Please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy 3, our focus will be verse 2, we're going backwards just to take up that last point in terms of qualifications for elders. Thus far we've seen the man's desire for the eldership in verse 1, the man's personal holiness in verses 2 and 3, the man's domestic faithfulness in verses 4 and 5, the man's experience in the faith in verse 6, the man's testimony toward outsiders in verse 7, and as I said tonight, the man's ability to teach in verse 2. I'll read the chapter and then we'll pray. 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, 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 into 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 houses 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.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your written word. We thank you for its testimony concerning the incarnate word, even our Lord Jesus Christ. We bless you for that glorious gospel of free and sovereign grace. We thank you that you have given us all mercy and kindness and love.

We thank you for the forgiveness of sins and that righteousness that we have. And God, we pray now that you would guide us by the Holy Spirit, that you would illumine our minds and our hearts, that you would bless us as individuals and as families and as a local church here in Chilliwack. We pray that you would be honored and glorified in this body, that we would all endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, that you would raise up from amongst us men to function as elders and deacons, and that you would indeed bless the course of this church. May we always remember that it is indeed the pillar and the ground of the truth.

Forgive us now for all of our sins, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, as we look specifically at chapter 3 and verse 2, again, we see the simple statement, he must be able to teach, and obviously that assumes a body of knowledge on his part. He must know the scriptures. He must know sound theology. We are a confessional church, and we believe that the Second London Confession of 1677 embodies and encompasses sound theology.

So it is a good thing for a man who aspires to Christian ministry in the context of a Reformed Baptist church to know the confession. As Paul will later say in 1 Timothy 5 at verse 17, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. The apostle Paul, along with the other apostles, our Lord Jesus Christ, the prophets before them, and of course Moses, expect it by God's grace for the church to do theology. In other words, we take the scripture, we take the necessary implications, and we formulate theological truth based on what we find in the Bible.

So a man must know the Word and doctrine. He must know the scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments. He must know the timeline of Old Covenant Israel. He must know the reality or the relationship, rather, between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

He must understand the law. He must understand the gospel. He must understand something of historical theology in order that he might effectively labor in the Word and in doctrine. And again, this is assumed, a man cannot teach that which he does not know.

And so for the man who aspires to the office of the eldership, he needs to be a man of the word. He needs to be a man of theology. He needs to be a student of that word. Notice in 2 Timothy 2, specifically at verse 15, be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

In other words, be diligent, Timothy, don't be lazy, don't be derelict, don't be negligent, don't be hesitant, but rather be diligent. You need to study to show yourself approved to God. Notice as well in 1 Timothy 4, specifically at verse 12, let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things, give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine, continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you." One other passage, Colossians 1. Colossians chapter 1, specifically at verse 28, the Apostle Paul says, In other words, the Christian ministry is not to be made up of lazy men.

It is not to be made up of those who are derelict in their duty. It is not to be made up of those sorts of men that aren't willing to roll up their sleeves and do the hard task of exegesis and reading big volumes of theology. So this aptness or ability to teach assumes the requisite knowledge, because if a man doesn't know the truth, he certainly can't convey that truth to others. He must himself assimilate it through his own study, through his own labor, through his own industry, and then he must be able to articulate it and explain it to others in such a way that they can receive that truth and it can affect them for good. conformity unto the Son of God on the part of God's people, as well, salvation for those who are dead in their trespasses and sins.

It is the word that God has promised to bless for the saving, for the sanctifying, for the building, and for the profit of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. This ability to teach assumes, again, requisite knowledge on his part, and then the singular emphasis in this category, this list of gifts. Notice, the bulk of them are on virtue, what a man must be. He must be a one-woman man.

He must be blameless. He must be sober-minded. He must not be given a much wine. He must not be given a money or greedy for money.

He must not be covetous. Those describe what a man is. This describes what a man does, and a man must, if he is to honor God in the Christian eldership, must be able to teach. Now, this includes private teaching in the homes, in the office, in the study.

This includes private teaching in the back of the church when asked questions. This includes private teaching when somebody emails or texts or calls and has a specific question concerning interpretation or theology. The man must be apt to teach. But it certainly and necessarily includes aptness to teach publicly.

Now, not all elders are going to be to the same degree gifted. Again, 1 Timothy 5, 17, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. Paul seems to envisage that there'll be a body of elders, a presbytery, and amongst that body of elders there'll be one or two standouts who labor diligently in the Word and doctrine. But all elders must be able to teach.

That is absolutely crucial. That is necessitated by our text here.

Three Points Introduced

So, I want to do three things tonight.

The Elder's Ability to Teach

First, the man's ability to teach here in verse 2. Secondly, the apostles' doctrine of preaching, where we'll just sample a few texts, and then followed up by a few confessional statements on preaching. But first, notice the statement in 1 Timothy 3, 2, able to teach. As I said, this is the singular emphasis on gift.

