We can turn with me to 1 Timothy 3 as we work our way through the qualifications of elders. 1 Timothy 3, specifically verses one to seven. I will read the whole chapter, we'll pray, and then we'll get back to the qualifications for eldership. 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, but covetousness, not covetous, sorry. 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 and 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.
Our Father, we come to a most serious passage of Scripture for the Church today, with reference to her leaders, her elders, her deacons. We know it's not just a popularity contest, it's not just men proven in the world, but it's men proven in terms of God and His Church. So help us to take seriously these qualifications. Help us to apply them with reference to men aspiring for the pastoral ministry.
As well, God, we pray that you'd raise up a whole host of men. We know the fields are white unto harvest. We know that the harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few. So, God, we appeal to you to raise men up, fit them according to these passages and cause them to be recognized by the churches and to be sent out to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Forgive us for all of our sins and unrighteousness now and help us to glorify you by taking every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. We pray in his most blessed name. Amen. Well, as I've said several times as we've started this material is that
Introduction
we have a man, Ryan, that is aspiring for Christian ministry, and of course he's been going up to Vernon with the hope and hopeful prayer that this would be of God in terms of him going there. So we need to be able to look at these things and to look at him in light of these things. Additionally, there's a young man who's going to hopefully come and live among us. He's gonna be visiting in the next week or so, Andrew and his wife, Sonia, and his aspiration is for gospel ministry as well.
Wants to be in a confessional reformed Baptist church to get some experience and to get some further training. And then in Dryden in Northern Ontario, there's a man there by the name of Dan Morley, who has just applied to the same seminary that Ryan is currently studying in. And Dan is embarking on training for gospel ministry as well. So these are good and encouraging and wonderful things.
Also, we could use the plurality of elders in our own church and a couple more deacons would be a great thing. So keep your eyes open and keep your ears open and receive what the Bible says concerning this so that we can recognize men, set men apart for gospel ministry such that the word of God can go forth conquering and to conquer. Now we've looked at the various terms that are used with reference to the office of elder. Elder slash bishop slash overseer.
Three words that are used synonymously to refer to the one office in the church that is given to leadership, leading and governing and teaching. The other office is deacons. The deacons have basically the same qualifications in terms of virtue, in terms of characteristics, but they don't have to be apt to teach. That doesn't mean they can't, they're not supposed to be doctrinal men.
If you notice specifically what it says, that they hold, verse 13, 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. Actually back up before that, notice verse 8. Likewise, deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued. Verse 9.
Holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. Not that they don't need to know doctrine, but they're not specifically tasked with preaching doctrine. So that's what distinguishes the elders from the deacons. Same sort of virtue, same sort of characteristic, but in terms of the gift, the elder must have that ability to teach.
So we've looked at the man's desire for eldership, verse 1. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. That must be a desire born of right motives. In other words, he wants to serve God, he wants to serve the people of God.
Secondly, there must be graces indicating genuine Christian experience. Third, gifts indicating divine provision. And fourth, opportunity indicating providential opening. And then last Sunday, we looked at the man's personal conduct, verses 2 and 3.
Remember, we took able to teach out. We're going to put that at the end of this series, so we'll look at that at the end of the series on the qualifications of elders. But essentially, Paul indicates in verses 2 and 3 what a man must be. Now, he must not be perfect, because then there would be no man to ever serve in the gospel ministry. as well, or in addition to that, these are virtues or characteristics that every Christian man and every Christian woman should aspire after.
Who of us shouldn't want to be blameless? Who of us shouldn't want to be what Paul says in this particular passage? But with men being considered for gospel ministry, they must have demonstrable, proven application of these things in their lives. We must be able to look at that, and again, not see perfection, but to see faithfulness in terms of these things.
So there are several categories left. Tonight, the man's domestic faithfulness in verses 4 and 5. Secondly, the man's experience in the faith in verse 6. And then finally tonight, the man's testimony toward outsiders.
