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All right. Amen. So you're in first Timothy chapter number three and really for the next 40 plus minutes this evening, you're going to see why 90%, 90 plus percent of people that have the title pastor are actually disqualified. And so that's what we're talking about tonight. The requirements, the obligatory commands in the Bible for a pastor to follow or for anyone to meet in order to be ordained as a pastor. Now you're there in first Timothy three, look down at verse number nine. Look at what the Bible says. So this is obviously including deacons in this verse here, but verse eight says likewise. So these things apply both directions. The office of a Bishop, the office of a deacon. Look what it says in verse nine. It says holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. Think about that word. Okay. Holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience. So what we're going to say this evening is this, the pastor must understand the mystery of faith, not make faith a mystery. And we're going to break that down for you this evening. But in the meantime, if you would go to Acts chapter number 20. So go backwards in the Bible Acts chapter number 20. And the first thing you're going to see here in Acts chapter 20 is the office of a Bishop was ordained. It was established by the Holy ghost. Let me show you that here real quickly. Acts chapter 20, look down at verse number 28. So Paul here speaking to elders makes this statement here. Look at verse 28. He says, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the witch. And here it is. The Holy ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Now go to back to first Timothy three, actually go to first Timothy chapter number four in the Bible. Of course, you'll see this tonight. We're going to look at the parallel passage of first Timothy three, which is Titus chapter number one. You'll see these words often interchange in the Bible, Bishop and elder. And we don't use the word Bishop today in our circles. We use the word pastor and there's reasons for that, um, which we won't have time to get into tonight, but Bishop is a biblical word and it just means overseer. Okay. And so the reason why you have to bring this up is because there is a growing number of people out in professing Christendom today that will tell you that there's nowhere in the Bible where one guy is in charge of a body of believers. And that's simply just not true. That is not what the Bible says. You take them to Acts chapter 20 verse 28 and the rest of the places that we're going to, but really if they're not going to receive Acts chapter 20 verse 28, you know, your conversation more than likely is done. So real quickly here in, uh, first Timothy chapter four, you look down at verse number 14, you're going to see this interaction with, uh, between elders rather. Look at this here. Verse 14 neglect, not to give that is in the, which was given the by prophecy with laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Okay. So Paul reminding Timothy there not to neglect his gift, which was given to him when he was ordained, when hands were laid on him by him and obviously the other elders of the churches. Um, some of the duties go to chapter five, same book real quickly. Chapter number five, look down at verse 17. So Paul says this acts, or I'm sorry, first Timothy five verse 17, let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. I look at verse number 18. He says for the scripture say, if thou shall not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn and the labor is worthy of his reward. So obviously going back to verse 17, mentioning laboring in the word and doctrine. So that just very quickly describes some of the duties. Let's look again here, go, uh, forward in your new Testament. First Peter chapter number five, all the way over to first Peter. So past Hebrews first Peter chapter number five, I'm gonna go past Hebrews and James and look how Peter puts it. First Peter five, look at verse number one. I'm sorry. First Peter. Yeah. First Peter chapter five verse one says this, the elders which are among you, I exhort who am also an elder. Now obviously at this timeframe of Peter writing this, he would have been older in age, more mature in age, but also a leader, also an elder of a church. And he says, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Now here it is, verse two, remember the context here, he's writing to the elders, which are among you says, feed the flock of God. You find that over and over and over again. So this idea that, well, churches, you know, wherever I dictate it, whether it be at Starbucks, whether it be at Pojo's, the trampoline park, it's where I dictate with who I dictate and how we feel. Hey, that is unbiblical that you're not going to find that anywhere in the word of God. What is the command? What are the duties of a pastor to teach, to feed the flock of God? Look what it says, which is among you taking, and this is a word that everybody hates the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly. This is one reason why we don't want to force people into pastoring. You know, there are people that are very gifted, very talented, very smart, and seem like they would be a perfect fit for ministry, but they just don't want to do it. We never want to get this attitude like, well, if you're not going to, you know, become a pastor, then