(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Would you worry for the victory win? There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power when you're working hard in the blood of the man. There is power when you're working hard in the precious blood of the man. Song 23 on the second. Would you be free from your passion and pride? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Come, so I dance into Calvary's tide. There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power when you're working hard in the blood of the man. There is power when you're working hard in the precious blood of the man. Would you be wider, much wider than snow? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Since things are lost in its life-giving flow, there's wonderful power in the blood. There is power when you're working hard in the blood of the man. There is power when you're working hard in the precious blood of the man. Good, on the last. Would you do service for Jesus, your King? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. He who gave in his praises to see, there's wonderful power in the blood. There is power when you're working hard in the blood of the man. There is power when you're working hard in the precious blood of the man. And we want to welcome you to this very special service here at Ready Baptist Church. We're glad you're with us, and of course we have a wonderful service lined up for you today. We've got some special guests of course with us. We've had the Stuckey family the entire week, and today is a special service because we're re-ordaining him as pastor, and we also have Pastor Aaron Thompson from Sure Foundation Baptist Church here with us. I'm not sure why he had to bring Remy with him, but he's with us as well, so we're happy that he's here, and Pastor Thompson will be preaching for us tonight. Let's begin the service with a word of prayer. Let's bow our heads together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together today. Lord, we pray that you bless the service today. We pray that you would meet with us, Lord. We pray that you would bless Pastor Stuckey as he will be at the end of the service, and his wife and his family, Lord. We pray that everything that happens will be in your heart and glory to your name. Lord, I pray you help us to minimize distractions. Lord, I pray you help us be focused on the word, help us be able to draw close to you as a result of what we hear today. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. Turn to song 173. 173 love lifted me 173 on the first 173 I was sinking deep in sin 173 far from the peaceful shore 173 very deeply staying within 173 seeking to rise no more 173 but the Master of the sea 173 her light is very bright 173 from the waters lifted me 173 love lifted me 173 when nothing else could help 173 love lifted me 173 love lifted me 173 when nothing else could help 173 love lifted me 173 all my heart to him I give 173 never to him I grieve 173 in his blessings presence give 173 never his praises sing 173 love so mighty and so true 173 there is my soul's best songs 173 faithful love in service to him 173 love lifted me 173 when nothing else could help 173 love lifted me 173 love lifted me 173 when nothing else could help 173 love lifted me 173 souls in dangers work above 173 just completely saved 173 by his love out of the angry waves 173 he's a Master of the sea 173 there was his rule away 173 he who said he wants to be received 173 today love lifted me 173 love lifted me 173 when nothing else could help 173 love lifted me 173 when nothing else could help 173 love lifted me Amen, alright well let's take our bulletins, we'll look at some announcements real quickly this morning. If you do not have a bulletin just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin just put your hand up and we will get one for you. The verse this week Titus 1 5 for this cause left ID in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee. That's a good verse there, we like that. If you open up your bulletin you'll see our service times Sunday morning service 10 30 AM and we are glad you're with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's day for church of course. Today is a very special service and we'll talk about that here in a minute. And then we have our Sunday evening service at 6 PM and again the evening service is different than the morning service, different songs that are sung, different sermon that's preached, just one more opportunity to be in God's house with God's people under the preaching of the word of God and tonight again it's going to be a very special service and we'll talk about that here in a minute. Wednesday evening Bible study 7 PM and we encourage you to be with us for the midweek service. We call it the most encouraging service of the week. We hope you'll join us in the middle of the week to get away from the world and just be with God's people and we're starting a brand new Bible study this Wednesday as well. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 AM and then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 2 PM. So if you'd like to go soul winning this afternoon there'll be a time for you to be able to do that. If you are a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church we're glad you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building this morning if you go out our main foyer or if you go out our secondary foyer you'll see a little table set up and on that table you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have but the one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. It's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it. We want to give this to you as a gift so please make sure you don't leave here this morning without grabbing one of your one of these gift bags on your way out. And if you are a guest we'd ask that you please take a moment to fill out the communication card which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen just raise your hand. One of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen and you're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well. We're not going to do anything odd with your info. We would just like to have a record of your attendance. We actually would like to send you a little gift but we need your information to do that. So please take a moment to fill the card out. When we're done with the announcements we're going to sing a song. When we're done singing we're going to receive the offering and as the offering place goes by you can drop this card in the offering plate. If you look at the announcements there we of course are a family integrated church. What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the church service. We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service or if you need some privacy we would encourage you to please use those rooms as needed. If you look at the back of the bulletin you'll see a layout of our church building. If you're not sure where the mother baby rooms are or the daddy room is you can look at that layout and it will show you where they are and also show you where the restrooms are. And if you need to be baptized please let us know. We'd love to baptize you. The baptistry is filled. The water is warm. You've got everything you need. On your communication card you can check off on the back that you'd like information about baptism and we'll follow up with you and talk to you about that. Or if you've already spoken to somebody, you know you need to be baptized, all you need to do is at the end of the service while we're singing the last song after the preaching if you step out that door one of our staff guys will meet you there and we'll get you situated for baptism. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events of course today it's a very special service and if you're a first time guest I just want to let you know up front that it's a little bit of a different service today for us. We'd love for you to join us next week. It'll be more of a normal service at Verity Baptist Church but today is an ordination service and this morning I'm going to be ordaining our missionary to the Philippines, our evangelist Matthew Stuckey as a pastor and of course he's been our full time missionary in the Philippines for five years and almost five years and brother Stuckey and Ms. Tan and their family are here with us of course. They've been with us the last couple of weeks and we've enjoyed having them. He's preached some great sermons some amazing sermons while he's been here and he's preached the Saturday morning soul winning challenges, preached on Sunday night, Wednesday night, he's done a wonderful job and he and his wife are doing a great job in the Philippines and we are excited for them and today I'll be ordaining them I'll be ordaining him as pastor of the churches there in the Philippines so I'll be preaching a sermon to brother Stuckey so the rest of you it's a completely guilt free sermon. You don't have to some of the things I'll say to him may apply to you in some way or another but it's a whole sermon is going to be about him and you know whenever we do an ordination sermon we have this tradition to preach a sermon at the guy getting ordained so that way when his church members one day complain like you preach that sermon about me he can be like well I've had a whole sermon preached against me so there you go you know so I'm going to be preaching a whole sermon brother Stuckey today Ms. Tan's going to be amen-ing the entire time no I'm just kidding and no it's going to be good and then tonight we have another of our ordained alumni I guess you could call him Pastor Aaron Thompson from Church Foundation Baptist Church in Vancouver Washington and he's doing a wonderful job up in Vancouver and we are proud of the work that they are doing up there and the churches they've started and he's going to be preaching for us tonight and you're not going to want to miss it make sure that you are back tonight at 6pm for Pastor Thompson and tonight after the service we have a potluck we have a potluck scheduled after the service in the fellowship hall so make sure that if you are part of the church family if you consider yourself part of the church family that you are here tonight and that you bring a dish to share alright please bring a dish to share bring what that means is you bring enough for your own family and for someone else and we've got several guests of course the Stuckey family we have Pastor Thompson with us we want to make sure our guests are taken care of and look I think my family alone my wife is making two different dishes and two of my daughters are making a dish themselves alright so just our family is bringing four different dishes ok so I'm not preaching something to you that we're not practicing we're bringing more than enough food to do our part and we're asking you to do your part alright make sure you do your part bring something make something and we'll have a good time of fellowship tonight after the service make sure you're here of course for that if you notice there are Bible