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Speaker 1Good morning, everybody. How are y'all? Great. Hey. Have y'all enjoyed the sunshine for the past few days?
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Yeah. Absolutely. How about we stand and sing about it? There's sunshine in my soul today. Hymn number seven forty seven.
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So, Scott, would you come up here and help the help fly this plane? 747?
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Speaker 2Sorry.
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Speaker 1Sorry. Sunshine in my soul today.
2:18
Speaker 2What appropriate song this morning, you know? Springtime out there, sunshine's rolling. Yep. And the Lord is near. Amen?
2:25
Speaker 1Amen. Alright. Amen. How about six seventy? Make me a blessing.
5:41
Sound good this morning. Got few announcements. What's that?
5:46
Speaker 2That's skate song right there.
5:47
Speaker 3Yeah,
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Speaker 1is. We can kind of Scott and I start doing this. It's an everybody skate when it's in six four time. Monday nights, first B is happening tomorrow night. And Carl from the back back there, what's tomorrow night going to be about?
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Speaker 2Oh, thank you. The lost sheep. Lost sheep that is found. And there'll be music and a message and A meal. A meal.
6:12
A really good meal. So just know that the door is always open on Monday nights for you at six. 06:00. 06:00.
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Speaker 1Happens at the same time as Awana is happening. Awana starts in this room right here at 06:00. We have lots of volunteers for Awana and the volunteers are pouring scripture into the minds to get to the hearts of the kids and the kids work on it too. And they work on being able to to recite Bible verses, and they really get a good foundation from that. So Awana, because kids matter to God.
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That happens at 06:00 on Mondays. Tuesday night, we have youth night, middle school and high school together this week, 06:30 to eight. Youth night, Tuesday night. Oh boy, RJ Chuckwagon. They are getting ready to start another season.
6:56
Memorial Day to Labor Day every night and then till the end of September. They're going. Now the first of their show I always like to catch I catch a lot of shows. But I used to. Before I knew these guys, I used to like to see an early show and see a late show and see the evolution of the show from the beginning of the season to the end.
7:18
They always start off the season, the Tuesday after Labor Memorial Day weekend. May 29 of this May 29, this is going be a Tuesday, the gates are going open at 05:30, and they have a silent auction. Y'all know, the ones of you who live here, you know because they've been doing this how long? Thirty something years. Thirty plus, maybe forty, something like that.
7:39
It's close to that. Turning point, Pregnancy Resource Center. This is their annual benefit, and Barjay helps out with that. So it's a silent auction at the beginning. It's going be barbecue beef, adults $25 and age 12 and under is $12 and lap size are free.
7:58
But this is Knights of Columbus and the Bar J and Turning Point. Put this on. It's a great time. So plan on being there. That's a really, really good and fun festive event.
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So plan on that. Rolling River Rampage, Vacation Bible School. Rolling River Rampage. I don't think that they're planning on taking a trip down the Snake, but I don't think so. Rolling River Rampage is the theme this year, and they are going 9AM to noon, June twenty fifth through twenty seventh.
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So put it into your calendars and remember it that we could still use some volunteers. If you need to know more about details, you could see Liz Owings. She's in charge of Children's Church. And yeah, love for you to to be a part of it. Usually, we have about 100 to 120, sometimes more kids.
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So it's a community event. Three days this year, twenty fifth, twenty sixth, twenty seventh, 9AM to noon. And if there are any other announcements, and there are, check-in the bulletin. It's it's written down. We have a way of giving you propositional truth.
8:54
Just hand it off. Y'all hang it up on your refrigerator. Pay attention. There are announcements and prayer requests and all that in the bulletin. Anything else that I'm forgetting?
9:04
Hearing none, we'll go on. Would you stand up and greet one another, and we'll bring you back together with a peppy number at 06:30. But now I belong to Jesus.
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Speaker 2Hymn number five zero
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Speaker 1Y'all can have a seat. I'm to invite the frontline team to come forward and Doyle and Carl also are going to come forward and would you pray with me? God almighty, you're the maker of heaven and earth, and we stand in awe of you, Lord. As we walk through this valley, this literal valley that we're in and we look up at the lofty heights, the mountains, and think that you just did that. Boom.
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Lord, it's amazing to us and we stand in awe of you. Lord, that physical sense of awe that we go through doesn't even compare with the spiritual reality of knowing Christ. The fact that you would reach out in love to us. That we don't deserve it. That you save us.
