:14,500 So we ought not do that. 275 00:16:14,500 --> 00:16:18,660 We should, there should be a track record of faithful service in a man that's put into 276 00:16:18,660 --> 00:16:20,780 leadership, not a new convert. 277 00:16:20,780 --> 00:16:25,260 Because if you put a new believer in leadership, now suddenly he gets all this honor from the 278 00:16:25,260 --> 00:16:29,860 congregation, he gets all this authority, and it's too much for him to handle, because 279 00:16:29,860 --> 00:16:32,100 his heart isn't yet fully developed. 280 00:16:32,100 --> 00:16:35,220 He doesn't understand his heart well enough, and guess what? 281 00:16:35,220 --> 00:16:38,100 That makes him vulnerable to attacks from the enemy. 282 00:16:38,100 --> 00:16:41,220 The enemy knows exactly where to strike a man like that. 283 00:16:41,220 --> 00:16:45,620 So churches ought not put new converts into the place of leadership. 284 00:16:45,620 --> 00:16:47,740 Okay, I'm behind. 285 00:16:47,740 --> 00:16:48,940 Here we go. 286 00:16:48,940 --> 00:16:54,540 Number seven, or last one here, in verse seven, it says he must have a good reputation with 287 00:16:54,540 --> 00:16:57,040 those outside the church. 288 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:02,780 And then another warning, so that he will not fall into reproach or disgrace and the 289 00:17:02,780 --> 00:17:05,140 snare of the devil. 290 00:17:05,140 --> 00:17:11,500 So a spiritually mature man by definition will have a good reputation among the unbelievers 291 00:17:11,500 --> 00:17:14,380 that he lives around, because he's spiritually mature. 292 00:17:14,380 --> 00:17:19,180 He will carry himself with maturity in all settings in their presence. 293 00:17:19,180 --> 00:17:22,980 And honestly, even though there's all kinds of formats for this. 294 00:17:22,980 --> 00:17:29,260 I remember when I was a young pastor, my son played little league at heart, and we knew 295 00:17:29,260 --> 00:17:35,820 every single time we sat in those stands that I had to be really careful to make sure that 296 00:17:35,820 --> 00:17:39,820 my testimony in front of unbelievers was firm. 297 00:17:39,820 --> 00:17:41,140 Those things are important, right? 298 00:17:41,140 --> 00:17:46,260 Because even the world is a people when they see the life of a spiritually mature man who's 299 00:17:46,260 --> 00:17:51,400 an elder in a church, even they can see that that man is worthy of respect. 300 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:56,620 If he walks with integrity, if his testimony is going to lend credibility to the gospel, 301 00:17:56,620 --> 00:18:01,740 and not only that the gospel saves, but that it transforms a life, that character is transformed 302 00:18:01,740 --> 00:18:04,220 by the work of the Holy Spirit in him. 303 00:18:04,220 --> 00:18:06,300 By the way, the flip side is true as well. 304 00:18:06,300 --> 00:18:13,060 If unbelievers see him acting dishonestly, if they see this man acting inappropriately, 305 00:18:13,060 --> 00:18:16,740 and they know he's an elder in a church, what's the result going to be? 306 00:18:16,740 --> 00:18:19,260 They're going to say you hypocrite, right? 307 00:18:19,260 --> 00:18:23,620 If they see you, let's say you're at that baseball league and you just lose your temper, 308 00:18:23,620 --> 00:18:28,860 or you use foul language, or you're inappropriate with a woman that's not your wife, imagine 309 00:18:28,860 --> 00:18:30,540 the world's going to say what? 310 00:18:30,540 --> 00:18:34,420 You hypocrite, and rightfully so, and rightfully so. 311 00:18:34,420 --> 00:18:37,740 So an elder has to have that solid reputation. 312 00:18:37,740 --> 00:18:40,220 How many times, by the way, has this happened? 313 00:18:40,220 --> 00:18:46,500 You turn on the news one day, a high profile church leader has fallen, moral failure, and 314 00:18:46,500 --> 00:18:51,740 it gives ammunition to the world to say, see, see, that's not true. 315 00:18:51,740 --> 00:18:55,300 That is not true, and it affects all of us, doesn't it? 316 00:18:55,300 --> 00:19:00,860 When a leader falls, it gives the world ammunition to smear every single one of us. 317 00:19:00,860 --> 00:19:07,620 So an elder's reputation and example in the world is crucial, and it's required. 318 00:19:07,620 --> 00:19:09,260 Make sense? 319 00:19:09,260 --> 00:19:10,700 Okay. 320 00:19:10,700 --> 00:19:17,540 Now for three weeks, we have now talked about the character of an elder, and rightfully 321 00:19:17,540 --> 00:19:19,060 so, because Paul makes it very clear. 322 00:19:19,060 --> 00:19:24,460 In both letters to Titus and Timothy, the character is of the utmost importance. 323 00:19:24,460 --> 00:19:31,100 But there's one outlier in the list that he gives to Timothy, one outlier that we need 324 00:19:31,100 --> 00:19:33,620 to talk about before we wrap up this study. 325 00:19:33,620 --> 00:19:35,020 Here's what I mean by that. 326 00:19:35,020 --> 00:19:42,580 There's one qualification in Timothy that is a skill and not a character trait. 327 00:19:42,580 --> 00:19:44,220 A skill, not a character trait. 328 00:19:44,220 --> 00:19:47,940 Fifteen character requirements and one skill. 329 00:19:47,940 --> 00:19:52,780 Now what's really cool about this is this same skill is reflected in Paul's letter to 330 00:19:52,780 --> 00:19:58,880 Titus in the very last verse of his pericope where he talks about elders, and we'll get 331 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:00,340 to that in just a moment. 332 00:20:00,340 --> 00:20:04,380 But first, look at the very end of verse two here in 1 Timothy 3. 333 00:20:04,380 --> 00:20:06,080 What does Paul say? 334 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:11,660 Very end of verse two, Paul says an elder must be able to teach. 335 00:20:11,660 --> 00:20:12,660 You see that there? 336 00:20:12,660 --> 00:20:15,380 That's the one skill in this long list, and it's interesting. 337 00:20:15,380 --> 00:20:18,900 Paul sort of buries it in there, but it's really, really important to pull that out 338 00:20:18,900 --> 00:20:20,540 and say, oh, interesting. 339 00:20:20,540 --> 00:20:24,180 Not only does he have all this in character issues, but he's got to be able to do this 340 00:20:24,180 --> 00:20:25,500 one thing. 341 00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:28,340 And this makes sense, doesn't it? 342 00:20:28,340 --> 00:20:34,260 Christianity has always been rooted in the propagation of divine truth by what? 343 00:20:34,260 --> 00:20:37,100 By teaching. 