Graces abound in this catalog. Graces ought to abound in men for the eldership. Graces ought to abound in the people of God as a general rule. But with reference to giftedness, he must be able to teach.

Elder Distinguished from Deacon

This as well distinguishes the elder from the deacon. The deacon has a certain doctrinal requirement, if you drop down specifically to verse 10, Yes, no, verse 9, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. So the deacons must know the Bible. The deacons must know theology.

They must hold to the mystery of the faith. Their conscience must be informed by the scriptures, but they're not to teach. I mean, they can teach. Stephen taught.

He preached. But that's not requisite in terms of qualification for deacon. It is requisite, however, with reference to the qualifications for elders. The deacons must be men holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience, but it is not a qualification for office that they be able to convey that information or teach that information.

Again, In a general sense, as every Christian man, if asked a question or asked for advice, yeah, we ought to be scriptural, we ought to be theological, we ought to be certainly endowed with a degree of knowledge concerning the Word and doctrine to help our fellows, but it's not a part and parcel of the calling of the deacon. It is for the elder. And then I think that what this underscores as well, this able to teach. It underscores the emphasis that is recurring in Paul's pastoral epistles on sound doctrine.

The Church as Pillar of Truth

Dropping down to 1 Timothy 3.15, notice his description of the church. But if I am delayed, I write, so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God. What characterizes the house of God? What is the nature of the house of God?

Well, he goes on to amplify, and he says, which is the church of the living God, and then he says the pillar and ground of what? Not the experience, not the emotional sort of a charge, not entertainment, but it's the pillar and the ground of the truth. Brethren, at some point in your Christian experience, you need to get to the point where you realize that I am wholly and solely dependent upon the truth of God's revealed mind. I am wholly and solely dependent when I'm afflicted, when I'm tried, when I'm troubled, when I have hardship.

Where often, or more often than not, we go to other and competing things for our comfort and for our stability and security, rather than the truth of God's holy word. The church is about truth. That is what distinguishes the Christian faith from every other faith out there. It is the doctrine that we believe that Christ died, that Christ was buried, that Christ was raised again the third day, and that for our sins.

God commends His own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That's what distinguishes the Christian. A belief in that versus the pagan in a rejection of that. It is truth.

God's truth is what matters. God's revelation. God's Old and New Testament. The focus of the whole or scope of the whole being on the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemptive triumph in terms of God's Son, the mediator, the victor, the champion of our salvation.

It is sound doctrine that sustains the people of God, that advances the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is what this world desperately needs. They certainly don't need more entertainment. They certainly don't need more emotionalism. They certainly don't need more experiences.

They need the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If we love the world around us, we will insist and maintain with the apostle in 1st Timothy 3.15 that our church is going to be the pillar and the ground of the truth, not experience, not entertainment, not emotionalism. Notice this recurring emphasis. I already read from 1 Timothy 4, but if you back up to verse 6, if you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

But reject profane and old wives' fables and exercise yourself toward godliness. Notice as well in chapter 4, verses 13 and 14, already read that, specifically verse 14, do not neglect the gift that is in you which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Notice in chapter 5, we've already read it, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. Notice in 6 too, and those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved.

Teach and exhort these things. Notice in verse 17, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty. Command them, Timothy. Exhort them, Timothy.

Teach them, Timothy. Give them the word. You must be able to teach. Notice in 2 Timothy 1, 13 and 14, our brother cited this this morning in sort of a defense of confessionalism.

Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. If you follow Paul's argument here, we're to hold fast the pattern of sound words. We're not to be innovative, we're not to be creative, we're not to be neglectful, we're not to delete that, but rather we're to hold it fast.

And that good thing which was committed to you were to what? Were to keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Notice in 2 Timothy 2 too, and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Notice as well, verse 15, be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Notice that. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, not approved to man, not kowtowing to man. Well, I know that so-and-so is going to be there, and if I say such and such, that might offend him. No.

What would God have me to preach with reference to this text? That's the only question that a man of God must ask. What does the text necessitate in terms of preaching? Notice in verse 24, and a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil having been taken captive by Him to do His will." Notice 3, 16, and 17.

Again, a very familiar passage. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. It's the nature of Holy Scripture. It's God-breathed.

It's the utility or function of Holy Scripture. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. You notice that Paul doesn't say, Timothy, I want you to appeal to their emotions. I want you to entertain them.

I want you to give them an existential moment. No, I want you to inform them because it's the word of God. Jesus in the high priestly prayer said, sanctify them. By what?

By thy truth. Thy word is truth. Notice as well. Well, we'll see for 2 Timothy 4 in a few minutes.

But here, I just want to read a quote from C. H. Spurgeon. He says, brethren, if you are not theologians, you are in your pastorates just nothing at all.

You may be fine rhetoricians and be rich in polished sentences, but without knowledge of the gospel and aptness to teach it, you are but a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. You can turn to Titus chapter 1 in a similar list of qualifications for elders in verses 5 to 9. Same emphasis, virtue, graces, character. What kind of a man he is, what kind of a man he is in terms of what he embraces, what he embodies, what he rejects, what he resists.