And then God willing, we'll take up the last sermon, next week and we'll look at his aptness or ability to teach. So
Domestic Faithfulness
look with me now at verses 4 and 5 in terms of the man's domestic faithfulness. Paul says, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. And then parenthetically in verse 5, it's a lesser to the greater argument. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, How will he take care of the church of God?
So in the first place, notice that the man, in terms of domestic faithfulness, must rule his house well. Not just rule it, because basically fools and morons and godless men can rule their houses. That's not what's in view. He must rule his own house well.
There must be competency. There must be faithfulness. There must be demonstrable and proven application of God's Word in the day-to-day activities that take place in his home. If he cannot rule his own house, and the language that Paul uses is specific, if he cannot rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?
Notice he doesn't rule the church of God. Rather, he is a steward of the mysteries of God. His function is ministerial, not magisterial. Christ rules the church.
He does it through the elders, through the deacons, primarily through His Word. And so as those men preach the Word, as those men teach the Word, as those men minister the Word, they are said to be taking care of the church of God. So if a man does not know how to rule or govern his own house, how will he take care of the Church of God? So with reference to this ruling of his own household well, we ought to observe that
Leading and Loving His Wife
he must relate properly to his wife. Notice the stipulation in verse 2. He is the husband of one wife. We define that as sexually faithful.
We define that as a man, again, not perfect, nevertheless is a one-woman man. In chapter 5, at verse 19, with reference to the widow, she needs to make sure, rather, she is, I'm sorry, not 519, but notice in verse 9 of chapter 5, do not let a widow under 60 years old be taken in the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man. She's been sexually faithful to her man, to her husband. The same is true with reference to the elder in terms of his relationship to his wife.
Now turn back to Ephesians chapter 5. The apostle addresses a man's relationship to his wife in that particular passage. in great detail. And so for the man to be considered for the ministry, for gospel ministry, or eldership in the church, he must properly relate to his wife. In Ephesians 5, beginning at verse 22 and ending at verse 33, the apostle gives instructions concerning husbands and wives.
Now, when they relate to one another properly, they are doing so in a manner that is typological. In other words, a good husband and a good wife who fear God and live in a manner consistent with the Scripture are sending a message concerning Christ and His church. That's the main emphasis of the Apostle Paul. Notice in verse 32, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
In other words, when a man loves his wife the way that Christ loved the church and gave himself for her, and when the wife submits herself to her own husband, as the church does to her Lord, we are giving a picture, a type, a shadow of what the relationship between Christ and His church looks like. So in terms of a man's right relationship to his wife, there are two primary emphases in the passage. First, he must lead his wife. Notice in verse 23.
Well, verse 22. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. The rationale or the reason is found in verse 23. Notice that this isn't a popularity contest.
It's not even a contest as to who is better fit and able to lead. No, the husband is the head of the wife. It is an indicative, it is subtle, it is the way God established creation. We go back to the Garden of Eden, God made man first, and then he brought Eve to him as a helpmeet, as one comparable or answering unto him.
Meredith Klein says, the woman was made for the man, yet not as his slave girl, but his queen. Matthew Henry famously said, the woman is not made out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved. The man must lead his wife. That's what Paul is saying in terms of a man that is fit for eldership.
If it is the other way around, he is not fit for the gospel ministry. In other words, men that are in ministry must model what goes on in the Christian home. And the Christian man leads his wife, not tyrannically, Not oppressively, not in some sort of a despotic manner, but rather he does it like Christ's leadership. Loving, servant leadership.
That's why what Paul says is absolutely crucial. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved his church and gave himself for her. It is to be self-sacrificial, self-effacing love, but it is to be love in the context of his leadership. So he must lead his wife.
Second, he must love his wife. Notice in verses 26 and 27. He must exercise headship in such a way that she grows under His care, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. Again, if a man does not love his wife or relate to his wife in these terms, he is not fit for gospel ministry. Now, every single man among us should aspire to this.
Every single one that is married to a woman that professes faith in Jesus Christ must provide leadership. It must be loving leadership. We must resist the spirit of our age, this idea that there is no distinction, that it really doesn't matter, that whoever's better fit or suited for the position. No, that is to turn the created order upside down.