344 00:20:37,100 --> 00:20:39,820 It's built on that, so it makes sense. 345 00:20:39,820 --> 00:20:41,540 Jesus himself was a master teacher. 346 00:20:41,540 --> 00:20:44,780 That's why we study his words so carefully. 347 00:20:44,780 --> 00:20:48,660 And when he gave his disciples what we call the Great Commission, he gave them a mandate 348 00:20:48,660 --> 00:20:51,500 to do three things, right? 349 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:52,500 One is what? 350 00:20:52,500 --> 00:20:54,380 Make disciples of all nations. 351 00:20:54,380 --> 00:20:58,220 Two is what we're doing today, baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and 352 00:20:58,220 --> 00:20:59,220 the Holy Spirit. 353 00:20:59,220 --> 00:21:01,200 The third thing always gets overlooked. 354 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:02,960 What is it? 355 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:04,620 Teach them. 356 00:21:04,620 --> 00:21:08,900 When you make disciples and you baptize them, then teach them to observe all that I've commanded 357 00:21:08,900 --> 00:21:09,900 you. 358 00:21:09,900 --> 00:21:15,500 So Jesus taught men that he expected then that they would go out and teach others. 359 00:21:15,500 --> 00:21:20,020 And then as the apostles were writing the words of the New Testament scriptures, their 360 00:21:20,020 --> 00:21:25,540 words became the foundation and the source of all the church's teaching from that point 361 00:21:25,540 --> 00:21:27,420 forward, all the way up until today. 362 00:21:27,420 --> 00:21:29,860 Teaching, teaching, teaching. 363 00:21:29,860 --> 00:21:36,980 So Christ has called men to serve in the local church and appointed them in the local church. 364 00:21:36,980 --> 00:21:38,660 They've got to be equipped to teach. 365 00:21:38,660 --> 00:21:43,260 They've got to be effective at teaching and they have to have a love for teaching. 366 00:21:43,260 --> 00:21:45,240 And that's what our elders have here. 367 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:52,540 Any local church elder or pastor, we talked about that, elder is a more common word, but 368 00:21:52,540 --> 00:21:58,100 same office, elder, pastor, teacher, they all have to have the ability to teach. 369 00:21:58,100 --> 00:22:01,980 And by the way, that doesn't matter if they're on paid staff. 370 00:22:01,980 --> 00:22:03,880 We do this, right, in the church. 371 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:05,140 We create these categories. 372 00:22:05,140 --> 00:22:07,580 Oh, this guy's paid. 373 00:22:07,580 --> 00:22:08,580 He's on staff. 374 00:22:08,580 --> 00:22:10,500 This guy's not paid. 375 00:22:10,500 --> 00:22:11,900 He's what we call a lay elder. 376 00:22:11,900 --> 00:22:13,180 It doesn't matter. 377 00:22:13,180 --> 00:22:15,940 They all have to be able to teach. 378 00:22:15,940 --> 00:22:16,940 And I'll go a step further. 379 00:22:16,940 --> 00:22:19,900 They have to have a passion for teaching. 380 00:22:19,900 --> 00:22:23,660 He's going to have a passion for teaching because if you're an elder, if you're a spiritually 381 00:22:23,660 --> 00:22:29,220 mature man, you already know what the Holy Spirit can do in the heart and the mind of 382 00:22:29,220 --> 00:22:35,020 a man or woman who hears the scriptures read, hears it exposited, and hears it applied to 383 00:22:35,020 --> 00:22:36,680 their lives. 384 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:38,300 Spiritually mature man will know that. 385 00:22:38,300 --> 00:22:41,540 So that means he's going to be eager to get out there and teach. 386 00:22:41,540 --> 00:22:44,140 They should be eager to instruct the congregation. 387 00:22:44,140 --> 00:22:48,060 And that means they've got to put in the time and the energy and the patience and the discipline 388 00:22:48,060 --> 00:22:51,980 to do it well, to do it with excellence. 389 00:22:51,980 --> 00:22:55,740 Now when we hear the phrase able to teach, what's the first thing we're tempted to think 390 00:22:55,740 --> 00:22:57,060 of? 391 00:22:57,060 --> 00:22:58,460 Preaching. 392 00:22:58,460 --> 00:23:00,820 Preaching. 393 00:23:00,820 --> 00:23:05,020 Because that's the most visible sort of manifestation of this thing we call teaching. 394 00:23:05,020 --> 00:23:07,380 It's the most common thing in modern day churches. 395 00:23:07,380 --> 00:23:14,220 By the way, preaching did not look the same in the first century as it does today. 396 00:23:14,220 --> 00:23:16,180 That's for a historical study on another day. 397 00:23:16,180 --> 00:23:20,020 But still, you see this concept of preaching throughout the New Testament. 398 00:23:20,020 --> 00:23:24,100 Notice though that Paul doesn't give Timothy a particular context or format here. 399 00:23:24,100 --> 00:23:25,900 He just says able to teach. 400 00:23:25,900 --> 00:23:28,340 He doesn't tell us where. 401 00:23:28,340 --> 00:23:33,280 Now the Greek can help us here because the New Testament uses three distinct words to 402 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,580 talk about teaching. 403 00:23:35,580 --> 00:23:40,500 So when you see the word preach or preaching in the New Testament, it's one of two Greek 404 00:23:40,500 --> 00:23:41,500 verbs. 405 00:23:41,500 --> 00:23:48,820 Kairous is the most common one, and that means to act as the herald of a message. 406 00:23:48,820 --> 00:23:51,780 You're a proclamer of a particular message. 407 00:23:51,780 --> 00:23:56,900 And you see this word used most often in the missionary activities of the early church. 408 00:23:56,900 --> 00:24:04,320 So when Jesus sends out his 12 to do missionary activity, he says do this. 409 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,980 Then Paul and Barnabas go off into the Gentile world. 410 00:24:06,980 --> 00:24:12,260 This is the word that gets used most of the time for teaching or for preaching. 411 00:24:12,260 --> 00:24:19,340 Then the other word, yon gelizo, means to bring good news or glad tidings. 412 00:24:19,340 --> 00:24:20,540 That's the specific meaning. 413 00:24:20,540 --> 00:24:25,220 So that's where we get the word evangelism from, and that's the setting that's most often 414 00:24:25,220 --> 00:24:31,440 where this word is most often used in the specific evangelism of the lost world. 415 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,180 So those are two key words when you see the word preach in the New Testament. 