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

We're going to get started with song number 43. We're marching to Zion. Song number 43 as you find your seats. Song number 43 there in your hymnals. We're marching to Zion. Let's all stand together if you are able to. We're marching to Zion. Song number 43. See on that first verse. Come we that love the Lord and let our joys be known. The song with sweet accord. Join in a song with sweet accord. And thus around the throne. And thus around the throne. We're marching to Zion. Beautiful, beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion. The beautiful city of God. Let those refused to see. Who never knew our God. The children of the heavenly king. The children of the heavenly king. Their joys abroad may speak their joys abroad. We're marching to Zion. Beautiful, beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion. The beautiful city of God. The hill of Zion. A thousand sacred streets. Before we reach the heavenly field. Before we reach the heavenly field. We're marching to Zion. Beautiful, beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion. The beautiful city of God. Then let our songs abound. And every tear be dry. We're marching through Immanuel's crown. We're marching through Immanuel's crown. Worlds on high to fairer worlds on high. We're marching to Zion. Beautiful, beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion. The beautiful city of God. Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start our service with a word of prayer. Dear God, my father, we thank you so much, O God, for just allowing us to be here in your houses this evening, O God. And we pray that you please just bless every aspect of the service. Please bless the singing unto you, Lord God. And we do also mostly pray for the preaching of your word. O God, I pray that you please just fill our pastor with your Holy Spirit, O God. Guide him through the scriptures, O God. Guide him through a sermon, O God. And I pray that you please also just be with us in a congregation, O God. Help us to have open ears and open hearts, O God, that we might receive your word with gladness now. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Song number 17, One Day. There in your hymnals is our second song. Song number 17, One Day. Song number 17. See on that first verse. One day when heaven was filled with his praises, one day when sin was as dark as can be, Jesus said for to be born of a virgin, dwelled amongst men. My example is he living, he loved me. Dying, he saved me. Buried, he carried my sins far away. Rising, he justified freely forever. One day he's coming, O glorious day. One day they led him up Calvary's mountain. One day they nailed him to die on the tree. Suffering, anguish, despise and reject him. Burying our sins, my Redeemer is he. Living, he loved me. Dying, he saved me. Buried, he carried my sins far away. Rising, he justified freely forever. One day he's coming, O glorious day. One day they left him alone in the garden. From suffering free, angels came down or assumed to keep it true. Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is he. Living, he loved me. Dying, he saved me. Buried, he carried my sins far away. Rising, he justified freely forever. One day he's coming, O glorious day. One day the grave could conceal him no longer. One day the stone broke away from the door. Then he arose over death he had conquered. Now is ascended, my Lord evermore. Living, he loved me. Dying, he saved me. Buried, he carried my sins far away. Rising, he justified freely forever. One day he's coming, O glorious day. One day the trumpet will sound for his coming. One day the sky is thin, his glory will shine. Wonderful day might be long when this bringing. Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine. Living, he loved me. Dying, he saved me. Buried, he carried my sins far away. Rising, he justified freely forever. One day he's coming, O glorious day. Amen, great singing. Thank you for being here this evening. Just a few announcements before we sing our next song, which will be song number 36 if you want to get that ready in your song books. Christ of Rose, song number 36. Our Sunday morning service is at 10 30 Sunday evening at 5 pm and then we have our Thursday night bible study at seven o'clock. You see the so many times and teams if you'd like to participate in any of those. You can see brother Elise's for more details about that. You see the list of expecting mothers and of course the important reminders there. Please give heed to those and then some of the upcoming church events. The men's prayer night is coming up on Friday, September 1st and that'll be at 7 pm at the church building. Dinner will be provided. I want to encourage you to bring your sons to pray with you and so looking forward to seeing you on that Friday. TJ Solning is on Monday, September 11th and calling out all Spanish speakers. If you can speak Spanish and preach the gospel in Spanish, please want to encourage you to participate in that. It's very fruitful in TJ and honestly we haven't even knocked on any doors. No doors have been knocked so far. It's only at the park that we've been soul winning but there's enough people there to keep us busy and the last time the last two times that some of the teams went we got 33 people saved in two days and in less than seven hours with six soul winners and so it was very fruitful but just keep in mind you do have to bring your passport. Okay and so hope to see you on September 11th and sometime in the future we are going to do a marathon there as well but keep September 11th in prayer that we see a lot of people saved on that day and then the six year anniversary is coming up on Sunday, September 17th which is actually the day that our church started and so falls on that exact day. We're looking forward to a great anniversary and that is it for the announcements. I'm sorry right there at the bottom of course no food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee. Please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service. Let's go and take some soul winning numbers. I do want to clarify something when we take soul winning numbers and that is if you always see the same people raising their hands it's not because those are the only people that soul win in our church okay. They're like man it's only Ulysses and Cody and Maury or something that's soul winning. These are obviously the team leaders and so their teams and others report their numbers to them to collect for the week and so they kind of let everyone know or they let me know on Sunday night who got saved or how many people got saved but if there's anyone outside of those groups so if I ask for soul winning numbers from Monday to Thursday or something and these men raise their hands feel free to raise your hand if you if you were not a part of any of those soul winning times but you saw someone saved let us know so we can mark that down and so salvation's from Monday to Thursday Monday to Thursday 21 salvations from Monday to Thursday one one anybody else okay how about from uh Friday and Saturdays two anything else anything else outside of that and then this afternoon salvations for this afternoon one for brother Cody's team three for brother Maury's team one for brother Ulysses team anybody else okay great keep up the great work on soul winning let's go ahead and sing our next song song number 36 Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave He rose, with almighty triumph for His voice. He arose a victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with the sins who reign. He arose, He arose, Alleluia, Christ arose. Fainly they watched His bed, Jesus my Savior. Fainly they sealed the dead, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave He rose, with almighty triumph for His voice. He arose a victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with the sins who reign. He arose, He arose, Alleluia, Christ arose. Death cannot keep His prey, Jesus my Savior. He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave He rose, with almighty triumph for His voice. He arose a victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with the sins who reign. He arose, He arose, Alleluia, Christ arose. Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time our ushers will be receiving the offering, and please turn your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 3. Alleluia. Good evening. So now we're in 1 Timothy chapter 3, and the Bible reads, This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. The bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given a wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, but covetous. One that ruleth well his own house, having his children of subjection with all gravity, for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into a reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given a much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. Let these also first be proved, then let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderer, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own house as well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well, purchased to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Let's pray, dear Lord God, thank you for every soul right now in this church, Lord. I just pray that you fill Pastor Mejia right now with your Holy Spirit, Lord, as he preaches your word unto us, Lord. And just pray that we in the congregation are edified and we have ears to hear, Lord, and attentiveness at this time, Lord. Just bless every aspect, Lord. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay, the title of the sermon this evening is the Office of a Bishop, the Office of a Bishop. In 1 Timothy 3, verse number 1, it says here, this is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. Now, there's two unbiblical ways to approach the qualifications of a pastor. Of course, 1 Timothy 3 deals with primarily the qualifications of a bishop we would refer to as a pastor and also the qualifications of a deacon. And often when people look at this particular passage, they view it in two ways that in my opinion is an unbiblical way to look at it. One of them is that they view it as a checklist to become a pastor. In other words, they go to 1 Timothy 3, maybe they aspire to become a pastor one day. They want to rule over the flock of God and teach the Word of God and be a pastor. And so they think, well, if I can just go through this list and just kind of check off all the boxes, making sure that I'm married, I have kids, and I'm apt to teach, I'm blameless. If I can just get all these things in order, at that point, I'm qualified to be a pastor. Now, in your Bibles, I'm not sure if it says it in your Bible, but often in certain Bibles they have a title for every chapter, right? And in chapter 3, it literally says at the top, qualifications of a pastor or at the top of the page or so. And I'm not sure if that's necessarily the best title for it because of the fact that it doesn't really say these are the qualifications of a pastor. This list is essentially giving you the foundation for what a pastor should be expected to have. And I'll get into that in just a bit, but sometimes they view it as a checklist to become a pastor. Another unbiblical view regarding this particular passage is that Christians view it as a list that only pertains to a person that wants to be a pastor. So the first one is the person who wants to be a pastor sees it as, well, if I can just get all these things in order, I'm qualified to be a pastor. The second one is that when Christians read this, they say, well, I'm not going to be a pastor. This is someone for someone that is trying to qualify themselves to rule over a particular church. They want to be a pastor or a bishop. And so it's for that reason that I don't really need to adhere to this particular chapter because it's only for pastors. And both of these views are wrong. And I'm going to explain to you why. Obviously, when we look at this, it's dealing with pastors. However, basically what this passage is teaching is that if a person desires the office of a bishop at base level, the most foundational thing that they have to have is these particular qualities. Now, why is that? Well, because when you look at these qualities, these aren't necessarily qualities that make a pastor. They just make a good Christian. And you know who should be a pastor? Good Christians. You understand what I'm saying here? And so it says, you know, if a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work. So at the base level, they should already have these virtues and these qualities in their life because a pastor should obviously be a pretty decent Christian if they're going to lead others in the ways of the Lord, if they're going to rule over a church, things of that nature. And so obviously, when I preach to this, we're going to be talking about pastors, but I'm also going to apply it to Christians because we don't want to look at this chapter and think to ourselves, well, this doesn't really apply to me. I'm not going to really work on this. No, this is a good list for you to adhere to just to be a good Christian. OK, and we should all aspire to be a good Christian, be a Christian of quality, of virtue, a Christian that pleases the Lord. And so I'm going to go through each of these and just explain what they mean and how we can apply it as Christians and even as future pastors. Look at verse number two. It says there, a bishop then must be blameless. OK, and what does it mean to be blameless? Well, blameless doesn't mean perfect, nor does it mean sinless. Blameless simply means guiltless or innocent of wrongdoing. OK, they're essentially above suspicion, above reproach. This is basically a person who has a good reputation, understand? And again, we shouldn't confuse this with sinlessness or being an individual who doesn't make mistakes. But they're not characterized by wrongdoing, understand? And so to be a blameless person is essentially an individual who's just essentially a good steward of God who is not guilty of wrongdoing on a constant basis. They have a good reputation before others in the church. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter three, if you would, 2 Corinthians chapter three. Hold your place there in 1 Timothy chapter three. Now as a Christian, especially in the local New Testament church, you should work at having a good reputation before the brethren. You don't want to be viewed as a member of the church that's constantly getting in trouble, constantly having problems with others, you know, constantly being this person who's just like a gossip, an individual who is having conflict with other members of the church, is constantly getting called out. You know, we should be Christians who strive to be blameless. And that's not to say we're not going to make mistakes, nor should we think that we have to walk on eggshells every time we come to church. What we should do is just simply strive to be blameless in our lives, just kind of not always involved in every controversy and every problem. You know, your name shouldn't always be coming up when there's controversy in the church type of a thing. We should be blameless Christians. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter six, in verse number three it says, So it's basically telling us here in 2 Corinthians chapter six that we should give no offense in anything so that no one blames the ministry. In other words, be a good testimony of our church to other churches, be a good testimony to our church to other Christians, and be a good testimony to our church before the unsaved as well. And obviously people are going to bring up an evil report about you. They're going to speak ill of you. They're going to slander you and rail on you. However, our responses to those accusations should still be blameless. That you are above reproach, not necessarily a person could point a finger at and say this person is always guilty of X, Y, and Z. So being a blameless individual is a great quality to have as a Christian, which makes a pastor eventually an individual who is worthy or qualified to lead the flock of God. Because if you have an individual who's just constantly in the midst of controversy and strife and conflicts with other Christians, how can that individual be a pastor? They're always going to be the center of controversy in the church. You see, we should be peacemakers, not the source of conflict. We should desire to level out the congregation of God and help the congregation of God be balanced, not be the imbalance in the congregation of God because of your actions, words, because you're not blameless. Go back to 1 Timothy 3, if you would. 1 Timothy 3. So bishop must be blameless. Again, not sinless, not perfect. And when I say perfect, I'm not referring to the biblical definition of perfection, which is to be complete, but rather perfect as in sinless. God doesn't expect for us to be sinless without mistake. We're humans, we make mistakes, but obviously we want to correct those things when we do. We should just have a reputation of just being blameless in general, where someone's not always pointing the finger at us at a constant, you know, some sort of wrongdoing that we're constantly guilty of. It goes on to say there, a bishop that must be blameless, here's a big one, the husband of one wife. Now what is this referring to? Well, obviously, when you think about a pastor, they should be married. Now why should a pastor be married, or why should an individual be married if they're going to become a pastor, or if they're going to be qualified to become a pastor? Well, because of the fact that how in the world are they going to help couples in the church who are married if they're not married? I mean, it's pretty common sense, right? Now, you're nodding your head, you're smiling, because you're thinking to yourself, well duh, but you know what? There are people out there, even in the old IFB, who are willing to ordain men who are not married. I'm thinking of one church in particular, and I'm not going to call them out because, you know, it's just not worth it, okay? You wouldn't know who he is, so it doesn't really matter. Although, this person was in our area when we were in Omani, okay? And just kind of kept their mouth closed when we were being persecuted, but hey, you know. But this man was ordained a long time ago, and was not married, and in fact, within the last couple years is when he actually got married. But he pastored a church for years, a church of married people, of teenagers, different groups of individuals, but yet he wasn't married. And you kind of think to yourself, what do you do with a verse like this when it says that you're supposed to be the husband of one wife, but you're not, and you're ordained? But, you know, the reason God has this stipulation here, this qualification, is because of the fact that when you're married, you experience a lot of conflict, okay? You know, because of the fact that you're married to the opposite sex, and when you are living with the opposite, you know, sex there in a home, there's going to for sure arise conflict and problems because that's just the way life is. And so a pastor should be able to work through those issues with their spouse to gain experience to help others in the church when those same problems arise. How is a church member or church members who's a couple, how are they going to go to the pastor and say, hey, we need help with our marriage? How in the world is a single pastor going to be able to help them when they have zero experience in that area? I.E. Bill Gothard, right, who's leading thousands of people, telling them how to have a godly marriage, telling them how to raise their kids, telling them how to treat their wives, but the guy's not even married. He's telling people to get married. He's telling people how to have a godly marriage, how to submit to your husband, how to love your wife as Christ also loved the church, but he's never had a wife to love. How are you going to lead others when you can't even get a woman to follow you to the point where she marries you? I mean, this is a great quality to possess here. If you can get a woman to marry you, I mean, your foot is in the door. If you can trick a woman, I mean, if you can, some of you that might be the case. If you can get a woman to buy into who you are to the point where she's willing to commit to spending the rest of her life with you, I mean, you know, that's good stuff there, right? And if you've been married for quite some time and you still have her fooled, no I'm just kidding, she's still happy, you're able to lead your wife, then guess what? You qualify for being a husband and one wife in the sense that you know how to lead your wife. How are you going to lead the house of God if you can't even lead one person? Now obviously we know before we can even lead one person, we need to lead ourselves, but above that, how are you going to lead an entire church when you can't even lead a wife? You can't even get your wife to submit to you, to follow you, to do those things. And so obviously this is a very important quality for a pastor to have and if you're not married, then you need to put off being a pastor out of your mind. And just focus on being a good Christian. And I think that's important for young men to focus on. Sometimes they're so caught up in wanting to be a pastor and it's just like, can you get the ministry of marriage down first though? Can you get a woman to follow you, to marry you, to respect you, things of that nature, that's important. But you know, when it says the husband and one wife, it's not only referring to the fact that the importance of a man being married, but also it's telling us that a man who's been divorced cannot be a pastor. Because it says a husband of one wife. Now you can say, well let's talk about polygamy. Okay, you can apply it to that, but we don't really have issues like that in the United States of America. But another way to apply it is, if you've had a wife in times past, but you've been divorced, then you have disqualified yourself from ever having the opportunity to be a pastor. Now why is that? Well because of the fact that if a pastor has been divorced and remarried, and he's leading a congregation, he's essentially telling his congregation that he has failed at being a leader in the home, that he has quit on his marriage, he does not have the ability to endure, he does not have the ability to persevere during hardships, that he just is the type of individual to just throw in the towel and just quit. Which is not a quality for any Christian to have, especially a pastor. The job of a pastor is very difficult, and there are instances where the pressures of ministry can become so heavy, that sometimes pastors are tempted to quit. But you know what, as pastors we don't have the luxury to quit, because we made a commitment to be a pastor, and if a man has been divorced, it's essentially showing us, well if you quit on your marriage, how do we know that you're not going to quit on the church? You can't handle a woman. How are you going to handle being a ruler in the house of God? Now let me just say this, because I don't want you to think that I hate divorced people or something like that. Because sometimes people get that attitude that just because I preach hard against divorce, that somehow that means that I don't like divorced people or something. Obviously that's not true, but we're referring to the office of a bishop at this point. But here's the thing, is that even though this is a quality for the office of a bishop, this also applies to Christians. Because it's