And then in terms of his aptness to teach, notice in verse 9, 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. So we've got the elders hold on the word. Notice that, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught. As our brothers said in the 17th century, we have no itch to clog religion with new words.

We simply want to receive what was handed down by the prophets, simply handed down by the apostles, by our blessed Lord Jesus, through the patristics, through the medievals, through the Reformation. We simply want to hold fast that which has already been delivered to us. The faith delivered once for all, as Jude 3 tells us, contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. We don't want to shape it.

We don't want to mold it. We don't want to reform it to make it a bit more palatable to a God-hating generation. No, absolutely, positively not. We want to hold it fast.

Calvin says this is the chief gift in a bishop who is elected principally for the sake of teaching. For the church cannot be governed in any other way than by the word. He wishes that a bishop should hold it fast, so as not only to be well instructed in it, but to be constant in maintaining it. Himself needs to be well instructed in it, but constantly maintaining it.

That's the emphasis in the first part of verse 9. But then notice what he goes on to say, the elder's ministry of the word. So he holds it fast as he has been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. This idea of exhortation, urging one's hearers to accept the sound doctrine and respond to it accordingly.

In other words, it's not just a lecture for informational purposes. That certainly has a place in the life of the church, but preaching also appeals not only to the mind, but to the will. In other words, you ought to want to go and be holy after good preaching. You should want to kill sin after good preaching.

You should want to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul, after good preaching. It's not just information so that we can traffic on Facebook and show our pedigree, but it's to move the man in the positive direction of godliness and righteousness and holiness, as well to convict. It's also translated elsewhere as rebuke in Titus 1.13. And in this sense, the situation is a bit more difficult.

It's far easier to exhort those who already sort of believe what you believe versus convict or rebuke those who are the sworn enemies of what it is you're teaching. But you don't back down. Remember, you study to show yourself approved unto God, not unto the enemies by shaving off or paring off rough edges, but by rather, by the grace of God, ramming it down their throat, not physically, metaphorically. Calvin again says, the pastor ought to have two voices, one for gathering the sheep and another for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves.

He's absolutely right on. And that's precisely the emphasis here in the latter part of Titus 1.9. So the elder must hold it fast, but in terms of the ministry, he must indeed exhort the brethren, the people of God, unto holiness, righteousness, and godliness, but he must as well convict, he must as well rebuke, he must as well oppose the various departures from that truth in our own generation.

The Apostolic Doctrine of Preaching

Now in terms of some sample passages concerning the apostles' approach to preaching, turn with me first to Romans 10. Romans chapter 10. I won't read the whole sections because there's three of them, but just a few of the high points that the apostle is making.

Romans 10: Preaching and Hearing Christ

Note the specific context. If we just pick up in 10, say 9 to 13, 13 sort of summarizes, and again, it's in a larger context. Where is ethnic Israel relative to Israel's Messiah that they rejected, that they crucified? The apostle Paul takes that up in chapters 9 to 11.

So, there's a broader context, but we're sort of just jumping in to a more narrow context in terms of his argument. And it's whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, whether they are Jews or whether they are Gentiles. And then notice in the assumption in his argument in verse 14, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe literally Him whom they have not heard?

And how shall they hear without a preacher?" Do you see his argument? Verse 13, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How are they going to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved if they've not heard the Lord as He's preached in His gospel? That's the emphasis.

That's the specific context in a narrow sense. But intriguingly, look at verse 14 again. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe?

Again, you can get rid of the in there and the of after the him. How shall they believe him whom they have not heard? What's the assumption? The assumption here is that faithful preaching, done properly, biblically, theologically sound, exegetically responsible, is the voice of Christ coming through the word.

Psalm 29 tells us the voice of Yahweh crushes, shatters, breaks the cedars of Lebanon. When we come to the scripture, it's the voice of the Most High coming through the agency of preaching. How do I know that? Because that's what the text says, but as well, turn to Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2. Verse 14, For he himself, Christ, is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace. And that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He, Christ, came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.

For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." Notice again verse 17, and He came and preached peace to you who were afar off. Brethren, in Christ's earthly ministry, He never went to Ephesus. You know who did go to Ephesus? The Apostle Paul.

When the Apostle Paul stands up to preach, what is it that people are hearing when the Apostle Paul preaches? Again, exegetically responsible, theologically sound, biblically accurate, it's Christ. That's Paul's arguments in Romans chapter 10. It is Christ who comes through the preaching of the word.

Notice as well the instrumentality of the preacher or the elder in this passage. And how shall they hear without a preacher at the end of verse 14? And then in verse 15, how can they preach unless they've been sent? How are they sent?

They're recognized by the church. The qualifications are taken seriously. They're applied to the candidate. If he passes muster, the church or the presbytery lays hands on him.