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It's amazing. Your grace is amazing lord and we want since we have been participants in that grace lord. We've accepted it. Would you use us to to spread it to others? Use our walk.
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Use our way. Use our resources. Right now, we come to the time where we put in these plates and offering lord. Tithes and offerings. What we're saying right now is we want for your good gospel to advance.
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We want to be a part of it, to be invested in it and so God, would you just take this and multiply the gift? I pray that you'd bless the giver and lord, the stewards of this church, the leadership. Would you do your will and your way through this body? In Jesus name, amen.
16:32
Speaker 2So my friend Doyle reminded me of a great song, And we're going to attempt to sing it for you this morning, it's called I'd Rather Have Jesus. Thank you. Thanks.
19:48
Speaker 1Thank you, Dor. And Carl and Judy. So, it's good to be back and I thank you for the grace of allowing me to be last week at my mom and dad's fiftieth anniversary in Georgia. It was nice. My accent has come back in force.
20:08
So, yes. I was talking to some folks from Arkansas right before and it it even pepped up a little bit. So, if I need a translator, I will call on someone, alright? We're gonna be talking today through the first seven verses of the third chapter of first Timothy. Y'all know, most of you, there are quite a few visitors here.
20:25
So, I'll tell you. The way that we have been doing this, I I've been the pastor here for six years. Next month, six years and the first thing that we did was first Peter because I needed that. It's the most pastoral book in the New Testament in my opinion and I needed to see that having been thrust into this position. So, after that, we decided on a scheme and we went through the life of Jesus in the book of John and then the life of the early church in the book of Acts and since then, we've used Acts as a framework for how the New Testament was written in what order and so we're up to first Timothy three one through seven which is probably around sixty four AD.
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So, that's where we are time wise. We've been walking through this together. We've covered three quarters of the New Testament and we're just going to plot on today. So, we're up to first Timothy three. This is the whole enchilada today.
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That's all the verses we're going to cover right there. One through seven. I'm not going to read it all the way through first but I want to start off with a couple of things. First of all, he says at the beginning, this say it today, this this saying is trustworthy and I want you to remember that he said that one time before already in this book. Paul is writing to Timothy.
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He's left Timothy basically in charge of or he has sent Timothy to be in charge of the church at Ephesus and they are experiencing some difficulties. There's false teachers, false doctrine, the rich and the poor are not jiving the way that they ought to be in the body of Christ and there are several issues dealing with widows and issues dealing with how we should act towards one another, getting along with one another is where the rubber hits the road, right? He says, in first Timothy one and fifteen, he says, this saying is trustworthy and if you look at this, this saying is trustworthy. He said it again. It's programmatic.
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He says it four times in this book or three times in this book and once again, in second Timothy, the saying is trustworthy. First off, right out of the box, he says, this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and then in a statement of humility, he says, of whom, I am the foremost. Remember his past. He had opposed the church and actually, when Jesus knocked him down on the road to Damascus and saved him and changed him, he was in opposition to him and he said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Paul had not directly persecuted Christ but he was persecuting the body of Christ and that's persecuting Christ.
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So, this is a trustworthy saying and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Get that right off the bat. First things first, salvation is by Christ alone. And there, he recognized in humility, his sin nature. That's first Timothy 115.
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He starts off in three one with this. This saying is trustworthy. So, it brings that to mind. You can take this to the bank. It's kind of what he's saying.
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Now, I do want to step back for one minute. I didn't put it on the screen but there is one other verse that I want to mention. First Timothy one five and we've been using this at the beginning of each sermon and throughout, I hope, I hope that it actually happens throughout our ministry every Sunday basically whether I say it or not that the aim of our charge is love that issues. Hey, very good. The goal of this command is love which comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
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ESV way of saying that is the aim of our charge is love. Which issues forth from a pure heart, good conscience, and a sincere faith. There you go. Look at you. You are on the game today back there, Blake.
24:19
Thank you. So, this saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer. Overseer, the word for that is epi and scalpos. That is scalpace right there.
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It is singular. It's also masculine. Epi, scalpace. And that means an overseer. Epi is over and seer scope, scalpos.