God made man, and then he made woman as one answerable or comparable to him. He brought her to him in order to function as his helpmate. We do ourselves no favor in the church when we compromise God's standard with reference to manhood and womanhood. So he must properly relate to his wife.
Now turn back to 1 Timothy 3.
Governing His Children
Notice that he deals specifically with the children in this passage. And again, that's the proving ground. That's the obvious. That's where we can see, is he managing his home?
Is he properly governing his home? Is he properly controlling his home? Is he ruling his house? Well, it's going to be evident in the fact that his wife is lovingly led and in the fact that his children are not banshees.
They're not miserable little cretins that everybody in the world wants to see thrown off the face of the earth. Now again, they're not perfect. They're not the little robotic children that just do everything mommy and daddy say. But they are children nonetheless under the government of their father and their mother.
They are managed successfully. They are dealt with when they are out of line. Notice the language of the Apostle. Verse 4.
One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. Now turn over to the parallel passage in Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. Specifically at verse 6, he says, if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination.
The NIV translates or renders it this way, a man whose children believe. There are a couple of Bible teachers out there in our orbit, persons that you know and persons that most likely you have heard from time to time, that believe that an elder's children must be converted. I do not think that is mandated by the text. I think the idea of faithful children, faithful under control, faithful that are not accused of dissipation or abject wildness.
A man cannot convert his kids. A man is not the Holy Spirit. He's not responsible in terms of opening their hearts and granting them the graces of faith and repentance. Now, ideally, his children would be saved.
Ideally, all of our children would be saved, and that's what we pray to our gracious God for. But in terms of a man that is aspiring for gospel ministry, it is not mandated from Scripture that his children are are converted, but that they are controlled. George Knight 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. I think I mentioned this last week. It's not that his kids never sin. It's not that his kids never get out of line.
It's that when they do, he deals with them. And how does he deal with them? You can turn back to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 6 this time.
Ephesians chapter 6, Paul deals with a parent's responsibility to their children, specifically the father's. Notice in Ephesians 6, 4. And you fathers do not provoke your children to wrath. Don't exacerbate them.
Don't exasperate them. Don't make them languish. Don't make them sorrowful that they are under your care as a father. Don't provoke them.
We can provoke them in a whole host of ways. Just reflect back on when your kids were little and I'm sure you'll come up with several answers as to how you have or been able to provoke them. Paul's admonition is that fathers do not provoke your children to wrath, but then notice, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Essentially this idea of training refers to child rearing, training, or discipline.
It refers to the act or activity involved. And then admonition speaks to the word, what we say, the instructions that we give them. So the man aspiring to the eldership and Every Christian man should take pains not to provoke his children to wrath, and he should both by action and by word bring up his children in the training and admonition of the Lord. Now,
Proverbs on Parental Discipline
the book of Proverbs is very helpful, so we can turn back there. The book of Proverbs illustrates for us how a man is to function relative to his children. And just a few specimen passages, because there's a whole host of them in the book of Proverbs, as Solomon took seriously the necessity forefathers to take charge in their homes. Notice in Proverbs chapter 13.
Last Sunday, our brother was not able to be in church because he had the Rona, so he texted me after and he said, Thank you for the message my children took away from it that I can no longer spank them because I'm not to be a giver of blows. Well, I'm gonna undo all that tonight, children, so you can thank me later. Proverbs 13, 24. He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
Now, brethren, some of these passages in the Proverbs, and I think I've said this before and I will qualify it again, Be careful, use discretion, use discernment, use wisdom when it comes to exercising discipline with reference to your children. We live amongst spies. We live amongst people that are ready to dine you out. We live amongst people that are ready to turn you in for every jot and tittle of your lives.
So be careful when it comes to the application of the rod and reproof with your children. But this idea that we are not to engage in what God commands so that we don't infringe upon the rights of the child is ultimately destructive of the child. Listen to what the wise man says. He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
Every child out there knows that a father who loves him will be a father who disciplines him. That's just garden variety information. A father that doesn't take the time to discipline his children is a father who is guilty of not loving his children. Turn over to Proverbs 19.