not like, well that whole divorce thing is only for pastors if they're going to be a pastor. No, God, he hates putting away, and it doesn't say just for pastors either. It's for anybody, because of the fact that when you get married, you made a covenant before God, that you will stay together until death do you part. Now obviously if you're divorced prior to getting saved, or prior to knowing these biblical principles, it's still a mistake obviously, and it's still wrong, but you know what? Water under the bridge, move forward with your life, keep serving God in this church, and we love even the divorced people in our church, there's nothing wrong with them. You know what I mean? It's not like, oh man, they're like outcasts of our church, or like they're the lepers of our church or something like that. No, I know a lot of great Christians who are divorced, and they're serving God, they're a blessing to our church, they're a blessing to other churches as well. So we should never treat them as second class citizens, but just recognize that this is obviously referring to those who have not yet been divorced or have not yet gotten married. So you should recognize that going into marriage, you're making a covenant before God. Don't mess around with marriage. Don't treat it like you treat your girlfriends in high school or something like that, where you get bored with one, you have conflicts with one, then you just move on to the next. This is a covenant before God, it's till death do you part, and that is not permission to murder either. Death do you part means that just one of you die, just not at your hand is what I'm saying. Now go to Romans 7, if you would, hold your place there. So a pastor should be married, a pastor should only have one wife throughout his life, and if he's been divorced and has remarried, then he has officially disqualified himself. From the office of a pastor. Now you say, well I know some pastors out there that are still pastoring even though they are divorced. Well he can play the part if he wants to, but let's just be real honest. We can confront him and say you don't deserve the office of a bishop. You've disqualified yourself. Now you can force yourself into that position because no one is going to tell you anything in our church, or in that church or whatever. However, biblically, you're not a pastor in God's eyes. Because you quit on your previous marriage and you're basically teaching your people that it's okay to quit on marriage. And then what happens is, what you do in moderation, your church will do in excess. You divorce once and guess what, the people in your church are going to be getting divorced once, twice, thrice, four times, five times. It's just going to become a cesspool of divorce and that's a subject that I believe I should continue to preach on for decades on end. Because we have a generation in our church that's rising up, they're considering marriage, they're getting ready to be married, and I just want to tell you guys, take it serious. And don't think to yourself, well we'll try this out, we'll see how it goes, that's not the way it's supposed to work. Once you say I do, you've made a covenant before God and before others, you're going to stay together for the rest of your life. And if you become fat and ugly and you just look different and it just wasn't the way you thought it was going to be, well too bad. Stick with it anyways and endure and enjoy your marriage because that's pleasing unto the Lord. Never consider divorce. I don't care how hard it gets. Like in Romans 7 verse 1, So essentially, if a person is divorced from their spouse but their spouse dies, then they have the liberty to get married to another person because that person is no longer existing. In the sense of they're not in this world and according to the Bible, once a person dies, the other party is loosed from that covenant. They're no longer bound to uphold or adhere to that covenant because that person has passed away. However, verse 3 says, And of course, this also applies to the man. This isn't just a commandment for a woman, it's also a commandment for the man as well. But the point we want to make this evening regarding the qualifications of a pastor is the fact that a pastor, if he's going to have that office, has to be married and make sure he never considers divorce. But this also applies to the church member as well. And folks, take this serious. Make this a conviction in your heart. Young men, you should believe this the way you believe the reprobate doctrine. Be as passionate about how wicked divorce is, as passionate as you are about the post-trip pre-rapture doctrine. Be as passionate about that as you are about once saved, always saved. What I'm saying is this should be a conviction that never moves. And I'm telling you, there's going to be times in your marriage when it really gets tough, gets difficult, and there's going to be a temptation to look for a towel somewhere to throw in. But you know what, if you make a decision prior to that and say that you're going to purpose in your heart that you won't do it, you're going to stick it out to the very end. That's pleasing unto the Lord. And so marriage is a wonderful thing. And I'm not, please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to paint marriages as always going to be hard. Because in my marriage, we've had hard times, but let me just say this is the good have always outweighed the bad. And there's never been an instance in my marriage where I thought to myself, oh man, I wish I was single again. No, being single sucks. Sorry to you single guys, alright. But I think you guys can also testify that maybe that's true as well. I was where you guys were at. It's true. And anybody who got married, they can tell you that too. That's why they got married. I mean that's fact. I mean, yeah, you hear the personal testimony right there in the back. You know, it does. It's just not really pleasant. And so we got married. And so, you know, obviously you should esteem marriage but also esteem it as a covenant that you make before God and not sway on it. Okay. And what I like to say is keep the D word out of your marriage. And I don't mean damn either. Okay. Because that word might slip out every once in a while in your marriage. But you know what, I prefer that one over divorce any day of the week. Okay. Go back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. So he says in verse 2, a bishop that must be blameless, the husband of one wife. Let me say one more thing about that. You say, well, because I get this all the time. A lot. And I'll preach a sermon like this and then people will still approach me with, well, what if my husband does this though? And they'll try to bring up the most extreme case where it's like, what if they commit adultery on me? And it's just like, I mean, did we give a caveat here or something or what? You know, I mean, that's rough obviously. Adultery is a wicked sin. And that can cause a lot of people to consider divorce, right? Because it's a very hurtful, painful thing to experience. But you know what? I have to teach what the Bible says and the Bible says that we have to even endure that. Yes. God forbid that that should happen in your marriage. But if it does, yes, the Bible commands us to even endure that as well. Okay. And you know, let me just deal with this. Some people will say, well, what if my spouse is a reprobate? Because they know how much I hate reprobates and they think I'm going to be like, oh, say less. But you know what? Even in that case, I don't recommend divorce because the Bible is still against that. I do recommend that you depart from your spouse because obviously if it's for sure that that person is a reprobate, obviously that's a dangerous individual. But notice that I said depart, not divorce, and not go get married again. So it's not like, oh, okay, cool. I can depart and just go find someone else