416 00:24:35,180 --> 00:24:41,960 Now when you see just plain old teaching in the New Testament, it's the word didasko. 417 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:47,140 And that word carries a very specific meaning to instruct or to impart knowledge. 418 00:24:47,140 --> 00:24:50,980 So it's a much more general term than the other two. 419 00:24:50,980 --> 00:24:56,660 And when we talk about where this teaching takes place, the most common places where 420 00:24:56,660 --> 00:25:03,340 the early church was teaching was in public spaces, oftentimes along the road as they 421 00:25:03,340 --> 00:25:07,700 traveled and met other followers, and in private homes. 422 00:25:07,700 --> 00:25:09,760 They didn't have big NPRs like this. 423 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:10,760 We are blessed. 424 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:12,300 They didn't have these things. 425 00:25:12,300 --> 00:25:16,460 Although I will say there is one place, if you really want to defend why we meet in the 426 00:25:16,460 --> 00:25:25,100 school, Acts chapter 19, it says that Paul rented a, what, a school. 427 00:25:25,100 --> 00:25:29,140 And there he reasoned with all who came to him with questions about the gospel. 428 00:25:29,140 --> 00:25:33,860 It's the closest thing to what we have here at Oak Hill. 429 00:25:33,860 --> 00:25:37,300 No church buildings in the first century, but there is this one example, if you want 430 00:25:37,300 --> 00:25:40,660 to write it down, it's Acts 19, 9, the school of Tyrannus. 431 00:25:40,660 --> 00:25:45,780 Paul retreats there because he's sort of being abused in public, retreats to this school. 432 00:25:45,780 --> 00:25:48,100 He must have known this man Tyrannus. 433 00:25:48,100 --> 00:25:50,580 And there he reasoned from the scriptures. 434 00:25:50,580 --> 00:25:52,100 Fascinating. 435 00:25:52,100 --> 00:25:54,700 So able to teach applies to all kinds of formats. 436 00:25:54,700 --> 00:25:57,540 It applies to all kinds of settings. 437 00:25:57,540 --> 00:26:00,120 It might mean being in the pulpit on Sunday morning. 438 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:03,540 It might mean teaching in a community group during the week. 439 00:26:03,540 --> 00:26:08,000 It might refer to small group discipleship with a few people. 440 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,620 Teaching also happens in one-on-one biblical counseling. 441 00:26:11,620 --> 00:26:12,620 That's all teaching. 442 00:26:12,620 --> 00:26:16,220 It doesn't have to be preaching like I'm doing today. 443 00:26:16,220 --> 00:26:19,580 Because here's the thing, there are many godly men out there who serve as elders and they 444 00:26:19,580 --> 00:26:23,700 are great teachers, but they don't feel called to stand up here and preach to the entire 445 00:26:23,700 --> 00:26:25,500 church on Sundays. 446 00:26:25,500 --> 00:26:26,500 And that's fine. 447 00:26:26,500 --> 00:26:32,260 There are men who love the word and know the word and they do instruct from the word in 448 00:26:32,260 --> 00:26:33,260 various settings. 449 00:26:33,260 --> 00:26:36,860 And by the way, that is, we make that a requirement here at Oak Hill. 450 00:26:36,860 --> 00:26:40,320 Every one of our elders has to be able to teach in some setting. 451 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:42,460 And that happens again in C groups. 452 00:26:42,460 --> 00:26:45,000 It happens when we lead communion. 453 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:51,340 It happens not in the main time here on Sundays, but in other places like leading and baptism, 454 00:26:51,340 --> 00:26:52,340 things like that. 455 00:26:52,340 --> 00:26:56,820 They're all teaching in some form, but it's not always as visible as what I do here on 456 00:26:56,820 --> 00:26:59,380 most Sundays. 457 00:26:59,380 --> 00:27:02,380 And let me go a step further. 458 00:27:02,380 --> 00:27:11,380 An elder who's able to teach doesn't have to be, you know, Joe master communicator. 459 00:27:11,380 --> 00:27:12,380 He doesn't have to be. 460 00:27:12,380 --> 00:27:16,020 He doesn't have to be the, you know, that guy who can captivate an audience with his 461 00:27:16,020 --> 00:27:22,820 stage presence and draw big crowds with his wonderful storytelling and his eloquence. 462 00:27:22,820 --> 00:27:26,620 That is not what Paul is calling every single elder to be. 463 00:27:26,620 --> 00:27:30,700 That is actually a sort of a sad modern day understanding of what a preacher or teacher 464 00:27:30,700 --> 00:27:31,700 should be. 465 00:27:31,700 --> 00:27:34,340 That he's got to be that, he has to be that type. 466 00:27:34,340 --> 00:27:38,260 In fact, so many immature believers are drawn to personality. 467 00:27:38,260 --> 00:27:42,420 They're drawn to celebrity, not to just basic good teaching. 468 00:27:42,420 --> 00:27:45,400 And I guess that's part of human nature, right? 469 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:46,400 But they're drawn to that. 470 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:50,820 They want their preacher to be, you know, attractive and charismatic and entertaining 471 00:27:50,820 --> 00:27:52,720 and funny. 472 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,780 That's what they're, I've literally heard people say a hundred times, can he keep my 473 00:27:56,780 --> 00:27:58,580 attention? 474 00:27:58,580 --> 00:27:59,580 That's what they're looking for. 475 00:27:59,580 --> 00:28:04,880 What they basically want is an inspirational Ted talk on Sunday mornings. 476 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:06,420 It's not good. 477 00:28:06,420 --> 00:28:12,100 Better to have a basic steady sound teacher with good character than a big name, big draw 478 00:28:12,100 --> 00:28:16,180 teacher with a sketchy life, right? 479 00:28:16,180 --> 00:28:20,260 Because a steady teacher isn't going to ruin a ministry, but a sketchy life that leads 480 00:28:20,260 --> 00:28:24,020 to a moral failure will destroy a church. 481 00:28:24,020 --> 00:28:25,740 So keep that in mind. 482 00:28:25,740 --> 00:28:29,920 The fact is some men who look and sound really impressive in the pulpit act like pagans in 483 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:30,920 other settings. 484 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:35,040 Did you know that? 485 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,920 It's a bit of an act on Sundays, but that's not the truth about their character. 