Opening Scripture Reading
Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3, our focus is on verses 4 to 7. We've noticed the qualifications for elders in the church. We've noted the man's desire for eldership in verse 1, the man's personal holiness last time in verses 2 to 3. So tonight we'll take up the man's domestic faithfulness, verses 4 and 5, the man's experience in the faith, verse 6, and the man's testimony toward outsiders in verse 7.
And then God willing, we'll conclude this study next Sunday night going back to verse 2, the man's ability to teach. So I'll read 1 Timothy chapter 3, and then we'll pray and look at it in some detail. So beginning in verse 1, this is a faithful saying. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous,
The Qualification: Ruling His House Well
one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest, being puffed up with pride, he fall in the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Likewise, deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested, then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children in their own house as well.
For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I am delayed, I write, so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for this wonderful list of qualifications. We know that Christ has not left the church blind. You've not left us wondering what it is we are to seek with reference to leadership in the local church.
We give all praise to You for revealing that blessed mind so that we may seek by grace to build on a foundation that is solid, a foundation that is rooted in Scripture and good theology. and hopefully to bring glory and praise and honor to you. We ask for your blessing upon this church. May you help us all to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. And may you indeed raise up men for eldership, for diaconate.
We pray, God, that we would know the blessings of officers that function biblically, that you again would be glorified in these things. Forgive us now for all of our sins. Wash us in that precious blood of the Lamb and guide us by the Spirit now, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, as I said, we're going to look specifically at the domestic faithfulness of the man, his experience, and then as well as testimony toward those who are outside.
Introduction
So first, with reference to the man's domestic faithfulness, you
The Man's Domestic Faithfulness
notice the qualification concerning his household in verse 4. And then there's an argument concerning his household in verse 5. So verse 4 tells us simply, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence, and then a lesser to the greater argument in verse 5 to ground that necessity in verse 4. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?
Our Lord taught us that he who is faithful in little is faithful in much. And so Paul's argument seems to hinge on this. If he's not faithful in little, well then don't exalt him into something that is much. In other words, if he isn't tried and proven with reference to domestic faithfulness, then he ought not to lead in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's simple and basic biblical logic. But in terms of the qualification concerning his household, notice what the apostle says in verse 4. One who rules his own house well. Not just that he does it, but he has to do it well.
And when you parse out that idea of ruling well, I think it demands on the part of men who lead in the life of God's church, and for all of us as men, and for all of us as women, again, these things ought not to be, wow, this is only consolidated to one group of guys in the life of the church. This is everybody's aspiration. This should be all of our pursuit. This should be all of us desiring to live in a manner like this.
But the wellness there, I think, demands time. The man must be familiar with his family. I know it seems odd, but he must actually know them. He must spend time with them.
I think it demands energy. He's got to get off the couch and actually spend time with his family. I think it demands sacrifice. Oftentimes, men who aspire to the eldership like to read books.
I always counsel them to get up early or stay up late. Don't take that time away from your family. In other words, you're not ruling well if you're cloistered away in your closet simply reading through the works of John Owen. You've got to spend time.
You've got to spend energy. You've got to sacrifice, and you have to make effort in order to rule well. This doesn't just happen, it takes active participation on the part of the man that is being recognized as an elder in the life of God's church. And as well, with reference to the qualification concerning his household, it speaks specifically to the children or with reference to children in verse 4, but we assume that the man is married.
Remember, all the way back in verse 2, we learned that he needs to be the husband of one wife. He needs to be a one-woman man. Remember the sort of parallel or thematic connection in 1 Timothy 5, verse 9. Do not let a widow under 60 years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man.
She's been a one-man woman. And certainly this speaks to sexual fidelity, certainly this speaks to chastity in a godly context of Christian marriage, not chastity as if there was nothing, but chaste behavior relative to those outside the covenant bond of marriage. And so when it comes to this ruling well, as I mentioned last week, if you are the one woman for one man, be what scripture says you ought to be. I cited Ezekiel 24, 16, where God tells Ezekiel, I'm going to take the desire of your eyes.
You're not to mourn. You're not to weep. You're not to lament. It was an illustration, it was a picture, it was a symbol or an emblem for Old Covenant Israel.
God was going to destroy their temple through the means of Babylon, and they were not to mourn, they were not to lament, they were not to weep. But it is intriguing that God to the prophet Ezekiel doesn't say, your wife. He doesn't say, you know, Rebecca or whatever her name was, Mrs. Ezekiel.