because my spouse was a reprobate. No, you chose your spouse. They're a reprobate. Okay. But that's, you got to kind of live with your choices though. And yes, you have the biblical right, so to speak, to depart from them, not divorce, but separate from them. And if you so choose to divorce, you still should remain unmarried. Now, God is not for divorce, but he also says that if a person gets divorced, that they are to remain unmarried. And also let me clear something else up. Okay, so the first thing is the reprobate thing. All my spouses reprobate. Well, do you know that beyond a shadow of a doubt, first of all? Because sometimes that's thrown around pretty flippantly. It's like, how do you know? Oh, because they watch porn or something. And obviously watching porn is wicked, but it's just like that's not, I mean, Christians watch porn, unfortunately. It doesn't make them reprobates. You know, it's like, well, what's the evidence? I mean, you have to have some pretty hard evidence that a person is a reprobate. Don't just throw it out there because you're bitter and have resentment towards your spouse that has hurt you. Let's just be realistic here and have the clear evidence that that person is a reprobate. But if they are, you obviously got to get away from that person. And no, I did not say divorce that person. I said get away from that individual if they're dangerous, of course. And I don't hold people's hands, nor do I police them. And so if people get divorced, you know, people come to me like, can I get divorced? And I'm like, no. But you're a grown person, you're going to do whatever you want, but I'm not going to approve of your actions. Now let me make something very clear because sometimes people get confused and they speak on my behalf as though I believe this and I don't. And that is people will say, well, you know, do people get kicked out if they divorce in our church or something like that? And I tell them no. Now that's not an encouragement for you to get divorced, obviously. But I want to make that clear, though. I don't throw people out of our church for getting divorced because it's not something that I believe is clearly laid out in the Bible as being a reason to throw someone out. According to 1 Corinthians 5, Matthew 18, things of that nature, there's nothing that really says that getting divorced is or merits excommunication from a church. Now we'll say this, if a person gets divorced in our church and then they begin to promote it as though it was a good thing and try to justify themselves to people in our church, at that point I have to confront that individual, rebuke that individual, and if they're unrepentant, then they're out of here because they're teaching things that are contrary to sound doctrine. It's not the stance of our church. You need the boot, okay? But if a person were to get divorced, which I don't agree with, number one, here are the steps that I would take if a person ever gets divorced. If they ask me, hey, can I get divorced? I tell them no. They do it anyways. Okay, number one thing that I do, and I tell that person this and I've told people in times past, I'm just letting you know I'm going to preach against this since it's fresh on everyone's mind. Because I don't want the church to think that if a person is getting divorced in our church that somehow I put my stamp of approval on that individual and I'm just going to keep quiet about it. So the first thing I have to do is I have to preach against it, saying, you know what, these people are getting divorced in our church and it's wrong, let me tell you what the Bible says, and I have to openly rebuke that and I will do that. Now if that person hears that sermon and then begins to try to justify themselves before the church, going around saying stuff, then I have to confront that individual and if that individual remains unrepentant, then they're out of here. Now this has not happened. And in fact, no one who's a member, currently a member of our church has gotten divorced, thankfully. Because if they do, if they choose to, they leave before they do the action because they know what's coming down. Because I don't agree with it, it's pretty clear in the Bible and when people make those decisions, being a bad testimony not only to the church but to our kids. And that's one of my motivators to preach hard against it is my kids go to this church. Your kids go to this church. And I'm trying to teach my son, we don't quit on marriage, Bruce. And it irks me when people consider divorce and talk about divorce in church or it goes around, people start hearing about things because our kids aren't stupid. They know what's going on. And so we want our kids to grow up in a church that values the longevity of marriage. The values, the covenants we make before God regarding marriage. Now if you've been divorced in our church, not in our church, but if you're in our church and have been divorced, you should agree with me. And if you don't agree with me, then keep your opinions to yourself. If you say, well I have a different interpretation of the subject of divorce, you're more than welcome to have your own interpretation. Keep your mouth shut when we talk about it in church because that's not going to be tolerated. And again, like I said this morning, sometimes I have the uncomfortable responsibility because sometimes people put me in a very uncomfortable public position sometimes. Where I'm having a good time, people say something, and then I have to openly rebuke it before everyone. That's uncomfortable to do. And I know you guys like it. I know you guys really enjoy that stuff. You're like, oh man. I sometimes have the uncomfortable responsibility to kick someone out, but people in the church love that stuff. See? Like if I were to just call someone out in church right now and just throw them out, people would be like, oh man. The people who struggle, like I was talking about this morning, falling asleep, they'd be wide awake at that point. But if you have an opinion that differs from the stance that the church takes on marriage, you're more than welcome to, but just keep your mouth shut about it. Because then you put me in an uncomfortable position to openly rebuke what you believe because we want to keep the church on a level sound doctrine, plain level, that marriage is important in the eyes of God. It's important in our eyes. And I want my son, my daughters, to be married to one spouse for the rest of their life. And so I hope I made myself clear. I don't know if I did, but that's what I believe. And so I hope you believe that too though. And I hope you communicate that to your kids. I hope you talk about that to your kids. And by the way, your kids, even though they're young, they think about those things. I remember being eight years old and telling my dad, when I grow up, I want to get married and stay married to one woman, I would tell him. Now it could be that I did it to spite him. You know what I mean? That might have been the reason why. But you know what? I believe that I truly believe that. Because even as a young child, I saw the value of being married to one person. And so very important. Let's get back to 1 Timothy 3. It says a bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife. And it says vigilant and sober. So again, we're talking about the qualifications of a pastor, the most foundational qualifications of a pastor that they should have. And obviously, whoever they're going to get ordained by, they might have some other qualifications that they want, certain amount of times they have to read the Bible, you know, faithfulness, things of that nature. But this also applies to just Christians in the church in general. And so vigilant, sober. What does this mean? Both of these words are basically talking about the same thing. It means to be aware, to be keen, not careless, to be circumspect. Don't be a careless individual. Don't have