486 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:44,580 So when you look for a church leader who teaches or preaches, look beyond what's on the outside. 487 00:28:44,580 --> 00:28:45,580 Do what God does. 488 00:28:45,580 --> 00:28:46,580 Look to the heart. 489 00:28:46,580 --> 00:28:47,580 Look inside. 490 00:28:47,580 --> 00:28:54,660 Yes, you got to find men who can teach, but you also got to find men who love their wives 491 00:28:54,660 --> 00:29:00,140 and serve their families and cultivate unity and practice hospitality and have a love and 492 00:29:00,140 --> 00:29:02,220 a passion to shepherd people. 493 00:29:02,220 --> 00:29:04,140 That's what you're looking for. 494 00:29:04,140 --> 00:29:09,380 By the way, speaking of style, keep in mind that Paul never boasted in his eloquence. 495 00:29:09,380 --> 00:29:12,100 And I think everyone here would say Paul was a pretty good teacher. 496 00:29:12,100 --> 00:29:18,660 In fact, he explicitly says in 1 Corinthians 1 that he pursued clarity over style. 497 00:29:18,660 --> 00:29:24,780 He says, Christ did not send me to baptize, which is interesting, but to preach the gospel 498 00:29:24,780 --> 00:29:31,500 and not in cleverness of speech, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 499 00:29:31,500 --> 00:29:35,700 Because guys, the big lights and big show and the big charismatic guy who's up here 500 00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:39,820 doing the TED Talk, he can distract from the truth of the cross. 501 00:29:39,820 --> 00:29:44,220 He can distract from the actual essentials of the faith based on his own personality 502 00:29:44,220 --> 00:29:47,540 and his desire to reflect glory upon himself. 503 00:29:47,540 --> 00:29:49,300 So just know that. 504 00:29:49,300 --> 00:29:51,620 Just know that that's true. 505 00:29:51,620 --> 00:29:57,620 Now flip side, does that mean, okay, well, my goal in preaching is to be really boring? 506 00:29:57,620 --> 00:30:01,420 No, absolutely not. 507 00:30:01,420 --> 00:30:03,240 So don't get me wrong here. 508 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:07,860 The first thing a preacher strives for is to be sound in his teaching, sound, to point 509 00:30:07,860 --> 00:30:12,860 the congregation to the truth contained in the scriptures by reading it, by explaining 510 00:30:12,860 --> 00:30:15,500 it, and then by helping them apply it to their lives. 511 00:30:15,500 --> 00:30:16,500 That's number one. 512 00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:20,820 But second, yes, he should try to do that in a way that is engaging. 513 00:30:20,820 --> 00:30:22,080 He should. 514 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:26,620 He should do it in a way that draws people in and leaves them wanting to hear more about 515 00:30:26,620 --> 00:30:28,820 the truth of scripture. 516 00:30:28,820 --> 00:30:32,980 Not wanting to hear more from him, but about the truth in scripture. 517 00:30:32,980 --> 00:30:38,260 And a good teacher or preacher can do this in a number of ways by organizing his lesson 518 00:30:38,260 --> 00:30:41,980 well so that the congregation can track with him. 519 00:30:41,980 --> 00:30:45,600 He can be clear in the way he digs out the meaning of the text. 520 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:50,300 He can take his hears below the surface and show them the deeper truths that are contained 521 00:30:50,300 --> 00:30:51,440 in God's word. 522 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:56,460 He can draw vibrant word pictures that the text is trying to communicate. 523 00:30:56,460 --> 00:31:01,460 And he can put maps on the screen. 524 00:31:01,460 --> 00:31:02,900 And that's the ultimate sign. 525 00:31:02,900 --> 00:31:05,220 Just kidding. 526 00:31:05,220 --> 00:31:06,900 If you're busy with, I love maps. 527 00:31:06,900 --> 00:31:08,380 I love to put maps on the screen. 528 00:31:08,380 --> 00:31:09,980 I'm sorry. 529 00:31:09,980 --> 00:31:13,180 But in pastoral ministry, we call this the discipline of homiletics. 530 00:31:13,180 --> 00:31:17,340 It's the art of both preparing and delivering a sermon or lesson. 531 00:31:17,340 --> 00:31:19,000 And yes, it does matter. 532 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:20,000 Because here's the thing. 533 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,620 The Bible is not boring. 534 00:31:22,620 --> 00:31:24,340 Not by a long shot, right? 535 00:31:24,340 --> 00:31:28,860 So if you're going to teach and preach it, your lesson should be inviting and exciting 536 00:31:28,860 --> 00:31:30,420 to any believer. 537 00:31:30,420 --> 00:31:36,380 But it's so important that a congregation is drawn to teaching for the right reasons, 538 00:31:36,380 --> 00:31:37,740 right? 539 00:31:37,740 --> 00:31:41,980 Because of the content of the truth in the word, not because the guy up front has made 540 00:31:41,980 --> 00:31:44,380 himself the object of attention. 541 00:31:44,380 --> 00:31:45,700 Amen? 542 00:31:45,700 --> 00:31:47,900 Okay, good. 543 00:31:47,900 --> 00:31:51,420 I know I'm beating that horse, but it's again, someday you're going to have to go out and 544 00:31:51,420 --> 00:31:53,700 find a church home other than this one. 545 00:31:53,700 --> 00:31:55,820 And you got to look carefully. 546 00:31:55,820 --> 00:31:57,300 Okay. 547 00:31:57,300 --> 00:32:01,540 I want to wrap up our study by going back to Titus chapter 1. 548 00:32:01,540 --> 00:32:06,660 We're actually getting back to our legitimate text here. 549 00:32:06,660 --> 00:32:12,940 Titus chapter 1, and we're just going to look at verse 9. 550 00:32:12,940 --> 00:32:15,980 Because we have gotten all the way through verse 8, right? 551 00:32:15,980 --> 00:32:17,980 Good. 552 00:32:17,980 --> 00:32:24,300 But verse 9 connects to what we just talked about in 1 Timothy 3. 553 00:32:24,300 --> 00:32:26,060 Verse 9. 554 00:32:26,060 --> 00:32:29,620 Here's a few more details to this idea of being able to teach. 555 00:32:29,620 --> 00:32:38,020 Verse 9, overseer must hold fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching. 556 00:32:38,020 --> 00:32:40,900 Ha didake, interesting language here in the Greek. 557 00:32:40,900 --> 00:32:42,860 The teaching. 558 00:32:42,860 --> 00:32:46,660 So an elder has to be a man of the teaching. 