studies we want you to be aware next Sunday we'll be back in our wilderness wanderings study and we are traveling through the book of Numbers together traveling through the wilderness with the children of Israel and we're going to continue that next Sunday morning and we're going to be looking at a very interesting chapter next Sunday on the subject of interracial marriage if you can believe it which is something that is dealt with there in the chapter we're going to be in and you know I was looking at the chapter and I thought to myself I don't know if I want to preach this or I don't know if this needs to be preached or whatever we live in California right like we're not this isn't a thing here but literally my wife was out soul winning a couple weeks ago and somebody she knocked on somebody's door who said that one of our soul winners and I'm looking for this person I haven't found them yet but one of our soul winners told this person that we do not believe in interracial marriage which I'm assuming I'm assuming this person completely misunderstood that's what I'm assuming because my wife's like well my husband's brown and I'm white and he's the pastor and I'm the pastor's wife so what does that tell you but anyway we're going to be looking at that in the book of Numbers and then on Wednesday night on Wednesday night we're starting a brand new sermon series Bible study in the book of Hebrews we finished the book of Galatians last time we were in the Wednesday night Bible study and then this Wednesday night we're going to start the book of Hebrews and honestly the book of Hebrews out of all the books in the Bible probably more people ask me about the book of Hebrews than any other book so we're going to go through it verse by verse chapter by chapter and we're going to study it all together I know some of you already are going to have questions about certain chapters and chapter 6 and whatever and I'm just going to tell you just wait till we get there alright just wait till we get there and we'll cover it and that'll be great so Hebrews starts on Wednesday night the best time to be in church is at the beginning of a brand new series and I would encourage you to be here on Wednesday night purchase a brand new $1.99 notebook and bring it with you and plan to be at every sermon through the book of Hebrews so you can have notes for the entire book of Hebrews and then you can sell it as a commentary on the book of Hebrews so that'll be good home school group we've got PE class on Thursday September 28th at 10 AM and then we have a field trip on Tuesday October 3rd at 10 AM and my wife is going to have the flyers I don't think she has them yet but she's going to have them by the end of the service and so if you need if you need please see my wife after the service to get the flyers for the field trip for the home school group and we need you to see her alright because this field trip is actually a pretty nice field trip we're going to take the entire home school group to the Oakland Zoo but you have to RSVP this is not one of these things where you just show up the day of and you're like I didn't tell anybody but I'm here surprise you gotta tell us you gotta RSVP they're very strict about it so make sure you get the flyer from her make sure you look at the rules and make sure you RSVP it's a 100 acre zoo it's a beautiful zoo and I think it'll be a great time so make sure you see her after the service there's the ladies weight loss accountability group they meet on Wednesdays at 6.15 in the mother baby room closest to the front foyer there's other things there for you to look at please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody if you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries for the month of September today is brother David and Miss Victoria Noltecku's anniversary September 17th and tomorrow is my son Joel Jimenez's birthday September 18th and we have Max Maple's birthday on September 19th brother Matt Taylor's birthday on September 19th brother Jacob Shaboyan's birthday on September 21st brother Nate Deakins has a birthday on September 22nd brother Graham and Miss Michelle Scott have an anniversary on September 22nd and brother Ray and Miss Denise Anderson have an anniversary on September 23rd so happy birthday happy anniversary all of those praise report money matters all of those things are there for you to look at and I think that's it for all of the announcements so we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week which is the insert in your bulletin and we're going to sing Here Am I Lord as we prepare to receive the offering this morning let's go ahead and sing it out this kind of song you have to sing with passion alright let's sing it out on the first here am I Lord send me I will serve you faithfully here am I Lord send me Lord I want your perfect will be my faithful I will never be afraid you are close beside here am I Lord send me here am I Lord send me I will serve you faithfully here am I Lord this morning we're ordaining our missionary as a pastor but we're all missionaries I want you to consider that as we sing the third verse sing it with purpose sing with passion and sing these words out let me see my mission field on the third let me see my mission field all around me fill my heart with Jesus use me Lord I pray here am I Lord send me here am I Lord I will serve you faithfully here am I Lord send me amen good singing wap the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time and let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer heavenly father Lord we do thank you for allowing us to gather together this morning Lord we pray that you bless the offering the gift and the giver Lord we ask that you would meet with us this morning Lord as we have the special service ordination service Lord I pray that you would bless every aspect of the service the preaching the ordination the fellowship in the matchless name of Christ we pray amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen Turn your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 4 2 Timothy chapter 4 please raise your hand and an usher will bring you one 2 Timothy chapter 4 we will read the entire chapter as our custom 2 Timothy chapter 4 just keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible 2 Timothy chapter 4 the Bible reads I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead that is appearing in his kingdom teach the word be instant in season out of season reproof rebuke exhort with all long suffering in doctrine for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn away from their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables but watch thou in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist make full of thy ministry for I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing do thy diligence to come shortly unto me for Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world and is departed unto Thessalonica Creasons to Galatia Titus unto Dalmatia only Luke is with me take March and bring him with thee for he is profitable to me for the ministry Anticius have I sent to Ephesus the cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus when thou comest bring with thee and the books but especially the parchments Alexander the coppersmith did be much evil the Lord reward him according to his works of whom be thou where also for he hath greatly withstood our words at my first answer no man stood with me but all men forsook me I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory forever and ever Amen. Salute Prisca and Aquila and the household of Antipas Erastus abode at Corinth but Trophippus have I left at Miletum's sick do thy diligence to come before winter Eubulus greeteth thee and Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren the Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit grace be with you Amen. Let us pray. Father God Almighty thank you for this day. Thank you for this opportunity to come together. Please bless Pastor and the message. Let it bring glory and honor to you. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen. Amen. Alright we're there in 2 Timothy chapter number 4 and like we've been announcing this is a very special service today and again if you're a first time guest I just want to express to you that we're glad you're with us and this is just a little bit of a different service this morning. We hope you join us next week to maybe a more regular service but it is a special service because of the fact that today is an ordination service and we are ordaining our evangelist Matthew Stuckey as pastor and of course all of you know Brother Stuckey and he's been with us the last couple of weeks. If you didn't know him you've probably gotten to know him a little bit and Brother Stuckey was the first full time employee of our church many years ago and he worked alongside me and of course Ms. Tan with my wife for three years, three and a half years something like that and then of course almost five years ago I ordained him as an evangelist and we sent him to the Philippines as a missionary and our church has been supporting him full time there and he has started three churches there, three thriving churches, growing churches and has had a lot of success, thousands and thousands of people saved and he's doing a wonderful job and today I am ordaining him as pastor so for the last almost five years those churches have been under the umbrella of Verity Baptist Church. He has been the boots on the ground there as the evangelist, he's been the spiritual leader but I've been the pastor of those churches and we've been in communication every week and of course I've been in part of every detail and of course you know he runs the whole thing and half the time he's running things by me for approval and I'm like do whatever you think you know I trust him of course but today he is going to be ordained as pastor which means that he will no longer be under my authority in that sense. Now obviously he's still the evangelist that we are supporting as a missionary so financially we're still supporting them and there's a connection there but he won't have to ask my permission for anything or he will be the pastor of those three churches so he has already been ordained by us as an evangelist but today he's being ordained as a pastor and in 2 Timothy chapter 4 here we see a passage of scripture that is often read and often preached through at an ordination service and 1 and 2 Timothy are books in the Bible that are known as pastoral epistles they are books in which the apostle Paul is writing to this young preacher Timothy and he's instructing him in the ministry and in verse number 1 of 2 Timothy chapter 4 I want you to notice these words the Bible says I charge thee therefore before God and the apostle Paul is giving Timothy this young preacher a charge the word charge in the Bible is defined as to lay or place a load on to lay a responsibility on to impose a solemn or serious obligation it involves encouraging and warning when the Bible uses and when Paul is using this term charge he says I'm giving you a