Amen.
The title of the sermon this evening is biblical ordination.
Biblical ordination.
And you're there in Hebrews 6.
And if you would just keep something there but go ahead and turn back to Numbers chapter
27.
I'm going to preach tonight about the subject of biblical ordination.
Now being ordained is something that has multiple terms in scripture.
And you know if we were just to think about the word ordained in general if we were just
to look it up in a dictionary we would find the definition to be it is to make someone
a minister to appoint to anoint or consecrate to install, invest, induct, order, or decree
something officially.
Now ordination is a principle in scripture and that uses several terms.
And one that we're going to see here is a charge and the laying on of hands.
And there's also other terms that would refer to what would be a biblical ordination such
as charge, command, anoint, or the laying on of hands.
Now you're there in Numbers chapter 27.
Look at verse 18 and we'll see one of the first examples of someone receiving an ordination
in scripture.
The Bible says in verse 18,
And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit,
and lay thine hand upon them.
And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation, and give him
a charge in their sight.
And thou shalt put some of thine honor upon him, that all the children of Israel may be
obedient.
And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment
of Urim before the Lord.
Go ahead and jump down to verse 22.
And Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the
priest, and before all the congregation, and laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge
as the Lord commanded him by the hands of Moses.
And that's where we get the doctrine of laying on of hands.
That is what a biblical ordination looks like when somebody is given a charge and there
is a laying on of hands.
Now if you're there in Hebrew 6, we need to notice something about biblical ordination.
Now according to our text, being ordained or receiving the laying on of hands is a foundational
doctrine.
It is something that is basic.
You'll notice there in Hebrew 6 it says, Therefore leaving the principle doctrines of Christ,
verse 1, let us go unto perfection, not laying again the foundation.
Now he's going on to tell us what are some of these foundations that we are to learn
in scripture.
He says, The foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the
doctrine of baptisms, and we think of the doctrine of baptism, that's a very simple
and easy doctrine to understand from the word of God.
And it goes on and says, and of the laying on of hands.
This is not a complicated and difficult subject to understand.
But there are several reasons why we need to hear this, and I know this is something
that's been preached from this pulpit on more than one occasion, but it's something that
we have to keep in front of us because we're living in a time where we've been seeing many
people raising up and receiving unbiblical ordinations or not even bothered to be ordained
or assigned to skirt the requirements of what is expected of a person to receive a biblical
ordination.
In Hebrews chapter 5, if you would just turn back, I want to notice the preceding verses
of our text.
It says there in Hebrews chapter 5, verse 12, For when the time ought to be teachers,
you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the doctrines of
the oracles of God, and have become as such as have need of milk.
He's saying, look, you guys are his babes, you need to be taught these things again.
He moves right into Hebrews chapter 6, and one of the things he's saying we need to move
past is this foundational doctrine of laying on of hands, of being biblically ordained.
We need to hear this preached today because people still lack discernment in this area,
and I believe it's for several different reasons.
Simply because often it's because they've just never read it.
They've never been in the word of God long enough to come across these examples that
we see in the Old Testament, and what you read here in Hebrews, that might be another
reason they've never heard it preached from pulpits.
A big part of that is because there is another system in place that man has instituted in
place of God's method of laying on of hands, and that's called Bible college.
That's often what many people have seen.
They don't see a man raise up from the congregation and to be ordained by a man of God within
the walls of the church, but rather being sent off to an institution and receiving an
ordination in that manner.
Some people have just never seen it, therefore they don't have the discernment to understand
what a biblical ordination looks like.
They only have the Bible college model as an example.
That's one reason we need to have this preached, and another reason would be because people
are out there today who are taking on unscriptural ordinations.
People who take on an unscriptural ordination, at best they're probably ignorant or stubborn.
They simply don't know what it is they're supposed to do, or they know and they refuse
to do it.
When a person knows what the word of God says about being biblically ordained and still
insists in doing it another way, in error, you have to ask yourself, are they trying
to be deceitful?