559 00:32:46,660 --> 00:32:47,660 What does that mean? 560 00:32:47,660 --> 00:32:53,700 It means that a positive truth that has been handed down to the saints by way of the special 561 00:32:53,700 --> 00:32:56,660 relation of God to his people. 562 00:32:56,660 --> 00:33:00,960 The same teaching that's been handed down in the written word. 563 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:04,800 This is what an elder has to hold to or cling to. 564 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:08,140 It has to be his personal anchor of truth. 565 00:33:08,140 --> 00:33:15,500 And so the ultimate test of a faithful elder in Jesus' church is does he stick to the word? 566 00:33:15,500 --> 00:33:16,740 Make sure you hear that. 567 00:33:16,740 --> 00:33:19,460 Not does he tell good stories? 568 00:33:19,460 --> 00:33:21,920 Or you know, is he entertaining? 569 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,380 Does he hold fast to the faithful word? 570 00:33:25,380 --> 00:33:30,140 Or does he stray when he teaches? 571 00:33:30,140 --> 00:33:34,900 Have you seen these guys who drift off like, and you can find them all over YouTube, where 572 00:33:34,900 --> 00:33:38,820 he'll, you know, the introduction's 20 minutes, he's not even opened the text, or he's opened 573 00:33:38,820 --> 00:33:43,560 the text, he's read one verse, and now he's off in this land doing his thing and doing 574 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:50,420 his shtick, and you're like, were we working on a verse or what's happening here? 575 00:33:50,420 --> 00:33:53,780 Does he hold fast to the word or does he stray as he teaches? 576 00:33:53,780 --> 00:33:56,460 Does he bring in his own ideas? 577 00:33:56,460 --> 00:33:59,140 His own brand of worldly wisdom? 578 00:33:59,140 --> 00:34:04,300 Or as Jesus reprimanded the teachers in his day, does he invalidate the word of God for 579 00:34:04,300 --> 00:34:07,300 the sake of his traditions? 580 00:34:07,300 --> 00:34:09,820 Which was happening. 581 00:34:09,820 --> 00:34:15,420 By teaching traditions, the word of God was being invalidated in front of the people. 582 00:34:15,420 --> 00:34:18,800 And Jesus is furious about that. 583 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:25,160 This is why here at Oak Hill, we staunchly and proudly retain the identity as children 584 00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:27,160 of the Reformation. 585 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:31,620 Because in the Reformation, we moved away from this long list of unbiblical ideas that 586 00:34:31,620 --> 00:34:37,300 had seeped into the church, seeped into the teaching over centuries, and somehow over 587 00:34:37,300 --> 00:34:40,020 time became dogma in the church. 588 00:34:40,020 --> 00:34:44,520 The Reformation did was it moved us back to the centrality of the written word, the only 589 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:49,420 infallible source that God has given mankind to be anchored to. 590 00:34:49,420 --> 00:34:51,800 And we talked about tradition two weeks ago. 591 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:57,240 Tradition can be very helpful, but it has to be held up, ultimately, to the standard 592 00:34:57,240 --> 00:34:59,220 of the scriptural text. 593 00:34:59,220 --> 00:35:04,100 And so ultimately, this is the standard by which the works and deeds of an elder and 594 00:35:04,100 --> 00:35:05,720 a teacher will be tested. 595 00:35:05,720 --> 00:35:08,380 Did you hold fast to my word in your life? 596 00:35:08,380 --> 00:35:09,760 First of all, that's important. 597 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,420 In your personal life, did you hold fast to the word? 598 00:35:12,420 --> 00:35:17,740 Second, did you then rightly handle my word when you taught others? 599 00:35:17,740 --> 00:35:21,580 And then third, did you build up my church through consistent shepherding and feeding 600 00:35:21,580 --> 00:35:25,620 of my sheep by my word? 601 00:35:25,620 --> 00:35:27,060 So elders have to be men of the word. 602 00:35:27,060 --> 00:35:32,380 And to do that, we have to give time and energy and study and growing in our understanding 603 00:35:32,380 --> 00:35:33,380 of God's word. 604 00:35:33,380 --> 00:35:36,740 Because if you're going to hold fast to the word, you have to understand it. 605 00:35:36,740 --> 00:35:38,620 And friends, it doesn't happen by accident. 606 00:35:38,620 --> 00:35:40,420 This is a newsflash for everybody here. 607 00:35:40,420 --> 00:35:44,900 If you want to grow in your understanding of God's word, it will not happen by osmosis. 608 00:35:44,900 --> 00:35:47,360 It will not happen by accident. 609 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:50,700 And elders have to study it as a habit of life. 610 00:35:50,700 --> 00:35:52,740 And that habit is lifelong. 611 00:35:52,740 --> 00:35:54,040 It never ends. 612 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:58,920 Because you'll never get to the bottom of the beauty and truth in Scripture. 613 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:00,920 It's a lifelong pursuit. 614 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:02,020 So I'm going to say this clearly. 615 00:36:02,020 --> 00:36:08,180 If a man doesn't have a fire in his belly to study God's word, he can't be an elder. 616 00:36:08,180 --> 00:36:09,180 He just can't serve. 617 00:36:09,180 --> 00:36:10,180 He's not qualified. 618 00:36:10,180 --> 00:36:11,460 I might even go beyond that. 619 00:36:11,460 --> 00:36:15,980 Not only a fire to study the word, but then to go beyond that and to be studying books 620 00:36:15,980 --> 00:36:22,420 and blogs about theology and just immersing himself in the beauty of the truth that God 621 00:36:22,420 --> 00:36:23,420 has given us. 622 00:36:23,420 --> 00:36:25,300 He cannot be an elder. 623 00:36:25,300 --> 00:36:26,300 Because there's the thing. 624 00:36:26,300 --> 00:36:28,860 Able to teach is not a static skill. 625 00:36:28,860 --> 00:36:32,820 It has to be trained for and it has to be worked at. 626 00:36:32,820 --> 00:36:35,060 It's like an athlete. 627 00:36:35,060 --> 00:36:40,060 You can look at an athlete in a particular moment and you can say, man, that he is fine. 628 00:36:40,060 --> 00:36:43,500 He's physically gifted and he is fit and he is fluid. 629 00:36:43,500 --> 00:36:44,500 But guess what? 630 00:36:44,500 --> 00:36:48,140 If he doesn't keep training, what happens? 631 00:36:48,140 --> 00:36:49,980 It eventually falls away. 632 00:36:49,980 --> 00:36:54,460 And every athlete gets too old and you see what happens, right? 