Beacon Sunday Service: December 15th, 2024

I want to start with the reading of God's Word. We're going to read from 1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 5 through 9. And this is the reading of God's word. For this reason, I left you in Crete that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you. Namely, if any man is beyond reproach to the husband of one wife, having faithful children who are not accused of dissipation or rebellious. For the overseer must be beyond reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of dishonest gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holding fast a faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and reprove those who contradict.

Father, we're very grateful to be here this morning to feed off your word. You've invited us to the banqueting table. And as we look upon, and just the standards that you've set in Scripture, and especially as we're looking at the topic of elders, help us, Lord God, to hear well and to listen well, not with a heart that is critical, not with a heart that is only in any way, shape, and form self-righteous, but that we would be in awe in humility and in fear. God, that uh you love your church with a passion, and that you are a jealous God. I pray for much fruit to be born through this preaching through your church. Father, that you would minister powerfully in us and work mightily through us, so that the people around us would know, God, that you are good, that you are sovereign, that you are a God of love, but you are holy, holy, holy.

So we pray for your help to listen well, to respond appropriately, and to serve with great joy and love. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Go ahead and be seated.

So last week uh we launched off of Titus 1, uh, verse 5, and we saw that the apostle Paul had left Titus on the island of Crete with a twofold task. The first was to set in order all the ministry that had been left unfinished, and then the second task was to appoint elders in every city on the island, as Titus had previously been directed. And it appears that Paul had spoken at much length with Titus in regard to the establishment of elders, and that Titus was well equipped to know how to go about his holy task. And we started out last week by defining what an elder and overseer was, and by way of review in verse 7, the apostle Paul refers to the elder as an overseer. And the elder and the overseer, some translations actually use a term bishop for overseer.

And so those terms are primarily the same office, serving the same function. And we learned last week that the titles pastor, shepherd, teacher, were all the same office of leadership in the church. We learned that uh this elder overseer office involved not only shepherding, but equipping the saints, uh ruling as a servant leader, praying and praying for the sick, being accountable to the souls in God's church. And we also learned last week that the process of appointing the elders culminated with the laying on of hands. The primary purpose of the process was to discern the will of the Holy Spirit in establishing leaders for his church. We never ever want to lay hands on a leader or establish someone as a leader who has not been appointed by the Spirit of God.

Right? So there has to be much prayer, even focused prayer with fasting to determine God's will. And the church is to appoint only those whom God appoints. And the laying on of hands was always to be more of a demonstration of obedience and submission to God's will and what he's already doing, more than a church's strategy to help meet a practical need of the church. Okay. God is faithful. And Christ is the wise head of the church. Christ is a loving bridegroom for the church. And as a faithful, loving bridegroom, will he take care of every need in the church? Absolutely. So where God guides, where he directs us, where he directs every church, he will provide. So the church's job was never to find leaders.

Church's leadership was never supposed to be one of self-appointment. I shall go to seminary because I want to be a pastor. I shall do such and such so I can be an elder. That's not how it was supposed to work. Church is all the leadership was also never supposed to be a popularity contest. The church was always supposed to discern and choose the leaders who are prepared and appointed first by the Holy Spirit. Okay? And we have this written about the deacons. Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the spirit and of wisdom. I'm going to repeat that. Full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this need. And this is food distribution.

Why do you need men full of the spirit and full of wisdom to oversee food distribution? Because everything done in the name of Christ is a ministry. And you need men full of the spirit. So how do we know who God's appointed leaders are? We're not going to hear this voice from heaven. Ahim. You're not going to hear that usually. Okay. These will be first men full of what? The Holy Spirit and wisdom. And that is supposed to be easily discernible. This is supposed to be very evident. It's supposed to be very obvious. Like I am not Hispanic. It's obvious. Right? Nor am I Kenyan. It's obvious. So the Holy Spirit will direct the church to the very men whom he has filled with his very self to lead the church.

Okay? So the Holy Spirit or the Holy Scriptures written by the Holy Spirit first gives us very stern warnings of what not to do in the process. And I want to review this from last week. First, the church was never to establish a new convert in the office of elder. No matter how radical his convert, uh his conversion, no matter how great his zeal, no matter how much charisma or how much leadership gifting that we naturally see in him. Second, the church is never to put someone who had a bad reputation with outsiders with non-Christians as a leader. 1 Timothy 3, 7. That's a huge red flag. His bad reputation with non-Christians is very telling. Okay. So the will of God is not to put people into positions of leadership like that.