you're nothing. Look, nothing could be further from the truth. You could serve God and earn twice the amount of rewards where you're at in your life, as long as you're just steadily making forward progress. Okay. So he says, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly. This is a volunteered position. Says not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. And then in verse three, neither as being Lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. So being an example there. Okay. Now let's go back here to first Timothy chapter three, and we'll start this off. So just a quick overview of the duties, the office of a Bishop, the establishment thereof for you to chew on in the word of God. So let's start this off here. First, Timothy chapter number three in verse number one, the Bible says, this is a true saying. Now look at this here. If a man desire the office of a Bishop, he desires a good work. Now keep your place there. I got one more spot that I want you to turn. Okay. And that's Philippians chapter number one, Philippians chapter number one. I just want to give you a little bit of familiarity with that word Bishop there. So you can see it in context, Philippians chapter number one, look at verse one. Look at how this letter starts off. It says, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints. See that word there saints in Christ Jesus. Okay. Not saints, which are molded and fashioned on your front porch or on your stove next to a candle. That is not what that says. Okay. To all the saints, which are believers, obviously Christians born again in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi. Now look at this, look at the last part of this verse here. What does that say? With the bishops and deacons. Okay. So just more food for thought there, bishops and deacons. We would say pastors and deacons, overseer and deacons. Okay. So what makes a church real quickly according to this verse here? Well, you've got to have believers. You have to have a saved born again Bible believing Christians. Now, depending on the size of the congregation and how far along it's been, you may or may not have a deacon. Okay. Someday we hope to grow enough to where we could have a deacon, but we're not in that spot as of right now. So go back to first Timothy chapter three, and let's go ahead and move on and ask the next question, which I'm sure everybody wants to know. And that is, does gender matter when it comes to a pastor? I heard this guy in this super apologician or apologist named Frank Turek answering a question from a member in a crowd. So he's giving this lecture. I think it was at a college or something. And the guy's like, you know, I go to the Nazarene church and they have women pastors. What do you think about that? And he says, well, well, well, okay. Okay. I just don't think they should be the head pastor. What? What a compromising fool. What does the Bible say? Okay. Well, let's find out here. You're in first Timothy three, look down at verse number one. This is a true saying. So if anybody says this is false, this is not correct. This is half right. This isn't what it means. You need to run the opposite direction for the next three words. If a man, if a man desire, the office of a Bishop. Now look at this next word. He, everybody see that? Is this hard to understand so far? Desireth a good work. Okay. And then just in case, well, maybe that's a little too hard to understand. Maybe it's a little confusing. We need a little bit more. Okay. Look at what it says in verse number two, a Bishop then must be blameless. What does that next phrase? The husband of one wife. Okay. Does gender matter? We're two verses deep in the list of qualifications, and it's not looking too good for the liberal crowd that we're so unfortunately surrounded by. If a Bish or says a Bishop then must be blameless. The husband of one wife and people want to fight over what that means. We don't have time to get into that. It's pretty obvious. Okay. You're going to have one wife. You got more than one. You're not qualified. Vigilant. Sober. Okay. And we could expound on this. Obviously, you know, alcohol does apply. That's like the low hanging fruit portion of the verse, but really when you follow the pattern and you read the rest of the chapter, you're also going to find, like I always say sobriety has more to do than just alcohol. Okay. It also includes your thought life. It also includes not being puffed up with pride or intoxicated with pride. We know that pride is intoxicating. Okay. So sober of good behavior given to hospitality and look what it says next aptitude. So you have to have some ability. You have to be aptitude. You have to be able to take a concept and be able to teach what it means to other people. Some people have it. Some people don't. Some people have it and can develop it. Some people just cannot. Okay. So, but I think it's pretty clear there. A Bishop then must be the husband of one life. Now Joyce Meyer, Paula White, you know, and several others I'm sure that are out there are, how can they as pastors be the husband of one life? Explain that one to me. You can go to all the Greek, Chinese, Aramaic you want to, you can go look up Egyptian hieroglyphics. There's no way out of this. You're not making that happen. You're not going to be able to make that apply. You can dig up all the manuscripts you want. Ain't going to happen. Okay. It is