And we see many people out there that are side skirting the word of God, that are going
around the word of God in this matter of biblical ordination, and often I believe it's because
they are deceitful people, and we'll get into what that might be, the reasons why they might
be deceitful.
So we need to be wary of anyone who promotes themselves to an office as important as that
of a bishop.
Taking on the office of a bishop, or an elder, or a pastor, that's a very important position
to take on.
I mean, you're basically standing up and telling everybody else, saying, hey, look at me, do
as I do, let me teach you the word of God, you're feeding the flock of God.
So we need to be wary of somebody who would just take on that role just very willy-nilly,
just wishy-washy, just not really taking heed or giving much credence to what the scripture
says you must do in order to receive that ordination.
The first thing I want us to notice about biblical ordination is that it's something
that is earned from an authorized body.
We often say that somebody's going to be sent out, that Pastor Anderson is going to ordain
somebody.
And that's true, Pastor Anderson is the one who's going to ultimately give the final yes
or no on whether or not somebody is sent out of this church.
But often what we fail to remember is that it is a local body, the group, the congregation,
the church that is also giving their approval.
Often a pastor of a church will go and ask about a certain individual and say, hey, we're
thinking about sending out so-and-so, what do you think?
And give people an opportunity to either approve of that decision and praise that individual
or have objections and concerns and express them so that a pastor can make a wise decision.
So we have to understand, first of all, that biblical ordination is something that's earned
from an authorized body, a local church.
That is the institution that God has created in order to have men ordained.
Now it is earned because the one being ordained must be proven prior to being ordained.
They must be proven prior to being ordained.
How else can you be proven if you're not giving others an opportunity to observe you, to see
how you live, and whether or not you live up to the standards that God's Word gives?
Now if you would, turn over to 1 Timothy chapter 4.
First Timothy chapter 4.
You see, first of all, biblical ordination is something that's earned.
It's something that's given.
It's not something that you just take upon yourself.
First Timothy chapter 4, verse 13, the Bible says, till I come give attendance to reading,
to exhortation, to doctrine, neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee
by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
It was something that was given to Timothy.
It wasn't something that he demanded.
It wasn't something that he took out of turn.
It was something that he earned from a local body, from an authorized body.
Biblical ordination is something that must be earned.
You see, Timothy was somebody...
Go ahead and turn over to Acts chapter 16.
Timothy is a great example of somebody who received a biblical ordination because Timothy
was someone who was ordained by the laying on hands of the presbytery of the local church
of the congregation but also because he was proven worthy of being ordained by a body
of his peers, by those that knew him, that worked alongside him, that spent time with
him.
You're in Acts chapter 16.
Look at verse 1.
Speaking of Paul, it says, then he came to Derbe and Lystra and behold, a certain disciple
was there named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman which was a Jewess and believed but
his father was a Greek.
Verse 2, which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
Him would Paul have to go forth with him.
So when Paul shows up, he hears of Timothy who somebody has a good report.
The people knew who Timothy was, that he was faithful in the church, that he was faithful
to the work of God, that he was somebody that would be worthy of taking along with him,
with Paul to do the work of God.
So we see first of all that biblical ordination is something that's earned from a body.
It's something that you earn from a body of your peers in the local church.
And not only that, but ordination is something that comes with certain standards of approval.
There are certain standards, there are certain qualifications that a person must live up
to in order to receive and be given the office of a bishop.
If you would turn over to 1 Timothy chapter 3, 1 Timothy chapter 3, I'll begin reading
in verse 1.
It says, this is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, it says if he desire,
that's where it starts, is the desire.
It's good to have that desire.
It says, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
Desire is not enough though, that's just where it starts.
Many people desire, but they don't want to go on to that latter half of the verse.
He desireth a good work.
See desire is only a starting point, it goes on and says a good work.
Meaning this, as in the case of Timothy, it was somebody who was already doing the work.
When Paul came and found him, he was somebody that was already well reported of.
He was somebody that was already desiring to do the work of God.
He was already involved in the work of God.
Goes on and says there, that he must be a bishop that must be blameless.
The husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt
to teach, not given to whine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not
a brawler, not covetous.