Is that clear? That's clear. There were two, uh, so those were the two prohibitions that were clearly given for the good of the church and for the health of the church. It's better to wait for the right person than to put the wrong person in place and later suffer the consequences. So too quickly, elevating a young Christian or appointing a two-faced or inconsistent individual can lead to giving a devil a foothold in the church. And we looked at that last week, right? Because the devil is mentioned in both verses six and seven. Third, there were not to be any biases or favoritism in the process of appointing elders. So a man's financial status, his secular accomplishments, his race, his popularity, the amount of his giving, the giftedness that he has for administration, even his fame.

Does Christ need celebrity endorsements for his church? No. Absolutely not. Okay, so none of that is supposed to play a factor. Fourth, there is supposed to be no haste, no hurry in the process of appointing an elder. The task of appointing an elder has always been far more important than urgent. You guys following that? The task of appointing an elder was always more important than urgent. It's always been more sacred than pragmatic. Okay, so if the churches were careful just to observe these four things, it would have prevented a lot of unqualified savage wolves from getting access to the sheep. Acts 20, 28. So the entirety of the church process, the church of God is supposed to walk by faith and not by what?

Sight. Okay, we're not supposed to pick the Sauls of the world. We're supposed to pick the Benjamins because God looks at the man's heart and he sets him apart. Okay. We need to carefully heed and apply God's word, not to turn from it either to the left or to the right. God cares more for his church than any of us ever could. Amen. So God's zeal for godly leadership in his church is way greater than ours. God will provide. God loves the beacon more than anybody here. He will provide. Amen. So we just need to trust and obey, trust and obey, for there's what? No other way to appoint godly leaders in Christ Jesus. Okay? There's no other way. And this is what we looked at last week. And today we're gonna be looking at points three and four.

Qualifications of an elder overseer and his ministry priorities. So I want to take a look at verses five to nine once again. But this time I'm gonna help you track the thoughtful with your eyes, and we're gonna let the text determine the sermon outline. Okay, and so in the text itself, we're gonna see what the qualifications are and the elders' job descriptions what they are. Can you see that? You can kind of make it out, right? My eyes were the worst, and I sat in the back, and I was kind of okay. All right, here we go. The character traits. Okay, so this is first uh Titus chapter one, verses five through nine. All right. So try to pay attention with your eyeballs and try to listen at the same time.

So the character traits that are listed here should be true for all Christians. These are the hallmarks for all Christians, but especially for those who lead God's church. So the character of a man, both private and public, that would be the criterion for consideration to appointing him in as an elder. So verse six, if you can see that, is mainly direct dealing with the guidelines for how we're supposed to judge a man's private life. Verses seven to eight deal with the man's public life. And this isn't an exhaustive list, but there are 11 things, 11 qualifications, which are very public, which are discernible. And of those 11 things, Paul says, five of them are various snares that are never to entangle an elder.

And then Paul lists six virtues after the word but that must stand out in the life of the man. And all six of those virtues are supposed to be readily determinable in the man of God's choosing. Because if someone is full of the Holy Spirit, he will look depart. And then verse 9 goes on to focus on the job description of the elder and the overseer, which is the ministry of the word, and a ministry that's both offensive and defensive. So only the man who is all of these qualities while holding fast the faithful word is fit to carry out the duties for the church. Okay? So I wanted to help you visually see the thought. And then I'm gonna read this again for you. Okay, I'm gonna read a little bit faster.

For this reason, I left you in Crete that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you. Namely, private. If any man is beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, having faithful children who are not accused of dissipation or rebellious, for the overseer must be be on reproach as God's steward, public, not self-willed, not quick tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of dishonest gain, but here are the virtues. Hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled. Adverb, holding fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching. Why? So that he'll be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and reprove those who contradict.

So who qualifies as an elder and overseer? Remember, one, he can't be a new believer. Two, he has to have a good reputation with outsiders. And what kind of man must he be? He must be a man who is beyond reproach inside and out, in both his public life, verse six, and in his uh private life, verse six and his public life, verses seven to eight. Okay, so he must be beyond reproach. Did you see that twice in the passage? You did, right? In the following things, he must be beyond reproach in both private and public stuff. Now, just as a note of clarification, this does not mean perfect. Because will you find a perfect man? No. Okay. Every man is a work in progress. So no matter who the leader of a church is, he's not going to be a perfect man, but no accusation should be able to legitimately stick.