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To look through what do you look through to see something far off a scope. So episcopas. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, and I do believe because of the grammar that it's talking about an official office, although it can just be someone, I think in Jackson, we have a lot of people that are kind of pan church. I know several that are former pastors that are looking out for the body of Christ in this community and they're carefully and lovingly applying scripture to the way things are going in the church at large here and I like that. I really appreciate that and I think that the unity body is very important and I like it when people do that.
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Speaker 2So, I'm
25:28
Speaker 1fine with people going and seeing and being a part of other churches fellowship and time. It's nice to have a church home but at the same time, I think that the body of Christ is bigger than one local body. We do have in this church the office of overseer and we call em elders. So, I believe in a plurality of leadership and I believe that because of this. I I did not anticipate in the in the between the two sermons that some people do see this as my position being the overseer like a CEO style as there's one because it's singular.
26:03
There's one overseer and then there are deacons below that. That's okay and it's a reasonable interpretation of scripture. I'm going to present it as if anyone in the church aspires to the office of what we call here elders, then, they desire or he desires a noble task. The nobility of the task is really what I'm after here this morning. Therefore, when he starts off with a therefore, you look back, where did that come from?
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It comes from these desirous of or he is striving after, looking forward with great anticipation to a noble task. Therefore, an overseer, any overseer must be above reproach. Now, above reproach, in some of your translation says, blameless. An overseer must be blameless. That is heavy.
27:00
In my experience, if anyone aspires to the office, I don't see a whole lot of people aspiring to the office of overseer. I think part of that is because of James saying not many of you should be teachers but I think it's also just looking at that and seeing the noble task and going, wow, blameless above reproach. I'm not sure. I'm not that. I want to be more godly.
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I want to be more Christ like but it seems like a pretty heavy load to take on and I I assure you it is. He desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach. Now, with the false teachers, the certain persons, he's already called him three times by this point. The certain persons were argumentative people that were trying to push poor doctrine on the people of Ephesus.
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Paul is going against that and saying, it's a noble task. Have you ever seen any sort of political structure in church where people clamor to get to the top so they're over other people and it's power, power, power. It happens. It happens in all human institutions and so, he's saying an overseer, if you're trying to be an overseer, it's not because of what it's going to gain you. It's a noble task and for that reason, they need to be above reproach.
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That's the word in Greek right there. That little particle at the front and I'm going to do a lot of Greek today because I want you to see, I want you to have confidence in the translations that we haven't changed it. I'm not changing it because of my own point of view. I'm trying to just say exactly what it says, okay? So, the A in front is not and then apprehended.
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Someone who would not be apprehended or found guilty, not open to blame. You don't want to pull somebody onto your elder board that is going to be convicted of something. Does that make sense? Not open to blame. One who is morally careful and responsible.
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Not sinless. It does not say sinless. But he lives a life that's governed by morals. And where he does slip up, he promptly admits that to God and he's constantly using. First John one nine, if you are confessing your sins, I'm faithful and just to be forgiven your sins and cleansing you from all unrighteousness.
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So, blameless or above reproach is this. In fact, here's this was in the lexicon. I like the way that it sounded, so I'll put it up there for you. Here's in this above reproach. Here the accuser that's trying to seize someone's character by unjustified censure is shown to be groundless when the matter is understood in its full context.
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Has anybody ever been convicted wrongly? Oh, yeah. Our savior was convicted wrong. Actually, he was declared innocent seven times and still crucified. So, yes, people have made wrong accusations but in the full context, he's not going to be found guilty.
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So, that starts off. The above reproach sets up the rest of these adjectives and there are a lot of em. The husband of one wife. Now, I'm going say tell you exactly what it says. This is what it says.
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Which means of one woman, man. Literally. So, of one wife, husband, it can mean. Gunaikas means woman or wife. Either one, it depends on context.
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If talking about husbands and wives, it's wife. If you're talking about man and woman, it's that. So, I'm not interpreting it. I'm giving you both. Do you understand that?
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That's what it is. It's of one woman man, of one wife husband. We would probably say it a man of one woman or a husband of one wife. That's what it says. It is probably best understood as a one woman man.
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Does that make sense? He's faithful to his wife or partner. He's faithful. That is what characterizes his life. He's above reproach.
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He doesn't cheat. Does that make sense? Okay. Sober minded. Sober minded.
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That word is this. Literally, it means not intoxicated. So free from negative influences or intoxicants. Figuratively, it's someone who is clear minded or circumspect and hence sober. They're clear minded.