They set him apart for this noble purpose, such that he can preach the word. They send him. It's intriguing in Acts chapter 13, just prior to the first missionary journey of the apostle Paul, Paul and Barnabas. What happens there?

Does Paul get to be in his bonnet and say, you know what, I want to be a minister, a missionary to the Gentiles. I'm going to go down to the local missions agency, I'm going to sign on the dotted line, and then I'm going to do exactly what they tell me. That's not what happens. The Spirit comes to the church.

The Spirit tells the elders in the church, separate Paul and Barnabas. The Spirit tells the church to send those men out. It's the church that has primary functionality with reference to the recognition, the ensuring that they meet the qualifications, the laying on of the hands, and then the dispatching of them to foreign places so that they can preach the gospel. We've all but removed the church from the very function that Christ has given to the church.

That ought not to be. The church ought to be more than capable of preparing men, recognizing men, ordaining men, and then sending those men out. But in the context of Paul's argument in Romans 10, how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.

I told you before, my brother-in-law has beautiful feet. I don't know physically. I'm not a feet guy or a foot dude. In fact, I don't like to look at them, honestly.

But he has beautiful feet. Brought me the gospel. I heard Jesus through him." And that's the emphasis here, bringing glad tidings of good things. In other words, gospel preaching.

And then it's all summarized in verse, well, he deals with rejecters or deniers or those who turn away from it in verse 16, but they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah says, Lord who has believed our report. And then notice the great emphasis he puts upon the word. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Some of you no doubt have people in your lives that struggle with whether or not they're Christians or with whether or not they should come to Christ.

Brethren, it's ultimately the Word of God that's going to captivate their consciences. We can testify. We can try and argue. We can reason.

We can rationalize. All that stuff is good and it has its place. But man, tell them to read the Bible. Tell them to open the scriptures and read because faith comes by hearing and hearing by what?

By the word of God. Sure testimony, what happened to you in your life is very powerful and it's very wonderful and it's a display of God's sovereign grace. But faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

1 Corinthians 1: The Foolishness of Preaching

Turn over to 1 Corinthians 1, another passage where we see something of Paul's appreciation for the ministry of the word. There's this big contrast between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world. What the wisdom of God looks like to the world is foolishness. In fact, verse 21 basically speaks of man's attempt to reach God.

Man's attempt, unaided by special revelation and perhaps rejecting special revelation, is an attempt to reach God. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, notice, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believed. Now the message is the primary emphasis. It's the content of the gospel.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It's the objective content. Christ died, Christ was raised, Christ died, buried, and raised again, 1 Corinthians 15. But the emphasis here is the objective content of the gospel, but Paul as well emphasizes that it's preached.

It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." Notice just a couple of quick observations here.

The fact that preaching pleases God. That's pretty obvious, isn't it? God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. So in other words, if we had moved the pulpit today, and we had some skilled guitarists and drummers, and we put up a good band concert stuff, we threw Jesus' name in it a few times, would God look down and that please him?

Is that what God's looking for in the church today, entertainment? Is God looking for emotions? Is God looking for experience? What does please God when He looks into a church?

Preaching. The foolishness of the message preached pleases God. Notice as well the fact that preaching does not please natural man. Right?

Verse 22, for Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom. We don't want that preaching. For Jews we want signs, for Greeks we want wisdom. We don't want that old antiquated barbaric sort of a throwback to an earlier time where a man stands up and actually preaches.

God is pleased by it but the natural man is not. Notice as well the fact that preachers nevertheless preach. So again, verse 22, for Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom. So we tailor our ministry to provide signs and wonders to all the Jews and studies in Aristotle and Socrates for all the Greeks.

No, no, no, no, no. He says, but we preach Christ crucified. Notice the world cannot dictate what the church is supposed to do. The world cannot substitute what it is the church's mandate is.

The world cannot say, we want signs, we want wonders, we want studies in Aristotle. Not that studies in Aristotle would necessarily be bad, but Paul says we preach. We preach Christ crucified. And the fact that preaching is the means to declare Christ who is both the power and the wisdom of God, verse 24.

But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

2 Timothy 4: The Command to Preach

One final text is in 2 Timothy 4. 2 Timothy 4. I figure after 1 Timothy we'll continue into 2 Timothy, but it might be a while before we're at chapter 4. I could be hit by the proverbial car tomorrow and enter into Emmanuel's land. But notice the command stated in verse 1, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Study to show yourself approved to God. I charge you in the presence of all those fine folk. I charge you in the presence of all those God-hating pagans.

I charge you in the presence of all those who you need to try and impress and dazzle. No, no, no, no, no. I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in kingdom. In other words, as you preach, have an eye on heaven.

Have an eye on the judgment to come. Understand the sobriety involved, the reality involved, that you're either peddling heresy or you're proclaiming truth. You're either helping people on to heaven, helping people get saved, or further consigning them to the very pit of hell itself. In other words, there's a judgment day coming.