charge often times we call the short sermons at our soul winning rally a soul winning charge and what we mean by that is that a charge is when we are encouraging somebody to do something to accomplish something and we're helping them understand the responsibility the load the obligation that is being laid on them and Paul is writing Timothy here and he gives him this charge and often this might be referred to as the ordination charge the charge for pastors and something that Paul's been doing for Timothy throughout the books of 1 and 2 Timothy just real quickly by way of introduction go back to 1 Timothy chapter 1 if you would you're there in 2 Timothy if you flip just back to 1 Timothy chapter 1 look at verse 18 I want you to notice the use of this word 1 Timothy 1.18 this charge I commit unto thee son Timothy Paul says in 1 Timothy 1.18 he says this charge I commit unto thee son Timothy according to the prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest war a good warfare notice in 1 Timothy chapter 6 in verse 13 1 Timothy 6.13 he says I give thee charge in the sight of God who quickeneth all things and before Christ Jesus who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession so notice that he's been using this terminology throughout the books of 1 and 2 Timothy and he's been charging Timothy and if you go back to 2 Timothy chapter 4 again we see this famous ordination charge and what I'd like to do this morning is preach to Brother Stuckey on the day of his ordination this ordination charge this passage of scripture is often preached like I said in reference to ordination services and I call it the ordination charge but to be very honest it's not really an ordination charge as much as it is five different charges there are five different things that Paul brings up to young Timothy and he says these are five areas these are five obligations these are five responsibilities that you have to be aware of in the ministry and of course Brother Stuckey has been an evangelist for five years and in a practical sense he's been pastoring the churches and some of these things he already knows and he's learned over the last five years but it's good to be reminded it's good for myself as a pastor to be reminded and Pastor Thompson happens to be with us this morning and it's good for I'm sure him to be reminded as well I'd like to preach to Brother Stuckey these ordination charges these five different charges that Paul gives Timothy here and I want you to notice first of all Brother Stuckey the urgency of these charges and the importance of these charges if you look at verse one Paul says this I charge thee he says therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ whenever we undertake some sort of public ceremony like an ordination and you might be here this morning and say well I'm never going to be a pastor I'm never going to be an evangelist I'm never going to be a deacon I'll never be ordained but this is also similar to a wedding ceremony the vows taken in a wedding ceremony they are done before witnesses but primarily the greatest of those witnesses is before God and today as we ordain Brother Stuckey these ordination and these charges are before God and the Lord Jesus Christ notice what he says there in verse one who shall judge the quick and the dead I never really noticed this in this verse before until I was studying it this week for this sermon but it's interesting that Paul says to Timothy I'm going to charge you I'm going to give you these charges these responsibilities these obligations this load that you must carry as a pastor I want you to be aware of it and he said I'm going to charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and you might ask the question why why would you charge me before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the answer to the question is this because it is God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead the word quick in our King James Bible means to be alive and what he's saying is that God will judge the quick God will judge those which are alive of course that is a reference to those of us that are saved because when you are saved you will never die you will you are the quick and then he says and the dead the dead is a reference to the unsaved the unsaved will when they die they will die eternally they will die the second death of the lake of fire so he says God is going to judge the quick the saved and the dead the unsaved and then he says when this will happen he says at his appearing and we know that the judgment of believers will be the judgment seat of Christ which will happen after the rapture and God will judge and the Lord Jesus Christ will judge the quick at his appearing and the dead notice the last part of verse 1 and his kingdom or at his kingdom so the judgments happen at his appearing and his kingdom there is a judgment for the quick the saved at his appearing that's the judgment seat of Christ before the millennial reign of Christ and then there is a judgment for the dead and that is of course a reference to the great white throne judgment which happens after the millennial reign and the reason that we want to emphasize this and by the way let me say this every single human being will be judged by God this verse covers everyone the quick and the dead at his appearing and also at his kingdom we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ but I do believe that there will be an even more special judgment and that makes it sound positive and I don't know that it necessarily is positive but there is the Bible teaches and we'll look at verses this morning about it this idea that God is going to hold pastors accountable and he will hold them at a higher standard honestly because of their position because of their influence and Paul is reminding Timothy you need to take heed to these things you need to remember these things you need to make these things a priority in your life why because there is coming a day of judgment there is coming a day when you will be judged and here's the truth the normal Christian the what we may call a layman a church just a regular church member you will stand before God at the judgment seat of Christ and you will give an account for that which was done in your body but those of us that have been instructed with the responsibility of leading others spiritually those of us that have had the ordination given to us and the anointing of God to lead through an ordination and to lead a congregation will not only give an account for that which was done in our bodies but we will also give an account for that which was done within our churches so Paul says I charge thee therefore before God he says I want you to understand the importance and the urgency of this ordination of the ministry I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead and his appearing and his kingdom and then he gets into these charges and I want you to notice the first one brother Secchi this morning is a charge of preaching or a charge for preaching notice verse 2 is a very well known verse as we know them he says preach the word the first charge given to a minister is that to preach the word now what's interesting to me about this passage is that the next charge in this passage is actually not found until verse number 5 what we see between verses 2 and 5 which is what we normally refer to as an ordination charge is really just a description and additional information for this one charge and a lot of information is given here because this is probably the primary responsibility of a pastor of a preacher of a minister of the word it is to preach the word so we see the charge of preaching preach the word now I'd like you to keep your place there in 2 Timothy chapter 4 that's obviously our text for this morning but go with me if you would to the book of Acts chapter number 20 towards the beginning of the New Testament you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the book of Acts of course I'm giving that to the congregation because I'd like you to follow along you might say I'm never going to be ordained there might be some young men here that think one day I'd like to be ordained or be a pastor well you should take heed to some of the things I'm going to say today because they are good for you to know that but if you are a church member some of these things you'll find will apply to you as well but at the very least it should give you a little insight into the life of your pastor and your pastor's wife and maybe a little insight into the things that they have been charged with, the responsibilities that they have been given and maybe when you understand the responsibilities that they have been given you will understand that they do what they do and why it is that they do what they're doing the first charge is this to preach the word the idea is that we are to preach the entire Bible the word of course, a reference to the Bible, the Word of God. In Acts chapter 20 and verse 27, we find the Apostle Paul, and it's similar to 2 Timothy because he's leaving Ephesus, and he has gathered the elders of the area of Ephesus. He's talking to these elders, these pastors, these ministers, and he's giving them a charge before he leaves to Jerusalem in Acts 20 and verse 27. And notice what he says to them. He says, for I have not shunned. The word shun means to avoid. The idea is to deliberately bypass, to avoid, to stay away from. He says, I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. The idea is this, that our job as preachers, our job as ordained ministers is to preach the word, is to be able to say like the Apostle Paul, I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Notice verse 28, he says, take heed therefore unto yourselves. This is Paul talking to preachers. He says, take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock, referring to the congregation, over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers. And he says, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. And I want you to always remember, Brother Stuckey, as a pastor that your job is to preach the word, is to not shun to declare all the counsel of God, to preach every verse of the Bible, to preach every chapter of the Bible, to not shy away from any part of the Bible, and to do that and to feed the church of God. Our job is to feed the congregation spiritually. Keep your place there in Acts, and actually go back to 2 Timothy, I'll read to you from Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter three, you don't have to turn there, don't turn there, I'll just read this for you. Jeremiah 3.15 says this, and I will give you pastors according to mine heart. This is God speaking to the children of Israel. He says, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And our primary job as pastors is to feed the church of God. There is a charge for preaching, for preaching the word. Go back to 2 Timothy chapter four, look at verse two. He says, preach the word. And then he begins to give all this other detail regarding the preaching of the word. And I want you to notice that I think what he's doing