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They're free from any life dominating influences. So that could be any sort of addiction. It could be any sort of preoccupation that just takes you away, takes your heart away, and keeps you from walking clear mindedly. Does that make sense? Sober minded.
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Self controlled. Do you see how this is going? It's above reproach. Not a cheater. Not overcome with life consuming problems, desires, or addiction.
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Self controlled. Sofrona, acting in God's definition of balance. It means, someone who is genuinely temperate, well balanced from God's perspective and true balance, I should say, is not a one size all and it's not blandly static. Some of the criticism of this is you gotta be completely middle of the road, have no personality whatsoever, and you are just plain boring. Okay?
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That's that's not it. It is based on personality. There certainly can be some personality there, but it needs to be balanced. Sofron describes a man who does not command himself but rather is commanded by God. Does that make sense?
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Okay. And I'm just shooting straight this morning. This is what it says. Respectable. Respectable is something that in Greek society was a very good thing too.
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Respectable, usually respectable is a good thing no matter what. Cosmion, the Greeks, as do I, but the Greeks saw the world as being a world of order. Like the planets are going around and they could be something that you look up and you know what's going to happen based on the fact that that's what happens. It's well ordered, literally, well ordered, decent, virtuous, orderly, well prepared. Cosmion comes from the word cosmos which is the universe is an orderly system and so the person must be well ordered, modest, decent, virtuous, or orderly.
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Hospitable. I like this. Hospitable, the word for that. I love, I love Greek especially when it's something that you can remember. Remember this one.
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We've heard a lot about xenophobia in the news lately. Xenophobia is the fear of outsiders. Hospitality is the opposite of that. It is phylo xenon. It is brotherly love.
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Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love, right? Delphos, Philos. Philaeo, brotherly love towards strangers, outsiders, people that you don't know. It's pretty good. That's the definition of hospitality.
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It's not just being able to set a good table. It's wanting to for people you don't even know. This church, I will say, treated us with great hospitality from the very first time we came in. We support missionaries that got here on planes that were supposed, they thought were going to Jackson, Mississippi. Really, that's not a joke.
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So, I think that that's one of em that resonates here in this body but a brotherly love towards outsiders or strangers to be hospitable. I like that. Able to teach. So for the past couple of absences of my absences, I've I've missed because I was in Guatemala on a mission trip and then I missed from my parents' fiftieth anniversary. At one of those times, we had Todd Lampa who's the head elder or overseer right now And the other time we had Carl who is also one of our overseers.
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And those guys, I believe, are able to teach. I listened to the tape. I think they're able to teach. Do you all agree? Yeah, they did a good job.
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I think that they handled the word well and they both handled it with humility. So able to teach is deducticon. Deducticon means able to teach or apt, not just able but apt to teach and it's not just upfront. If someone were to come to one of these overseers and say, I have a life dominating problem or an addiction or something that someone has done to me that has caused me harm. Would you help me through it?
35:16
Then, these people are able to teach, to point back to God's word and say, look at this. If it's sin, they may take em to Psalm 51 and say, this is where David admitted to God he was in sin. If it's something where someone has harmed you greatly, it might take em to Psalms and say, this is that or to the New Testament and say, blessed are you when all manner of evil things is said about you for his name's sake. You know what I'm saying? It's able to teach through the situation to counsel, to be able to shed God's light on the situation, apt or able to teach.
35:51
It's where we get our English word didactic. A didactic presentation is one of teaching. Three, verse three, not a drunkard and the word, we don't use the word drunkard a whole lot. We usually say drunk, not a drunk, right? Not a drunkard.
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I want you to see what it actually says. May Paroinan. May Paroinan is the Greek and I'll show you all the translations that I felt like looking up. Not a drunkard, ESV. Not given to drunkenness is the NIV, New International.
36:24
He must not be a heavy drinker. Very plain spoken. The New Living Translation. Not dependent on wine. The BLB, the Berean Study Bible.
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Not given to wine. King James and the Young's Living. Not addicted to wine. That's the new American standard. 1970 and 1994.
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The HCSB, the Holman Christian Standard Bible says, not addicted to wine. And he does not transgress concerning wine. The APE, that's not an eight. That is the Aramaic Bible in plain English. Not a drinker.