He says, the desire of your eyes. I quoted John Gill. Gill says, meaning his wife, who very probably was of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look to. However, of an amiable disposition and in her conjugal relation, very agreeable to the prophet and no doubt a truly religious woman and upon all accounts desirable to him.
So with reference to, again, generally speaking, not specifically consolidated with reference to the qualifications for elders, but we're, most of us, married. And if we are the one woman for the one man, then by God's grace, we should strive to be the woman that God's called us to be. We should strive to be faithful. We should strive to be obedient.
We should strive to honor our men. We should strive to be reverent toward them. We should seek to keep the home. We should seek to keep the peace.
We should seek to make sure that all those things are in place. And if you roll your eyes internally, this is what God calls you to. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. Wives, be submissive to your own husbands as unto the Lord.
Make sure that you honor him. Make sure that you respect him. All those things are not up for grabs. They're not negotiable items.
Well, you know, I don't have a predilection towards submission, so I'm going to run this roost. No, that is not your option. As a woman married to a man, you are bound and should be determined to do exactly what it is that God has called you to. And conversely, for the men in our church, if we're the one man for a one woman, then we strive to be what God has called us to be.
Self-sacrifice, loving leadership, not tyranny, not despotism, not that kind of authoritarianism that oftentimes gets mistaken as some sort of good leadership, no. You are the authority, but your reign is a reign of love, it's kindness, it's graciousness, it's Christ-likeness, and certainly firmness, and of course, making sure that the ship gets where it's supposed to get. But this is the emphasis here. And as well, just by way of a sideline sort of an application, the importance of a good wife to an elder.
Oftentimes ministry can be a lonely place to be. And if the man doesn't have camaraderie at home, it's going to be doubly difficult. If he doesn't have the kind of wife that Susanna was to Charles Spurgeon, it's going to be a struggle. He oftentimes got castigated in the press.
He oftentimes got ridiculed. He oftentimes got all kinds of insults hurled his way. I mean, it was intriguing. The papers in London at that time would print articles about how bad C.H.
Spurgeon was. There was a situation in a time when he preached and somebody yelled, fire, and several people were trampled. The brother went into a dark depression after that, as I imagine any of us would. But you know what she did?
She had made a sign or a picture or some sort of a printing and put it on their wall. It was Matthew 5, 11, and 12. Blessed are you when men persecute you. She knew what he was going through.
She knew the hardships. She knew the travail and the afflictions, and she was there to minister to him. So with reference to the importance of a good wife to an elder, it's important because, as I said, the ministry can be lonely and the ministry needs or the minister needs a good help me. I'm not, you know, sort of roundabout way telling Rebecca how she should behave tonight.
And another thing and another thing, lobster every Friday night and a nice medium rare steak. But, you know, this is where we're at. You know, fella's got a job out in the world and it's good to come home to peace, isn't it? Do you guys not like that?
I do. So I would suggest he needs a good helpmeet, he needs food, he needs order, he needs peace, and he needs conjugal relations. Those things are requisite in a godly marriage. Those things are necessary.
Again, stepping out from the qualifications for elders with this vital observation that everything that's stated here or specified here ought to be the pursuit of every Christian man. And the converse, for every Christian woman, the same sorts of things obtained. None of us should read 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verses 1 to 7 and say, wow, I'm so glad I have no aspirations for eldership. I'm so glad that I'll never be an elder because I don't have to be temperate.
I can be a winebibber. I can be greedy for money. I can be not sober-minded. I can be not of good behavior.
Of course not. We read these things and we see how consistent they are with the entire orbit of Christian ethics. But in the man that's being considered for eldership in the context of Christ's church, there must be demonstrable evidence that he's engaged in this way. Again, not perfection.
Not absolute purity. There's one hero in the scripture. We need the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. But in terms of his relationship to his wife, it's a good one.
It can stand up. It can deal with the afflictions. It can deal with the trials. It can deal with the difficulties and the challenges associated oftentimes with gospel ministry.
And so then moving on,
The Subjection of His Children
notice the subjection of his children. Having his children in submission with all reverence, the apostle says here specifically. He rules his own house well, so we imply or infer that of course that means his relationship with his wife, because he is after all a one woman man, but then specifically relative to his children, having his children in submission with all reverence. You can turn to Titus chapter one.