crystal clear what that means. Now look down at verse three, not give it a wine. No striker, not greedy or filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous. Okay. So obviously all of these things, very self-explanatory. Okay. You can't be a striker. You have to be a grappler. You have to be a wrestler. You cannot just, no, I'm just kidding. Okay. I'm just trying to wake some people up. Look down at verse number four. Okay. One that ruleth. Well, now look at this next phrase. Okay. We're answering the question about gender. Can a woman be a pastor? Does gender matter? One that ruleth well his own house. Notice it says his own house. Oh, look at this here. Having his children in subjection with all gravity. Okay. And there's a reason for this. Okay. Paul is going to explain to us why this is a requirement for a person that desires the office of a Bishop. Verse five. This is parenthetical here. Look at what it says. For if a man, there it is again. Hey, do I have to keep bringing this up? If a man know not how to rule his own house. Okay. Notice his own house. How shall, what's that next word? He take care of the church of God. Okay. And so the wisdom in this is something that we all understand. Kids will test you and so will congregants. Okay. Kids will test you and so will congregants. So you have to be the type of person that can stand up and say, no, that's not going to happen. We're not going to allow this behavior to continue. We're not going to allow this free for all open mic, anything goes type mentality. The pastor has to be the overseer. He has to be willing to go to the scriptures and say, is this wise? Is this not wise? Is this biblical? Is this not biblical? And stand on those things despite pressure from outside sources, which sometimes can be lucrative. Which again goes back to why he said, hey, you can't get in this for filthy lucre. Okay. So obviously what are we learning here? Well, a man rules the home, but the Bible also tells us that a woman guides the home. And that also plays into part of the quals that we'll talk about later. Okay. Remember a man rules his home, but a woman guides her home. Okay. You got to be able to tell people no. I'll tell you a funny one today. I was doing some work for some somebody in this, you know, I'm beginning to go to work here and all of a sudden to get bear hugged by this girl. I'm like, what in the world is going on? Like, I don't know you. Are we related? Like what's going on here? And she's like, I got to give you a hug. I'm like, why? What's going on? And then I feel this dog bite me. Okay. I'm like, oh, she's trying to protect me. What's going on? And she says, if I don't hug you, then the dog will bite you. And I'm thinking to myself, you know, there's another way to go about this. How about you tell the dog, no, you're not coming out right now to meet this guy because he's here doing some work for you. Okay. That's what I'm thinking. And then after she does that, she's like, okay, sorry, just had to do that. So you didn't get bit. I'm like, well, he kind of already bit me. And then all of a sudden the dog was cool because he got his way. Okay. Look, that type of behavior can creep in to churches. And so that's why we have these qualifications. Okay. I know that's kind of silly here, but it is true. I mean, people are like that with their animals. People are like that with their kids. So on and so forth. Now look at what we roll into next verse number six. Okay. So obviously we learned, you got to say no. Obviously it just all male, man, man, his, man, his. Okay. There ain't no getting out of this. Verse number six, not a novice less being lifted up with pride. He fall into the condemnation of the devil. What does that mean? Not a novice. Well, if you have the desire to be a pastor, that is a good thing, but there is a period of time in which you need to grow. We have to be able to see that you can take in information and not only learn it with a head knowledge, but that you can actually apply it to your life. And why? Because new people to the faith and God bless them. We need them. Okay. A healthy church has new people, has novices. We need them. Okay. But novices are not cut out for the job because it's easier for them to be lifted up with pride. Why? Because as Paul said, knowledge puffeth up. Okay. And so that person needs to go through a period where they're using knowledge, falling on their buns, getting back up and saying, okay, where did I go wrong? I won't do that again. And the more you go through that process, the wiser you become, the better equipped in the future you will be to be able to serve in a position like this. Okay. So not new and obviously not new at life. I don't have necessarily an age requirement. I heard a lot of the pastors talking not too long ago saying, you know, I don't know if I would ordain somebody under the age of 30 and you know, some of them that are under the age of 30 were like, yeah, I think I agree with that. I wouldn't say that specific. It depends. It's a case by case, you know, situation. Some people are very mature for their age. So we take it in stride. Basically the thing that we can definitely prove, the thing that we definitely know is not a novice in the faith. Okay. That is easy to figure out. Low hanging fruit. Very, very, very, very easy. Okay. Now no coincidence here. Okay. Is this next verse mentioning what it's mentioning. Look at verse