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I think this one goes too far. WEB, the World English Bible says, not a drinker and though I understand the sentiment in the same book, Paul says to Timothy, listen, Timothy, you're having trouble with your stomach. Drink a little wine for your stomach. He says that. I think that last one went a little far.
37:19
It strayed from what it says. This is what it says. Literally, Not, the is a negative particle, close beside wine. Not close beside the wine. It's not somebody who lingers over and says, nobody's looking.
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I'm going to have another. Okay? Sneaking it. Not admitting to themselves or others that they have a problem with it. So, not a drunkard is a really good translation and it's not saying that you can't be a Christian and also struggle in that area.
37:48
You can be and there are plenty of people who are. It does say though that you're not the best choice for overseer. Not a drunkard. In fact, following close on the heels of not a drunkard, it says not violent because does wine usually lead somewhere? Yeah.
38:04
It amplifies personality and the importance of each situation and a lot of times it ends in violence. Not a drunkard, not violent. May, platane. May, not, platane, a striker, something that strikes or hits, not a brawler, not a contentious person is the way one translation puts it but ESV says not violent. I like not a striker because that's some somebody that's not likely to hit.
38:33
Dave's been umping and refereeing ball games forever. Have you ever seen a fist fight? Really? Oh, very good. That's good.
38:43
That's right. That's good. I have been to church league softball in the South and I have seen a fist fighter too. Yeah. Not a striker.
38:52
There are a few folks that disqualified themselves from being elders right at home plate. Not a striker, not a brawler, not a contentious person, not violent. Do you know what a plectrum is? A plectrum is a guitar pick or anything that you use to strike the strings of a stringed instrument. So a plectrum or a plectra if they're more than one, plectrums, is a striker.
39:15
It's something you use to strike the strings. And so I like to have things that make it go in, you know, stick there. But not a striker, not violent. Holla. Holla.
39:28
That's the word for but and I like to see that because when we're going down that path and it say, not this, not this, not this, but gentle. Do you know what gentle means? Seriously, you know what gentle means? Good because I didn't define that one. Gentle means gentle, okay?
39:47
It's the opposite of drunkenness because when people are drinking, gentleness is not usually on their mind. There might be some who are soft and somber but gentleness is the opposite of it. Not a contentious person that brawls but gentle, not quarrelsome. So, it doesn't just have to be fisticuffs or not pugnacious but somebody who's always, always, always quarreling. Like, when you say black, they say white.
40:17
When you argue one side of a point, they argue the other. Quarrelsome is not what we're looking for in an overseer. Now, devil's advocate, I don't mind a devil's advocate coming with a reasonable presentation but if always, they're just a contrarian, always, without looking for common ground or trying to seek to find truth, they're just argumentative, probably not the best person or an overseer. Does that make sense? Paul's instructions to Timothy, not mine.
40:47
I'm just reporting what he said, okay? Amakhan. Amakhan. That A in the front is another negative particle it means not quarrelsome. Sorry, I missed that one.
40:58
Not the next one. I like this. I feel I. Crew nine. Not the first A there.
41:08
Philaeo, a lover of brotherly lover of Argias, silver, not a lover of money. That cannot be their primary concern. What they're known by is they're always looking to make a buck. Always trying to make a buck. So, that's that.
41:26
It's a long list. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, husband of one wife, a one woman man, sober minded, self controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money. Does that give a picture right there of what an overseer should look like? It does. He must manage his household well.
41:50
Now, this is interesting because in this time, we typically think of our household as mom, dad, and kids, right? But in this time, a household was father, wife, kids, slaves, workers, anybody that was within their ground. So it's if you're an employer, it's your employees. If you're an employer, it's your business too. So he must manage his own household well.
42:18
With all dignity, keeping his children submissive. Now, this is a bit, I believe, has been taken wrongly for a long time. The with all dignity can grammatically go with either keeping his children submissive or he must manage his household well with all dignity. I think that ESV has it right, right here. He must manage his own household well with all dignity.
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Does that make sense? Keeping his children submissive because they look up to their father who loves them and takes care of them, provides, and teaches, and instructs. Rather than, he must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and with all dignity like the kids that that goes with them. Does that make sense? That he rules with an iron fist.
43:03
Think this is right. He is a dignified man. Now, can it be that you do things just according to the Bible and exactly like you believe God wants for you to do and still have your kids go wayward. It can. It can happen.