Titus 1, to see a comparable or parallel statement. Titus 1.6, if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination. Faithful there, I think, is good. The NIV translates it, believing.
And some teach that, that a man can't be an elder unless his children are born again, unless his children are regenerate. Well, brethren, again, I don't think that that's a tenable situation because we don't have control over whether or not our children are born again. We don't have the ability and the power and the efficacy of the Holy Spirit to change their hearts. I think faithful in terms of obedience and in terms of not hog wild is specifically what the apostle has in view here.
I think a good sort of summation statement would be having faithful children who are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. His children are not perfect, no children are. His children are not spotless, no children are. His children don't sort of float because they're so holy and they can't touch the earth beneath them.
They're under control. They are disciplined. They are dealt with. They are loved.
They are governed. They are ruled. They are led. And again, I think it envisages children that are under his direct authority in the home.
If a man has a child that's 25 years old and is out in the world doing horrible things, we've got to be careful that we blame all of that upon the man. But at the same time, with reference to the children that are in the home, this is what Paul says in terms of the man who has aspirations for eldership. Having his children in submission with all reverence. George Knight, I think, gets at it well.
He says, what must not characterize the children of an elder is immorality and undisciplined rebelliousness. If the children are still at home and under his authority, Paul is not asking any more of the elder and his children than is expected of every Christian father and his children. However, only if a man exercises such proper control over his children may he be an elder." See, Knight says the same thing. This isn't, you know, just one class of people need to make sure they control their children.
Just one group within the context of the church has to control their children. All the rest of you, your kids can do whatever. They can hang off that balcony. They can throw the clock like it's a Frisbee.
They can knock into older people and bang them up and knock them down. That's fine because you're not an elder and you don't have aspiration. Of course not. This ought to be the goal.
This ought to be the pursuit. This ought to be the rule in every one of our homes where there are children. Having his children in submission with all reverence.
Negative and Positive Examples
Two classic examples of this negatively is Eli in 1 Samuel 3. We're told in 2.12 his sons did not know the Lord. We're told in chapter 2 that they lay with temple prostitutes. We're told in chapter 2 that they stole the sacrifices of worshipers that were coming to offer up sacrifice to God.
That's just low at any read on that. You're in bad shape if you're stealing somebody's meat that they brought to offer up to God. They did all that. Eli knew.
He had heard reports. But according to 1 Samuel 3.13, guess what he didn't do? He didn't restrain them. What's the implication?
He should have restrained them. He should have brought them into consistent application of having his children in submission with all reverence. Now brethren, the positive example is Abraham in Genesis 18, 19. For I have known him, Yahweh says, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him.
I know him. He does command his children. He does have his servants under control. He is a man that exercises this sort of leadership within the context of his home.
His domestic faithfulness is obvious. So,
The Lesser-to-Greater Argument
verse 4 is the qualification concerning his household. Verse 5 is the argument. Again, it's the nature of a lesser to greater. Notice in verse 5, for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?
You've got to see the shift in language there. He rules his house. He doesn't rule the church. He takes care of it.
There's one ruler of the church, and it's our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus rules specifically the very house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth. Elders don't rule in the church the way they do in their homes. So the language specifically, rule, means to exercise a position of leadership, rule, direct, be the head of.
He must do that relative to his own home. He must do that with reference to domestic faithfulness. The elder, notice, takes care of the house of God. Christ rules the church.
Elders take care of the house of God. Matthew Poole describes it thus, for if a man has a family and has showed that he neither has wit nor honesty enough to govern that little society which has his constant presence with it, With what reason can anyone presume that he should be fit to be trusted with the care of the church of God, which is a larger society, with all the members of which he is not so constantly present, and over whom he has not such a coercive power, and as to whom a far greater care must be taken? The coercive power is located in the father relative to his children. He calls upon them to obey.
He has the coercive power handed to him by the Most High, the rod and reproof. The elder doesn't have that coercive power with reference to the flock of God. The argument is simple. If he's not faithful in the little, why would you entrust him to be faithful with the much?
Why would you graduate him? This is why I always say, with reference to eldership, if a man's not a good churchman, why would you promote him? If a man's not consistently faithfully at every means of grace, every opportunity to come to church, if he's not the sort of guy that's faithful and consistent and punctual and all those sorts of things, why in the world would you give him government in the context of the church? He needs to take care by His example.