here, the charge is preach the word. And then Paul wants to explain to Timothy how to preach the word. He says, preach the word, but it doesn't just say preach the word, then he tells him how to preach the word. He said, let me explain to you how it is that you are to preach the word. And Brother Stuckey, and I know you know this, but I'd like to remind you this morning how it is that you and I and Pastor Thompson should preach the word of God. He says, first of all, be instant, be instant. That phrase be instant means to be ready, to be ready at a moment's notice. To what? Preach the word. He's telling us how to preach the word. He says, be instant. If you think of like instant coffee, it is something that can be ready at a moment's notice. It can be ready. And my job as a preacher and your job as a preacher is to be instant, to be ready to preach the word of God. And obviously this is talking about the idea of a public gathering like the one we're in today where a preacher stands up behind a pulpit and preaches the word of God, and we should be ready and prepared to do that. But the truth is this, that in ministry, I'm oftentimes called to preach the word, not in public settings. I preach sermons at the site of hospital beds. I preach sermons to couples struggling in their living room. I preach sermons over the phone to someone in prison. The truth is this, that oftentimes it is our job, the Bible teaches, to be ready to minister to the word of God, and at a moment's notice, we might be called upon to preach the word of God and to explain the word of God and to expound upon the word of God and to encourage someone with the word of God or rebuke someone with the word of God. And Paul tells Timothy that your charge is to preach the word, and with that comes this idea that you are to be instant, you are to be ready. You are to be ready at a moment's notice to be able to open up the word of God and declare the word of God to whoever it is that needs to hear it. So when we see how to preach the word, we see that we are to be instant. Once you notice the second characteristic regarding how to preach the word, one is to be instant. The second, he says there in verse two, in season, out of season, in season, out of season. And just like fashion comes in and out of season, things are fashionable or popular one season, and then they're not another season. Paul says that our job is to preach the word, our job is to be instant, but our job is to preach the word in season and out of season. What does that mean? It means whether people like it or not, whether it is accepted or not, whether it's popular or not. My job as a pastor is not to stand up here and explain away passages like Genesis 19, Judges 19, Leviticus 20, Romans 1. My job is not to stand up here and apologize for the word of God. My job is to stand up here and preach the word of God, and you say, well, there's certain passages of Scripture that they're not accepted today. People don't think those are politically correct anymore. Hey, our job as preachers is to preach the word in season, out of season. Whether it's popular or not, whether people like it or not, whether people accept it or not, whether people will like us at the end of the day or not, our job is to be in season, out of season, preach the word of God. A pastor's job is never to kinda just take a measurement and put their finger up in the air and kinda see which way the wind is blowing and figure out what to preach. No, no, our job is to go to the word of God and let the word of God tell us what to preach. And today, we've got a bunch of cowards in the pulpit, if they even have a pulpit, who refuse to preach the word of God, who refuse to preach the Bible because it's not accepted, and they are failing at the challenge given by Paul, who says, be instant, in season, out of season. I want you to notice the third characteristic of how to preach the word. There's three words given there, and I take these three as a phrase. They're all connected together. He says, reprove, rebuke, exhort. Reprove, rebuke, exhort. The word reprove means to admonish or to correct. My job as a pastor, my job as a preacher, is to correct people, is to reprove, is to say, no, that's not right. That's not how God wants you to have your marriage. That's not how God wants you to raise your children. No, that's not how God wants you to deal with your finances. No, that's not how God wants you to deal with your enemies. No, that's not, God wants you to go to work and act this way. God wants you to act this way in business. See, our job as a preacher is to take the word of God and then to reprove people. The idea is that we admonish and we correct. There's a negativity there because we're telling somebody they're wrong, but we're not necessarily angry at them or being mean to them. We're just saying, hey, that's not right. You're not going down the right way and you need to fix that. We are to reprove. But then there's a second word and it is to rebuke. The word reprove and rebuke are similar words except one is stronger. The word rebuke is an express, a sharp expression of disapproval, a reprimand. And oftentimes, what I have found in ministry, and I'm sure, Brother Steike, you have already found this and I know Pastor Thompson has found this, is that sometimes we as preachers, we come alongside and we see problems and we see things occurring in the church and cultures and things and we reprimand it and we reprove it and we correct it and we say, no, that's not the way it should be done and no, that's not the way it should happen. And people will often, I think Brother Steike even mentioned this one in sermon, they'll say, oh, that was a great sermon and then they just keep doing it. And unfortunately, I found sometimes people, they don't really listen until you start yelling about it. Until you get angry about it. And then all of a sudden, it's like, whoa, I didn't, you know, I didn't know that and it's like, I've been saying it for like three months. I've been saying it for a while now. Our job is to reprove and often when that doesn't work, it is to rebuke, to express sharp disapproval, to reprimand. And we should remember as preachers, and it's good for congregations to be reminded of this, that the job of the pastor is not to be your best friend. I want to be your friend. And I hope you want to be my friend. But at the end of the day, my job is to reprove and to rebuke. And then the Bible says to exhort. The word exhort means to encourage to do right. It means to counsel, to give encouragement in the right direction. I want you to notice that here, we find this idea of reprove, rebuke, exhort. And if you put it into mathematical terms, which for those of you who don't know Brother Stuckey, he is a mathematician. I mean, he loves math, which I respect highly. I don't like math. This is about as deep as I get with math. But what's interesting here is that we see this two-thirds negative, one-third positive idea. There's three characteristics of preaching and we are given two of them are negative, reprove, rebuke, one is positive, exhort. What's interesting about that is that this same idea of two-thirds negative, one-third positive is found elsewhere in scripture. Let me read to you. You don't have to turn there. I'll just read to you from the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter one. And in Jeremiah chapter one in verse eight, God is speaking to Jeremiah, a young preacher, a prophet. And he says to him, be not afraid of their faces. Now the reason that he says, oftentimes people are like, why would God tell Jeremiah be not afraid of their faces? And you know, you don't have to tell a preacher that because we see your faces. Some of you are not very good at hiding your angry faces when we're preaching. And honestly, to me, at this point in my ministry, I've been doing this long enough that the anger your face looks the harder I preach. People are like, when are you gonna get off that point? I'm not planning on getting off that point for a long time. Fix your face. Be not afraid of their faces, he tells him. For I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. This is Jeremiah speaking. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I put my words in thy mouth. That's preaching, by the way. Preaching is the words of God in our mouths, expounding upon the word. And then he says this in Jeremiah 1.10. See, I have this, they set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms. And then he gives them these six characteristics. He says, number one, to root out, that's negative. Number two, and to pull down, that's negative. Number three, and to destroy, that's negative. Number four, and to throw down, that's negative. Then he says, number five, and to build, and number six, to plant. It's interesting to me that when God tells Jeremiah, I want you to do six things, he said, I want you to root out, I want you to pull down, I want you to destroy, I want you to throw down. And then he said, I want you to build, and I want you to plant. Again, we see two-thirds negative, one-third positive. The idea is this, that our job as a preacher is to lean on negative. Two-thirds negative, one-third positive. Now here's what's interesting. Today, in America today, the average preacher in the United States of America today is 100% positive. It's all positive. You're never gonna hear Joe Lowstein say anything negative. You're never gonna hear the preachers on the television say anything controversial, anything that's gonna get them in trouble, anything that's gonna get them protested. Hey, it's all positive, it's 100% positive, and those preachers are not taking heed to the charge of the word of God, which is to preach the word. And let me tell you something, the Bible is a very negative book. We are to preach two-thirds negative, one-third positive. Now I've heard this explained, and I'm not against people who explain it this way, that two out of the three sermons should be two negative sermons, one positive sermon. And I don't have a problem with that, but honestly, my idea and the way that it was taught to me is this, that every sermon should have negative aspects of it and positive. We should always be reproving, and we should be rebuking, and we should be exhorting in every sermon. Every sermon should be rooting out some things, pulling down some things, destroying some things, throwing down some things, but every sermon should also be building and planting. We are to reprove and rebuke and exhort. One thing that I've tried to do over the years here at Radio Baptist Church is to make sure that there is a negative and positive aspect to the sermons. Go back to 2 Timothy 4, look at verse 2. Notice the fourth characteristic. He's teaching us how to preach the Word. We're still on the first charge, preach the Word. By the way, this is the longest one. The rest won't go as long. He says, preach the Word, and he tells us how to do it. He says, be instant. He says, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke. Then he says this, with all long suffering. With all long suffering. And the truth