Okay? So literally the word and clayton, an enclaton, it means not able to call into account. So as John Stott says, his life should offer zero, no loophole for any criticism. So this means you actually have to think really long and really hard and really try to find fault with a man's character. And even after much nitpicking, even after much scrutiny, it's really hard to call him out for anything outside of being imperfect. Or he's not, he needs to be holier. Well, duh. Okay, so you have to try really hard to find a reason to criticize him. This is not referring to areas of personality or interests. Oh, he's not he shouldn't be an elder because he's too quiet. That's not a personality trait.

That is a personality trait, quiet, right? That's not a character trait. Um, or oh, he has a weird laugh. Um, oh, he's into guns. He's into K-pop. Okay? So all of that, it's not what he's talking about here, right? The list contains objective and measurable character traits. This is not a matter of anyone's preference. This is not a matter of anyone's like subjective opinion. So this man is beyond reproach. Nothing sticks in every objective, discernible, testable area of his character, both private and public. All right. So let's take a look at these together. Paul starts with the private. Namely, if any man is beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, having faithful children who are not accused of dissipation or rebellious.

So the first way the church is called to gauge the qualifications of a potential elder is by examining his private life. Now, is it easy to see someone's private life? Private means what? Private. It's hidden. Okay. Private on a day-to-day level is not an open view. It's like the heart. It's difficult for me to actually discern what's in your heart. Right? It's difficult for me, you to discern actually what's in my heart. So though it's not immediately discernible, the contents of every person's heart eventually expresses themselves over time. A tree will be known by its fruit, DNA becomes visible in due time, and we all have a window into our hearts. It's called our mouth. Right? Luke 645 says, out of the overflow of our hearts, the mouth speaks.

So the lips betray the heart. Sooner or later. So with time, everything private cannot but become public. So just as much as a person's mouth gives us insight into a person's heart, a man's family gives us into insight into his true character. And that's what the text is saying. Because things are more caught than they're taught, a man's wife and kids will be a direct reflection, not of just what he says, but of how he lives and the values and character of that man. So we have in verse 6 ways in which we can judge a man's private life. First, watch his wife. Two, watch his kids. Scary. Okay? Now the temptation is to try to make my kids conform. Right? You're gonna make me look bad. In a lot of Asian churches, that's been the habit.

You're a pastor's son. So you can't do ABC and D, and that's done a lot of damage. So, but this is one of the things that a man is to be judged by. First, this man is to be a one woman man. Literally, Titus chapter 1, verse 6 says, okay, uh, which means one wife husband. So this isn't talking about just like a legal or social standing only. Okay. It's not just legal or social. This means an elder, overseer, shepherd, pastor, has to have an unsullied reputation in the entire area of sex and marriage. He is supposed to be a one woman man holistically. He is supposed to be a one woman man socially. Hopefully, duh, right? He is supposed to be a one-woman man physically. More importantly than those two, I mean, all those two are pretty important.

He is supposed to be a one-woman man emotionally, and he's supposed to be a one-woman man spiritually. This means that the entirety of all of his sexual and romantic desires are directed toward one woman and one woman only, his wife. So this means that he is faithful to his marriage covenant, that he will love his wife sacrificially and unconditionally. First Corinthians 11 7 says this. A man ought not to have his head covered since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of man. A lot of people look at that and they get distracted by the head covering. But what is it saying? The woman is the glory of man. Okay, man was created in the image of God to reflect God's glory and to reflect God's character.

The woman, generally speaking, has been hardwired to reflect the glory of her man and respond to how he treats her. So a woman who is fiercely loved will reflect and appropriately respond to that love. So a man's wife is a direct reflection of his character, his values, his integrity, and his person. So a man can fool the world, but he can't fool his wife. And all our husbands are like, there's a tension in all of us that's built in, right? As a general rule, it's not fair to judge a marriage by its first year. We do not judge anything in haste, right? But 10 years into the marriage, 20 years into the marriage, how does the wife view and respect her husband? How does she talk about her husband?