He needs to take care by His steadfastness. He needs to take care under Christ, through the Word, for the glory of God, and for the benefit of those entrusted to His charge. And so there's a shift in language, but the nature of the argument is obvious. If you can't do the little, you shouldn't be entrusted with the much.
So what's the encouragement? Get the little in order. Fix it. It's never at a point where, oh, I'm just done.
I've ruined my kid and he's only three and a half. No, you can fix it. God's good. There's grace, there's mercy, there's kindness, there's love, all that sort of a thing.
The argument is simple.
The Man's Experience in the Faith
Now next notice in verse six, the man's experience in the faith. He's not a novice. He's not one newly planted. He's not a new convert.
He's not a neophyte is what the word is specifically. Now, this is an intriguing one because I think what's in play here is not an age. It's got to be 35, it's got to be 45, it's got to be 25, it's got to be 18, whatever. I don't think that's what's in view here.
So notice in verse 6,
The Danger of Pride in a Novice
not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. A couple of passages that might be a bit of a challenge when it comes to this, not a neophyte or not one newly planted would be Titus chapter 1. You can turn there, Titus chapter 1. Verse five, for this reason, Paul to Titus, I left you in Crete that you should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you.
I take from this that it was most likely new churches, most likely new churches. They didn't have elders yet. And Paul is concerned that elders be appointed in the cities that had churches. And the churches, or the cities that had churches, they needed elders to govern.
But notice, you might ask the question, if they're new churches, they could quite possibly be new believers, or at least new-ish. Not necessarily. Maybe somebody moved to Crete that had been in the faith for, you know, a number of years. But whatever it means or whatever the sort of pool was to draw from, they still have to meet, verse 6, if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination.
For a bishop must be blameless as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict." Go to Acts 14. Acts chapter 14, this is the first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul, and he's on his way back around to the cities that he had visited where they made disciples and planted churches. So again, we're not looking at years and years and years, but we are looking at a pool of people that came out of a familiarity with the Old Testament, a familiarity with the scriptures, a messianic ideal, and all those sorts of things. But notice in 1421.
And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying, we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. So when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. So I think with both those passages, while the suggestion might be there that they just couldn't have been that old or that long in the faith, I'm not sure that's necessarily the case, but whatever the case is, they would have to be qualified in accordance with 1 Timothy 3, and they would have to be qualified in accordance with Titus 1. As well, notice in 1 Timothy 5.22, 1 Timothy 5.22, Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins.
Keep yourself pure. There seems to, at times, erupt within churches an elder fever. Got to have an elder. Got to have more elders.
Well, don't do it hastily. Don't do it because you got to get warm bodies and seats. Don't do it because you've got to have somebody in the office. Do it because they're qualified in accordance with 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1, recognized and through common suffrage voted on by the church and installed to function in that capacity.
Don't take shortcuts when it comes to those who take care of the house of God. And if we go back to 1st Timothy chapter 3, you see the specific reason given in verse 6 as to why he's not to be a novice. Lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Now brethren, pride is a reality for everybody at all times, always.
Don't look puzzled at me. Really? Come on. We're proud of our humility.
We're proud of our, you know, whatever. There's just pride. What about a young man that's placed into eldership before he should be? Do you see any potentials for disaster in that equation?
I do. Do you see any possibility that Paul probably knew what he was talking about when he says, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil? Absolutely, positively, if pride is a general inclination on the part of even God's redeemed people, how about a novice that's placed in a position of authority and he's got pride? Again, he's always going to have pride.
I say that like the humble one. No, no, it's in everybody. But hopefully it's tamped down. Hopefully he doesn't spray it out on Facebook.
Hopefully he doesn't, you know, just shoot from the hip on Twitter. If you don't think that young ministerial pride or neophyte type pride is extant, jump onto social media in the theology realm. I mean, these guys are 30 and they know everything. They're rebuking Pastor Barcelos at age 65, or I think he just turned 66.
Again, Barcelos could be wrong. He could say, or he would say, I could be wrong. But it's the attitude by which the neophyte thinks that he's got it all figured out. That's a very dangerous and precarious position to put a man in.
And wow, to put a church in that? Please. And then finally,
The Man's Testimony Toward Outsiders
notice the man's testimony toward outsiders. Verse 7. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." Internal relations, in terms of his relationship to his wife, his relationship to his children, his relationship to other people in the context of the church. But what is he like toward outsiders?