your head in the clouds or your head in the sand. We as Christians should be spiritually aware and not just living carelessly like the Zydonians in the book of Judges. The Bible says in Ephesians 5, go with me to 1 Peter 1, hold your place in 1 Timothy chapter 3, go to 1 Peter chapter 1, I'm going to read to you from Ephesians 5 verse 15, See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. So it's important as Christians that we are vigilant and sober, meaning, you know, we don't just live carelessly or make careless decisions. Now that's hard for young Christians because they don't really think about those things. However, if you join a local New Testament church, you essentially place yourself in a safe position because you surround yourself with people who are experienced and if you have enough humility, you're willing to go to the more mature Christians in your church to help you make certain decisions. And so, you know, it's important that as a young person, as a young Christian, that you exercise vigilance and sobriety, but if you don't have the spiritual maturity to do that, then have someone help you with that. Join a team, talk to an older brother in Christ that can help you. Come see me so we can help you become wise during certain decisions. Look at 1 Peter 1 verse 13 says, 1 Peter 4 verse 7 says, Chapter 5 and verse number 8 says, Now as a pastor, sometimes I see Christians who have the best of intentions, but don't necessarily have the vigilance. Like they don't see what I see sometimes. Or they don't see what a more mature Christian can see. And sometimes as a pastor, I kind of have to like just stay out of it. You know, just let people make their decisions. So my hope and prayer is that those people would actually ask for help. And I'm a big believer in counsel. You know, if you have a big decision to make, or if you're going through a difficult time, get some help. Don't become so proud and arrogant and or embarrassed and ashamed that you don't reach out for help. Because of the fact that sometimes Christians, you know, vigilance doesn't come by osmosis. You're not going to just get it overnight. Sometimes you need the aid of an older, mature Christian to help you to be vigilant, to help you to see the dangers in the Christian life, whether in a relationship or maybe you're newly married. There's certain dangers that comes with that that maybe you might not see. But if you're going through a trial, you're going through a difficult time, you're making major decisions in your life, get some help to help you to be sober and vigilant. Go back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. It goes on to say here, a bishop that must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior. Now that seems pretty simple. But good behavior, if I were to explain it, would be conduct becoming to a Christian or conduct that can be followed. So here's a good way to put it. You say, well, how do I know if I have good conduct as a Christian? Well, can someone look at you as an example of what a Christian should be? Is your behavior becoming to a Christian to the point where if you're to be the template for how a Christian should be, would they succeed in copying you and behaving like you? If we were to take your Christian life and say, okay, follow this person as this person follows Christ, follow their conduct and their behavior, would they succeed if they actually followed you? That's good behavior. The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy chapter 4, in verse 12, Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity, the Bible says. Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, I'm sorry, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. Having good behavior is essentially good spiritual conduct. And the way you can determine that is, you know, can you disciple someone? Are you able to bring someone under your wing and essentially tell them, like, follow me as I follow Christ? Or do you have bad conduct? You know, conduct that's not worthy to be followed. Would someone become a worse Christian if they started following you? What if Christians in our church followed your church attendance? Would they go to church more or would they go less? What if Christians in our church read their Bible as much as you read the Bible? Would they learn the Bible more or would they learn it less? What if Christians behave the way you behave in church? Would they have an honorable reputation or a worse reputation because of it? These are good ways to indicate whether we have good behavior, not perfect behavior, just good behavior. Look what it says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 in verse number 6. It says, For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us, for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you. Neither did we eat any man's bread for naught, but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you, not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensemble unto you to follow us. And so what if the young couple in the church were to copy the way you do marriage? Would they succeed as a couple or would they regress? What if they followed your manner of disciplining your children and raising your children? Would they succeed or would they regress in their childhood? So that's a good way to kind of indicate good behavior. Go back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. It says, A bishop they must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober of good behavior, given to hospitality. Now automatically we think of someone who's hospitable. We think of someone who just kind of opens up their home to others, which is very much a good, that is being hospitable, but that's like the only thing we think about sometimes. Whereas really hospitality is just essentially just being generous with others. Treating guests, being friendly, being generous, considerate of others. The Bible says that we should be given to those things. Now go to Romans chapter 12, if you would hold your place there in 1 Timothy. Go to Romans chapter 12. Here's a good passage to kind of help us to hone in on the definition of being given to hospitality. It's almost as if the Bible is telling you to be a little extroverted sometimes though. Because if you're given to hospitality, it means you have to kind of go out of your way to be a blessing to others. And so if you find yourself being a little introverted, you've got to kind of step out of your shell a little bit, even to obey these commands that command us to kind of be a blessing to others. Look what it says in Romans 12 verse 9. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love and honor preferring one another. Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing an incident in prayer, look at verse 13, distributing to the necessity of the saints. Given to hospitality. So a person who's given to hospitality can be likened to someone who distributes to the necessities of the saints. So you say well put this in practical terms pastor. What can I do to be given to hospitality? You know I don't really have a place where I can invite people to come to my house or something. I have a little apartment or something and I can't really invite people over. Well you can distribute to the necessities of the saints. And as our church grows, the necessities of the members grow. You say why is that? Well because people go through trials, they go through difficulties, they go through financial struggles, they're in the hospital, they're struggling with something. Be mindful of that and take that as an opportunity to be a blessing to them. This is why in our church when a lady has a baby in our church, we encourage the members of our church to send a gift card or send a meal. Now back in the day we would literally send meals but now we're in the future. And so we do everything digitally. So it's just like here's an Amazon gift card