Proverbs 19, specifically at verse 18. Proverbs 19 verse 18, chasten your son while there is hope and do not set your heart on his destruction. It's a parallelism. Look at what he says, chasten your son while there is hope, do not set your heart on his destruction.
So there's either hope or destruction. What are you gonna do? You're gonna chasten your son while there is hope because you don't want him destroyed. Notice in Proverbs 22 at verse six, Proverbs 22 at verse 6, we all know this one, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Notice what the emphasis is there. It's not on what happens to the kid later in life. The emphasis that I want to bring to the forefront is train up a child. He must be a man who rules his own household well.
In order to rule your own household well, you have to spend time in the trenches with your children, engaged in discipline, engaged in instruction, engaged in government, engaged in leadership. If we do not do that for our children, they're going to look like what we're seeing in society all around us. We need to be counter-cultural when it comes to this idea. We need to discipline our children and train them up, or bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Notice as well, Proverbs 23, verses 13 and 14, do not withhold correction from a child. For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod and deliver his soul from what? From hell.
Now again, he's not suggesting that somehow it's the rod that brings conversion to that particular child. but you get the thrust of the passage. If you allow your child to go uncheck, if you allow your child to do his own thing, if you allow your child to live whatever way he or she chooses, you are not doing them any favor whatsoever. And then notice in Proverbs 29 at verse 15. 29 verse 15, the rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. It is high time that the church take this responsibility back, that we exercise what God has called us unto and not sin the sin of Eli.
Remember Samuel upbraids Eli, God upbraids Eli. Why? Because his sons were wicked. They didn't know the Lord. 1 Kings 2, verse 12.
And as a result of their not knowing the Lord, they lay with temple prostitutes. They stole the food or they stole the meat that was not allotted to them. We've seen the detailed legislation in the sacrificial system. The priests were looked after.
The priest got their share of the fat. The priest got their share of the meat. The idea was is that the priest can't go out and, you know, plumb and buy their own houses. So they had cities appointed for them and they received probably stipends, but they also received meat from the sacrificial system.
That wasn't enough for Eli's sons. They would take their pitchfork or their fork, throw it into the boiling pot and take out extra portions for themselves. God indicts Eli because he did not restrain his sons. If a man aspires to the office of elder and deacon, he must manage his own household well.
He must bring up his children in the training and the admonition of the Lord. It is most essential that we do not compromise at this point that when we survey men, In light of the qualifications for eldership, we see wives that are looked after, and we don't know all the jots and the tittles to be sure. We don't know all of the ins and outs and the imperfections and all that, but we should be suspect if a woman looks completely exasperated all the time, or when she, you know, her husband's saying how he desires to preach and desires to minister, and she's sort of behind him rolling her eyes. Those are not good signs. loving leadership in terms of his relationship to his wife, and discipline and correction in terms of his relationship to his children.
All in the context of love. You see, a man who does this with his child does it out of love. He doesn't do it because he's a despot. He doesn't do it because he's a tyrant.
He doesn't do it because he's a premier. He does it because he loves them, and God Most High has given him stewardship with reference to these children, and he wants the best for the children. And what is best for the children is discipline, it's correction, it's encouragement, it's training them up in the way that they should go, not allowing them to pursue whatever it is that they want to. No, that is the world's way.
We as God's people are under a mandate, a divine mandate, to bring up our children in the training and the admonition of the Lord. So back to 1 Timothy 3. Now we look at,
Experience in the Faith
secondly, in terms of tonight, the man's experience in the faith. Look at what Paul says in verse six. He says, not a novice, not a neophyte. The word neophyte means newly planted, not one that's new to this game of Christianity.
I don't mean game in that sense, but not one who's newly off the boat in terms of having been converted. So verse six, not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Now, we need to qualify this, because when we survey the New Testament, there were certain situations or instances where there certainly couldn't have been a man that was ordained to gospel ministry who had been a Christian for 10 years.