Preach in light of that judgment day that is coming. And the command is very simple. Notice, preach the word. Paul's last corporate command to the church.

Everybody, when you construct the life and ministry of the apostle Paul based on Acts and the epistles, everybody to a man agrees that 2 Timothy is his last letter. In fact, in this section, he says in verse six, I'm already being poured out as a drink offering in the time of my departure is at hand. In Philippians, he understood he could die, but he's not certain of it. And of course he didn't die after that imprisonment in Rome.

But here he knows, everybody knows. What's the last corporate command that Paul gives to the church? Preach experience, preach emotionalism, have self-help. No, no, no, no, no.

Preach the word. That's the emphasis. You've probably heard that statement. It's ascribed to Saint Francis of Assisi.

Apparently he may not have said it, but it goes something like this. Preach the gospel always and at times use words when necessary. What's the emphasis there? If it's not Assisi, if it's some other dolt, what is the emphasis?

Live your life in such a virtuous way that people will see the gospel in you. Brethren, we're unable to live the gospel. You hear that, we've got to live the gospel. No, we live in light of the gospel.

We let our conduct be worthy of the gospel, but the gospel is objective, historical, and Christological. He lived, he died, he was buried, he was raised again. How do we live that? If you follow somebody around all day long and you observe their good and chaste behavior, you still know nothing about blood atonement.

You must use words. You must be able to teach. In order to do the work of an evangelist, as Paul commends Timothy to, you must open your yap and you must articulate the truth that you've assimilated such that they can hear the gospel and by God's grace believe the gospel and thus be forgiven and clothed in the righteousness of the beloved Savior for the people of God. We always want a shortcut, don't we?

We always want shortcuts. What's the easiest way for me to get this done? Which isn't necessarily always a bad thing. If you can simplify your life and order it in such a way as to knock out a few steps here or there, that's great.

It doesn't work in sanctification. Okay, God, I'm gonna lay down tonight and tomorrow morning I'm gonna wake up and I'm just gonna have five easy steps and I'm gonna be holy. How many of you have tried that along with me and it really doesn't work? It's long haul, conformity unto Jesus, disciplined, instructed, and helped by the word.

Sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth. Sanctification is by the truth, which is the word of God. You understand? It's the scripture, pillar and ground of the truth sort of a thing, sound doctrine, recurring emphases in the pastoral epistles.

Machen responds to something like this, but when necessary, use words. He says, we can preach the gospel, they tell us, by our lives, and do not need to preach it by our own words. But they are wrong. Men are not saved by the exhibition of our glorious Christian virtues.

They are not saved by the contagion of our experiences. We cannot be the instruments of God in saving men if we preach to them thus only ourselves. Nay, we must preach to them the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is only through the gospel which sets him forth that they can be saved." And what I love about the Apostle Paul's instruction here in 2 Timothy chapter 4, not only the command, preach the word, the manner in which that command is to be applied. He doesn't then just leave it up to the elder to figure it out how he is to preach that word.

Now, I realize there's disposition. I realize there's nature. I realize that there is characteristic that differentiates man to man to man, and that's great. Not everybody should sound the same.

Not everybody's cut from the same cloth. We have different backgrounds, we have different experiences, we have a different hold on the same truth and different ways to proclaim that truth. But having given all those qualifications, notice how Paul says the manner of delivery is supposed to occur. So after the command, preach the word, notice in verse two, be ready in season and out of season.

Now, that's an interesting, curious statement. Does that mean Timothy's season or the church's season? In other words, Timothy, be ready. Whether you've studied for 30 hours or not, you need to be able to bring it.

I think there's truth to that. I think any elder recognized by a church, if needed to, if needed, had to, could stand up and preach. I'd like to think that that could be done. I'm not saying it would be Spurgeonic.

I'm not saying he'd have the silver tongue of Chrysostom, but could he articulate the truth of the gospel without any preparation? I'd like to think so. So is he saying, Timothy, if you've well-studied or you're not well-studied, you still need to be able to preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season, or probably the church is in season and out of season.

In other words, there's times when the church is greedy and hungry for the truth as it is in Jesus. But man, there's other times when they're just not. In fact, that's given as an argument as to why Timothy is supposed to preach the Word. Verse 3, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.

In other words, it's an out of season time. They don't want sound doctrine. They want experience. They want emotions.

They want entertainment. So be ready in season and out of season. And then in terms of manner, convince. Don't just kind of set it out there, maybe.

Don't just kind of possibly set it out there, convince them. Show beyond a shadow of a doubt that this exegetical conclusion is correct. Show that this is right and responsible exegesis. When you see Paul in the synagogues and the book of Acts, what's he doing there?

He's reasoning, he's arguing, he is showing them the validity of the exegesis that he is bringing to them, convince them. Nobody should ever leave a sermon, man, I don't think that guy believes what it was he's teaching. How am I supposed to believe it? Convince them of the truth of Holy Scripture and sound doctrine.