Those who aren't believers? Those who aren't God-fearers? Those who aren't Christians? The elder must manage his household well, and here notice in verse 7, moreover he must have a, not a testimony, but a good one.
Must have a good testimony with those who are on the outside. Gil explains, for wicked men, though they dislike the principles and profession of godly ministers, and despise their office, yet cannot but speak well of their becoming life and conversation. I can't stand his theology. I can't stand his doctrine.
I can't stand his commitment to this Lord Jesus Christ. But yeah, great neighbor, great employee, great boss, an upright man. Pope Pius IV, who lived in, or at least reigned from 1559 to 1565, according to Philip Schaff, he made this famous remark attributed to him after Calvin's death in 1564. Of course, Pope Pius wouldn't be a big fan of John Calvin, reading the Institutes devotionally, yaying and amening his position on the Lord's Supper, on all this other ...
Pope Pius was no friend or no lover of Calvin. The story is that upon hearing of Calvin's death, Pius IV remarked, the strength of that heretic consisted in this, that money never had the slightest charm for him. If I had such servants, my dominions would extend from sea to sea. That heretic was no lover of money.
In other words, I may not like his doctrine, I may not like his Jesus, I may not embrace his religion, but man, he didn't love money. He wasn't driven to overthrow the papal antichrist by a love for money, wasn't looking for book royalties, wasn't looking for likes, wasn't looking for followers, wasn't looking for JohnCalvin.com. Calvin was in it to win it because he believed the truth as it is in Jesus. So there's this relationship that a man necessarily has to those who are outside.
In other words, he just doesn't sit in his ivory tower reading books all the time. He doesn't just withdraw from the world and doesn't recognize that gas is $2 a liter. Doesn't recognize that if you're lucky, you get ground beef for eight bucks a pound. I mean, that's just not the real world.
Being removed from that, you're in the butcher shop. You're getting gas, you're an employee, you're a boss, your relations extend outside of your local community and, well, they should. Notice Colossians chapter four with reference to this. Again, we don't say, wow, man, I'm glad those elders get along with people on the outside because I can't stand them and they can't stand me.
You can't live that way. You're really actually supposed to exude the ethics of Christ, even to unbelievers? Notice in Colossians 4, 5, "...walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4.
Verse nine, but concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. And indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more.
Notice this, that you aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business. Wow, imagine that. The apostle under the inspirational Holy Spirit tells us to mind our own business. Yeah.
Why would we think we're sufficient to mind other people's business? When our business is 100% lockstep, great, then even then, mind your own business, make it 110%. But notice that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing. 1 Peter 2, you can turn there, 1 Peter 2. Verse 11, Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
Great counsel relative to being a one-woman man or a one-man woman. Sexual fidelity. sexual discipline, and self-control. I've always thought 1 Peter 2, 11 should be in the heart and in the mind of young men, middle-aged men, and old men. Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.
That's what fleshly lusts do. They war against the soul. They're destructive. They're devastating.
They're harmful. They're hateful. They're anti-Christ. Abstain from them.
Don't give in to them. Don't have truck with them. Don't allow them a little bit of lead time. No, no, no, no, no.
Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. And then notice in verse 12, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation." And then notice in verse 13, therefore, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king or supreme. It's an external relation. That's an outsider.
This coupled with Paul's admonition in Romans 13, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities means that the man considered for eldership does relate properly in terms of civil government. That's an outsider. You'd have a good testimony toward those who are outside. Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether the king as supreme or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.
Now note verse 15, for this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God, honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king." So when we look at 2-7, or 3-7 in 1 Timothy 1, or 1 Timothy 3-7, moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside. This isn't confined. This isn't just one location. This is all over.
Joseph was a godly man able to relate to external ungodly people. Daniel was a godly man able to relate to external ungodly people. The apostle Paul was a godly man, able to relate externally to ungodly people, standing before civil government, testifying on behalf of his blessed Lord, doing it with respect, doing it with kindness, but doing it with firmness and steadfastness. You see, brethren, this is absolutely crucial.
And then
Characteristics of a Good External Testimony
in terms of some specific characteristics of this good testimony among those who are outside, obviously would say words, actions as an individual, a family man, a worker, and a citizen. I do wanna read sort of the general disposition from C.H. Spurgeon on the minister's ordinary conversation. And by that, he doesn't mean discussion.
That doesn't mean words. It's the old King James walk or conduct. The minister's ordinary conduct, The ministers sort of weigh about him. He says, the Christian minister should also be very cheerful.