Apostolic Precedent in Acts
Go back to the first missionary journey with me in Acts chapter 14. Acts chapter 14. So the Apostle Paul and Barnabas are sent out by the church in Acts 13. This particular missionary journey took place in the years AD 47 to AD 48. covers chapter 13 and 14 in terms of Paul's ministry.
This was the time when they visited the churches of Southern Galatia. Remember the book of Galatians? It was probably the first book that the apostle Paul wrote. So he goes on this preaching ministry, he goes and he makes disciples, he makes or founds churches in the region of Southern Galatia.
After that missionary journey's over, he gets wind that the Judaizers have come, and that's why he takes pen to paper and writes Galatians. But intriguingly, they go out in A.D. 47 and return in A.D. 48. So they go through various cities preaching and teaching, making disciples and planning churches. Now 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, saying, We must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God.
So they went through various cities. They preached the gospel in those cities. They made disciples in those cities. They found churches in those cities.
Now when they head back to Antioch, guess where they go? They go through those same cities. They go through those same churches. Now look at what happens according to verse 23.
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 there wasn't 10 or 15 or 20 years that these men had been converted. As well, turn back to the book of Titus. Titus chapter 1.
Titus chapter 1. Something intriguing about this particular situation. It was a pioneer, sort of missionary setting. And Crete apparently was a rough place.
And the Apostle Paul stations Titus or has Titus go to Crete. And notice in verse five, for this reason 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. Now notice in Titus one, there's no description, no qualifications given for deacons. Not that deacons are unimportant or not important in the churches in Crete, But the initial setup in terms of the church life was to appoint elders.
Deacons could come later. The church in Ephesus was further along. It was more mature. It had been around longer.
And as a result, they had qualifications for elders and deacons. That's why there's an absence in Titus 1 in terms of the diaconate. But for this reason, 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." Again, there simply wasn't a lot of time for a man to have been converted for 10 or 15 or 20 years and then get inducted into the gospel ministry. To some degree, this language of neophyte, this language of new convert is somewhat conditional upon the particular situation.
Robert Mount says the application of this rule would depend upon the relative age of the local church, its speed of growth, and many other factors that would vary from place to place and from time to time. A similar injunction does not occur in Titus 1. But going back to 1 Timothy, notice specifically what Paul says in chapter 5. In chapter 5 at verse 21, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.
Guarding Against Hasty Ordination
Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins. Keep yourself pure. So the admonition, or the prohibition, is do not lay hands on anyone hastily. In other words, don't compromise with reference to qualification because we need elders.
Don't compromise with reference to qualification because we need preachers. Don't compromise with reference to the qualifications for elders because those people need a preacher on site. No, you must maintain fidelity in the application of these qualifications to a man or men that are being considered for the gospel ministry. And back to 1 Timothy 3, this is not only a protection for the church, but it's a protection for Him.
It's always intrigued me with reference to this search for elders or search for men to serve in gospel ministry. In our hastiness at times, we're not thinking in terms of the church and we're not thinking in terms of the man. Now, it may seem like we're extinguishing a flame, but we want to make sure we're not running unsent, that we're not engaged in something that is hasty. Look at what happens if the man is installed prematurely. or if the man is installed without due appreciation for the qualification.
Notice in verse six, not a novice lest, being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. It is protection, not only for the church, but for the man or men. We don't want to hate that upon a guy. Just like James three, let not many of you become teachers.
Why? Because we'll receive a stricter judgment. If we understand that, we should tread cautiously. We should tread according to what Scripture says in the most crucial area concerning the qualifications of elders.
Testimony Toward Outsiders
Now notice, thirdly, the man's testimony toward outsiders. You see, Paul is comprehensive. In the space of seven verses, he deals with the desire, he deals with the conduct, he deals with the family, He deals with the length of conversion or prohibition against being a new convert. And then he deals with the man's relationship to those outside the church.