Rebuke them for bad practice. Rebuke them for heretical thoughts. Rebuke them should they start to wander down an anti-Trinitarian road. Rebuke them if Thomas Collier is their favorite theologian.

Rebuke them. Tell them that is wrong. It's good to set forth positively the truth of Holy Scripture. Along the way, we've got to call out the Thomas Colliers.

Along the way, we've got to call out the Hymenaeuses and Philetuses. Along the way, we have to call out the Alexander the Coppersmith. Along the way, Jesus had to rebuke the scribes and the Pharisees by calling them hypocrites and broods of vipers. Along the way, Elijah the prophet had to say, you know what?

Baal's fake. He's a dunghill deity. Only Yahweh is the living and the true God. Choose ye this day whom you shall serve.

So it's not always just positively rosiness. There has to be some rebuke along the way. And the blood-bought child of God doesn't run from that. The blood-bought child of God wants that.

We want to be corrected. We want to be helped. We want to be shaped. We want to be conformed.

We want to be like Jesus. Well, in order to be like Jesus, sometimes, brethren, the sandpaper has to come out and those rough edges have to be done away with. There's nothing wrong with that. That's a good thing.

Convince, rebuke, and then exhort. You've shown them where they're in error, now this is the path ahead. This is the path forward. That's the beauty of Christianity.

You get forgiveness, and then you just march on. You confess, you forsake, you find mercy. It's a blessed, beautiful religion. On that very point, convince, rebuke, exhort, but then notice as well, elders, to be with all long-suffering.

Rome wasn't built in a day. It's not the case that a man falls into a pulpit, preaches a sermon, and everybody gets saved. That just doesn't happen. There must be long-suffering.

There must be patience. There must be forbearance. There must be consistency. When it seems at times that nothing seems to be landing, there needs to be steadfastness.

There needs to be that always conditioned by 2 Timothy 2 15-ness approved unto God with all long-suffering and teaching. Not all teaching is preaching, but all preaching has to be teaching. He's not preaching his experience. He's not preaching his emotions.

He's not preaching his entertainment. He's preaching truth. Gospel preaching should make known the gospel. Preaching the law should make known the law.

Again, with the particular intention to convince and rebuke along the way to bring about that modification and correction necessary in our otherwise wayward lives. With reference to this, Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote, what is preaching? Logic on fire, eloquent reason. Are these contradictions?

Of course they are not. Reason concerning this truth ought to be mightily eloquent, as you see it in the case of the Apostle Paul and others. It is theology on fire, and a theology which does not take fire, I maintain, is defective theology, or at least the man's understanding of it is defective. Again, dispositionally, Makeup-wise, background, character, the way we're wired, the way we've got certain DNA rolling around about us, the way we speak, the way we lift up our voices, and the way we don't.

All those things notwithstanding, I think Lloyd-Jones is on to something. Bonar put it this way, men know that if religion means anything, it means everything. If religion means anything, it means everything. And shouldn't the preacher, teacher of that word embody something of that?

Again, it could be in a lower voice, could be in a more reasonable tone, but it's still going to be conveyed. It's still going to be obvious. If religion means anything, it means everything. And so for Paul, he not only gives the command, preach the word, but he tells how the command is to be carried out.

Two Reasons for the Command

And then he gives two specific reasons for the command. Blessed be God. And Paul doesn't leave us to wonder. Why Paul?

The second reason, the latter in the context, verses six and following, is Paul's gonna die. Very simply. He's passing on his legacy, he's passing on formativeness for Timothy and all subsequent ministers. Why am I telling you, in light of the second coming, in light of the Most High and His blessed Son enthroned at His right hand, why am I telling you to preach the Word?

Why am I specifying the particular manner? Because Paul knows he's going to die. And he doesn't want to turn the church over to a bunch of guys that are take it and leave it sort of guys. They hold the gospel with that sort of limp handed, wet noodle sort of a thing.

It's like, yeah. They grip it. They hold it. They're like a dog with a bone.

So the second reason is his departure. The first reason is the church's departure. Why should you preach the word? Why should you be ready in season and out of season?

Why should you convince, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and teaching? For the time's going to come when they will not endure sound doctrine. They're going to gather up, heap up to themselves teachers that are going to simply tickle their ears. Paul knew this, Paul saw this, the church subsequent has always seen this, but the faithful man of God in the faithful church of God studies to show himself approved to God.

And so the first reason is very simple, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will keep up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. In other words, don't capitulate, Timothy.

When the church wants to depart, when the church will not endure, don't change the message. Don't change the manner. Don't sacrifice the command. You just be faithful.

You just do what God calls you to do. One of the things I constantly tell our brother in Syria and our brother in Armstrong, just do what God says. Do it forever. Do it until you die.