43:16
It does happen. It's frustrating when it happens but you know what? People can weather the storm with Christ even when kids are going wayward. Trusting in the principle that train up the child in the way that they should go and when they're old, they won't depart from it. You trust in that.
43:35
It doesn't always go that way but with all dignity, doing all you can, keeping the children submissive. For, if someone does not know how to manage his own household, which is a microcosm of church, if you're a believing husband with a believing wife and you want to raise up believing kids, then, you need to be treating that like a little church. How then will he care for God's church? The care for right there caught my eye too. That's a word that's unusual.
44:04
You don't see it very often. This is the word. It's used two other times in the New Testament and I like this because it gives a picture of how we as overseers should care for the body of Christ. It comes from Luke but a Samaritan as he journeyed came to where this man who had been beaten and robbed was lying naked beside the road. He came to where he was and when he saw him, he had compassion.
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He went to him and he bound up his wounds, pouring oil, and wine, and then he set him on his own animal, and he brought him to an inn, and he took care of him. That's the same word. This is how overseers are to take care of the church and the next day, he took out two Denaria. That's a day's wages. Two days wages actually and gave them to an innkeeper saying, take care of him and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.
45:02
That's the kind of care that Samaritan, good Samaritans care is the way that overseers are supposed to take care of God's flock. Now, next word, may, neo futon. May, neo futon. I've told you, negative particle out front. May means not and then neo futon.
45:21
Neo futon. Not a new futon. Not a new futon, Really? I will just say that as a 260 man, I have destroyed a lot of futons. I would say just lay the mattress on the floor.
45:37
Alright? It's much more comfortable and I don't have to buy you a new futon after it's over. Not a new futon. It's actually not a new phyton. Phyton is not a neophyte, if you know that word in English, not a neophyte, which means not newly planted.
45:54
Someone who is a recent convert. He must not be a recent convert. Do you remember Jesus's sermon on the four types of soil? When he says, you know, some falls on the rocky way and some falls in this and some falls in shallow ground and some falls in good earth. Well, a recent convert and that that fell on shallow ground look exactly the same for a while and Paul is saying, in accordance with Jesus's teaching, must not be a recent convert.
46:21
Now, is his salvation sure and true? It's hard to say. Jesus says, that the seed goes out, some of it falls in good earth, and you can tell that in time and some of it falls on shallow ground where it blooms up and it looks exactly the same for a while but the roots do not go deep and the sun goes and it is. Not a true conversion. So, he must not be a recent convert.
46:50
Now, there are recent converts that would make great elders except for this and Paul says, it must not be a neophyte, a new conversion just out of the sake of we're trying to set things up to go well. What happens when somebody gets into a position and they are asked because of their dramatic transformation to immediately be a leader of the church. Well, Paul goes on and tells us why. Why must it not be a recent convert? He says, he may become puffed up with conceit and pride does what?
47:24
It goes before a fall according to Peter and you and he may fall into the condemnation of the devil. Now, the condemnation of the devil could be the same condemnation that the devil has fallen into and why did he fall into it? Pride. I'll make myself like the most high. God says, no.
47:40
You won't. He took him out. So, he must not be a recent convert or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Other people see that slightly different. It's subjective versus objective and it's saying and they may fall into what is basically a trap that was set by the devil which is pride.
48:01
I I like the first one. I think that makes more sense with context that you may fall into the exact same condemnation of the devil because of your pride and God resist the proud. We see this three times exactly in this form in the New Testament. We see it multiple times in multiple stories in the Old Testament. God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble.
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All of these attributes square very well with humility and not with pride. They don't go with pride at all. Last verse, moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders. Non Christians, non believers, those who are not of the body need to think well of anyone who is to be an overseer. Now, this verse kind of circles back around and caps off what this said in the second verse.
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Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach. It's some somebody that is not open to blame that people generally think well of outside. I've heard a lot of people saying, we're supposed to be peculiar people. We're supposed to not make any sense whatsoever to the folks outside. Well, how are you going to draw em in?
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If you're just a crazy religious fanatic nutso, right? You need to have a good reputation outside that you are sober minded and respectable and clear thinking, you know, balanced, generous, careful. He mustn't be thought of well by outsiders and why is that? Well, I put the why because Paul answers it. He says, so that he may not fall into disgrace.