In other words, that's a good image or a good picture rather of the whole man. We're not just concerned with his aptness to teach. We're not just concerned with one aspect of these qualifications. We want whole men preaching the whole gospel in our pulpits.
That is what is in view. Now notice the exhortation in verse 7. So the elder must manage his own household well. Notice the elder as well must have a good testimony.
Not just a testimony, oh yeah, that guy's a Christian but he's obnoxious. No, he has a good testimony. And I'll give a qualification in just a moment. The man that is an elder that is faithful as a preacher or pastor may not be looked upon favorably by every sector of society.
So that obviously can't be taken into consideration. If a man is what he ought to be according to the qualifications, and persons hate him because he preaches Christ, we don't hold that against the man, right? So there needs to be some wisdom as we apply these things. If every man everywhere only ever speaks favorably of you, you might want to take guard on that.
Because the reality is that if you're preaching the gospel, There's going to be offense, especially in our age. Somebody, somewhere is going to be offended. I guarantee you. But notice, this is not, again, confined to the elder, but it must be demonstrable in those that we consider for the eldership.
Walking Wisely Before the World
Turn back to the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter 4, every Christian should have a good testimony with those on the outside. 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.
See, it seems to me there's two extremes. On the one hand, oh, I don't care what anybody in the world ever says. No, that's not right. You gotta have a good testimony.
You gotta be a faithful man. You gotta pay your taxes. You gotta cut your lawn. Don't be the guy in your neighborhood that everybody's praying will move because your dog never shuts up or because your grass is never cut.
Don't be that guy. So the idea that I don't care about anybody in the world, that's not biblical. But the other extreme is I care about everybody in the world and what everybody thinks of me. That's not good either.
So there has to be a walking in wisdom, as the Apostle Paul says here, with reference to those who are outside. Notice in 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 9. 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 verses 11 and 12. Beautiful, beautiful language in scripture.
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. Again, this idea that I don't care what anybody in the world ever says, that's not biblical. you have to have a good testimony with those on the outside. Notice in 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 Peter chapter 2, again, this is not just for elders, it's for all of us, but it must be demonstrable in the lives of those that are going to function as elders in churches.
Notice in 1 Peter 2, at verse 12, well, verse 11. So going back to 1 Timothy chapter 3, now I've illustrated with just a few things, you know, the cutting of the grass, the paying of the taxes, the not, you know, playing your music. Oh, but it was hymns. Yeah, but 3 in the morning, if you're blasting your neighbors with your hymns, that's not somehow godly, that's not somehow okay, but it was hymns.
That's just Christian nonsense, brethren. Nobody wants to hear anything at 2 o'clock in the morning except them snoring. That's about all. So this idea that we don't need to care about anybody is not biblical.
Now,
Spurgeon on the Minister's Bearing
I've often thought, or I've probably said at times, I always love to quote from Spurgeon, lectures to my students. This is from the chapter on the minister's ordinary conversation. on the minister's ordinary conversation. So he has a whole host of lectures that he gave to his students at the pastor's college. Some dealt with call to ministry, some dealt with preaching, open air preaching.
He's got a whole section on gestures and emotions and all that sort of thing. It's kind of an interesting book. It's a book that's actually gold. But in the minister's ordinary conversation, what kind of a man should he be when he's out and about?
What kind of a fellow should he be? Well, Spurgeon exhorts Christian ministers to be very cheerful. Now, dispositionally, we're not all this way, and we all probably need to work a little harder at being extra cheerful. But I want to read this because I think it illustrates well this idea of how we relate to others outside the church.
He says the Christian ministers 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. Think about this.
The very solemn appearance of ministers. He's holy. Look at how he looks. That's just weird.
He says, 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 churchman. Look, he said, how the man is worn to his skeleton by his daily fastings and nightly vigils, how he must mortify his flesh. Spurgeon comments, 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 and digestion, which had so reduced him. or possibly a troubled conscience which made him so fret himself 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 a 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." I think he's on to something. There's not anything godly about emaciated flesh. There's nothing godly about the actual outfit that a minister wears.