A man who is truly a one woman man will be respected and honored and supported and cherished by the one woman. Make sense? Now, this is what the passage is not saying. It is not saying that an elder or overseer must be married. So if you guys are like, I'm good, yo, God's giving me the gift of celibacy. It doesn't disqualify you from eldership. Okay. Single men can be elders. And it also doesn't mean that a widower who has been remarried is disqualified. Okay, I there are churches that say, oh, he got married again. He's disqualified. That's not what it's saying. This also, and more applicably for us, does not mean that leaders of churches can never go through rough patches in their marriage.

But it does mean that physically, socially, emotionally, spiritually, that person is a one-woman man through and through, completely beyond reproach. No accusation sticks. So obviously no cheating, no porn, no harmless flirting. Absolutely nothing inappropriate when it comes to women. Nothing. Temptability and actually compromise are two different things, right? But nothing sticks. So that's the first area where you can judge a man's private life. Secondly, he must have faithful children. There's an interpretive problem here that we're gonna have to first consider. How many characteristics there are listed in describing the elder's children? Are there three or are there one? Or is there one?

The ESV, the NASP, and the NIV all literally read his children are believers, and they are also not accused of dissipation and not rebellious. There are three.

And this isn't a call to go and scrutinize Maddie and Karis. Okay. But there are not three qualities here. It's actually one with two descriptions of that quality. So I interpret this as just one characteristic, faithful. The qualities of not being accused of dissipation or being rebellious are descriptions of what it means to be faithful. Okay? It doesn't make sense if I have a one-year-old, obviously, he can't profess faith at 10, he goes through some changes, and then I have to quit being a pastor, and then 15 he comes back to faith. I become a pastor again. It's not like that. Okay. The elders' children do not have to be professing Christians. And also that's super difficult to discern, easier to manipulate.

A man, no matter how godly, has no control over the salvation of his children. This too, they too can only be saved by grace through faith, apart from dad's work, apart from dad's gifts, apart from dad's leadership. So the prerequisite isn't necessarily genuinely Christian children, but the elders' children are supposed to conduct their lives in such a way, whether young or old, that demonstrates a joyful and willing submission to their father's leadership and his values. So how do we discern this? First, the children aren't supposed to be accused of dissipation. What is dissipation? By definition, it means downward spiraling. Okay, that's dissipation. His children cannot be accused of getting worse and worse with each passing year.

Or literally insubordinate. We all go through rebellious phases. Okay, but his life cannot be characterized by insubordination. So the elder leads his home, not with an iron fist, but as a servant leader, a good steward, and a good shepherd, treating his wife and children with utmost dignity. Hopefully, what happens is the trajectory of his children with each passing year is one of greater morality, civility, responsibility, even if they don't quite yet profess a faith for themselves. And one of the things that I've observed in some ways, because a faithful Christian man takes care of all of the needs of his children, a lot of times the kid doesn't grow up with despair. That turns him to Christ.

So sometimes they come to faith later. Right? But generally speaking, does the child respect dad even if he doesn't profess the same faith quite yet? Okay. So some people will actually say uh dogmatically that this means he has to be a Christian. The child has to be a Christian. So let's say this passage is not clear. Let's say if that if we were to take it like that, sometimes with difficult passages, it's good to compare with other texts of the scripture that address the same thing. Okay. So we can gain some insights into the parallel passage in 1 Timothy 3. Leading his own household well, having his children in submission with all dignity. If a man doesn't know how to lead his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?

That's a qualification of an elder, right? So he leads his own household well, where the children are submissive, not perfect. They can be rambunctious and wild and crazy, but they're not insubordinate. And he doesn't lead by threat of abuse or coercion, but he raises them with dignity. So though it's not an exact science, a man's wife and his kids will give us an insight into a man's private life. And his private life, he must be beyond reproach. And remember what beyond reproach means? Nothing sticks. Okay. Verses 7 to 8, Paul gives us 11 characteristics of the elder that are much easier for the church to discern. So it's gonna take you time to discern how I am with my wife and my kids. But these other traits are a little bit readily more uh visible.

Okay. So five of these things are written in the negative, what he's not supposed to be, and then there are six that are listed out as virtues. And again, these qualities are objective and they're made observable through the man's interactions with the people around him. Now you guys have had three months with me, okay? So you've had some sample size, right? Uh so objective, observable interactions that this man has also with those outside the church. So let's look at quickly what the five not attributes are. So he is God's steward and he must be beyond reproach in the following. He is not to be, number one, self-willed. Self-will does not mean a person can't be an independent thinker. It's like, oh, I'm a contrarian.