One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity.
Now there's several qualifications listed off right there.
There's a lot of things that we could pick apart and spend time on and dwell on each
one of these and preach whole sermons probably on each one of these subjects.
But I want to just look at a few of them that says there that he must be blameless, that
he must be vigilant, that he must be sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt
to teach, one that ruleth his house well.
Now those are all traits that you just don't pick up.
You don't just go down to Walmart and buy this.
This isn't something that just comes quickly.
These are traits that take a significant amount of time, not only to develop an individual,
but then also to confirm that they are there, that others would be able to look at that
person and say, these traits are found in this person.
That is something that takes time.
That is something that could take years to develop.
The other part I want to look at is where it says having children.
That's very important because that's something that a lot of guys, they really try to work
around this.
They have that desire.
Maybe they even meet all these other qualifications, they're good people, but they only have one
child or they have no children.
The Bible very clearly says having children, and that's because God expects more than one
child.
If one child was enough, it would say having a child because if I have children, then I
have obviously at least a child, right?
That wouldn't disqualify me if I had more than one child.
But if you only have one child, you do not have children.
Not a child.
Now, you say, why is that?
That would prove a consistency in ruling well, in ruling your own house.
There's a big difference between ruling a child and ruling two children.
There's a big difference between ruling two children and ruling three children.
We're finding out very quickly that there's a difference between ruling four children
and then ruling three.
You know what?
I'm sure if, Lord willing, we have a fifth, there's probably going to be even more challenges
that come along with that.
That's why we're to have children, because it proves a consistency in ruling well your
own house.
Now, again, just as these other requirements, this is something that takes time.
This is something that has to be developed.
It takes time to raise up children to an age of being proven, doesn't it?
We would probably say, the Bible doesn't give an exact age, but anyone who has kids and
is attempting to raise them for the Lord in the nurture and admission of the Lord would
know that children tend to have a certain age, and every child's different, where they
really start to try and test the waters, where they try to push the envelope, see what they
can get away with and start to exercise their will.
That's when mom and dad have to step in and start to steer and guide and correct.
I would probably say that's probably right around two or three years.
You can tell pretty quick if somebody's slipping in this area, if a parent isn't maybe on top
of this.
Because a child gets to three, two, three, four, five years old, it becomes very apparent
whether or not that child is being ruled well.
So we see that there are several traits that must be developed in a vigil in order to receive
the ordination, a biblical ordination.
If you're there in 1 Timothy chapter 5, go ahead and turn there if you aren't there already.
We see, first of all, biblical ordination is something that is earned from an authorized
body.
What I want you to think is that biblical ordination is something that is specific to
an immediate task.
Now hear me out on this one.
This might take a little time to see where I'm going here, but this is important.
Because we're starting to see people who are just taking a lot of liberties with ordinations.
I want us to understand something, that biblical ordination is something that is specific to
an immediate task.
If you're in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 21, notice Paul said to Timothy, I charge thee
before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and elect angels that thou observe these things without
preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.
He was given a very specific charge.
It was these things that he was to observe.
In Deuteronomy chapter 31, you don't have to turn there, I'll read for you, but Deuteronomy
chapter 31, the Bible says, and the Lord said unto Moses, behold thy days approach that
thou must die, call Joshua and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation that
I may give him a charge.
So God's going to tell Moses to lay a charge upon Joshua, that he was going to give him
a specific task that he was to complete.
And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, it
goes on in verse 23, and he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge and said, be strong and
of a good courage, for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I swear
unto them, and I will be with thee, saying, look, I'm going to pass off now, off the scene,
I'm going to die, Joshua, and now I'm leaving it in your hands to take God's people into
the promised land.
Now Joshua, that's a very specific charge, isn't it?
He was to take God's people into God's land.
Now it's specific not only to what he was supposed to do, but at the time he was supposed
to do it.
It was an immediate task that he was to accomplish.
It was time sensitive.
He couldn't, you know, it wasn't something that Joshua could just get around to when
he felt like it.
He said, Moses, I understand, no problem, I got this, let's just spend a few more years
on this side of Jordan, you know, make sure we're ready.