633 00:36:54,460 --> 00:36:58,380 He's got to keep at it or that fitness and that fluidity are going to drop off. 634 00:36:58,380 --> 00:37:04,140 So what determines the long-term success of an athlete are his daily habits, his routines, 635 00:37:04,140 --> 00:37:08,220 how committed he is to practicing and putting in the hours to train. 636 00:37:08,220 --> 00:37:12,580 And it's the same thing with teachers and preachers of God's word. 637 00:37:12,580 --> 00:37:17,620 Their knowledge base and the skills they've cultivated over years and decades, they have 638 00:37:17,620 --> 00:37:19,140 to keep going. 639 00:37:19,140 --> 00:37:21,620 And a preacher should be getting better over the years. 640 00:37:21,620 --> 00:37:26,180 A teacher should be growing and getting better at this the more he trains and the more he 641 00:37:26,180 --> 00:37:27,180 disciplines himself. 642 00:37:27,180 --> 00:37:29,420 I once heard a funny story. 643 00:37:29,420 --> 00:37:30,740 I don't know if you know this. 644 00:37:30,740 --> 00:37:36,100 If you know who John Piper is, he admitted once a very embarrassing thing. 645 00:37:36,100 --> 00:37:40,620 When he was a young man in his 20s, he went to seminary, he got a C minus in his preaching 646 00:37:40,620 --> 00:37:42,100 class. 647 00:37:42,100 --> 00:37:48,420 He got the lowest grade in the entire preaching class. 648 00:37:48,420 --> 00:37:54,020 And yet he preached into his mid 70s and just retired fairly recently. 649 00:37:54,020 --> 00:37:57,060 And he got better and better as the years went by. 650 00:37:57,060 --> 00:38:01,140 That is discipline, that is a habit, that is training, that is practice. 651 00:38:01,140 --> 00:38:06,500 And by the way, in scripture, Timothy is given to us as a great example of this principle. 652 00:38:06,500 --> 00:38:09,700 In 1 Timothy 4, Paul gives him this advice. 653 00:38:09,700 --> 00:38:17,220 He says, until I come, Timothy, give attention to the public reading of scripture. 654 00:38:17,220 --> 00:38:20,900 Give attention to exhortation and to teaching. 655 00:38:20,900 --> 00:38:24,260 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you. 656 00:38:24,260 --> 00:38:25,260 Look at this. 657 00:38:25,260 --> 00:38:26,660 Practice these things. 658 00:38:26,660 --> 00:38:31,740 Hey, young men, you feel called to be a teacher? 659 00:38:31,740 --> 00:38:32,740 Practice these things. 660 00:38:32,740 --> 00:38:39,060 Be absorbed in them so that your progress will be evident to all. 661 00:38:39,060 --> 00:38:42,260 And then later in 2 Timothy, he writes this. 662 00:38:42,260 --> 00:38:45,420 Rekindle the gift of God in you. 663 00:38:45,420 --> 00:38:49,740 Fan into flame what God has put in you. 664 00:38:49,740 --> 00:38:50,740 You got to train for this. 665 00:38:50,740 --> 00:38:51,900 You got to be disciplined for it. 666 00:38:51,900 --> 00:38:53,380 You got to practice it. 667 00:38:53,380 --> 00:38:56,740 You have a gift, Timothy, but you can't neglect it. 668 00:38:56,740 --> 00:38:57,740 You got to get to work. 669 00:38:57,740 --> 00:39:00,100 You got to immerse yourself in these things, right? 670 00:39:00,100 --> 00:39:04,660 And as you do that, the saints under your care will see your progress. 671 00:39:04,660 --> 00:39:07,740 They will see you growing in maturity. 672 00:39:07,740 --> 00:39:11,620 And I hope when the day comes that I retire from preaching that people will come up and 673 00:39:11,620 --> 00:39:17,620 say, you know what, Jeff, over time, I actually saw you get better at this. 674 00:39:17,620 --> 00:39:23,540 I hope that that's true, that we saw that your progress was evident to all of us, and 675 00:39:23,540 --> 00:39:27,620 because of your faithful teaching, we were drawn in not to you, but into the text of 676 00:39:27,620 --> 00:39:28,620 Scripture. 677 00:39:28,620 --> 00:39:29,620 OK. 678 00:39:29,620 --> 00:39:35,580 Now, you see a term there on the screen, which I have to address before we wrap up. 679 00:39:35,580 --> 00:39:38,940 Spiritual gift, the spiritual gift within you. 680 00:39:38,940 --> 00:39:44,500 So as many of you know, there are several lists of spiritual gifts laid out in the New 681 00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:46,120 Testament letters. 682 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:52,500 And what they are are descriptions of supernatural abilities that the Spirit of God empowers 683 00:39:52,500 --> 00:39:54,060 in certain individuals. 684 00:39:54,060 --> 00:39:55,340 And we all have one. 685 00:39:55,340 --> 00:39:56,340 We all have them. 686 00:39:56,340 --> 00:39:58,140 Some of us have multiple gifts. 687 00:39:58,140 --> 00:40:03,900 It's a supernatural ability that the Spirit of God gives to us in order not to glorify 688 00:40:03,900 --> 00:40:08,700 ourselves, not to say, look how great I am, but to build up the body of Christ, to build 689 00:40:08,700 --> 00:40:10,120 others up. 690 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:13,140 And one of those things is the gift of teaching. 691 00:40:13,140 --> 00:40:18,400 And that means that certain men on an elder team are going to have particularly effective 692 00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:21,340 skills in that area of ministry. 693 00:40:21,340 --> 00:40:25,500 And so in most churches, the men who preach regularly on Sundays are those that have been 694 00:40:25,500 --> 00:40:29,980 recognized as the ones who have the spiritual gift of teaching. 695 00:40:29,980 --> 00:40:31,660 Other elders may not have that gift. 696 00:40:31,660 --> 00:40:35,340 Still, they have to be able to teach, and they will teach in other venues. 697 00:40:35,340 --> 00:40:39,500 They're not going to preach on Sunday, but they're going to excel in other places. 698 00:40:39,500 --> 00:40:45,100 They're going to have a gift, perhaps, in certain areas of oversight and shepherding. 699 00:40:45,100 --> 00:40:47,020 This is true of our elder team here. 700 00:40:47,020 --> 00:40:51,100 Really, there's three of us that are consistently up here in the pulpit. 701 00:40:51,100 --> 00:40:56,100 Myself, Jeff Part II, and Adam. 702 00:40:56,100 --> 00:40:57,100 Right? 703 00:40:57,100 --> 00:40:58,620 The three of us. 704 00:40:58,620 --> 00:41:01,800 And most would say we have the spiritual gift of preaching. 