seven. It says, Moreover, he, there it is again, must have a good report of them which are without, lest he, there's that masculine word again, that lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Okay. So again, when a person is newly saved, there can be a temptation to get this head knowledge, get puffed up with things and then to go out and to just make enemies with the world. Again, you want to make sure that you're able to get along with people that are without because you have no idea when the time will come where you are able to give them the gospel. You know, somebody once said this, I don't know who it was, but they basically said, you know, in regards to the truth, it's mostly seen and rarely heard. And that is definitely true because if you think about it, when you're out sowing and you might think that you're just yapping and they're just listening, but what you're doing is you're actually showing them what the Bible says. You're showing them truth. And so I guess I'll park it right here for a second. There's no point in really arguing with people over points. Okay. Has anybody ever seen like an argument on Facebook over something and seen people, Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. I've changed my opinion. I'm no longer a left-wing liberal. I'm now I'm just, you know, right on the Bible and everything's good to go. No, they tend to get mad. They tend to get upset. Okay. You're better off allowing your actions to do the talking. Okay. And that is something that has to be demonstrated by a person that desires the office of a Bishop. Okay. Because again, you don't know when, you know, year for now, two years from now, that person at your job, okay, might say, Hey, you know, the way you live your life, the way you conduct yourself, the abuse that you take, the jokes that you just like turn away from. You know what? I think I could trust you. What's going on here. Here's my issues. And you never know where that could lead. Getting that person saved happens all the time in here. Okay. So let's move on. Verse number eight. Likewise, must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given too much wine, not greedy of filthy Lucre. And I've heard this legitimately preached before that the Bishop can't have wine, but the deacons can. Now I'm not even going to bother that right now because everybody here knows that's just goofy. Okay. And we've done a study on alcohol before. I think we did it last year. We're not going to go bother that right now, but okay. The important thing that I want you to focus on here is the beginning word there in verse eight. Likewise. Okay. Likewise. So again, the things that we're about to read here, not only apply to deacons, but also to pastors. So likewise, in the same way, must the deacons be grave. What does that mean? It means serious. Okay. Everybody's met that guy that everything's a joke and it can never be serious. Okay. Those types of people aren't going to make it in ministry. It's just not going to be happening. There's nothing wrong with joking around, but when it's just 24 seven, okay, they don't take anything serious. Why would you want to put that person in charge? And the first time they have a protest, they're going to die of laughter. Somebody comes up, Hey, I got this situation where somebody in my family's about dying and just busting up, laughing, making jokes about it. Okay. It doesn't help. Okay. Verse number eight. So again, likewise, must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given too much wine, not greedy, a filthy lucre. Look at verse nine, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. I want your mind to hold onto these words, mystery and conscience, mystery and conscience. Now go to first Peter chapter number three, but keep your place right here. First Peter chapter three. So again, the pastor must understand the mystery of faith, not make faith a mystery. And how many pastors do we hear of and even encounter if you know, out soul winning that have faith as a mystery. Hey, they can't tell you the right way to be saved. They're not quite sure, but they give you a, you know, this circular reasoning. We see it all the time. Okay. So, but that's the easy part. I'm going to give you the easy part first. Okay. First Peter chapter number three, look at verse number 21. So Paul mentions this concept. Okay. So a deacon or a pastor, they have to hold. Okay. They have to hold. They have to have a grasp and a pure conscience. This mystery of faith. Now, obviously to the lost faith is a mystery. We have to explain that to them. Okay. First Peter three, look at verse 21. He says the like figure were unto even baptism doth also now save us. It doth meaning does saying baptism does save you. It's just not water. This is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but look at this, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Okay. So obviously here, that's what we're out seeking. When we ask people if they were to die today, if they know for sure they would go to heaven, we're looking for that good conscience. We're looking for that answer out of a good conscience. And if we don't find that, we try to show, demonstrate, teach the way of salvation. Very simple, very easy. But what is this mystery of faith here? How deep does it go in the Bible? Well, go if you would to Ephesians chapter number three. And this one here, if you're not familiar with it, where