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Now, how many of y'all have seen a leader in either the church or the television church that has fallen? Yeah, we see it and the news media make a big circus about it every single time. Fallen into disgrace. It's a snare of the devil. It is.
50:00
He wanted to make himself like the most high. Now, wants to take down anybody he can with him. Get a higher opinion of yourself than you ought. Be filled with pride and that is a snare of the devil. So, he must be well thought of by outsiders.
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We want to be winsome. We want to be attractive to outsiders, to live an ordered life that is God ordered, that has peace, that passes understanding, and love that just flows out. Gentleness that people know that you're not going to slap em with the scripture. You're going to love them into the family. Show em the comfort of God.
50:37
So, back to verse one, the saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Now, at this time, the people who are looking for influence and power and control in Ephesus weren't seeing the nobility of the task. They were seeing how the power, fame, and glory would work for them and that's not a good place to be. It's not good for the church.
50:58
It's it's definitely not good for the person, the overseer that's looking for that office. It's a noble task to be caring for the same way the good Samaritan cared for that guy. It's good, good, a good task. So, I'm going to mention a couple other things before I go. This is from first Samuel 16 and he was talking about the Lord's anointed king, right?
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When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, surely, the Lord's anointed is before him but the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature because I, God, have rejected him. For God sees not as man sees and man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. I'm saying all this to balance what I've said. Everything that he listed is an outward trait that we can see. All of those things in that list, it's things that we can see.
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Not a drunkard. Doesn't cheat on his wife. Now, he might be slick or sly about it but when you talk to people and you you're saying, listen, we're considering you for elder. Is there anything that you know of from this list in first Timothy? And this list from Titus, is there anything that you know of that disqualifies you from this position?
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And let's have a conversation about it. Let's talk about that. We try to get at the heart but still we're really looking at the outward appearance. So, where we fail by being overly judgmental, I recognize that there are some that are elder quality people because they have a heart that's after God but because of this lift and because we are going for it as best we can biblically, it exempts people. That doesn't mean that God's not for you.
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It doesn't mean that you won't have great and tremendous influence within the body of Christ. It just means that your problem may not be the best one. Matthew, Jesus says this in Matthew, let your light shine before men in such a way that they, others, outsiders, everybody may see your good works and they may glorify your father who is in heaven. So, it really does matter. The outward appearance stuff does make a difference.
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It makes a difference not just within the church but outside of it too. James says, even so, if it has no works, faith is dead being by itself but someone may say, well, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works. So, outward appearances do actually make a difference. Does that make sense?
53:37
It shows what it is that you believe. And I'll end with this again. The aim of our charge as limited and human and finite as we are being men. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. So, that's what we're taking all of this in and when we are sitting in an elders meeting, considering direction for the church and talking about it amongst the elder boy, we're thinking, what about this fellow?
54:04
What about this guy? And we pray about it and we think about it. We come around this, pure heart, good conscience, sincere faith and then we talk to him and to this point, every time that I've approached anybody about being an elder, all of them have said, oh, gracious. It's too heavy a task. I don't think that I can do that.
54:22
It's I'm not, one of them said I'm not old enough. I think he might have said I'm not tall enough too but he had a lot of excuses but we put him on there anyway. Because outside, what we can see shows the heart and we believe that he was to be there. I'd ask you, if you would be praying for the elders as we seek to make good and godly decisions as we go forward. Now, this message, it it really at verse 13 but if you ever watch Happy Days or any of those other sitcoms where they had thirty minutes to tell a story and then some stories an hour long at the very end, the dreaded frame to be continued comes up.
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This is a to be continued message. I've got the rest of the message next week. It'll get us up to verse 13 and we'll talk about deacons and wives slash women, alright? That's coming next week. Anything else?
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I think that's it. Black blank screen means it's over. Would you all stand with me And we'll sing. I think he is lord. Is that what we're singing?
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He is lord. And I pray that this is a statement of humility too that he is lord. We're looking to Jesus to make the decisions for the church as a body and not looking for our own interests. So, it goes. Here is he is lord.
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Thank you,
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Speaker 2Oh, key change. He is lord. He is lord. He is risen from the dead and he is
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Speaker 3lord. Every knee shall bow
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Speaker 2every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord
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Speaker 1and now for the benediction, may the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another and in accord with Christ Jesus that together, you may with one voice glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. May he bless this week and make you a blessing to someone. I pray. Amen.