It was something he was supposed to do right away, because a biblical ordination is something
that is specific to an immediate task.
For example, in Titus the Bible says, for this cause I left thee in Crete.
He left them there at that time for a specific reason.
That's why Paul left Titus in Crete, that thou should set us in order to the things
that are wanting.
It was time sensitive.
You see, Joshua was to take on that specific charge at that exact time.
It wasn't something he could get around to when he felt like it.
Also, it was not something, and this is the part I really want us to understand, because
this is where people are taking liberties, it was not something he could fail at and
make multiple attempts at.
Joshua could not try to lead the children of Israel and utterly fail, come back on the
other side, regroup, and then try again.
It was something that he was supposed to go and be successful at, that he was to get right
the first time.
And I want us to understand something, that when I say that a biblical ordination is specific
to an immediate task, biblical ordinations are not like your season tickets to some,
you know, hockey game, or whatever sporting event, where you get to pick and choose when
you'll go, today I'll be a pastor, tomorrow I won't, I'll retire for a few years, I'll
come back out.
It's something that's time sensitive.
It's something that has to be accomplished at that exact time.
And people are taking liberties with it.
You say, why are you even preaching this?
There are people out there that are taking liberties and saying, I'll be a pastor today,
I'll wait a few decades, I'll try it again.
I've been contacted by an individual, and anybody who's been paying attention on social
media knows who I'm talking about.
I don't need to get up and name names.
I could, but I don't know, that person would probably just love to hear his name said.
But I was contacted by somebody who I believe was in violation of this particular principle.
They were saying they were going to start a church somewhere.
And I asked them, well, okay, who's your sending church?
I mean, right, that's what we saw first of all, is that if you're going to take on a
biblical ordination, you're going to have a sending church, you're going to be approved
by a local body.
Couldn't give me one.
They could not provide a current sending church.
And he even stated that the church that they had recently attended would not support their
efforts.
Well, that's a big red flag when you can't get a church behind you.
That's a big red flag.
It's a big red flag when your church can't behind you, it's a big red flag when the only
church that will get behind you is where your dad's the pastor.
That's another one.
He said, I don't have a sending church.
The church that we're currently attending or had attended, there wasn't a current attendance,
would not support their efforts.
And I said, well, what are you basing this on?
Where do you get the authority to go out and start a New Testament church?
Well, you know, and he was bringing his father out of retirement and he's citing this ordination
from like 20 plus years ago.
Like 25 years ago.
Well, he was ordained 20 years ago.
Was he a pastor today?
No.
He's retired.
And the man who ordained him, you know, I would strongly, I have some real reservations,
whether or not that individual who ordained this man 20 years ago would have anything
to do with Baptists of Our Stripe, didn't believe any of the doctrines that we have,
anything that we believe from the Bible.
So you know, you can't just pick up the pastorate whenever you feel like it.
And these guys, and then I go and I look and I see the ministries that they involved in,
the churches that were apparently started, all closed.
Can't find them.
Failed.
No sending church, no successful churches, you know, completed in the past.
You know, I could use myself as a hypothetical example.
You're saying like you're too far out there, you know, this is, why are you being so nitpicky?
Well, let's just bring it on home.
What if I got sent out from Faithful Word?
What if somebody, you know, I got ordained, I met all the qualifications, I had the blessings
of the congregation or the pastor, I was sent out to go start a church somewhere.
And let's say I go out and I just fail.
Not necessarily did I get into some sin that would disqualify me or anything.
Just flake out, just fail, just, it doesn't work out.
Is it reasonable to think that 10, 5, 10, 15, 20 years later I can just go try again?
That I can just say, well, maybe even if I was faithful to a church during that time.
And the pastor there said, you know what, I don't approve of what you're doing.
I said, yeah, I know you don't.
But Faithful Word approved me 20 years ago.
And I know I failed, but hey, I got ordained once.
That's not how it works.
It's invalidated.
I failed.
They are time sensitive.
Ordinations are not something you can just pick up and put down whenever you want.