705 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:06,740 But we have four other guys who do teach in other settings, but they excel in areas where 706 00:41:06,740 --> 00:41:08,320 I don't excel. 707 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:10,020 Or Adam doesn't excel. 708 00:41:10,020 --> 00:41:15,500 Things like discipleship and counseling and worship and hospitality, so many things. 709 00:41:15,500 --> 00:41:19,620 And what you want to look for on an elder team is not a bunch of carbon copies who all 710 00:41:19,620 --> 00:41:23,860 do the same thing, but a variety of gifts and skills. 711 00:41:23,860 --> 00:41:27,140 A well-rounded elder team that can do all of those things. 712 00:41:27,140 --> 00:41:28,660 I don't do everything well. 713 00:41:28,660 --> 00:41:30,540 None of us does everything well. 714 00:41:30,540 --> 00:41:33,420 But we have gifts given to us by the Lord. 715 00:41:33,420 --> 00:41:37,420 So in terms of my gifting, I've had people ask me, because I am the primary preacher 716 00:41:37,420 --> 00:41:41,820 here, I've had people ask me, Jeff, do you think you have the spiritual gift of teaching? 717 00:41:41,820 --> 00:41:45,340 And I hate that conversation. 718 00:41:45,340 --> 00:41:48,620 And I have talked with the Lord about this for decades. 719 00:41:48,620 --> 00:41:53,020 Like Lord, what am I really gifted at? 720 00:41:53,020 --> 00:41:56,540 And so I'm just going to give myself appraisal. 721 00:41:56,540 --> 00:41:59,660 You ready for this, Tam? 722 00:41:59,660 --> 00:42:04,160 I am not gifted as what you would call a classical preacher. 723 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:05,340 I'm just not. 724 00:42:05,340 --> 00:42:07,660 There's so many things I don't have a great voice. 725 00:42:07,660 --> 00:42:12,020 Have you ever heard a preacher that has one of those voices that just commands the room? 726 00:42:12,020 --> 00:42:13,940 I don't have that voice. 727 00:42:13,940 --> 00:42:15,100 I ask the Lord, why not? 728 00:42:15,100 --> 00:42:17,020 But I don't. 729 00:42:17,020 --> 00:42:21,060 I'm not a warm and fuzzy guy in the pulpit. 730 00:42:21,060 --> 00:42:24,940 Some guys just feel like your grandpa's preaching to you and it just makes you feel all warm. 731 00:42:24,940 --> 00:42:27,980 Yeah, that's not me. 732 00:42:27,980 --> 00:42:31,180 I'm a terrible storyteller. 733 00:42:31,180 --> 00:42:33,860 Even when I have a story to tell, I get ahead of myself. 734 00:42:33,860 --> 00:42:34,860 I speak too fast. 735 00:42:34,860 --> 00:42:37,820 I blow the line at the end. 736 00:42:37,820 --> 00:42:39,060 I'm terrible at it. 737 00:42:39,060 --> 00:42:43,740 I'm really not great at analogies and even worse at illustrations. 738 00:42:43,740 --> 00:42:45,500 Some guys, they just rolls off their tongue. 739 00:42:45,500 --> 00:42:47,620 They've got analogies and illustrations. 740 00:42:47,620 --> 00:42:48,620 That's not me. 741 00:42:48,620 --> 00:42:52,400 And I know my body language up here is just a little strange. 742 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:54,820 I don't even like watching myself. 743 00:42:54,820 --> 00:42:58,100 It's like, please don't film me. 744 00:42:58,100 --> 00:43:01,460 So I'm not a classical preacher. 745 00:43:01,460 --> 00:43:05,140 But what God has seen fit to show me over the years is that there's a few things that 746 00:43:05,140 --> 00:43:09,180 He has put in my heart that are a passion. 747 00:43:09,180 --> 00:43:10,760 This gets me emotional. 748 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:15,940 Number one, an unquenchable desire for more knowledge about God and His word. 749 00:43:15,940 --> 00:43:18,040 I cannot get enough of it. 750 00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:21,100 And that's a gift from the Lord because not every man has that. 751 00:43:21,100 --> 00:43:25,380 Second, a work ethic that drives me to grow and improve at everything that I do. 752 00:43:25,380 --> 00:43:26,680 I'm never satisfied. 753 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:30,740 And I think that's a really nice gift that God has given me, a very strong work ethic 754 00:43:30,740 --> 00:43:35,980 to keep training and working at what He's called me to do. 755 00:43:35,980 --> 00:43:39,180 And then third, and this is something that I've been told by people, I've been told 756 00:43:39,180 --> 00:43:41,260 that I preach like a lawyer. 757 00:43:41,260 --> 00:43:43,540 Is that good or bad? 758 00:43:43,540 --> 00:43:48,820 And it's basically this idea that I can build a case to try to convince you of something, 759 00:43:48,820 --> 00:43:51,740 take you from A to Z, and hopefully convince you of something. 760 00:43:51,740 --> 00:43:58,260 The way I wrote it down here was I have a strange talent for accumulating biblical data 761 00:43:58,260 --> 00:44:03,020 and then synthesizing it into understandable bites and then feeding it to you as a meal 762 00:44:03,020 --> 00:44:04,420 on Sundays. 763 00:44:04,420 --> 00:44:11,260 And really all it is is because I love to study, is I learn myself and I get so excited 764 00:44:11,260 --> 00:44:15,860 by what I'm learning from my life that I can't even sleep Saturday nights because I want 765 00:44:15,860 --> 00:44:19,420 to get here and share with you all that God showed me. 766 00:44:19,420 --> 00:44:23,460 And so it's not the classical gift of preaching that God has given me. 767 00:44:23,460 --> 00:44:24,460 It's just Jeffism. 768 00:44:24,460 --> 00:44:28,460 I need a word for it. 769 00:44:28,460 --> 00:44:29,820 But I'm great, I'm grateful for it. 770 00:44:29,820 --> 00:44:31,940 Listen, I'm not all that special. 771 00:44:31,940 --> 00:44:34,260 And I knew that going into the planning of this church. 772 00:44:34,260 --> 00:44:40,380 So my goal in all of this is just, okay, God, you've wired me to be this very unique way, 773 00:44:40,380 --> 00:44:42,460 so be faithful with that gift. 774 00:44:42,460 --> 00:44:47,700 And just keep working at it and keep serving and use your unique gifts and then you know 775 00:44:47,700 --> 00:44:50,820 what, the results are going to be completely up to the Lord. 776 00:44:50,820 --> 00:44:51,820 Right? 777 00:44:51,820 --> 00:44:53,900 Because that's ultimately what we know about Scripture. 778 00:44:53,900 --> 00:44:58,180 It says that God is the one who gives the growth, not us. 779 00:44:58,180 --> 00:45:01,620 Okay, so that was my Jeff's moment of transparency. 