I'm going with this, this will blow your mind. Okay. This is one more reason why most people that hold the office of a Bishop are disqualified. They are not qualified to be in that position because think about what Paul saying in first Timothy three, that you have to hold, you have to hold it. You have to have a good grasp, a solid grasp of the mystery of faith with a pure conscience, meaning you have to be able to explain it. You have to obviously also believe it. Okay. Very simple. Well, let's take a look at this concept here of mystery of faith, also called the mystery of Christ in Ephesians three. Look at verse number one, Ephesians chapter three, verse one. So Paul says this, for this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. You ever wonder why he states it like that? I've heard a pastor say, very recently he said, well, the reason why he said that is cause he just loved to remind the Gentiles of their place and how lucky they are to even be able to get saved in this dispensation. And of course we know that later on, they will be subservient to the Jew in heaven. And the war in Israel right now is escalating towards the Ezekiel 37, 38 wars. And so therefore we're about out of here. Okay. You're going to see why that's such a big deal and why that's such a lie. Verse number two, it says, if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which has given me to you, word, how that by revelation, now look at this here, he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote a four in few words. Okay. So he wrote in chapter one, a very brief statement. We'll glance at it here in a moment, okay, about this mystery. So Paul, the apostle, okay, whose office could be called a bishopric. You can read that in Acts chapter one, but that was, I don't have time to go there. Okay. He's telling the Ephesians, these Gentiles that there is a mystery that was revealed unto him. Okay. And later on, what are we learning? First Timothy three, that a pastor must have this mystery of faith in a firm grasp with a pure conscience. Okay. It's not just salvation. Okay. He's going to explain this here. Verse three, how that by revelation, he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote a four in few words, verse four, whereby when you read, you may understand my knowledge. Look how he puts it here in the mystery of Christ. Okay. Everybody see that? We know that we're saved by faith. The mystery of Christ is the same thing that he's talking about in first Timothy three, verse number five, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit. Okay. And then of course, that is a reference to now the word of God being preached throughout the world and also preserved, written down, solidified for us. Look at verse six. He explains this mystery here. Okay. Look at this very closely. Verse six, that the Gentiles, there is that word again. He brings it back that the Gentiles should be fellow errors, not subservient errors, fellow errors. Okay. Fellow errors and of the same body. So if someone says, well, we're kind of fellow errors in salvation, but in eternity, it's different. Okay. The Jew is way up here and your way down here, you're just lucky to be alive. You're just lucky you got saved because the Jew messed up. That person is not holding the mystery of faith. Okay. The Gentiles should be fellow errors and of the same body. The body of Christ is what? It is made up of saved people. And it does not matter if you are a Jew or Gentile, male or female, you are one in Christ Jesus. What he says next, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. Now, most preachers will acknowledge the last part there and they'll brush over this and say, well, of course, yeah, you know, we're saved and then the Jew gets saved. Some of them take an extreme stance and say, well, the Jew doesn't need to be saved because they are God's chosen people. Okay. Several people say that, that is wrong. And a person who holds the doctrine of Zionism in any way, shape or form has violated this verse. They have violated the mystery of Christ. They do not understand the mystery of faith. Therefore, by definition, they are not qualified. Okay. The pastor must understand the mystery of faith, not make faith a mystery. Look at the verse again, that the Gentile should be fellow heirs. Anything outside or underneath that is wrong. It is not okay. It is not something that we just looked the other way. Now let me just disclaim this. Okay. We've had people in here that are Zionists and they've been great to us. And they've been great church members, great people. Personally, I will not ordain somebody that holds the doctrine of Zionism. It will not happen. You would have to go somewhere else. Why? Because this is very clear here. Very, very, very, very clear that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. Well, a lot of people say, what do they say? Well, there's one promise for the Jew over in Israel and the promise that you got grafted in because you were lucky. You're in violation of scripture. You need to hang it up. Either get right or hang up the gloves and go step down. Verse number seven. And he says, where of I was made a minister. A minister of what? Minister of the gospel. Okay. Which includes all of this information here as well. Okay. A pastor, look, oh, I know the gospel. Now I can be a pastor. No, you have to understand the full mystery. Okay. He's writing to just