It would be kind of like, let's say here, if you were driving, right, you go out on
the roads and you just start driving recklessly, you're a terrible driver.
This probably isn't too far off the mark with some of you guys, right?
But you just drive so bad that you end up having your license revoked and suspended.
They take it away from you.
You run too many red lights.
You speed too much.
You're a dangerous society.
You're a menace.
No driving.
You have to wait.
I've been there.
Amen.
God bless you, brother.
Thank you for that honesty.
I see that hand.
But let's say that's you.
You got one.
Anybody else?
You go out, but you say, you know what, I'm going to continue to drive anyway.
And you get pulled over by the cop.
What did they say?
Someone knows.
Yeah, I figured you'd know.
So he says, you know, driver's license, registration, proof of insurance.
Well, I don't have a license.
It got suspended.
Oh, really?
Could you step out of the car, please?
No, no, officer, you don't understand.
I used to have one.
I passed the driver's test.
I went to the DMV, was approved, had a license for years.
Oh, you think the cop would just send you on your way?
Oh, my mistake.
No.
It's the same way with ordinations.
Oh, I used to have, I was, I got sent out to be a pastor.
I totally failed at it.
But now today, just because, you know, the winds are blowing the right direction, because
it would benefit me somehow now, there's something that I could gain out of it.
I'm just going to take on the pastor again without being approved.
We need to be wary of those that would self-ordain or those that would prop themselves up on
invalidated ordinations, whose time has expired, who failed at accomplishing the task.
Those people who would do that, who would self-ordain, prop themselves up on some, you
know, invalidated ordination, their motives are highly suspect.
You have to mark them and say, why are they doing this?
And just observe.
This individual that I referred to earlier, that was over a year ago.
I immediately marked that person, told others that were thinking about attending this person's
church to watch out, and sure enough, a year and a half later, it just all falls apart
and blows up.
The guy's just a nut.
You know, if you know, you know I'm right, and I don't, you know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, why, you know, why is it, why is it that they would even do this?
Their motives are suspect.
A big part of it is, I think, is because they want the spotlight.
Some people just have to have the limelight on them.
They're not content just sitting in a queue, just being a faithful member.
They have to be up in front of everybody.
They've got to have their voice heard.
They've got to be on YouTube.
They've got to be getting all the likes, the thumbs up, the thumbs down, they don't care.
They're like, it's true though, it's like, they're like diatrophes.
They love to have the preeminence.
They want to hear their name spoken, whether it be in praise or derision.
They're willing to just prop themselves up on these invalid ordinations.
Prop themselves up.
Just take on the role of the pastor with no sending church.
That's one reason.
Perhaps another reason would be they want to make a financial gain.
There's money to be made there.
They think that, hey, I could draw a paycheck from these people.
They could link up to a popular movement that's gaining momentum where there's a lot of people
that are desiring to see a good church and they could start out with the church.
You could go out and start a church someday and probably start out with 40, 50 people
if you go to the right place and be full time pretty quick.
And if your heart isn't right, if it's not in it for the right reasons, you could get
into it just to make a financial gain.
Just think, well, I can go out and have an easy living.
And we think, well, that would never happen, but isn't that exactly what we were warned
of in the Bible?
2 Peter chapter 3, and through covetousness they shall with feigned words make merchandise
of you.
Titus chapter 1, whose mouths must be stopped, whose subvert whole houses, teaching things
which they ought not, why?
For filthy lucre's sake.
They're just in it to get the notoriety, they're just in it to try and make some money.
We've been warned about these people in the word of God.
The Bible, Peter said to the elders which were among them, feed the flock of God which
is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint but willingly, not for filthy
lucre but of a ready mind.
And you say, well, how is it so easy?
I mean, it should just be so obvious today.
These people are just, you know, if you're paying attention, if you're vigilant, if you're
really watching, if you understand what a biblical ordination looks like and what it
doesn't look like, these people stick out like a sore thumb.
But people are still deceived.
People still go to these churches, why?
You know, part of it, I think, is because they're just so desperate.
They're so desperate.