I don't believe in going about like certain monks whom I saw in Rome, who salute each other in sepulchral tones and convey the pleasant information, brother, we must die. To which lively salutation, each lively brother of the order replies, yes, brother, we must die. I was glad to be assured upon such good authority that all these lazy fellows are about to die. Upon the whole, it is about the best thing they can do.
But till that event occurs, they might use some more comfortable form of salutation. No doubt there are some people who will be impressed by the very solemn appearance of ministers. I have heard of one who felt convinced that there must be something in the Roman Catholic religion from the extremely starved and pinched appearance of a certain ecclesiastic. Look, said he, how the man is worn to a skeleton by his daily fastings and nightly vigils, how he must mortify his flesh.
Now, the probabilities are that the emaciated priest was laboring under some internal disease, which he would have been heartily glad to be rid of, and it was not conquest of appetite, but failure in digestion, which had so reduced him, or possibly a troubled conscience, which made him fret down to the light weights. Certainly, I have never met with a text which mentions prominence of bone as an evidence of grace. If so, the living skeleton should have been exhibited, not merely as a natural curiosity, but as the standard of virtue. Some of the biggest rogues in the world have been as mortified in appearance as if they had lived on locusts and wild honey.
It is very vulgar error to suppose that a melancholy countenance is the index of a gracious heart. I commend cheerfulness to all who would win souls, not levity and frothiness, but a genial, happy spirit. There are more flies caught with honey than with vinegar, and there will be more souls led to heaven by a man who wears heaven in his face than by one who bears Tartarus in his looks." Now, we should qualify. If everybody thinks you're a fantastic human being, there might be some problems there, too.
I'm not suggesting that the elder goes out of his way to instigate fights with outsiders, but if the outsider despises him for his doctrine, the outsider despises him for his Christ, well, that's not your fault, and that's okay. If he castigates you because you're a bad worker, or he castigates you because you're lazy, if he castigates you because of anything like that, you should repent. I should repent. But if he's upset at your religion, then you're not going to court his favor by compromising your religion.
And of course the danger, obviously, verse 7, lest he fall into reproach in the snare of the devil. Remember when Nathan comes to David to rebuke him for his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah? What does he say to him? By this you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.
All the enemies of the Lord out there, Philistines, Edomites, Ammonites, Amorites, what are they going to say? Oh, that nation that was supposed to shine the light of Yahweh upon nations like us? They've got thugdom going on in their kingdom? Their religion's no better than us bowing down to Dagon.
You've given cause by this sin, David, to bring reproach to the name of our blessed God. I think that's probably what he's talking about, lest he fall into reproach in the snare of the devil. God upbraids the priests, and Malachi the prophet. For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth.
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have departed from the way. You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts.
Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base before all the people, because you have not kept My ways, but have shown partiality in the law. So in other words, there is a tendency, if we do compromise in terms of external relations, to bring reproach upon the fair name of Christ. Well, that unbeliever doesn't like me, so I'm gonna pretend not to be a Christian around him? No, that's a compromise, and that's gonna bring reproach upon the blessed name of the Savior.
George Knight says verses six and seven seek to protect both the man and the church's leadership from self-righteous pride and cowardly disobedience. To avoid both demands a mature believer with an established reputation.
Application
So thus, the exposition, just a couple of thoughts. The importance of the domestic qualifications. Again, we can't stress that enough. The lesser to the greater.
You mess up the lesser, fix it. Be faithful. Be steadfast. Be godly.
Be disciplined. Relate properly to your wife. Relate properly to your children. It's not the case that you could never be an elder.
It's not disqualifying, it simply means you're unqualified at this particular point. But for a church to run roughshod over 1 Timothy 3, 4, and 5, and knowingly bring in a man that doesn't exercise that kind of leadership in the home where he has the rule, where he has that connection, where he has that orbit of love, well then he's not going to do it in the church. So the lesser to the greater. As well, the importance of spiritual maturity.
And I think the spiritual maturity emphasis, again, 25, 35, 45, there's spiritually immature 60-year-olds. Sorry, there are. There's spiritually mature 20-year-olds. There are.
How would we know that one is mature? Huh. I wonder if we read the verses prior, we might be on the right path. The spiritually mature will be seen in the demonstrable virtues called for in the passage.