everybody at Ephesus, not just the elders. He expects every Christian to know and to understand this. Okay. How much more an overseer, somebody who's commanded to feed the flock. Yeah. You see where I'm going with this? Verse seven. Where of I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Okay. We get contacted. I think people sign us up for this every once in a while, but there's these organizations out there like One Israel, the International Christian Association to Support Israel. And they'll email every so often. Every once in a while, somebody will call and say, hey, we're in town. We're touring a lot of churches. We've already hit up the Exodus Baptist Church. We'd love to stop by and get you signed up to support Israel and such. It's like, no, I'm not going to violate the word of God like that because those people, as you all know, and I don't have to get into this, are not God's chosen people. Okay. Now, just for reference here, real quickly, just go to chapter one and we'll look at one verse here. Okay. So again, for a pastor, this doctrine is not optional. Okay. It is a command. It is a requirement. It is a biblical obligatory must do, must believe, or your DQ. Ephesians chapter one, verse nine, Paul stating this, having made known unto us, obviously talking about Christ, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he has purposed in himself. Just keep that there. Understand he is referring to the mystery of faith, the mystery of Christ, and he expounds it in chapter number three. So when you have time, make sure you have a good grasp of that, right? You read chapter one all the way through the end of the book. And we've done a study on this last year where we talked about the reason why we have to have these doctrines in check. And it's because the angels desire to look into these things. God's idea for the local New Testament church is that it would be strong. It would be built up. It would be very knowledgeable in the wisdom from the word of God. And that angels would learn from the local church, that we basically take these things, we expound them, and angels use that information in spiritual warfare and help out. I did a whole thing about that last year. I don't have time to re-preach that. It may sound crazy to you. You're gonna have to go look it up. But we need to move on, okay? Go to Titus chapter number one, because I'm sure you're like, oh, I need some more proof. Not really quite sure. Well, I'll give you some more proof, okay? Titus chapter number one. So again, anybody saying that in Christ rejecting Jew is God's chosen person, or people rather, that person is not qualified to be in ministry. You say, oh, that's pretty extreme. Well, you can read it however you want. Titus chapter number one, look at verse number five. This would be the parallel passage. Look what Paul tells Titus. He says, for this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou should have set in order the things that are wanting, okay? That means things that are lacking, okay? There are certain things that have not been done. He says, and to ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee. So as the truth is spreading through the preaching of the gospel and doctrine, okay, local congregations are springing up into what we would maybe refer to as satellite churches. And Paul saying, hey, these guys need elders. We need people that can meet the quals, go over there, lead that local church and do great things for God, okay? And so Paul here is telling Titus that he needs to ordain elders in these cities as he's been appointed, okay? So one more time, for this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou should have set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee. So pastors beget pastors. Bible colleges do not beget pastors. That is wrong. That is not okay. You're not going to find that in the Bible. This is the word of God. And at some point we have to realize and understand something. Are we going to go with what the Bible says or with what man says? Those are your only two options that you have. Look at verse number six. It says, if any be blameless, and here it is again, the husband of one wife. So again, if you didn't get it in Timothy, hopefully you'll get it in Titus, okay? A woman cannot be a pastor. And we've done studies on that before. Paul said, I suffer not a woman to teach. And if any be blameless, the husband of one wife having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly, verse seven, for a bishop must be blameless. It doesn't say sinless. Everybody sins, okay? And this is where you guys have to be tough and thick skinned, okay? Anybody listening to me that desires to be a pastor, your enemies will take these verses and they will try to accuse you of something in here. Oh, your kid got an attitude with me, you're disqualified. Oh, you know, I think you did. Oh, you're disqualified. People love to do that. They love to play that game. That is not what he's talking about here, okay? For the bishop must be blameless as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre. So the same stuff we've already talked about. Verse number eight, but a lover of hospitality. And here it is, okay? A lover of good men. A lover of good men. How many paths say, well, all men are good men. Some of them are just misguided. Oh, like pedophiles? I mean, how far you want to take that? Well, no, they're sick. I mean, they need medicine. They need lead medicine is what they need. A lover of hospitality, a lover of good men. Keep that in your mind. Lover of good men. You know what that means? It means there's bad men. It means there's wicked men. It means there's evil men. In order for there to be good men, there has to be the opposite to exist. A lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, okay? Now look at verse number nine. He's going to explain to you what the opposite of a good man is, okay? But before he does, look at the statement here in verse nine. Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught. Where do you get taught? You get taught in church where pastors beget pastors. That is where you get taught and it's free. Look at the beginning of that verse there. Holding fast the what? The faithful word. So what is faithful here? The scholar, the archeologist, the guy who goes and digs up the latest manuscript. That's what modern Christianity would have you to believe. No, it's the word of God that is faithful. We're called to be faithful to that, but this is holding fast the faithful word. The word of God is faithful. So you already know where I'm going. The pastor says, well, I mean, you know the last part of Mark 16. Yeah, it's debatable. The notes say it doesn't belong in there. We just go with it because it's in there. Deque, automatically disqualified. Step down immediately. You are in error because a pastor must hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught. Why? Look at after the comma. That he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. So part of our job is to take people that do not agree with us and recognize and identify, is this person trainable? And if they are, you have to know the word well enough to be able to help show them truth and change their mind. And the only way you can do that is by believing that there is a word that is faithful. The only way that could be true is if it came from the faithful one, which is God holding fast the faithful word. So if there's no faithful word, guess what? Guess what? This is automatic. There is no sound doctrine. That's it. If there ain't no faithful word in the pulpit, there is no sound doctrine. There might be some cool insights somebody stole on YouTube or from a book. That's cute. But I'm telling you right now, you are not going to find sound doctrine without the faithful word in that pulpit. And you're not going to find any exhortation either. You say, well, I heard some pretty comforting things. No, he said things that were vain and made people feel good and he scratched their itching ears is what he did. We'll give verse number 10. So remember, I told you to hold onto that phrase, a lover of good men. All of this supports what Paul told Timothy that a pastor must hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. And I told you that neglecting what that is, that Gentiles and Jews are one in Christ, okay? By neglecting that, you are neglecting the word of God and you're disqualified. So the mystery of faith is what? Jews and Gentiles are equal in one body, one baptism, one faith. That's it. Same eternal destination, okay? They say, oh no, when did you get to heaven? You're down here. Jew up here. Step aside. Get retrained or just get out of the ministry altogether, okay? Looking for a number 10. For there are many unruly and vain talkers. Are these good men? The answer is no, they are not good men. For there are many... We're getting close to being done here, but he says, for there are many unruly vain talkers and deceivers. Now look after that comma. There's something very special I want you to see. Specially, so you need to pay very close attention because one group is worse than the others. They're all bad, but there's one group that is specifically mentioned that is far worse than all of the others. What does that say? They of the circumcision. Gee, I wonder who that is. That's the Jews. That's the Jews. Why does Paul say that? Because he also told us that they are contrary to all men. All men everywhere. It was true in Paul's day and it is definitely true in our day. 100%. Look again, the pastor must hold the mystery of faith, okay? He has to hold, he has to understand the mystery of faith, not make the mystery of faith... I'm sorry, not make faith the mystery. Okay, so what do we see here in verse 10? There are many unruly and vain talkers. They're all over the internet. They're all over the city. They're all over the country. They're all over the world. And so that's why the only way you can really defeat these guys is to hold the faith word. That's why when you watch these apologicians and people rise up in the crowd and they ask questions, that's why you're sitting there in your chair, watching this, just you get that burning feeling. I can answer that way better. And you can. Why? Because you have held on to the faith word. You know the truth. You know what the word of God says and you would be able to answer far better, but they get the views. They don't get their videos taken off YouTube, right? They're not going through a weekly snatch up. They're not getting shadow banned. They're not getting pushed aside. Their material gets elevated. Gee, I wonder why. Well, it's because we have this little thing called spiritual warfare and the devil would love nothing more than to have their content in front of content of ours and our friends. So