I mean, there's a spiritual dearth in the land today, isn't there?
I mean, people are always just, start a church here, start a church here, start a church
here.
I've got a list of places where people say, hey, you should start a church here.
There's like five cities.
And every time I hear one, I say, I'll add it to the list of places that we need to go
and send somebody to start a church.
And that's, you know, that's unfortunate and we need more people to rise up, step up to
the plate, meet these qualifications, you know, put in the time and the effort and go
out and start churches.
It needs to happen.
And these people out there are so desperate today for a good church.
And what happens is when there's nobody there to fill in that void, to take the leadership,
to take the oversight of those people who desire a good church, some wolf walks by and
notices and says, well, hey, this looks like a pretty good opportunity.
They don't have a strong leader.
They're weak in a sense, aren't they?
That's exactly what a wolf looks for, isn't it, is the weak.
That's the weak prey that he goes after.
And they see people who are desperate, who don't have a good leader, who don't have a
good church to go to, and they say, hey, rally behind me.
And their motives are not good.
They prey upon the desperate.
And there's, unfortunately, there's just a lot of people out there that need a good church,
as I've said.
And to those, obviously, you're not one of them, right?
We're in the greatest church, in my opinion.
But to those, you know, that are listening online or perhaps if one day you find yourself
in this position, you move somewhere, and you find yourself suddenly wondering, you
know, where's the good church in my area, and start to say, hey, there's no good church
in my area.
You know, I hate to say it, but join the club.
I mean, there's a lot of people out there that are desperate for a good church.
And you either need to make the best of it or be willing to move, as many people that
are in here tonight can testify that they either said, hey, we're going to make the
best of it or we're going to move.
And it's important.
Sometimes they want a good church, but it kind of shows that they really don't value
it as much as they might like to put off because they're not willing to make the move.
And they need to understand something, how important your church is.
One thing that motivated me to move out here is I heard the saying, it said, your children
will be what you are, right?
Your kids are going to turn out like you.
And you're going to turn out like your church is.
That's who you'll be.
You'll be like your church.
Whatever standards and convictions and, you know, fervency and zeal your church has, it's
going to be probably what you reflect as the parent.
And that'll trickle down to your children.
And what is the church going to be?
It's going to be whatever the pastor is.
So it's important to be in a good church.
And that's why people need to be willing to make the move or be willing to make the best
of where they're at.
But what they need to be very careful of is that they don't encourage these people out
there that walk about like just ravening wolves, just looking for an opportunity to
promote themselves, take advantage of them, and just step into and take on an unbiblical
ordination.
Don't encourage those who seek to exploit your need of a church.
And you say that never happens.
Look, I've only been here almost six years.
There is a pattern of people that align themselves with faithful word to gain a following and
then just go into rank heresy and just go off the rails and see how many people they
can drag with them.
So that's the purpose of this sermon this evening, to serve as a warning to those that
are in need of a good church but also for us to be mindful of what a biblical ordination
looks like and so that we're not duped by those who want to take advantage.
And to encourage others that they would step up and meet these biblical qualifications.
You see, a true minister of the Word of God, a true preacher, someone who's in it for the
right reasons, they're not going to sidestep the biblical qualifications.
They're not going to try and meet most of them, but this one's kind of lacking, but
they're going to have some cute way of interpreting it and have some other way of just moving
around that one qualification or two or whatever it might be where they don't meet up to.
They won't do that if they're in it for the right reasons.
The true minister, the man who's in it for the right reasons to feed the flock of God,
he embraces all of those qualifications and he seeks to excel at them, which is what we
need to do as God's people.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, again, thank you for the clear instruction from your Word.
Thank you that you've given us this list of qualifications, Lord, that we can not only
seek to attain them for ourselves, Lord, but also that we could be wary of those who would
skirt them, who would look to take on ordinations in spite of them.
Lord, I pray that you just help each of us to be vigilant in this area and, Father, we
thank you for our pastor and, Lord, we just ask that you would heal him soon and that
you would bring him back Sunday that he might minister to us.
We ask these things in Christ's name.
Amen.