There's nothing godly in that sort of an approach. The minister's ordinary conversation, he ought to be a regular fellow for the most part. He ought to have a hearty countenance. He ought to be able to point men to the Savior without pulling teeth.
He ought to be able to relate in a way that Paul maintains in 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. Again, we need to give concern with reference to the qualifications, not only for the church, but for the man. If we run hastily, if we violate 1 Timothy 5.22 and lay hands on someone hastily, we run the risk of doing damage to that particular fellow.
And as I said, the elder must have a good testimony, but that does not necessarily mean that all men everywhere will always speak well of him. Matthew chapter 5 verses 10 to 12 indicate that. There will be those who persecute, there will be those who say things, there will be those who indeed misalign those people that serve the Lord God Most High. Spurgeon himself, as winsome as a character as he was, had a whole host of enemies.
He often came into the newspapers, he was often the target of ridicule, he was often the target of persecution on the part of the press and on the part of people. His wife made him a poster or a sign that they hung above their bed and it was Matthew 5, 10 to 12. He would look at that when he was putting on his shoes in the morning and it would bring encouragement to his heart. So those things we add to the list of the qualifications of elders.
So we've seen the man's desire for the eldership, verse 1. We've seen the man's personal conduct, verses 2 and 3. Third, the man's domestic faithfulness in verses 4 and 5. The man's experience in the faith, verse 6.
And the man's testimony toward outsiders in verse 7. As I said, next week, God willing, we'll take up the man's aptness or his ability to preach and to teach the word of the living God.
Application
I'll end with two observations and then we'll close. In the first place, again, these are not suggestions, these are not simply recommendations, but these are must-be's. There is a necessity upon us when we do due diligence to take this passage of Scripture and to scrutinize men accordingly. And again, if we overdo it and expect perfection, then we need to lighten up.
But if we underdo it and say, Oh yeah, he's a nice guy, and he's okay, and all that sort of thing. Without due concern for the qualifications, we run the risk of damaging not only the church, but damaging the fellow also. We don't want to do that. We want men that aspire to ministry to be treated with respect, love, and dignity according to Holy Scripture.
In other words, when we govern our conduct by the word of God, it is a protector, it is a safe guide, it is the rule that we should proceed according to. And then secondly and finally, as I mentioned last week, God has a class of men, an office in the church that is devoted and dedicated to preaching and to praying. And that does express the mind of God most high in terms of his plan. in terms of His decree, in terms of His purpose for this world. It is to save sinners through the proclamation of the gospel, through that gospel of Jesus Christ, His life, death, and resurrection.
God not only orchestrated it in the sending of His Son, but in the sending of ministers so that they can proclaim that truth for His glory, for the salvation of souls, and for the edification and the maturation the absolute growth in grace for the church. Look at Ephesians chapter four, you see the apostles' emphasis. Church is supposed to be biblical. Church is supposed to be theological.
Church is supposed to be the pillar and the ground of the truth. Verse 11 of Ephesians four, he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. It's the threefold function of gospel ministry. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Why? Look at what he says in verse 13. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
See, that's the end game. That's what's supposed to happen. That's what's going to happen when we have qualified men preaching in pulpits for the good of the souls of men. There'll be growth in grace, there'll be growth in knowledge, there'll be maturation, and there'll be stability.
We won't be blown about by every wind of doctrine. You notice what Paul says there. There are enemies, there are opponents, there are those things that are trying to disrupt. They're trying to lead astray.
They're trying to destroy the church itself. And so a faithful ministry is a great frontline defense against that happening. So may God indeed bless us as we take these things to heart and as we look at the men considering gospel ministry. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for this full Lord's Day. We thank you for the Sunday school hour and for the morning worship and our time this evening. It's been a blessed day, and we give praise to you for that. We thank you for the saints of Christ, for one another.
It's such an encouragement to be with the people of God, It's encouraging to come in from the world and to enjoy the courts of Zion. We ask that you would go with us now, watch over us in this coming week, help us to be faithful, and help us in all things to bring glory and honor and praise unto you. And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.