is this, that in ministry, if you're going to teach people the Word of God and try to transform their lives, and try to help them transform their lives, you're going to have to do it with patience and long suffering. You're gonna have to be patient with people. You're gonna have to give them time to grow. I think recently, a few weeks ago, I was preaching to our church family about my personal values, and though I have professional values, excuse me, and though one of my professional values here at our church is that I strive for excellence, I also strive for growth, and growth is not just physical growth, although that's part of it, but it's giving people time to grow. And one of the reasons that I believe that is because my job is to be long suffering. Now, it's true that sometimes, and I'm gonna say this to Brother Stuckey, I'm gonna say this, Pastor Thompson's probably gonna understand what I'm saying, some of you may not. Sometimes it feels like, and what I'm about to say, look, I speak as a fool. This is not the right way to think, and this is not the right way for you to think, Brother Stuckey, not the right way for us to think as pastors, but sometimes it feels like people are just looking for opportunities to disappoint you. Sometimes it feels like people are waiting for you to have a good day to give you bad news. Sometimes it just feels like people are just like, they're waiting to try to discourage you, and this is when we must remember, and I know that's not the case, I know that's not true, but sometimes it feels that way. In those moments, we need to remember that our job is to do this, this work we do, being long-suffering. Then he says this, and doctrine. The word doctrine means teaching. The idea is that we are to preach the word with doctrine, and please, know this and understand this, that all teaching is not preaching. All teaching is not preaching. Just because somebody stands up and teaches you something does not mean that they are preaching, and unfortunately, all preaching is not teaching. We've had a conversation, Brother Stuckey, and I've had conversations even this week about certain sermons we've heard, and that was real good preaching, but not a whole lot of teaching. In fact, I don't think there's any teaching. And what Paul is reminding Timothy that a good pastor will preach when he teaches and teach when he preaches. Our job is to preach the word with all long-suffering and doctrine. So the charge is this, it's the charge for preaching. He tells us how to do it. He tells you how to do it. He says, be instant. He says, in season, out of season. He says, reprove, rebuke, exhort. He says, with all long-suffering and doctrine. But then he explains to us in verses three and four why. And in verse two, he's explaining to us how, and then in verse three and four, he tells us why. He tells us how to preach, and then he tells us why to preach. And in verse three, he says this, for the time will come. And I believe that this is when the Apostle Paul, and obviously, he's speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, we know that this is the word of God, and I think that this is when the Holy Ghost kind of takes the view off of Paul speaking to Timothy, and it becomes a view of God and the Holy Ghost speaking to all preachers throughout all of time, because he begins to look into, I believe, our time today. He says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. And I would add to this, and I would say that I think the time is come. He says the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. This idea that there is coming a day when people will not endure sound doctrine, they do not want to hear sound doctrine, they don't care what the Bible says, they don't want to know what the Bible says, they want a feel-good message. They want to go somewhere where they're not going to feel guilty, they're not going to feel shame, they're not going to feel like they have to correct anything or fix anything, they just want a preacher to scratch their itching ears. When I read that I think of a dog. Dog wants you to scratch his ears and hah. The average churchgoer is today, this morning. They don't want to fix anything, they don't want to deal with anything, they don't want to draw close to God in any way, they just want a preacher to scratch their itch. Now oftentimes we preach that in that context of the day that is coming, the day that is here, when they will not endure sound doctrine. Notice in verse four he says, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto people. They don't want to know the truth, they want lies. Today people are going to church all over this country and all over this world and they're saying lie to me. Don't tell me the truth, lie to me. Feed me lies, make me feel good. But I want you to remember that the context, the context of these verses, and though we can preach them that way, and that is definitely an appropriate way to preach them, the context is that Paul is telling Timothy, Timothy don't ever forget that your job is to preach the word and do not allow the fact that there is coming a day, and Brother Stuckey, do not allow the fact that you and I live in the day when people will not endure sound doctrine. Don't allow that to ever discourage us or sway us from preaching the Bible. To not allow ourselves to realize that though we live in the day when people want to turn away their ears from the truth, to not allow that to sway us from preaching the Bible. Because our job is to preach the word. You say, what if no one shows up, preach the word? What if lots of people show up, preach the word? I'm thankful for the growth of our church. I think this morning we've got 248 people in church this morning, and praise the Lord for that. But I will say this, whatever success, the small amount of success we've had, I'm thankful that it's been done through preaching the word. You're not here because we're providing some entertainment rock concert for you. We're preaching the word. So we see the charge of preaching, preach the word. Then I want you to notice secondly this morning, like I said, the first point was the longest, I'll try to move through these other ones quickly. We see the charge of preaching, but then I want you to notice that there is a charge of protection, Brother Stuckey, a charge of protection. In verse five, we see the second charge in this ordination charge. He says, but watch thou in all things. And our job as pastors is not only to preach, but it is also to protect. There is a charge for preaching, and there is a charge of protection. Our job is to watch thou in all things. This idea of watch thou in all things is actually in the qualifications of a pastor. Go to 1 Timothy chapter three. You're there in 2 Timothy. Just flip back to 1 Timothy chapter three and look at verse two. 1 Timothy chapter three and verse two. 1 Timothy three, we have the qualifications of a pastor. Notice verse two, the Bible says a bishop that must be blameless, the husband of one wife. Why don't you notice these two words, vigilant, sober. Vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach. One of the things that a pastor is to be is to be vigilant and to be sober. It's to watch thou in all things. It's to watch. It's to be on vigil. Vigilant means you're watching, you're observing. And to be sober, you have to be sober because when you're not sober, you can't watch. Vigilant and sober, and of course, the idea is to be serious, somber, to take this task seriously, to take this idea of ministry seriously, and a pastor should take their job seriously. People often come to a church and they just think that they can do anything and act like a bunch of clowns and fools, and then they get upset when we say, no, no, no, this is serious. Be vigilant, be sober. It's interesting because the charge in 1 Timothy 3 to a bishop is to be vigilant, sober. Those words are also used in another famous passage that I'd like to point out to you. Go to 1 Peter 5. Remember 1 Timothy 3, 2 says a bishop that must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober. In 1 Peter 5, if you're there in 1 Timothy, you'll go past 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 1 Peter 5 for the congregation. I'd like you to look at this as well. In verse number 8, 1 Peter 5 and verse 8, notice the words again. He says, be sober, be vigilant. Those words are paired together, they go together. He tells the pastor, be vigilant, be sober. He tells the bishop, be vigilant, be sober. He tells the, 1 Peter 5, 8, Peter says, be sober, be vigilant, why? Why should we be sober and vigilant? Here's why, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. See, it is a charge of protection. We are to watch thou in all things. If you're there in 1 Peter, go back to Hebrews, if you would. If you go backwards from 1 Peter, you'll go past the book of James, into the book of Hebrews, 1 Peter, then James, then Hebrews, Hebrews 13. Brother Stuckey, as the pastor, I want to encourage you to watch in three different areas. Pastor Thompson, I'm sure you'll agree with this. It's good for us to be reminded. Our job is to watch thou in all things. It is our job to protect. What should you be watching for? Well, first, we should be watching for backsliders. In Hebrews 13, 17, the Bible says, obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls. Our job as preachers, our job as pastors, is to watch for their souls. Our job is to invest in them, to help them, to encourage them. And sometimes when people begin to fade off, and fade away, and backslide, and I would say one of the hardest parts of the ministry is watching somebody backslide, and trying to help them, and they not take the help. And you just kind of watch them destroy their lives. But our job is to watch for backsliders. It's always interesting to me when, and I understand this. Somebody comes to me or my wife and say, have you noticed so-and-so hasn't been in church in a couple weeks? And we're like, no, they haven't been in church in nine weeks. Like, you just noticed. Sometimes someone hasn't been in church in six months, and we're like, have you noticed we haven't seen so-and-so lately? It's like, yeah, they've been gone for a while. How do you know? Because our job is to watch. Watch thou in all things. As pastors, our job, as pastors' wives, our job is to watch for the backsliders. Watch for your souls. Let me say this. Go to 3 John, if you would. Again, towards the end of the Bible, you have Hebrews, James, 1, 2 Peter, 1, 2, 3 John. For the congregation, those last 1, 2, 3 John are these small books, 2 and 3 John, just one chapter each. Hebrews, James, 1, Peter, 2, Peter, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, 3 John, chapter one. We are to watch for the backsliders, but let me say this, Brother Stuckey, Ms. Tan, we are to watch for the backbiters. Notice verse nine, I wrote unto the church, this is John, John the beloved, John the apostle. I mean, John's up there with Peter. I mean, it doesn't get much bigger than John. And John is saying, I wrote unto the church, but diatrophes, whose diatrophes? We