or here is a gift card to this particular restaurant or whatever. And that works just as well. And so be mindful of that. You know when a lady has a baby in our church, you know, rejoice and then talk to brother Ulysses, talk to my wife and say I'd like to send a gift to that particular family. You say why are we sending them food? They just had the baby, the baby can't eat that. What's the point of that? Well for those of you who don't really think about things like that, when a woman has a baby, the attention is all on that baby for like a couple months. And the mom is out of commission. So she can't really clean and cook, you know, things of that nature. So dad's starving, you know. I'm just kidding. But there is truth to that though. There is truth to that. This is why I'm bringing this up, you know. But you know it's just like she still doesn't have time to cook. And especially if it's someone like me, I don't like to cook. I can cook cereal. I can make toast. That's it. Hot Pockets maybe, I don't know. And so you know during that time they're kind of focusing on being with the baby. And the dad is kind of like a nurse to the mom, right. Kind of helping her with certain necessities. And so they don't really have time to kind of cook. And so sending them a gift card, sending them, you know, a gift card to some restaurant or whatever, that's a blessing to them, okay. So they don't really have to think about that. They can just order a meal and get it delivered to them, things of that nature. That is distributing to the necessities of the saints. You're given to hospitality if you do that, okay. And not just that, what if a woman's just in the hospital or a man's in the hospital, be mindful of that and send them a gift. Let them know you're praying for them. See what you can do to be a blessing to them. Be a person who's given to hospitality, okay. Be a lover of hospitality. And the Bible says, you don't have to turn to 1 Peter chapter 4, it says, Use hospitality one to another, listen to this, without grudging. It's like, oh man, I got to send another gift card. Why are so many ladies got to have babies in the church or something, you know. It's just like, man, another one? Your wife tells you like, hey, can we send a gift? Don't be like, another one? Didn't we just do this last month? You know, man, do it without grudging. You know, the Bible says, God loveth a cheerful giver. That you would consider it a blessing to say, man, I'm thankful I have the opportunity to give, okay. And so do it without grudging. Go back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. He goes on to say, here a bishop that must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober of good behavior, given to hospitality, and then it says, apt to teach. Now you may be tempted to think, okay, for sure this is only for pastors. You know, because why would this apply to anybody else? Well, let's talk about what it means to be apt to teach. Apt simply means, it could be referring to just being capable, obviously, but really it means to be inclined or disposed to teach, okay, willing to teach. In other words, for a pastor, let's talk about a pastor for a minute. A pastor shouldn't just be like, oh, man, you know, it's just so hard to preach. They should be willing and essentially disposed and inclined to want to preach the Word of God. You have to have a desire to preach, okay. And here's the best way I can explain it. Let me just give you a personal testimony. And by the way, I'm not saying that pastors don't get tired of preaching because they do, okay. I get tired of preaching sometimes because you're preaching three sermons a week and, you know, sometimes the congregation expects it to be like a home run at every single service. And sometimes you've got to preach like a really chill sermon like tonight and you have to have the discipline to just like listen and learn and apply, right. But let me give you a personal testimony. You know, I preach three times a week and, you know, throughout the year. But, you know, sometimes I'll go throughout the year where I get sick, like recently I got sick, and I was out of the pulpit for like a couple of services. And I'll be honest with you, after like the fourth service, I don't know how long it was, but after like the fourth or fifth service, there's like a burning inside of me to want to preach. And in fact, I think like one of the services was supposed to be the men's preaching night, right. You guys remember that? Where we're supposed to have like three guys come up here and preach. I told you, he says, ah, we're cutting that. These dudes ain't preaching because I'm going to preach. Because there's like a burning desire within me to preach. It's not something you have to force me to do. It's like what Jeremiah said, you know, his word was within my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones and I could not stay, right. So a pastor should obviously have a yearning to want to preach the word of God. But also when it says dispose, when we talk about someone who's disposed or inclined to preach, it means they can basically preach at any given moment because they're meditating on God's word. And I remember being in Bible college, they used to have this thing in Bible college where they called it popcorn preaching. It's very stressful because you're like a brand new Christian. You're learning the Bible and, you know, your instructor would come up and be like, preach from this verse. It was like all dang. You know, it was like some Old Testament passage is like ah, you know. And you have to be able to like expound from that verse and preach like a five minute sermon. Which obviously in those days, five minutes seemed like an eternity, you know. But the reality is this, is that a pastor should be able to do something like that. Where at any given moment, they can literally just open up the word of God and preach from any passage. You know, and it doesn't necessarily require skill, it requires experience. It obviously requires knowledge of the Bible. But they should be disposed that at any given moment, they can just preach the word of God. And obviously we're in a church service where, you know, I have notes here, things that I type out verses. But let's just be honest, most of the preachers in the Old Testament, they weren't typing out any notes. They're just like preaching it, right? Why? Because they're apt to teach the word of God. Okay? And so something for you guys who may be preparing to preach. You need to be disposed to preach, be inclined to preach, be willing to talk about the word of God at any given moment. Okay? Because who knows, maybe I might get sick. And then an hour before I'm like, hey, I need you to preach. And you can't be like, oh man, I don't have a sermon. You better get a sermon ready now then, before that day comes. And I remember my father-in-law telling me, you should always have a sermon prepared in case I can't preach. And so I would always have a sermon in my Bible. Now it's obviously different. I've been saved for 16 years. I've been preaching for many years. I've actually been preaching for 16 years. So sometimes I don't use notes. On Thursday nights, I never use notes. The notes are all, it's the expository sermon. So I just use the notes that are in the Bible itself. But I don't recommend just anybody to do that because it does require experience to do that. Okay? So a pastor should be at the teach, disposed, willing to preach. Not just like, well, I don't feel like preaching today or something. Man, you better have a desire to preach because you're going to be preaching many sermons for a long, long, long time. You know, if you're a pastor for a long time. I mean, three sermons a week, that's a lot. Every year, that's a lot. And it's sermons in a church like this which are about an hour. And I don't, I mean, the guys who come preach behind this pulpit, I give them the 