I swim upstream, I'm disqualified. No, that's not what self-willed means. The Greek word al-tha day, okay, the ESV translates it as arrogant. The NIV translates it as overbearing. So you can kind of get an insight into that that that all the different translations, that means that Greek word is pretty rich. Okay. This man who is self-willed, he doesn't value the thoughts or the opinions of other people. He doesn't listen well. A self-willed person doesn't listen to anyone, he is quick to speak, slow to listen, he believes himself always to be in the right and others to be beneath him. This is a man who has proud self-interest. Okay? Self-will doesn't mean someone who has strong convictions, but an elder is a man who prioritizes the good of the group over the good of the self.

You guys follow? Second item on this list is quick tempered. This does not mean having no temper. Okay? It just means that the temper is not what? Quick. This is not a man who is emotionless because sometimes emotionless people are bad leaders. You don't know what they're thinking. They're hard to inspire, right? So this doesn't mean without emotion, God has created some people with more emotion than others. My wife calls, she describes me as Peter has big emotions. I'm like, what? Okay, yeah, I have big emotions. Okay. But maturity isn't defined by a lack of feeling or impulse or emotion. Maturity is better gauged by how controlled and how temperate a person is, no matter what he is feeling.

No matter what the impulse, no matter what the emotion. So admittedly, one of my greatest struggles as a youth was with my temper. I lost my temper all the time. That temper is still there. Okay? The emotions, the fire, it's still hot. But I can confidently say that the emotions don't drive me, nor do they dictate my decisions in life. So that's one of the first things that actually changed when I became a believer. A lot of the rage and the anger did go away. But the emotions that are there have actually now come under the reign of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. So a man who is beyond reproach in the area of temper isn't one who doesn't feel anything. It's a one who moves cautiously and slowly and lovingly, even when the feelings are around, and he's hedged in by the scriptures.

Amen. Third, this man is not addicted to wine. In context, wine was the entertainment of the day. Okay. Wine in and of itself is not a problem. I am not opposed to alcohol. Why? First, Paul even tells Timothy to medically take a little wine in 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 23. Okay. I mean, alcohol, there's other issues there, but it is not forbidding any kind of drinking or any kind of entertainment. An addict is one who can't be without wine. He is controlled by wine. He can't not have wine. The addict's money is spent on wine. His time is either spent drinking the wine or thinking about the wine or pursuing the wine. A saint of God, especially one who is leading Christ's church, cannot and must not be addicted to anything.

I'll repeat that. A saint of God cannot and must not be addicted to anything. A leader in the church cannot and must not be addicted to anything. First Corinthians 6 12, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Chapter 10 again, all things are lawful, but all things are not profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things build up the church. Let no one seek his own good but that of other people. Is there anything unclear there? No, it's pretty fantastically clear, right? Whatever it is that harms or stumbles or negatively affects anyone in my life, believer or non-believer, I must be able to quickly give up.

Even things that are lawful for me, even to the extent of meat, as 1 Corinthians will go on to say. So I think in context, I'm so glad that that doesn't apply to me, because hopefully none of you are stumbled if I eat some cow. Okay. But if you were to say my faith really hinges upon your dietary restrictions, I mean I'll probably rebuke you for your other stuff, but if you need me to, I won't eat meat. Do you need me never to watch a movie? Okay, I won't have to. So it's there's nothing that's, oh no, that's my right. If you need me to give it up for your spiritual well-being, no problem. If football affects the spiritual well-being of my family, I'll give it up. No problem. If my Netflix watching or my video game playing hurts my family spiritually, easy peasy.

I don't watch, I don't play. Addicts must have those things. They feel they deserve those things. All their time and their money is wasted on those things. He is enslaved to those things. He is mastered and driven by those things. A Christian must not be an addict. And elders especially must not be addicts. Amen. Going back to this list. Next on this list is pugnacious. Okay, the ESV says, not violent. The CSB translates it, and this is Pastor Matheson's translation of choice, not a bully. An elder cannot be a my way or the highway, forceful man. And often this goes together with self-will and quick temper. He cannot be a violent man in behavior, in speech, or even in thought. He must be self, he must be beyond reproach.

Lastly, on this publicly not list, he cannot be a dishonest man, especially in the area of money. The scriptures say that the elders who've been commissioned full time for the ministry of the word should be compensated. 1 Corinthians 9 14. That they are worth worthy of even double honor. 1 Timothy 5, 17. But an elder of a church is never to demand it. He ever, he is never to do ministry primarily for it. So a church can hire a preacher. But a church must never ever, ever associate with a preacher for hire. Do you understand the difference? Okay. People who are willing to compromise the truths of scripture for the money, for the network, for fame, for blog likes.