780 00:45:01,620 --> 00:45:05,140 All right, let's finish verse nine now. 781 00:45:05,140 --> 00:45:09,340 Here's one of the reasons why an elder has to hold fast to God's word, so that he will 782 00:45:09,340 --> 00:45:14,260 be able to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. 783 00:45:14,260 --> 00:45:16,140 Listen, here's what this means. 784 00:45:16,140 --> 00:45:18,020 Elders have to be men of courage. 785 00:45:18,020 --> 00:45:19,820 They cannot hesitate. 786 00:45:19,820 --> 00:45:23,020 They've got to be willing to step into situations. 787 00:45:23,020 --> 00:45:27,060 Step in to teach what is true and also counter what is false. 788 00:45:27,060 --> 00:45:29,140 And those are two functions of a shepherd. 789 00:45:29,140 --> 00:45:31,620 We feed and we protect. 790 00:45:31,620 --> 00:45:36,000 And every sheep wants to know that they're being fed well and protected well. 791 00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:39,820 And to do that, once again, they have to be men of the word, not passive, but bold and 792 00:45:39,820 --> 00:45:41,020 confident in the truth. 793 00:45:41,020 --> 00:45:44,100 I'll give you a couple of great quotes from two of my favorite guys on this. 794 00:45:44,100 --> 00:45:50,300 Calvin says this, the overseer ought to have two voices, one for gathering the sheep and 795 00:45:50,300 --> 00:45:53,140 another for driving away wolves and thieves. 796 00:45:53,140 --> 00:45:59,260 The scripture, get that now, the scripture supplies him with the means of doing both 797 00:45:59,260 --> 00:46:01,660 of those things. 798 00:46:01,660 --> 00:46:02,660 That's beautiful. 799 00:46:02,660 --> 00:46:06,380 And then, you know, Luther was always more edgy than Calvin. 800 00:46:06,380 --> 00:46:10,660 Luther says this, a preacher must be both a soldier and a shepherd. 801 00:46:10,660 --> 00:46:13,400 He must nourish, defend, and teach. 802 00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:19,060 And he also must have teeth in his mouth to be able to bite and fight. 803 00:46:19,060 --> 00:46:24,500 Yeah, take a picture of that one. 804 00:46:24,500 --> 00:46:25,500 That's a great one. 805 00:46:25,500 --> 00:46:29,700 Okay, one last summary statement and we'll close the door on our four-week mini-study. 806 00:46:29,700 --> 00:46:33,360 And then I promise next week we're moving on in Titus 1. 807 00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:34,980 Hold me to that. 808 00:46:34,980 --> 00:46:41,140 Listen, have I gotten through to you that church leadership matters? 809 00:46:41,140 --> 00:46:44,860 Have I gotten through to you that appointing elders is one of the most significant things 810 00:46:44,860 --> 00:46:53,340 that a church does, that how a church goes about doing that is massively important and 811 00:46:53,340 --> 00:46:58,300 that they look for the right things in the men that they choose to lead, not on the outside 812 00:46:58,300 --> 00:47:00,900 but what's in the heart. 813 00:47:00,900 --> 00:47:06,060 So I'll say it again, the spiritual maturity of the elders in a local church is either 814 00:47:06,060 --> 00:47:12,540 going to set that church on a path towards health, maturity, and unity, or it's going 815 00:47:12,540 --> 00:47:18,420 to set that church on a path towards compromise, weakness, and division. 816 00:47:18,420 --> 00:47:22,260 Ecclesiology matters, church leadership matters. 817 00:47:22,260 --> 00:47:27,140 And so here at Oak Hills, I said two weeks ago, may we continue to praise the Lord for 818 00:47:27,140 --> 00:47:31,060 the men that he has brought to this body and called to lead in this way. 819 00:47:31,060 --> 00:47:35,660 And can I ask you once again to pray for us, pray for us. 820 00:47:35,660 --> 00:47:37,320 In fact, would you do that with me now? 821 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:41,780 Let's just bow our heads and I'm going to just lead you through a few prayers. 822 00:47:41,780 --> 00:47:46,460 And if you would like, Adam said it so beautifully earlier, he said, don't just listen to me, 823 00:47:46,460 --> 00:47:48,700 pray it, pray it with me. 824 00:47:48,700 --> 00:47:54,340 Ask the Lord with me for these things. 825 00:47:54,340 --> 00:48:03,540 Will you ask the Lord to keep the hearts of our elder team united as one? 826 00:48:03,540 --> 00:48:12,740 Will you ask him to protect us from the enemy's attacks? 827 00:48:12,740 --> 00:48:16,700 Will you ask him to strengthen us for the heavy task that we have in shepherding this 828 00:48:16,700 --> 00:48:22,100 flock? 829 00:48:22,100 --> 00:48:27,820 Will you ask him to help us to be gentle and peaceable with our sheep, but also firm in 830 00:48:27,820 --> 00:48:35,700 our confrontation of sin and falsehood? 831 00:48:35,700 --> 00:48:41,900 Will you ask him to cause us to be men who are respectable inside the church and respected 832 00:48:41,900 --> 00:48:48,100 outside the church by our neighbors? 833 00:48:48,100 --> 00:48:57,880 Will you ask him to give us boldness and confidence as heralds and teachers of the gospel? 834 00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:01,580 And finally, will you ask him to increase in our commitment to be men of the word and 835 00:49:01,580 --> 00:49:07,340 to grow in our passion for both teaching and defending the faith? 836 00:49:07,340 --> 00:49:16,380 Father, we do thank you for these four weeks of spending time in Titus and Timothy and 837 00:49:16,380 --> 00:49:23,140 learning more about how you want your church to be structured and administrated and overseen 838 00:49:23,140 --> 00:49:24,140 and shepherded. 839 00:49:24,140 --> 00:49:29,420 And Lord, I thank you that you have given the elder team at this church a heart to stand 840 00:49:29,420 --> 00:49:34,300 firm on those principles and to not stray and to not bring our own ideas into it, but 841 00:49:34,300 --> 00:49:37,060 to trust your word completely. 842 00:49:37,060 --> 00:49:41,460 So thank you for the great work that you've done over 18 years now as a church, the great 843 00:49:41,460 --> 00:49:45,900 work you've done in providing us with godly men who lead so well. 844 00:49:45,900 --> 00:49:47,460 Thank you, Lord Jesus. 845 00:49:47,460 --> 00:49:49,500 It's only because of you that any of us are here. 846 00:49:49,500 --> 00:49:52,820 It's only because of you that our church is what it is today. 847 00:49:52,820 --> 00:49:57,100 So we praise your name and ask that you would continue now to help us to worship you well. 848 00:49:57,100 --> 00:49:58,100 In Christ's name we pray. 849 00:49:58,100 --> 00:50:17,100 Amen.