50-minute limit, but I have no limit. So sometimes I go like a little over an hour or something. Because I'm disposed to preach. I'm inclined to preach. I have something I've got to say, something I've got to tell you. I've got to preach God's Word. There's a fire in my heart. You say, okay, that's all good. You know, I get that. But obviously that's only for pastors. No, this is for you too, though. Because you may not be a pastor, but you are the preacher of the Gospel. And as a preacher of the Gospel, the Bible tells us that the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men apt to teach. And in context, it is referring to the Gospel. That means at any given time, you should be ready to preach the Gospel. You know, obviously during the soul winning times and all that, and you know, you're already ready. But at any given moment, you run into someone who's asking you about the Lord, be ready to preach. You're like, well, I don't have my specific soul winning Bible with all the tabs and the cheat sheet and all the colored highlights and all that. So it's not my Bible, so I can't really preach the Gospel. Then you better just know the Bible. Or you better just know the Gospel. You should be able to, at any given moment, if you need to preach the Gospel to someone, just grab any Bible. No tabs. And look, if you use tabs, I'm not getting on you, but I kind of am. Because they help. They do help. But you better not just stick to the tabs for the rest of your life, though. And in fact, you should just be able to preach it from memory. All the verses should be up here and here. If someone asked me to preach the Gospel to someone that had no Bible in hand, that's cool. I got the Bible in my heart. The verses are in my heart. Not just the Romans wrote. I have all types of roads in my heart. For all types of answers. We go anywhere you want to go. Because I want to be apt to teach. I mean, I'm a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but so are you, though. And so, you know, you need to be apt to teach and not just grudgingly preach the Gospel. Not just like, oh man, I got to preach to this person or whatever. You know, it's just like, no, you get to preach the Gospel to this individual. Spit, man. Spit some verses. Spit some bars. See what you got. One of the most powerful soul winners are those who are just, can preach the Gospel at the drop of a hat. With 100% confidence and power. You know, and I've heard people say like, man, no man ever speak like this before. I've heard people say that about other people. I've heard people say that about me. And you say, what are you saying? I'm saying that it's just, that's how it's supposed to be. And the reason they say it is because most people, you know, they give some stupid illustration or something as the Gospel or something. We want to talk about the Bible. Let me show you what the Word of God says. You know, I remember one time I was preaching to some Pentecostals while I was outdoor knocking. And the guy who was a Pentecostal, but he wasn't really like, really into it, but the wife was. She was just like the really long dressed and like no makeup type of Pentecostal. And she thought she was really going to school me on what the Bible says about losing your salvation and all these things. And she brought out her Bible. She's like, I got a Bible too. I'm like, let's go. Draw. And she's like, Galatians says this. I'm like, that's Ephesians. She's like, no, it's Galatians. And I pointed out, I was like, Ephesios. She's all, oh dang. And then the husband's like, well, you actually know the Bible. But I mean, it's just like, well, no, I just know where Ephesians is. I mean, I do know the Bible, but it doesn't take much to know the Bible to know where Ephesians is. You know, be willing, be capable, be apt to teach, be excited to preach the Gospel, be apt in such a way that you can just preach at any time. And I'm not saying everyone in here has to be apt to be able to preach every doctrine of the Bible, but you should be able to preach the Gospel at any given time. And if I just grab you and say, can you preach the Gospel to this person? You're just like, I don't have my Bible, but yeah, for sure I can do it. You know, that's how it should be. So apt to teach. You see how this list, obviously it's for pastors, but it's for everyone because it applies to us all. All right, I'm going to stop there. Part two will be next week because I'm not done with this list. What's the sermon of part one? You know, it's just showing us that, yes, obviously these are things that a future pastor should have in their repertoire, so to speak. From a foundational perspective, someone who's going to be a pastor one day should have all these things already in under their belt, right? But this is also a list that Christians should strive to have as well. So don't skip over 1 Timothy chapter 3, ladies. I mean, obviously you can't be the husband of one wife, we understand that. But you should be the husband, I mean, you should be the wife of one husband, though. So obviously that doesn't apply to you, and if you're the husband of one wife, then get the hell out of this church, okay? Stinking dyke. You know, obviously I'm referring to, you know, you reverse that and you're the wife of one husband, the way you apply that is that you stay married to one person and that's it. But we should all take these, even if you're not planning to be a pastor, and just say, you know what, I want to just learn how to be a good Christian. I need to improve all my good behavior. I need to make sure that I'm given to hospitality, that I love the brethren fervently, and that yeah, I'm apt to teach, I can preach the gospel at any moment. And you know what, you might be new and you're not capable of doing that, then learn how to do it. Don't waste your time at First Words Baptist Church. You know, gain those skills, take advantage of the teams that you are on. Tell your team leader tonight, help me to be apt to teach so that I don't need these tabs in my Bible anymore. I don't need the notes. I want to know how to preach the gospel just right from right here, because it's in my heart. You know what I mean? So let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you for these great qualifications, Lord, of just how to be a good Christian. Help us as your people to adhere to the instructions found in First Timothy chapter three that we would improve upon it, Lord. And may we not undermine the importance of just the basics of the Christian life. And Lord, may you bless the fellowship to follow. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to sing this song called I Believe in a Hilton called Mount Calvary. If you don't have a song sheet, please raise your hand and one of the other students will come by and give you one. It seems like everybody got one. Great job. We're going to sing it on that first verse. There are things as we travel this earth's shifting sands That transcend all the reason of man But the things that matter the most in this world They can never be held in our hands I believe in a hill called Mount Calvary I believe whatever the cost And when time has surrendered and earth is no more I'll still cling to the old rugged cross I believe that the Christ who was slain on that cross Has the power to change lives today For He changed me completely, a new life is mine One by the cross I will stay I believe in a hill called Mount Calvary I'll believe whatever the cost And when time has surrendered and earth is no more I'll still cling to that old rugged cross I believe that life with its great mysteries Surely someday will come to an end But faith will conquer the darkness and death And will lead me at last to my friend I believe in a hill called Mount Calvary I believe whatever the cost And when time has surrendered and earth is no more I'll still cling to that old rugged cross Amen. Wonderful singing. You are dismissed.