Fond of dishonest gain isn't just money. It characterizes a person's willingness to compromise so that he can benefit. That's supposed to never be the case. Okay, so those were the five no-nos. Things an elder must never be. And then Paul goes on to say list six virtues that the elder is to be distinguished by. So these are things that need to be outstanding in this man. Repeat after me. Outstanding in this man. Not just, he's okay. He can't be a C student elder. It has to be stellar. Okay? In most, if not all. Verse one or verse eight, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, and self-controlled. First, he must be outstanding in hospitality. Our mind goes to like, oh, he, you know, he likes to grill meat.

He likes to open his house. That includes it, but that doesn't simply mean just opening up your home. A hospitable person gives practical help to anyone who is in need. Whether that's a friend or a stranger, believer or unbeliever, he's a generous man. He is generous with his time, his resources, and even his verbal encouragement. Do you guys know what a xenophobe is? It's someone who likes hates foreigners, right? But the word here is he is a philosoph who has a phileal love for all strangers. That's the word. Philosenas. So the size of his house matters very little. The bandwidth of the heart is a lot more at play here. How willing is he to forego his own comfort for the well-being of other people?

How willing is he to forgo his own material benefit for the good of the church and for friends, family? Second on this virtue list is loving what is good. So this man isn't just a Philosenas, a lover of strangers, but he's also a Philo Gathos, which is a lover of the good. Okay, he's a lover of good. The Cretans, and I want to remind you guys, we're evil beasts. Titus chapter 1, verse 12. The Christian elder is supposed to be not that. Okay? Very opposite of that. The evils that characterize that age. The Cretan elders were not supposed to be like that at all. The evils that characterize our age, the Christian elders don't look anything like that. That's what it's supposed to mean. The darker the world's darkness, the brighter the elders' light and love for the light.

That's what it's supposed to be. Okay? He must not just be able to discern good from evil, he has to be passionate about it. Does the elder care about the poor? Is he passionate about protecting the unborn? Is he a lover of the sanctity of marriage? Now you're like, uh-oh, he's getting political. No. Is he those things?

Does he love the refugee? Does he bless those who persecute him? Does he bless and not curse? Is he a philogathos, a lover of the good? Third, is a virtue of sensibility. You guys see that? Sensible. The word is so frona. Okay? Repeat after me. Sofrona. And the reason I want to highlight this is important. This word is often translated as self-controlled, which is actually the sixth virtue on this list. Did you guys notice that? So this word is self-control. Sometimes the sixth word is self-controlled. Okay? So the third and the six words can both be translated as self-controlled, but the two words actually mean very different things. Sophrona is best thought of as restraint. Okay? So this word, sophrona actually is the most repeated word in Titus.

Restraint, restraint, restraint. And this is not a surprise. Because Cretans, Cretan Christians were surrounded by evil beasts and liars and lazy gluttons. Verse 12. Basically, they were surrounded by cheaters, schemers, and drunken violent men. Okay? Cretan Christians were surrounded by cheaters, schemers, drunken, violent men. In the Mediterranean world, Crete was known for having the best archers. And they were also known to have the most ruthless mercenaries. Maybe it was like the sniper of the day. Right? They were ruthless. And they were famous for these things in the Mediterranean world. So while living among a people like this, Paul emphasized the virtue sophrona again and again. So restraint or sensibility is a virtue that is to characterize older men.

It was to be modeled and taught and emphasized by all women. Do you guys see that? Titus 2, 4 to 5. Younger men were urged to be only one thing. What is that? Sofrona. Christian old men, Christian young men, Christian old women, Christian young women. None of them were supposed to be like the evil beasts of their world in their present age, but to be the very opposite by showing restraint. Verse 11 to 12. Here's it one repeat it one more time. For the grace of God, and this is a summary, has appeared bringing salvation to all men, instructing us that denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live sophrona, righteously and godly in the present age. Sensibility is to be a hallmark.