again, there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially the circumcision. What do they have the circumcision do? They deceive. That's what they do. They're deceivers. They're contrary. They deceive. They are bad men. So when a pastor gets, I love them so much. I love them. I don't. I don't love them at all. Will I give them the gospel? Yes. Is that an act of love? Yes, but I don't love Christ rejecting Jews. I don't love Christ rejecting Muslims or anybody for that matter. I don't have to. The only group of people that I have to love are good men. And how is somebody made good? By being saved. By being born again. That's how. Okay. So people always write, no, you're disqualified because you're so mean to people and you're so angry and you don't like the Jews. I'm just doing my job. I see a list of qualifications here in the Bible says I'm supposed to love good men. It's impossible to love good men if I don't hate bad men. You cannot have one without the other. It is impossible. Absolutely impossible. So verse number 11, look at this. Whose mouths must be stopped. Oh, but that's not my precious Jew, Jew. That's not my precious Jew. God's chosen person. Oh no. Yes, it is. Step aside. Let real men and women of God take this battle. Okay. The Bible is very clear. Paul's telling Titus, these people, especially the Jews, they need to have their mouths stopped and I'm not inciting violence. Okay. We stopped their mouths by preaching sound doctrine. Okay. Whose mouths must be stopped. That's not optional. A preacher who will not preach against Christ rejecting Judaism is no different than your skinny jeans, music sheet, pulpit pastor that just loves everybody that's on Oprah all the time. They're the same. Absolutely 100% the same in regards to the qualifications. They are disqualified. Whose mouths must be stopped. Why? Well, look at the next part of the verse. Who subvert. What does that mean to subvert? It means to overthrow, to destroy, dethrone, interrupt. Okay. To subvert who subvert whole houses, whole houses, mom, dad, the kids, everybody teaching things which they ought not. Why? For filthy lucre's sake. Who's that group reminds you of? You already know. I don't even have to say it. Look at verse 12. Then he goes on to say one of themselves, even a prophet of their own said, the creations are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith. So he gets it on both. He's like, you need to be able to deal with the Gentile people that are attacking the faith. You need to be able to convince those gainsayers or not love those bad men. And then verse 14, where we're going to stop, he says, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth. And how many churches today are caught up in verse 14, caught up in verse 13? Most of them. Absolutely most of them. Now, am I going to get on the phone and start calling other passive guy, step down because you believe it's I know it's not my job. I'm not going to Lord over God's heritage. There are saved people that teach that they're pastors. I like that. I love that. I served with that. I would, if circumstances, right. I would still go sit under their leadership. Okay. But I'm simply saying, unfortunately, they're not qualified missing the boat. That's why in this church, believing Zionism, it definitely would not get you an ordination. And, uh, I think that goes without saying, I think it's pretty easy. So one more time. Okay. Go back to first Timothy chapter three and we'll stop. First Timothy chapter number three. So again, verse number nine, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. Again, the pastor must, this is not optional. He must understand the mystery of faith, not make faith a mystery. You know, obviously when people start mixing up the gospel, they're making faith a mystery. People are like, well, I don't know. You know, I used to know, I don't know. You know, they're confused. We get that. We understand that. But also it also applies to Zionism. When they start teaching that and it's, you're less than a Jew. You're down here. He's up here. And they start really twisting and messing with your eschatology. It does matter. And it is important. It's wrong. And they are not abiding by the qualifications in this book. They're here for a reason. They're here to help you. They're here to help all of us understand what a real church looks like. I mean, look, the only reason you would ever go measure something with a ruler is why? So that you could find out exactly how long or short something is. Okay. That's how we look at life as Christians. We use this Bible, which is our ruler, which spans from eternity past all the way to eternity future. Okay. We have the luxury of having the completed word of God and we can take a look at what's going on around us and we can audit and come to a sensible, biblical, doctrinal conclusion on matters of faith and practice. So with that being said, we're going to stop it right there. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you again, Lord, for your clear teaching on the subject. I pray you just help us to all understand it and to agree with it and to pass this information on to others, Lord, that might have questions or concerns. And I just pray you bless the fellowship after the service, Lord. Bring us back again safely this evening. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right, we're gonna have one more song and then we'll go ahead and be dismissed.