Get up every morning, do what God calls you to do, be faithful as a man, faithful as a husband, faithful as a father, faithful as a pastor, faithful in the body politic, and do it until you draw your last breath. Be steadfast. In other words, what Paul says here, be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. You don't fulfill your ministry by capitulating on the ministry.

Well, you know, our people really like experience. Our people really like entertainment. Our people really have emotional needs. As if the Bible can't satisfy those needs.

As if the Bible or the truth of God doesn't fill the void. As if the Spirit Himself is not called the Comforter. Where should we be finding our comfort? Our comfort is in the Most High.

Our comfort is in the nearness of God. He is our good dependence upon the Word. Discipline by the word. Subjection to the word.

Guidance by the word. You see, these are recurring themes from Genesis to Revelation. We won't do the confessional statements. Didache 4.1.

That one we'll do because it's quick. My child, remember night and day the one who preaches God's word to you. For wherever the Lord's nature is preached, there the Lord is. Now, I imagine some sick, twisted mind that's found its way into a pulpit could really have delusions of grandeur.

I'm godlike. I would suggest that man ought not to be in a pulpit. Paul demonstrates more appropriately the sort of a mindset. When I came to Corinth, I wasn't impressive.

I didn't have the oratory. I didn't have the skills. I looked a little frayed around the edges. What I had was preaching that was in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.

Paul understood this all too well, writes it by inspiration of the Spirit, and nevertheless is a humble servant approved unto God. Yeah, weirdos get behind pulpits. Yeah, wannabe gods get behind pulpits, but that does not take from the dignity of a statement like you find there in the Didache.

Application: The Church's Responsibility

Well, in conclusion, I would just say in terms of aptness to teach, the church has a need for good preachers. The church has a need for good preachers, the need for biblically qualified men. and biblically qualified men are going to be 2 Timothy 2, 15 sorts of men that seek approval from God. They're going to be 1 Kings 18 kinds of men who preach like Elijah the prophet. They're going to be Matthew 11, 7 to 9 kinds of men, that sort of latter embodiment, at least in an anti-typical way of Elijah in John the Baptist.

Jesus says, what did you go out to the wilderness to see? Were you looking for an antsy boy? Were you looking for effeminacy? Were you looking for a delicate, sensitive man?

No, you went out there because he brought it. You went out there because he stood before Herod, he pointed at his face and he said, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. It is not lawful for you to break the law of the living and true God. Jesus asked, did you expect a man in soft clothes?

What does that mean? John the Baptist wasn't a court prophet. As a court prophet, the court prophet sought the approval of the king. That wasn't John the Baptist. men who not only are qualified, but men who will obey Christ over and above men.

Warfield says, if the minister comes to be thought of, for example, fundamentally as merely the head of a social organization from whom may be demanded pleasant manners and executive ability, or as little more than a zealous promoter, the minister's whole function is summed up in these or such things. If the whole function of the minister is inspirational rather than instructional, then no doubt we may dispense with all serious study of the Scripture." That's a showstopper. Listen to Calvin on 1 Thessalonians 5. Just as many in the present day feel almost disgusted with the very name of preaching, as there are so many foolish and ignorant persons that from the pulpit blab out their worthless contrivances.

People are fed up. People are sick. Thank God that there's, in the younger generation, I have seen this, and I can be a negative Nelly, I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm a realist, is what I like to say.

Politically, I can be, you know, wow, man, this is a mess. Religiously, I have that predilection as well, but I'm very encouraged with a lot of what I see going on in the younger people. a desire for truth, a desire for sound worship principles, a desire for something beyond Jesus is my boyfriend singing, something beyond entertainment, something beyond emotionalism, something beyond the feelings and the orientation that is oftentimes pandered to in some churches. Very encouraging. It's a very blessed thing to observe.

The Need for Good Hearers

I would say as well, the need for good preachers is followed up very closely by the need for good hearers. What if we have 1 Timothy 3 men, 1 Timothy 5, 17 men, especially those who labor in the Word and doctrine, and either A, there's nobody there to hear them, or B, the people that are hearing aren't hearing. Ryle says, preaching is an ordinance of which the value can never be overrated in the church of Christ, but it should never be forgotten that there must not only be good preaching, but good hearing. It's the old adage, if a tree falls in the forest and nobody's around, does it make a sound?

If somebody preaches like Chrysostom and nobody's there to hear it, or the people that are hearing it aren't really hearing it, has he preached like Chrysostom? Spurgeon on Mark 4, that's the Markan version of the parable of the sower, draws out these lessons here. not h-e-r-e, here, but h-e-a-r, here. It is your wisdom to know what God says. Two, hear well.

God's teaching deserves the deepest attention. It will repay the best consideration. Three, hear often. Waste no Sabbath nor any one of its services.

Use weekday lectures and prayer meetings. and then four, hear better, you will grow the holier thereby, you will find heavenly joy by hearing with faith.