In other words, blamelessness, temperance, sober-mindedness, good behavior, hospitality, self-control with reference to drink and money. He will demonstrate moderation, will refrain from being quarrelsome, and will guard against covetousness. All these things are characteristic of a man who's mature. So how do we know he's not a novice?
Well, because verses 2 to 5 and verse 7 are in place. So again, there's no arbitrary number placed on age for eldership, but maturity is absolutely crucial. The importance of good external relations. How would the man's bosses describe him?
How would the man's subordinates describe him? How would his neighbors describe him? Man, his dog always comes into my yard and does his business. That's not right.
You shouldn't do that if you're a dog owner. You should control that. That would irritate me if I was your neighbor. It would irritate you if that was happening.
External relations. How does he relate in the world? Is he obnoxious? Is he that guy?
Uh-oh, here he comes again. No, no, no, he can't be that. Again, you're not coddling people, you're not compromise, you're not leaving Jesus at the door when you go to the unbeliever's house. But man, we got to relate to a whole host of people.
And oftentimes elders have to relate directly to unbelieving family members, unbelieving situations, unbelieving issues that find their way into the church. The importance of humility, lest being puffed up with pride. Humble men, men that don't have this, you know, inordinate desire for, you know, 10,000 followers on Facebook or wherever. Now, if you have 10,000 followers, I'm not necessarily implying that you're puffed up with pride and you're going to fall right there alongside of the devil.
But there does seem to be something like that. There does seem to be this jockeying for more. Just be faithful in the context where God has planted you. Just be faithful in trying to be faithful in your own church and not fixing everybody else's church via Facebook.
It's just bizarre, the world that we find ourselves in. I would suggest as well the importance of qualified ministers, the means God uses to call His elect out of darkness into marvelous light. Yes, people can read the Bible and get saved. Yes, people can hear testimony from a friend at school and get saved.
I affirm that and I heartily commend that. My brother-in-law led me and my beloved to the Lord, and then we went to a church. It happens. But in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God.
It pleased God through what? The foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 1 Timothy 3, 2, able to teach. Why? Because God has set apart a class of men specifically given to the word and doctrine such that they can preach the gospel so that sinners may be saved, so that saints may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
So we want to have qualified men. And I want to end on this note, the importance of imperfect ministers. The importance of imperfect ministers. I've often thought that, maybe often, yeah, probably often, verging more on often as I get older.
And I don't say this, it's going to sound irreverent, but it would have been nice for God to use angels for the gospel ministry. at least in my mind. They're much smarter. They don't get tired. They're not bogged down with all the external concerns.
They don't need gas. They don't need beef. They just do their thing. It seems to me that, you know, they would be fit and suited to, you know, fall into a pulpit, preach the gospel, make disciples, edify the brethren, and then, you know, waft up back into heaven.
But Paul seems to indicate that the imperfection of gospel ministers is by design. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, 7, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. In other words, if you had perfect ministers, if you had the sinless, the holy, the pure, you might extol him. You might give credit to him.
You might praise him. Oh, this one. Oh, that one. They're so awesome.
And so, no, no, they're cracked pots. They're earthen vessels. Much imperfection. Much shortcomings when it comes to the list of qualifications.
Are they there demonstrably? Yeah. Could they be there a lot more demonstrably? Yes, absolutely, positively.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of man. It's by design that he takes cracked pots. It's by design that he takes imperfect men. It's by design that he takes earthenware vessels so that all the glory goes to him.
It's not any minister that got you where you're at. It's not any minister that made you a new creature. It's not any minister that did that. They're an earthen pot.
They're a cracked pot, an earthen vessel. just simply pouring out the data of Holy Scripture. It's God the Lord who does that. I think that that is a very important reality. You know, going through a list like this as a guy called an elder, that's not fun.
I mean, come on. I know my shortcomings. I know them internally. I know what I've done to some of you.
I know this. But nevertheless, these things must be there, and they are there always and forever until the eschaton, imperfectly." Man, that guy had a proud moment. Yeah! Man, that guy, you know, likes money on Thursdays.
Yeah! It's just, there's no perfection, but demonstrable, proven capability and competency in the little things, and then perhaps fitness for the bigger things. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father in heaven, thank you for your Word, and thank you for your grace and for the provision in Scripture of these qualifications for elders and for deacons. Again, we pray that you would help us to think clearly concerning these things, help us to be uncompromising with reference to the application of these things, and may you be glorified in this church. And we ask in Jesus' name, amen.