don't know. But diatrophes, here's what we do know about them, who love it to have the preeminence. They want to get the superiority. They want to, there are no one who wants to be a someone. There are nobody who wants to be a somebody. And notice how he does it, diatrophes, who love it to have preeminence among them, receiveth us not, wherefore if I come, I will remember, notice what John says, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, praying, the word praying means talking foolishly against us with malicious words. The word malicious means with ill will, intending to do harm. And let me tell you something, Brother Succy, in ministry, you've already found this, you've already know this, but reminded of the fact that there will be people who will try to give themselves superiority by trying to tear you down. I often tell people, look, you don't have to, you don't have to tear me down or tear Pastor Thompson down or tell Brother Succy down to try to make yourself better. Hey, why don't you just do what we've done? Why don't you meet the qualifications of a preacher and go out and start a church and be somewhere, obscure somewhere where no one knows you for a while and work hard and reach souls and love people and preach the word and build your own little following, build your own little empire. You don't have to tear someone else down to try to lift yourself up. But there's always these diatrophes out there. You don't even know who he is, neither do I, because he did nothing. But John, who's one of the greatest men in the Bible, he wants to tear him down to try to lift himself up a little bit. And John says, I will remember his deeds, what you do with prating against us with malicious words and not content. By the way, that's the problem with these people. They're not content where they are in life. It's not my fault you're a loser. Look, and I'm talking about these preachers who want to have some sort of following and some sort of, first of all, that's the wrong goal. You make God your goal and let God, look, you humble yourself and let God exalt you. But he says, they're not content therewith. Neither doth he himself receive the brethren and forbideth them that would and casteth them out of the church. So our job is to watch. It's a charge of protection. Watch thou in all things. What are we watching for? We're watching for the backslider. What are we watching for? We're watching for the backbiter. Because in ministry and even within your own church, there will be those who criticize you. I've often said about ministry, people often in ministry appreciate us a lot earlier than they probably should and then turn on us a lot faster than they definitely should. And you've got to watch for the backbiters. It's always funny to me when, I mean, it happens here. If I was the pastor, if I was the pastor, I wouldn't have bought that church. Well, you're not the pastor. You're not qualified to be the pastor. You can preach your way out of a wet paper bag, so why don't you keep your mouth shut and let the pastor do what the pastor's gonna do. And our job, our job as pastors is to protect, is to watch for the backslider, to watch for the backbiter. Brothers, I wanna encourage you this morning, go to Acts chapter 20. Not only should you watch for the backslider, not only should you watch for the backbiter, you need to also watch for the backstabber. The day you enter the ministry, I know you know this, the devil puts a target on you and your wife and unfortunately your children. And your job is to watch thou in all things. Notice Acts 20, 29, for I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. This is Paul speaking to elders. He says, also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things. Notice, to draw away disciples after them. You know what I've learned in ministry is that it's very rare that people just leave the church. I'm talking about bad people, obviously. Oftentimes they leave the church and they try to draw away disciples after them. Try to take people with them. And Brother Stuckey, your job is to watch for the backslider. Love them, pray for them, be there for them. Your job is to watch for the backbiter, this petty person who thinks that they can give themselves some sort of status by criticizing your wife, give themselves status by criticizing yourself, give themselves status by criticizing your children. It's always interesting to me, people try to make up for their bad children by criticizing the pastor's children. And I think to myself, I've seen your children, I'd much rather have mine. But you know, if you just disciplined your children and discipled your children and prayed for your children and loved your children and spent time with your children like good parents should do, you wouldn't have to try to make everybody else's kids bad so that yours doesn't look so bad. So look for the backbiter. Look for the backstabber. The one who wants to draw away disciples after them. Go back to 2 Timothy 4, keep your place there in Acts if you would, 2 Timothy 4. Why don't you notice a third charge? Charge number one is a charge for preaching. Preach the word. Charge number two is a charge of protection. Watch thou in all things. And by the way, let me just say this, and I don't know that I should even be saying this, and I'm gonna say this to Brother Stuckey and I'm gonna say this to Pastor Thompson. I'm sure maybe the rest of you may not understand this or not get it, and that's fine. But I've learned in ministry that there are two different ways to pastor a church. There are pastors and pastor's wives who are close to the congregation, and there are pastor and pastor's wives who stay far away from the congregation. And there are benefits to both. My wife and I decided a long time ago that we would be the pastor and the pastor's wife who would be close to the congregation. That means as we spend time with our people, we're here early, we stay late, we have people in our home, people have our phone number, they have access to us. Not all pastors are like that. In fact, a lot of pastors, it's hard to get ahold of them. You've never been in their home, you've never, they kinda come in, leave, never really see them. And I understand why some people may pastor that way. Trust me, it's tempting at times. What I've found is this, and Brother Stuckey, you and your wife are gonna have to make this decision. When you are close to your people, oftentimes you lose a little bit of that respect. Because the Bible says that a prophet is not without honor, save in his own country. I've noticed that pastors who stay away from their church people, they come in five minutes before the service, leave right after the service, no one has their personal phone number, no one's ever been in their house, they kinda have this like rock star thing going on and people are really appreciative and admired because they don't have a lot of access to them. And look, that's a benefit. When you're close to your people, you lose a little bit of that. Because they get so close to you that they, you know, then the guy that's coming to preach and the other guy, the other guy is better. But what I've learned is this, that when you stay close to your people, it allows you to see danger. It allows you to see problems before they become big problems. I think one of the reasons that my wife and I have been able to sidestep a lot of big issues and not been blindsided by a lot of issues is because we've intentionally stayed close to our people. Maybe that means you don't get as many gifts and maybe that means you don't get as much admiration. Maybe that means you don't get as much respect as the other guy. That's a decision you're gonna have to make. But I would say this, your job is to protect, not to get gifts. Your job is to protect. So watch thou in all things. I want you to notice the third charge is the charge of perseverance. Notice verse five there, he says, watch thou in all things. Then he says this, endure afflictions. Endure afflictions. Brother Stuckey, there is a charge for the pastor to persevere. Ms. Tan, there is a charge for the pastor's wife to persevere. And by the way, let me say this, people often think like, oh, well, the pastor's wife, she's nothing. She's in the qualifications. She's in the qualifications of a deacon. She's in the qualifications of a pastor for a reason. I could not do what I do without my wife. Pastor Thompson could not do what he does without his wife. Brother Stuckey cannot do what he does without his wife. Both get attacked. Both get criticized. And the charge is for you to persevere. Endure afflictions. Notice, you're there in 2 Timothy 4. Go back to 2 Timothy 2, look at verse three. Paul says it a little different in 2 Timothy 2. Today I want you to see it. He says, thou therefore endure hardness. That's the same idea as when he says, but watch thou in all things endure afflictions. The word affliction means something that causes pain or suffering. Hardness is something that causes pain or suffering. He says, thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Brother Stuckey, I want to encourage you that there is a charge in the ministry to persevere, the charge of perseverance. Your job is to endure. Endure what? Endure afflictions, endure hardness, to tolerate, to bear, to sustain that which is hard, which is difficult, which is painful. Like you preach to us, even when it hurts. Endure hardness. You must endure hardness. And I know you know this, but it's good to be reminded. The ministry has a lot of afflictions. There's a lot of hurt. It'll hurt in the ministry when you invest on people and they disappoint you. Sometimes I think to myself, really? Man, I thought you were more spiritual than that. You're doing what? Man, I thought you were further along than that. And when you invest in people and you give time to people and you have them in your home and you have them around your family and you give them your evenings and your weekends and you give them your time and you invest in them and then they just disappoint you, it hurts. When people are disloyal, it hurts. When people turn on you, it hurts. When people quit on you, it hurts. When people don't appreciate you, it hurts. There'll be times when you'll want to quit. There'll be times when you will think to yourself, why am I even doing this? What is even the point? In those times, you need to remember the charge of perseverance, that your job is to endure afflictions. People will attack you and they will attack your family. They will attack your wife. They will attack your children. But you must endure afflictions. It's interesting in ministry because ministry, in ministry, you often feel isolated. Obviously, you have your wife and I have my wife and she's my partner in ministry. I know your wife is yours. But sometimes we, together, feel isolated in ministry. And you've just got to endure affliction. You will be burdened and people will come to you. And they'll say, I'm burdened. And they'll expect you to carry their burden or help them carry their burden. Say, what does a good pastor do? He smiles. And