The Church's Duties Regarding Elders

In terms finally of the use of the qualifications for elders that we find here in 1st Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 to 7, it demands and necessitates the church praise For God, Christ enthroned at the right hand of the Father, who ascended on high, who led captivity captive and gave gifts to men, we ought to pray to Christ to give us elders and give us deacons. The church must know these qualifications for elders and deacons, and the church must be willing to apply those things. Again, great guy, but not necessarily qualified. That reality exists in the church.

I'd suggest that every faithful man is a great guy. He's not necessarily qualified for the eldership, perhaps only because he doesn't desire it. Remember, that's not something that is foreign to the context. A man must desire to be an elder.

The church should insist that men who aspire to the office meet the qualifications. Not a popularity contest, not a great guy contest, but a 1 Timothy 3, 1-7, and a Titus 1, 5-9, and a 1 Peter 5, 1-5. He must be those things. It's not up for negotiations, it's not up for sacrifice.

The church as well should examine men in light of those qualifications. Drop down to verse 10 with reference to the qualifications for deacons. Notice it says, let these also first be tested. So in other words, as you're ascertaining whether or not a man is to be a deacon, he's got to be tested.

What does the also point to? I think it points to verses 1 to 7. I think it's assumed that the church is going to test prospective elders. It's assumed that we're going to ask the question, what does the Bible say about divorce?

What does the Bible say about remarriage? What does the Bible say about adultery? What does the Bible say about slavery? What does the Bible say about war?

What does the Bible say about these perennial issues that faces us or face us in this world today? We're going to test him. We're going to ask him questions. Name the books of the Bible.

Give me the timeline of old covenant Israel. Tell me the relationship between the gospels and the prophets. Tell me the relationship between the apostles and the Lord Jesus. Tell me what the book of Revelation is about.

Of course, all that's assumed. If a man is apt to teach, he's going to be able to stand up to that sort of testing. As well, the church should exclude any and all who do not meet the qualifications. It's a beautiful thing because Paul has stationed Timothy in Ephesus.

And what's happening in Ephesus in the book of Revelation? They're losing their first love. They're messed up in that regard. But you know what they did get right?

You tested those who said they were apostles and were not. See, Jesus not only condemns them in that letter, but he commends them as well. And as I have had many occasions to say, I would suggest that their losing of their first love wasn't absolute apostasy. Oh, we hate Jesus.

They were in the battleground. They are fighting false professors to apostolic ministry. They are testing them. They're not reading morning and evening.

They're battling heretics. So Jesus' condemnation is to call them back to that white hot zeal for their Lord of glory that can at times be battered down when a man is in the trenches battling heretics. They did get that right. You tested those who said they were apostles and were not." That's a good thing.

That's met with approval by our blessed Lord. And then finally, the church should install biblically qualified men into the office of elder. 26.9 in our confession, the way appointed by Christ for the calling of any person, fitted and gifted by the Holy Spirit unto the office of bishop or elder in a church, is that he be chosen thereunto by the common suffrage of the church itself, and solemnly set apart by fasting and prayer, with imposition of hands, of the eldership of the church, if there be any before constituted therein, and of a deacon, that he be chosen by the like suffrage, and set apart by prayer, and the like imposition of hands. And this ultimately for the glory of God, the edification, the maturation, and the sanctification of the people of God, and the calling of sinners to faith and repentance. Again, verse 5 in 2 Timothy 4, But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Yeah, Timothy could wander the streets of Ephesus and hand out tracts. Timothy could and should go reason in the synagogues with the unbelieving Jews. But evangelism takes place, hopefully, every Lord's Day in every church where they make known Christ and Him crucified, calling upon the sinner to believe, to repent, to come to Him and find everlasting life. Because as you and I well know, for the believer, we never get tired of hearing that gospel.

More gospel is never a problem for the blood-bought children of the Most High God. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank You for this clear and concise list of qualifications for elders. We do pray for Your blessing upon our church in this regard. We know that Christ is enthroned at the right hand of God, that he does give gifts to his church, and we pray that you'd raise up men, that you would strengthen and sanctify men here in the churches, in our association, and throughout the world, Lord God Almighty. We know that the The harvest is plentiful, but at times it seems the laborers are few.

So, Lord God of the harvest, raise up men, send them forth to preach and teach the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And we pray in His most blessed name. Amen.

Scripture References

• 1 Kings 18
• Psalm 29
• Matthew 11:7-9
• Acts 13
• Romans 10:9-13; 10:14; 10:15; 10:16; 10:17
• 1 Corinthians 1:21; 1:22; 1:24; 15
• Ephesians 2:14; 2:17
• Colossians 1:28
• 1 Timothy 3:1-7; 3:2; 3:9; 3:10; 3:15; 4:6; 4:12; 4:13-14; 5:17; 6:2; 6:17
• 2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2:2; 2:15; 2:24; 3:16-17; 4:1; 4:2; 4:3; 4:5; 4:6
• Titus 1:5-9; 1:9; 1:13
• 1 Peter 5:1-5
• Jude 3