Whoopsie. I don't go back. Sensibility is to be a hallmark and a defining quality for every Christian. A Christian cannot and must not be ungly. He must show restraint. A Christian cannot and must not be worldly. He must show restraint. So he must live sensibly in the present age. So this is supposed to be for every single person in every church and especially for the leadership. So is a man showing restraint in how he engages people online. You can be passionate about something, but there are what do you call those? Keyboard warriors. He can't be a keyboard warrior. Okay. Is a man sensible when he is disagreed with politically? Does a man show restraint when someone cheats him? Or is he eager to like vengeance is mine, says me, right?

When someone insultingly slaps him on the right cheek, is he restrained? Does he demonstrate so frona when he is slandered? Whew. That's hard to do when someone slanders you, right? When someone gossips you, it's like, ah, immature person. But when they speak lies about you, you're like, I gotta fight for the integrity of my namesake. But when someone is slandered, does he show restraint? Is a man sensible when those around him are drunkenly not? Then and only then is a man a good candidate to be an elder. Okay. Fourth on this list is righteous. Okay. It's also translated as uprightness. He lives a life unstained by the world. He's not motivated by greed, he's not driven by titles, accolades, success, fame, pleasure, he is righteous.

Fifth, and similarly, he is holy. He is separate, he is set apart, he is pure. And lastly, he is self-controlled. So how is this word self-control different from sophrona? While the word sensible is more related to restraint, that that's a suppressing and a holding back. Self-controlled is actually in the positive. So this is a disciplined man. He lives his life in a very regimented manner. He stewards his time well. He excels at time management. He disciplines his body and makes it his slave, so that after he has proclaimed to others, he himself will not be disqualified. You can never accuse this man of being a lazy person. He is beyond reproach in how he spends his time, because with his free time, he's always serving, equipping and building.

Amen. So by way of review. Namely, if any man is beyond reproach, the husband of one wife having faithful children who are not accused of dissipation or rebellious, for the overseer must be beyond reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of dishonest gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holy, holding fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine to reprove those who contradict. The elder must be beyond reproach in private. The elder must be beyond reproach in public.

Then and only then will he be qualified for this unique church duty, which is the ministry of the word. Now, before we get into the ministry of the word, I'm gonna pause here. Okay? When we look at verses six to eight in our church, what would that look like for us? How would you apply all of these verses into your personal life? What are you thinking right now when you see the list of these qualifications? Okay, are you thinking these thoughts? Boy, I'm glad I'm a woman and never have to be judged by such a standard. I will never be the husband of one wife. Woohoo! Is that what you're thinking? Or are you thinking, whew? Good thing I'm not aspiring ever to be an elder. Or praise God, there's I'm not an elder at the church.

That's a stricter judgment. Is that what you're thinking? Or are you thinking, boy, Pastor Peter will wait and see.

Or if you're more compassionate towards me, oh man, Pastor Peter has a tough. If any of those following thoughts have just crossed your mind, shame on you. Shame on you. Why? I want to remind you that this is God's will, actually, for every Christian. Except the gender related stuff. Every single one who calls himself a Christian or herself a Christian. Is there anything that's uniquely not Christian here? Or uniquely like elevated status. These private and public things by which we're to gauge the qualifications of our church leaders are actually supposed to be discernible in every single one of us. Amen. This is not a bar just for the spiritually elite. This is the expected standard for each and every single person who bears the name of Jesus.

Now that really should feel weighty. All the stuff that I listed. So married brothers. You are the senior pastor of your small house church. Single brothers, you are one day going to be the senior pastor of a little church plant. Souls are going to be created and equipped at your church. Whether you're a good pastor or a bad pastor, that's yet to be determined. But you will by title be the senior pastor of your home. Sisters, you are God's ambassador to many non-believers in your lives. For every single one of us in this room, whatever you would do to disqualify or whatever you would disqualify your pastor or denounce your church pastor for, you can't do either.

So do you have God's DNA in you? Do you now have a growing knowledge of holy, holy, holy God? Because this is what it says. As obedient children, not being conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance, but like the holy one who called you, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, because it is written, you shall be holy, not as your elders are holy, but as God is holy. The Christian, whether a man, woman, young or old, must be holy as God is holy. Amen.

When you're like, dang, that's a high call for the leadership. And then you're thinking of all the ways that your elders in your past have failed you. Or like the leadership at that church. Oh, I'm so glad I'm at that church. This is for us, every single one. The elder and overseer must be exemplary and lead the charge in this. And you're supposed to have enough time where you can gauge all this, right? Not a new convert. So the qualifications that are listed here are the same for you and same for me. Just the function is different. We're all different parts of the body. Amen. We just have the same, we just have different functions, but the head is the same. This is not just a checklist for a search committee.