while carrying his own burden, he'll help others carry their burden. They'll come to you when you're doubting. You're wondering, how's this thing even gonna work out? And they'll express to you their lack of faith. And you'll be expected to strengthen their faith while dealing with your own doubts. They'll come to you when you're brokenhearted and tell you about their broken hearts. And you'll help mend their hearts while dealing with your own broken heart. They'll come to you when you're sick and tell you why they can't do whatever they said they were gonna do because they're sick. And you'll anoint them with oil and you'll pray over them and help them feel better. They'll come to you when you're tired, Brother Stuckey, when your wife is tired. And they'll express to you how they're tired because they've been doing this for three months, for three years. And you'll help them find rest. They'll come to you when you're alone and you feel isolated and you feel deserted. And they'll tell you about how lonely they feel and you'll be their friend. My job and your job is to endure affliction. Let God comfort you. Let God, the Holy Spirit of God, be the one that helps you with your burden, be the one that helps you with your doubts, be the one that helps you with your broken heart, be the one that heals you when you're sick and strengthens you when you're tired, and is your friend, a friend that sticketh closer than a brother when you feel alone. There's a charge of perseverance. And I want you to notice, fourthly, Brother Stuckey, there's a charge of propagation. Notice verse five. But watch thou in all things endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist. You've already been doing it for five years, so just keep doing it, all right? Do the work of an evangelist. That's the propagation of the gospel. I am a pastor. I am not an evangelist. I am not a missionary that goes out on the foreign field to plant churches, but my job as a pastor is to continue to do the work of an evangelist, to reach this community with the gospel of Christ, to plant churches as much as possible, all over this country and all over this world. And Brother Stuckey, your job is to do the same. You've been doing the work of an evangelist. You've been doing a wonderful work as an evangelist, and I want to encourage you, give you the charge of propagation to continue to do the work of an evangelist. This will be done through the fulfilling of the Great Commission, Acts 1-8, if you kept your place there in Acts, you can look at Acts 1-8. The Bible says, but ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both. I want you to notice that word both, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. We often preach this as the Great Commission. It's been preached this week as the Great Commission, and I agree with that, and obviously that's what it's talking about, but I want you to notice this word both. It's to be done both in Jerusalem and in Judea. It's to be done both in Jerusalem and in Samaria. It's to be done both in Jerusalem and unto the uttermost part of the earth, and for our church family, if you're wondering why it is that we would support a family full-time on the mission field in the Philippines, because our job is to reach Sacramento and to reach our Jerusalem, and it is to be witnesses unto Sacramento, both in Sacramento and Manila, both in Sacramento and Pampanga and Bicole. It's why we started churches in Vancouver. It's why we started churches in Boise. It's why we started a church in Fresno. It is the fulfilling of the Great Commission, and the fulfilling of the Great Commission is done through church planting, and obviously we're all for mission strips, and we're all, we're not against mission strips. I like mission strips, and we do mission strips, but the ultimate fulfillment of a Great Commission is not just getting somebody saved. It's getting somebody saved and then getting them plugged into a church where they can be baptized, and they can observe to do all things whatsoever I've commanded. Titus 1.5, if you would, if you're there in 2 Timothy, if you go past 2 Timothy into the book of Titus, Titus 1.5, Paul tells another young preacher, he says, for this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city, and I want to say to you, Brother Stuckey, for this cause left I thee in the Philippines, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city. It is the charge of propagation, do the work of an evangelist. And then lastly this morning, go back to 2 Timothy chapter four. We've been seeing the charge of inordination, the charge of preaching, the charge of protection, the charge of perseverance, the charge of propagation. Why don't you notice lastly this morning, the charge of proving, look at the last part of verse five, make full proof of thy ministry. This is probably the most obscure and uncertain phrase in this charge. Lots of people wonder about exactly what it is that the Apostle Paul means. There's a lot of questions and debates regarding that. I'll just let you know what I think it means. When he says make full proof of thy ministry, I think the idea is that it is our job to prove all things. In 2 Timothy chapter two, I'd like you to look at it, verse 15, we have this passage, and this is usually given in the context of preaching, and I understand the context is preaching, but I think it can be applied to all of ministry. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The job of the pastor, the job of the preacher, is to study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. The word ashamed means embarrassed. Our job is, and my job as a pastor, and your job, Brother Stuckey, is that you need to be convinced, because you are not going to be the pastor, which means that you're not gonna have someone like me saying, no, don't do that, do this. Obviously, I'm always here for you, and you can always ask my advice, and as a friend, I'm happy to tell you, but there will be a shift. Our relationship going forward will go from maybe me inserting myself, whether you ask or not, which you're always good about asking, and me saying, no, do this, don't do this, where in the future, if you need some advice and counsel, you can come to me, but I'm not gonna say, do this and do that. I'm gonna say, if it were me, here's what I would do, because you're the pastor. You're gonna have to prove. You're gonna have to be convinced. You're gonna have to study yourself, to show thyself, but prove them to God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. In Romans 14 and verse five, you don't have to turn there. I'll just read this for you. In fact, you go to Hebrews, if you would, Hebrews 13, from 1 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, 1 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, and let me read to you from Romans chapter 14. This is actually a phrase that I got from Brother Stuckey. I remember Brother Stuckey used this years ago, and I thought that's a good phrase. Romans 4, 15, five, it says, and he got it from the Bible, just before you get too impressed with him. Romans 14, five, one man is seemeth one day above another, another man is seemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. And you know what? Your job and my job, Brother Stuckey, and our job as pastors, Pastor Thompson, is to be fully persuaded in our own minds. We have to think about things and study things. And at the end of the day, we have to be persuaded. We have to be convinced. You need to make full proof of ministry. Now, why is that? Why is it that we need to decide, no, this is the best way to do it? And look, and my opinion has always been this, just other churches may do things differently, other churches may have different ways and systems that they do it, but we've decided we're gonna do it this way at Verity Baptist Church, this ministry's gonna run this way, this is how it's gonna go, this is how it's gonna be. Why? Because my job is to be convinced. You say, why, why do you need to be convinced? Why does it matter? Here's why it matters, Hebrews 13, 17. We're ending kind of where we started, Hebrews 13, 17. Obey them that have the rule over you, that's you, the pastor, you are the ruler of the ministry. We do not lord over God's heritage. We do not lord into the lives of people's personal life. We do not sit there and tell people what to do in their personal lives. We can give them counsel and advice, but we don't make them do anything, but we do rule in the house of God. You say, why? Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls. Here's why though, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, but that is unprofitable for you. We're kind of ending where we began, and it is this idea, Pastor Stuckey, you will give account. God always holds the leader accountable. Adam and Eve in the garden, Eve takes of the tree, she takes of the forbidden fruit, she eats of the tree, who gets the blame all throughout the Bible? Adam. The sin of Adam. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, you're like, one man, I thought it was one woman. Adam was the leader. God always holds the leader accountable. Oftentimes, in ministry, we have to correct people, and we have to tell people, no, that's not what we're gonna do. No, we're not gonna do it that way. No, that's not gonna be, and people say, well, why, why does it matter? Here's why it matters, because I'm the one that's gonna give an account. I'm the one that's gonna be held accountable for what happens in this church. I'm the one that God's gonna hold accountable, and Brother Stuckey, you will be the one that God holds accountable, so you better be convinced, because you're the one in charge. And for the rest of the congregation, it's good for you to remember that when it comes to ministry, we're not talking about your home, your personal life. We're talking about within the ministry of the church. Obey them that have the rule over you. And like Brother Stuckey preached to us earlier this week, because that is profitable for you. First Timothy chapter four. I'm done with my sermon. I'd like to just read a couple of verses to you regarding the practice of ordination. I hope that this ordination charge has been a help and a reminder to you, Brother Stuckey. The charge of preaching, preach the word. The charge of protection, watch thou in all things. The charge of perseverance, endure affliction. The charge of propagation, do the work of an evangelist. The charge of proving, make full proof of thy ministry. The practice of ordination, or of laying out of hands, is something that is taught all throughout the Bible. First Timothy 4.14 says, Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. The presbytery is a reference to pastors, elders, bishops, spiritual leaders. We who are ordained ministers are to lay our hands on those that we ordain. And by the way, let me say this. First Timothy 5.22 says this. Lay hands suddenly on no man. Neither be partaker of other man's sins. Keep thyself pure. Brother Stuckey worked with me for three and a half years. He was an evangelist for five years. I think you can make the argument that we have not laid hands suddenly on no man. And that has nothing to do with Brother Stuckey. Brother Stuckey's been amazing in all of that. Some of the things like he talked about earlier we were waiting on was just having children and having the right amount of children and things like that. He's proven himself over the years. And I have full confidence in him. That he's the right man. That he's a righteous man. That he's the man of God. My wife and I have watched him for these many years, and we are convinced we've watched Ms. Tan. And we've seen her minister and her position as an evangelist's wife. She's done a wonderful job. They've done a great work. They're children. They have good children. And we are laying our hands, I will be laying my hands on Brother Stuckey in the next few moments here. And ordaining him, and it is a show of our approval that we approve of him. We're not laying hands suddenly on no man. We live in a society today where you could go online and take a 10 minute course and receive an ordination online. It is so unbiblical and ridiculous. It's not even funny. The Bible says lay hands suddenly on no man. Neither be partaking of other men's sins. Keep thyself pure. In Acts 13, you can turn there if you'd like. I'll just read this quickly. Acts 13 one says, now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon that was called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and Maniyan which had been brought up with Herod the Tatriarch and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work where until I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. Once you notice that the act of ordination is a biblical act to lay hands. And again, I want to testify that we believe in Brother Stuckey. We're proud of the work that Brother Stuckey and Ms. Tan have done. We believe in them. We have confidence in them. We're happy to be associated with them. And I'd like to call Brother Stuckey up at this time so that we can go through the ordination process with him. Brother Stuckey is wearing just, let me shake your hand. Let me just explain. He's wearing, it's called a barone. This was a gift from the church people in the Philippines. And it is the formal attire of the Philippines. It's a beautiful garment. His son has a matching one. I'm a little offended that I don't have one. I was gonna take my coat off and do this in a tank top, but my wife said that's not a good idea. But he's wearing this gift from his church back home. And of course, it's a part of the tradition there and our beautiful garment. Let's go ahead and pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you today. Lord, I thank you for Brother Stuckey. I thank you for his friendship over the years. He's been faithful and he's been loyal. Lord, I thank you for Ms. Tan. This family has been such a blessing. It's been a blessing to me. It's been a blessing to my wife. Lord, today we separate them for the work of the ministry. They've already been serving, doing a wonderful job. We ordain them as a pastor. Lord, I pray for a special anointing upon his life. I pray, Lord, that you would help him and his wife and his children. Lord, as they leave those congregations in the Philippines, Lord, help them to remember the things we've talked about today, that he would continue to preach the word, to do the work of an evangelist, to endure afflictions, to make full proof of the ministry. Lord, I pray you'd anoint him with your spirit. I pray you'd give him a special anointing and fill him with your spirit. Lord, we're excited to see the work that he will do. And today, as we ordain him into pastoral ministry, I pray you'd bless him, bless his wife, bless his ministry, help him to do wonderful, mighty things for you. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen. God bless you. God bless you. We've got, can I, come on up here. We've got a nice certificate of ordination here. I'll present it to Pastor Matthew R. Stuckey for meeting the qualifications of a bishop this 17th day of September in the year of our Lord, 2023. And it's got the verses of the qualification, of course, signed by me. I'd like to present this to you as a certificate of ordination. Let me, let's go ahead and get a picture. And other Stuckey. Here, let me, give me this. That's okay, you wanna hold this for him? I don't know how you're gonna get that back to the Philippines, but we'll help you. Also have some gifts here for you. First of all, I wanna give credit to Pastor Thompson. These are some nice Bibles for yourself. And this, there's one for you. I think the blue one is for you. And I think this one is for your wife. They've got your names printed on them. And now you don't have any excuse to not preach the word, all right? These are some beautiful Bibles. Wanna give this to you as a gift. And I've got a little gift for you here. And this is actually a book that Pastor Thompson told me about recently, The Art of Pastoring. And I just wanna give this to you as a gift. And obviously, we don't agree with everything in this book, but there's some good things here. There's a card here for you. Make sure you don't lose that. But God bless you. Let's get a picture here, if that's okay. Can you just stand here? And where's Brother Oliver? Let's just stand. All right, well, God bless you. Let's give Brother Stuckey a round of applause. We're proud of them. We're proud of the work they're doing. We're excited to see what the Lord is gonna do with them and continue to do with them. And let's go ahead and pray. And we'll finish the service. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you. And Lord, we ask that you be with us. And we pray that you will be with us. And we pray that you will be with us. And we pray that you will be with us. And we pray that you will be with us. Lord, we ask that you would continue to bless the work in the Philippines, the work of Brother Stuckey. Lord, I pray that you would bless his family, bless his wife, his children. Lord, I pray that you would help our church to continue to reach this world, to help, to try to reach this world with the gospel of Christ. Lord, I pray that you would help us to be able to train other men like Brother Stuckey, to send him off into the ministry. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen. Got just a couple of quick announcements real quickly as we finish up this morning. First of all, I wanna encourage you to see my wife. If you're part of our homeschool group, she's got the flyers for the field trip. It is through the Oakland Zoo, beautiful zoo, 100 acres. And we need you to see her, get the flyer from her so you know the dates and all the information, and then RSVP. The information to RSVP is on the flyer there. So make sure you see her. She has those after the service. And then I wanna encourage you to be back tonight, 6 p.m. for the evening service. Pastor Thompson's gonna be preaching for us tonight, and you're not gonna wanna miss it. He's a great preacher, and he's a wonderful friend of mine, and he's gonna do a good job as always. So make sure you're back at 6 p.m. And don't forget, we have a potluck tonight, potluck after the service. So please make sure you bring a dish, enough for you and your family, and to share, a dish to share tonight. We'll have a good time of fellowship after the evening service. And then just real quickly, if I may, I wanted to just give some just announcements to our church family about the purchase of our new building. We asked for the permission or ability to be able to close early. We were not supposed to close, the escrow wasn't supposed to close till mid-October, but we asked about maybe closing a little early, tried to get in there earlier, and we got response that they have approved that. So we will be closing probably this week. If not this week, it may be next week, but probably, I think Friday of this week is when we will, by God's grace, have the keys and be done. And that property will be ours, four acres, 400-seat auditorium, beautiful location there. And so just be in prayer for that. Of course, I'll let you know and keep you updated. Our first payment is not due till February 1st. So, and our last payment here is January 1st. So we're going straight from paying here to paying there. So we'll have that property for several months with no payments at all. And we'll be able to get in there early. So just be in prayer for that. And I think it should be happening later on this week. So just pray that that happens. And that'll just give us the opportunity to get in there a little sooner. And praise the Lord for that. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know and make sure you're back tonight, 6 p.m. for the evening service. I'm gonna do something a little different. Brother Matt, if you don't mind, is it okay if I leave the last song? And can we, I'd like for us to sing this, the chorus of the week. Brother James, I'm gonna mess you up, all right? Can we just sing this here in my Lord? I feel like it's appropriate to sing it again as we rename our evangelists into the ministry. Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. Here in my Lord, on the first. Lord, I give my life to you. Take control on these things. I will follow anywhere. Near or far away. Here am I, Lord, send me. Here am I, Lord, send me. I will serve you faithfully. Here am I, Lord, send me. Sing it out on the second. Lord, I want your perfect will. Be my faithful God. I will never be afraid. You are close beside. Here am I, Lord, send me. Here am I, Lord, send me. I will serve you faithfully. Here am I, Lord, send me. I pray that we'll have young men all over this congregation one day come out of our church and say, here am I, Lord, send me. Let's sing it out on the third. Let's just slow it down. Can we slow it down just a tad? Let's sing it a little slower, a little more purpose, and then with passion at the chorus there. Let me see my mission fill all around each day. Fill my heart with Jesus' love. Use me, Lord, I pray. Here we go. Sing it out. Here am I, Lord, send me. Good. Sing it. Here am I, Lord, send me. I will serve you faithfully. Here am I, Lord, send me. God bless you. Thank you for being with us this morning. And, of course, my wife and I always want to thank our church family. Thank you for allowing us to serve with you here at this place at this time. And it is the joy of our hearts to serve as your pastor and your pastor's wife. And I want to invite you to be back tonight, 6 p.m. evening service. Pastor Tom's going to be preaching. Potluck after service. It's going to be a great service, great service lined up for you tonight. And ask Brother Matt Taylor if he would not mind dismissing us with a word of prayer. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for Pastor Stuckey, Lord. And I pray that you bless his way and his ministry. And I just thank you for this church. And I pray that you would keep us all safe today and be with the soul owners that go out and bring us back to church safely this evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In Jesus' name we pray.