Right? This is actually a description of the DNA of Christians. Would you guys agree? Now, if you have a man who is exemplary through and through, both privately and publicly, and the Holy Spirit appoints that man to shepherd the flock of God. Remember, it's obvious. Okay. He is to be set apart, like the apostolic elders to pray and to do the service of the word. My main job is prayer and the service of the word. Some, especially Asian churches, they um I mean it's not here, so I can say it safely, but like they're like the pastor has to wake up and like he has to clean the church. I have a friend uh whose church makes him organize all the food truck runs. Like it's just like because oh, you're hired.

We're paying you to do this. The elder shepherd overseer the church is to primarily excel in these things and to be freed up for these things. So what does the service of the word entail exactly? Well, in his letter to Titus, Paul elaborates on the following Holding fast, the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and reprove those who contradict. So the elder serves a church with solid, sound exhortations that comes from the faithful word. The elder reproves even severely. Do you see this in verse 13? So my job is to reprove severely those who contradict. So if someone says something that is completely unbiblical and tries to spread that in the church, I'm supposed to, with all my godliness and self-control and restraint, severely reprove.

Okay, this justice position is really difficult in the flesh, right? But I'm supposed to reprove severely those who contradict what it says. Now, verse 9 begins there with holding fast. It might help to understand as holding firm, okay? As it says in the ESV, or holding tightly. The words fast, firm, tightly, none of that is in the original text. So if you translate the word, it's just hold. Okay. Those words are added in the English for emphasis because holding doesn't quite capture. So that word for holding means a fierce allegiance. Not just allegiance, but a what kind of allegiance? Firce, right? Or vice grip. Have you ever heard of what a vice grip is? It's like the pit bull's version of for the hand.

I'm not letting go. So the elder holds fast, okay? And that word holding is an adverb. And the word, the if you guys aren't grammars, I'm just gonna put it to you in a simple way. The function of an adverb and grammar, it's just to modify an adjective or a verb or sometimes an entire sentence. So adverbs sometimes answer the how, when, or the why. Okay. Adverbs are utility players. They're the jack of all trades. They're fun, they can do whatever they want in a sentence. Okay. For the most part. The holding of the faithful word, if you read this passage, can be understood multiple ways. The first one is it could be seen as a seventh virtue. You guys see that? Right? Uh, what is that? Uh loving what is holy, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, just, self-controlled, right?

But that, and then holding fast. It could be even he can pose as a seventh virtue. Or it can be the fuel that enables a person to do all those things. Or it can be the standard by which the elder exhorts and reproves. Okay, let me put it another way. The faithful word of God, which is in accordance with the teaching, is the authority by which the elder teaches. He also says this in chapter 2, verse 15. Okay. Or it can be what fuels me and preserves me to be the husband of one wife. I'm claiming I'm holding on to this word with a fierce allegiance, and it'll prevent me from inappropriate relationships with sisters. It'll keep me in love with my wife. It will remind me of my vows. It will hold me in raising faithful children.

It will fuel me to be selfless. It will enable me to break my addictions. It will help me to temper my emotions, it will fuel my hospitality, it will grow in me righteousness, etc. etc. You guys tracking the first one was it's how I can use the standard to exhort to reprove, or it can also be something that I hold on to to fuel all of these 11 qualities. Or it can be. I forgot the third one. So the holding fast of the word isn't just what gives us authority or empowers us. Oh, it defines us. Okay. The holding fast defines me of the word. He will hold you fast. Amen. God will fiercely pledge himself to love and protect you.

He has a vice grip on your salvation. He will hold me fast. He will hold us fast. So this verse in verse 9, it exhorts me and the church to build a Christ-centered biblical church. So as he's holding on to this church, and as we hold on to his word, may we establish leaders in due time who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom for his glory and for our good. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for just your grace and your kindness. That you you change us. You take responsibility for our sanctification. So I pray for every single person in this room that you would help us over the seasons to resist less and less and really let you wash us with the renewing of the word.

And as you wash us, as you empower us, as you equip us, raise up an army for yourself. Raise up just mighty men of God in this congregation that will serve your cause, that will serve this church, and that we really would serve Los Angeles for your glory and for our joy. Pray this in Jesus' name.